Page 52 of Scent of Evil
Slowing as they approached town, he eyed the gas station mini-mart. There was only one vehicle at the pump, a battered Chevy pickup truck. Realizing he needed to fill up his tank, he pulled in on the other side of the Chevy.
Raine craned her neck to better see the guy pumping gas. Justin had already noted he was young with a scraggly beard and wore a baseball cap rather than a Stetson. He shook his head. “He’s not our guy.”
“I can see that.” Raine sighed, grabbed her phone from the center console and pushed her door open. “I’ll head inside to flash Decker’s photo. Maybe he brought the four-wheeler here to get gas.”
They could only hope Decker had done that, although he doubted it. “I’ll be there soon.” He scanned the area as he filled the fuel tank. The town was smaller than he’d anticipated. Homes here were likely isolated from each other. And since it wasn’t far from Buffalo, he could easily imagine Decker coming here. Not for gas, though.
To find a new ride.
He opened the back hatch for Stone. His K9 awoke and jumped down. “Go on, boy. Get busy.”
Stone trotted to a grassy area and did his thing. The rain was barely a mist, and he wondered if that would be enough to continue keeping the forest fire at bay. The sky was dark overhead, and while he could certainly smell the smoke, he didn’t see any in the air, which he took as a good sign.
When he finished fueling the SUV, he called Stone and headed inside. Raine was at the counter talking to the clerk. Her name tag identified her as Dawn.
“You’re sure you haven’t seen or heard a four-wheeler,” she said.
“I’m positive. It would be unusual for someone to ride an ATV here to gas it up.” Dawn appeared to be in her early sixties, wearing her mostly gray hair pulled back from her deeply lined face. “I’ll keep my eyes peeled for that guy, though.” Dawn nodded at Raine’s phone. “He looks like a creep.”
“That he is.” Raine slid her phone away. “You know the locals well?”
“Of course.” Dawn looked affronted that she’d asked. “Everyone stops in here sooner or later. I’m the only gas station mini-mart in town.”
Raine pulled out a business card and slid it across the counter. “If you hear of any trouble, reports of a trespasser or stolen vehicle, will you please call me? As I said before, this man is armed and dangerous.”
“I can do that.” The clerk put the card on the edge of the register. “But you should know that if he tried something around here, he’s likely to get himself shot.”
Raine’s smile was tight. “I understand. And I hope you’re right in that Decker is the one who gets hurt and nobody else. Thanks for your time.”
Justin waited near the door for Raine. Her look of disappointment stabbed deep. “Hey, we’ll find him.”
“I know. I just hope it’s soon.” She grimaced, but then her expression softened when Stone nudged her, his tail wagging. “Hey, boy. You look well rested.”
“He’ll be ready to go when needed.” Justin pushed the door open for her.
She ducked and ran to the SUV. He turned to follow, opening the back hatch for Stone. They’d known finding Decker wouldn’t be easy but had to admit this was a lackluster start to their search.
He waited a minute when he noticed a vehicle approaching from the direction of Buffalo. It didn’t take long to recognize the SUV pulling a horse trailer. Trevor had caught up to them and pulled in beside the set of pumps the bearded guy had used earlier.
“Learn anything?” Trevor asked as he jumped out to top off his gas tank too.
Justin rolled down his driver’s side window so they could talk. “Nope. But keep your eyes open as we head through town. For all we know, Decker has already gotten ahold of a replacement vehicle.”
“I passed a Chevy a few minutes ago,” Trevor said. “But it was a younger kid driving it.”
“Yeah, we saw him here.” Despite the fall weather and open bowhunting season, there weren’t nearly as many people out and about as usual. Granted, it was a Sunday afternoon, but still, he’d expected to see more hunters in the area.
Raine abruptly jumped out of the car. “I forgot something,” she called over her shoulder as she strode back into the gas station.
Trevor frowned. “Is she okay?”
“As good as she can be.” He wasn’t sure what she’d forgotten to tell the clerk. He pushed open his door to follow. “Keep an eye on Stone.”
Trevor nodded. Justin lengthened his stride to catch up with Raine.
“What’s up?” he asked, holding the door for her.
“I saw those signs for the dude ranch and forgot to ask about it.” She brushed past him to approach the counter. “Excuse me, Dawn, but can you tell me about the dude ranch? Would they have families staying there as guests?”
