On the Hunt

“Trust me, he’ll be safer than we will. We just need to keep up.”

Kira and Graves followed Mack through the rubble. Graves finally raised an N95 mask over his nose and mouth. “When the wind changes, the smell is overpowering. Will he be able to pick up the scents?”

“I think he already has.” She pointed toward her dog, whose tail was furiously wagging as he darted past globs of melted glass. “He’s zeroing in on something now.” They broke into a run as Mack finally stopped short in front of a gaping hole and started barking.

Kira caught up and knelt beside him. “Got something, boy?”

Mack barked again and looked at her with his big brown eyes.

“Good, Mack.” Kira extended her arms in front of her.

Mack faced her and placed his right paw on her left hand, then rested his chin on her right arm. Kira put down her arms, then raised them again. Mack repeated his motions. Kira rubbed his neck and gave him a treat. “You’re the best boy ever, Mack.”

She stood and turned back toward Graves. “It was RDX.”

He looked down in surprise. “He just told you that?”

“Mack can detect over two hundred explosive compounds. That’s why you brought us here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but… the Paris police thinks it was C-4. We’re still waiting on lab results.”

Kira shook her head. “Mack doesn’t need a lab. It was probably transported here shortly before the blast. Otherwise, the museum security’s own bomb-sniffing dogs would have picked it up before detonation. More than likely, it was transported here in a well-ventilated vehicle. Which means…”

Mack took off, running for a nearby street. Kira ran after him and called over her shoulder, “Get some of your men. Now!”

Kira followed Mack down Avenue Rapp, and she’d gone barely half a block before she turned and saw that Graves had enlisted two plainclothes agents and a pair of Paris patrolmen to join them. She had no idea where this would lead, but she was glad to have backup if the situation demanded it.

“Slow down, Mack. We’ll get there soon enough.”

She hoped. The bombs could have come from anywhere, but she assumed the bomber wouldn’t want to transport unstable explosive devices over a long and potentially bumpy journey.

Graves and the others caught up to her just as she and Mack turned left on Avenue de la Bourdonnais. “How certain are you of this?” Graves asked Kira.

She shrugged. “For now, extremely certain. But he could lose the scent at any time. We’ll have to see.”

The group followed Mack until they finally found themselves at an empty storefront on Rue Duroc, situated next to a dry cleaner. Kira and Graves peered into the plate-glass window and saw only a few dirty tarps on a concrete floor.

“There’s nothing here,” Graves said.

Mack barked and ran down a narrow alley next to the building. He stood in a driveway behind the empty store and barked at the rear entrance. The dog then spun around several times.

Kira pointed to the back door. “We need to go in there.”

Graves nodded to the patrolmen, and the taller of the two kicked the door repeatedly until it finally splintered open. They rushed through an empty storeroom and glanced around the front area they’d seen through the windows.

The place was empty.

Graves sighed. “Wild goose chase?”

Kira grabbed one of the patrolmen’s flashlights and trained the beam on the storeroom floor. “No. Look!”

They gathered around her and leaned over to see short lengths of wire, metal shavings, and pieces of insulation.

Kira backed away. “The bombs were assembled here.”

Graves nodded and motioned for everyone to exit out of the back door. “Yes. Everyone out. I’m calling Interpol.”

RUE DUROC