Page 10 of Scent of Death

“Me either.” Griff grimaced as he stood. He bent to massage his left knee, making Alexis frown. Was he hurt? If so, he shouldn’t be hiking in the mountains. When he noticed her looking at him, Griff dropped his hand and gestured to the river. “Looks like the dogs have the right idea.”

“They do.” Jess dropped to her knees. “The water is nice and cold.”

Jess used her cupped hands to splash water on her face. Alexis joined her. And soon the guys were crouched at the bank too.

“We know our perp was here.” Griff wiped the water from his face and rose to his feet to look around the area. “I wish we could have found boot prints.”

“We’ll keep the dogs on his scent.” Joel grinned as Royal splashed through the stream. “Cooling them down will help.”

Alexis looked for familiar landmarks but didn’t see any. They had been heading in a general western direction, which in theory would eventually lead to the area where she’d left her SUV and the others likely had too.

“Come, Denali.” Alexis didn’t bother to try to avoid the droplets that pelted her when Denali shook herself to get rid of the excess water. “Good girl.”

Joel and Jess called their respective K9s too and were subject to the same drenching. In truth, the cold water felt good. Soon, Joel and Jess had their dogs back on the scent. Alexis wasn’t surprised when the dogs followed the stream.

She wasn’t sure how they’d followed the scent, other than the shooter must have been sweating to the point that some of those particles hit the earth near the stream. Often people purposefully walked through water to avoid leaving a trail.

And this guy must have known something about that strategy to have tried it here. Thankfully, July was hot enough to work in their favor.

They walked in silence. Joel and Jess kept an eye on their dogs while the rest of them followed. After about twenty minutes, Royal abruptly stopped, turned, and walked through the creek to the other side.

Jessica’s Teddy did the same thing.

“Our guy got out of the stream here?” Griff hurried ahead to peer at the water’s edge. “I don’t see footprints, but the ground is damp here.”

Alexis eyed her watch. “It’s been several hours since he took that shot.” She shrugged, then added, “I’m surprised the sun hasn’t dried it up completely by now.”

“Yeah. Good point.” Griff stood for a moment with his hands on his hips. “It makes me wonder if he stayed back at the location where we found the shell casing for a while. Maybe watching you, Alexis.”

“Maybe.” The last thing she wanted was to capture the attention of a serial killer. Griff had mentioned he wasn’t sure how this guy was choosing his victims, other than they were young and lived alone.

She didn’t live alone, considering there were nine other cabins on the ranch housing her siblings. And nobody could get on the ranch without at least one of the dogs, and more likely all of them, raising the alarm.

“I don’t think you should go anywhere alone, Alexis,” Griff said in a low voice. “Not until we get this guy.”

She arched a brow. “Just me? Or all young women who might be targeted by this sick guy?”

“All women, yes”—Griff held her gaze for a long moment—“but especially you. He likely watched you from afar, the way he must have observed his earlier victims before making his move.” Griff reached for her hand. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.” She couldn’t deny being disturbed over the idea of this guy becoming obsessed with her. The one good thing was that she never went anywhere without Denali at her side.

If this guy tried anything, he’d be in for a rude awakening. Denali might look harmless, but the K9 would protect Alexis from a threat.

She only hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Griff was tired,sore, and hungry. But, of course, he didn’t complain. With the Sullivan K9s following the scent trail, he had no intention of stopping. The stream was well behind them now, as the dogs continued moving southwest.

His phone rang, catching him off guard. They must have reached a location with cell service. He ducked under a low-hanging branch as he reached for his phone. Seeing his boss’s name on the screen, he quickly answered. “This is Flannery.”

“Did you find anything more?” His boss was Special Agent in Charge Holden Ring. He was originally from Texas, and the other agents who reported to him secretly called him Tex.

Griff suppressed a sigh. His boss was all about looking good to the upper brass. Tex wanted nothing more than to be promoted within the bureau. Griff liked his post in Cheyenne, which was generally considered a bottom-of-the-barrel assignment. “Not much. The two victims that were found with the help of Denali, one of the Sullivan K9s, are being taken to Greybull where the medical examiner will perform full autopsies. They appear to have been strangled, and both of them were wearing clothes, which tells me if he sexually assaulted them, he took the time to put their clothes back on.”

“That would be unusual,” Holden, a.k.a. Tex, admitted. “I’d like those autopsy reports ASAP.”

Griff rolled his eyes since Tex couldn’t see him. After a moment, he decided to come clean about the shell casing. “Royal is another Sullivan K9. He found a shell casing. Someone shot at Alexis Sullivan, and we think it could be our guy. I’ll send that to the lab as soon as we get off the mountain.”

“That’s good work,” Tex said. And since compliments were rare, Griff knew his boss would use that information to assure the higher ups they were close to nailing this guy. “I need you to keep me in the loop.”

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