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Carter snapped his fingers. “A firefighter maybe? If he’d arrived at the door and told them there was a gas leak, they might get into his truck.” He followed Jenna into the forest, scanning back and forth looking for any signs of evidence.
“Possible.” Jenna pointed ahead. “Dave has stopped. He must have found something.”
Carter stared through the trees. Kane was pulling an evidence bag from his pocket. “Duke is one great tracking dog.”
“You can say that again.” Jenna took off at a run.
TWENTY-ONE
Moving with care, Kane scanned the area, making sure not to disturb anything. He took out his phone and recorded the area with a commentary and then took photographs. After pulling on examination gloves, he plucked hairs from the low-hanging branches of a pine tree and bagged them. Duke was still sitting, indicating the scent was strong and he smiled at him. “Good boy. Stay while I collect the evidence.”
He heard Jenna running toward him and held up one hand. “Hold up. I have evidence here. Don’t come any closer.”
“Okay.” Jenna moved from one foot to the next. “What have you got?”
Kane held up the evidence bag. “Hair and evidence of a struggle.”
With care, he separated branches, peering into the distance, and not five yards ahead spotted the tip of a pink painted fingernail. He took a series of images and then, not risking the chance of destroying DNA evidence, he took a small box from his pocket. It was a first aid kit and held sterile disposable tweezers for holding swabs when cleaning a wound. He took out a pair, tore open the packet and carefully lifted the nail. He dropped it into a plastic jar and screwed on the top. He straightened and waved Jenna and the team forward, stepping away from the evidence to explain what he’d found. “So we’re looking at an abduction.”
“Or a fight with her boyfriend, if she has one.” Jenna peered around the clearing.
“He’d have to be pretty violent to pull her hair.” Jo bent to look at the marks in the dirt. “He’ll be the first person we hunt down.”
“Looking at the way the ground is churned up, she was fighting for her life.” Carter peered through the bushes. “Is that a partial footprint in the dirt?”
Kane nodded. “Yeah, there’s a couple, none deep enough to make a cast but I have images. Wolfe can work with images as long as we have a scale. I used my own foot beside them in a few shots to give the scale. There’s more. Duke stopped here, sat down, then wanted to head deeper into the forest. She wasn’t carried. I figure she got away and ran for her life.”
“I think so too. This woman had guts.” Carter marked the area with crime scene tape. “Let’s go.”
Pushing the evidence into the pockets of his jacket, Kane offered the scent to Duke again. “Seek.”
Duke took off, nose down and tail wagging as he zigzagged through the forest. Kane slowed when he noticed another disturbed patch. “Duke. Wait boy. Sit.”
He turned to Jenna, following beside him. “Look here, she fell to her knees. See the imprints on the ground?” He pointed at the churned-up pine needles. “Something happened here. The ground is disturbed again. “Keep going?”
“Yeah.” Jenna turned to Carter. “If you mark this area and take photos, we’ll keep moving.”
“Gotcha.” Carter pulled out the tape. “Stay in sight or we’ll lose you in there.”
Kane led the way to Duke. “Okay, boy, seek.”
The forest opened out onto a fire road. Kane stopped on the perimeter and waited for Jo and Carter to catch up. “Look, Duke is sitting over there. That’s the end of the trail or he’d be barking.”
“Dammit, how many people have we lost on roads?” Jenna let out a long sigh. “Somehow, he got her into his vehicle and drove away. End of trail.”
Moving with care across the snow- and ice-covered road, Kane examined the area where Duke was sitting. More disturbed ground but no distinct footprints, but he discovered the outline of two tires frozen into the disturbed snow. He pulled out his phone and took photographs and turned to Jenna. “I know that pattern. He’s using the same snow tires I use on the Beast. The pattern is distinctive. They’re RunFlat snow tires. They aren’t usually stocked locally. I had to order them.” He grinned at Jenna. “If he ordered them, we’ll have a name.” He smiled. “I’ll give the local stores a call.”
“Where does this road come out?” Jenna stared into the distance. “If there’s mud on the end of the road, we’ll be able to get the direction the truck turned.”
“I know where it comes out.” Carter looked at Jenna. “Why don’t you go and see if there’s any prints or evidence on the road and we’ll head back and get the truck? We’ll meet you at the end of the fire road.” He stared into the distance. “I figure it’s about the same distance either way.”
Kane turned to Carter. “Sure.” He whistled to Duke. “Check it out, boy. Let’s go.”
“Hey, wait for me.” Jenna ran to his side and took his hand. “I’m coming with you.” She grinned at him. “All alone in the forest, you might need my protection.”
Kane heard Carter snort with laughter as he disappeared into the forest with Jo. He squeezed Jenna’s hand. “There goes my reputation.”
“Oh, that was ruined the day you married me.” Jenna leaned into him. “Jenna Alton, the cyborg slayer.” She laughed. “That’s what Rowley calls you but that’s my fault. I let it slip once that Wolfe treats you in the morgue because you’re a cyborg. I was joking but he’s got a long memory.”
