Ethan (The K9 Files Book 1)

The pain woke Cinn first. She moaned. Feeling her head pound, she rolled over onto her side, curling up into a fetal position, her hands clutching her temples. When she felt something wet and sticky, she pulled her fingers away and slowly opened her eyes. Her lids were heavy, as if she’d been crying nonstop. Her body throbbed, achy, but it was her head and her bloodstained fingers that were her main concern.

Her hands were free but she was lying on the floor in what appeared to be an empty room. A ramshackle room. There was a door but no windows that she could see. The area was small, maybe a ten-by-ten-foot space. There was enough light to see she was into a new day, yet still early.

What the hell?

Not sure what had happened, she propped herself on her right elbow, then cried out at the pounding in her head. She collapsed back down, gasping for breath, shuddering as her shoulder took the force.

Her shoulder throbbed. Slowly memories filled in the blanks in her mind.

Ethan had sent her back to bed. She lay here, frowning as the memories filtered back in. If this had happened to her, what had happened to Ethan? She was pretty damn sure he’d have been a hell of a watchdog. For her to be here now, something calamitous had to have happened to him.

She rolled over gently, trying not to cry out in pain. Between her head and her shoulder, she was mess. Where was she? Was she truly alone? Or were more assholes waiting outside for her?

The door was to her right. Moving gently so as not to further jar any of her injuries, she leaned on the wall beside the door. She reached up with one hand and tried the knob. It was not locked. She frowned, wondering if it could be that easy. Using the door for support she slowly made her way upright.

Once stable, she leaned against the wall for several moments as her breathing calmed. She listened through the crack in the door but heard nothing on the other side. Frowning, she pulled the door open enough that she could stick her head out—finding herself in a shed in the middle of a large property. But she noted other sheds were here too. This made no sense at all.

A larger building stood in front of her. She didn’t recognize the area. She didn’t recognize the buildings. She had absolutely no clue where she was. But she hadn’t come on her own. Those people had to be around somewhere. She had to get out of here, and she had to get out fast. She crept around to the back of her shed and surveyed her options. A fence was ahead of her, but it had rolled barbed wire over the top as a major deterrent. Not to mentioned it could be electric. She’d only find out the hard way.

The fence appeared to go all the way around on all three sides she could see of the property. She moved to the left side of the shed and still couldn’t see another way out. What were the chances this was a compound, and she was caged inside with just the one escape route? Maybe, with her injured arm and head, she could climb up to the barbed wire, but she wouldn’t make her way through the big coils at the top.

Moving as fast as she could, she slipped over to the next shed to get a better view of what was on the other side. She peered around the corner to see a road and a gate. She tapped on the shed behind her, wondering if anybody was there. She didn’t hear anything. She found a slight hole in one of the wooden planks. She lowered to her knees and whispered. With no answer and not seeing anything through the odd knot in the wallboard, she wondered if the other sheds in the area were empty. Then she caught sight of something hanging.

She peered at different angles, trying to look up, but couldn’t see what it was. It appeared to be plants drying. She straightened slowly, studied the area around her, wondering if she was on the drug property that Ethan had worked to bring down. In a twisted way it made sense. And notched her panic up that much higher. She needed to get the hell out of here. But there didn’t appear to be any breaks in the fence or any spot where she could slide under. Then she reconsidered that. Directly behind her, along one of the fence posts, was a little bit of a hollow, with rocks filling the gap.

Could she stay hidden long enough to clear that hollow enough for her to get under? She wasn’t very big. She crept over, crouched down flat and started removing the rocks.

As soon as she thought she had enough room, she flattened and scooted under headfirst. By the time she got her hips through on the other side, she could feel her panic choking her. Finally she’d managed to scrape her way to her feet, and then bolted as fast as she could away from the fence.

Every step made her want to cry out, but the fear of getting caught won over her pain.

