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itched with the sensation of being watched, and Trent casually turned his light down along the path between the trees. Was that a rustle of movement in the low brush? Or merely the wind stirring the branches of a pine tree? The lamps along the sidewalk created circles of light that made it impossible to see far into the woods. With his ears attuned to any unusual sound in the cold night air, he moved along the cleared walk down toward the frozen creek at the bottom of the hill. “KCPD! You in the trees, show yourself.”
    His deep voice filled the air without an answer.
    â€œKatie?” His gloved fingers brushed against the phone in his pocket. Maybe he should just call her. But the hour was late and Tyler would be in bed and a phone ringing at this hour would probably cause more alarm than reassurance. Besides, if she wouldn’t give him any kind of explanation when she called him, he doubted she’d be any more forthcoming when he called her. He’d give this search a few more minutes until he could say good-night to the suspicions that put him on guard and go home to get some decent shut-eye himself.
    When he reached the little arched bridge that crossed the creek,
weird
took a disquieting turn into
what the hell?
Trent stopped in the middle of the bridge, looking down at both sides—the one that had been deliberately cleared from the back door of the theater down to this point, and the two inches of snow on the sidewalk beyond the creek marked by a clear set of tracks. There were two skid marks through the snow, as if someone had slipped on the bridge and fallen, then a trail of footsteps leading up the hill on the opposite side. One set of tracks. Man-size. More than that, the distance between the steps lengthened, as though whoever had left the trail had decided he needed to run. A man in a hurry—running from something or to something or because of something. A student in a hurry to get to his dorm or car? Or a man running away from campus security and a cop who might be curious about why he’d want to erase his trail?
    Where had this guy gone, anyway? The snow was coming down heavily enough that those tracks should be nothing but a bunch of divots in the icy surface if they’d been there when classes had been dismissed or Tyler’s rehearsal had ended. These were deep. These were recent. These were—
    Trent spun when he heard the noise crashing through the drifts and underbrush toward him. He’d pulled up his coat and had his hand on the butt of his gun when a blur of tan and white shot out between the trees and darted around his legs. “What the...?”
    Four legs. Black nose. Long tail.
    After one more scan to make sure the dog was the only thing coming at him, Trent laughed and eased the insulated nylon back over his holster. “Hey, pup. See anybody but me out here tonight?”
    The dog danced around him, whining with a mixture of caution and excitement. Apparently, Spot here was the only set of eyes that had been watching him through the trees. The poor thing wore no collar and needed a good brushing to clean the twigs and cockleburs from his dark gold fur. Feeling a tug of remembrance for the dogs his family had always had growing up, Trent held out his hand in a fist, encouraging the dog to get familiar with his scent. “You’ve been out here awhile, haven’t you, little guy?”
    Of course, standing six foot five made most critters like this seem little, and once the dog stopped his manic movements and focused on the scent of his gloved hand, Trent knelt to erase some of the towering distance between them and make himself look a little less intimidating. When he opened his hand, the dog inspected the palm side, too, no doubt looking for food, judging by the bumpy lines of his rib cage visible on either side of his skinny flanks. The stray wanted to be friendly, but when Trent reached out to pet him, the dog jumped away, diving through a