Page 65 of Still Afraid

“Good job, Poirot. Where did they go from here?”

He barked and sniffed the air. When he caught the scent again, he continued his pursuit.

Clearly the person who had confronted her had gotten away from the tornado safely. Did that mean they were bent on getting whatever—the journal?—back from her? Would they find her again? Would they threaten her this time?

Poirot led her to another street and stopped at the side of the road. He sniffed the air again. He wandered back and forth.

It’s possible the person got in a car here. That could make it very difficult for Poirot to track. If the windows were closed, they wouldn’t be able to follow.

But Poirot trotted down the road with his head up in the air. He still had the scent, although it must be faint based on how much he was sniffing.

They continued on through the neighborhood, but as they approached the main road, Chloe called Poirot back and latched the leash onto his vest.

When they reached the corner, Poirot stopped and sat.

He’d lost the trail.

“It’s all right, buddy. We tried. Let’s head back.”

Josh waited for Buck and Martinez on the road beside the ditch where they’d found the sweatshirt and bandana. He didn’t like that Chloe and Poirot had gone off by themselves. It had seemed natural, but as soon as they were beyond where he could hear them moving, his heart pricked with anxiety.

He prayed God would protect them and bring them back soon. Surely she’d call if they found something. But wait. She didn’t have a phone. What were they thinking? He could kick himself.

An unmarked police sedan parked near the volunteer sign-in, and Martinez and Buck exited. Josh waved them down the road.

They flashed their badges to the firefighter and joined Josh.

Buck said, “What do we got?”

“Sweatshirt and bandana. Chloe said they looked like what the person was wearing when he approached her. They’re down here.” Josh led them into the ditch. “Poirot got a good sniff and took Chloe in that direction. But she doesn’t have her cell phone.”

Martinez turned. “I’ll go find her.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not facing Gabe’s wrath if something happens to her again.” He climbed out.

Buck took several photographs of the items where they were found, then handed Josh a pair of disposable gloves. “I’ll need you to help me.”

Josh slipped on the gloves, then held a large evidence bag while Buck untangled the sweatshirt from the thorns. He checked the pockets before sliding the hoodie into the plastic bag. They put the bandana in a separate bag.

“We need to search this area too and see if there are any other clues about who this guy could be.” Buck handed him the bags to hold, so Buck did most of the searching.

Josh looked up and down both sides of the ditch to see if he spotted anything that could be a related clue. Perhaps a bit of blood or maybe he dropped his wallet and they’d have an ID.

That was probably wishful thinking. Nothing was ever that easy.

Buck searched the undergrowth and layers of decomposing leaves left over from last fall on his hands and knees.

“No way.”

Josh darted toward Buck. “What is it?”

Buck lifted a cell phone from the ground.

“It couldn’t be that easy.”

“No guarantee this belongs to the perp, but there’s a good chance since it was so close to the sweatshirt.”