Page 11 of Scent of Death

“You know as well as I do there isn’t cell service in the mountains.” Griff kept his tone reasonable, although he was irritated at knowing his boss would be hounding his every move throughout the investigation. “I just now got into range. What about that profiler I requested?”

“Yes, a woman named Cheri Artez will be flying into Cheyenne.”

“Have her fly into Yellowstone,” Griff said. “Cheyenne is too far away. I’m not leaving to pick her up. She can either change her flight in Denver or drive up herself from Cheyenne.” He was annoyed all over again. Tex never seemed to appreciate Wyoming being vast and rural, despite having come from a similar state.

“Okay, I’ll let her know.” There was a pause, then Tex added, “Artez is young and relatively new in her role.”

Griff ground his teeth. He knew that if he was in LA or Chicago, he’d get someone higher up the chain to help. Instead, he was saddled with a rookie.

As if reading his silence, his boss added, “I hear she’s good. Knows her stuff. Did some great work on a case in Orlando earlier this year. She’s heading out first thing in the morning.”

Griff sighed. What could he do? A rookie was better than no one. “Okay, give her my cell number. She can call me when she gets in the area.”

“Will do. Don’t forget to keep me informed,” Tex reiterated. “It’s only a matter of time before the press gets wind of this.”

“I know. Thanks.” Griff ended the call. Feeling Alexis’s gaze, he forced a smile. “The FBI is sending a profiler out to help us. She’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

Alexis nodded. “I heard.”

He didn’t want to air his grievances with the bureaucracy with her. Most of the local people here didn’t appreciate having the federal government poking its nose in their business. Most of the frustration was with the EPA and the DNR. But the FBI wasn’t well loved either.

Until they were needed, as in a case like this.

Griff had to admit the Sullivan family had always treated him kindly and with respect. There was none of the avoidance some of the other residents had shown over the course of his career. During the first year after his wife’s death, Griff had walked around in a fog without even noticing the hard stares. It was only after some of that grief faded that he’d understood how many people wished he’d get lost.

Pushing that aside, he focused on the dogs. It didn’t take long for him to recognize their surroundings.

“Are we close to the campground?” Griff asked.

“I believe so.” Jess elbowed Logan. “We know this area well, don’t we?”

“Yep.” Logan gestured to a bat house mounted in a tree up ahead. “A few years ago, one of the campers put that up to help keep the mosquito population at bay.”

“It does look familiar,” Joel agreed. “We’ll need to take another break soon, though. Royal is getting tired.”

“Teddy is too.” Jessica frowned. “Both dogs have black coats, which makes searching in the summer more difficult.”

Alexis glanced at Griff, expecting him to be frustrated at the delay. Instead, he looked relieved. “Works for me.”

Joel headed to a grove of trees offering a plethora of shade. They shrugged out of their packs and sat with their backs up against a tree. Griff massaged his left knee. She frowned and gestured to it. “What happened? Did you injure it recently?”

He sighed, but this time, he didn’t stop kneading the joint. “Knee surgery back in January. I tore my ACL and needed surgery to repair it.”

“Ouch.” Her gaze was sympathetic. “Playing basketball?”

“I usually run, but this happened when I was skiing in Jackson.” One of his few ski trips over the winter. “I may have started running again too soon, though. I should have waited.”

She grinned. “You? Impatient? Go figure.”

“You and the rest of your siblings seem to have the patience of a saint,” he said. “Except maybe for Chase.”

Joel barked out a laugh. “You got that right. Chase is more like his K9 Rocky than he cares to admit.”

“We have to be patient when it comes to the dogs,” Alexis said. “They’re great at their jobs, but they can’t be rushed.”

“I see that.” Griff wondered if he’d have the patience to handle a K9. Logan handed out more snacks, and he offered a piece of his protein bar to Denali. The beautiful collie simply cocked her head without making any effort to take the morsel.

“We don’t give our dogs table food.” Alexis shook her head for emphasis. “And our dogs are trained not to take food from anyone but us.”

---