There was a rise ahead of her. She climbed it, her heart pounding hard inside her chest. She crested the rise, skidding down the first few feet on the other side. There she came to a stop amid the dust. All she could see was more of the same. Sand, rocks, tumbleweeds even. There was vegetation, but it was wild, unkempt, uncultivated. All around her was miles of raw land.

She stared in awe at the vastness, wondering how the hell she was supposed to know which way to go.

The smart thing to do would be to follow the road. But it was also likely a way to bring her in contact with somebody she didn’t want to see. If she could keep the road in sight, she could follow it from a distance. It had to lead somewhere.

With that thought uppermost in mind, she crept up to the next rise, so she could study the property below. It was large, fenced, secure and very private.

If it was the drug property, it was also the same property Ethan had collected the dogs from. She searched for her phone, but of course she didn’t have it. Neither did she have much in the way of clothing. She was wearing a long T-shirt, of all things. And bare feet.

She stared down at her bleeding feet in bemusement. She hadn’t even considered that. She was out here in the middle of nowhere in the thinnest clothing possible, with nothing to protect her feet, not even socks. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

And she had no way to contact Ethan. He was definitely the one she needed to call. She considered returning to the shed to see if anything would make her walk a little bit easier. Shoes? Water? A cell phone? But she was afraid she’d run out of luck and get caught. She turned to study the miles of rough land around her.

Once the sun rose higher, her feet would burn in the sand too.

Keeping just under the rise, so nobody could see her, she moved in the direction of the road. The rise dipped down, almost flattening up ahead as it came along the road.

Grimly she pressed on. Time was of the essence. Had these men replaced the dogs Ethan had taken? If they had, the dogs would find her in no time.

Moving as fast as she dared, she kept going until she could see the driveway turning away from the property, heading toward town.

About a half hour later she had to sit down, gasping for breath. Not only was her head booming again but the pain of her feet now added to it. With all the jerking and slipping and sliding in the rocks, her shoulder was on fire. Oh, for a sling. Even worse she’d barely covered any ground. The property was still in sight. Thankfully she saw no sign of anyone. She figured, if she did see any strangers, it had to be the men who had kidnapped her. Her head throbbed at that thought. They must have hit me, knocked me out, then taken me here.

Grimly she searched over the rise to see if there was any activity at the property. But she couldn’t even see a vehicle, which surprised her. Had she been dumped here and left alone, not one guard on duty? If so, when were they returning?

She was just coming around to the side where the front gate was. She was tempted to go into the guard house and see if she could call for help. But who would she find there? Was it suicide contemplating doing that?

Making a sudden decision, she crossed over the rise and skidded down the far side, swearing at the pain that rubbed against her feet and opened a million little slices along her soles. She hit the driveway and kept going until she saw what appeared to be a huge building ahead of her. But instead of going in the front, she headed around to the back.

There wasn’t a sound. It was like a ghost town. But then she remembered what the cops had done here, so maybe no one was left.

There was a door. Hesitantly she reached for it. When the knob turned under her hand and the door opened, she stepped inside, loving the cool air. She crept into what appeared to be a large open room with several smaller rooms behind it. There were no lights on, no sounds. The place appeared to be empty.

She did a quick search and found no one. Then she did a closer search, looking for anything she could use. An old water bottle was on the floor. She snatched that up. Now all she needed was water. Continuing to check, she found a pair of socks tossed into a corner, a big hole at the heel of one of them. She didn’t care; her feet would be only half as big as the person who had worn these socks.

She carefully placed them on her feet, almost crying out in relief at the soft padding. She put weight on her feet again. That was an improvement. Now all she needed were boots, water and a phone, but she couldn’t find anything.

Back in the main room again, she checked what appeared to be a desk and found a cell phone. But it was dead. She popped out the battery and left it on the desk for a moment. Had it been left behind in the chaos with the police?

She knew, if she gave the battery a moment before putting it back in again, she might get a few seconds. Maybe enough to get a call through—if there was any cell service out here.

