Nothing To Sniff At (Animal Instincts Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

greet him. It was obvious that we’d met before, and that he was happy to see me again. He jumped up on me and barked several times. This was not a quiet reunion by any means. I tried to quiet him down, but Barkley was having none of it. He barked a few more times before he stopped.
    Two guys from the station walked by. The first was a younger guy, probably fresh out of school and looking to make his name. He stopped by, threw Barkley a treat, and walked on without talking to us. I could see that Brate was visibly relieved not to have to explain to the officer who I was. Apparently I was on the same level as mediums and unreliable CIs in his book.
    The second man was more talkative. He was an older gent, carrying a large cup of coffee that I coveted with all my brain cells. He laughed as he saw the dog and threw it a treat as well. “Barkley, old buddy. I haven’t seen you in a few days.” The officer did not know how right he was.
    The man made a few more comments, mostly to the dog and none to Brate or me. Then he moved on. It was apparent that the dog was well loved in the station house, which meant that any of these men could have easily persuaded the dog to get in the car with him. Narrowing down the field of suspects here would be difficult.
    After the second officer left, Brate stood. “Let’s go outside and get away from the spectators,” he said. He whistled for Barkley who headed for the door with no leash. I knew of many trainers who managed to get their dogs to walk off-leash, but my Corgis were not among them. My dogs would be likely to run full tilt towards a squirrel or a treat without any care for my commands.
    Barkley looked at the cup in Brate’s hand and jumped on his leg to indicate that he wanted some. After jumping for a few seconds, Barkley went silent. He still had his front paws on my legs, but he stopped jumping, and his body went still. He just continued to look up at me expectantly, like I had the answers to his problems.
    I looked at Brate. “What’s going on? What’s he doing?”
    Brate stared off into the distance, but all that I saw when I turned around were a few cars in the parking lot. “I’m hoping I’m wrong, but that’s Barkley’s stance when he finds something. I think we might have our motive as to why he was taken in the first place. I think he’s found some drugs.”
    Brate had no sooner finished speaking when Barkley put all four feet on the ground and trotted off into the parking lot. His bark was loud and demanding, and even without “talking” to the Beagle I knew that we were supposed to follow. Barkley ran from one car to the next, his head up and his nose sniffing wildly at the air.
    Finally, he stopped behind a late model red Corolla and put his paws on the back bumper of the car. The Beagle barked twice and the sound changed to a howl, a long low sob. I felt my blood run cold, knowing that the dog had found something in the car. I’d never seen a sniffer dog in action before and I was surprised at how easily it worked.
    Brate was there before me.  He tried the trunk which was locked, of course. He tried both of the front doors and then tried the back doors. The passenger side rear door was unlocked, and Brate leaned through to open the driver’s door.
    “Get in and find the trunk release.”
    I looked at him, shocked that we might be corrupting a crime scene. My time with Detective Green had told me the protocol to follow with a crime scene and the need to secure the scene. I didn’t have gloves or any type of protective gear. My DNA and fingerprints would be on the crime scene if I did this. However, if there were any chance that Barkley’s nose had found a not quite dead person, I guess that we had to take the chance. I opened the door and leaned in, looking for a lever or button to unlock the trunk. I found it and pulled up on the lever. I heard the trunk pop open, and then a coughing sound from Brate. That was not a good sign.
    I left the car and