Chapter 3 #4
“Come.” She quietly called Chance back to her, rewarded him with a fervent hug and another treat.
The fastest way to a lab’s heart was through his stomach.
She pulled a ball from her pocket and tossed it a few feet away in the opposite direction, telling him he’d done his job and that he was a very good boy.
He fetched it twice, tail wagging happily.
Then she gave him another food treat, pocketed the ball, and reattached his leash.
She eased her hand onto her weapon as they moved forward through the woods.
She could make out both men, dark silhouettes against the snow, as they moved in formation toward the vehicle, weapons drawn.
She eased closer. Saw it was a truck similar to what Eastman was reported to own.
Her mouth went dry.
It was a common make, but she didn’t believe in coincidence. Chance had trailed Summer Eastman’s scent to this place and found a truck just like the one they were searching for.
Shame filled her for the moment of doubt she’d experienced, doubt brought about by the presence of these two strangers and her own inadequacies.
She trusted her dog.
He’d never let her down.
It was herself she sometimes lost faith in. Her ability to read him. Her ability to show him what she needed him to do and keep up while he did it.
The two men moved in a seamless choreography of motion that spoke of professionalism and training. Carefully, they checked the inside of the cab, finally shining their own flashlights inside when they seemed sure there was no one there.
“That’s his license plate,” she noted as she approached cautiously. Dawn was beginning to break, giving the gloom a pink cast as mist clung to the tips of the trees.
“Yep.” Sebastian looked grim as he headed for the covered bed of the truck. “You might want to stay back.”
She caught his concerned gaze. Realized he was worried that Summer Eastman was dead in the bed of that truck, and, if not her, then someone else.
“I don’t think there’s anyone there.” She decided to ease the obvious dread that had settled over his features.
His eyes flicked to Chance. “He alert for cadavers too?”
Her stomach clenched at the thought of being unable to save Summer, even though it was a very real possibility that this search would end that way.
She pushed that fear aside. They’d save Summer. They had to.
“He’s not cadaver trained, but his behavior changes in the presence of death, and I’m not seeing that right now.”
Sebastian Black swallowed audibly. Nodded. Not as tough as he tried to appear then. He braced himself and dropped the tailgate as his partner held a firing stance and aimed his weapon into the bed.
“Empty.”
Cas Demarco immediately dropped his stance and holstered his weapon. She did the same.
Air rushed into her lungs as she inhaled the first decent breath she’d taken since she’d gotten out of her Jeep.
“Nice work. That’s a great dog you have there,” Cas told her with a grin.
“Thank you.”
“Good work,” Operator Black acknowledged with a curt nod. “We’ll need you to secure this area. Tape off the woods and the parking lot, and we’ll—”
“No.” She held up her hand to interrupt the rush of orders. What was he talking about? “Let’s go after them while we still have the scent—”
Sebastian Black shook his head. “He has a fourteen-hour lead on us. We aren’t likely to catch up with him simply by following his trail.”
Impatience made her grind her teeth. “He has a nine-year-old girl holding him back.”
“We need to get ahead of him.”
“There are several different directions he could take to the top of that trail, not to mention cutting through the trees.”
“So we chopper in and see which way he went.”
Urgency churned inside her. “A chopper is going to take time to get here and likely won’t be able to fly for long with the weather headed this way. Plus, he’ll hear it.”
“No reason for him to think a chopper at high altitude is looking for him.” Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the dawn sky.
“No reason for him not to,” Nora argued. “The only advantage we have is the fact he doesn’t know we are already onto him.”
Sebastian Black stared at her as if she were a fly in the ointment of his life.
Tough.
She swallowed her frustration. “Chance just saved us days, if not weeks, of wasted search time. Let’s get up the trail as far as we can before the snow flies. At least we’ll have a direction of travel for when the weather breaks.”
Cas stared at Sebastian. “She has a point.”
Sebastian’s mouth tightened. “Someone has to protect this scene.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, partner, but my sense of smell does not rival that dog’s, and I do not have Ranger Deacon’s skill as a handler.
You or I can hold the fort until backup arrives.
” Cas shrugged. “I’m happy to go. Odds of us catching up with the suspect in the next two hours are slim to none.
If he spots us from a distance, we can pretend to be a couple out for a walk with their dog. I have a civilian jacket in the SUV.”
A couple?
Sebastian Black pulled a face. She frowned.
“Okay.” Sebastian made a decision. “Call Novak. See if he can block radio signals in this area so Eastman isn’t warned ahead of time that we found his trail.
Tell Novak that Ranger Deacon and I are going to track Summer’s scent for as long as we are able before the blizzard blows in.
” He gave her a stern look. “We don’t have proper equipment, so as soon as conditions deteriorate, we’ll mark our location and return to the vehicles. ”
She stamped her feet to keep the blood flowing. Let’s go already.
“Roger that. Keep your guard up, my friends. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have any more information from the IC.”
Nora nodded and turned away to head back to the trailhead. They were wasting time—time Summer Eastman might not have.