Page 1 of Too Late

Prologue

Sevenyearsago

Bark!

Chloe ran through the thick brush of the woods toward her K-9, Miss Marple. The golden retriever hadn’t run back to her as if she’d found the missing hiker, but she had something.

“What is it, girl?”

Miss Marple stood at the edge of a drop-off, barking.

Chloe stopped ten feet short of the drop and cautiously walked another five feet. She held her hand out to the dog. “What is it, Marple?”

The loyal dog pointed her nose down the drop-off and then stared up at Chloe.

The rest of their team came in close, including the newest member, Josh Schneider. The search and rescue team included three humans plus Miss Marple. Chloe was the K-9 handler, and Josh and Derek flanked the sides, looking for clues.

Josh walked to the edge and looked down. “It’s not even twenty feet. Should be a quick rappel.”

Chloe’s heart thundered. “Marple hates the harness. We’ll run this way”—she pointed to the left—“and find an easier way down. Looks like it might slope in the distance. You two rappel down, and we’ll meet at the bottom.”

Josh’s brows twisted up. “You sure?”

“Yep.” Not waiting for him to argue, which it appeared he was set on, she whistled for Miss Marple. “Let’s go, girl.”

Without a second glance at the guys, the pair took off.

But it took longer than she had hoped; still, thirty minutes later they met back up with Josh and Derek. The guys had already put away all of their rappelling gear and were finishing up a snack. She’d wasted time finding another way down, but rappelling wasn’t an option. And the idea that Miss Marple didn’t like the harness wasn’t a complete lie.

The guys stood and shouldered their packs.

Miss Marple sniffed around, tail down. Her tail shot up and wagged. She’d found the scent of the missing person again.

“Search.” Chloe gave the command, and with her nose down, Marple trotted through the brush on the trail.

Five hours had already passed since they’d been called out on this search, and Miss Marple had picked up the scent about two hours ago. The whole team was growing tired, but they wouldn’t stop until the trail turned cold or they found the man who had gone missing.

When called out on search and rescue missions, the team was typically looking for a missing hiker on public land, but this one was different. A hunter had vanished three days ago on his own land.

Marple ran ahead. They followed.

About fifteen minutes later, Miss Marple ran back to them and grabbed the red Kong toy that hung from Chloe’s side. This was her signal that she’d found what she was looking for—in this case, the missing hunter.

Marple ran back to where she’d come from.

They followed her.

They turned a bend in the valley. Marple sat beside a figure in the brush, at the base of a tree.

Chloe ran harder. The person didn’t appear to be in good shape with the way he was slumped against the tree and didn’t react to Miss Marple.

“Mr. Bortsov, are you okay?” Chloe unclipped her backpack and rounded the tree.

Josh ran up and dropped to his knees. “Mr. Bortsov. Peter. Are you okay?”

Peter Bortsov’s eyes were closed, and his skin was pale.

Chloe reached for his carotid artery. Nothing.

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