Ethan (The K9 Files Book 1)

After delivering Mitzi to her very grateful owner—a mother with a newborn demanding most of her attention—Cinn returned to her home. She was behind on her own personal work, and then there was always the inevitable volunteer work. She parked her SUV in the driveway, got out and heard her dogs barking in the backyard. Instead of going to the front door, she walked through the gate around to the side yard, watching the dogs bound toward her. One was a basset hound missing a leg; another was a lab that thought everybody was his best friend. The two dogs got along well together and with the spares she brought home.

She bent over, giving them both a greeting. “Hey, I was only gone for a couple hours, guys. It was all good.”

They kept pace with her as she walked to the back of the house and into the kitchen. There she dumped her purse and walked over to the stove, putting on the teakettle. It was a beautiful September day. She loved fall, and, once the temperatures calmed down a bit, then she would be outside every day, all day. But, for now, she had to provide a living for herself and her furry family.

After making a sandwich, she took it and her cup of tea into her home office and sat down before her computer. She opened her work email and groaned when she saw twenty-one new messages had dropped into her in-box. But this was what she did, and the paycheck was very decent. She didn’t have any right to complain.

Several hours later, the dogs crazily barking had startled her out of her reverie. As the dogs reached the front door, they both fell silent and sat just inside the door, tails wagging. She studied them. Looking through the nearby window at the shadow outside the door, she knew who it was. Hesitatingly, wondering why the hell she was even thinking of doing this, she left the chain on the door and opened it the little bit the chain allowed. “Hello?”

He stared at her, his chin dropping and his eyebrows rising.

She looked at him nonplussed. That she was correct about him being behind her door wasn’t necessarily good. Still, she’d left that note because she wanted to see him. But the note didn’t have her address on it. “How did you know where I live?”

“The clinic.”

She shook her head. “No, they wouldn’t have shared that personal information.”

He pulled out his phone and showed her a page he had been on. It was her license plate with her address.

“Now that makes sense,” she said on a sigh. “Not too many people know how to pull up an address off a license plate.”

“Let’s just say, I know some people,” he said smoothly.

“Levi? Stone? Flynn?”

He nodded.

“But you don’t work for them?” She bit her lower lip, as she tried to figure out what to do about this. “Then why lie to me?”

“Most women would be uncomfortable with this method, so I thought saying the clinic told me would be easier.”

She had given him her name and number in her note, but he hadn’t followed up on that by calling. He’d taken a different route.

“I’m making you uncomfortable,” he said in that low voice. “I’ll leave.” He turned to walk back down the front steps.

Immediately she took off the chain and pulled open the door, still not leaving her house. “Wait.”

On the bottom step he turned and looked at her. “You shouldn’t have opened the door to a stranger.”

She raised both hands. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before too.”

He looked at her steadily. “You can call Stone, if you know him.”

She grabbed her phone and called Levi’s compound. “Hey, Ice. Is Stone there?”

Ice laughed and said, “I think he just came in. Hang on.”

Within minutes Stone’s heavy, deep voice came into her ear, “What’s up, Cinn?”

“Do you know Ethan?”

Stone sucked in breath on the other end, and he answered cautiously, “If you mean the Ethan who picked up the shepherd this morning, yes, I know him. We have friends in common.”

“What friends?” she demanded.

“They’re in the next state over,” he said slowly. “Another group of friends of ours. Ethan’s okay. He’s been through a lot though.”

“But you can vouch for him?”

“I can vouch he’s honorable, and he’s damaged, and that shepherd was very important to him.”

“Well, those three things I could figure out myself,” she said in exasperation. “But thanks.” She hung up the phone, pocketed it, knowing, if anything happened to her, Stone would know who was responsible. She threw the door open wide for him to enter. “Come on in.”

The dogs happily exited the house, greeting him as a long-lost friend.

He stood on the porch for a long moment, petting the animals. “Stone knows me but not well.”

She nodded. “He said as much. He also said you’re honorable but damaged.”

Ethan lifted a pant leg and showed her what appeared to be a prosthetic limb.

She nodded. “That explains the gait.”

“What gait?”

“You went down the stairs stiffly,” she answered, walking toward her kitchen. “I’ll put on coffee. Do you want a cup?”

He leaned against the entranceway to the kitchen, a safe distance away, as if giving her space. “Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”

She silently put on a small pot, then felt awkward as she searched for a topic of conversation. “What’s the state of the shepherd?”

“She’s doing much better.”

“Is she awake from the anesthesia yet?”

He gave her a glimmer of a smile and shook his head. “But she’s resting easier. More at peace.”

She thought about that and nodded. “I guess that’s fair. Sometimes animals don’t rest, even when they are under anesthesia, do they? It’s more of a forced rest. But, if she’s looking better, that’s good.”

He sat at the kitchen table, choosing the chair closest to him.

She said, “Or we can sit outside on the deck.”

