Page 22 of Scent of Death

He dove into his meal. The hash browns were crispy, just the way he liked them. Under the table, Denali brushed against his legs as she switched positions.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said, about kids from school who could do something like this.” She lifted her blue eyes to his. “There was a kid named Brent Wilson who was arrested for sexual assault.” She shrugged. “From what I heard, the charges were dropped to sexual misconduct, and he didn’t do much if any time in jail.”

That intrigued him. “Brent Wilson? He’s from Cody?”

“Yes. I hate to accuse him unfairly but thought you should know.”

He glanced at his watch. Still too early to contact the lab in Cheyenne, but if there were fingerprints on the shell casings, this could be the break they needed. “That’s great, Alexis. Keep throwing names out there. I won’t accuse anyone without proof, so don’t let that hold you back.”

She sighed. “There are too many names to do that.”

“Not if you focus on those kids who were loners, those considered unpopular by teenage standards.” His pulse had kicked up with anticipation. “Anything could help, Alexis.”

She ate in silence for several minutes, her expression thoughtful. “I don’t know. Let me think about it.”

They dawdled over breakfast, waiting for her brothers to arrive. A few more customers came in. Thankfully, it was early enough that he didn’t feel too guilty over hogging a table.

When Alexis’s phone rang, she quickly answered. “Hey, Joel. Really?” She frowned, looking at her watch. “That’s fast. What did you do, speed here?” Another pause, then, “Okay, great. See you both soon.”

“I can’t believe they got here so quickly.”

“I know. Joel and Justin have gotten their share of speeding tickets when they were younger. Chase threatened to take their licenses away if they didn’t shape up.” She smiled. “The state patrol doesn’t bother to pull anyone over unless they’re doing more than fifteen miles over the posted limit.”

He sat back as Louise brought more coffee. “We have two more joining us, and I suspect they’ll want to eat too.”

“Great.” Louise brightened. “Let me know when they’re ready.”

As if on cue, two men entered the café, a dog on either side of them. Joel and Justin were identical twins, but there were enough differences that he’d learned to tell them apart. Joel was slightly shorter and bulkier around the shoulders. Justin was lean and wore his brown hair short compared to Joel, who wore his long enough to brush against the back of his collar. They shared Alexis’s blue eyes.

In addition to Joel’s black lab, Royal, Justin was accompanied by a yellow lab named Stone. He’d learned the Sullivan family had chosen a national park theme when it came to picking names for their dogs. When they arrived at the table, he and Alexis scooted over to make room. Without being told, both dogs crawled underneath to join Denali. The animals were clearly familiar with the routine.

“Smells great!” Justin plucked a menu from the rack behind the condiments. “I’m all in on the farmer’s omelet.”

“I need coffee,” Joel muttered. “Breakfast too,” he added when Alexis arched a brow. “We were up early. Logan and Jess left at first light to get the evidence to the lab in Cheyenne.”

Griff nodded. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“With Joel’s help, we got through the morning chores faster than usual,” Justin added.

Louise returned with coffee for the twins. Then she took their orders.

“Fill us in on what happened,” Joel said when she’d left. “I don’t like the idea of this guy finding you at the hotel.”

Griff provided a quick rundown on the early morning events. “The only explanation I have is that he recognized my SUV. If not for Denali’s barking, we wouldn’t have known he was out there.”

“He fired twice at Griff, then escaped,” Alexis said. “Denali followed his scent to a dead-end road.”

“Denali did that?” Joel glanced beneath the table where the dogs were all tangled together. “Good girl.”

“I’m concerned this guy has focused his attention on Alexis,” Griff said. Joel turned to look at his sister.

“Did you tell Griff about your ex-boyfriends?” Joel frowned as if searching his memory. “Ricky Travers and Oliver Sacks? One of them could be involved.”

“No. A lousy cheating boyfriend does not equate to being a serial killer.” Alexis scowled. “I don’t think this guy is someone that was close to me. A guy from school, maybe. But not a former boyfriend.”

Griff tended to agree, although he filed the two names away for later. It wouldn’t hurt to run a deep-dive background check on them. Along with Brent Wilson. After Louise brought the twins their breakfast, he asked, “Does anyone else come to mind?”

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. “You can try Brent Wilson,” Joel said. “Rumor has it he liked to get handsy with the girls. One slugged him for his efforts.”

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