What was up with this guy? Did he have endless ammo?
This time, Autumn returned fire. Jordan lost sight of the figure and wondered if she’d hit him.
Then heard a car engine roaring to life.
“No! Not again!” Autumn shouted in frustration.
He shared her concern and forced himself to keep going. Maybe, some of the mud had fallen from the license plate.
But he couldn’t outrun the car. By the time he reached the road, there was nothing but the glow of taillights fading in the night.
NINE
Autumn blew out a frustrated breath at how the perp had gotten away. She knelt beside Bear. “Search bad guy, Bear. Search.”
Her bloodhound stared at her with soulful eyes for a moment then went to work sniffing the ground. Following the scent was important because she’d fired her weapon and needed to know if she’d wounded the intruder. Police shootings were taken seriously, and she’d have to file a report with her boss if she’d hit him.
Granted, she needed to report this incident to Peters, too. She’d issued that BOLO so the entire police force should be looking for the black sedan with muddy plates.
Jordan jogged toward her. “I can’t believe that guy escaped again.” Then he frowned. “What’s up with Bear?”
“I asked him to follow the gunman’s scent.” She wanted to berate Jordan for running after the retreating car, but decided to hold her tongue. Hard to blame him for trying to protect her. It was sweet, though not necessary. She gestured to where Cutie was still waiting near the ranch house. “She’s being a good girl, staying like that. You need to reward her for listening to you.”
“You’re right.” He hurried over to the puppy. “Good girl, Cutie! You’re such a good girl!”
Autumn had to smile at how Cutie jumped with excitement. Then she turned her attention to Bear. Her K-9 trotted swiftly across the yard toward the trees. Autumn pulled out her phone to use the flashlight app. The beam wasn’t as strong as she’d like, but it worked in a pinch.
Bear was a K-9 on a mission. He didn’t waver but moved through the woods, sniffing intently. He stopped abruptly, sniffing near a tree, then sat and howled.
“Good boy,” she praised, sweeping the beam of the flashlight over the ground. It was hard packed with lingering areas of snow. She didn’t see any blood and wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or disappointed.
“Search,” she commanded. “Keep searching, Bear.”
Her K-9 eagerly went back to work. She was blessed to have such a wonderful partner who loved tracking scents. She suspected Bear would do so even without his reward, because he was a sweetie. The bloodhound continued moving through the woods and she soon realized they were headed for the road.
A few minutes later, the trees thinned and they were only a few yards from the road. She let Bear go all the way though, so she could identify where the car had been parked.
He swept his nose along the ground before slowing to a stop. He sniffed for a moment, then sat and howled.
Again, she played her flashlight over the ground but didn’t see any blood. If she had hit the gunman, the wound wasn’t serious.
As she didn’t have the rope toy handy, she lavished praise on the dog much the way she’d instructed Jordan to do. “Good boy, Bear!” She bent and stroked his fur. “You’re a good boy!”
“Find anything?” Jordan asked, when she and Bear went back to the ranch house.
“No blood, so I must have missed.” She didn’t like admitting that. She’d never had a problem hitting what she was aiming for. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to see much of anything in the darkness, returning fire only when she’d caught a glimpse of muzzle flash. It irked and worried her that this perp kept getting away. Especially since she knew he’d be back, and sooner than she’d like. “I was hoping Bear would find something to run through the DNA database.”
“That would be nice,” Jordan said with a frown. “Whoever this guy is, he’s determined to get to you.”
“He must be harboring a big, personal grudge for sure,” she mused as they headed back inside. “Not just breaking into my house to fire at me, but stealing my mother’s things.”
“You know, maybe the grudge is against your mother, not you,” Jordan said.
She stared at him in surprise. “I hadn’t considered that possibility. My mom was shot and killed in the line of duty. Her killer was never found. Yet, she’s been gone for ten years. Why would someone be coming after me after all this time?” Could it be the same killer? That seemed unlikely, but she tucked the idea away to delve into later.
“Who knows?” Jordan crossed to the kitchen counter and began to make coffee. “I just think you should consider all possibilities.”
“Yeah, okay. That’s a good idea.” She sighed when she noted the hour was quarter to five in the morning. There was no point in trying to get more sleep now. For one thing, adrenalin coursed through her bloodstream.
