Page 50 of Trap ’N’ Trace

Remy took off, taking up the slack in the leash and sniffing the air as she led them into the woods. Enough light filtered through the mix of deciduous and coniferous trees for him to see a good hundred yards ahead. But Remy’s nose was far better than Dayne’s vision. Depending on wind direction, physical obstructions, and swirling air currents, she could pull in scents originating thousands of yards away.

As they pushed farther into the woods, Dayne’s heart rate skyrocketed. They were so close to putting the habeas grabus on this guy, he could taste it.

They continued in a straight line through the trees, passing a vine-covered concrete bunker—the one Kade mentioned. Remy didn’t track to the building so they continued on, crossing the boundary into Blauvelt State Park. In the last few days, the ground had dried, and their feet made swishing, crunching noises on the dry leaves and low scrub. If someone had been on the property, they wouldn’t have left any deep footprints.

Occasionally, Remy sniffed the ground, circling several times before taking off again in the same direction they’d been heading. Which meant she was on a hot track. Which meant…

Someone had been there. Not a deer. Remy’s body language was entirely different when she tracked people. Adrenaline cranked in Dayne’s bloodstream. If the killer was here, they’d get him.

Five minutes later they stood in a parking lot at the edge of Bradley Hill Road, the western boundary of the park. Remy circled frantically, her nostrils flaring as she scented the asphalt again and again, but it was no use.

The scent ended there.

Dayne scanned the road. Whoever Remy had been tracking must have had a vehicle parked in the lot and driven off. He looked around for pole cameras, but there were none. The killer was too smart to make such a simple mistake. If it really was the killer. Dayne didn’t have a psych degree, but he was convinced Manny Gomes was an intimacy-seeking stalker.

As the adrenaline drained from his system, he turned in a slow three-sixty. There was no innocent reason for someone to leave a vehicle this far away and trek all the way through the park and onto the Vandenburg property. Given that Kat was a famous person, it could have been the paparazzi or a gawker looking to snap a photo.

Dayne stroked his chin. With a killer and a potential stalker on the loose, he couldn’t assume anything that tweaked his or Remy’s radar was a harmless coincidence.

He slipped his phone out and dialed one of the guards outside the castle. The guy picked up on the first ring. Dayne couldn’t contain the note of anger. “Notify your partner, and report this to your head office. There was an intruder on the property.” Not that it was the guards’ fault. Dayne hadn’t picked up on it, either. Remy had, but she was the best K-9 tracker he’d ever seen.

“Yes, sir,” the guard replied, and Dayne ended the call. No sense getting into it. The guard would be extra vigilant now, and that had been Dayne’s intent.

“Good girl.” He patted Remy’s side then tapped his chest.

His dog rose on her hind legs, resting her front paws on his chest. All K-9s viewed work as fun, and this was one of many rewards he gave her for a job well done. As another reward, he unclipped her leash and draped it around his neck, allowing her to run free during the trek back to the castle. She took full advantage and darted happily after a few chipmunks, always returning to his side.

Eventually the castle came into view. The property really was too large to put under constant surveillance or completely fence in. That joke he’d made about a piranha-filled moat and .50 caliber guns on the turrets…not so funny, now.

The safest course of action was to keep Kat inside at all times. She’d hate the idea. He could already hear the argument they’d have if he tried broaching the subject.

As he and Remy climbed the steps, he noted the guard rounding the north corner to commence his hourly rounds. He opened the door, expecting Angus to bound out. He didn’t. Dayne closed the door, straining for sounds of the puppy.

The house was quiet. Too quiet.

“Kat?” he called out. When she didn’t answer, his heart rate began to soar. “Angus?” Again, nothing.

Common sense told him no one could have gotten inside with guards on duty, and one of them would have notified him if Kat had gone out. That didn’t stop the hairs on the back of his neck from standing at full attention.

He pushed his suit jacket aside and rested his hand on his gun. The living room and kitchen were empty. Next, he went to Kat’s office. Her desk was piled high with stacks of documents, some labeled “urgent.” The bud vase on her desk held a solitary rose. Now he knew why the bouquet in the kitchen only had eleven roses, not a perfect dozen.

He checked every other room on the main level, including his quarters and the giant library with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Kat wasn’t in any of them.

His heart rate picked up more.

At the bottom of the stairs, he heard something. Remy’s ears twitched, and she cocked her head. The same sound drifted down the stairs.

Someone moaning—Kat.

Shit. Drawing his weapon, he raced up the stairs. Remy charged after him. How the hell had someone gotten inside?

At the top of the stairs, he paused, straining to hear over his own heartbeat, which pounded like a goddamn freight train chugging up a hill.

The same sound came again from his left, softer this time. Glock extended, he ran to a door that was half open. In between the slams of his heart against his ribs and the pounding of his blood in his ears, he heard sniffling.

Kat lay curled up on a king-size bed with her back to him. No one else was visible, but he scanned every corner of the room and the bathroom just the same. He hung his head and let out the mother of all silent, relief-filled breaths.

Slowly, he lowered his weapon and holstered. She’s fine, his brain screamed. Physically, at least. The sounds he’d heard were her crying. Everything she’d been holding in all week had finally erupted. He’d known the time would come. It had only been a question of when.