Dom quickly caught up to the rest. “What caught her attention?”
“There are footprints in the snow back here. I’m not sure who they belong to, but they’re obviously recent.” Kendra frowned as she turned to scan the area. “I was just about to give Smoky the search command to see if she’d continue following whatever scent she’s alerted on.”
“Human prints?” Raine asked. “Maybe belonging to a hunter?”
“There wouldn’t be a reason for Smoky to alert on a stranger,” Justin argued. “And Stone hasn’t alerted. Only Smoky.”
Levy looked confused. “I don’t understand. What’s the big deal is over a K9 alert?”
“Our dogs don’t alert without a reason,” Kendra explained. “Normally, we have a scent source to provide our K9s so they can find and track lost people. I didn’t give Smoky a search command. She caught the scent and came running over here where there were footprints.”
“She may have caught the scent of the bad guy at some point,” Griff said. “I know Royal did that in the past.”
“The gunman has mostly been shooting at us from his truck,” Dom argued. “How could Smoky catch his scent?”
“Except for the cabin, remember?” Kendra caught his gaze. “I saw someone moving through the woods. Smoky may have picked up that person’s scent.”
She still held her weapon in hand, just like everyone else. Dom hated being the only one unarmed. Kendra turned to her K9. “Are you ready, girl? Are you? Search!”
Dom wasn’t sure what he expected, but he was surprised when Smoky jumped up and lowered her snout to the ground. The K9 trotted deeper into the woods, clearly following the footprints. At least to Dom, the footprints were clear, but he knew the K9 was paying more attention to a specific scent.
Kendra was hot on Smoky’s heels as the dog made her way through the woods. Dom didn’t hear anything beyond the wind as they followed. He remembered how the K9 had tracked him in a similar manner, what, barely twenty-four hours ago?
It seemed like a lifetime. And he was struck by how much he would miss Kendra once this was over.
“Where is the dog taking us?” Levy asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“She’s following the scent trail.” Dom glanced at the US Marshal. “Hopefully, Smoky will lead us straight to the gunman.”
“That would be nice.” Levy’s voice was slightly breathless, as if the guy didn’t normally jog through the snow. Dom didn’t either, but obviously Kendra, Justin, Raine, and Griff were all accustomed to this sort of thing.
No way did he intend to be left behind. Putting on a burst of speed, Dom used his long legs to pass Levy and the others to catch up to Kendra.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he kept pace beside her.
She nodded, barely giving him a glance before her gaze focused on her dog. “Good girl! Search!”
From what Dom could tell, the K9 didn’t need Kendra’s encouragement. Smoky’s high, curved tail wagged back and forth as she eagerly trotted across the snow. Then the dog abruptly slowed and turned to the right. Seeing the footprints, he scanned the horizon, wondering if the gunman was hiding someplace nearby.
Justin and Stone stayed to Kendra’s left. Dom sensed that the moment Justin saw a threat, he’d leap out to confront it first to protect his sister. It was something Dom would do as well, especially if he had a weapon.
The dog disappeared from his line of sight for a long moment, then let out a sharp bark. Kendra and Justin sprinted forward, their weapons held ready. He made sure to keep up as they broke through the foliage to see what had caught Smoky’s attention.
As Dom emerged, he saw Smoky sitting near what appeared to be a flattened area of snow. It took him a moment to realize they were made by a snowmobile. Everyone gathered around as Kendra bent to praise her K9. Dom noticed she didn’t have her stuffed hippo; it was back at the log cabin.
“Someone was here and not that long ago.” Justin’s tone was grim. “I didn’t hear a snowmobile, did anyone else?”
“Now that you mention it, I did hear a rumbling sound earlier.” Kendra straightened. “I thought maybe it was a car on the road, but I didn’t see anything.”
Griff scowled. “The wind may have carried the sound away from our location.”
“What makes you think these tracks are recent?” Levy asked. The marshal was bent at the torso, propping his hands on his knees. “These could have been left days ago.”
“They’ve been made prior to the recent snowfall,” Justin said. “The track marks are too clear for them to have been left prior to that.”
Levy flushed, although Dom couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or just breathless. He edged closer to Justin, then nodded. “Okay, I see what you mean. These tracks would have been filled with snow if they were made yesterday.”
“Exactly.” Griff turned to look at Kendra. “What do you think? Should we follow these tracks to see where they go?”
