Page 3 of Scent of Fear

She bit her lip. “Not really. He usually gets up around seven in the morning and eats breakfast, then has his coffee. He sits on the patio when the weather is nice.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s ten thirty, which means he could have left the patio a few hours ago.”

“When’s the last time you spoke to him?”

“Last night. I told him I’d be out this morning as usual.” She sighed. “I do his grocery shopping every Saturday and then stay long enough to visit while doing his laundry. Grandpa can take care of himself, but I like seeing him each week. I’d drive over more often if I didn’t have to work in the hospital billing department Monday through Friday. I’ve tried to encourage him to move to Cody, but he won’t.” There was a slight pause, before she added, “After this, I’ll have to insist he move in with me. He won’t like it, but obviously, he can’t stay way out here by himself any longer.”

He understood her concern. His attention swung toward Bryce. His K9 was sniffing intently as he moved through the woods, indicating he was hot on the scent. Shane quickened his pace to keep up, unwilling to lose sight of his K9. He and Bryce had been through many searches together. They worked best as a team.

Libby hurried forward too.

“If you need to head back to the cabin, that’s fine.” He glanced at Libby, then nodded at Bryce. “I’ll call you when we find him.”

“I’m sticking with you.” She sounded a little breathless. “And I appreciate your positive attitude.”

He hid a grimace. He wasn’t a positive-attitude kind of guy. His sisters teased him for his doom-and-gloom approach to life, and he couldn’t deny his tendency to expect the worst. But he didn’t want to worry Libby any more than she already was. Deep down, he suspected that her grandfather was probably hurt in some way; otherwise, he’d have come back to the cabin under his own power.

At this point, the best Shane could hope for was that they found Marvin alive.

Not dead.

He glanced at his watch. During the summer months, they made sure to take frequent water breaks to prevent the dogs from becoming dehydrated. Shane decided they’d walk for twenty minutes before stopping to rest.

“How do you know Bryce is following my grandfather’s scent?” Libby asked. “I mean, he just seems to be randomly trotting through the brush.”

“Bryce is a good tracker.” He had confidence in his dog’s ability. “If he lost the trail, he’d stop moving forward, turn around, and come back to the last point he’d located the scent.”

“Okay, that helps.” Libby’s smile was sad. “I pray we find him soon.”

Shane nodded, then narrowed his gaze as Bryce abruptly stopped near a fallen tree. His K9 sniffed intently around the log, then sat and let out a sharp bark. Bryce held Shane’s gaze as if to sayI found him.

“Is that an alert?” Libby asked, as Shane hurried over to his dog.

Shane scanned the ground beneath the fallen tree. The dry dirt didn’t reveal any footprints, but Bryce had alerted there for a reason.

Had Marvin stopped there to rest? Or had he tripped and fallen? Maybe the old man was confused and managed to get up and continue his wandering path through the woods.

Then his gaze spotted a fuzzy red thread clinging to a spike branch of the fallen log. He glanced at Libby. “Do you have any idea what your grandfather is wearing?”

She looked confused. “Jeans, hiking boots, and a plaid shirt most likely, along with a cowboy hat. Why?”

“What color would his plaid shirt be?” Remembering she hadn’t seen him this morning, he added, “Maybe a favorite color?”

“He has plaid shirts in just about every color—blue, green, red, and brown.” She frowned. “Not black, though. And no light gray either.”

The red thread could have been left by anyone at any time, yet Shane trusted Bryce’s alert. “There’s a red thread here.”

Libby came up to stand beside him. Then she nodded slowly. “I don’t remember seeing the red plaid shirt in his laundry basket, so he could be wearing it.”

He nodded, then turned his attention to Bryce. “Good boy!” He pulled the yellow ducky from his pocket and tossed it into the air. “Good boy!”

Bryce ran after the ducky with excitement. He shook his head from side to side as he galloped through the brush. Watching his K9 play with his reward usually made Shane smile.

But he couldn’t quite get rid of the niggling sense of concern. The overturned chair and the broken coffee mug indicated Marvin had been taken by surprise. And that surprise had—what? Caused him to take a walk in the woods?

Could Libby be right about something catching his attention enough to draw him away from the cabin and into the forest?

That theory didn’t make sense. Libby’s grandfather knew she was coming out to bring him groceries for the week. Marvin wouldn’t just decide to take a day hike through the woods without waiting for her.

Unless the old man’s memory was worse than Libby had indicated.

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