Dog Tags: A romance anthology featuring military and canine heroes

by Kate Kinsley

  Charity loved her job. Cyberattacks were one of the new forms of warfare, silent but just as deadly as a bomb. She’d always loved technology, and her talent in the area spoke for itself. After graduating from the local community college, she’d chosen to further her degree by joining the army. Her family was neither wealthy nor poor, but education was still expensive for a middle-class family. The army opened schooling benefits in exchange for a few years of service. It was her hope she’d obtain her master’s degree during her six-year stint. At first, her mother had objected, but she had her father on her side. He’d served as well and backed Charity up when she’d agreed to give six years of her life in exchange for a degree. Now, four years into her commitment, she was on a bittersweet leave of absence due to her father’s heart issues.

  Sad thoughts were temporarily interrupted by her growling stomach. She hadn’t eaten yet today, and the delicious aroma of warm, soft pretzels enticed her. She followed the scent, intent on indulging a craving. Walking to the counter, she retrieved her wallet.

  “May I help you?” A young woman dressed in a shirt with the company logo took her order.

  “One of the originals and a Coke, please.” While the teenager filled Charity’s order, she separated her billfold. An older man, probably the manager, caught her eye as he moved in front of the young woman at the register.

  “I got this, ma’am. Thank you for your service.”

  His kind gesture stretched her lips with a smile. “Thank you.”

  The teen who’d taken her order handed her a bag. Charity moved to the end of the counter, grabbed a straw, and popped it into the plastic top on the cup. She took a long sip of her Coke. The sweet, syrupy sugar rushed through her veins. She usually ate pretty clean and ran at least five miles a day. This type of guilty pleasure was something she rarely allowed, and she intended to enjoy it.

  She bit into the pretzel as she slowly walked toward the baggage claim. There was no need to hurry. She always found it humorous to watch people rushing to the luggage carousel. It took time to unload the cases from a plane, but most people raced to get there. She recognized some of them from her flight on the mechanized walkways. Once they hopped off, they speed walked to get to the holding area where they stood around waiting. Not Charity. She strolled at a leisurely pace, enjoying her food. By the time she arrived, she’d have finished her drink and eaten the salty delicacy.

  Wiping her mouth and hands, she stuffed all the trash into a receptacle and approached the conveyor belt to wait for her duffle bag. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Retrieving it, she placed it to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Charity! It’s Dave.”

  She smiled, the familiar sound of his voice warming her insides. Deep and rich, the timbre would caress any woman’s ears.

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “I’m good. I’m in my truck waiting for you in the parking garage.”

  “Really? How did you know I was coming home? Wait. My mom, right?”

  “Yep.”

  A chuckle escaped on a puff of air as she simultaneously rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised? I was just going to grab an Uber.”

  “That’s what she told me,” he answered. “I offered to get you.”

  Dave’s tone had changed over the years. Since she’d been away, Dave had become very accomplished in business. He sounded more confident and determined as an adult than he had as a child. He’d been kind of shy as a kid and was rather quiet. When they were in middle school, his voice had deepened much earlier than most of the other boys. It made him stand out from the crowd. He didn’t like being the center of attention and became even more of a listener than a talker until the other boys went through puberty and caught up vocally. Now, with the added self-assurance in his tone, He had no idea how much of a turn-on his voice was to her. “Where are you?”

  “Um, let me look.” He paused. “Level D, space 3.”

  “Got it. Be out in a few.” She slipped the phone back into her pocket, silently wishing, for the first time in months, she looked a little more presentable.

  Chapter Two

  Warmth fanned through her body, causing Charity to smile. Her girlfriends would say Dave hit her “in the feels.” Of course, he did. She’d had a secret crush on him since she’d been a kid. He’d been one of the neighborhood boys, and it felt like she’d known him forever. She’d met handsome men since she’d been in the army, but no one made her feel the way she felt when he was near. What did they call that? The warm fuzzies? All it took was hearing his voice, and her body responded by turning her emotions into acrobats flipping through her stomach disguised as a circus tent.

