“You good?” Law glanced at her with an edgy grin after a particularly sudden swoop in the road left Jori gasping from a sense of free fall.
“Good.” She gave him a thumbs-up but shut her eyes, feeling that just maybe what she couldn’t see wouldn’t hurt her. He must know what he was doing.
They came to a sudden stop after the final fifty feet of unpaved road that sent gravel spraying from beneath the tires. Jori opened her eyes.
She hadn’t given much thought to where Battise might live. Standard apartment in town, whatever that might look like. Or a trailer, maybe. She hadn’t expected that he would live off-road, up a secluded gravel track in the woods. She was looking at an A-frame log cabin perched on a bluff. It was small but neat, with a porch running the width of the front and wrapping around the side toward the rear. A cord of wood cut for the fireplace lay stacked just nearby.
Law turned to her. “You can come in or wait here while I get the gas.”
The words were neutral, but the invitation in his eyes was intimate and a dare.
“I’ll wait.”
Sam jumped out of the back of the car when Law opened the door and fell into step with him as he climbed the few steps, leading the way. When they reached the porch, Sam suddenly moved in front, barring Law from opening the door.
Law frowned. “What’s up, Sam?”
Sam looked up at Alpha and then back at the door. As she did so, he moved to go past her. Sam stood her ground, lowered her head, and braced her front legs. Alpha should not pass.
Instantly alert, Law reached with his left hand to release the safety holding his gun in his holster.
“Is something wrong?”
Law looked back. Jori had exited the car and stood a few yards away.
“Get back in the car. Now.”
He didn’t bother to see if his order was obeyed. With his right hand, he unlocked and pushed open the front door.
“Sam. Search.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sam moved reluctantly through the door. She wanted to stay beside her Alpha and protect him. Yet this was part of their routine. She did a perimeter search each time they entered this place. However, this time was different. Something had changed. She smelled it. Perhaps he did, too.
She paused, the fur on her back twitching with tension as she lifted her nose and then lowered her head. Something faint. Very very faint. But real.
She moved around the room beginning on the right as she went from point to point, window to window, sniffing, studying just as she had practiced for months at Warriors Wolf Pack. All the smells here were ones she’d come to know during the past three weeks. The odors of varnish and aging wood. Fainter still were the aromas of months of cooking, the oil her Alpha used to clean his weapons, the sweet tang of soap, sharp notes of cleanser, old sneakers, ashes, and a thousand other now familiar smells of her new home. She even knew there was a very stale potato chip under the sofa where she couldn’t reach it. She’d tried often enough.
Once every few feet, she stopped and sniffed the air, looking for a trace of that other. She licked her nose several times, an instinctive action that would improve her ability to capture scent particles. Finally, she caught it. The scent that had made her pause at the entry. She had smelled it only once before, a few days ago.
She did a quick look back at Alpha. He remained in the doorway. Usually, he walked close behind her when she did the search, holding her leash. But this time he had released her. Even from a distance she could smell the rise of pheromones sliding off him. He must smell it, too. The ugly scent. Anxiety rippled over her back in response.
“Sam. Search.” Alpha’s voice was high and urgent this time.
Shivering in anticipation, she turned back to the scent stream in the air, swinging her head from side to side until she had pinpointed the source. It came from the plank-board kitchen table at the far end of the room.
She hurried over and sniffed. Yes. This was it. She hoovered the chair seat and then the laptop lying closed on the surface. The smell of the man from the Alpha’s office filled her scent glands. A harder shiver rocked through her. Alpha did not like him. She did not like him, either. He had tried to take something from her.
She sniffed again at the laptop and then sat, looking back over her shoulder at Alpha. He would know what to do.
*
Law was watching Sam but he was seeing Scud. His thousand-yard stare was extending over miles and ocean and sand, and backward in time.
The smell of gunfire pricked in his nostrils. The room was flickering, brightening to reveal desert terrain.
As usual, Scud was itching to go ahead on Law’s order at the first sign of trouble. He barked an order to keep his partner under control. Scud was a stubborn son of a bitch. Just like him. He wanted this takedown so bad he could taste it. But today was a reconnaissance operation. No advance warning to troops.