{"id":3297,"date":"2022-02-25T14:43:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T22:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/?p=3297"},"modified":"2022-10-31T19:06:44","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T02:06:44","slug":"what-was-in-the-trailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/author-novelist\/what-was-in-the-trailer\/","title":{"rendered":"What was in the Trailer?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find out now. As a treat, I’m sharing the first three chapters of Book 3 of the Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries.\u00a0 If you haven’t read Books 1 & 2, Death Scent<\/em><\/a> and Stray Trouble<\/em><\/a>, you can find them here<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1 \u2013 Lost Lady<\/h3>\n

\u201cJESSIE, can you come?\u201d\u00a0 The slow words delivered in a low grumble, the tone always one anticipating a negative response\u2014that was Sheriff Landon Reid.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAh\u2026.\u00a0 Sure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you at Sam\u2019s or the shooting range?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Leave it to Reid to keep tabs on her whereabouts!<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie had known Reid since high school.\u00a0 \u2026Well, not really known, but recognized.\u00a0 He was the guy who was always the hero\u2014football, basketball, track, top notch student, and, ultimately, co-valedictorian, friends with and graduating the same year as her older brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid was a \u2018winner\u2019.\u00a0 Always in the spotlight, always in the winner\u2019s circle.\u00a0 She, on the other hand, was what they called \u2018average\u2019\u2014a straight B student\u2014somebody who had to figure things out and really work to get a decent grade \u2026except when it came to dogs.\u00a0 Dogs she \u2018got\u2019, and they \u2018got\u2019 her.<\/span><\/p>\n

She looked over where her crew were playing in Sam\u2019s empty lower pasture.\u00a0 They immediately noticed her watching and turned their heads, ears alert.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, mostly, anyway<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cDad and I are out at Sam\u2019s, feeding his stock, Sheriff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019re close to town.\u00a0 Good.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a lost Alzheimer\u2019s patient.\u00a0 Remmers\u2019 teams \u2026ah \u2026some of your SAR group\u2019s teams\u2014the three who live in town\u2014are already working, but, so far, nothing.\u00a0 I take it your dogs are with you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dogs are with me, and, yes, we can come.\u00a0 Where are you?\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe lady disappeared in \u2026or from the Northridge Theater.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sounds like a simple search.\u00a0 Wonder what the problem is that the teams can\u2019t locate her?<\/em>\u00a0 Something wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 \u201cIs Nelson Remmers there?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been able to raise him.\u00a0 Got somebody heading out that way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u00a0 Well, we\u2019ll be there as fast as we can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d he said, abruptly ending the call.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, at least he gave you a few<\/em> days off,\u201d Oli grumbled.<\/span><\/p>\n

She turned a grin on her dad who was leaning against the hay stack.\u00a0 Oli\u2019s face was masked down.\u00a0 Numa, his brindle-colored Malinois, was sitting beside him, leaning into his knee.\u00a0 They were both waiting for a verdict of \u2018bad\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a lost Alzheimer\u2019s patient.\u00a0 In town.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Oli\u2019s face cleared a little, and he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we\u2019re done here, except for feeding the outside cat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the kibbles and can of meat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do.\u00a0 I\u2019ll lock up.\u00a0 You round up your crew and head for the rig.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two throaty barks\u2014insistent\u2014Acer\u2019s.\u00a0 Then a nerve-splintering howl\u2014Milo\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

A chill ran down Jessie\u2019s neck and back.\u00a0 Gooseflesh erupted on her shoulders and arms.\u00a0 Her breath caught, stalling.\u00a0 Both she and her dad looked.\u00a0 Frowned.\u00a0 Glanced at each other.\u00a0 \u201cWhat in the world?!\u201d Oli muttered, his hand immediately dropping to his sidearm.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only time the pack leader \u2026or any pack member, for that matter, summoned others of the pack was when there was danger or a find.\u00a0 That it happened now bespoke danger\u2014serious danger\u2014the double bark, then the resounding howl as reinforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her own hand slid to her hip.\u00a0She wasn\u2019t armed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within moments, all the dogs congregated.\u00a0 Milo, the Wonder Dog, launched himself over the four foot high board gate, Acer following, the two other GSDs and Mitch, a tawny Malinois yearling pup, right behind him.\u00a0 While giant Milo cleared it clean, the rest crested the top, their front feet catching at the top board, their hind feet hooking to drive them over.\u00a0 Except for Duchess who squeezed under the bottom board of the fence.\u00a0 The dogs now came at her and her dad at a dead run.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWas is los?<\/em>\u00a0 What is it?\u201d she asked as they bounded up around her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acer, her big, sable protection dog and a fine tracker, huffed.\u00a0 White and brown Milo wagged.\u00a0 All of them circled her.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t danger.\u00a0 This is something else.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A yip and a series of insistent barks\u2014Oso and Queenie\u2014left behind beyond the gate, a gate neither could scale or leap.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d better go get them,\u201d Oli grumbled, locking the barn.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m off to feed the cat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All the dogs trailed along back down the hill, including the little black puppy, Duchess.\u00a0 Opening the gate for the two left behind got the others to swap ends and immediately take off back up the hill again.\u00a0 They know.\u00a0 Somehow, they know we\u2019ve got work to do.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Queenie, her red-headed setter cross, and Oso, the Elkhound, stuck with her, the latter uncharacteristically moving in alongside her \u2026on the wrong side, as usual, pacing her.\u00a0 \u201cRace you to the tailgate,\u201d she said, and, opening his mouth, tongue curling, eyes squinting sideways at her as if he were laughing, Oso bounded forward, Queenie with him.\u00a0 Jessie was right on their tails, until they both kicked it into gear and left her behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

