by Dale Mayer
Cade gave him a blank stare.
Then Erick, who was between the two of them, looked at Weston and asked, “Want in what?”
“Whatever deal it is all these guys are disappearing into.”
Erick looked at Cade, and they both turned to look at Weston. “Say what?” both asked at the same time.
“Oh, no, no,” Weston said. “I’ve heard all kinds of stuff, so no holding back on me.”
“All kinds of what stuff?”
“Pierce, Blaze, Zane, Parker, Lucas, and even Ethan,” he said. “What the heck’s going on with that? I heard something about dogs recently.”
“Why? Are you interested in dogs?” Erick asked.
Just then Geir walked in. “What was that about dogs?” he asked, before tossing a file in front of them. Attached to the front of it was a picture of Carter, leaning on a fence railing, a woman’s arms wrapped around him, their faces pressed together. They both looked deliriously happy.
Cade looked at it and grinned. “Another one bites the dust,” he said.
“Or we could say, Another very successful story,” Erick corrected, nudging him with his shoulder.
Cade nodded. “Or we could say, They look happy together.”
“Don’t they?” Weston hopped up and walked around to take a look. “Yeah, that’s Carter. What the hell has he been up to? And who’s the woman?”
“Sister of his best friend,” Geir said. “He needed to go back and fix a few things. And found where his heart really lay.”
“Oh, all that touchy-feely stuff,” Weston said, his face scrunching up. “But what kind of jobs are they doing? Do you know how boring it is to sit here day in and day out? All I do is build homes in the daytime and play my music at night.”
“And yet here you are, looking for another job,” Cade said.
Weston shrugged. “Yeah, because I’m bored. Don’t you have something better for me to do?”
“Do you have any experience with dogs?”
“Some. I worked in a K9 unit for a while.”
“Only a while?”
“I got promoted,” he said. “Then I got blown up. You know how that works. Life takes you down a path you didn’t expect to go.” And, of course, he knew they did know. They had all been down a path nobody had been prepared for.
Geir smiled at him. “What part of the country are you from?”
“Why?”
“Because we’ve got dogs all across the country, and we’re trying to fit people who have a reason to go someplace to track down these dogs. I have little-to-no budget money for this.” He quickly explained about the defunct War Dogs program.
Weston’s gaze narrowed with interest; then he grinned. “Wow. Sounds like a real mess.”
“Yep, that’s exactly what it is. But we have seven down and five more to go.”
“Did they all come to the mainland?”
“You mean, in the US?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking.”
“One’s in Alaska, and one’s in Hawaii. Does that count?”
Weston jumped up. “I’ll take the one in Alaska. It would be Anchorage, right?”
“That’s where it was flown to. But I think it went out to a homestead family.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m from Alaska, and I’ve been looking to go back for a visit.”
“Did you leave a long-lost love back there too?”
He winced. “Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“I left a little daughter back there,” he said, “adopted out to a very nice family. Only I know the family lost the husband recently. That was a year ago maybe? And they’ve been asking me if I could stop by for a visit because my little girl wants to get to know her biological dad now that her other dad’s gone.”
All the men looked at him in surprise.
“I know,” he said. “I didn’t exactly expect to have a child. But, when my one-night stand ended up telling me a year afterward that she’d had a child and put it up for adoption, yeah, you could say it wasn’t exactly a crowning moment of my life.”
“We don’t pay, but there are plenty of benefits.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Weston said, his face drawn. “It’s definitely time to face the music.”
“Good,” Geir said. “Because the dog in Alaska? Her name is Shambhala, and she could really use a music lover.”
“Why is that?”
“Because she’s blind in one eye, and she limps. But she’s got excellent hearing, and she loves to listen to music.” Geir reached through the stack and checked the folders. Then he pulled out one and handed it to Weston. “You get a copy of that and not a whole lot else.”
Weston grinned. “I’ll take it.”
This concludes Book 7 of The K9 Files: Carter.
Read about Weston: The K9 Files, Book 8
The K9 Files: Weston (Book #8)
Welcome to the all new K9 Files series reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Steel in a new series of action packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer. Pssst… you’ll meet other favorite characters from SEALs of Honor and Heroes for Hire too!
Weston was at an impasse in his life, after hearing about his unknown daughter, who’d already been adopted by another family. Only the father had since passed away… So … accepting the mission to track down the missing, blind-in-one-eye, limping K9 dog named Shambhala—in Alaska—was exactly where he needed to be to sort out this other issue in his life. Finding the dog turned out to be easier than Weston had expected, but sorting out how and why this dog’s owners had been murdered was something else again.
Now a widow, Daniela knew her daughter also needed a father, so she’d contacted Weston, not sure if he even knew of the baby’s existence. When he said he was on the way, she was concerned at what she’d started and that emotion then turned to terror when Sari’s birth mother showed up at Daniela’s doorstep, looking for her daughter again.
Things turn ugly when Weston’s K9 investigation impacts his daughter’s life and her new mother. He must do something, or everything he’s finally found will be lost.
Find Book 8 here!
To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Carter: The K9 Files, Book 7! If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment and leave a short review here.
Dear reader,
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Cheers,
Dale Mayer
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About the Author
Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).
She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!
To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.
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CARTER: THE K9 FILES, BOOK 7
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing Ltd.
Copyright © 2020
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-773362-08-3
Kindle Edition
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