Hey, she’d try anything. She popped the battery back in, her mind working as to who to call. It would be tough to get 9-1-1. They asked so many questions she’d have no time. She hadn’t memorized Ethan’s number. How about her own? She dialed her phone and waited. When the voicemail kicked in, she gave a quick report as to where she was and what had happened. Just as she finished, the phone died.

She stared at it in her hand and then pocketed it. She didn’t know who it belonged to. But, if it had anything to do with this place, maybe the police could do something with it.

She wandered the rest of the huge compound, looking for anything that could help her. She did find a small kitchen and running water in the main building. Thirstily, she drank her fill and then filled her bottle. Even if she could locate a bicycle, that would help. She did find shoes, but they were too big to keep on her feet. Other than that, she was pretty well done here.

With a final look around, she headed to the entranceway to the property. Just then she saw a plume of dust in the distance. She scampered up the side of the rise again and disappeared over the edge. Had she made it before they saw her?

The vehicle sped in and hit the brakes. As it came to a stop, she heard doors opening and then more doors opening.

She winced, picked up her feet and started to run. The socks helped a lot. Her feet were sore, but worse than that was the option of getting caught by these guys. Not again. She had very little choices of places to hide. But she’d seen where the plume of dust had come from and knew the general direction that the road would go.

She headed off cross-country toward the road. She just had to stay out of sight. She knew she didn’t have much time. Five to ten minutes at the most. Then they’d be all over the place, searching for her. When that happened, she would be in deep shit.

Hearing the phone ring, Ethan ran back into Cinn’s bedroom. He’d been searching the top floor, looking for anything. Her phone on the night table continued to ring. Just as he got to it, it stopped. He picked it up, unlocked it and listened as the phone said he had one voicemail. To hear the voicemail, press 11.

He pressed 11 and heard Cinn’s voice. His blood ran cold. When the message was cut off, he wasn’t sure what to think. Had the phone died? Or had she been captured? Or had she been forced to say that to lure him into a trap? Not that it mattered because he was obviously going. He ran downstairs to tell Flynn. His voice terse, he explained the message.

Ethan pulled out his own phone and called Levi. “I’m heading home to get my gear and switch out the dogs,” he called out, running to his truck.

“I’ll track your GPS and follow you,” Flynn called after him, “as soon as the cops arrive to take this asshole off my hands.”

At home, Ethan freed Sentry and Bella from the truck bed, figuring out the best plan for this rescue. They all fast-walked straight through to the backyard, Sentry and Bella at his side. Sally barked inside, wanting to join them. But it was too soon for her. Bart had been outside in the fenced-in backyard all this time and came toward Ethan. He frowned, not sure he could handle all three. Sentry, of course, was the wild card. Maybe Ethan would leave him behind this time.

Grabbing Bart and Bella, securing Sentry inside the fence, Ethan returned to the truck, put both dog into the bed, grabbed his SAR vest and turned around to see Flynn standing right behind him. “How did you get away so fast from the cops and their questioning?”

Flynn smirked. “Told them that you were nearby in state land, and I would grab you real quick for them.” At that, Flynn laughed. “They didn’t leave our bad guy to follow me. … We’ll explain later when we have more time.”

“Humph,” was all Ethan murmured, but his expression said, Good job.

“What are you going to do?” Flynn asked as he followed Ethan to enter his rental property.

“I’m going after her,” Ethan said. “I know the property, where the drug bust was earlier. There’s a way to get in under the electric fence, if we want to try that way in.”

“I thought the police cleaned out that place?”

“They did,” Ethan said tersely. “That doesn’t mean the drug runners didn’t move back in. Obviously she thinks that’s where she is, so I have to go find out.”

“If she got free, she could be anywhere around the countryside,” Flynn said.

“I know. That’s why I have the dogs.”

“You should take Sentry too,” Flynn said.

