Page 19 of Scent of Fear

“Napoo?” Libby frowned and glanced at Shane. “Why doesn’t Denali search for missing people’s names?”

Shane shrugged, his glance moving toward the border collie. “Different training techniques.”

Alexis walked into the woods behind Denali as the dog explored the area with her nose. The pair worked for a solid fifteen minutes while Joel and Shane refilled the gas tanks with the containers that were strapped to the back of each machine.

When Alexis and Denali returned, Alexis gave Shane a slight shake of her head. Libby wasn’t surprised her grandfather wasn’t sitting in the woods nearby and didn’t understand why Alexis and Denali had even bothered to search. Did they think the poacher tossed her grandfather out of the truck?

Then realization dawned. Alexis and Denali were searching for her grandfather’s dead body.

She turned to ask Shane if that’s why he’d asked his sister to come along, but he was peering down at something in his hand.

“Based on my compass coordinates, we should probably drive alongside the highway back to Marvin’s cabin,” Shane said. “It’s a shorter and more direct route than retracing our route back up the two-track and through the woods.”

“Works for me,” Paul said. Libby could tell the deputy was ready to get back to his regular duties. “I need to check in with our dispatch.”

Her disappointment at giving up the search was just as keen as her horror at realizing Denali had been searching this whole time for her grandpa’s dead body. But what could she do? Ask Shane and his siblings to drive around the highway looking for a truck pulling four-wheelers?

Why not?

“Libby, are you ready?” Shane looked at her expectantly. She belatedly realized everyone else was back on their respective machines.

“Yes.” She stepped back up into the seat next to Bryce. The dog’s mouth was open, his tongue lolling to the side. She slid her arm around the dog’s torso and gripped the roll bar. Shane put the four-wheeler in gear and continued down the dirt road until they reached the highway.

He was right about the trip being shorter and quicker. Shane turned right into her grandfather’s driveway, pulling to a stop near the trailer Joel had brought from the Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue Ranch.

She slid off the machine, waiting for the others to do the same. Then she stepped closer to Deputy Paul Holland. “Can you put out an alert to look for a truck or SUV pulling a trailer with a four-wheeler on it?”

Paul hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

She was glad to have that much. She turned to Shane. “I’d like to drive around to look for a four-wheeler trailer too.”

Shane glanced at his siblings, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think that’s the best use of our time, Libby.”

“What do you suggest?” She wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing. She pulled out her phone, but of course, there was nothing from the hospital. Frustrated, she stuffed it back into her pocket. “You know what? Never mind. I’ll drive the area myself. If I see something suspicious, I’ll let the sheriff’s department know.”

She turned to head toward her pickup truck, but Shane grasped her hand, holding her back.

“Please wait. I’ll go with you.” He tugged her back toward him. “We’ll take my SUV, though, because it’s specially equipped for Bryce.”

She glanced at the dog playing in the yard with Denali and Royal. The three dogs clearly enjoyed their time together, and she wondered what it was like to live on the ranch with nine dogs all together. Or was it ten now? Hadn’t he mentioned something about a puppy?

After being bitten by a neighbor’s dog when she was young, Libby had never wanted one of her own. Then she found out the hard way that she was allergic to cats. She hadn’t minded not having a pet.

Yet there was no denying that having a dog around added a certain enrichment to life. Just watching the dogs play made her smile.

“Libby?” She glanced over at Deputy Paul. “I need to head back. I’ve already called in the BOLO related to any vehicles pulling a four-wheeler trailer. I also need a recent picture of your grandfather.”

“Good idea.” She pulled out her phone, scrolled through the pictures, and found a close-up of her grandpa smiling at her. Seeing his wide grin brought a lump to her throat. “What’s your number?”

Paul recited it, and she quickly sent the deputy the photo.

“Send that to us too,” Shane suggested. “We’ll have the family keep their eyes open for him as well.”

As she already had Shane’s number, it only took a second to send the picture. Soon Joel’s and Alexis’s phones dinged with incoming messages.

Knowing the police would be looking for her grandfather helped a little, but she also knew the state of Wyoming was vast, and the poachers could have taken him just about anywhere. She tried to remain positive as Paul turned to leave.

“We’ll get these back on the trailer,” Joel said as Alexis jumped up onto the closest ATV. “You and Libby can take off.”

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