Page 7 of Scent of Fear

After ten more minutes of hiking, he called for a break. Bryce was a strong, athletic K9, but Shane knew rest breaks were important. “Come, Bryce.”

The dog lifted his head and turned to stare at him as if to ask why they were quitting. Then Bryce ran over to his side.

“Good boy,” he praised. He shrugged out of his backpack, dropped to the ground, and patted the earth beside him. “Come. Lie down, Bryce.”

His K9 obediently stretched out beside him, lowering his head between his paws. Within seconds, Bryce closed his eyes and appeared to fall asleep.

“I wish I could take naps like Bryce.” Libby sighed and sat beside him. She tunneled her fingers through her red hair in a rare gesture of frustration. “I don’t know what to think, Shane. I thought for sure we’d have found my grandfather by now. It feels like we’ve been out here forever!”

“I know.” He felt bad for her. The only good news was that Bryce hadn’t lost the scent trail. “We’ve been gone just over ninety minutes. I’m thinking your grandfather must have left the cabin pretty early to have gotten this far.”

“Yeah, that possibility has occurred to me too.” She lifted her face to the sun, sighed, then glanced at him. “I know we’re going to find him. I just keep praying to God that we’ll find him soon.”

He nodded in agreement, although his faith had taken a beating over the years since losing his girlfriend Rebecca two years after they’d graduated from high school, then his parents a few years later. The two blows had hit him hard. His siblings prayed often, and he participated with those prayers, even though his heart wasn’t always engaged.

Sure, he wanted to believe his parents and Rebecca were in heaven with God and Jesus, but he couldn’t help feeling angry about how they’d been taken from him. Rebecca had only been twenty years old when she’d died in that terrible car crash. Then just when he was coming to grips with that loss, his parents had died in a small plane crash. He still struggled to understand why they’d all been taken far too soon.

Maya would gently remind him that God had a plan for him.

But so far, Shane’s only plan was to bury himself in their search and rescue missions.

“I forgot to ask what brand of dog food you need,” Libby said, breaking into his dour thoughts. “I’ve heard that the Sullivan family only accepts dog food as payment for their services.”

He waved a hand. “That’s true, but we can worry about that later.”

She tipped her head to the side. “I have to admit to being curious as to why the only payment your family will take is dog food. It must cost a bundle to keep your dogs in shape to do these missions. And how else are you and the others earning any money?”

He swallowed a sigh, unwilling to get into the inheritance they’d uncovered after their parents’ death. “We’re fine. Dog food is gratefully accepted because feeding nine dogs—well, ten now that Emily and Owen are at the ranch training their new puppy—takes a ton of food. And I literally mean a ton.”

“But what about your salary? How do you pay your living expenses?”

He shrugged. “The ranch is doing okay. We get by.” He glanced at his watch, anxious to change the subject. If the locals knew just how much money the Sullivans had in the trust their parents had set up for them, the ranch would be crawling with people trying to get a piece of the pie. They’d all agreed early on not to say anything about the multimillion-dollar trust. The only other people who knew the truth were those who’d recently married into the family. “Five more minutes and we’ll get back on the trail.”

Libby looked as if she wanted to press more, but just then the distant rumble of an engine reached their ears. Libby jumped to her feet. “Did you hear that?”

“Yes.” He rose, too, and his movement was enough to awaken Bryce. His K9 rose, stretched, then lifted his nose to the air. “I can’t decide if that was a plane engine or a car?”

“A car? There aren’t any roads out here that I’m aware of.” Libby slowly turned in a full circle as the low engine noise faded. “I don’t see anything nearby. Maybe the vehicle is on a road a mile or so from here.”

“It’s possible.” He tried to envision a map of the area in his mind. This was the first time they’d heard anything resembling an engine, but it occurred to Shane that their poacher may have had a four-wheeler. Some hunters used all-terrain vehicles to help transport elk and deer carcasses through the woods. “If that’s our poacher heading out of the area, we’ll have one less thing to worry about.”

Libby’s expression brightened. “That’s true. I’m sure that’s who’s driving the vehicle. It’s nice to know he’s gone. While following Bryce, I kept expecting the gunman to pop out at us like the boogeyman.”

The corner of his mouth quirked in a half smile. “Boogeyman?”

“Yes.” She gave an emphatic nod. “Bad guys are always the boogeymen.”

Shaking his head, he pulled the collapsible bowl from his pack, filled it with water, and offered it to Bryce. Sensing Libby watching him, he offered some to her. When she shook her head, he replaced it in his pack. Maybe she understood he was trying to conserve their water supply because her grandfather would likely be dehydrated by the time they found him.

If Marvin was awake enough to drink. Based on the silence that seemed to be closing in on them, Shane secretly doubted that would be the case.

Shane told himself to worry about how they’d get Marvin Tolliver out of the woods once they found him. He’d had to haul injured hikers and tourists out of the woods before, so this wouldn’t be the first time. Maya encouraged them to carry a tarp in their packs that could be used as a sling just for that reason. With the help of his one-hundred-pound German shepherd, Shane knew they could drag him back to the cabin if needed.

He turned his attention to Bryce. “Are you ready to search? Are you?” He injected enthusiasm into his tone. “It’s time to search! Search for Marvin!”

Bryce’s tail wagged as he turned and went back to work. Shane had to give Maya credit for her dog-training skills. Between Maya and Ralph Netter, a renowned K9 trainer who’d spent several weeks on the ranch with them early on, each of their dogs were excited to play the search game. Not only did their dogs love it, but they were also exceptionally good at it.

And it was nice to know that he and his siblings had saved hundreds of lives over the past five and a half years.

---