by Dale Mayer
LUCAS
The K9 Files, Book 5
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Ethan, Book 1
Pierce, Book 2
Zane, Book 3
Blaze, Book 4
Lucas, Book 5
Parker, Book 6
Carter, Book 7
Dedication
It takes an army to make a book like this one, and that army also needs love and attention. Often it comes in the form of a furry friend. This book is dedicated to Lionel, a beloved pet of one of my beta readers who’s worked with me for years. Lionel went to the wonderful cat home in the sky this last week and he’ll be sorely missed.
Thanks for being such a devoted friend while here on earth! You’ll be sorely missed.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
About Parker
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
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!
The world of dogfighting is an ugly place …
When Tophat, a missing K9 dog, is accidentally sent to Canada as part of a group of rescued dogs looking for adoption, Lucas knows he’s the natural pick for this job. Plus he has another reason to be in the country. His sister lives there, and … so does his ex-fiancée.
But when he arrives, Lucas finds Tophat was handed over to a trainer who deals with aggressive dogs. The news isn’t good, especially after Lucas arrives at the trainer’s property and is thrown into the dark underworld of dogfighting.
Tanya used to share her home with her two best friends, until one was killed in a hit-and-run and the other badly injured. Now living alone in a small apartment, Tanya realizes how much she’s lost—including Lucas. Unexpectedly seeing him flips her world once more …
As Lucas digs deeper into Tophat’s disappearance, the dogfighting ring rises up to protect their own …
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Prologue
Geir sat down in the boardroom beside Jager and Badger. “Well, that appears to have been a success,” he said. “I just heard through the grapevine that Blaze has found Solo.”
“Not only found Solo,” Jager said with a chuckle, “but he also found a woman named Camilla, and apparently, we’re having almost as much luck with our team’s relationships as Levi and Mason are with theirs.”
“I didn’t expect to become a matchmaking service,” Badger said, “but, with Kat around, it’s hard not to be.”
“She does want to see everybody as happy as she is,” Geir said. “And that’s kudos to you.”
“No. I think it’s kudos to all of us,” Badger said. “So, four War Dogs are all good, eight more to go. Anybody got any suggestions about who or where next?”
“I was flipping through these files,” Geir said. “The dogs are all over the place.”
“That’ll make it more difficult,” Jager said. “So far we’ve been picking dogs that matched men and where they needed to be. I didn’t tell Blaze that I knew about his need to return to Kentucky, but, when I saw the dog was from that same area, I figured that was a perfect match. But I don’t know of any other matches.”
Geir shuffled through the files, picked up one, and said. “Top Hat. Love that name.” The file photo revealed a shepherd with lighter coloring, but his neck was all dark, like he wore an ascot. While impressive in size, those expressive eyes were filled with life. He smiled as he looked at it and tapped the photo. “Every time I look at that pic, I think that guy has got to be in a circus or something.”
“Hardly. From what I heard, Top Hat had an aggressive tendency that was hard to control,” Badger said. “He’s the one that worries me because chances are he’s been put down already.”
“I don’t know about that,” Geir said. “I think these dogs are survivors. They’ve handled a lot. I can’t imagine they’ll give up now.”
“Maybe not give up,” Jager said, “but it doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for them to adapt to civilian life. We need the right person for this one.”
“Top Hat’s in Canada. He was somehow shipped with a large group of rescue dogs to Alberta,” Badger said with a shake of his head.
“Which is miles and miles of a whole lot of nothing. A couple big cities and lots of small towns. With farmers in between. Or is that Saskatchewan? Whatever,” Geir said. “Besides, just because Top Hat ended up in Alberta doesn’t mean he’s still there.”
“That’s true enough,” Badger said. “We can attempt to uncover more intel, but do we know anybody with connections up there that could cut through a lot of that random research and footwork?”
“Lucas does,” Geir said. “His sister married a Canadian.”
“So it might be time for him to have a family visit.”
“But let’s get real,” Jager joked. “Canada is massive, and just because some guy’s sister married a Canadian doesn’t mean the dog is anywhere close by.”
“No. Not at all,” Badger agreed. “But it also doesn’t mean it isn’t time for Lucas to visit his sister, and, in the meantime, we’ll get some intel and try to find out where the dog ended up.” Badger looked at Geir, who just grinned broadly at them. “Okay, Geir. What do you know that we don’t?”
“Lucas’s sister is in Medicine Hat, Alberta,” he said. “She married the son of a farmer.”
“See? What did I tell you?” Jager said, rolling his eyes.
“It doesn’t mean Lucas wants to go home and doesn’t mean Lucas even gives a damn about dogs,” Jager added.
“No, maybe not, but he was search and rescue for years. The whole family is heavily involved in it. I think his father used to train search and rescue dogs.”
“Wow,” Badger said, rubbing his hands together. “It sounds like we have our next success story.”