  Although they’d exchanged emails, she never had to wonder about what he was up to. Her mother’s weekly phone call filled her in on all the neighborhood news. Charity was well aware of Dave’s success as a wealth manager. He downplayed his accomplishments in their messages, but her mother made it a point to report Dave’s triumphs in the stock market. Charity wasn’t surprised by his success. Dave was always good with his money. As a kid, he could turn a five-dollar allowance into ten, and ten into twenty.

  She recalled a time when Dave had saved his stipend for weeks. He’d given the cash to his mom, asking her to buy him a big bag of candies—like those for Halloween—and a case of water at the warehouse store. The following Saturday, Dave had gotten his mom to go with him to the ballfield. Not because he’d wanted to play like most of the kids, but because he’d seen a business opportunity. He and his mother had carried a large, blue cooler to a centrally located spot between three simultaneous baseball games. Dave had carefully set everything up. He’d decorated a table with some balls and mitts for marketing to his potential customers. Placing a cardboard sign at the front, he’d taken a seat and waited. The advertisement had read, “One water. One candy. One dollar.”

  While her parents had watched her cousins play their games, Charity had focused on Dave. He’d more than doubled his investment that day. Respect for a peer when you’re a child is a powerful thing. He’d earned hers that day. She had no doubt he employed similar strategies now.

  The conveyor belt started rolling, interrupting her thoughts, and Charity took a step back from the crowd. They plucked their cases while she waited patiently. Once the initial wave of people thinned, she grabbed the bag, hoisted it, and slugged it over her shoulder. The motion imprisoned a few errant tendrils of hair beneath the strap. She rolled her neck to the side to loosen the painful tugging. Though she’d worn her hair loose today, once she’d boarded the plane, she’d twisted and secured it into a low ball on her neck. She’d been confident it would be hot once she arrived in Baltimore and walking into the mid-July humidity would soon have her sweating in the cotton and nylon fabric of her fatigues.

  Chapter Three

  The door made a swooshing sound as it automatically opened. Thankfully, Charity had phoned her mother before boarding, and, during their conversation, her mom had mentioned she’d laundered Charity’s summer clothes. At least, once she showered, she’d have something to wear that was more forgiving than the heavier fabric she currently wore.

  She walked from the airport to the garage, heading toward the elevator. The reason for her trip once again took the main stage in her thoughts. She’d learned the news of her father’s health decline via an emergency call. Bypass surgery was needed. A widow-maker heart attack, her mother had reported. At the time, the situation was dire. Although her CO processed the necessary paperwork quickly, there was no way Charity could make it home in time for the procedure. She’d been updated regularly by her mother’s calls. The blockage could have killed him; he was lucky.

  Charity exited the elevator and scanned the space. D level wasn’t the ghost town of cars she’d expected. As she took her first steps toward Dave’s location, the sound of her boots scuffing the concrete echoed through the space. She’d barely taken twenty steps when movement beside her snatched her attention.

  Startled,
she drew in a breath. She paused, listened, and strained her ears for its direction. After the silence of a few moments’ pause, she shrugged and continued toward her destination. And then she heard it again.

  She spun a half turn, relying on her ears to direct her to where it was coming from, but she saw nothing—just a pile of old newspaper that had blown into the corner along with some other trash.

  Sweat gathered in a pool at the hollow of her throat and spilled over, making a trail down her chest. She pressed her palm to the spot, her tee shirt clinging to the sticky mess. She was about to pull the material away from her skin when she heard a tiny whining sound. Her gaze fell to the trash heap, which now rustled with movement. A creature exposed itself, and Charity jumped, thinking it might be a rat, but it wasn’t vermin stirring the pile. Her heart skipped a beat as a breath caught in her throat. A puppy!

  As sweet as the morning, with fur as dark as night, he limped forward. He raised his chin and looked at her with frightened eyes. He had a slight limp, and as Charity reached out, he cringed. An anchor of sorrow weighed her heart. His reaction meant he’d suffered at a human’s hands; it was apparent he didn’t trust people.