“Why is that?”

“Because these men have guns. They can take out the dogs. But the more dogs there are, the harder it will be for them to shoot them all.”

Ethan considered that, then nodded. “You have a point. Still two are enough to handle. Although Sentry might be the better tracker in this instance. Let me grab a medical kit, ropes and more water.” He changed his shoes for hiking boots and then grabbed his emergency supplies vest—the one from his truck, the one he’d used on search-and-rescue so often, yet not in the last several years. Then he walked into the kitchen and filled the water bottles from his vest. There was no way to know how badly hurt she was or how dehydrated.

His mind raced through the possibilities of what he would need. He moved with the same care he was known for. He’d done this type of rescue many, many times. What he didn’t have was weapons. He turned to look at Flynn. “I need a weapon.”

Flynn raised an eyebrow. Then he nodded. “I have a piece in the truck.” He disappeared.

Ethan packed up and loaded the rest of the gear he needed in the front of the truck. Sentry understood something was going on, and he was being excluded. He bucked like a crazy man, trying to jump up and over the fence. Ethan came back with a heavy leash and stepped out into the back door.

Sentry ran toward him. But first they had to come to a meeting of minds. Ethan stood there, arms crossed, leash in his hand as Sentry tried to get past him. Sentry growled and howled and kicked up a fuss. He really did not like to be left behind. Then Ethan held out his hand with the leash. “Sit.”

Sentry stared at him, but his butt went down, and his head went up. Ethan clipped on the leash, told him to heel and then walked him through the house, out to the back of the truck. He opened the tailgate and let the dog jump in to join the others, then moved Bart into the backyard. “Not this time, boy.”

Now with two dogs aboard, Ethan went to the front of the truck. He should have a big suburban to carry the dogs or at least a canopy on his truck to keep them safe.

Flynn walked toward them, talking on the phone. He handed Ethan a small handgun, service-issue, and several clips. “I’m coming behind you,” he said. “Levi is on his way as well.”

“Tell him to contact Sergeant Mendelsson,” Ethan said. “He’s the man I was with yesterday morning.”

Flynn nodded. “Will do. Remember. You’re not alone anymore, dude.” And he turned and hopped into his truck.

While Ethan watched, Flynn did a quick turnaround, taking off to the left. Ethan drove up to the highway and took a right. He might not be alone anymore, but he sure as hell didn’t understand exactly what he did have. Things had gone from slow to top speed in no time. And poor Cinn had been caught in the middle.

Just like the dogs had been.

Ethan had taken on a lot all at once. But he realized, as he headed out toward the countryside where she was probably on the run, he was the best person to find her.

Both dogs knew her scent, as Ethan had remembered to grab the jacket that she had been wearing the day before. She’d worn it to the hospital, carefully draped on her shoulders, and, even better, it had some of her blood on it. If the dogs could find her, they would.

Ethan drove to where he had parked last time. He pulled the truck into the hollows behind a rise so it couldn’t be seen, or at least he thought it couldn’t be seen. Considering somebody had tracked him back to Cinn’s place, he wasn’t so sure about that now. He hopped out as his phone rang. “Ethan,” he said, his voice terse.

“Ethan, it’s Levi. We have a team of four men coming in your direction. I need you to stay in contact with them.”

“I’ve just parked. I’m unloading the dogs now.”

“Is that wise?”

“This is what I do,” Ethan said. “The dogs will track her in no time.”

“But will they save her, or will they take her out?” Levi asked, his voice worried.

“Good question,” Ethan said. “I guess this is a good trial. If I have to, I’ll kill them. But it’s not what I want to do.”

“You could also be going up against more of their trainee dogs.”

“That could be both good and bad,” Ethan said. “Don’t forget. These animals were abused.”

“Oh, I remember. That’s why I’m worried. Go get her,” Levi said, his voice calm and steady. “We’ll be right behind you.”