Rowan (The K9 Files Book 10)

by Dale Mayer

  “Don’t worry about it,” he growled.

  And she followed his gaze on the kid beside Rosie. And farther down to Hershey. Although he’d been ordered to stay, he wasn’t likely to be happy with this scenario. She caught Rowan’s eye and nodded toward the door behind her.

  “Well?” Rosie said. “Now what?”

  “I know where the coin collection is,” she said, “but I can’t just pick them up.”

  “Where are they?”

  “At the bank, in a safe deposit box,” she said desperately.

  “Perfect, you’ll take us there then,” Rosie said, and she smiled in delight. “I knew this would turn out okay.” Then she shot at Rowan again, only this time he was no longer in the same spot. He’d shifted to the side, prepped for a lunge, his hand grabbing Rosie’s gunhand and squeezed … hard.

  Rosie dropped to her knees, just as Hershey raced through the living room, and he jumped, latching onto her gunhand. She screamed as the dog clamped down on her wrist and broke the bones underneath the gun, firing harmlessly into the flooring.

  Her son cried out, “Mom!”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about her,” Rowan said, still struggling for her gun. It fired a second time, hitting Rosie this time. She collapsed to the floor.

  Brandi jumped in and picked up his mother’s weapon and held it against him. “Just move,” she whispered. “Just one move, and I’ll be happy to blast you to pieces.”

  He sneered at her. “You ain’t going to pull a trigger on me,” he said. “Neither of you will, or you’ll go to jail.”

  “I won’t,” she said, “but somebody will today.”

  As she stepped back, she looked at Rowan. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay,” he said. He ordered Rosie’s son to the ground beside his mother.

  He looked over at her and whispered, “Mama, are you okay?”

  Rowan leaned down and pressed a finger against the woman’s neck and shook his head.

  “You killed her!” he said. “You murdered my mother!” The kid looked at Rowan in shock, and then the kid’s rage took over. And he jumped at Rowan, his fingers going for Rowan’s eyes. Rowan stepped to the side, and, even with his sore shoulder, reached up and clocked the kid in the face. He went down with a craziness that Brandi hadn’t seen before, where he jumped at Rowan again. Immediately Rowan stepped back and ordered Hershey to attack, taking a bite out of the kid’s shoulder. And the kid went down.

  Once down, Hershey gave a hard shake, leaving the kid screaming on the floor.

  Suddenly voices were at the doorway, and chaos ensued as several police officers raced in with guns out.

  Rowan slowly held his hands up, dropped to his knees, and ordered Hershey to relax. “Let go,” he ordered. Hershey, whimpering, laid down beside him.

  They all stared at the police; Brandi turned, looked at them, and held up her hands, the gun still in her hand, and said, “We’re not the shooters.”

  “Drop the weapon, and lie down on the floor.”

  She immediately obeyed.

  It was over, at least it would be soon, but, oh, Lord, what a day, what a night. As far as she was concerned, it had been the worst two months of her life.

  Definitely time to leave California.

  The detective arrived on the scene not very long afterward. Rowan sat on the couch, a bandage on his shoulder, as the bullet hadn’t gone through, just had nicked off the top of his shoulder. It burned, but that was all. Brandi sat at his good side and leaned in close, and Hershey was at their feet. They’d left the puppies in the bedroom, just so there was less commotion. The ambulance had come and taken away the dead mother and the injured son.

  As they sat here, explaining what had happened, the detective looked at Rowan and asked, “You leaving anytime soon?”

  “Maybe in the morning,” Rowan said in a hard voice. “Why?”

  “Because you brought a lot of chaos with you.”

  “He did not,” Brandi defended him. “These assholes were here well before Rowan arrived.”

  “I’ll give you points for that,” the detective said, as he stared at the bloodstains on the floor. “Grandfather, grandmother, and now going after you.”

  “All about a coin collection.” Brandi shook her head, her face grim.

  “Yes,” Rowan said, nodding. “I sent a photo of that coin collection to a friend, and, just from the top coins he saw, it’s worth millions of dollars.”

  The cop looked at him in shock. “Seriously?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  The detective looked at Brandi. “What will you do with them?”

  “Sell them,” she said. “Immediately. A lot of lives have been ruined over those coins. I don’t want anything to do with them.”

  “Good,” he said. “It might be time for you to consider a move. At least you have enough money to finance a move and a new future for yourself,” he said. “I suggest you take it.” And, with that, he walked out.

  She looked at Rowan. “That’s a really good idea,” she said, the fatigue pulling on her. She looked at his wound and winced. “You sure you don’t want to have that looked at in the hospital?”

  “Nope, no hospitals for me,” he said quietly. “Been there too many times in the last couple years.”

  “I noticed the scars last night,” she said, “and I suspect I’ll get a lot more chances to explore them. Last night, it was more about us, not so much about your war wounds.”

  He chuckled and tucked her close. He said, “Believe me. I’m more than happy to have a repeat of last night anytime you want.”

  She snuggled in and whispered, “So what do you think about a move?”

  “I think New Mexico sounds perfect,” he said. “What about you?”

  “Just the two of us?” she asked, looking up at him.

  “Well, the two of us, plus Hershey, Lacey, and two, hopefully three, puppies.”

