Page 38 of Scent of Evil
As before, Justin helped her up onto Timber’s back. If she could find a large rock, she could probably do it herself.The curse of being short, she thought wearily.
“Here, Stone.” Justin knelt and offered his K9 water. “Are you ready to go, huh, boy? Search! Search for Decker.”
Stone went to work, sniffing the air more so than the ground. She wondered if the high grass and weeds interfered with his ability to track Decker’s scent. Within minutes, though, the K9 began to move forward. Justin and Blaze quickly followed. She lost sight of Stone, his yellow coat blending too well with the foliage.
“Let’s go, Timber.” She tapped her gelding with her heels. Her mount obliged by falling into step behind Blaze. Keeping focused on Justin’s broad back wasn’t difficult, but she wished she could see Stone. At least she should be able to hear him if he alerted on Decker’s scent.
And if the K9 didn’t find him? She tried not to think about the possibility that Decker was still lost in the woods and that they’d have to ride for miles, like yesterday, to find him.
Timber tried to nibble on the tall grass along the way. She tightened her grip on the reins, knowing Justin and his brother had fed the horses earlier. The equine lagged behind, so she clucked her tongue and gave him a nudge with her heels.
Timber picked up the pace, trotting to catch up to Justin and Blaze. She narrowed her eyes, wondering if Timber had done that on purpose because he knew she didn’t like to trot.
No, horses didn’t have rational thoughts like that, did they?
Giving herself a mental shake, she kept her gaze on Justin and strained to listen. She didn’t hear anything but the birds and rustling of the wind.
Justin pulled back on the reins, turning Blaze to look back at her. He gestured up ahead, and she could just barely see a thin ribbon of smoke rising into the sky.
Someone, maybe Decker, was at the cabin!
She nodded when Justin put his finger to his lips indicating they needed to be quiet. They couldn’t afford to let whoever was in the cabin hear them approaching. When he dismounted Blaze, she followed suit, sliding off Timber. Stone was up ahead, looking back at them as if waiting for them to catch up. The K9 hadn’t alerted, but they were far enough from the cabin that she wasn’t surprised.
Her heart thumped in her chest as she pulled her weapon. For a moment, she considered texting Griff as promised. Then she decided against it. For all they knew, Decker wasn’t the guy inside the cabin with a fire going, Jim Kluck was. Maybe Kluck lived there year-round, which was why the two-track road was so overgrown.
She moved closer to Justin. He bent his head so that his lips were near her ear. “Stay close behind me; Stone will take the lead.”
She frowned. “He’ll bark.”
“No, he’ll just sit and look at me. I’ve given him the signal to be quiet.” The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile. “Trust me, we’ve trained our dogs well.”
“Okay.” Who was she to argue? “Let’s go.”
Justin threw out his hand in a sweeping motion. Stone wheeled and lowered his head to sniff the ground. Seconds later, the K9 was on the move.
Rather than staying behind Justin, Raine lengthened her stride so they were side by side. For one thing, she wanted to see what was ahead. And for another, Decker was her escaped convict.
Her job, her problem. Justin was only there because she needed Stone’s keen nose to let them know who was inside.
Stone slowed at one point, sniffing intently near a tree, but then continued. She glanced at Justin who didn’t seem concerned his K9 was on the wrong path.
She forced herself to keep the faith. After seeing Stone in action yesterday, she had no reason to believe the K9 would mislead them today.
As they walked, a rustic-looking brown log cabin came into view. They were still several yards away, staying within the trees for cover.
With a frown, she realized there wasn’t smoke coming from the chimney anymore. She touched Justin’s arm to get his attention and pointed. He looked up at the sky, then grimaced and shrugged. He didn’t know why the fire had been put out either.
They’d been quiet enough not to raise an alarm. Unless there were hidden cameras somewhere they’d missed. A sick feeling of dread twisted in her stomach, and she found herself wishing Stone would hurry up and alert.
When the dog suddenly sat and stared at Justin, she froze. Justin bent and rubbed his hands over the dog’s fur, then lifted his finger to his lips. Stone wagged his tail but didn’t bark or growl.
Decker had been there! She dropped to her knees, keeping her eye on the cabin. There was no movement from within. If not for the earlier smoke and Stone’s alert, she’d think the place was empty.
She pulled out her phone and frowned at the no service message. Shoving it into her pocket, she gestured for Justin to come closer. In the quietest whisper she could manage, she said, “We’ll need to split up. I’ll take the front; you take the back.”
“No. We go back to the horses and call Griff via satellite phone.”
It was the right thing to do, but she couldn’t leave. Not without having eyes on Decker. “You go make the call. I’ll watch the cabin.”