  “Hey, buddy. You can come closer. I won’t hurt you. Promise.” Her tone was soft as sadness knotted her stomach.

  Keeping her arms close to her sides, Charity moved tentatively so as not to scare him further. His eyes never left hers. Drifting down on one knee, she leveraged her body weight. Once the bone met with the concrete, she stilled completely. The puppy followed suit. The only thing moving on him were his eyes. Instantly she was smitten. They were the deepest, darkest, most soulful eyes she’d ever seen.

  As the two sized each other up, Charity took inventory of the rest of him. He was thin. Too thin. Black fur draped a boney ribcage. She reached out a hand, her tone a lullaby as she approached. “Sweetie, I’m going to pick you up. I promise I’m not to hurt you.”

  Once close enough, her hand darted to capture him. He wiggled with fear as she formed a scoop with her fingers and snatched him up by cupping his chest. Quickly she popped up to standing and pulled him close to her body. His trembling shook his small frame so severely, she tucked him into her shirt to make him feel more secure. He turned his face into her chest, his button nose pressing hot and dry against her wet tee shirt. When he started licking at the sweat, it was a sign of dehydration. “It’s okay, little guy. I’ve got you.”

  She hoped the combination of securing his body and speaking in a hushed tone could calm his fluttering heartbeat. The poor baby probably hadn’t eaten in days. She pressed her lips to place a kiss on his dome-shaped head just as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She put it to her ear.

  “Hey. Where are you? I’ve been waiting for half an hour.”

  In her concern for the puppy, she’d momentarily forgotten Dave. “I apologize. I’m down by the elevator—and I’ve got a friend.”

  “Just wait there. I’ll come to you.”

  She slipped the cell back into her pocket, happy Dave sounded more concerned than irritated as she looked down at her new best friend. Her fingers found the tender spot just behind his ear, and she scratched. He responded by leaning his head into her hand.

  Charity inhaled a deep breath. What the hell was she going to do with him? She surely couldn’t leave him here, and she was going back to base in two weeks. Another prolonged intake of breath had her shaking her head. She didn’t have any answers. All she knew was, for the moment, he was her responsibility, and if the army had taught her one core lesson, it was you never shirk your responsibilities. Of course, they also hadn’t met her mother.

  “I’m giving you a head’s up, little guy. My mom’s not crazy about animals.”

  Chapter Four

  A white Ford F-150 pulled up alongside her. Dave hopped out of the truck, grabbed the duffle bag, and threw it in the back. Her heart did a cartwheel. He was more handsome than she remembered—or maybe it was a trick of her mind. Refreshing waters poured over her thirsty mind. As Dave walked toward her side of the truck, a happy smile split his face. She braced the hidden puppy, turning toward Dave as he approached. His grin was interrupted when he saw the puppy.

  “Whatcha got there?”

  For a nanosecond, her mouth refused to function, and her heart labored to beat. She didn’t trust herself to look up. “He was all alone. It seems someone dumped him.” Charity hugged the pup a little tighter.

  “That stinks.” Dave reached to gently stroke the pup’s head, his knuckles grazing Charity’s skin. She peered up slowly, sure a blush crept into her cheeks. “He’s cute.”

  “He’s also hot. He needs water.” Disappointment polluted her tone. “I’ll never understand people. They trash anything posing a problem.” As if her words could physically hurt him, Charity lowered her voice to a hush. “No worries, buddy,” she whispered. “You’re safe with me.”

  Tingles continued to course through her blood from Dave’s brief connection. She wondered if he felt the sudden charge as well but said nothing. Once they were secured in seatbelts and on the road, Dave glanced over at Charity and the dog.

  “What are you going to do with him?”

  She shrugged. Excellent question. “I have no idea. I’ll take him to a vet to get checked over. Then, I guess I’ll try to find a home for him.”

  “You wouldn’t consider keeping him?” Dave questioned as he merged onto the highway.

