Stranded

in the plastic bag and that was what Noah’s father had reacted to. Without needing to look closely, Noah knew exactly what it was. At the bottom of the bag was Ethan’s severed index finger.

CHAPTER 32

    The minutes felt excruciatingly long to Maggie but every one that went by without an explosion was a relief. Then suddenly without warning Ryder Creed emerged from the barn. He gave them a thumbs-up and a smile, then immediately went to Grace. The dog was still sitting, obviously trained to do so until Creed gave the release command, but her entire hind end was wagging. Creed tapped his right open palm to his chest like he was tapping his heart and Grace came rushing to him.
    “I checked all doors and gates, glanced in the stalls and the hayloft,” he told them, brushing cobwebs from his hair. “I think we’re good to go.”
    Then to Grace, he said, “Go find.” And the dog scampered into the barn, nose in the air.
    Maggie found the search fascinating. Her own dogs had come into her life unexpectedly. Harvey, a white Lab, had belonged to a neighbor whom Maggie had never met. The woman had been brutally taken from her home despite Harvey’s bloodied effort to protect her. Jake, a black German shepherd, had rescued Maggie in the Sandhills of Nebraska. He’d been a stray, refusing to belong to anyone—even to Maggie when she first brought him into herhome, digging his way out of the sanctuary she thought she was providing. The two dogs continued to teach her hard lessons about herself, about trust, about life. But she’d never seen a team, dog and master, work so closely together, so in sync, each recognizing the other’s movements, reactions, and expectations.
    She and Tully stayed in the corner where they wouldn’t be in the way. They watched while Creed used the spearlike rod to pierce the dirt of the barn’s floor. He called it “venting” and explained that poking holes into the hard-packed dirt allowed air to circulate and help release any scents, making it easier for Grace. The dog didn’t seem to need it. With her nose in the air she walked the barn like she was breaking up the area into a grid. She didn’t rush around erratically, but instead went up and down, along the side, and worked back and forth in almost perfect parallel lines.
    With each sweep Grace appeared to get more and more animated. At one point she stopped and pawed at the straw and dirt. She sniffed it again, turned, and urinated on the spot. Then she moved on.
    Creed had been right beside her. He bent down to take a closer look and said to Maggie and Tully, “Dead mouse.”
    “You think that’s all she’s been smelling?” Tully asked.
    “No, she’s trained for human remains.”
    “But maybe this confused her?” This time Tully sounded like he thought this was all a waste of time.
    “Dead animals are just a distraction. That’s why she peed on it. It’s her way of marking over that scent.”
    And Grace had, indeed, moved on. Maggie noticed her breathing was more rapid. Her ears pricked forward. Suddenly her tail went straight out and started wagging. She was scratching under one of the stall doors. There were three stalls side by side at theback of the barn. The wooden doors didn’t come all the way to the floor, leaving about three inches. The doors were about chest-high, making it difficult to see into the stalls.
    Creed shot a nervous look at Maggie and Tully.
    “I checked the doors but I didn’t go into the stalls.”
    To Grace, he said, “Just a minute, girl,” and he ran a hand over the hinges, rechecked the latch, and leaned over the top of the door to look inside the stall.
    In the meantime, Grace had become more animated, her nose up and sniffing. She was impatient, hackles raised and ready. But when Creed pulled up the latch and opened the stall door, the dog hesitated. She took a few steps in and backed out. Then she turned and looked up at Creed.
    The look actually sent a chill down Maggie’s back. The dog stared directly into her master’s eyes and held that stance like she was telling him, “Here’s what we’ve been looking for.”
    “Good girl, Grace.” Without looking away, Creed put out his hand in Maggie’s direction and said, “Could I have the elephant, please?”
    At first Maggie had no idea what he was talking about. Then she realized she still had Grace’s pink toy gripped in her left hand. She walked over slowly and gently placed the elephant in Creed’s outstretched hand.