Page 84 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee
West picked up the brush, which bore strands of long red hair. He knew of only one woman purported to have hair that color. A woman on the run.
Demi Colton.
He returned to the living room and watched Brayden comb through the cabin, he studied the man to see if his fellow officer hid evidence. He didn’t trust the Coltons. The only Coltonhe did trust was Quinn. But Brayden was shadowed by a fellow K-9 officer West trusted.
West glanced at Rex. “Too crowded in here. Let’s head outside.”
Rex wagged his tail.
If the unsub used this cabin, Rex would detect even the smallest amount of explosive residue left behind. As Rex sniffed the ground, West searched the ground for inorganic evidence. Something as simple as a cigarettebutt contained DNA evidence.
One of the officers came forward. “Found this. What do you make of it?”
Sunlight glinted off the object. Foil, looked like a gum wrapper twisted into something. He smelled it. Interesting. Fruity.
“Bag it as evidence,” he told the officer.
Might be nothing, only a litterbug’s discards.
Or it could be something.
He ordered Rex to find as theysearched the perimeter of the cabin once more.
West smelled the redolent odor of pine, fresh mountain air and little else. But Rex, with his keen sense of smell, could pick up days-old traces of gunpowder.
After a few minutes, when the dog had not stopped, West began thinking he’d been too cautious. Suddenly Rex lifted his head and stared in the direction of the woods. West immediatelywent on alert.
“Find,” he ordered, and the dog bolted.
West followed. Nose to the ground, Rex kept loping along a narrow trail cutting through the forest leading down to the creek. Leaves crunched beneath West’s boot soles as he scanned the area. Ferns and bushes brushed at the legs of his jeans. The trail was little used and barely visible, but for the flattened stalks of plants.
Someone had been here recently.
Could be the cabin’s occupant used this trail to access the creek to fish. Or something else...something that caught Rex’s attention.
Rex clambered down a few rocks and then hooked a left around the bend. Leaves rustled overhead in the breeze and he could hear the gurgling of Pine Creek.
West climbed down the rocks, saw the sparkle of sunlight upon therushing water tumbling over rocks. Beneath a recess in the cliff wall, Rex sat. The rock alcove looked natural, carved out by nature. Part of the wall had eroded, leaving a flat ledge big enough to accommodate two people. Hidden by thick brush, the recess wasn’t visible until you rounded the corner.
Made a great place for nature lovers to share romantic moments with each other...or for anunsub to make a bomb.
“Good boy,” he murmured, giving Rex his favorite treat. West crouched down to study the remains of what would look like a campfire to most people.
Taking out his penknife from a back pocket, West stirred the ashes on the ground. This location next to the creek was ideal for anyone wanting to make bombs. Close enough to water in case of anoops. Far enough away fromprying eyes and ears. One could set off a small explosion, and even with the sound echoing off the canyon cliffs, it would be mistaken for gunfire, something not unusual in these parts, just like the gunshots he’d heard the other night. Plenty of people in South Dakota owned guns. They just didn’t advertise it like some folks did.
He sniffed the residue on his penknife. Oh yeah. The same distinctivebleach odor indicating a bomb.
West found a small cylinder. Whoever had done this was probably the bomber. He couldn’t be certain if the residue was fresh, not without lab tests. Maybe he’d rented the cabin in the past. And although Tia might have records of that transaction, the papers had been destroyed in the explosion. The computer had been blown apart.
With extreme care, West dugup the residue and deposited it into a plastic baggie. More evidence for the FBI lab.
Demi Colton could have used the cabin, and possibly made explosives here, down by the creek, washing her hands in the cold water to dispose of residue.
But Rex would have picked up the slightest bit of explosive residue in the cabin. He had not. The dog’s nose was so sensitive, Rex could discern a teaspoonof sugar placed into a swimming pool.
So why was Demi’s jacket in cabin seven?
Checking his cell phone, he saw a good signal. And Mike had left a voice mail.
