Page 3 of Scent of Peril

He thought about the jagged section of a tail fin he’d glimpsed from the sky. If he hadn’t taken Craig Benton to meet his alleged hunting buddies at the base of the mountain, he wouldn’t have seen it. “I’m sure it’s not easy to move forward without answers.”

She nodded without saying anything. He might wish things could be different between him and Jess, but Ella’s death loomed large between them. For the hundredth time, he wished he’d never asked Ella out. That he’d never gotten involved with the prettiest girl in their high school class in the first place.

But he had. And his life had been forever changed by her death.

Jess hadn’t been the only one who’d stared at him with accusing eyes. Ella’s brother, Ethan, had been extremely vocal. The local sheriff’s department had executed a search warrant on his house, his car, and his plane. They hadn’t found any drugs, but most of the townsfolk had assumed he’d gotten rid of the evidence.

Eventually, the whispers had stopped. But he knew there were still people in Cody who blamed him for Ella’s death.

Like Jess. Oh, she’d claimed that was nothing more than ancient history, but the old feelings had resurfaced after Teddy had alerted on the scent of drugs in his plane. The way she’d glared at him with suspicion had struck deep in his core.

He banked the Cessna to the right. Jessica leaned forward, searching the ground below. “We’re still ten minutes from the general area,” he told her.

She nodded to indicate she’d heard but continued scanning the rocky terrain below. No doubt, she was hoping to spot additional debris.

He understood her desire for answers. Five years ago, he’d logged countless flight hours while searching for her parents’ plane. Chase had insisted on paying for his fuel and time, and he’d only accepted because he’d been forced to turn away paying jobs in order to continue making flights to the mountainside and back. Something he wouldn’t have been able to do without the additional financial help.

The entire Sullivan family had been very grateful for his efforts. Even Jess.

He’d have given anything to have found something useful back then. And he had never stopped searching during his flights.

He found himself hoping this bit of plane debris would bring some answers.

Using the landmark of a jagged rock poking out from the side of the mountain, he slowly dropped the plane’s altitude. Tracking the rocky outcropping, he turned twenty degrees, then peered down through his side window.

“There it is!” He couldn’t hide his excitement. “Do you see it?”

“I think so.” Jess’s voice was uncertain. “I mean, I see something white, but I can’t tell what it is from here.”

“Hang on, I’ll circle around so we can get a little lower.” He banked the plane in an arc, putting some distance between the plane and the trees leering upward from the mountain.

He took the Cessna down another few hundred feet. This was the best he could do without risking the tops of some of the tree branches scraping along the underbelly of the plane.

“I think you’re right,” Jess said. “I can tell that it looks like the tail of a plane.”

“I’ll see if I can find a place to land.” He knew without being told that Jess wanted to retrieve the piece of debris. “It will be a long hike.”

“I know, but we have plenty of daylight left.” She glanced at him. “It’s only noon. We’ll eat our lunch and head out. We should be able to get there and back to the plane in plenty of time.”

“Okay.” He knew the mountains could be deceptive when it came to distance. What looked like an hour-long hike was likelytriple that time frame. Especially since there was still plenty of snow covering the ground.

But this was why he’d brought her to the area, so there was no point in complaining. Thankfully, he always carried plenty of winter-weather gear. He wasn’t nearly as worried about the elements as he was about potentially damaging his plane. He scanned the area below. “Help me spot an area to land.”

Jess was silent for a moment. He noticed the long, flat stretch of land at the same time she did. “How about there?”

“It could be private property.” It seemed as if the stretch of land had been used as a landing strip in the past, as it was cleared of snow and brush. It wasn’t the one he’d used to drop off Craig Benton, but it wasn’t that far away either. He didn’t see a sign of a dwelling nearby. After a moment’s hesitation, he shrugged. “Okay, that will work. Hang on.”

Jess nodded. She wasn’t a nervous flier, taking the usual air-pocket bumps in stride. He turned again so he could approach the strip of open land straight on, then brought the plane in for a landing.

The minute he brought the Cessna to a stop, Jess ripped her headphones off and turned to remove the headgear from her dog. He shouldn’t have been surprised at how Teddy seemed to enjoy flying as much as Jess did.

“Down, Teddy.” Jess jumped down from the plane. Her dog followed suit. Then she snagged her backpack and pulled out two thick sandwiches. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” He gratefully took the sandwich. “We’ll need to make sure we gear up,” he said between bites. The weather in spring could be dicey. There were no storms in the forecast earlier, but that could easily change without warning. “We need to be prepared for anything.”

“I know. That’s why I brought my backpack and Teddy’s duffel.” She ate her sandwich, too, while rummaging in theduffel for her dog’s equipment. The Sullivans always cared for their dogs before themselves.

After Jess finished eating, she placed a vest over Teddy’s torso and added padded booties over his paws. Logan checked his own pack, taking note of the bottles of water, protein bars, and dried fruit and nut packs that would have to serve as a late snack or early dinner if needed. When Jess had finished with Teddy, who surprisingly didn’t seem to mind the booties, he handed her half his rations. “We may need these later.”

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