Page 45 of Scent of Fear

“Bryce!” He turned to go back inside. His K9 was sniffing near the empty stool but still didn’t alert.

He frowned, wondering if he was on the wrong track. But if so, why had Ward Engler taken off so fast?

Most people in these parts didn’t waste food.

“Come, Bryce.” He headed outside using the same back exit. Maybe he could follow Engler.

Bryce trotted beside him, still sniffing. He winced. “It’s okay, Bryce. Stand down.”

The dog looked disappointed.

As he opened the back hatch, his phone rang. Expecting Paul, he was surprised to see Libby’s name on the screen. “Hi, Libby.”

“Shane?” Her voice sounded choked as if she’d been crying. “I think I found it.”

His gut clenched as he slammed the hatch and hurried to get behind the wheel. “What did you find?”

“An unsolved Colorado bank robbery from forty-eight years ago.” She sniffled loudly. “One of the robbers was killed at the scene, along with a local police officer. Another man was arrested, but the third man got away.”

He could easily imagine the headline “Bank Robbery Suspect At Large.” He started the car and backed out of the space. “Does it mention your grandfather by name?”

“No.” She sniffed loudly again. “It says that a man wearing a face mask suspected to be a Wellington Fox Security truck driver by the name of Maxwell Tucker was the one who got away with the cash. I—I think that’s my grandfather.”

Oh yeah. He thought so too.

11

Still reeling from what she’d uncovered, Libby printed the article. The library requested a fee to mitigate the cost of the paper and ink, and thankfully, she had a spare couple of dollars in her pocket.

There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that Maxwell Tucker was her grandfather. He’d used the same initials for his new name, likely because it was easier to remember. Her stomach twisted painfully; she hated the thought of her grandpa being involved in something illegal.

The picture she’d glimpsed of him standing with two other men flashed in her mind. Had those two men been his accomplices? She picked up the article from the printer. Off to the side of the main picture featuring a truck that had been abandoned on the side of the road, there was a small, grainy photo of her grandfather. He looked so young; she imagined it had been his driver’s license photo.

As much as she’d wanted to know the truth about what had happened to her grandfather, this was more than she’d bargained for. One man dead, one arrested and the other at large. Not to mention a police officer who was killed.

How on earth had her grandfather escaped? She swallowed hard and headed outside. She was still staring down at the article when Shane pulled up in front of the library. He lowered the passenger-side window. “Get in, Libby. We should head back to the cabin.”

Dazed, she nodded and reached for the door handle. Yet as she slid inside, she realized she didn’t want to go back to the cabin. “We need to go back inside and see what we can find out about these two men who were accomplices. Harry Stern and Greg Olson.”

Shane frowned. “I think we need to turn those names over to the local police. They have the resources to find them.”

“We can’t do that, Shane. I’m afraid they’ll arrest Grandpa.” Maybe that was what her grandfather deserved, but she couldn’t bear the thought him spending time behind bars. She held his gaze, hers pleading for him to understand. “I think we should try to find them by ourselves first. Considering we have Bryce, we just need a starting point.”

Shane sighed. “And then what, tell them to hand your grandfather over? I think it’s obvious they’re looking for the money that was never recovered.”

Knowing her grandfather had taken the cash made her wince. “We don’t know what he did with the money. Maybe he turned it in? Or left it someplace?” Even as the comments tumbled from her mouth, she knew that wasn’t likely. In truth, she couldn’t help but wonder if her grandfather had already spent the money. Maybe that’s how he’s supported himself and his family all these years.

But if that was the case, then why had these guys kidnapped him? No, the more she thought about how frugally her grandfather lived, the more she believed he hadn’t spent the money. “Can Bryce find buried cash?”

“Not unless it’s buried with guns and ammo. And that also depends on how deep it was placed in the earth.”

She tried not to show her disappointment. “We can’t just give him money to sniff and tell him to search?”

“No. It doesn’t work that way.” Shane held her gaze. “Libby, we’ve looked through your grandfather’s cabin, including the cellar. Twice. I don’t think he hid the money someplace obvious like under the bed. And he likely wrapped the cash in something, then stuffed it inside a metal box to preserve it.” He shook his head. “Bryce is good, but that’s asking a lot.”

“Okay, so we need to figure out some other way to find the cash.” Then she winced. “What am I saying? I don’t care about the cash, we need to find my grandfather.”

“Why don’t we call Deputy Paul Holland?” Shane’s reasonable tone irrationally made her mad. “He can find them quickly.”

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