Chapter 7 #2
He flushed and hoped she didn’t notice. It wasn’t as if this was an appropriate time to be thinking about how pretty Evie was. Or how much he enjoyed spending time with her. If not for Bruno finding Skye’s bone, they wouldn’t be together at all.
Turning away, he picked up the bag containing the swim trunks. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Evie nodded, filling a bowl of water for Bruno. He left her to it, quickly changing his clothes. They’d spent summers together dressed in swimwear, but somehow, this felt different.
Or maybe he was just letting Evie’s pretty face mess with his mind.
He pulled his T-shirt back on, shoved his feet into his running shoes, and headed into the kitchen. Evie wasn’t there; he could see she was outside with Bruno. She’d opened the window to let the breeze in.
“Search! Search, Bruno!” Evie threw her arm wide. He watched as the dog seemed to understand her command, lowering his nose to the ground and sniffing with interest, making a zigzag pattern toward the woods.
He went out to join her, the bag of snorkel gear dangling from his fingers. “Are you practicing?”
“Why not? You said you wanted Bruno’s help.” She gestured to the path that led deeper into the woods. A moment later, Bruno was heading that way. “He does seem to understand the word search.”
After tossing the snorkel gear into the back seat of the SUV, he quickly followed Evie and Bruno. The dog continued sniffing the ground, his tail moving back and forth.
“Where did you find him?” Cam couldn’t help being impressed with the shepherd’s focus.
“Outside of Grand Rapids. I was heading home late one night after a long Saturday of being on call and caring for several trauma patients. The road was closed due to construction, forcing me to take a detour. I spied Bruno running along the side of the road, as if he was trying to catch up to me. I stopped and opened the car door.” She glanced back at her dog.
“He jumped right in. His fur was matted with mud, and he looked skinny, so I took him home and fed him. He ate as if he hadn’t had anything in his stomach in days. ”
“Poor guy,” Cam murmured.
“I gave him a bath and cared for him until the following Monday when I hauled him to the vet. They didn’t find a chip or have any indication the owners were looking for him.
” She shrugged. “The vet promised to keep me updated if anyone came looking for him, but nobody ever did.” Her expression softened.
“After a few weeks of caring for him, and falling in love with him, the vet chipped him with my name and number. I must admit, I was relieved nobody came forward to claim him.”
“I can understand that. He’s a great dog.” Cam’s brow furrowed. “Still, it’s very strange. If he was being trained as a police dog, I’m surprised nobody has come forward. Or that he wasn’t chipped right away.”
“I think so too.” She quickened her pace as Bruno darted farther ahead. “But it could be that the previous owner was a retired cop who spent a lot of time training him. Maybe the guy died and Bruno took off to find help.”
They hiked through the woods for a solid fifteen minutes, before Evie called Bruno back. “Okay, boy, that’s enough. Stop, Bruno. It’s time to go.”
The dog lifted his head, glanced at Evie, his dark eyes intense, but then he turned and trotted back toward them. Evie bent to run her fingers over the shepherd’s fur, pulling a few prickers off as she did so.
“I’m glad you’re up to date on your flea and tick meds,” she told him. “Good boy, Bruno. You’re a good boy.”
Cam was encouraged by the dog’s actions. First that he hadn’t alerted to anything in Duncan Woods, and second that he seemed to understand his mission was to find the killer.
Maybe this would work. He didn’t normally pray the way Evie and several of his teammates did, but that didn’t stop him from looking up at the sky and whispering a plea for God to help guide them to the truth.
Retracing their steps led them back to the rental house.
He stood for a moment, pondering the trail.
It was obviously used recently by hikers, but where did it go?
Did it join with another trail? Maybe one that led to a bigger hiking path?
Duncan Woods was full of hiking trails. Not that he’d explored them at length himself.
Glancing at his watch, he decided that wasn’t as important as searching the river for Skye’s car or searching for Dan Johnson. In his opinion, Dan should be more of a suspect than he was.
“Are you ready?” Evie asked. She’d gone into the clearing, while he’d remained on the path.
“Yeah.” It still bugged him that the trail led straight to the rental house. Should they search for a different place to stay? Or was he overreacting?
Probably the latter.
With a sigh, he said, “I’m ready.” He quickly closed the gap between them. “Although let’s grab the laptop, along with our other things. We may need it.”
“Fine with me.” She waited as he grabbed the necessary items from the rental house, bringing them to the car. “What do you think, should we swing by the high school first? Or just drive straight to the river?”
His gut instinct was to avoid the downtown area so they wouldn’t run across the police. Then he realized that going to town would help hide where they were staying. “Yeah, let’s go to the high school first.”
“Okay.” She searched his gaze for a moment. “Maybe we’ll recognize one of the teachers.”
He nodded absently, although his mind was still on the hiking trail. “I hope so. Especially if the teacher can tell us if Dan Johnson is still around.”
“Are you okay?” Evie asked. “You seem preoccupied.”
“Fine.” He needed to stay focused. “Do you mind if I drive again?”
“Go for it.” Evie put the backpack in the back seat near his snorkel gear and computer “You should grab a few towels from the rental house.”
He went back inside to get them. When he returned, he thought about what she’d said. “If Dan Johnson is still in the area, he might have kids that attend the grade school.”
“Could be.” She frowned. “If that’s true, I feel bad for the woman he married.”
He started the car, cranked the air conditioning, then turned around to head back to the road. They rode in silence for several minutes as he took another circular route back.
There were no signs of the local police patrolling the streets this time. Considering his recent paranoia about the hiking trail, he had to admit he may have overreacted to the cop sitting in the parking lot of the super store.
Being treated as a suspect was causing his imagination to run wild. The entire town wasn’t out to get him. It was only Detective Rueger being a jerk. And as Evie pointed out, the guy had been wrong about Skye’s disappearance fourteen years ago.
Frankly, Cam couldn’t wait to prove Rueger wrong again.
“We might want to pick up sub sandwiches to go,” Evie said, breaking into his thoughts. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m starving.”
“Sure. We can stop at the sub shop near the high school.” He flashed a wry grin. “It will be like old times. Remember how we used to head there prior to going down to the lakefront to work?”