Driftwood Bay (Hope Harbor #5) - Irene Hannon Page 0,93
for the girls.
“Okay.”
A brief flash of—disappointment?—zipped through her eyes, gone so fast it was possible he’d imagined it.
“You’ll stay in touch?” She fell in beside him as they walked toward their cars on the side of the road.
“I’ll call if there are any breakthroughs at our end.”
They formed a small convoy on 101 for a couple of miles, until he and Thomma peeled off onto the secondary road that ended at the undeveloped property beyond the lavender farm.
A Hope Harbor patrol car was already parked in front of his house, along with an SUV, when they arrived. A trim older man was talking to Lexie in the front yard, a large dog on a leash sitting by his side.
Logan swung into the driveway, Thomma behind him, and parked in back.
As he got out of the car, Mariam appeared on the porch, twisting her hands.
The woman looked as if she’d aged ten years in the past few hours.
“News?” She asked the question in English, switching to Arabic as Thomma slid out of the car behind him.
“No.” Her son responded in English but continued his response in Arabic.
Lexie appeared around the side of the house, the handler behind her.
“Any updates from the other teams?” Logan doubted it. She’d have called him if there’d been a development—unless it had happened within the past few minutes.
She dashed that hope with a quick shake of her head. “No. We’re expanding the grid. Jim’s coordinating that while we focus on this approach.” She motioned toward the man with silver-flecked brown hair, who appeared to be in his late fifties. “Logan and Thomma, Mark Roberts and his canine friend, Sherlock.”
The man shifted the harness he was holding to his other hand and gave him a firm shake. Did the same with Thomma.
“I’m going to let Mark tell you what he needs and how this works.” Lexie turned the floor over to the handler.
“Let me get Susan on the phone and put her on speaker. She can listen in and pass the information on to Thomma and Mariam.” Logan pulled out his cell, connected with the translator, and set the phone on the trunk of Thomma’s car as he motioned Mariam closer. “Whenever you’re ready, Mark.”
“Lexie filled me in on the particulars. I know we’re searching for two girls, but we have to concentrate on one at a time or we’ll confuse Sherlock. What do you think the odds are they’ve stayed together?”
“High.” Logan didn’t hesitate. Unless they’d been forcibly separated, the two friends would stick close.
“Let’s track the girl who lives here. That would be your niece, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anything in the house that would contain mostly her scent? Bedding, for example?”
“That would also have Elisa’s scent. The girls take a nap together every day. But they each have their own pillow. Would that work?”
“Yes. The case would be fine. Do you know which exit the girls would have used?”
Logan leaned closer to the cell. “Susan, would you translate that for Mariam?”
The woman complied, and Mariam responded.
“She said it would have to be the front door,” Susan relayed. “She was working in the garden by the back door the entire time she was outside.”
“We’ll start there. Why don’t you bring the pillowcase out and we’ll meet you in front?” Mark said.
Logan furrowed his brow. “Won’t my scent confuse Sherlock if I touch it?”
Mark smiled. “He’s smarter than that. Once I let him sniff you, he’ll know you’re not the person he’s tracking and home in on your niece’s scent.”
“Got it. Give me three minutes.”
Logan took the back porch steps two at a time, retrieved the pillowcase, and rejoined the group in front. Mark had unwound the long leash, and the dog was nosing around the area.
“Hang on to that for a minute.” Mark reined in the dog and put the harness on him. “Okay. Set it on the ground and let Sherlock sniff you.”
He did so, then backed off.
Sherlock gave the case his full attention.
Within seconds, the dog touched his nose to the cotton rectangle, laid down beside it, and made eye contact with Mark.
“We’re set.” Mark hooked the leash to the harness, and gave Sherlock a treat. “As I understand it, the adjacent lavender farm has been thoroughly searched, and you have a team on the beach. So while your niece has been to those places, there’s no reason for us to track in that area. Correct?”
“Yes.” Lexie pulled out her phone. “Any other direction, however, is fair game.”