He stood again in a smooth motion and waited. Always silent, mostly still. She poured coffee in two cups, leading the way to the large veranda that ran along the back of her house. The dogs raced out into the backyard. A ball sat beside one of the patio chairs. With the coffee cups still in her hand, she kicked the ball across the yard. Both dogs tumbled after it. She placed the coffee cups on the patio table and took a seat. The dogs came back with the ball, eager for more. She grinned to see Burglar had won.

“You have a three-legged basset hound?”

She nodded. “Got him from Anna. His name is Burglar. He was trying to steal something from a butcher shop when the door closed on his leg, one with automatic locks, and it wouldn’t open again. He lost circulation, and the leg had to be removed.” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a smile whisper across his face. “You really like animals, don’t you?”

He nodded. “They’re simple, straightforward, honest, clear-cut. They don’t play sneaky mind games.”

“Unlike humans, you mean?”

Again he nodded. He reached down, and Burglar dropped the ball into his hand. Ethan tossed it high and long into the yard. Both dogs raced after it. “What’s the Lab’s name?”

“Midnight,” she said. “She was another foster dog of Anna’s. She’s way too friendly with everybody, so, the minute she escapes a fenced-in yard, she’s gone looking for the next person who will give her attention.”

“Do you have a securely fenced yard?” he asked, his gaze looking around the property.

“Several of them,” she admitted. “I have a lot of dog runs here. Depending on what animals we’re moving, if I have to get involved personally. I have ten acres here.”

Appreciation lit his gaze. “I really like that idea. I’m not much for town living.”

“Neither am I,” she said. “Stone said something about you having mutual friends in another state.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “That’s true. In New Mexico—Santa Fe. Badger was in one of my units way back. And I served with Stone. But not the same unit. That was a few years ago.”

“That explains the look to you,” she said. “You and Stone both have that hard edge that says life hasn’t been easy.”

“Is life meant to be easy?” he asked with interest.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I sure wouldn’t mind if it was.”

He just smiled and didn’t say anything.

“So, if you’re not from around here, what’s the plan when the shepherd’s able to move?”

“Are you worried about me or worried about the shepherd?”

“Both,” she said shortly. “You both look broken.”

He stared at her steadfastly, his eyes almost dark, like Midnight’s, her Lab. He said in a calm, quiet voice, “I was broken. But I’ve put myself back together again. The shepherd will need help to do that. I hope to provide it for her.”

“Any idea what happened to her?”

He shook his head, then studied her for a long moment, reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out something. He placed it on the small table in front of her.

A smashed metal piece.

She frowned at it, her throat tightening. “Somebody shot her?” She stared at him in horror, and then a realization dawned. “After she got hit by the vehicle, right? To put her out of her misery because she was so badly injured?”

He shook his head. “No. I think she was shot, was on the run, then was hit. She was very emaciated. Then she ran into traffic.”

Inside, Cinn’s stomach churned. “I hope not. I hate when animals get hurt unnecessarily. Animal cruelty will never sit well with me.”

Just then Burglar ran toward her with the ball. She smiled, reached down, scrubbed his long ears and neck, took the ball and threw it again for him.

“Everyone here carries guns,” Ethan said. “Do you know anybody who would have shot the shepherd?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“How about anybody who’s working with drugs?”

She frowned at him, not sure where this was going. “Well, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t know anybody who’s involved in the drug trade, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He nodded but stared out at the world around him, not really seeing it.

“Why do you ask?” she asked.

“Because I think she was a highly trained dog.”

“Highly trained? Like, a police dog? A drug-sniffing dog?”

He nodded. “I think so.”

“How can you tell?”

“She’s tattooed, for one. I already traced it. She was police trained, but that ID isn’t active. So either she didn’t make the grade or was trained for something nonmilitary.”

“They have a database for that?”

“If you know where to look,” he said absentmindedly.

“She’s lucky you found her,” she said. “I hope you keep her and nurse her back to full health.”

“We will,” he murmured.

“We?”

Surprised, he gave himself almost a mental headshake and turned to look at her. “I meant, she and I will.”

“Are you working?” she asked.

“You ask a lot of questions,” he countered.

She sighed. “I asked because of Levi’s crew around the corner. It seems he’s always bringing in new men.”

He shrugged. “I don’t plan on working for Levi. But the opportunity is there, if I want to.”

“It still doesn’t make any sense that a dog would have been around drugs, get shot, hit by a vehicle, and then left to die,” she cried out. “Who does that?”

He slowly turned to look at her, and the smile on his face sent chills down her spine. “I don’t know who does that,” he said in that voice so soft, and yet, so chilling with purpose, “yet.” Then he added, “But they won’t do it a second time.”

“Louise removed the bullet that had ripped through the back of the dog’s shoulder, thankfully, instead of her chest,” Ethan said, “but she was so emaciated.” He shook his head. “As if she’d been kept captive, starving for a long time.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s free then,” Cinn said. “But you can’t just go after whoever did this.”

He looked at her steadily.

She knew that expression and sighed deeply. “If they shot the dog, what are the chances they’ll shoot you, if you stick your nose in their business?”

