Chapter 9
NINE
Autumn blew out a frustrated breath at how the perp had gotten away. She knelt beside Bear. “Search bad guy, Bear. Search.”
Her bloodhound stared at her with soulful eyes for a moment then went to work sniffing the ground.
Following the scent was important because she’d fired her weapon and needed to know if she’d wounded the intruder.
Police shootings were taken seriously, and she’d have to file a report with her boss if she’d hit him.
Granted, she needed to report this incident to Peters, too. She’d issued that BOLO so the entire police force should be looking for the black sedan with muddy plates.
Jordan jogged toward her. “I can’t believe that guy escaped again.” Then he frowned. “What’s up with Bear?”
“I asked him to follow the gunman’s scent.
” She wanted to berate Jordan for running after the retreating car, but decided to hold her tongue.
Hard to blame him for trying to protect her.
It was sweet, though not necessary. She gestured to where Cutie was still waiting near the ranch house.
“She’s being a good girl, staying like that.
You need to reward her for listening to you. ”
“You’re right.” He hurried over to the puppy. “Good girl, Cutie! You’re such a good girl!”
Autumn had to smile at how Cutie jumped with excitement. Then she turned her attention to Bear. Her K-9 trotted swiftly across the yard toward the trees. Autumn pulled out her phone to use the flashlight app. The beam wasn’t as strong as she’d like, but it worked in a pinch.
Bear was a K-9 on a mission. He didn’t waver but moved through the woods, sniffing intently. He stopped abruptly, sniffing near a tree, then sat and howled.
“Good boy,” she praised, sweeping the beam of the flashlight over the ground. It was hard packed with lingering areas of snow. She didn’t see any blood and wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or disappointed.
“Search,” she commanded. “Keep searching, Bear.”
Her K-9 eagerly went back to work. She was blessed to have such a wonderful partner who loved tracking scents. She suspected Bear would do so even without his reward, because he was a sweetie. The bloodhound continued moving through the woods and she soon realized they were headed for the road.
A few minutes later, the trees thinned and they were only a few yards from the road. She let Bear go all the way though, so she could identify where the car had been parked.
He swept his nose along the ground before slowing to a stop. He sniffed for a moment, then sat and howled.
Again, she played her flashlight over the ground but didn’t see any blood. If she had hit the gunman, the wound wasn’t serious.
As she didn’t have the rope toy handy, she lavished praise on the dog much the way she’d instructed Jordan to do. “Good boy, Bear!” She bent and stroked his fur. “You’re a good boy!”
“Find anything?” Jordan asked, when she and Bear went back to the ranch house.
“No blood, so I must have missed.” She didn’t like admitting that.
She’d never had a problem hitting what she was aiming for.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to see much of anything in the darkness, returning fire only when she’d caught a glimpse of muzzle flash.
It irked and worried her that this perp kept getting away.
Especially since she knew he’d be back, and sooner than she’d like.
“I was hoping Bear would find something to run through the DNA database.”
“That would be nice,” Jordan said with a frown. “Whoever this guy is, he’s determined to get to you.”
“He must be harboring a big, personal grudge for sure,” she mused as they headed back inside. “Not just breaking into my house to fire at me, but stealing my mother’s things.”
“You know, maybe the grudge is against your mother, not you,” Jordan said.
She stared at him in surprise. “I hadn’t considered that possibility.
My mom was shot and killed in the line of duty.
Her killer was never found. Yet, she’s been gone for ten years.
Why would someone be coming after me after all this time?
” Could it be the same killer? That seemed unlikely, but she tucked the idea away to delve into later.
“Who knows?” Jordan crossed to the kitchen counter and began to make coffee. “I just think you should consider all possibilities.”
“Yeah, okay. That’s a good idea.” She sighed when she noted the hour was quarter to five in the morning. There was no point in trying to get more sleep now. For one thing, adrenalin coursed through her bloodstream.
And for another, she had work to do. Not just trying to identify the gunman who may or may not be the same one who killed her mother, but following up with the OB clinics in the area to warn other pregnant women while also helping to find the missing Mia.