She slowed to a walk, giving her still sore leg a break.\u00a0 Her dad and Numa trotted up.\u00a0 Oli chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cCrazy mutts.\u00a0 I think they somehow know they\u2019ve got a job to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u00a0 I must leave off a scent or something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHmm \u2026maybe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, everybody, \u2018sitz\u2019<\/em>,\u201d she requested, getting to the rig, and, almost as one, the dogs, English speakers and German speakers, all, parked their butts on the ground.\u00a0 Both Oso and Queenie lifted their heads, their faces grinning up at her.\u00a0 The rest sat, but their heads swiveled to scan the yard, their nostrils sifting air.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, guys,\u201d Jessie chided.\u00a0 \u201cPay attention, here.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a lost lady to find.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That seemed to do the trick.\u00a0 All of them settled down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Done checking and changing out the batteries on their RF collars, her dad helping, she opened up both passenger side doors.\u00a0 \u201cHup.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Their pack order prevailed as they all jumped in, with Acer and Britta taking shotgun in front until her dad shooed them into the back.\u00a0 The rest jumped in behind on the carpeted doggy platform that extended the full length of the rig behind the two front seats.\u00a0 Oso took the outside, sitting right behind the driver\u2019s seat, his nose to the glass, Queenie next to him.\u00a0 Mitch and Milo took the rest of the space behind the front seats until Acer and Britta jumped back.\u00a0 Sumi, pushed and shoved, sandwiching herself in behind Acer and Britta and next to Milo who downed into his characteristic sphinx mode.\u00a0 Jessie lifted the pup in and put her on the front seat as her dad climbed in.\u00a0 He scooped up the little black fluff and plopped her on his lap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rolling the windows partway down for her pack as Numa jumped in at Oli\u2019s feet, Jessie started the rig as soon as it let her \u2026when the doors were all secured and locked and her dad had latched his seatbelt.\u00a0 Got to fix that so I can run it with the doors open.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Getting to the highway, Jessie was thankful that traffic was light, and, seven minutes later, they crossed into the Northridge city limits, a cop car picking them up and giving escort. \u00a0That surprised her, though it shouldn\u2019t have.\u00a0 Landon was pretty much always on top of things.\u00a0 Until he\u2019s not.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2 \u2013 Accidentally on Purpose<\/h3>\n

BITTERROOT COUNTY Sheriff Landon Reid watched two of three local search and rescue, or SAR, teams, each skilled pair comprised of one dog, one handler, comb up and down a two, three, four, and now five block radius starting at the theater.\u00a0 They were seeking traces of the missing woman so they could start tracking her down.\u00a0 One team, along with one city P.D. officer and one S.O. deputy, was still inside, searching through the maze of nooks and crannies of the three-story, century-old theater.\u00a0 Their leader, Nelson Remmers, still hadn\u2019t gotten here\u2014not surprising since the man lived fifty-some miles south.\u00a0 Luckily, these three members of Remmers\u2019 group actually lived in<\/em> the town of Northridge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dedicated and, like all SAR members, unpaid volunteers, they\u2019d come to Reid\u2019s call within minutes.\u00a0 Unfortunately, twenty minutes into their search, their dogs had yet to find anything, and, with each passing minute, Landon was losing hope for a swift and speedy resolution.\u00a0 And the horrible thought struck him that maybe there wasn\u2019t anyone to find.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Unacceptable!\u00a0 If she\u2019s not outside, she\u2019s got to still be <\/em>inside \u2026which is better.\u00a0 She\u2019s warm.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Then why aren\u2019t we finding her? <\/em>\u00a0The other thing that troubled him was that nobody they\u2019d asked who\u2019d been at the high school concert remembered seeing Mrs. Little or Sheila Long, and soft-voiced Dorothy Little was everybody\u2019s favorite \u2018gran\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the rule of law that, when an Alzheimer\u2019s patient went missing, his office was immediately notified.\u00a0 They then organized the search, and handled the subsequent investigation.\u00a0 Rarely did an incident like this happen, though, and, for him, this was only the second time in his short career as sheriff.\u00a0 The first time\u2014an incident last summer\u2014had been relatively easy.\u00a0 The weather had been sunny and warm, and the man was found walking naked down a residential street in broad daylight.\u00a0 This time it had rained most of the day, it was almost dark, and the fifty-three-year-old woman who\u2019d gone missing was diagnosed with the early onset form of the disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

