Kari Trumbo

When the evidence lies, who can you trust? K9 officer Chris Johnstone has spent years avoiding partnerships-human ones, at least. But when he and his highly trained German shepherd, Sherlock, are called to track a missing woman in Poplar Bend, Chris is pushed into an uneasy alliance with Investigator Marin Bayless, a woman determined to find answers. What begins as a simple search, spirals into something far darker.
Evidence surfaces that shouldn't exist. Clues appear where no one could have left them. And someone in the know wants the truth buried before Marin gets close. As Chris and Marin navigate misleading trails, rising danger, and a growing connection neither expected, one thing becomes painfully clear: someone is orchestrating every step, and faith may be their only anchor when trust runs thin. In a town where secrets are currency and corruption hides in plain sight, Chris and Marin must rely on God and each other to survive the hunt for a predator who always seems one move ahead.