This time he grinned, showing teeth.

She sat back. “You’re going after them because of what they did to her, aren’t you?”

“If you could, wouldn’t you?” he asked. “Besides, if there is one abused shepherd there, maybe there are more.” He sat up taller. “The reason I came here was to track down a big male shepherd cross, part of the military War Dogs unit.” He explained what happened to the dog. “Making sure he’s okay. It’s quite possible that he is at the same place where the female came from.”

Cinn’s face scrunched up, making her prominent freckles come close together, giving a shadow to her cheekbones.

He didn’t think he’d ever met anybody with as many freckles as she had. It was a cute look, and she seemed to come from the heart.

“Wow. I had no idea anyone cared about those K9 dogs after they were done in the military. But I’m very happy to hear they are looked after. And, yes,” she said. “Many times I wished I had the means to go after some of these assholes who abuse animals. But you can’t be a lone ranger. I don’t know this dog you’re after, but it doesn’t look like you have any backup. I hate to think you’re out there alone without someone to help you if things get ugly.” She frowned. “And, if you’re not part of Levi’s crew, you’re probably not protected by him or the other connections he has.”

Ethan shrugged and settled back, picking up his cup of coffee. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “When you come across something that’s wrong, you have to do what you can to make it right.”

It was a philosophy he’d followed all his life. When he’d worked K9 Units overseas, he and his unit had been a close-knit group. Not just with the animals but with each other. He’d lost track of most of them. It crossed his mind to connect with some, but he didn’t know where they were. It had also crossed his mind that Stone and maybe Levi and his group could find them, but Ethan didn’t really want to spend the money on it nor did he want anybody to know what he was doing. He’d always been a private person, but, since he came out of the hospital, he’d turned hermit. Too much so.

He still couldn’t understand the impulse that had led him here to Cinn’s house. He’d watched her write the note and put it on his truck. Even as interest filled him, he wanted to castigate her for being such a fool to contact strange men. She couldn’t know he was safe. Didn’t she understand how foolish it was, how dangerous the world was? He wanted to stay and protect her from being so foolish again.

“You’ll need help, if you’re going after whoever shot the dog,” she said. “I’m not a very brave person, but I’d do an awful lot to help save the animals.”

He looked at her, not sure where this conversation was going.

“There’s a property about twenty miles from here. It’s a shady, ugly place, maybe twice the size my parcel is. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t a criminal hideout. Every time I’ve gone past, I see the animals there, and I put in another complaint to the city because those animals look like they’re in terrible shape. But, so far, nobody’s done anything. I picked up a puppy about a mile away from there not too long ago. I didn’t ask if it was theirs. The farther away I could get that puppy, the better.”

“Sounds like a place to start.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s too far away. Your shepherd wouldn’t have traveled that far.”

“Dogs can do an awful lot if they are desperate.”

“What purpose would that shepherd have for coming here?”

“What breed was the puppy that you picked up and how long ago?”

She looked at him in confusion. “A shepherd cross but it was six months ago I’d say. The puppy was young, maybe six weeks old at the time,” she said slowly.

He nodded. “And the shepherd I found had had pups.”

Her jaw dropped as he watched. “You’re thinking that puppy was one of hers, and she was coming here after it?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know how the time frame works, but she came here for a reason. Was the puppy staying at Anna and Flynn’s place?”

She slowly nodded. “Yes. Anna took it.”

“And where is it now?”

“I’d have to ask Anna. But one of Levi’s crew might have adopted it. I don’t know for sure.”

He nodded slowly. “It would explain her need to come in this direction.”

From the look on her face, she hadn’t considered that, and it made her sick now. “Animals are just like people in so many ways—well, the good people,” she whispered. “Steal a child from a mother, and watch her turn into a wildcat, trying to get it back again.”

He nodded slowly. “People are people, and animals are animals. Yet some instincts are universal. I can’t say that’s what brought the shepherd here, but I also can’t say that wasn’t what brought her here. She was not full of milk, so she had dried up from whatever pups she’d had, but she has given birth.” He watched as she slumped in her chair and stared out at the fields around her.

“She definitely needs a chance at a better life,” she murmured. “I hope she makes it.”

“She’ll make it,” he said. But he worried too. The shepherd not only had to be strong to get through the surgery, she had to be strong to get through what it would take to get her back on her feet. “She’s already been abused enough,” he said. “I want to make sure that, for the rest of her natural life, she understands what love is too.”

At that, Cinn shot him a sharp look. “There was a lot more human emotion in those words than I expected.”

He settled back and pulled his invisible shield around him again. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said, a cool note entering his voice. “Just that the dog has had a tough life. She deserves a better one.”

Cinn nodded. “But I think you’ve had a tough life too,” she murmured. “And I think you deserve a better one as well.”

He shot her a hard look. “I’m not a dog.”

“No, but there are definitely similarities.”

He gave a harsh laugh because she was right there. There were definite similarities. They were both junkyard dogs.c