In calling Jessica Anderson, Landon was hoping that, by some miracle, her dogs could pull off the same kind of coordinated search operation he\u2019d seen them demonstrate several times before.\u00a0 Their ability to coordinate a search between them to cover a huge area all at once was their specialty.\u00a0 He needed that.\u00a0 Right now!\u00a0 The wait was irritating.\u00a0 \u201cGet here, Jessie!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite it being late in May, the nights were down in the low-to-mid-forties\u2014characteristic of mountain country.\u00a0 At eight-thirty in the evening, it was already cold, and, according to the daughter who doubled as the woman\u2019s caregiver, her mother was only wearing a black cocktail dress, no coat.\u00a0 Black!\u00a0 On a black night.\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong with red or white?\u00a0 Fluorescent yellow, maybe?!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Behind him, Dorothy Little\u2019s daughter, Sheila, was huddled with her girlfriends.\u00a0 She was noticeably drunk.\u00a0 So were her pals.\u00a0 What bothered Reid was that, occasionally, short bursts of laughter reached his ears.\u00a0 Something\u2019s not right.\u00a0 She really doesn\u2019t seem worried.<\/em>\u00a0 But, then, some people exhibited a weird hysteria when suffering anxiety or when faced with potential tragedy.\u00a0 Give her a break<\/em>, he told himself.\u00a0 It\u2019s her mom<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A police unit, its lights flashing, whooped its siren once as it turned the corner.\u00a0 Expecting Jessica\u2019s mug-ugly old Suburban to trail it, Landon felt his spirits rise, but, instead of the old Suburban, a brand new, pearl white Lincoln Navigator turned the corner, vanity license plate \u2018DOGGIRL\u2019 mounted in its plate holder.\u00a0 Oli Anderson was riding shotgun, though, so it had to be Jessie.\u00a0 She got herself a new rig.\u00a0 About time.<\/em> \u2026And what a rig it was, too!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWow.\u00a0 That\u2019s a Black Label L,\u201d the deputy beside him whispered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yeah, he could see that\u2014as big as a long-bed pickup truck. \u00a0And, suddenly, he wondered.\u00a0 Shook his head.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have!\u00a0 Not Brian Ingalls.\u00a0 <\/em>\u2026At least Landon hoped not.\u00a0 Too much of a miser.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.\u00a0 Here we go,\u201d he said to the older man to his left.\u00a0 \u201cIf anybody can find the woman, it\u2019s Jessie and her dogs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you say so,\u201d Northridge P.D. Caption Dirk Compton. muttered.<\/span><\/p>\n

Landon cast a sideways glance at the man.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the problem, Captain?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman missing is my kid sister<\/em>, that\u2019s what!\u201d he snapped.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it\u2019s her daughter\u2019s<\/em> fault.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Landon blew breath.\u00a0 Oh, boy.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 How\u2019d I miss that?<\/em>\u00a0 Then, \u201cShouldn\u2019t you get somebody to relieve you, since you\u2019re personally invested, Dirk?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, you should<\/em>, Landon thought, but wasn\u2019t going to push it.\u00a0 Compton was a decorated veteran, a long-standing, stellar officer on the Northridge P.D.\u00a0 \u201cOkay.\u00a0 Hang tight.\u00a0 We\u2019ll find her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Crossing the street at a trot, Landon got to the Lincoln just in time for the doors to pop open, the dogs, all seven of them, boiling out.\u00a0 For most people, the sight of this many dogs coming straight at them would freeze them in their tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t so much the setter or the dog Jessie had told him wasn\u2019t<\/em> a small Husky, but something called a Norwegian Elkhound.\u00a0 It was the two big, burly German Shepherds and the one more normal one, the darting Malinois, and, especially, the gigantic white and brown-spotted mutt Jessie called Milo\u2014something that looked like a cross between a huge pitbull and a Great Dane.<\/span><\/p>\n

A little over a month ago that would have been true for Landon, too.\u00a0 Not now, though.\u00a0 Not after the jobs they\u2019d pulled off for him so far in the short time he\u2019d been working with Jessie and her pack of search dogs.\u00a0 Despite his stress, his face broke open seeing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Queenie, the setter, and Acer, the latter still in a cast just like his mistress, bounded up, then around him.\u00a0 Milo and Mitch, too, the latter\u2019s ear finally free of its bandage.\u00a0 Even the more reticent Britta, Sumi, and Oso seemed happy to see him.\u00a0 Tails wagged so much that hips and bodies swayed with the motion as they greeted him.\u00a0 They like me.<\/em>\u00a0 That thought brought a smile, despite the circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHi,\u201d Jessica Anderson said, her bobbed, platinum blonde hair fluorescing under the street lights as she came around from the back of the rig.\u00a0 She swung her big pack on as she closed the car doors, and Landon noted that she still limped.<\/span><\/p>\n

He touched the brim of his hat as Oli got out, Jessie\u2019s foundling black puppy cradled by its belly in his left hand, his dog, Numa, with him.\u00a0 The man\u2019s face was its usual mask, but he acknowledged Landon with a nod, then leaned against the front fender. Jessie tossed him the keys, then turned to face Landon.\u00a0 Her deep blue eyes were serene, almost happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Serenity was something he hadn\u2019t spotted in Jessie since they\u2019d become reacquainted.\u00a0 It was a good thing to see.\u00a0 \u201cNice,\u201d he said, nodding toward the Lincoln.\u00a0 And he meant it.\u00a0 About time she got herself a decent set of wheels.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

