Page 64 of Scent of Peril

“It’s fine, don’t worry about that.” Doug quickly covered the distance to reach the dead man. He knelt beside the body, looking at him from all angles. Then he stood and snapped several pictures with his phone.

Lastly, he patted the guy’s pockets. The gun he’d used to shoot Jess was lying on the ground not far from his outstretched hand. It took Logan a minute to realize Doug was searching for the guy’s ID.

Using his gloved hands, Doug pulled a wallet out of Benton’s back pocket. He flipped it open. “Karl with aKMatthews. Does that name ring a bell?”

Logan shook his head and glanced at Jess. “Not for me.”

“Me either,” Jess agreed. “Never heard of him.”

Doug grimaced and tucked the wallet into his coat pocket. “Could be another fake ID, but we’ll run it through the database anyway.” He stood. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

“Good.” Logan didn’t bother to hide his relief. “I’d have never made it as a miner back in the day.”

“Me either,” Jess agreed.

Doug stood, and together they retraced their steps. Now that they’d taken this route several times, Logan could see where they’d veered off on the wrong path. They turned to take the smaller of the two tunnels, the one where they had to duck to get through to the storage room.

From there, it was another fifteen minutes before he caught the hint of sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Logan had to smile when Jess and Teddy quickened their pace, eager to get out into the fresh air.

He was right behind them.

The minute they emerged from the trees that had partially hidden the cave entrance, Teddy lifted his leg to pee. Logan couldn’t help but laugh, knowing the dog had really found the way out just to relieve himself.

“Good boy,” Jess praised.

Doug joined them, lifting his hand to his radio. “This is Bridges. I’m with Logan, Jessica, and Teddy. All are safe, do you read me?”

In his ear, Logan heard the various “Roger that” responses.

“One perp is down; there is at least one other at large,” Doug said. “Be on the lookout for at least one gunman.”

“We’ve been manning the alternate exit,” Shane said. “Nobody has come out this way.”

Logan frowned, glancing at Jess. She looked puzzled by that too.

“Are you sure?” Doug asked.

“Absolutely,” Shane said without hesitation. “Bryce and I have been on guard here with Agent Griff Flannery and his colleague. The two game wardens are still out on horseback manning the countryside as are the local cops.”

“Okay, thanks.” Doug ended the radio transmission.

Before he could say anything more, a voice called, “Bridges? I think I found your guy.”

A man emerged from the woods on foot. Logan recognized him as Kevin Tinley, the younger of the two game wardens. Deep in his throat, Teddy began to growl.

Jess grabbed Logan’s arm, squeezing it tight enough to be painful. And that’s when he knew Kevin Tinley was Nasal Voice.

One of their own had been involved in this drug business the entire time.

15

The game warden was Nasal Voice guy! Squeezing Logan’s arm with her left hand to warn him, she slipped her right hand into her coat pocket for her weapon. She was still reeling from shooting Benton, but she wasn’t going to let Tinley get away with this.

Teddy’s growling grew louder. Her K9 had recognized him too.

“Hey, Kevin.” Doug took a step toward him. Just as she was silently screaming a warning in her head, Doug pulled his weapon and held it pointing at the game warden. “Stop right where you are. Put your hands where I can see them. One wrong move and I’ll shoot.”

How did Doug know he was the other man from the cave? Had he picked up on Teddy’s growling? She froze, not wanting to get in the way.

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