Page 125 of Betrayed

Logan fired again. Three more bullets, each one hit Miles center mass. He dropped at Logan’s feet.

Logan leaned over and breathed.

He hadn’t wanted to kill Miles, especially not before learning where AJ was. And what did Miles mean about Logan trying to kill her? Miles was the one wanting to push the button.

Adam and Will ran out from the woods nearby. Amelia and Zara came around the side of the house.

Zara holstered her gun and ran to hug him. He returned his firearm to its holster before embracing her for a brief moment.

Will came up. “Sorry, man. When we lost coms we decided it would be better to walk in. That driveway is long.”

Logan nodded. “I don’t know where she is. He had a button. I don’t know what he was doing to her.”

Adam picked up Miles’s phone. “Plus or minus. Those are the only buttons.”

“Plus or minus what? Was he shocking her?” The horror in Zara’s voice matched how he felt.

Logan tried to rack his brain for anything Miles might have said. “Goes under … he accused me of killing her by not letting him push the button. Did I?”

Will put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Don’t think like that right now. Let’s find her first.”

Adam’s phone vibrated, and he answered it. Whatever blocker Miles had either stopped working or didn’t cover the backyard. “Megan and Wesson are here.”

Logan ran to the front of the house. Megan’s German shepherd had a sharp nose. If AJ was here, he’d help them find her.

“Logan.” Megan held out her arms, and they embraced.

Wesson nosed Logan’s hand.

He squatted down and petted the dog. “Can you find AJ for me? Where has she been? Where is she now?”

Megan opened a large Ziplock bag with a t-shirt in it. “Zara gave me this this afternoon, just in case.” She gave Wesson a command and unhooked his leash. Searching for people wasn’t his normal job, but he was still good at it. Megan continually worked on developing new skills with Wesson, while maintaining the dog’s other abilities.

Wesson sniffed the bag then started smelling the ground. He bolted away from the house, back down the driveway.

Logan grabbed his powerful flashlight from his bike bag and joined Megan in following Wesson. He stopped and sniffed the sweatshirt that had been discarded before leading them farther down the driveway, into the woods, and onto a neighbor’s lawn.

Logan shined his flashlight around. The ground looked smashed in one area as if a large person or two people had hit the ground. Had AJ tried to get away but Miles caught her here?

Wesson didn’t linger long before dashing back through the woods, retracing his path down the driveway, and running to the front door of the house. He darted past Amelia who sat on the front step with Miles’s computer.

She said, “With all those cameras I bet he was watching her wherever he had her. I’ll see what I can find.”

Logan nodded. “Thank you.”

Wesson scratched at the door.

AJ had gone inside the house.

Megan opened the door, and she and Logan went with Wesson through the house. In the kitchen, a chair was covered in duct tape where someone had clearly been bound.

Logan’s stomach churned at the sight. AJ. She’d been in the house, taped up. But she wasn’t here now.

“Where is she, Wesson? Where’d he take her?”

Wesson barked at Logan as if he understood what he was asking.

The dog went to the back door and pawed at it.

Megan again opened the door, and they let Wesson lead the way down the steps to the patio. He barked at Miles’s dead body but ran around it and down the steep stairs that led to the river.

The river.

Miles had said he planned for Logan to go in the river … the riddle. Hopefully not hers. Was she in the water somewhere?

She hated the river. As a kid she’d loved going, but after Bree died she swore she’d never go again. Oh, AJ!

Wesson bounded down the steps and ran to the end of the dock where a small motorboat was moored. The dog jumped in the boat, sniffed around, then barked.

“Logan!” Amelia called from the top of the stairs. “There’s a camera focused on the water beneath a road bridge over what looks like the river. It also looks like there’s a rope coming off the bridge.”

Logan turned to Megan. “Is there a key in that boat?”

She got in. “Yep. In the ignition. Lucky for you, I know how to drive one of these things. Get in.”

Logan hopped over the side. They didn’t wait for anyone else and set out on the river. They had to find AJ.