Terri Reed - Scent Of Danger

Saving other teens from Daniel’s fate had become her mission in life.

However, that didn’t mean she understood the teens or their thought processes. Thankfully, there were tons of books on the subject. If she could prevent even one teen from ending up addicted to drugs like Daniel, she’d feel she succeeded.

Her gaze strayed back to the mess in her office. Rose knelt beside the lamp and dusted black powder over the surface. The flash of a camera momentarily brightened the room as Clay photographed the crime scene.

What had the intruder been looking for?

“Did you get a look at the perp?” Parker asked, drawing her attention.

“No, he wore a ski mask.”

“With blacked-out eyes?”

Surprise washed through her. “Yes. Very freaky. How did you know?”

“We’ve had a run-in with a guy wearing a ski mask and some kind of eyewear that blacks out the whites of his eyes. Did he take anything?”

Absorbing that information, she turned her gaze once again to the box labeled with her nephew’s name. Would she find something missing? Did the vandalism to her office have anything to do with last month’s desecration of Daniel’s grave? A lump of anxiety lodged in her chest.

It had been five years since Daniel’s death. Five years of searching for answers and coming up empty. What had recently changed to make someone dig into the past? And Daniel’s grave?

The questions intensified the headache pounding at her temples. She didn’t believe in coincidence. Daniel’s grave, now her office. Were the two events connected? Maybe it was time to re-question some of Daniel’s old buddies. Someone had to know something useful.

Her heart squeezed. Five years wasn’t nearly long enough to have healed some wounds, though.

Realizing Parker was waiting for her to respond, she said, “I only did a cursory look, but I didn’t see anything obvious missing. Perp rifled through all my files, drawers and books. Seemed to be searching for something.”

“Interesting.” He seemed to be thinking about something. “I wonder if this was the same guy who searched the station last night.”

“What?” She hadn’t heard about that.

“Someone searched the station house, concentrating mostly on the K-9 unit and Captain McNeal’s office.”

“Do you have any idea why? What were they looking for?”

His expression turned cagey. “We think it has something to do with the crime syndicate plaguing Sagebrush. But the station house wasn’t broken into per se. The culprit came from within.”

Surprised, she widened her eyes. “You think a fellow officer is working for the crime syndicate?”

“That’s one theory. Though I can’t help but wonder if the two incidents somehow connect to Captain McNeal’s missing dog, Rio.”

“Last month, K-9 Officer Jackson Worth spotted a masked man clad in black who was walking a dog matching Rio’s description. We also have a witness who saw someone dressed like you’ve described kill a man in cold blood.”

A shiver of dread worked its way over Melody’s flesh. She was thankful the intruder had decided to just knock her down rather than kill her.

What was he searching for? And would he be back? Maybe this break-in had nothing to do with her nephew’s grave. Or maybe it had everything to do with it.

She intended to find out, regardless of the danger.

* * *

At four that afternoon, Parker’s captain summoned him to his office. He knocked lightly before opening the door.

Captain Slade McNeal sat at his desk. He held the file with Parker’s notes from the day. “So tell me what you think about this break-in at the youth center.”

Only four years older than Parker, Slade had slightly salted dark hair and a square jaw. Lines of stress bracketed his blue eyes.

Stepping fully into Slade’s office, Parker said, “The perp who broke into the youth center matches Nicki Johnson’s description of the man who killed Gunther Lamont last month. The CSU techs didn’t find anything useful.” Not that he expected them to. So far the ski-mask guy had been very careful. No prints, no clear description identifying him.

“Did Detective Zachary find anything missing?”

An image of the pretty dark-haired, blue-eyed woman rose in Parker’s mind. He didn’t know Melody well. She kept pretty much to herself and devoted most of her free time to the Sagebrush Youth Center. A supposed alternative to the drug scene for the teens of Sagebrush.

But Parker was dubious of any place where teens with drug habits gathered. Though he appreciated the intention behind the youth center, he just wasn’t convinced any place was safe from the invading poison.

Rumor had it that too many kids were partying on the center grounds.

Nothing had ever come of the internal investigation their captain had initiated. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t happening, which was why Parker and Sherlock had headed over to the center when the news came in that there’d been a break-in. The crime syndicate overrunning Sagebrush had their hands in the drug trade and would no doubt see the youth center as a viable outlet for their product.

Painful memories of his younger brother raced unbidden to the forefront of his mind. A deep sadness welled. Followed quickly by the anger that always chased after thoughts of Ethan.

His brother had died from tainted drugs.

Forcing his own personal torment back to the dark recesses of his mind, he answered, “No, nothing missing. Perp ransacked her office. She has no idea what he was looking for.”

Slade narrowed his blue eyes. “The code?”

Parker shrugged, baffled by this turn of events. “Maybe. But why her office? She’s not a part of our unit.”

“Assuming that the masked perpetrator and The Boss are the same person, he must be getting desperate,” Slade said.

Parker’s cell buzzed, and he checked the caller ID. He didn’t recognize the number. “Parker Adams.”

“You better hustle over to the youth center. There’s a drug deal going down.”

Parker recognized his confidential informant’s gruff voice. “What kind of drugs?”

“How should I know?” The man hung up.

Parker blew out a frustrated breath. Sometimes Harry Trenton was a pain in the neck. But his intel was usually worth the stipend Parker regularly doled out to him. Which meant the youth center wasn’t what it seemed. An image of the lovely Melody rose in Parker’s mind. He sure hoped the pretty detective wasn’t involved in dealing drugs. He didn’t like the idea of arresting her. But he would in a heartbeat. Getting drugs off the street was his number-one priority.

Meeting Slade’s questioning gaze, Parker said, “My CI claims there’s a drug deal going down at the youth center.”

Visible tension tightened Slade’s jaw. “You didn’t find any drugs this morning?”

“No. Sherlock followed a couple of false trails. Could have been trace amount brought in on a shoe.” He hoped that were the case.

McNeal stroked his jaw. “Check it out. If you find something concrete, let me know. I’ll have to inform Captain Drexel.”

The captain of the homicide division and Melody’s direct boss.

“Will do.” Parker headed out the back door of the brick one-story building and jogged the short distance to the K-9 Training Center on the adjacent lot. Parker had dropped Sherlock off a little earlier with the training staff because, being a two-year-old beagle, the dog needed some time to run around and burn off his excess energy so he’d be ready to focus when needed.

Callie Peterson, the lead trainer for the Sagebrush Special Operations K-9 Unit, greeted Parker with a smile and a wave as Parker approached the training yard.

“Sherlock’s in kennel one,” she called out as she worked with Justice, a good-looking bloodhound, and his handler, Austin Black.