Page 35 of Scent of Peril

“Hold on.” He quickly bent and grabbed their partially charged phones. They weren’t going far, but he didn’t want to be caught off guard again. “Let’s take these with us.”

They hadn’t even reached the door when one of the phones rang. Knowing the only person so far who had their number was Jess’s family, he quickly answered it. “Hello?”

“Logan? It’s Chase. Sergeant Wayne Carter is looking for you.”

“Why?” He grimaced at the way his tone sounded suspicious. “I mean, we already told him everything we know.”

“For one thing, he claims you promised to provide your new number. The other issue is that he has a few more questions.”

Jessica whispered, “What’s going on?”

He held up his hand. “Okay, we’ll call him. But I don’t want anyone to know where we’re staying. So if he has more questions, we’ll need to meet in a neutral location.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” Chase said. “I understand your desire to stay off-grid. I didn’t even ask Jess where you were staying.”

“It’s fine if you know we’re at the Lumberjack Inn.” Logan glanced at his watch. “I’ll call Wayne and agree to meet with him in an hour or so.” He flashed Jess a reassuring smile. “He can spring for lunch.”

“Don’t forget, we’ll reimburse you for all expenses,” Chase said. “I don’t care what it takes to keep Jess safe.”

“I know. It’s fine. Thanks for the update.” He ended the call. “Let’s head over to the pharmacy. I’ll call Wayne once we return.”

“I wonder why he wants to talk to us so soon,” Jess said as they headed outside. Teddy trotted between them, his head up and ears pricked forward. “It’s barely been a half hour since we left him.”

“I have no idea.” Although Logan was afraid that whatever had come up wasn’t good news.

Thankfully, they didn’t see a single person as they cut across the rear parking lot to the drugstore. He grabbed what he needed, then waited at the register for Jessica. Even though they’d each only gotten the essentials, the bill was still higher than he’d expected.

He hid a wince. At this rate, he’d be out of cash before the end of the day.

They hurried back to the Lumberjack Inn. “You go first,” he said. “I’ll call Wayne.”

“Thanks.” Jess carried her bag of toiletries into the bathroom. Left behind, Teddy heaved a sigh as he stretched out in front of the bathroom door.

Wayne answered on the first ring. “Sergeant Carter.”

“It’s Logan. You may want to make a note of this number.”

“It’s about time you called,” Wayne groused. “Where are you?”

“Our location doesn’t matter. Chase mentioned you wanted to talk. Why? Has something happened?”

“I do want to talk to you and Jessica,” Wayne said without answering his question. “Tell me where you are and I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

He frowned, wondering what could have happened to cause this sudden request. “How about we meet you for lunch, say in an hour?”

“Lunch?” Wayne repeated.

“Yeah, you know, the midday meal? We’re hungry. And if you want to interview us again in person, you’ll need to meet us at the Hitching Post. We’ll walk there rather than ride in a squad.”

There was a long pause, as if Wayne was facing a monumental decision.

“Look, if you don’t want to meet in person, we can talk over the phone,” Logan said. “I’d like to understand what’s going on. I can put the call on speaker so Jessica can be a part of the conversation.”

“I’d rather meet in person,” Wayne said. “I’ll meet you and Jessica at the Post in an hour.”

“See you then.” Logan lowered the phone with a feeling of unease. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Wayne was suddenly treating them like suspects.

Rather than victims of multiple attempts to kill them.

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