Page 20 of Scent of Evil
Justin provided the coordinates, listening as Griff read them back, likely jotting them in a notebook. Then he took a moment to establish how far they’d gone since leaving Ginny’s home in the outskirts of Buffalo. A lot farther than he’d realized at the time, not that it had mattered as they were hot on Decker’s trail. Still, they were pretty much stuck in the middle of the mountain. “Listen, Griff, it’s going to take us several hours to get back, especially since Blaze will need to carry two riders.”
“Understood. What about Decker?”
“He somehow wrecked the four-wheeler ramming it into a tree. That marks the spot where the trail went in different directions. According to Stone, Decker went northwest while Ginny fled southeast.”
“Any idea where he’s headed?” Griff asked.
“No clue. But he doesn’t have any camping gear, and he’s on foot, so he won’t get too far.”
“Decker is hurt,” Ginny spoke up. “His knee is swollen, and he has a gash on the side of his head.”
“Thanks, Ginny, that’s helpful.” He repeated the information to Griff, scanning the area above them. Decker was still armed and could fire on them from a higher vantage point. “We know he’ll need to find some sort of shelter before dark.”
“That’s not much to go on,” Griff said with a sigh. “Now that we know Ginny is safe, we can work to get choppers and planes in the air at first light.”
“Okay.” Justin had a feeling Raine wouldn’t want to wait until morning, not that she’d have a choice. No way could they keep searching in the dark. And with the dark clouds overhead, what light they had would fade fast. He wasn’t even sure they’d make it back to Ginny’s home before darkness fell. “Thanks, Griff. We’ll be in touch.”
“Good work, Justin.” With that, Griff ended the call.
He stuffed the receiver back in the phone bag and stood. Raine was still holding Ginny close, as if she couldn’t bear to be separated from her. He smiled as he stored the phone in the saddle bag. He removed two protein bars and handed them to Raine. “For you and Ginny.”
“Thanks, but I think Ginny needs them more than I do.” Raine eased back, loosening her grip. “I took an extra one earlier. Are you hungry, Ginny?”
“Yeah.” The girl sniffed and swiped at her face. Justin frowned when he saw her bloodstained palm.
“What happened to your hand?”
Ginny grimaced. “I found a sharp rock that I was going to use against Decker. I held it in my hand while we were riding the four-wheeler, and it kept cutting into my skin, so I had to drop it.”
The bloodstained rock Stone had alerted on. “Stone found it.”
“He did?” Ginny shot a look of admiration at Stone. “He’s so smart.”
“Very much so,” Raine agreed. “We’ll need to wash that wound.”
Justin found two water bottles. “Here, you should drink one and use the other to wash out the wound. We still have a long ride back to the house.”
“Great,” Raine muttered. “Just what I wanted to hear.”
Ginny gulped a little over half of the first water bottle, then handed it to her aunt. Raine took a long sip, then gave the rest to Justin. She used the second water bottle to clean Ginny’s palm.
“Too bad we don’t have soap.” Raine glanced at him with concern. “There’s a lot of dirt ground into this wound.”
He grimaced. “We should be fine. Usually it takes at least twenty-four hours for an infection to set in. If you’re finished, we need to mount up.”
Ginny looked up at Timber and Blaze. “Am I going to ride back with you?”
“She can ride with me,” Raine offered. “That way Stone can ride with you if needed.”
He hesitated, then nodded. It would be better for Ginny and Raine to ride together, their combined weight was probably only a few pounds more than his alone. And he had been worried about Stone. The K9 had done an amazing job in leading them to Ginny, but he was likely tired out from the long mission.
“Okay, let’s get Ginny up first, then.” He smiled and offered Ginny his laced-together fingers. “Do you know how to ride?”
“Yes, but I’ve never ridden double.” Ginny gamely stepped into his hands, reaching up for the saddle horn. She was so light it was easy to lift her up onto Timber’s wide back.
“Good job. Raine, it’s your turn.” He once again offered her his hands. With steely determination darkening her eyes, Raine swung into the saddle behind Ginny. A flash of pain creased her features, but with Ginny in front of her, the girl didn’t notice. He felt bad for Raine, but there wasn’t an option if they were going to get back before nightfall.
He turned to Stone. “Hand.” The dog relinquished his stuffed penguin. Justin stored it away, they wouldn’t need it moving forward, then lifted his seventy-pound lab onto Blaze’s back. Once he was mounted behind the dog, he repositioned Stone into a more comfortable position, then turned Blaze on the trail.
