Page 36 of Scent of Evil
“Trust me, I will. The more of us involved in taking him down, the less likely he’ll escape again.” Her gaze turned to steel. “I can’t wait to slap cuffs around his wrists.”
Ten minutes later, Justin and Raine met outside as Trevor led the horses into the trailer. It seemed like eons since Justin had done that, but it had only been yesterday.
Oddly, he felt as if he’d known Raine his entire life. Which didn’t make any sense. He and his siblings met strangers every day during their rescue missions. There was no reason for him to feel so connected to Raine.
What had his brother-in-law Doug said back when he and his sister Maya had gotten engaged? Feelings are rarely logical.
Wasn’t that the truth, he thought as he opened the back hatch for Stone. The lab eagerly jumped into the crated area. Archie, Trevor’s Red Fox English lab, clearly wanted to join them.
“Next time,” he said, closing the hatch. Trevor stepped back from the trailer. Justin nodded at his brother and slid in behind the wheel.
Raine settled into the passenger seat with the topo map on her lap. “We’re taking this road here.” She pointed to the faint line.
“Got it.” He suspected it was nothing more than two tire tracks that had been used by various vehicles over the years, rather than an actual road. He and Raine didn’t say much as he navigated the SUV and horse trailer through the twisty, windy road.
The two-track was so badly rutted he didn’t take it very far before hitting the brakes. “We’ll ride in from here. I don’t want to get the trailer stuck.”
“Okay.” Raine didn’t argue about taking a longer ride, and when he gave her a leg up on Timber, she didn’t grimace or groan.
He bent to give Stone some water. “Are you ready, boy? Search! Search Decker.”
Stone sniffed the air, then the ground. Justin quickly swung onto Blaze and followed his K9. The dog stayed on the two-track for most of the way, and Justin had to ease back on the reins when he saw the side of a building between the trees.
He gestured to it and slid off Blaze. “We should go on foot from here.”
Raine nodded. It went against the grain, but she took the lead, weapon in hand. He pulled his as well as they crept closer. It didn’t look as if anyone was around. No smoke wafted from the chimney, and he didn’t hear anyone moving around. Stone darted forward sniffing with interest, but he didn’t alert.
A few minutes later, Raine shook her head after peering through a window. Justin knew the cabin was empty. Decker hadn’t been there.
One down, two more to go.
He prayed they’d find him soon. Before Decker could prey on another young girl.
9
Even though the cabin appeared empty and Stone hadn’t alerted, Raine tried the front door. It wasn’t locked. She opened it and stepped over the threshold.
“We should get to the next cabin,” Justin said. “Decker hasn’t been here.”
“I know.” She truly trusted Stone’s nose and tracking ability, but her instinct was to verify for herself that her quarry hadn’t been there. The cabin was plain but serviceable. She remembered this was the property owned by Cliff and Hilda Munroe but didn’t see any signs of a woman’s touch.
Likely Cliff used the place for hunting and fishing.
Glancing over her shoulder at Justin’s expectant expression, she nodded. “You’re right. We need to move on.”
The horses waited patiently as they approached. Stone was stretched out on the ground nearby. When Justin laced his fingers together, she stepped into his palm and swung onto Timber’s broad back.
Her sore muscles protested, but if she were honest, it wasn’t as bad as it had been yesterday. Maybe her butt was numb, she thought with an inward sigh.
“We’ll ride back to the SUV and trailer,” Justin said. “From there, we’ll drive to the next cabin.”
“Sounds good to me.” The mixture of driving and riding helped. The early morning sun flickered through the leaves, providing some warmth. Once Justin took the lead, she clucked at Timber, encouraging her gelding to follow.
She wondered about Decker and hoped they weren’t on the wrong track. Maybe the guy had gotten himself lost, although the way he’d grabbed Ginny and escaped with the four-wheeler seemed to indicate he’d had a plan to meet up with someone.
Jim Kluck, the owner of the next cabin they were heading to? Maybe. She wished she knew how Decker had managed to communicate with those guys. Had his lawyer played a role? Or had Decker somehow been able to access the dark web through the prison computers?
The latter option didn’t seem likely, but she knew her boss was following up on that possibility.Whatever Mike can do from behind a desk, she thought wryly.