She grinned.\u00a0 \u201cIt was a gift.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom?\u201d\u00a0 And he hoped she\u2019d say \u2018Dad\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrian Ingalls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He did!<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cOh.\u00a0 \u2026Nice,\u201d he said, again, not meaning it, this time.\u00a0 At all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou said that already.\u00a0 Scent?\u201d she asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight.\u201d\u00a0 He grabbed one of the two big bags held by the deputy beside him, the one containing the woman\u2019s coat.\u00a0 \u201cThis and her purse is all we have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pulling on nitrile gloves, she fished from an outer pocket of the backpack, she pulled them on, stretching the right hand one over the end of her cast, then nodded.\u00a0 As she did, the dogs crowded in, tails wagging.\u00a0 They knew all about this.\u00a0 He opened the bag with the coat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately, all tails went still, then suddenly dropped.\u00a0 The dogs backed away and began to blow and sneeze.\u00a0 Jessie\u2019s nose wrinkled, and, backing up, too, she shook her head \u2018no\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

He sealed the bag with the coat back up and dropped it at his feet, the scent hanging around him despite that.\u00a0 Hope I don\u2019t wind up smelling like that the rest of the night<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He opened the other bag, and Jessie did what Landon thought she would\u2014opened the purse that was inside, poked around a bit with a finger, then grabbed the one woman\u2019s glove that remained in it, the glove Landon hadn\u2019t given the other teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surprising him, she also pulled out a handkerchief he hadn\u2019t noticed.\u00a0 \u201cHandled,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cLucky that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She pooched the glove open with her good hand, and held it out to her dogs.\u00a0 The animals, tails a-wag again, moved in, putting their noses practically inside it, then sniffed in long draughts.\u00a0 How does she get them to do that?\u00a0 None of this grabbing them and forcing the scent onto their nose like the others had done.\u00a0 They just go for it all by themselves<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now she held out the handkerchief clutched between the fingers of her gloved right hand, those fingers and the end of her thumb being the only thing not covered by her cast.\u00a0 The dogs really seemed to take notice of the hanky.\u00a0 Noses delicately sniffed around and under.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the dogs finally dropped their heads and backed up, Jessie put the glove and hanky into two different bags, the fingers of her cast right arm surprisingly deft despite the fact that her arm up to the elbow, her wrist, plus most of her palm and thumb were immobilized.\u00a0 She sealed the bags and stashed them in her pack.\u00a0 Her dark blue eyes had turned bright \u2026or was it the street lights?<\/em>\u00a0 They caught at Landon\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m keeping those for now, okay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He nodded and, closing the evidence bag, motioned to a deputy to come take it and the one holding the coat.\u00a0 Why have her eyes changed?<\/em>\u00a0 They only changed when she stressed.\u00a0 He knew that now.\u00a0 Way too well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie squatted down.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, are you ready?\u201d she asked, the dogs crowding in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tails wagged, bodies again swaying with the motion.\u00a0 The red setter-like dog and the one called Mitch both bounced and whined.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrave Hunde.<\/em>\u00a0 My good, good dogs,\u201d he heard her croon.\u00a0 Then, \u201cOne.\u00a0 Human,\u201d she said, her hands making odd movements as she spoke, movements that, as usual, made no sense to Landon.\u00a0 \u2026Well, maybe one of them, did\u2014the upraised single index finger of her right hand when she said \u2018one\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Standing up, she gave another set of hand signals, saying, \u201cSweep.\u00a0 All.\u00a0 Such<\/em>.\u00a0 Seek.\u00a0 Find it,\u201d her voice light and excited.\u00a0 The dogs swapped ends from facing her to facing out to stand in a fan of fur around both her and Landon.\u00a0 Their stilled and their noses worked.<\/span><\/p>\n

