Page 50 of Scent of Evil
“We know Decker was last seen heading north,” Justin said. “Even if the fuel tank on the ATV was full, it won’t last forever.”
“There’s a town called Kearny that’s a little north of Saddlestring.” Griff met her gaze. “That may be a good place to start.”
“I agree.” It felt good to have a plan and a starting point. Hopefully, they didn’t guess wrong. After everything they’d been through, they couldn’t afford to make another mistake. “Maybe we should drive through Saddlestring on the way. Just in case.”
“And do what?” Justin tipped his head to the side. “I’m not being sarcastic, I’m curious as to how we’ll find him. We can’t visit every citizen’s home in Saddlestring or Kearny to see if Decker has been there. He could find an isolated ranch property, kill the owner, and take off with the owner’s vehicle without us knowing.”
The image of another dead man brutally murdered by Decker made her wince. “I know, and that’s unfortunate. On the plus side, news travels fast in small towns.” She took another bite of her pizza. The slight churning in her stomach settled down as she ate. “If we stop at the local pub or gas station and flash Decker’s photo, we may learn something.”
“Works for me.” Justin finished one slice of pizza and started on a second. “We just need to decide if we should take the four-wheelers or the horses.”
“Maybe both.” Trevor walked into the room with Archie at his heels. “I left the horses in the corral of the Lucky Charm farm for now, but it won’t take long to get them back into the trailer. I think it’s best if I go with you.”
Raine was humbled by Trevor’s offer, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty. It was bad enough she’d dragged Justin and Stone into danger. Adding another Sullivan sibling and his K9 was too much. “I’m not sure that’s necessary.”
“I disagree.” Justin frowned at her. “We don’t know what we’ll need to use once we pick up Decker’s trail. And having another K9 in the mix can only help, not hurt us.”
Griff made a face. “I can just imagine what Chase will think about both of you working the case.”
Trevor waved that off as he took the last chair at the small table and reached for a slice of pizza. “Chase doesn’t need to know. Besides, it’s not like he’d sit back while some creep escaped.”
“Trevor is right, Chase would be the first to go after a scumbag like Decker. He’s not here, but we are, and we can handle this.” Justin pushed his empty plate away. “I think it’s best to have options.”
Raine sighed and finished her pizza. There was no point in arguing. It wasn’t as if she could stop Trevor from following them. “Fine. I need to call my boss. Then we’ll hit the road.”
“The rain seems to be letting up.” Trevor reached for a second slice. “That’s good and bad. I’m hoping the storm dumped enough rain to douse the forest fire.”
She nodded, deeply troubled by the thought of the fire spreading. Buffalo was east of the fire, and any change in the wind could bring the flames dangerously close to town. She picked up her phone and called her boss, Mike Rowe. He’d gotten promoted after Decker’s arrest, although she had been involved in that as well, and he seemed to prefer doing his job from his desk.
Normally, she didn’t care, but right now, she could have used his support.
“Raine? What’s going on?” Mike asked in lieu of a greeting. With cell phones these days, nobody bothered with pleasantries anymore.
“Decker and Jim Kluck are one and the same,” she said bluntly. “How did we miss the fact that Decker had an alias?”
“How should I know?” Rowe sounded defensive. He’d understood that when she’d saidweshe’d really meanthim. “He didn’t have additional identification on him when we arrested him. How could anyone have guessed he also used an alias?”
She drew a deep breath to keep from snapping at him. “Well, he does, and that’s how he rigged his mountain cabin to explode when we got there.”
“He blew up his own cabin?” Rowe sounded incredulous. “That’s crazy.”
“Tell me about it. He started a forest fire that Justin and I narrowly escaped.” She knew her anger and frustration toward her boss was unwarranted. It wasn’t Rowe’s fault Decker had stayed one step ahead of them for the past twenty-four hours. Still, she was irked and couldn’t hide her feelings. “I need you to email me Decker’s file. There may be something we’ve missed that will help us track him down.”
“He’s back on the run?” Rowe asked.
“Yeah, he had a four-wheeler at the cabin that he used to get away. We tried to track him, but when the fire burned out of control, we had no choice but to abandon the search to escape the blaze.”
“I’m sorry, Raine. I’m glad you’re not hurt.” There was some background noise indicating her boss was in a car. “I’ll get you the file ASAP. Is there anything else I can do?”
“We may need additional support if we find him.” She knew Cheyenne was hours from Buffalo. “We’re heading out to check the two closest towns where Decker may have gone to get another ride.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Rowe agreed. “Keep me updated on your progress.”
“Will do.” She wanted to ask where he was headed but decided not to bother. Rowe was likely grabbing lunch too.
Must be nice, she thought as she ended the call. Not that she was itching for a desk job, but if she was the one in charge, she’d be in Buffalo the way Griff was.
Taking a more hands-on approach to the investigation.
