Page 6 of Chasing Creed

“Oh yeah, we took a look or two. Mostly a lot of dust and rat poop. Probably a good place for your dogs to check out.”

Creed ignored his suggestion. “How about the outbuildings?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Any obstacles on the property you know of?”

“Like I told you earlier, nobody’s lived here for decades.”

Creed held the man’s eyes, but they darted off again. There was a whole lot more this man wasn’t telling them. A glance at Jason reaffirmed Creed’s suspicion. A growing knot in his stomach told him to pack up and go home. But what if someone had been injured and is close by? It didn’t seem right to leave just because this newly elected sheriff was acting paranoid. It wasn’t up to Creed to determine if the man was only worried about his reputation.

“We’ll start at the vehicle,” he finally said. When the sheriff didn’t make a move, Creed added, “I’ll need you and your deputy to give us some space.”

“Now, wait a minute. You saying you don’t want us in on the search?”

“It’s best if you’re not in sight. It’s a distraction to the dogs,” Creed told him while avoiding Brodie and Jason’s eyes. That wasn’t exactly the truth. But it also wasn’t necessarily a lie. Any tension, even tension coming from the handlers, could be a distraction for the dogs. And he knew if this guy hung around there would be tension, emanating not just off the sheriff but off Creed, too. “It’d speed things up if you could let the dogs do their job.”

The man’s jaw twitched as he stared at Creed in an apparent stand-off. Maybe he suspected Creed wasn’t being straight with him. The guy stood a couple of inches shorter, broad-chested with a bit of a paunch but still in good shape. Creed guessed Daniels might be somewhere at the end of his forties or early fifties. He was used to people following his orders. Maybe not so good at following anyone else’s. The possibility that his own deputies might have leaked what the sheriff thought should be confidential, didn’t sit well with Creed.

Finally, he nodded and put his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay. We’ll be back at the house. I’m sure that’s where y’all will end up eventually.” Then he turned and headed back.

Creed waited until he disappeared between the trees.

“Brodie, you mind staying here with the dogs?”

“Because you don’t want me to see all that blood?”

“Because I don’t want the dogs seeing it or smelling it.”

“They’re already smelling it.” Brodie pointed to Grace’s nose bobbing.

“This isn’t a protective thing,” Creed told her. He knew it drove her crazy, even when she didn’t challenge him. Something didn’t feel right. And truthfully, he didn’t want Brodie or the dogs close to that vehicle. “Jason and I just need to take a look and see if we can find any personal items inside. Grace needs something more than blood.”

Hearing her name, the little dog looked up at him then waved her nose back toward the woods.

“I know, I know,” he told Grace. “You stay here.”

He glanced at Brodie, and this time she just nodded.

They walked slowly to the vehicle. The fog made it difficult to see inside. Jason stepped closer. He pulled out his phone, punched the flashlight app, and shot a glaring stream through the broken window. He waved the light over the back seat.

It was worse than Creed imagined. Blood stained not just the leather seats but splattered the inside of the tinted windows. Even the ceiling was stained.

It was Jason who finally broke the silence. “Wow! This guy must have really pissed somebody off.”

4

Wahoo, Nebraska

Sara topped off the gas tank and glanced inside the window of her truck cap. The glass on the bed’s topper was tinted, but she’d recently added pull-down shades. Even under the lights of the gas station, she couldn’t see the mattress, camping supplies, or the bags of groceries she’d just purchased.

She tucked the stolen credit card into her back pocket, her eyes scanning the entire lot without moving her head. The rain had stopped. A flicker of lightning insisted it wasn’t finished. The sky remained dark enough that the streetlights had been triggered, fooled into thinking it was evening instead of noon.

Sara didn’t mind. Weather like this kept people’s focus on the sky more than on each other. Or so she thought.

“Nice Aussie,” a man told her as he walked in front of her vehicle.

“Excuse me?” He caught her off guard. Aussie? She wasn’t sure if it was an insult or a come-on.