Page 47 of Scent of Peril

“I know.” He sighed. “I just wish there was a way to add more safety measures.”

That gave her an idea. “You know, Teddy’s K9 vest is made of Kevlar. And of course we made sure all the dogs have them. After what happened to Chase in February, we added bullet-resistant vests to our supply of search and rescue gear too.” She pulled out her phone to send Doug a text. “I’m sure Doug would bring extras for us.”

Logan perked up. “That would make me feel better.”

“Great.” She glanced around the seemingly minuscule hotel room. After their late lunch, she wasn’t hungry for dinner. But she needed to feed Teddy, so she reached for her pack. She filled his collapsible food and water dishes. Teddy sat staring at her as she did so, but he didn’t go for the food until she gave him the signal.

“Go ahead, Teddy. Eat.” She pointed at the dishes.

Teddy ate with enthusiasm, although he didn’t scarf his food as quickly as some of her siblings’ K9s did. When he finished eating, he lapped at the water, then went to stand by the door.

“Hold on, I’m going with you.” Logan grabbed his coat.

She slipped her jacket on without protest. Was it just earlier that morning that the gunman had fired on them? It seemed like eons ago, rather than hours.

“We’ll use that strip of land between the parking lot of the hotel and the drugstore,” she said as they headed outside.

“Stick close to me,” Logan said.

She nodded as Teddy ran ahead. They kept their K9s on schedule as much as possible just for this reason. Much easier to handle taking their SAR partners out to do their business.

“Get busy, Teddy,” she ordered.

The dog didn’t need any encouragement. He sniffed around for the perfect spot, then did his thing. She hurried forward to clean up after him. “Good boy, Teddy.”

Teddy wagged his tail. Normally, she’d spend some time playing, a.k.a. training, with him, but he’d done enough work for the day.

And they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.

Logan scanned their surroundings as he waited. When she and Teddy were ready, they headed inside.

Now what?she thought as Logan once again locked the door behind them. The idea of watching television didn’t appeal to her. Yet there wasn’t anything else to do, so she reached for the remote.

A wide yawn hit her hard. Logan noticed and nodded.

“I’m exhausted too.” He gestured to the bed he was sitting on. “I’m ready to get some sleep. Do you want to use the bathroom first?”

“Yes, thanks. That sounds good to me.” She clicked the remote off. Ten minutes later, she was stretched out on the double bed with Teddy lying beside her. She’d decided to sleep in her clothes, just in case they had to leave in a hurry.

Logan did the same.

She didn’t expect to fall asleep right away and found herself listening intently to both Teddy’s snoring and Logan’s deep breathing. The soft mattress and pillow beneath her head should have been enough to help her relax.

They weren’t.

She turned from one side to the next, then did her best to still her mind with prayer.

The next thing Jess knew, Teddy was growling. She blinked in the darkness, trying to remember where she was and what had caught her K9’s attention. Sometimes the dog let out little yips while sleeping, his little paws moving as he dreamed.

But this was different.

“What’s wrong?” Logan asked, his voice groggy with sleep.

“I’m not sure.” She swung out of the bed. Teddy’s head was up, his ears pricked forward as he seemed focused on the window.

“I’ll take a look.” Logan stood and kept to the side as he lifted the edge of the curtain just enough to peer out.

She slid her feet into her boots. Teddy jumped off the bed and stood in front of her. “See anything?”

---