Page 12 of Scent of Evil
Stone wagged his tail and lowered his head to sniff the ground.
“What is he looking for?” Raine asked.
“Gold is our term for brass shell casings,” he explained. “Our dogs are cross-trained to identify other scents along with tracking people. I want him to find the shell casings from Decker’s weapon.”
She frowned. “We don’t need them; we already know he’s the one shooting at us.”
“We suspect that based on Stone’s following the scent trail and the sound of the four-wheeler,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t hurt to have proof.”
“We’ll be able to match his weapon to that taken from the scene of the crash. The one he used to escape. I’d rather get back on the trail. He’s already too far ahead of us.” She waved an impatient hand toward the wooded mountainside. “We need to keep pace with them as that ATV is bound to run out of gas sooner or later.”
He shared her sense of urgency. Turning toward Stone, he noticed the dog had his nose buried in a patch of tall grass next to the rock. Then Stone sat and barked. He crossed over to retrieve the shell casing. After tucking it into his pocket, he turned to face Raine.
Her gaze lingered on the interior of the shallow cave as if imagining the worst-case scenario.
“Don’t torture yourself, Raine. There’s no sign of a struggle, and I don’t think they were here for long.” He gestured toward Timber. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a leg up.”
She straightened her shoulders and nodded. “You’re right. I’m going to stay positive. We’ve kept him on the move, which must be working in Ginny’s favor.”
“Exactly. Decker is feeling the pressure of us tracking him, or he wouldn’t keep stopping to shoot at us.” Justin helped her mount Timber, then bent to check on his K9. He’d considered carrying the dog for a while, but Stone looked eager to go. “You okay to keep going, boy?”
Stone wagged his tail.
“Okay, then, search! Search for Decker and Ginny!” He swung into the saddle, wheeled Blaze around, and waited for Stone to pick up the scent trail.
His K9 led them downhill for several yards. The engine was still rumbling in the distance, but he noticed it now came in waves. Louder, then softer. Testing the wind, he grimly realized it was now coming from the northwest, hitting them from behind.
Carrying the sound farther away.
He was about to call a halt to their progress when Stone picked up his pace. Something had caught the dog’s attention, so he nudged Blaze with his heels, urging the equine into a trot.
Behind him, Raine let out a low moan.
“What is it, boy?” he called encouragingly to the dog. “What did you find?”
Stone kept moving, sweeping his nose from side to side. Then he abruptly stopped, backtracking a bit to sniff at what appeared to be a small rock.
His K9 sat and barked.
It was an odd spot for Stone to alert. Pulling back on the reins, he brought Blaze to a stop and quickly dismounted. He stepped closer, scanning the ground. The rock was small and so similar to others on the mountain that he didn’t understand why Stone had alerted there.
“What did he find?” Raine’s voice was tense.
“A rock.” As he crouched beside it, he noticed there was a mahogany-colored stain along one jagged edge.
Blood?
A chill snaked down his spine as he glanced around. After a moment, he stood and retrieved the penguin, tossing it for Stone.
“Good boy!”
“I don’t understand.” Raine scowled down at him. “Why is he alerting on a rock?”
He hesitated, not wanting to worry her. He stared down at the dark stain concluding the blood must be fresh. The earlier deluge of rain hadn’t washed it away.
Stone’s alert meant it had been dropped and recently.
“Justin?” Raine sounded impatient.
