Page 52 of Scent of Fear

So much for thinking the guy would be forced to seek treatment for his dog bite.

He pulled his weapon and slowly took the stairs down into the cellar. This time, he stopped abruptly when he noticed there was a large hole along the back of the wall. And the shovel that had been used to make it was lying inside the opening.

He knelt to peer inside. The hole appeared to be at least three feet in height and maybe four feet in depth. Just enough room for a man to crawl inside.

He stared at the hole for a long moment. Marvin Tolliver must have told his kidnappers that he’d buried the stolen money in the cellar. He couldn’t imagine they’d go to the effort of digging without knowing where to start.

What he didn’t know was if Marvin was being honest or if Libby’s grandfather was giving them a fake destination to buy time.

His gut leaned toward the buying-time theory. Yet the cellar was a good place to bury stolen cash.

Backing away from the hole, he stood, then abruptly turned to stare at the shovel. He reached for his phone to call Paul. The deputy answered on the first ring.

“One of the bad guys took off when we arrived back at the cabin,” he said, getting to the point. “He was digging in the cellar and left his shovel behind. I need someone out here to get fingerprints off it ASAP.”

“Okay, I’ll send the crime scene techs, but it’s going to take a while.” Paul’s voice sounded grim. “There was a bad two-vehicle crash on the highway between Cody and Greybull, one dead on scene, and the other was sent to the hospital in Cody. I had to respond here rather than digging into your suspect, Ward Engler. You may have to wait for Griff to do that. Looks like I’m going to be stuck here for at least a couple of hours.”

Shane suppressed a sigh. One of the reasons their SAR services were in high demand was because their local law enforcement resources were limited. “Okay, I understand. I’ll close the cellar door, and we’ll hang here to wait for the techs.”

“Later.” Paul quickly ended the call.

Shane mounted the steps, blinking as his eyes were forced to adjust to the sunlight. As he closed the cellar doors, Bryce bounded toward him. “Hand.” Shane waited as Bryce dropped the ducky into his palm. “Good boy,” he praised. The dog wagged his tail, acknowledging a job well done. “Come, Bryce.” He turned and walked up to the house. He still needed to call his siblings, too, and hoped they could find a route to the cabin that wouldn’t be blocked by the two-car crash scene.

It bothered him that he and Libby may be hanging out here at the cabin without any outside support. He stepped through the patio doors to discover that Libby had already grabbed his new computer from the SUV and had set up a temporary office at the kitchen table.

She glanced at him as he crossed over. “What took you so long?”

“The guy spent his time here digging through the back of the cellar.” He crossed to the kitchen sink to pour water into a bowl for Bryce. The dog lapped at the water, then stretched out on the floor. “The good news is that he left a shovel behind. The bad news was when I called Paul, he was at the scene of a serious crash on the highway. One dead, the other seriously wounded. He won’t be able to help us for a while, but he promised to send the crime scene techs to see if they can lift prints from the shovel.”

Her expression turned sad. “That’s awful about the crash, but surely the state police can handle it?”

He shrugged and reached for his phone. “I can only assume they’re tied up with tourist stuff too.” He scrolled to his sister Alexis’s number and pressed the call button. She answered in two rings. “Hey, Alexis, any chance you and Joel can bring your K9s out to the cabin this afternoon? You’ll have to avoid the highway, though, as it’s been temporarily shut down because of a serious crash.”

“Sure, we’ll leave now,” Alexis agreed. “Are you still thinking you need Denali to search for human remains?”

“No, but bring Denali along just in case.” He agreed with Libby’s thought about how the bad guys were probably keeping Marvin alive long enough to find the money. “Also, you and Joel need to pack your side arms.”

“Okay, we can do that.” Alexis paused, then added, “Have you reached out to Doug?”

“No, but Griff Flannery is on his way from Cheyenne.” He quickly filled her in on the discovery that Libby’s grandfather had stolen money from an armored truck almost fifty years ago and the recent discovery of digging being done in the cellar.

“Wow, that’s crazy,” Alexis said, when he’d finished. “You really should clue Doug in on what’s going on. I realize this doesn’t impact his job with the DEA, but he’ll want to be involved if possible. Maya and Chase are still in Jackson but should be heading back soon. They found the missing hikers, and everyone is doing fine.”

“Good to hear Chase and Maya had a good outcome on their search. I’ll contact Doug.” He glanced at his watch. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon. By the time his siblings arrived, it would be closer to two. He felt as if they were running out of time, but there wasn’t anything he could do to speed things up. “Drive safe and we’ll see you soon, Alexis.”

“Yep. Soon,” she agreed, and ended the call.

Shane sent Doug a brief text instead of calling. In truth, he didn’t want to get into the whole story again. When Doug responded a moment later, he said he was tied up with a case but would call later. Shane sent the okay sign and turned back toward Libby. She was using her phone as a hot spot to access the internet. “Find anything yet?”

“I think so. This is the article about Harry being released from prison.” She frowned. “There’s a grainy photo here of his mug shot. Come see what you think. I can’t find a good resemblance to Engler.”

Shane crossed over to peer at the screen. Harry Stern had a thin, angular face with close-cropped dark hair. Picturing the round facial features of Ward Engler along with the older man’s thick hair, he was inclined to agree.

“You’re right. I hate to say it, but I don’t think they’re the same person.” He frowned, wondering why on earth Engler had acted so strangely. It didn’t make sense that he’d bolt from the café without a good reason. When they’d spoken at the overpass, the guy hadn’t acted as if he were afraid of dogs. Then again, Engler had demanded they stay back, or he’d shoot.

“So now what?” Libby sounded dejected. “I was so sure they were one and the same man.”

“Let’s focus on Engler himself rather than Harry Stern,” he suggested. “For one thing, we know Engler is here in the area. Harry Stern could be here, too, or he could be on the other side of the country. The fact is Engler acted suspicious. Maybe the two guys know each other, and Harry asked Engler for help. Stern may have hired Engler’s kids or other relatives to help him find the money.”

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