“Is he married?” Jager asked. “Because that will completely change things.”
“Was engaged,” Geir replied. “Something blew up between the two of them, and they separated. I know it’s been eating at him for months and months. She lives close to his sister. The two are friends.”
“Oh, interesting,” Badger said. “Even more reason for him to return and settle this—either to break free or to get back together with her.”
“I don’t think getting back together is an option,” Geir said, “but one never knows.”
“What do you guys think? Should we try it?”
“Why not? Let’s bring him in, and see what he thinks.”
Chapter 1
Lucas Scott had used lesser excuses to head up to visit his sister and brother-in-law, but this was the weirdest. Here he would be searching for a K9 military dog, a former War Dog, that had somehow been caught up in a group of rescue dogs and shipped to Canada.
He never really understood how that worked, but his research had pinpointed the fac
t that hundreds of rescue dogs were taken to Canada for adoption as they had a better reception up there than down South. It bothered him to a certain extent because he’d like to think of his people taking care of their own animals. However, when it came to a War Dog being a rescue, and one unlikely to be adopted in his own country, even after all the dog had done to keep his own country safe—well, that wasn’t cool, and, from what Lucas heard, the dog was unstable and potentially dangerous.
Yet, he immediately focused on the picture in the file. That dog was not unstable and dangerous. Lucas could see it in his eyes. Even in a photo. So how in the hell could someone in their right mind see that dog in real life and deem him unstable? Lucas shook his head.
That could also be the handlers’ problems. These War Dogs were impeccably trained, but not everyone knew how to handle them.
Top Hat had been a strong military dog but had taken a turn for the worse after a mission where he’d been attacked and badly wounded. Lucas felt an instant tie to the dog on this fact alone. Top Hat’s physical wounds had healed, but his temperament, although better, wasn’t the same. He was no longer the amiable soul he’d been before.
And that was just a bad mix for everybody.
Yet, just one look into Top Hot’s expressive eyes—even in a two-dimensional photo—and Lucas knew. Lucas knew this War Dog had been one hell of a soldier. But those dark-chocolate-colored eyes? A puppy still lived in there.
No one seemed to know how Top Hat was doing. Lucas contacted the Fur & Feather Rescue Shelter, and they had confirmed they had the dog there. But they hadn’t said much else. Lucas fought a losing battle trying to get some straight answers here. Hell, any answers. When he tried to explain the history of the dog, they had laughed and said they didn’t think that could be correct. Otherwise, why would the dog have ended up in their yard?
He’d asked them to check for tattoos, and they had told Lucas how hard it was to get close to Top Hat. He was on a warning list, and they were hoping somebody with skills to handle the more difficult dog would take him on as a foster animal and could calm him down, with the ultimate goal being that he’d eventually be placed for adoption.
Lucas told them that he would be there in four days, since he was flying to see a friend on the US side of the border, then traveling the rest of the way in his truck. They acknowledged it, but that had been the end of it. Lucas did not appreciate their apathetic response to him or to Top Hat. If people didn’t love and respect animals, what the hell were they doing working in an animal shelter? Lucas shook his head, trying to stop the anger building in him.
Since he’d gotten on the road, he had once again contacted the Fur & Feather Rescue Shelter, just to confirm he was on the way. They had passed the dog along to another shelter, the Red Deer Rescue Shelter. When Lucas heard that, he hung up on them. He had no time to deal with them, but he would have liked to get his hands wrapped about the neck of the person in charge back there. Yet, Lucas couldn’t waste his energy on them. Lucas had to focus on Top Hat. And on himself for that matter.
Already just a short jog into his drive, Lucas figured Top Hat was in trouble. Lucas didn’t know what it was, but an inkling inside him said that something was wrong. Very wrong. Seriously wrong. His gut stayed knotted the whole way. Was it about Lucas’s frustrations from the very beginning in his search for Top Hat? Or was that because it was his first long road trip since he’d been injured? Or was it all about Tanya—his ex-fiancée? The only woman he’d loved enough to ask to marry him? And still the only woman he’d ever loved.
Or all of the above? Probably.
Normally he wouldn’t drive either—at least not since his accident—but, for some reason, it seemed like he needed his own wheels. And maybe it was a chance to check out his ability to handle the drive again. He’d left his truck with a buddy who’d planned to buy it off him, but then the guy had changed his mind. The buddy and Lucas’s truck were both in Glacier National Park in Montana’s Rocky Mountains, so he’d flown in to see his buddy and to retrieve his truck, then had driven across the border into Alberta, Canada, to see his sister.
