Page 31 of Scent of Fear

She nodded and scanned the area. “Do you think he rode the four-wheeler all the way to the road?”

“It’s hard to say.” He repositioned the pack and set off after Bryce. “The way this guy keeps showing up at the cabin makes me think he’s sticking close.”

Her eyes widened with a hint of apprehension. “If he’s still out here, he could hear us coming.”

“Yeah.” He glanced at her. “Stay behind me as much as possible.”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“Search, Bryce,” he called. Not that his K9 needed any encouragement. The dog paused a few times to sniff but then kept going.

Shane hiked for a solid forty minutes before stopping to take a break. Bryce didn’t appear tired, but he shrugged out of his pack to pour some water into a collapsible bowl. Bryce lapped at the water, then looked up at him, panting.

“You’re doing great, buddy,” he assured him. “Lie down.”

Bryce stretched out on his belly, still panting.

“None of this looks familiar,” Libby said as she sat beside him. She stroked a hand over Bryce’s fur almost absently, and Shane was pleased that her early fear of the dog seemed to have vanished. “I’m not sure how you manage not to get lost.”

“My oldest brother, Chase, was a hunting guide prior to our parents passing away.” He pulled the compass from his pocket and showed it to her. “Chase drilled us on using a compass to find our way, even sending us out in the middle of the night to search for each other as a test.”

“Sounds scary.”

“Not really. It’s more a matter of survival.” He cast a glance around the woods, then checked the compass. “We’re about a hundred yards from the path we took yesterday. I’m hoping this leads to something other than the clearing.”

“Me too.” She sighed. “I don’t want this to be for nothing.”

He fought the urge to hug her. When their rest break was over, he rose to his feet and offered her a hand. “Let’s keep moving.”

She stood too. “I’m ready.”

“Search, Bryce. Search Bad Guy.” He offered the denim scrap of cloth, but Bryce barely sniffed it. The K9 seemed to be telling him he knew what to do.

Bryce lowered his head to the ground, then set off at a brisk trot. After a few minutes, Bryce turned north. The incline wasn’t bad, but Shane was having trouble imagining the bad guy taking the four-wheeler up this way.

“Seems rather steep,” Libby murmured.

“I know.” He shrugged, quickening his pace to keep up with his K9. “We have to trust Bryce.”

The incline leveled out after a few yards. He glanced behind them, a little surprised at how far they’d climbed. Sweeping his gaze over the ground, he looked for more tire tracks. The pine needles were too thick, though, and the earth revealed nothing indicating the bad guy had come this way.

Ten minutes later, Bryce broke into a trot. Shane’s pulse kicked up, and his hand went to his weapon, half expecting to see the bad guy stepping out from behind a tree.

Instead, Bryce turned toward an outcropping of rocks. Then the dog abruptly sat and let out a sharp bark.

His alert! Shane pulled his gun and approached with caution. When he grew closer, he noticed there was a shallow cave opening on the other side of the rock.

“Bryce, stay.” He wanted to reward his dog for the find, but he needed to be sure the bad guy wasn’t hiding inside. He ducked and stepped into the cave opening. There was a small fire pit there, and several scuff marks in the dirt.

Then he saw a piece of a zip tie partially embedded in the dirt. Shane was sure Marvin and the bad guy had recently been there.

But where were they now?

8

Hearing Bryce’s bark, Libby hurried forward, slipping a bit as she rounded the rock. There was no sign of Shane at first, just Bryce sitting straight and tall, but then she noticed the cave.

Heart thumping wildly, she edged closer and ducked inside. Shane was kneeling on the ground, picking something up from the dirt.

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