  “And how the hell will we get moved?” she asked.

  “I think a one-way rental sounds like a good idea. How about a road trip?”

  She chuckled, wrapped her arms around him, and said, “Sounds perfect to me.”

  Epilogue

  Badger sat at the Titanium Corp boardroom table with the whole original crew—Erick, Cade, Talon, Laszlo, Geir, and Jager—which was unusual. Badger said, “Did I just hear that Rowan is coming back to New Mexico with Brandi?”

  “Brandi and Hershey and Lacey and three puppies, which I don’t know if they’ve got names for yet,” Geir said. “Talk about a happy ending.”

  Talon shook his head. “We’re getting damn good at this, aren’t we?”

  Badger chuckled. “And trust you to take the credit for something like this,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” Erick asked. “We’ve all done a hell of a job.”

  “Maybe so,” Badger said, “but the bottom line is, these couples worked it out themselves, and that’s what matters.”

  “And the War Dogs get a whole new life,” Cade said.

  “A whole new life but also a family,” Badger said. “That’s the best part. Not only is Hershey back with Rowan but Hershey will have a perfect retirement now.”

  “We’ll get to see them too,” Kat said, as she walked in. “I’m looking forward to meeting Brandi.”

  “Why is that?” Jager asked.

  “She’s into stem cells,” she said. “I want to talk to her about rejuvenating some of the scar tissue at amputation sites.” She gave Badger a sweet yet sexy tilt of her head. “You know there could be an awful lot of benefit to having her around.”

  The men looked at her as Badger wrapped an arm around his wife, kissed her on the temple, and said, “That’s Kat for you. She always wants to make our lives better.”

  “Hey, you can’t argue against that,” she said, turning to wrap her arms around him.

  He reached a hand down and patted her belly. “In case you guys hadn’t heard the news.”

  Immediately the guys jumped up
and gave her hugs.

  “We’re pretty thrilled,” she whispered, “but we’ve still got more War Dogs here that need checking up on.”

  “We do,” Badger said. “Plus the commander contacted me, and he said that we’ve done such a hell of a job that he’s wondering if we can take on a few more cases.”

  The men looked at him in shock.

  “We’re not done with the ones we have yet,” Laszlo said.

  “I know. I do know that,” Badger said. “So we’ve got to finish these jobs and then maybe take another look at what we want to do. He’s got a few more cases for us.”

  “I’m game,” Geir said, “but we have to deal with these last two first.”

  “Agreed. So what have we got?”

  Geir pulled one of the remaining two original War Dogs folders closer to him and flipped it open.

  “And what’s with that one?”

  “Texas,” he said. “He’s at the El Paso border.”

  “And what, the dog has gone to Mexico?”

  “We have no idea. It was there with a family one day, and, the next day, he was gone.”

  “Kidnapped, coyotes, shot, what?”

  “No clue,” he said. “Do we have anybody we can send?”

  “Me.” The voice came from the doorway, and they looked over to see Caleb walk in.

  “You’ve got a connection to Texas?” Badger asked.

  “I do,” he said. “Family down there. Where in Texas?”

  “Not too far away from El Paso,” Geir said.

  “My extended family has a big place down there, lots of land.”

  “Not a whole lot grows there, does it?” Talon asked.

  “No, it takes a lot of land to make a living,” he said. “But, even though they don’t work the land anymore, they aren’t wanting to get rid of it.”

  “Are they down by the border?” Geir asked.

  “Both sides of the border actually,” he said. “What’s the deal with the dog?”

  “Not a whole lot to tell you,” Geir said, reading the file quickly. “It was adopted by a family, and, when the government did the first check, the dog had already disappeared.”

  “Was it a runner?”

  “It never used to be,” Badger said. “You want to go down and find out?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Caleb said. “I do.”

  “You got a hidden reason for going?”

  “Not hiding anything,” he said. “I’m going down for my brother’s wedding.”

  “Oh, good,” Kat said. “I love hearing about weddings.”

  But Caleb’s face darkened. “Not this one,” he said.

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  “Because he’s marrying my ex-wife.”

  This concludes Book 10 of The K9 Files: Rowan.

  Read about Caleb: The K9 Files, Book 11

  The K9 Files: Caleb (Book #11)

  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!

  For Caleb, returning to his hometown for his brother’s wedding should have been cause for a wonderful celebration. However, since his brother is marrying Caleb’s ex-wife, Caleb doesn’t want to go anywhere near the event. Yet Caleb returns, as his best friend, Laysha, is in the same town, and they are overdue a reunion. Plus Caleb’s been asked to look into a War Dog adopted out but now missing.

  Having Caleb back in town, at her house even, Laysha couldn’t be happier, all the while knowing Caleb still had issues with his ex-wife. When Caleb and Laysha take a trip to the last known residence where the War Dog had been and instead find a human corpse, life takes a dark turn.

  Even worse, they are seen at the house and have both become targets … in a game Caleb has to win or will lose everything that’s important in his life.

  Find Book 11 here!

  To find out more visit Dale Mayer’s website.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading Rowan: The K9 Files, Book 10! 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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  ROWAN: THE K9 FILES, BOOK 10

  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: 978-1-773363-11-0

  Kindle Edition

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