Killer Secrets
Page 24
Daniel Harper approached us, using his shirtsleeve to scrub the sweat from his face. “It’s gonna be a while before we can recover...” Glancing at me, he shrugged.
Her body. What was left of it.
“Why don’t you go home? Get some rest. We’ve got everything here.”
Sam’s fingers clenched a little tighter around mine, a question. Should we go? Could I?
I squeezed back and moved to stand up. Sam and Daniel were quick to help me. “Rest sounds good.”
“Home sounds better.” Sam gave the ruins a wry look. “Though I don’t seem to have one of those anymore.”
Daniel offered us a ride, but I shook my head. I wanted to walk. To let the dawn peace seep into our souls. It was a new day for us, in more ways than one.
Hand in hand, Sam and I started toward Gramma’s. I could go home again. I could pick up Poppy, and we could return to our little house. Sam would go with us. We would be his home now.
A block passed in silence. I felt...content. “Is it wrong that I don’t feel sad or guilty?”
He gazed down at me, his blue gaze moving over my face tenderly. “Nothing you feel could be wrong, Mila. She was an evil, damaged person, but at the end of the day, she was still your mother. She gave you life, and she tried to take it away. But you’re a survivor, Mila. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.”
I’d never considered myself particularly strong. Warped. Broken almost beyond repair. Almost. But Gramma hadn’t believed that. Sam hadn’t believed it.
“You know I love you.” I said the words simply, with certainty, words I’d never imagined myself saying to anyone besides my grandmother. They were sweet and lovely and felt so especially right.
He smiled, and that rightness filled me to overflowing. “I love you.”
We were less than a block from Gramma’s now, and I could imagine Poppy jumping at the bedroom window, delighted to see us, unbearably hurt that we’d gone outside with her. “I heard you ask about my real name. Does it matter?”
“Not in the least. Whatever name you use, you’ll always be my miracle.” He grimaced, then grinned. “That was incredibly sappy, wasn’t it?”
I bumped shoulders and hips with him. “It’s the sweetest thing anyone ever said to me.”
Now I didn’t have to imagine Poppy barking. I could hear her as the blinds in my window jiggled. As long as someone was that happy to see me, my life mattered. Sam would be that happy for me, and I would be that happy to see him, for the rest of our lives.
A new day, but not a new life. My old life made me the person I am today, and I wouldn’t give that up for anything.
—Excerpt, journal of Mila Ramirez Douglas
* * * * *
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MILITARY K-9 UNIT
These soldiers track down a serial killer with the help of their brave canine partners
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Tracking Danger by Terri Reed
Sheriff’s Deputy Serena Evans knows her trusty K-9 partner Ginger can track down the serial killer who is tormenting her Texas town...if only her boss would give her the chance. When they trace him to Jason Hargrove’s land, Serena and Ginger will have to team up with the reclusive rancher in order to get their man.
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Second Chance Soldier
by Linda O. Johnston
Chapter 1
Was this demonstration going to be as unimpressive as all the others had been so far?
Amber Belott could only wait and watch—and hope that, finally, she and her mom, Sonya, had found their answer at last, a skilled person who could take over training potential police K-9s and other dogs, as well as additional trainers, now that her father was gone.
Evan Colluro was the eighth person who’d come to the Chance K-9 Ranch, just outside Chance, California, to perform a demonstration. A tryout. An audition of sorts.
Evan had just arrived. At least he was right on time, unlike most of the others, whose excuses tended to be how remote this place was. At the top of the driveway near their house, he exited his black sedan along with his dog, who was, unsurprisingly, a German shepherd.
His résumé had described his extensive work with dogs, particularly in the military, but nothing had prepared her for how good-looking he was. He was tall and slender with broad shoulders, and the fit of his charcoal knit shirt implied strong muscles beneath. He wore black slacks and new-looking athletic shoes, somewhat informal attire, yet he looked ready for both a job interview and a critical dog-training test session.
Again unlike some of his either more formal, or more sloppily dressed, predecessors...
Amber, on the other hand, wasn’t dressed particularly to impress. Neither was her mother. Both wore casual blue work shirts tucked into jeans. Amber didn’t care what Evan thought of her, except as a potential employer.
She approached the man with short black hair who now stood beside his car, his dog at his side. “Evan?”
“That’s right. And you’re Amber?” Though he stood facing her, he didn’t quite look at her. He had a hint of dark beard stubble on his long, angular face, a cool expression in his deep blue eyes that gave no indication at all as to what he was thinking or feeling. Maybe he was watching her mother. Or looking at their black Labrador retriever, Lola, who stood beside Sonya.
“Yes. Welcome. And who’s this?” Amber gestured toward his dog, wanting to approach to pet him but recognizing that was a bad idea with a trained K-9 without asking permission.
“This is Bear.” There was a note of pride in Evan’s voice. “He’s been with me for a while.”
Which suggested he might be a former military K-9.
“May I pet him?” Amber asked.
“Sure.”
While she stroked the apparently pleased dog’s head behind his ears, she next asked, “Would you like to come inside for a cup of coffee?” That would mean a chat about Evan’s background, which Amber already somewhat knew from their online conversations, or the job, which he’d learned about the same way. “Or just start with the dogs?”
“The dogs,” he said with no hesitation.
“Fine.” In fact, that was good. Talking with the guy now wouldn’t tell her what she needed to know.
Watching him in action would.
“First,” she said, turning away from Bear, “I’d like you to meet my mother, Sonya, and our dog, Lola.”