The deputy who had come to take the evidence bags stopped and stood stock still, his eyes rolling down to eye the dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u00a0 You won\u2019t bother them if you move,\u201d Landon told him, and the man reached, grabbed the bags, then eased clear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oso\u2014the one that still, to Landon\u2019s mind, looked like a small, grinning Husky\u2014suddenly sat, then downed.\u00a0 Then, tawny brown Mitch downed, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re telling us \u2018no air scent\u2019,\u201d Jessie said, canting her head his way.\u00a0 \u201cHow long has she been missing?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u00a0 The concert got over at eight, so well over forty minutes, now, at least.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her left hand\u2019s fingers clawed at her hair, pushing it up and back, then combing it back down just as suddenly.\u00a0 The nervous tic was back.\u00a0 Why?<\/em> he wondered, as her fingers worked her hair again, her eyes going to the theater, then back to her dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be some remnant scent envelope,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s very odd that they\u2019re catching nothing.\u201d\u00a0 And what she said disturbed him.\u00a0 A lot.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dogs, all standing stock still watching one another, not her, touched noses to each other, one by one, as soon as Oso and Mitch downed.\u00a0 It seemed to be their cue.\u00a0 They took off, noses near the ground, each in a different direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d he asked, watching them disperse.\u00a0 Landon had only been eye witness to her dogs search for dead bodies on a mountainside.\u00a0 The only live search and rescue work he\u2019d been close enough to somewhat witness was during Nelson Remmers\u2019 test of Jessie and her dogs.\u00a0 The search for Ingalls had been completely out of sight, the dogs moving so fast that there had been no keeping up with them.\u00a0 Never had he seen the pack in action close up, hunting down the lost.\u00a0 Well, I guess I get to, now<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re seeking some ground scent trail from which to start,\u201d Jessie said to him as the dogs scattered.\u00a0 \u201cOso is scouting for an air envelope.\u00a0 Mitch is doing both.\u00a0 When one of them locates something, they\u2019ll alert the others by vocalizing, but there are a lot of alleyways and hidden spots to cover.\u00a0 This will probably take time with no air scent.\u00a0 It\u2019s why the other teams have had no success, as yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we<\/em> do?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just wait, listen, and watch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her eyes were<\/em> bright blue, now, instead of their normal dark, and it wasn\u2019t<\/em> the street lights.\u00a0 She was holding something back.\u00a0 With a start, he realized that the nervous tic and the sharpening color of her eyes only<\/em> had happened after<\/em> she\u2019d opened the purse.\u00a0 What\u2019s bothering her?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan you give me some background, Sheriff?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Landon did and watched her nod.\u00a0 \u201cI know of Sheila Little from school,\u201d she said \u2026muttered something under her breath he didn\u2019t catch.\u00a0 Then she said something that rattled him.\u00a0 \u201cSo, maybe the perfume was accidently on purpose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, why would she say that?<\/em> \u00a0And the way<\/em> she said it bothered him\u2014there was rancor there, something he\u2019d never before heard in her voice.\u00a0 Worse, a sudden harshness had taken over her usual affability.\u00a0 Her face had turned hard-bitten.\u00a0 It was the first time he realized just how much she actually looked like her dad.<\/span><\/p>\n

As if reading him, she said, \u201cEvidentially, there\u2019s saturation of perfume on the coat, but not inside the handbag or on the kerchief.\u00a0 It\u2019s apparent in the bag you put the purse in, too.\u00a0 But there was a different scent when I opened the purse\u2014clean leather, linen, and lavender soap smells\u2014and absolutely no perfume in or on the glove or hanky.\u00a0 A woman who wears a lot of scent will get it everywhere, but this is just saturating the coat with some on the outside of the purse.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably also saturating Mrs. Little, possibly to try to alter her mood or to disorient her.\u00a0 What isn\u2019t commonly known is that Alzheimer\u2019s sufferers lose their sense of smell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She volunteered something!\u00a0 Completely out of nowhere and against her psych profile!\u00a0 Something\u2019s changed.<\/em>\u00a0 \u2026But what she\u2019d volunteered!\u00a0 And her voice was now cold enough to freeze Hades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Landon knew her degree in crime scene analysis and her status, now, as a certified paramedic in both Idaho and Colorado, probably gave her these kinds of insights, but what she was suggesting went beyond a case of accident or even criminal neglect.\u00a0 It brought up intent, and he sincerely doubted that in this situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t like the way she\u2019s reasoning<\/em>.\u00a0 It was the first inkling he had, though, on just how much the Grierhausen case may have affected Jessica Anderson. \u00a0It sent her over the edge, and she\u2019s really never come back.<\/em>\u00a0 It made her dangerous, not just whacko.\u00a0 Once she\u2019d smelled the perfume, she\u2019d started to exhibit stress and, simultaneously, seemed to grow remote \u2026harder\u2014\u2018calloused\u2019 was the word that came to mind, that and \u2018jaded\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

That sudden change ticked him off.\u00a0 The girl, already as changeable as the weather\u2014wait five minutes\u2014plus susceptible to weird PTSD \u2018drop-outs\u2019, had, in seconds, moved even further away from who he remembered she used to be in high school.\u00a0 But that was then, and this is now.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3 \u2013 Something\u2019s Wrong<\/h3>\n

JESSIE SAW THE QUESTION and read the doubt.\u00a0 She shouldn\u2019t have said anything, but it had needed saying.\u00a0 For Mrs. Little\u2019s sake.\u00a0 \u2026Because Landon Reid often took things at face value, then, simultaneously, switched gears to thinking things overly subversive.\u00a0 He often missed problems that he should catch, while assuming problems where there were none.\u00a0 \u2026Like about her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even now, she watched his anger rise.\u00a0 He tried to hide it by ducking his head down, the brim of his precious white Stetson\u00ae\u00a0hiding his eyes and pock-marked face, but she\u2019d seen it, and that was okay, too.\u00a0 She\u2019d done her duty.\u00a0 Her old boss, Captain Dennison,. would be proud of her.\u00a0 He\u2019d always chided her on keeping things too much to herself.\u00a0 This time, she hadn\u2019t, and, by Landon\u2019s reaction, she\u2019d hit the mark.<\/span><\/p>\n

She had her own selfish motives for doing it.\u00a0 It was a trade, because now she needed to know.\u00a0 For her dogs\u2019 sake.\u00a0 \u201cHave your deputies checked the river bank?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The head raised, the eyes leveled.\u00a0 \u201cWe have.\u00a0 No sign,\u201d he said, his deep, gravelly voice sounding incredibly ominous as it all but hissed the words.<\/span><\/p>\n

