Cross My Heart (Detectives Kane and Alton)

Jenna continued to scan the sidewalk. “What did Atohi suggest?”

“Duke likes familiar places but, in a storm, could hide anywhere.” Kane shrugged. “I figure, first up we should talk to people in the immediate area. The car wreck had people’s interest but they might have seen Duke, especially as he was dragging his leash.”

They walked to Aunt Betty’s, stopping familiar faces and asking if they’d seen Duke. The bloodhound was so well known around town that the locals’ concern was evident. Jenna pushed open the door to Aunt Betty’s Café and went to the counter. Susie Hartwig came right over. “Hi, Susie. Has Duke wandered by this morning? We can’t find him.”

“Duke?” Susie’s forehead creased into a frown. “No. When did he go missing?”

“Not long ago, maybe in the last hour.” Kane had removed his Stetson and was curling up the rim. “He hates storms, we thought he might have come by as he likes you.”

“Aww, poor Duke.” Susie shook her head. “I’ll make sure to keep him here if he shows and I’ll call you.” She thought for a beat. “Does he know his way home? He might be heading there where he knows it’s safe.”

Jenna nodded. “Maybe. We’ll keep searching around town. Thanks.”

They walked up and down Main for over an hour, checking all the stores and the park, with Kane whistling intermittently. As they returned to the truck, she turned to Kane. “I think we should head home. Duke has been your close companion for years now. I figure if he couldn’t find you, he’d head home. It’s been a couple of hours, we should check—it’s the most logical place.”

“Okay. It’s worth a try.” Kane scanned Main one more time and got reluctantly into the truck. “Like you said, Duke has been with me for some time now. I know all his little idiosyncrasies, but not since the day I rescued him has he left my side. You said how he pined for me when I was in Walter Reed. This doesn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t just run away, storm or no storm. He’d be more likely to bury himself under his blanket and wait for us to come back.”

They drove slowly back to Jenna’s ranch, both searching all around, but found no sign of Duke. As they entered the gate, Jenna waved Kane passed her ranch house. “He might be in the cottage.”

“I don’t figure he could have gotten this far in two or so hours.” Kane pulled up outside and headed for his front door. “Did you leave your doggie door open?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, it was locked when we checked out the house this morning.”

She followed him inside and they looked under beds and in Duke’s usual hiding places. The house was empty. As they headed for the front door, Kane’s phone chimed.

“Unknown number.” Kane accepted the call and put his phone on speaker. “Dave Kane.”

“Hi there, this is Jo Prichard. I’m one of the forest wardens out at the station just down from Bear Peak. I had a call from a hunter, he said he could hear a dog howling out near the ravine. Atohi called earlier, and said you were looking for your hound? Maybe it’s him. I’d go and take a look but I’m alone here all day.”

“Yeah, I’ve lost my dog, a bloodhound by the name of Duke.” Kane looked at Jenna and raised an eyebrow. “I’ll head up that way now. Thanks.” He turned to Jenna. “I’ll get my horse and drop you back at the office. You have a case to solve. I must go see if it’s him. Maybe he got his leash caught up and can’t move.”

Jenna frowned. “The ravine? How did he get that far?”

“It’s been over three hours now, Jenna.” Kane grabbed a backpack and stuffed it full of supplies. “I’ll take a med kit in case he’s been injured.”

Jenna frowned. “Then take one of the trail bikes from the office. It will get you there faster.”

“No, Duke would run from the noise.” Kane frowned. “He’ll be terrified and won’t recognize me, especially if he’s hurt.”

Gut cramping from the implications, Jenna went into the bedroom she’d been using and took out her backpack from the closet. She went back into the kitchen and filled it with supplies. “I’m coming too. There’s a serial killer hanging around Bear Peak and although the ravine is west of there, it’s safer if we both go. None of the victims wore Kevlar vests or sheriff’s department jackets and that alone may put off a killer. We’ll take our rifles and plenty of ammo just in case. I’ll call Rowley on the way and give him the heads-up.”

“Sure, grab the horses and I’ll hitch up the trailer.” Kane hurried out the door.

In no time they were heading for the forest. Thunder rolled across the heavens as Kane pulled up at the end of a fire road and jumped out. Jenna collected their gear, they mounted, and headed in the direction of the ravine. The wind had picked up and the lightning cracked all around them as they moved along the trail. Jenna’s white mare, Seagull, danced sideways; her ears flattened against her head. She didn’t like storms either, and shied away from the moving branches swirling in the gusts of wind. As they reached the fork in the trail leading around the ravine before joining up again a mile or so ahead, Kane gave an ear-piercing whistle. They stopped and listened. A howl unmistakably from Duke echoed through the forest and continued for some moments.

“That’s him. I’d know that sound anywhere.” Kane blew out a breath. “We’ve found him. He must be close by.”

“But where?” Jenna searched the dense trees. “I hope he’s not fallen into the ravine. Did you pick up a direction?”

“I’m not sure.” Kane whistled again and a long howl carried on the wind. “Dammit, the echo from the mountain distorts the direction of the sound.” He scanned the area and frowned. “We’ll need to check both trails. If you recall, the trail on the right crumbles into the ravine in places. Your mare isn’t sure-footed enough to risk taking her there.”

The sky had darkened in the last few minutes, a storm imminent. Jenna shrugged. “Then we split up and meet up at the end.” She leaned toward him and squeezed his hand. “Don’t look so worried. I doubt a killer will be out in this weather. I haven’t seen a hiker or anyone else since we entered the forest.”

“Are you sure, Jenna? If the storm gets any worse our earpieces won’t work. If you run into trouble, you’ll have to use the satellite phone and hope the storm doesn’t interfere with the signal.” Kane turned his head as another long howl came from the forest. “We can do both trails together. It will be safer.”

Jenna patted her Glock. “Duke could be dying for all we know. It’s less than a mile, five or six minutes on horseback. I’ll be fine. Just to be sure, I’ll check in with Rowley and Rio and give them our position. They’ll use trail bikes to get here if needs be.”

A crack of lightning lit up the sky, the replying thunder a second behind it. A gust of wind blew up pine needles in a dust cloud and a panicked howl came from the forest. Jenna waved Kane away. “Go, that’s the obvious trail to the res and he more than likely went that way. I’ll ride fast along this track and meet you at the cut-through.”