Page 27 of Scent of Death

He understood. There were plenty of potential threats in the wilderness, and they weren’t all walking on two legs. He pulled his weapon from its holster and held it down at his side. “Let’s check it out.”

Alexis scowled. “You can’t go around shooting wildlife with a handgun.”

“Only if they attack and our lives are in danger,” he agreed. “Trust me, I’d rather not shoot anything.”

After a brief hesitation, Alexis nodded and threw her arm toward the woods. “Go, Denali. Search.”

Denali glanced up at her as if to make sure, then trotted forward, her nose close to the ground. When they reached the edge of the brush, Denali seemed to quicken her pace. Clearly, she was focused on something.

He just wished he could see what it was. In the distance, he could hear the rumble of voices from other campers, so it didn’t seem likely that a bear or some other large animal would be lurking nearby.

Denali pressed forward. Only when they were in the middle of the thicket did the K9 slow down and turn away from the area where the voices were coming from.

“What is it?” Alexis asked again. “What did you find?”

Denali stuck her nose beneath a bush, then began to growl. Griff stopped, lifted his weapon, and swept the area. He didn’t see anyone, but could his killer be hiding nearby?

Denali backed away from the bush, her hackles rising as her growls grew louder.

“What is it, girl? Did you find a snake under there?” Alexis appeared puzzled by her K9’s behavior.

Denali sat and barked. Holding his weapon up, he stepped in front of Alexis. “Get down. That’s her alert, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Alexis dropped down to place a protective arm around Denali. “I don’t understand. How did this guy get here? And why didn’t we see him?”

“I don’t know.” Griff trusted the dog’s keen sense of smell and hearing more than he trusted his eyesight. But if Denali was alarmed, he was too. He tipped his head to look upward, searching the trees. He knew the guy had climbed a tree back near their SUVs. Maybe he liked being high in a perch, looking down at those he wanted to kill. “We need to back away from here.” He kept his tone low. “You and Denali go first. I’ll cover you.”

“Hold on, I’d like to know what’s under that bush.” Alexis looked up at him. “If there’s not a snake living there, maybe our killer left something behind.”

Every instinct in Griff’s body told him they needed to get far away from the campground. It had been a bad idea to leave the restaurant. He should have suggested they sit in the SUV at the hardware store to wait for it to open.

Was he overreacting? It didn’t make sense that the perp had found them there. He hadn’t noticed anyone following them. And if his suspect was hiding and watching them, he likely would have taken a shot by now. He’d done that several times before, including the first time Alexis and Denali had gotten close to his burial ground.

Would Denali alert on a snake? He had no idea. He didn’t lower his weapon but nodded toward the bush. “Okay, but be careful. It could be a trap. And stay low, don’t make yourself an easy target.”

“Understood.” Alexis eased up just enough to make her way to the bush. She moved to the side and cautiously shoved the branches out of the way with her arm. Then she frowned. “I don’t believe it.”

“What?” He couldn’t imagine what was under there.

Alexis turned; a grim expression etched on her features. “Do you have another evidence bag?”

“Yes, but tell me what you found.” He lowered the weapon and took a few steps toward her. “What did he leave behind?”

“Dog food.” Her answer was so unexpected he thought he’d misunderstood.

“Dog food? Why would he bother to do something like that?” Griff lowered the muzzle of his weapon toward the ground as he peered over her shoulder to see what she meant. There was a small pile of dog food beneath the bush.

“I need an evidence bag,” Alexis said impatiently. “And we have to call my brothers to have them turn around to come back. I want this dog food tested in a lab ASAP.”

“Tested for what?” He pulled a clean evidence bag from the small pouch on his belt and passed it to her. He still didn’t understand. “Do you want to know if it’s the same brand you use back at the ranch?”

“No, it’s not the same brand, the kibble looks different. The brand of dog food doesn’t matter.” She used the bag as a glove and put a fistful of the dog food into the bag. Then she stood, eyeing him somberly. “I want this tested for poison.”

“Poison?” He glanced over to where Denali sat, watching them with her brown eyes. “How do you know some camper with a dog didn’t leave this here? Or dump it because they didn’t want to haul it home?”

“I don’t think that’s what happened.” Alexis examined the food inside the evidence bag. “I see what appears to be some moisture on the food. Not enough to make it soggy, but enough to indicate it wasn’t sitting under there for a long time.”

“Poison,” he repeated. “You think the killer purposefully hid dog food hoping Denali would eat it.”

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