Page 55 of Scent of Peril

Heart thundering in his chest, he stared down at the crevasse below. It wasn’t as far down as he’d initially thought, maybe ten feet. Enough to cause broken bones, or worse, but as he stood there, he wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or horrified that he didn’t see any sign of Jess or Teddy.

Doug scrambled up beside him. “Where is she?” he asked.

Logan shook his head, then dropped to his knees and pointed to a smooth path in the snow that may have been made by Jessica’s butt as she slid down the side. “This looks recent to me.”

“Yes.” Doug knelt beside him, and together they scanned the area below. He imagined Jessica’s dark blue coat and her hat and Teddy’s fluorescent vest. The smooth path ended at the bottom of the ridge near a tall tree, and he thought he saw footprints leading away from the area. He wasn’t reassured.

“We have to get down there,” he said in a low voice to Doug.

“Okay.” Doug quickly put the rest of the team on alert. “Let’s go.”

Logan sat on the edge of the ridge and slid down the side on his butt, the same way Jessica had done. He had to believe she’d somehow snagged Teddy to take him down with her, knowing her, likely shielding the dog with her body.

But as he hit the bottom with a jarring thud, he didn’t see any sign of them.

Where had they gone?

He pushed himself upright and started forward. Then he stopped as the tiny hairs rose on the back of his neck. There were more than just one set of footprints in the snow. Jess and Teddy weren’t alone.

He felt sick at the realization that Jessica and Teddy may have literally fallen right into Benton’s lap.

13

The minute Jess had crested the hill, she realized her mistake. Teddy had stopped for a reason. They were atop a bluff. Her foot slipped, and she went down hard on her butt. She grabbed Teddy at the last minute, hauling him onto her lap as she slid down the embankment. Sliding was better than falling, the way her youngest sister, Kendra, had nearly six months ago. Kendra had broken several bones as a result.

Hitting the bottom, she’d quickly released Teddy to scramble to her feet. She tested her arms and legs, realizing with relief that God had been watching over. She wasn’t hurt.

Teddy began to growl just as a masked man stepped out from behind a tree. He was several yards away, but there was no mistaking the gun he held in his hand.

“Get up.” His voice was low and harsh. “Now. Or I’ll shoot you and the dog where you’re standing.”

She didn’t doubt this man had lethal intent. She couldn’t see his facial features beyond the black face mask he wore, but she figured he must be Craig Benton. She gave Teddy the hand signal to heel, fearing if the dog alerted, the masked man might shoot.

Keeping Teddy close was somewhat selfish on her part. Yet she didn’t see much of an alternative.

At least, not yet.

She obeyed his command, closing the distance between them while debating her options. If she tried to make a run for it, he was close enough to shoot without missing. And she couldn’t easily protect Teddy while running. Their vests offered some reinforcement, but she’d heard from Maya that being struck by a bullet at close range while wearing a vest hurt like crazy.

And the impact could cause internal bleeding. Especially for a dog.

“Hurry,” the masked man said curtly. Using the tip of his gun, he gestured to a crevasse in the side of the mountain.

A chill snaked down her spine. If she wasn’t staring at the opening mostly hidden behind the trees, she’d never have noticed it. Was that where Benton had been hiding all this time? With a sense of dread—she didn’t love tight spaces—Jess moved through the opening. There was just enough room for Teddy to squeeze in beside her.

“Keep that dog quiet, and if he makes the slightest move toward me, I’ll kill him.” The masked man’s hard, flat tone convinced her he wasn’t joking.

“He’s not a trained attack dog,” she lied. Teddy would absolutely attack if she gave the command, but she didn’t want to risk this guy hurting her K9. “He’s trained to track scents, that’s all.”

“I know. I’ve watched you.” When she slowed and turned to stare at him, he lifted the gun. “Keep moving.”

Swallowing hard, she did. The interior of the cave was large enough that they could walk upright, but it was also narrow. So much so that it felt as if the walls were closing in on her. Not good. She couldn’t afford to suffer a bad case of claustrophobia.Determined to stay in control, she did her best to take slow, deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

Yet the deeper they went into the cave, the more she worried that Logan and Doug wouldn’t be able to find her. Would they notice that crevasse in the wall behind the trees and guess that’s where she and Teddy had gone?

Would they realize she’d been taken against her will?

She reached a part of the tunnel that was so narrow she had to let Teddy go through first. Her K9 must have sensed her fear because he stayed close while remaining quiet.

---