Page 19 of Scent of Death

She didn’t see anyone else. Where was the shooter?

She hesitated, unwilling to distract Griff by announcing her presence. She couldn’t see anyone and wondered if Griff had lost sight of him too.

After a long minute, she finally called, “Griff? Can you see him?”

“No.” He sounded disgusted. Then he turned to glance at her. “Can Denali find him?”

“I think so.” Swallowing against a lump of fear, she crouched near her dog. “Search! Search bad guy.”

If Denali was confused by the new command, her K9 didn’t show it. Denali quickly darted toward the grove of trees where Griff was located. She sniffed along the ground and then spent a long moment at the base of a tree barely ten feet from where Griff was.

Her dog sat and looked up at her. Denali didn’t bark, maybe because she wasn’t searching for napoo.

“Good girl,” she praised in a hushed tone. “Search. Search bad guy.”

Denali turned and lowered her snout to the ground. Her K9 moved silently through the trees, sniffing with interest. Alexis stayed close, feeling Griff coming up behind her.

“Be careful,” he warned.

“We will.” She still carried her weapon in both hands. Watching the woods and her dog at the same time made her worry she wouldn’t see the threat until it was too late.

Lord Jesus, keep us safe in Your care!

Denali broke through the trees. Alexis realized they were on a dead-end road. There were a lot of those in these small towns, she knew. Only the state highways connected one town to the next.

Catching a glimpse of red taillights rounding a corner, she knew they were too late. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell what the make or model of the car was, other than it looked to be an SUV, not uncommon for Wyoming. Driving anything without four-wheel drive was foolish.

Denali trotted a few yards down the road, then stopped to sniff with interest. Then she sat and stared up at Alexis.

“Good girl!” She didn’t bother to whisper now that the threat was gone. Running her fingers over Denali’s fur, she lavished praise on her dog. “Good girl. You knew just what to do! I’m so proud of you!”

“He shot at me long enough to escape.” Griff scowled. “The bigger question is how he knew we were here? Even if he had memorized my SUV license plate, how did he know which room we were staying in?”

“I’m not sure.” She stood and tucked her weapon into her waist band. “Maybe he was making his way around the building when Denali caught his scent. I had the window open, and the wind is coming from the east.”

“I’m grateful we had your dog to alert us.” Griff scowled. “I need a replacement SUV and something more to go on to find this guy.”

She understood his frustration. It was concerning that this guy had tracked them down here at all.

“Let’s head back.” Griff turned to walk back through the trees. She waited a moment for Denali to get busy before they followed. He shook his head. “This is not typical behavior from a serial killer. Only in very rare cases have they turned their attention to the agent trying to find them. Honestly? I’d have expected him to go underground. To lie low until the heat was off and he could continue hunting his next victim.”

A chill snaked down her spine. “He’s not fixated on you as the federal agent, but on me.” Alexis swallowed hard. “I’m his target.”

His scowl deepened as he opened the side exit using his key. Good thing he had his, as hers was inside. “I need to get you in protective custody.”

“No.” She urged Denali to go in first, then followed. “There’s no reason to take drastic action. If he really tracked your SUV, then swapping the car should work. Besides, I want to help you find him.”

He didn’t look happy as he unlocked the door to their room. Then Denali brushed past him, and his expression softened. “I can’t believe she tracked him to the road.”

“I guess I should have agreed to cross-train her to track humans too.” Alexis found the pink piggy and threw it up for Denali. The reward was a little late, but she figured her dog was smart enough to make the connection. “I was in California searching for wildfire victims when Maya had the trainer come back to give tips on cross-training. Since Denali is our only cadaver dog, I didn’t think it was a good idea at the time.”

“I understand.” He stood off to the side to give them room. “You wanted Denali focused on finding your parents.”

“Yes. And to work disaster scenes.” She scooted around the open sofa sleeper to reach the small kitchenette. It was going on four in the morning now, and she needed coffee. “I had hoped we’d have answers on what happened to our parents by now.”

As she made coffee, Griff folded the sofa bed away. Then he moved to the window to peer outside. “It’s too early to get a rental car, but we should get out of here.”

“Most cafés aren’t open for breakfast yet.” When the coffee finished brewing, she poured two cups, handing one to Griff. “As far as the rental car, we have a spare SUV at the ranch. I can ask a couple of my siblings to bring it. We won’t meet here at the hotel,” she added. “We’ll find a neutral location.”

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