  “Have you met my mother?” The sarcasm laced question hung in the air. Charity’s mother was legendary with her adamant stance that animals belonged on the outside of her house, not indoors.

  Dave reached for the radio knob. The song “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol carried on the air from the speakers. Charity’s wistful side emerged. Here they were, chasing cars on the beltway, and the words reminded her of the party the night before she left for basic.

  Everyone invited had shown up, all wishing her well. Dave had stayed behind to offer help with cleanup. When Charity had suggested they take a five-minute break, they both plopped on the sofa. Dave had wrapped his arm around her as she leaned into his chest.

  “I’m going to miss you, Angel.”

  His nickname for her.

  It had started back when they were in third grade. Christmas had always been her favorite holiday and winter her favorite season. The whole neighborhood could always count on Charity to be the first to make snow angels. Then, in middle school, Dave had started calling her Angel, and it stuck. The kids she grew up with interchanged the two names, and she eventually answered to both.

  That night, hearing the moniker fall from Dave’s lips, something changed; she realized she loved him.

  She returned her thoughts to the puppy. He wanted out of the confines of her shirt. The combination of his dehydration and her body heat must have been too much to bear, and he wiggled his little body from the hiding place to her lap. Affectionately, she stroked his head, rubbed his ears, and scratched beneath his chin. Stretching his neck to give her better access, she got a full view of the dog’s chest. That was when she saw it.

  A snowflake.

  As the words of the song on the radio rang out, Charity had discovered a white circle amid the black. It formed a design of straw-thin lines projecting from a middle dot. Each of those lines had tinier threads extending outward. The pattern on his fur created a near-perfect snowflake.

  “Snowflake! That’s your name.” As she spoke, he wagged his tail. He dropped his head against her torso and looked up adoringly—the absolute portrayal of, so-called, puppy dog eyes.

  After a minute, Charity moved around as she wiggled her body from the outer shirt. The tight, white tee shirt hugged her skin while the damp material accentuated her breasts. She could feel Dave’s eyes on her. When she tried to discretely give him a sideways glance, he snapped his head back to the road.

  “He’s so little,” she said, giving Dave time to school his expression.

  “You’ll fatten him up, I’m sure.”
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  She returned her attention to Snowflake, gratitude filling her heart. She shuddered to think of what would have happened to him if she hadn’t found him. He had about as much chance of surviving alone as a real snowflake in July.

  Dave took the exit ramp leading to her neighborhood. He stopped for a red light, this time looking over at his passengers with concern. “He’s so skinny. I can see his ribs.”

  Charity nodded. “I know. His eyes look a little goopy too, but I think all they need is a soft, warm cloth to clean them. Who knows how long he was there?”

  The light changed to green, and when the car started moving, a shiver ran down Snowflake’s spine. “Poor thing. He’s scared of everything.” She lifted him, giving him a gentle kiss on the head.

  A chuckle escaped Dave. Charity’s gaze cut to him through narrowed eyes.

  “What so funny?” Her tone was neutral. It was more like a dare, and if he were making fun of her, she would set him straight.

  “Nothing.” His expression turned stoic, almost stone-faced.

  “Spit it out,” she demanded, a scowl accompanying her words.

  “It’s you.” Dave’s eyes softened as he looked at her. “The way you’re treating him. You’ll make a good mother someday. I think you’re going to keep him, and he’ll be all the better for it.”

  Regret replaced her anger, instantly taking over. Sadness shook Charity’s head. “I don’t think so, Dave, but I’d love to. You know my mom doesn’t like animals.”

  “Riiiight.” He exaggerated the word.

  Her head snapped up. “She doesn’t, and you know it. She’d never let me keep him. And don’t forget I have to go back to base. I can’t take him with me.” As Snowflake looked up at her with pleading eyes, she was reminded of the difference between herself and her mother when it came to animals. The puppy then buried his head into her ribs, and she felt sorrow turn down the corners of her mouth. She placed her hand under his chin for another rub when his little pink tongue darted out. “He licked me!” Her nose wrinkled, pinching her face with joy.