“Search,” she told him.
He quartered the area near the car, nose to the ground, head moving back and forth. He searched for several minutes, covering the area of the pullout, the road next to the car, and up and down the roadside for about thirty feet in each direction. He came back to sniff the area more thoroughly, as if double-checking his work. He trotted to the open door on the driver’s side, touched the seat with his mouth, and then sat and looked up at Mattie.
“What’s wrong with him?” Brody asked.
Brody could be a butthead at times, and she was used to biting her tongue to keep the peace. But she wouldn’t let him criticize her partner. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s telling me that he’s picking up her scent on the driver’s seat.”
“Well, what the fuck? Why isn’t he showing us the direction she went from here?”
Mattie felt her patience slip. “It might be because you two tromped around and jacked up the scent trail. Give us a minute.”
She stroked Robo’s head, smoothing the fur between his ears and telling him he was a good boy. She snapped the leash onto his tracking harness and led him about fifteen feet away from the car, checking wind direction as she went. The area was somewhat sheltered by the surrounding forest and a rock face positioned toward the northwest, but gusts continuously stirred the air from both the west and north as if the rock face split and funneled them.
This trail would probably be forty-eight hours old by now and torn up by the wind. Her only hope would be that epithelial cells left by Adrienne would remain trapped in the forest undergrowth beyond the road. Of one thing she was certain: if a scent trail existed out here, Robo would find it.
She led her dog into the forest and started working upwind, quartering back and forth, offering him the scent article, although she knew he probably didn’t need it. Adrienne’s scent would be locked in Robo’s memory for the rest of his life. When he didn’t identify a trail on the upwind side of the car, they started searching downwind.
A dreadful feeling began to build inside Mattie and after an hour, it reached its peak. She paused to reevaluate, knowing that Robo needed a break and some water. Her owns legs had grown tired from following him over the rugged terrain that surrounded the car. As she patted Robo to let him know he was doing his work right, she spotted two riders coming up the logging road. They must have left their truck and trailer down below instead of risking getting stuck up here. Believing that one rider might be Cole, her mood lifted slightly, and she decided to go back to the car.
She needed to tell Brody what she was thinking, and it wouldn’t be easy news to share. She reached the car about the same time as the riders. She recognized that one of them was Cole. He’d been watching her, and he met her gaze. He wore a serious expression, which she knew matched hers. She wanted to tell him how glad she was to see him, but all she could do was nod. He returned the greeting the same way.
Brody stood next to the other rider whom she could see now was Garrett Hartman. She and Hartman nodded at each other, too.
“Well?” Brody said, his voice gruff and demanding.
“There’s no scent trail out here,” she told him. “I don’t think Adrienne has been in this area. At least not in the last couple of days.”
“What do you mean? Her car’s here.”
“If there was a scent trail leading away from the car, Robo would have found it. There’s no hiking trail in this area, so I don’t think she came here to go hiking. I think we need to seal this car and get prints off it.” Stating her thoughts filled her with trepidation. “I think someone else ditched the car here, Brody.”
He stared at her for a moment and then turned away to stare at the storm clouds piled high on top of each other, filling the sky. “The wind must have destroyed the scent trail. She’s got to be up here. I just know it. She might be hurt. Johnson, take the cruiser down where you can get contact with the sheriff. Have him go ahead and send the search party. We need hikers that can cover this area.”
“Johnson needs to print the car. I don’t think we should employ a search party. If Robo can’t find a trail, it means she wasn’t up here,” Mattie said.
“That dog can’t smell shit. Get going, Johnson.” Brody glared at her. “You print the damn car, Cobb.”
Johnson went to the cruiser.
She wished Cole and Mr. Hartman weren’t here to witness, but she would speak her piece. “You know what Robo is capable of.” She was referring to the day Robo found Grace Hartman’s body, and she knew that everyone present realized it.
Johnson started the cruiser’s engine and began to maneuver the car to turn it. Mattie glanced at Cole, and he nodded his agreement. Mr. Hartman’s face sagged in lines of sorrow. She looked back at Brody, reading desperation in his eyes.
“I won’t give up yet, Brody. Let me give Robo a break while I print the car, and then we’ll search this area again. Do either of you have tracking skills?” Mattie asked the riders.
“A little,” Cole said while Garrett said, “Yes, I do.”
“If you’d cover the area behind me and search for signs, maybe you’ll see something.” She knew it would be wasted effort, but she wanted to be thorough. And Brody wasn’t able to give up yet.
“I’ll print the car,” Brody growled, giving the cloud bank one more baleful glance. “I need you and Robo on the mountain. When I’m done, I’ll follow you up.”
“All right,” Mattie said. When Sheriff McCoy arrived, he would take over command. For now, she would do things Brody’s way.
Chapter 7
Saturday
Lying on his side, Cole awakened in total darkness. Muscles that were unused to riding horseback nagged at him to move. Groaning quietly, he rolled onto his back to check the clock. The red digits said 5:47. After returning from the search for Adrienne, he’d opened his clinic to see patients, so he hadn’t made it to bed until late. He felt wide-awake now, though, and he doubted he’d be able to go back to sleep.
Hard as everyone searched, they’d found no sign of the missing woman. The volunteer mountain rescue team consisted of about fifteen folks, men and women, all skilled in hunting, tracking, and navigating the wilderness without getting lost. They’d scoured the area the best they could, although the rugged terrain might still hide a hiker who’d fallen from a cliff and been injured. Or worse yet, killed.
He understood Mattie’s theory that someone else ditched the car. He also understood what that could mean, even though the law enforcement officers had been pretty tight-lipped. There’d been no discussion in front of the volunteers. But it didn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that Adrienne might be the victim of foul play. It pained him to think of it. It had pained Garrett, too, and he’d noticed his friend’s face become more and more grim as the afternoon toiled into evening.
He believed that the strung-out deputy in charge—the one they called Brody—might be too close to the case. He’d taken a moment, when they were far enough away from the car, to ask Mattie about Brody’s relationship with Adrienne. She’d forced out the word “boyfriend” as if she hated to give up anything, and he didn’t press her for more; she’d tell him what she could, when she could.
He admired the way Mattie handled the situation, working Robo in concentric circles, going farther out from the car each time, trying to pick up a scent trail. He’d been busy at his own task of trying to find a sign, but he’d caught glimpses of her through the trees, she and her dog moving together as if they were one. He’d never watched them work before. He respected her skill as a handler . . . and her stamina. He’d hate to guess how many miles of terrain those two covered before sundown. And thank goodness the sheriff had taken over when he arrived, or they’d probably all still be out there with flashlights, searching for someone that Cole, like Mattie, believed had never been in the area.