So he was<\/em> angry with her, and Jessie wanted to burst out laughing for some bizarre reason.\u00a0 She quelled it.\u00a0 But she was relieved by his answer.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0 That\u2019s very<\/em> good,\u201d she said, and meant it.\u00a0 \u201cHopefully, Mrs. Little stays away from the water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, intentionally, eyes on Queenie and Mitch, not him, she added what she considered the obvious, deliberately putting \u2018sappy, happy\u2019 into her voice.\u00a0 \u201cSo, now all we have to worry about is her getting run over, mugged, raped, hurt from a fall, along with suffering hypothermia and, maybe, contracting pneumonia.\u00a0 \u2026Or that she\u2019s been abducted, of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now she saw him get really<\/em> mad, and he didn\u2019t try to hide it.\u00a0 Good.\u00a0 Get a clue, Landon.\u00a0 There\u2019s something wrong here<\/em>.\u00a0 There should be scent<\/em>.\u00a0 Her dogs were good\u2014very<\/em> good.\u00a0 They were finding nothing<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upset, she tried to put her mind solely on her dogs.\u00a0 Somehow, they\u2019ll find her.<\/em>\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want to think about the condition in which her dogs would find the woman, though.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Something\u2019s wrong.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Her eye caught on Queenie and Mitch, again.\u00a0 They were approaching the crowd of people standing under the theater\u2019s marquee.\u00a0 Watching,\u00a0 Jessie began to worry for them.\u00a0 \u201cExcuse me, Sheriff,\u201d she said, and headed over.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid came with her.\u00a0 Jessie hadn\u2019t expected that.\u00a0 Nor did she expect him to answer her impertinence, except maybe with his characteristic groan and unintelligible grumbling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019d better not get run over or attacked by anyone,\u201d he said quietly, his low voice soft again, anger gone or at least suppressed.\u00a0 \u201cThe entire on-duty police force is out and a lot of my deputies, too.\u00a0 All of downtown is shut down.\u00a0 So are all nearby roads.\u00a0 All through traffic is supposed to be stopped up to a sixteen block radius.\u00a0 Mrs. Little and<\/em> your dogs shouldn\u2019t be in danger from traffic or misfits in the downtown and nearby residential areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d she replied as she dodged between parked cars to reach where, between them, Mitch and Queenie were isolating a group of women all about her age, several of whom she recognized.<\/span><\/p>\n

People who weren\u2019t used to dogs sometimes didn\u2019t deal with them well and hers were not wearing their Search and Rescue vests.\u00a0 She\u2019d left them home.\u00a0 In the wash.\u00a0 Mistake.\u00a0 Buy a backup set.<\/em>\u00a0 Their bright RF collars identified them with the word \u2018RESCUE\u2019, but that was it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure enough, as Queenie brushed between the people, sniffing legs, she heard a couple of the women squeal.\u00a0 One of those exclamations became a yell, then a scream of hysteria, and, getting there, Jessie tried to calm the woman down as poor Mitch just stood, looking up at her, his eyes confused.\u00a0 \u201cMy good, good dogs, Mitch, Queenie.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay.\u201d \u00a0Of course, it has to be Sheila<\/em>.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re just finding your mother\u2019s scent on you and will move on.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be upset,\u201d Jessie told her gently, the reek of alcohol coming out of the woman\u2019s mouth overwhelming.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou get your filthy<\/em> animals away<\/em> from me, you freak!\u201d the woman screamed, her fists balling up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitch\u2019s ears snapped forward, his eyes turning.\u00a0 He now identified Sheila Long as \u2018threat\u2019, his protection drive kicking in.\u00a0 Jessie called him to her.\u00a0 Immediately, he dropped his head and came.\u00a0 Queenie, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou stay away from my mom<\/em>, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Mrs. Long,\u201d Sheriff Reid said, stepping in to put his tall form between Jessie and the woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a start, Jessie noted that Reid had his body cam on.\u00a0 That was rare.\u00a0 \u201cTheir job is to find your mother,\u201d Reid said, his voice firm.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, again, Sheila Long stepped forward, her fists clenching again.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I said keep that freak<\/em> and her mangy animals away from me and<\/em> my mom!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of pushing things, the sheriff, just stood staring down at the woman.\u00a0 He said something Jessie couldn\u2019t hear, but she saw his body shift.\u00a0 Oh, boy!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

She began backing away, signaling the dogs to come with her.\u00a0 Everybody else around them, including Sheila\u2019s friends, backed up, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the impediment of the cast on his front leg, Acer bounded up, his hackles raised.\u00a0 Jessie grabbed for him, hissing a command for both him and Mitch to ease.\u00a0 Queenie\u2019s head was dropped and turned away, her tail sagging.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Queenie.\u00a0 Not your fault.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay,\u201d Jessie whispered to her oh-so-sensitive girl.\u00a0 Queenie loved people, and she didn\u2019t understand people who didn\u2019t love her back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid, on his part, didn\u2019t react to Acer\u2019s sudden, bristling appearance, though he had to see him.\u00a0 He was still speaking soft and low to Sheila Long.<\/span><\/p>\n

