Page 37 of Scent of Peril

“I’m not so sure about that,” Wayne drawled. “Tell me again why you assumed this Benton guy had drugs on the plane?”

“Teddy alerted,” Jessica said. “He’s trained to alert on the scent of drugs.”

“Yeah, but you said yourself he’s been cross-trained to scent other items,” Wayne pointed out. “He found the shell casing.”

Jess flushed and glanced at Logan. “Yes, but that’s because I told him to search for gold. That’s the term we use for gun powder and gun oil.”

“Okay, but it seems to me the dog could have alerted on the scent of a gun in the plane,” Wayne said.

“I guess that’s possible,” Jess admitted. “Based on the glove that he found, it could be that Benton held a gun while wearing it. Or had the gun in his pocket with the glove.”

Logan didn’t like where this was going. “Are you saying you don’t think this is about drugs?”

“Oh, I absolutely think this is about drugs,” Wayne said. “I just wanted to understand why you jumped on the drug bandwagon. Then I heard from the chief about how Ella Dover had died of a drug overdose while dating you, Logan.”

He wondered if he’d ever be able to shake off his connection to Ella’s death. “I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t even know she was on drugs.”

“I didn’t know that either, and I was her friend,” Jessica added.

“So it would surprise both of you to learn her brother, Ethan, died of a drug overdose earlier today?” Wayne asked.

Logan’s jaw dropped. He turned to stare at Jessica who looked just as horrified by the news.

Ethan Dover overdosed on drugs? What did that mean? Had Ethan been involved in drugs back when his sister overdosed?

Or was this something that he’d recently gotten tangled up in?

Either way, it was clear that Ethan’s death was part of whatever was going on now.

9

Ethan was dead from a drug overdose? Jessica couldn’t imagine the guy she’d known doing something like this. Ethan had been so upset over Ella’s death, railing at his sister’s use of drugs.

Maybe Jess was being naïve, but she couldn’t believe Ethan had gone down that same path. Not the Ethan she’d known. “There’s no way Ethan used drugs.”

Wayne arched a brow. “I can assure you he died of an overdose.”

“Okay, so maybe that’s true, but I’m telling you he wasn’t a user.” She narrowed her eyes at the cop. “Maybe someone used drugs to kill him specifically to make it look like an overdose.”

“And why would anyone do that?” Wayne did not shy away from her gaze. “Did Ethan have any enemies that you’re aware of?”

“No.” She glanced at Logan, who looked thoughtful. “I just think it’s too much of a coincidence. We’re looking for a guy who may have transported drugs on Logan’s plane, followed by several attempts to kill us, then suddenly Ethan Dover is founddead of a drug overdose.” A thought occurred to her. “What sort of drugs? Fentanyl?”

“Yes,” Wayne acknowledged. “Fentanyl. Same as his sister.”

No one spoke for a long minute. Their server brought their food, then asked Wayne what he wanted. He ordered a burger.

Jessica gave a silent prayer before taking a bite of her chicken sandwich. Logan’s cheeseburger looked good too.

“I agree with Jess,” Logan said between bites. “Something’s not right.”

Wayne sat back in his seat. “It’s interesting that you both had connections to the Dover siblings.”

“Most of our classmates knew the Dover siblings.” Logan waved a hand toward the window and the people milling about outside. “This town isn’t that big. Everyone knows everyone else around here.”

Another long silence. She had the impression Wayne was waiting for them to fill in additional details, which was ridiculous because they didn’t know anything.

At least, she didn’t. She shot another quick look at Logan.

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