Page 58 of K-9 Prime Target

The sheriff frowned. She could almost read his mind. He didn’t believe her stories about Nicholson. “We’ll get a team out here to search,” he said. “Where were the two of you when this happened?”

“We went to SkyCrest, to the ski patrol office,” Nina said. “We were only gone a little over an hour.”

“He must have been watching the house and moved in as soon as you left,” the officer said.

“We know he’s been watching the house,” Liam said. “The note he sent with the pizza last night admitted as much.”

“Except you don’t have any proof Aaron Nicholson sent that note or did any of these things,” the sheriff said. “He doesn’t sign his name, and we haven’t found fingerprints or any evidence that he’s even in the area.”

“Have you checked with Utah authorities, to verify if Nicholson is there?” Liam asked.

The lines on the sheriff’s forehead deepened. “I’ll see what I can find out about that.”

“What about Derek from the gyro truck?” Liam said. “Did you look into him like I asked?”

“Derek Frazier was working a shift at the gyro truck when Ms. Rose was stabbed,” the sheriff said. “And he was babysitting his sister’s children last night.”

So they had checked on Derek. It made her feel only a little better to know that he wasn’t her stalker. Which led right back to Nicholson—whom the sheriff seemed so reluctant to consider.

“Whoever is doing these things, his behavior is escalating,” Liam said. “You need to find him and stop him.”

“We’ll talk to the neighbors,” the sheriff said. “Though it doesn’t look like any of them have a view of the back door. Still, they might have seen someone suspicious lurking about.”

“Have you found out anything about the note that was sent last night?” Liam asked.

“We talked to the pizza restaurant,” the sheriff said. “The pizza sent to you was a phone order. Guy paid with a gift card. He gave his name as Mike Smith.”

That the sheriff would volunteer this information surprised Liam. Maybe the man felt guilty about ignoring their concerns for so long. “That has to be a fake name,” Liam said.

The sheriff nodded. “Probably. It doesn’t give us much to go on.” He looked toward the broken door again. “You two will have to stay somewhere else for a day or two while we go over the place. Then you’ll need to get someone in to clean this up.”

“I can’t leave without the dogs,” Nina said.

“You can’t be here while we’re doing our job,” the deputy said.

Liam put his arm around her and led her away. “I can’t leave without the dogs,” she repeated.

“We won’t,” he said. “We just have to stay out of the house.” He studied the expanse of empty woods. “I don’t think Nicholson would have taken them with him. It’s not easy to hide with two dogs—especially two dogs who don’t want to be with him. Angel wouldn’t have gone willingly.”

“If he did anything to harm them…”

He squeezed her arm. “I’m thinking they ran away. They were probably terrified when he came busting in there.”

“Then we have to keep looking.”

They walked down the road, calling until they were hoarse, and searched the woods. Sheriff’s department vehicles arrived and departed, and men and women swarmed in and out of the house. At one point a deputy brought over an axe for Nina to identify. “That’s not mine,” she said.

“The vandal must have brought it with him,” Liam said.

By four o’clock the sun was low in the sky and they were chilled through, exhausted and heartsick. “Come on,” Liam said. “We need to find some place to stay tonight. I promise we’ll come back tomorrow.”

Nina said nothing, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

They were headed for his SUV when her phone rang. She checked the screen, then answered. “Hello, Connor.”

“Are you okay?” Liam heard the urgency behind the words.

“Not really,” she said. “Someone broke into my house while we were in town this morning. They smashed in the door with an axe and destroyed everything. We can’t find the dogs anywhere.”