Which was silly. It probably would have been cheaper to fly the whole way. Still, if he was bringing Top Hat back to the US, he had to have a way to get him home. They could have possibly flown but that hadn’t seemed like the answer at the time. Lucas worried about a quarantine period of whatever length when flying back into the States and about stressing out the dog further with an airplane ride. Lucas never checked it out now that he had wheels. For that matter, he still needed to research what was entailed in bringing a dog from Canada and crossing the border back into the States. He hoped a veterinarian’s bill of good health was enough. He’d find out more about that later.
Maybe some things just had to happen in the way they had to happen.
Besides, the trip itself was going decently. He was pleasantly surprised. And feeling a little triumphant if he were honest with himself. He’d just crossed the border at Sweet Grass, Montana, into the Alberta region of Canada, and was not more than two hours away from his sister’s place in Medicine Hat. The latest shelter where Top Hat had been taken was four hours from his sister’s place.
As he pulled up to his sister’s house, relieved that his first physical test of this kind was over, Meg came out the front door, a big smile on her face.
He grinned as he parked his truck and slid out slowly. “Good to see you, sis.”
She didn’t say a word but threw her arms around his chest and gave him a big hug.
He was six-four; she was five-six, and the difference was even more obvious now. She’d had two kids, and, instead of growing bigger, she’d shrunk. He swore she was down to five-four now.
“What happened? You shrink with the last one?”
“Or the stress since having a baby, especially since it was the second one,” she admitted. “You look like you’ve done nothing but grow.”
“I have,” he said. “But hopefully in good ways.”
She pulled back, looked at the muscle on his chest and shoulders, smiled and said, “You certainly haven’t lost any of the muscle.”
“I have,” he replied. “But mostly along the back. And I’ve worked damn hard to get back the muscle I lost.”
Her smile dipped. “Right, we won’t ever forget that you broke your back, lost two ribs and one kidney and … more.”
“Maybe,” he said quietly, “but we don’t need to dwell on it either.”
She smiled again, sending a ray of sunshine everywhere.
He shook his head. “Damn, I’ve missed that smile. You could take a dark day and turn it into one of the best with just the curve of your lips.”
“Ha!” she said with a toss of her head, sending the loose tendrils of hair flying around her face. “I doubt it. Come on in. The rest of the family is otherwise occupied.”
He slid her a sideways look and raised an eyebrow. She laughed and said, “You’ll find out.”
He grabbed his bag from the bed of the truck and rotated his shoulders to ease some of the stress in his neck and followed her inside. He had a back cushion he used for long drives that gave him extra support. He’d done this drive home many times over his years as a SEAL, just not since his accident. He already knew his back muscles would seize in the morning. He swore softly as he felt a sudden jab in his spine. He’d have to be careful for the next few days that he didn’t pull something. And to remember his stretches before bed. Then again he had already been slipping with that routine.
Meg shot him a questioning look, and then worry replaced the curiosity on her face. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and smiled. “Just a few twinges from the long ride.”
“You could have flown,” she said.
“I could’ve,” he said, “but I didn’t want to.”
“You didn’t drive all the way from New Mexico, did you?”
He shook his head. “Bronson has been hanging on to my truck in Montana for the last few months.”
“I’m surprised you let him have it.”
“He was going to buy it off me, but his mom gifted him with one. Since then my truck has been parked.” He glanced at his black double-cab three-quarter-ton truck, damn glad to have it back. “I didn’t think it would work for me after my surgeries, but I’m happy to say the trip was decent.”
“Having it at his place helped this time,” she said. “At least you got to cut the trip up—flew for part of it and then you got to drive the last few hours.”
“If I didn’t have this odd feeling that I needed my truck here, I probably would have flown all the way.”
“I think it’s better to have your independence,” she said. “Besides, now you have your truck back, and I know you love that thing.”
“I agree,” he said. “Feels better to have my wheels, and you’re right. I do love it.”
Then she added, “But whatever is best for your back is what we want.”
Once inside, he toed off his boots, dropped his bag and slipped out of his vest.
With a finger to her lips, she led him to the family room around the corner. There he watched his two nephews—three-year-old Yegg and five-year-old Jonah—and Nathan, their father, playing Mario Kart on a game system on the TV. There were shrieks of laughter as they raced ahead of each other on the TV screen. Jonah was whipping their dad pretty darn good. When Jonah won, he stood up and tossed himself at his father, screaming, “I won! I won! I won!” Nathan rolled over, letting Yegg come and pounce on him too.
Lucas loved this glimpse and all the others he had had into their family life. A healthy, loving relationship all around. Not that they all didn’t have their moments or their arguments. But there was no yelling here. Well, maybe to celebrate a win at Mario Kart, but no raising of voices to inhibit a real conversation about a real problem. He was so proud of his sister, what she and Nathan had built here.
It was the one thing he wanted for himself. His greatest desire. Always had been. Always would be. Even faced with the choice of having Tanya or having a family, Lucas knew what he had to do. He had to let her go. He had to find someone who wanted a family just as much as he did. He had wanted that someone to be Tanya.