Lola, though restrained by a leash held by Sonya, had leaped forward and now traded nose sniffs with Bear. No animosity that Amber could perceive—a good start. Whatever his background, Bear also appeared well behaved.
“Hi.” Her mom stepped forward. She held her hand outstretched and Evan grasped it but didn’t look straight into her eyes, either. Amber wondered once more what was on this guy’s mind.
“Hi,” he responded, letting go right away.
Amber exchanged a brief glance with her mother, then turned back to Evan. “The first puppies who need training are over there.” She pointed toward the location just beyond the wide driveway that he had probably noticed before.
Three German shepherds about six months old stood watching them from a small area surrounded by a chain-link fence, just beyond the main wood-plank fence at the edge of the rolling lawn. The pups had been selected by Amber’s dad when they were even younger as having the temperament to potentially have a future as skilled police K-9s.
By Amber’s now-deceased father...
Now wasn’t the time to think about that.
For the first time since he arrived, Evan smiled. “I noticed them,” he said, not taking his eyes off the canines. “Okay if I join them and check out where they are in their training?”
“Sure,” Amber said, but almost before the word was out of her mouth he began striding in that direction.
Trading glances once again, Amber and Sonya followed, not far behind. Her mother still held Lola’s leash, restraining their dog from getting too far ahead—and in Evan’s way. Bear stayed at his side, though, without a leash.
It was May, and the air was warm, the sky a brilliant blue. A lovely day—if there could be such a thing in this family any longer. A good day, at least, for this kind of test.
As Evan reached the fenced area, the ranch’s barely trained K-9 German shepherd puppies—Rex, Hal and Lucy—all stood as they saw him, clearly excited. Rex started barking, the sound shrill and loud, inciting the others to do the same.
Evan looked down into the face of the initially guilty dog, gestured and said, “Sit!” softly yet firmly.
Amber was both amazed and pleased to see Rex immediately both sit and quiet down, and the others followed suit.
“Wow,” whispered her mom at her side, obviously equally impressed.
Was it this man’s body language, his clear intent to take control? Amber had no idea, but it felt different, very different, from the others who’d been here before him. Some had yelled orders above the barks, some had shoved the pups into place, and some had done both. Others had bribed them with treats.
Evan’s approach was different. So was his attitude. He seemed strong yet caring.
And that was just the beginning. Without looking toward Amber or Sonya for consent, Evan opened the nearby gate to the lawn, and he, Bear and Lola—whose leash he’d removed—then entered the smaller fenced area.
“Hi,” he said to the pups, who all squirmed on the ground beside him. He appeared to study them for a while, then Rex dashed around and the other two rolled on the grass as if wanting to be petted. He didn’t touch them but asked Amber for their names. He repeated the names, watching each dog to see their reactions. “Okay,” he finally said. “Let’s do it.”
The three young shepherds plus Lola were then subjected to a whirlwind of instructions, including commands they might not have heard before. Bear, too, participated, clearly knowing and obeying each order.
Evan’s large, strong hands moved in an assortment of gestures that were each tied to one of those verbal commands. He sometimes repositioned his large, lithe body while getting the dogs to move, too. His hand movements were gentle as, looking straight into their faces, he guided them into the positions he wanted them to achieve. Each time they obeyed a command, a touch or both, he rewarded them with praise.
His tone was encouraging, as if the dogs understood every word, and maybe they did thanks to his accompanying gestures or their limited prior training.
Evan seldom scolded them, but he did distract one or another when they didn’t obey by walking in front and grabbing the dog’s attention by movement and a strong tone of voice.
He also rewarded them now and then by extracting a toy that resembled a small fabric suitcase handle that Amber knew was called a tug from one pocket, and at other times a ball out of another pocket, each time tossing it for an obedient dog to chase and bring back.
Meanwhile, Bear followed all of Evan’s commands, as if he provided an example each time.
The pups tha
t Amber found so adorable, so sweet—and so disobedient—now acted as if they couldn’t wait to receive and obey the next command.
After about twenty minutes, when Evan had worked with all the shepherds—plus Lola—several times, he turned and looked toward Amber and her mother, who both watched him over the fence. It was the first time he’d glanced at them since starting.
“I gather that these pups have had a small amount of training,” he said, “but they’ve a lot to learn. I’ll want to hear more about their background. I assume the intention is for one or all of them to wind up as police K-9s, so I could start their initial training for single-purpose use—just finding and attacking bad guys. But most police departments prefer dual-purpose dogs, those that can also do drug or explosive sniffing, cadaver location, search and rescue or more, and I can help prepare them for that, too, though what they’re taught will depend on their individual skills and what their ultimate handlers will want from them.”
“And you can provide all that training?” Amber asked. She was definitely impressed. None of the others she’d invited here had come even close to what Evan had already accomplished.
“Well, sure,” he said, as if that was a foregone conclusion. He briefly looked her straight in the face, as if trying to read her mind, but only for an instant before he glanced away and turned back toward the dogs.
Amber started walking away and gestured for her mother to follow. They didn’t go far before she stopped, looked at her mother and asked in a low voice, “What do you think?”
“Grab him while you can,” Sonya said equally softly, but with a large smile.
Amber nodded, then called to Evan, “We’d like to discuss a possible job offer with you.” She walked toward him and added, “Please shut the pups into their enclosure, then let’s go into the house and discuss it, okay?”
“Okay,” he agreed—and Amber knew her responding smile was even larger than her mother’s.
Unsurprisingly, after more commands, followed by petting, verbal rewards and a few more tosses of toys, Evan got the three young pups to sit and stay while he locked the chain-link fence gate behind him, as if the dogs lived to obey him. Amber could only grin about that.