Page 44 of Scent of Peril

“My brother-in-law, Doug Bridges, is a former DEA agent.” Jess put a hand on Logan’s arm, silently asking him not to argue. “I think it would be a good idea to get his opinion on this. I agree with Logan, though. It seems more logical to me that a drug user would keep their stash close at hand. Not tucked off in the garage.”

Wayne hesitated for a long moment. “I wouldn’t mind hearing Bridge’s thoughts on this. I’ll give him a call.”

“He should be back at the ranch soon,” Logan said. “Last time we spoke with Chase, Doug and Maya were on their way home via a red-eye.”

“Fine. We’ll run this past him,” Wayne agreed. “Thanks for your help, Jess. Teddy too. You may as well head back to the hotel now. We don’t need your help from this point forward.”

Logan swallowed his annoyance. “One more question, if you don’t mind.” When Wayne didn’t respond, he pushed forward.“Where was Ethan’s car found? Here in town or somewhere else?”

“Here in town,” Wayne said.

“At the general store?” Jessica guessed.

“Yeah.” Wayne scowled. “I guess there’s no reason to keep it a secret. Word will have spread across town by now anyway. We had gone there to interview him. The owner mentioned that Ethan was a no call, no show. That’s when Burt spotted his car in the back corner of the parking lot.”

Logan realized that if they’d have gone to the store, they’d have seen the crime scene tape blocking off the parking lot. Instead, they’d come here and had nearly been caught by the gunman.

“Do you have Ethan’s estimated time of death?” Jess asked.

“Sometime after midnight,” Wayne admitted. “We’ll know more when the doc is finished with the autopsy.”

Interesting. Logan wondered if Ethan had been taken to the general store against his will. Or if the gunman had met him there after work. Those details would have to be determined by the cops who would try to retrace Ethan’s last movements.

For now, their work was done here. He glanced at Jess. “You ready to go?”

“Yes.” She turned to her K9. “Come, Teddy.”

The dog had been galivanting around with his stuffed moose, but the moment Jessica called out to him, he trotted to her side and dropped the toy at her feet. She bent to retrieve it.

Logan scanned their surroundings, then gestured toward the back of Ethan’s garage. “I say we follow those tracks. See where the gunman may have left his vehicle.”

She considered that for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Although I’m sure he’s long gone by now.”

“I know. But we don’t want to take the obvious route back to the hotel.” He took a moment to look at the neighboring homes,knowing one of the owners had likely called the police on him and Jess. But it was hard to be upset. He liked knowing that people around here cared about their neighbors.

He cut a parallel path to the footprints in case the crime scene techs could do something with them. Jessica and Teddy were both on high alert, too, as they came out on the other side of the block. The street had been well plowed, so he couldn’t tell where the gunman’s car may have been parked.

Around here, you couldn’t get too far away from Cody without a vehicle. Which only reminded him of the way Benton had requested a charter flight to the mountain. He obviously would have had to meet someone there.

Was the gunman Benton? Or someone else? They had yet to get close enough to figure that out.

“The more run-ins we have with this guy, the more I want to head back up the mountain,” Jess said, breaking the silence. “That’s where this all started. And I have a feeling that going back will be the only way to end it.”

He wished he didn’t agree with her. But he felt the same way. “Maybe Shane or one of your brothers could take Teddy up there.”

“What?” She spun around to stare at him. “No, Logan. That’s not happening. I’m Teddy’s handler. Besides, I can’t stay back while putting my siblings in danger.”

“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in defeat. “But I’m going on record in saying this is a bad idea.”

“Duly noted,” she snapped. “You can stay back if you’d like. I’m more than capable of retracing our steps with Doug.”

“Oh, I’m going.” Logan took a deep breath, fighting the flash of anger. “It was my plane he tried to take down.”

“Whatever.” She acted as if she couldn’t have cared what he did.

Their earlier closeness, including their amazing kiss, seemed like eons ago. And maybe that was for the better. It wasn’t as if he didn’t admire her skill and dedication. Along with Teddy’s incredible nose. His concern was for her safety.

And heading back up to the mountain felt akin to meeting the bear in his den.

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