Page 58 of Scent of Fear

And if he didn’t? She couldn’t bear to consider that alternative. They needed to find something related to her grandfather’s disappearance. She didn’t want to consider the fact that she’d risked being fired from her job for nothing.

Not only that, but where would they go from here? They had no idea who else could be involved? Aside of the bad guy who was back at her grandfather’s cabin right now, digging away in the cellar.Not just one of them, she thought with a frown.Two or more.

Whoever these guys were, they’d fired at them specifically to drive her and Shane away so they could freely access the money.

Maybe they’d even gotten closer to unburying the stolen loot than she and Shane had realized.

Again, she shook off the depressing thoughts. She glanced at her watch again and winced. Only ten minutes left of Shane’s designated time frame left to go.

The silence was unnerving. Yet she also knew she wouldn’t hear Bryce alert, not after the way Shane had used the hand signal to be silent. The Sullivan K9s were extremely well trained if a dog like Bryce could learn not to bark in specific situations. That was something she’d never have believed if she hadn’t seen it for herself.

She paced again as the minutes ticked past.

And when she was forced to acknowledge the designated thirty minutes had passed, Libby knew she wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet.

Not without Shane, Bryce, and her grandfather.

What should she do? Shane had wanted her to find his siblings. Silently agreeing that was a good place to start, she pulled out her phone and sent a text message to Alexis.This is Libby. How close are you to the Engler property?

Three little dots emerged on the screen, indicating Alexis was typing a reply. Then Libby’s screen lit up.Roughly 20 minutes. What’s up?

Nothing to worry about. See you soon.Libby sent the text, then slipped her phone back into her pocket. Passing the burden of her concern over the length of time Shane had been gone onto his siblings wasn’t fair. She had no reason to believe he was hurt or in harm’s way.

Just the opposite. The seemingly never-ending silence in the woods made her think Shane was still making his way to the property. No doubt navigating the thickly wooded terrain was taking him longer than he’d anticipated.

Or so she told herself. Better to think that than to imagine he’d gotten into a bind.

She rolled her head from side to side, trying to ease the tension that had settled between her shoulder blades. Another minute passed, making her wince. Maybe she should have taken the SUV and headed out to meet with Alexis and Joel the way Shane had asked her to.

Her phone buzzed again. She pulled out her phone, expecting to see a reply from Alexis, but instead, the message was from Shane.

I found him.

Her grandfather!Thank you, Lord Jesus!Libby lifted her gaze to the heavens above, thanking God for protecting her grandfather and guiding Shane to find him. Then she quickly typed a reply.Can he walk? Or should I come to?—

“Drop the phone.”

The command came out of nowhere. Libby whirled and swept her gaze over the area. A tall man with reddish hair stepped out from the trees.

The lethal-looking gun in his hand was pointed directly at her chest.

“Drop it,” he repeated in a flat tone. “And keep your hands where I can see them. Don’t give me a reason to shoot.”

“Why would you want to kill me?” Libby didn’t dare ignore his order, so she purposefully held the phone out to her side and let it drop to the ground. Then she held both of her hands up at waist height, palms forward. “I don’t care about the money. I just want my grandfather back.”

“Yeah, sure.” He sneered. “I’m not falling for that.”

She hadn’t anticipated men governed by greed wouldn’t understand people who weren’t cut from the same cloth. She couldn’t help lashing out at him. “I’m not kidding! Take all the money. All of it!” She tried to rein in the sheer desperation that gripped her by the throat. “Bring me my grandfather, and we’ll move away. Out of state. Somewhere so far from here you’ll never see or hear from us again.”

“Where’s your boyfriend and his dog?” The abrupt change in topic caught her off guard. “Get him here now!”

Libby was frozen by indecision. She didn’t want this guy to know Shane was right now at the house where her grandfather was being held. The glint of her phone screen caught her eye. She quickly gestured to it. “Okay, fine. I’ll call him. Just give me the chance to use my phone.”

“No, I have a better idea.” The man with reddish hair stepped closer. His brown eyes were tinged with malice. “Scream. Nice and loud. That will bring him running.”

No! She couldn’t!

“Do it!” he snapped. Then he lowered the muzzle of the gun so that it was pointed at her feet. “Shooting your foot will do the trick, don’t you agree? I hear it’s incredibly painful.”

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