That’s when she noticed the Montana plates. Wait, this was Dominic’s truck? She pulled up beside the vehicle, shifted into park, and killed the engine. She released the back hatch for Smoky and pushed out from behind the wheel.
“Dominic? It’s Kendra. Are you out here?”
At the sound of her voice, Smoky ran over to her side. Kendra noticed there were several overlapping footprints in the snow around her feet.
“Dominic?” She scanned the area, then noticed Smoky had trotted away from her. She turned to call her K9 when the dog buried her snout in the snow, sniffing intently. Then she sat and let out a sharp bark.
Her alert! Although Kendra hadn’t told her to search, the dog had found something of interest.
“What is it, girl?” Kendra hurried over. “What did you find?”
Spying the glint of brass, she bent and picked the shell casing up with her gloved hands. The Sullivan K9s mostly tracked people, but they were cross-trained to find gunpowder, gun oil, and shell casings. Like this. Glancing again at the damaged truck, she wondered if the gunfire had been recent. And if so, the shell casing was evidence that would need to get to the state crime lab.
Spinning away from the truck, she dropped the shell casing into her pocket and hurried into the motel. Smoky loped at her side. A teenager sat behind the desk with AirPods in his ears, watching a movie on his phone. He didn’t so much as glance up when she came inside, and she had to wave her hand in front of his screen to get his attention.
He frowned and plucked an earbud from his ear. “Yeah?”
“Did you hear gunfire?”
“No.” He gave her an annoyed look. “Why?”
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “I’m here to see Dominic Lakeland. Is he here?”
“Nobody has checked in for the past couple of hours.” The clerk glanced down at his phone, then back up at her. “Anything else?”
It was all she could do not to snatch the phone from his hands. “Will you please see if Dominic Lakeland has checked in at all today?”
Heaving a sigh, he turned and tapped keys on the computer. “Nope.”
“Thanks.” She turned away, her thoughts racing. Where was Dominic? The truck with the Montana plates had to be his. “Come, Smoky.”
Back outside, she approached the truck. It was empty except for an overnight case on the floor of the back seat. Seeing another bullet graze grooved into the truck’s hood, she grew more concerned. Then she noticed the footprints heading into the woods.
Rather than following the footprints, she went back to her SUV and opened the back hatch. Filling a collapsible bowl with water, she set it down for Smoky. While the dog drank, she shouldered her backpack. When Smoky finished with the water, she tucked the collapsible bowl in the pack, then slammed the hatch shut.
“Here, Smoky.” She crossed to the truck and wrenched open the driver’s side door. “This is Dominic.” She patted the driver’s seat. “Dominic. Are you ready to search? Huh, girl? Search Dominic!”
Smoky loved playing the search game. Her K9 pressed her nose into the seat cushion, then sniffed along the floorboard where the gas and brake pedals were located. Shoes and socks were always good scent sources. Then Smoky lifted her snout to the air. Whirling away from the truck, her K9 bounded toward the woods, her curly tail wagging from side to side.
Kendra slammed the truck door shut and quickened her pace to keep up. Smoky bounded along the deep footprints in the snow, using her nose to follow Dominic’s path. At some point, another pair of tracks crossed his, making Kendra glad she’d taken the time to provide Smoky with a scent source. The last thing she wanted to do was follow the wrong set of footprints.
Her K9 continued following Dominic’s scent. The prints seemed to make a wide circle, leading back to the road. When they finally reached it, Smoky turned right and headed west, still following a scent trail only the dog could find.
“Search Dominic,” she called encouragingly. The malamute was at home in the wintery weather. Her K9’s thick fluffy coat kept her warm. “Search!”
Smoky trotted down the road. They walked for over a mile or so when her K9 slowed to a stop, sniffing intently at the north side of the street. Then Smoky sat and let out a sharp bark.
“Good girl!” Kendra didn’t pull the stuffed hippo from her backpack. “Good girl, Smoky. Search! Search Dominic!”
The dog stared at her for a moment, as if disappointed not to be rewarded, then jumped up to continue. Rather than continuing down the road, the dog turned to head into the woods.
Once again, Kendra saw familiar boot prints in the snow. She tried to imagine why Dominic had come this way. Had the gunman pursued him through the woods? And if so, why had that person taken shots at him in the first place?
Was this related to their parents’ murder? She couldn’t see a connection, but then again, it seemed like a strange coincidence that the recent danger wasn’t related to the past.
Troubled, she continued following Smoky through the woods. Had Dominic been followed all the way from Billings? Could Dominic be involved in something else? She had not met him in person, although their last conversation had been a face-to-face video call. Dominic was a couple of years older than she was and had short blond hair. He was tall and thin, mentioning wryly that his nickname as a kid had been “beanpole.”
He seemed nice enough. But now that she was tracking him through the woods, she found herself wondering if she’d made a mistake coming here. Her oldest brother, Chase, would be angry to know she’d set off to meet with a man she didn’t know. Especially the son of a man who’d been murdered, taking their parents down with him.
