Page 71 of Scent of Death

A rumbling sound made her look up to see Logan’s plane coming in for a landing. She worried they were taking advantage of Jessica’s husband, but Logan loved flying and jumped at the chance to take his bird up in the sky.

“Come, Denali.” Pushing off from the fence, she crossed the field toward the runway. She wasn’t surprised to see Griff jump down from the plane.

Griff grinned widely and ran toward her. He gently hugged her, always remembering her sore ribs. “I missed you,” he murmured against her hair.

“Back at you.” She kissed him. Then when Logan loudly cleared his throat, she leaned back to stare at him. “Go away.”

“Is that the thanks I get for bringing Griff for the weekend?” Logan pretended to be hurt. “And here I thought I was helping.”

“You are, thanks, Logan.” Griff gave her another quick kiss before releasing her. “Let’s go. I hear Anna has made barbecued ribs for dinner.”

“And here I thought you came here to see me,” she teased.

“I did.” He caught her hand. “And to celebrate closing the Jenkins case.” His expression turned serious. “The lab ran all the DNA recovered from the cabin. They matched those of the first three victims, along with yours and Maureen’s.”

She nodded. Griff had gone back the next day after her abduction to retrieve Tyler’s body. The ME had confirmed he died of a broken neck. And when Griff followed up on the other victims, he was able to verify that each of the first three victims had been eating or buying baked goods when they were taken. He’d learned that Tyler had worked as a freelance delivery driver, which was why he’d been in different cities around the state. He hadn’t delivered to the ranch, but he very well could have. Finally, Griff mentioned they’d found a tiny closet in the bakery that was once owned and operated by Tyler Jenkins’s mother.

Alexis hadn’t seen it, but Griff had described the scratch marks in the wall. And the blood stains soaked into the wooden floor had matched Tyler’s. As a child, he must have smelled the baked goods his mother made the entire time he was locked in the closet.

In a way, she understood why Tyler had gone insane. It was just too bad three young women had to pay the price of his madness.

“One more thing I uncovered,” Griff said as they headed to the main ranch house. “Turns out, Tyler’s mother was killed by the oldest son in a murder suicide. In talking to Cheri, we think that was the inciting incident that sent Tyler over the edge, as it happened just three months before Josie Allen went missing.”

“Wow.” She shook her head. “Tyler lived a tortured life, and that’s sad. But I’m glad he can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Me too.”

She knew something was up when a pack of dogs came running from the other side of the house. She recognized them as her siblings K9s, including Bear the chocolate lab who was the newest member of the group, having been rescued by Owen Ross and his new wife, Emily. The couple had gotten married in late June and stayed at the ranch part time to train Bear to become a search and rescue K9.

Denali quickly ran to join them. The dogs jumped and played with abandon, one of the few times they were given free rein.

Griff held the door open for her. Somehow, Logan had gotten into the main ranch house before them and stood with the rest of her family, looking suspiciously happy.

She hung back, glancing at Griff. “You didn’t invite them all on purpose, did you?”

His green eyes widened with innocence. “Who me?” Before she could say anything more, he dropped to one knee and held out a ring. “Alexis, will you please marry me?”

Her family went silent for a long moment, waiting for her response. As annoyed as she was to have an audience, she had no intention of disappointing them.

“Yes, Griff. I’d be honored to marry you.” Her siblings burst into a round of applause, Owen whistling loudly between his fingers.

“I love you.” Griff stood and slipped the ring on her finger. He drew her close and kissed her.

“There must be something in the water around here,” Joel complained. “Everyone’s getting hitched.”

“Not me, bro.” Justin shook his head. “We’d better fill our canteens elsewhere.”

“I’m on board with that plan,” Trevor agreed. Kendra elbowed him in the ribs.

“Knock it off,” Chase said. He pulled his pregnant wife close. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Another wedding.” Kendra sighed. “It’s so romantic.”

Alexis broke off from the kiss and turned to the youngest Sullivan. “Kendra, will you please be my maid of honor?”

“Really?” Kenda’s eyes brightened. “That would be great.”

“One more thing.” Chase raised his voice to be heard over the din. “I got the DNA results from the bone fragment Alexis and Denali found on the mountain. It’s a match for the pilot who crashed the plane, killing our parents.”

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