An all but subliminal low rumble\u2026.\u00a0 Milo arrived, the big dog shoving through to plant himself in front of Jessie and the rest of the dogs.\u00a0 His tail was stiff and still, his hackles up.\u00a0 So were Mitch\u2019s, now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, all dogs were in defense mode, protective of her and of their pack members.\u00a0 \u201cRuhig<\/em>,\u201d she whispered, asking for calm.\u00a0 \u201cGanz Ruhig<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Calling Milo by name, then asking him to \u2018fuss<\/em>\u2019, purposely Jessie only used the German instead of English, blessing the fact that, because of her consistent use of both, all her dogs now responded to either.\u00a0 German was the choice around people who mostly wouldn\u2019t recognize the commands.\u00a0 Need to make my own language, like Remmers does, so <\/em>nobody knows what I\u2019m asking for<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Milo tipped his head a little and backed to press his butt into her, but kept himself in front of Jessica.\u00a0 Acer was again giving warning growls, too, and, by their warnings, Jessie knew things were getting tense.\u00a0 Dogs could sense these things when humans often wouldn\u2019t have a clue.\u00a0 She wanted to warn Reid, but didn\u2019t know how without further antagonizing Sheila Long.<\/span><\/p>\n

An older police officer\u2014a captain by his insignia\u2014shoved his way in, and, with a nod the sheriff\u2019s way, said something to the woman which Jessie also couldn\u2019t hear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reid stepped back, bumping into Milo, his hand reaching down automatically, then stopping as it touched wet nose.\u00a0 Turning, he reached for and grabbed Jessie\u2019s bad arm.\u00a0 \u201cThis way.\u00a0 Now,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cBring the dogs.\u201d\u00a0 Jessie felt his tension and urgency.\u00a0 His grip on her upper arm hurt as he pushed and pulled her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moments later, Sheila let out a stream of vulgarities.\u00a0 Reid twisted, pulling Jessie behind him as the dogs, as one, turned to face the heightened disturbance.\u00a0 \u201cRuhig.\u00a0 Fuss<\/em>,\u201d Jessie reinforced, Acer tense beside her left knee, his hackles stiffly upright.\u00a0 Milo who maintained his position between Jessie and the hostility was completely on alert, his hackles ridged now from tail tip to the top of his neck.\u00a0 Beside him, Mitch, matched him in attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sheila suddenly lunged at the police officer with awkwardly swinging fists.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dogs didn\u2019t move.\u00a0 Nor did they retreat.\u00a0 Tension rippled through them.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of Sheila\u2019s fists connected with the man\u2019s chest as he caught the one headed for his face and did a twisting quick trick that turned the woman around, his foot tripping her, his other hand grabbing her dress\u2019s belt to ease her, face down, onto the sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crowd moved further away.\u00a0 The dogs now backed, keeping distance.\u00a0 Some of their tension eased.\u00a0 \u2026Not all.\u00a0 \u201cI warned you, Sheila,\u201d Jessie heard him say.<\/span><\/p>\n

The woman was now kicking, screaming, and cursing like something out of a bad movie.\u00a0 Reid urged Jessie back out into the street, her dogs moving with her.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s her uncle,\u201d Reid said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cIf anyone can handle her, it\u2019s him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dropping hands to dog heads, she felt their noses touch.\u00a0 \u201cSheila\u2019s always been \u2026rambunctious,\u201d Jessie responded, \u201ceven in high school,\u201d and saw Reid\u2019s eyebrows arch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs that what you call that,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Rambunctious\u2019.\u201d \u00a0He chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll have to remember that one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On her phone, a bark came through\u2014Sumi.\u00a0 Mitch and Milo took off.\u00a0 Then Acer and Queenie, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie pulled her new unit off her belt and, seeing location, spun around to look down the street.\u00a0 She saw nothing, though\u2014a dark shepherd on dark streets with stopped cars, the street lights leaving pockets of \u2018dim\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cWe have an alert.\u00a0 Sumi\u2019s found something,\u201d she said, and chased after Acer and Queenie.\u00a0 Mitch and Milo, who had moved as soon as the bark had sounded, were already halfway down the next block.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Jessie\u2019s phone app, it showed Sumi was more than eight blocks south\u2014over half a mile\u2014but Jessie wasn\u2019t surprised that it was Sumi who\u2019d had success.\u00a0 The dog was comfortable in urban environments from her days with Kingston as a law enforcement dog.<\/span><\/p>\n

