“We’re doing our best.” Heath sounded a little testy.
“I know you are.” The last thing she wanted was to annoy the officers. The Sullivans had been through a lot over this past year, and they needed to keep their good working relationships with the local authorities. “We just thought the updated information would help.”
“It will.” Burt sipped his coffee, eyeing her over the rim. “You don’t have anything else for us to go on, like a description of the shooter?”
“Unfortunately, nothing more than a white guy in his twenties or early thirties.” Dom shrugged. “I think it’s interesting that these recent attempts have been from a distance. Like he’s not willing to get too close for fear we’ll return fire.”
“That’s a good observation,” Kendra agreed. “You quickly returned fire when we were at the hotel, remember? The shooter must have been caught off guard by us having a weapon, although I’m not sure why, and has decided to keep his distance moving forward.”
“Great,” Heath muttered. “That’s only going to make it harder to find him.”
“We’ll find him.” Burt turned to face Griff. “Where will you take Kendra and Dom next? Somewhere we can help keep an eye on them?”
“I’m working on a safe house.” Griff glanced at her, then toward Justin and Raine. “I’m waiting for my boss to get back to me. In the meantime, we won’t use the Sullivan name moving forward.”
“Or Dom’s name,” she added. “He’s the main target.”
“Yep, we need to be incognito.” Griff looked down at his phone. “This is my boss now.” He swiped his finger over the screen and moved to the other side of the room where it was quieter to talk.
“I may have dinged the truck,” Levy said to the second pair of officers who arrived. “I tried to disable it but must have misjudged the distance.”
“Any other markings on the truck?” Sergeant Tom Howell asked. “Other than the license plate being covered with snow.”
Levy stared down at the floor for a moment, then sighed. “No, I remember glancing at the driver, trying to shoot at the truck, then seeing the covered plate. I’m disappointed I missed him.”
“We’ll find him.” Howell turned toward her. “Have you asked Smoky to find shell casings?”
“No, but we can do that now. Come, Smoky.” Kendra headed into the kitchen to fill a bowl with water, setting it on the floor for her K9. Justin did the same with Stone. She grabbed her backpack so that she’d have the stuffed hippo to use as a reward.
After both dogs had lapped at the water, she turned to the door. “Let’s go, Smoky!”
“Come, Stone,” Justin added.
Outside, she took Smoky to one side of the house. Justin and Stone stayed on the other side to avoid both dogs alerting on the same shell casing. She bent down and held Smoky’s gaze. “Are you ready? Huh, girl? Search! Search for gold!”
Justin gave Stone the same command, and both dogs eagerly went to work. Smoky trotted along the side of the road sniffing intently. Stone moved farther down the street.
It didn’t take too long. Smoky alerted first, but it was only a few seconds later that Stone did the same. Kendra approached Smoky, pulling the hippo from her bag. Seeing the shell casing in the snow, she injected praise in her tone. “Good girl! Good girl, Smoky.” When she tossed the hippo into the air, her K9 leaped up to snatch it.
Soon Stone and Smoky were running around the yard with their respective rewards. She turned to see Heath Anderson beside her. “Here’s one casing. Stone found one farther down.”
The Cody police officer placed the shell casings into two evidence bags. He turned toward her. “What about searching the side of the house where US Marshal Levy fired his weapon?”
“I’ll do that, come, Stone.” Justin called his K9 over. Less than five minutes later, Stone alerted again.
“He only fired twice?” Heath asked.
Kendra pursed her lips. “I thought I heard more shots than that, three or four? But it could be that those shells landed inside the truck.”
“Yeah, okay.” Heath crossed over to where Stone alerted. “Thanks for your help with this.”
“Anytime.” Justin bent to rub his hands over Stone’s fur. “Our K9s love to work, huh, boy?”
Kendra held out her palm. “Hand.” Smoky trotted over and dropped the stuffed hippo into her palm. Kendra tucked it away, then turned to head back inside.
“Do you think Griff will get the feds to cough up a safe house?” Justin asked as he joined her.
“I hope so.” She grimaced. “We could use a break. The danger has been relentless.”