“I need to take care of the animals before breakfast.” Jordan glanced over his shoulder at her. “What are your plans for the day?”
“I need to head into town.” She looked around the kitchen, realizing she would miss staying here. “I’ll make breakfast while you handle the chores.”
“I’d like to go with you into town,” Jordan said. “If you don’t mind.”
She regarded him thoughtfully for a long moment. “There’s nothing you can do to help, Jordan. Police work is often tedious. I promise if I learn something key to Jenny’s case, I’ll let you know.”
He poured coffee into a tall mug, then sighed. “I’ll go crazy waiting here. But I understand I can’t be involved in the investigation.”
“Exactly.” She softened her expression. “Thanks, Jordan.”
He didn’t look happy, but shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “Come, Cutie.” He left with Cutie on his heels, without looking back.
She wasn’t sure why she felt guilty, but did her best to shake it off. She wouldn’t apologize for doing her job. And Jordan had a ranch to worry about.
She fed Bear and set about making breakfast.
An hour later, Autumn loaded Bear in the back of her K-9 vehicle and headed toward downtown Canyon Creek.
She stopped at the station first to file yet another report about the gunman.
Her conversation with Peters earlier had been brief.
She was surprised he wasn’t there but decided it didn’t matter.
She took a moment to run another report on perps her mother had arrested who were recently let out of prison.
Maybe one of them had a sibling or parent who had killed her mother, and was now coming after her.
Anything was possible, and she vowed to examine this case from all angles.
That list wasn’t as long as she’d anticipated, and she hoped to narrow down the list of suspects very soon. If these didn’t pan out, she’d look into the cases her mother had been working at the time of her death. Something she could, she silently acknowledged, ask Peters to do.
Her boss, Captain Redding, arrived just as she was preparing to leave. He arched a brow. “I read your reports. Have you brought Detective Peters up to speed on these events?”
“Yes. Although I have to admit I’m frustrated this perp has gotten away each time.”
“Using trail cameras was a great idea,” Redding said. “I’m sure Detective Peters will be anxious to review the images for himself.”
She forced a smile. “Fine with me.” She didn’t add the fact that Peters hadn’t bothered to come to the ranch or to include her in any way so far.
Probably because he was nursing a grudge over the fact that she was chosen to participate in the task force over him. “I’ll touch base with him again, soon.”
Redding nodded. “Good. We need everyone on the same page to find and arrest this guy.”
“Yes, sir.” On that she agreed wholeheartedly. “In the meantime, I’m heading out to visit the OB clinics in the area to do some task force investigating. We want to be sure the staff alert their patients to the danger.”
“Yeah, we don’t want another pregnant young woman going missing,” Redding agreed. “Keep me updated on your progress.”
“Yes, sir. Come, Bear.” She gave her K-9 the hand signal to come. Bear kept pace beside her, sniffing the air outside with interest.
Using her phone, she pulled up a list of the local OB clinics.
There were three of them clustered in one area along with several others.
She sent a text to River, suggesting she go to the clinics while he followed up with the hospital.
She felt good about the clinics providing something useful.
The hour was now going on eight thirty in the morning, which was early enough she hoped to chat with the providers before patients streamed in.
Turned out, she was wrong. The clinics opened at eight and the waiting room was full of patients when she arrived. They weren’t all noticeably pregnant, she noticed, but many were. Bear garnered a fair amount of attention from the patients in the waiting room.
She flashed her badge and asked for a moment with the provider. The receptionist didn’t look happy, but went to pass along the message. A minute later, she and Bear were escorted to a cramped office. The name on the door read Dr. Elaine Kohl.
“I don’t have much time,” Dr. Kohl said impatiently. “What’s this about?”
“We have reason to believe young pregnant women are being kidnapped for their babies,” she said without preamble. “We don’t know who is behind this, but we need all the providers in the area to warn their patients not to accept help from strangers until we get to the bottom of this.”
“Kidnapped!” The got a lot of attention from Dr. Kohl. “For their babies?”