As she ran, Jessie saw a flash of blonde.\u00a0 Britta raced out from between buildings two blocks down the street.\u00a0 On Jessie\u2019s app, the dots for Britta and Sumi converged.\u00a0 Shortly, the rest of the dots, including Oso\u2019s blue one, reached Sumi, too.\u00a0 Way before Jessie.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Jessie finally made it there, all the dogs were sitting with Sumi, all heads turned toward Jessie as she ran up. Tails tentatively wagged\u2014\u2019we found <\/em>something, anyway<\/em>\u2019, that told her.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Sumi had found was a crumpled napkin by the curb.\u00a0 It was a bar napkin \u2026from a bar located yet another couple of blocks south, nowhere near where they\u2019d been told the woman disappeared.\u00a0 We\u2019ve started their search in the wrong area by more than half a mile.<\/em>\u00a0 While that wasn\u2019t a big deal in wildland searches, in an urban search like this one, especially<\/em> like this one with all the people and the traffic exhaust, it was huge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Praising them all, especially Sumi, Jessie got new gloves on, gingerly picked up the napkin, and, as Sheriff Reid pounded up, held it out to her crew.\u00a0 She asked them for another sweep.\u00a0 \u201cSuch<\/em>.\u00a0 Seek.\u00a0 Find it.\u00a0 One.\u00a0 Human.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Just like her first set of instructions, she didn\u2019t include \u2018live\u2019 \u2026because she wasn\u2019t sure that the woman was.\u00a0 Now, with Sumi\u2019s find, it was possible that the woman had been hit, the injured or deceased body hidden by a panicked driver.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it happened.\u00a0 Or abducted<\/em>, came unbidden to her brain, something she didn\u2019t want to think about.\u00a0 \u2026But she knew she was beginning to think like a cop, again, not as who she was.\u00a0 Stop it.\u00a0 Not my job<\/em>, she scolded herself, and attended her dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhich bar did that come from?\u00a0 The Craven Inn?\u201d Reid demanded as she dropped it into another clean scent bag, sealing it up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt say\u2019s \u2018Henley\u2019s\u2019,\u201d she answered.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll give it to you later, if that\u2019s okay?\u00a0 I might still need it for the dogs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He nodded, keyed his shoulder mic, and snapped instructions to someone to get deputies in there.\u00a0 \u201cI want answers,\u201d she heard him say.\u00a0 \u201cBefore they all conveniently \u2018forget\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 He eyed her.\u00a0 \u201cThe chances she was picked up by someone?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d\u00a0 She turned to watch her dogs.\u00a0 \u201cHang on.\u00a0 They\u2019ll tell me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie\u2019s dogs were on track, but they were close, two of them, Milo and Mitch, trotting back from the bar\u2019s door to the crosswalk to cross the street.\u00a0 They stuck to pedestrian crossing stripes that traversed the width of the six-lane avenue that was also the main highway.\u00a0 So she crossed here<\/em>, Jessie thought.\u00a0 Oso was sitting in the middle of the street, his head up, nose active.\u00a0 He was pointed west.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie turned back to Reid.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 I think she used the pedestrian crossing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, Sumi barked.\u00a0 She was half emerged from the entrance to a narrow alley between two buildings on the far side of the street a half a block north, now.\u00a0 Britta stood with her looking down the alley at something.\u00a0 They had taken Oso\u2019s hint\u2014seek west.\u00a0 \u201cGotta go,\u201d Jessie said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie took off after her dogs as the rest of her pack headed for Sumi, noses almost grazing pavement.\u00a0 Small sounds of quiet affirmation came from them, including Milo.\u00a0 Only Oso was silent.\u00a0 He was not catching a strong air scent, just traces, and his silence told her so.\u00a0 So the scent trail envelope had already grounded or maybe had been dispersed by traffic.\u00a0 Pausing just long enough to make sure she followed, Jessie\u2019s dogs bounded down the dark, block-deep alley.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a trot, Milo, with his long stride, quickly took point beside Sumi, Mitch, the Marvelous, loping along right with him.\u00a0 All three had their heads low, noses near the ground.\u00a0 Long trotting, Acer and Britta moved into flank position.\u00a0 Then came Oso, and Queenie pulling rear guard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessie marveled\u2014modified pack formation.\u00a0 They had moved to defense position, probably because of the environment, an environment they weren\u2019t used to.\u00a0 They were wildland search experts, not urban search conditioned, though they had now, just last week, in fact, all passed their urban tests with flying colors.\u00a0 That included Mitch, thanks to Callen Parker pulling strings for her.\u00a0 Mitch had passed, despite the technicality of him being a half-year too young.\u00a0 But Jessie and her dogs worked wildland.\u00a0 It\u2019s what she and they both preferred.\u00a0 They were on alert and hunting, though, despite the unnatural territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrave Hunde<\/em>,\u201d she whispered, trying to keep up.\u00a0 \u201cMy good, good, great<\/em> dogs!\u201d\u00a0 But she was losing ground \u2026couldn\u2019t run fast enough to match their increasing pace, especially with her bad leg.\u00a0 Yet, she didn\u2019t want to call them down.\u00a0 Traffic was stopped, they were trained, and she had her app that tracked their RF collars.\u00a0 She\u2019d catch up when they found their target, which she had no doubt they would now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

She hoped it would be soon enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So what was the sound of taffeta?\u00a0 The delivery guy fixing the drape of the big lavender bow on top.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out now. As a treat, I’m sharing the first three chapters of Book 3 of the Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries.\u00a0 If you haven’t read Books 1 & 2, Death Scent and Stray Trouble, you can find them here.   1 \u2013 Lost Lady \u201cJESSIE, can you come?\u201d\u00a0 The slow words delivered in a low […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[123],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3297"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3305,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297\/revisions\/3305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dlkeur.com\/dlkeur-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}