Jenner E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Heading to Ashland, Kentucky, where his ex-wife’s family lives, is not in Jenner’s plans anytime soon. But, given a War Dog is potentially in trouble, well, Jenner will even face his past. Arriving at a small bed-and-breakfast, he meets a woman more interesting than anyone he’d met in a long time. His job to find this missing dog seems like a long shot, until he learns about the B&B neighbor’s son and his pack of dogs, who have been scaring Kellie …

Kellie loves her bed-and-breakfast establishment, as much as she loves meeting new people, particularly when she doesn’t have a great relationship with many of the locals, who judged her harshly for a past mistake. Determined to enjoy life regardless, she tries to move on but finds it hard to leave her past behind. And now there’s her neighbor …

Having Jenner around makes Kellie feel more secure and gives her hope that maybe good people still exist in this world. Yet, before they can truly move forward, there is a canine issue, … and a neighbor with something else on his mind …

Leseprobe

JENNER

The K9 Files, Book 16

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

Weston, Book 8

Greyson, Book 9

Rowan, Book 10

Caleb, Book 11

Kurt, Book 12

Tucker, Book 13

Harley, Book 14

Kyron, Book 15

Jenner, Book 16

Rhys, Book 17

Landon, Book 18

Harper, Book 19

Kascius, Book 20

Declan, Book 21

The K9 Files, Books 1–2

The K9 Files, Books 3–4

The K9 Files, Books 5–6

The K9 Files, Books 7–8

The K9 Files, Books 9–10

The K9 Files, Books 11–12

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

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 Rhys

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!

Heading to Ashland, Kentucky, where his ex-wife’s family lives, is not in Jenner’s plans anytime soon. But, given a War Dog is potentially in trouble, well, Jenner will even face his past. Arriving at a small bed-and-breakfast, he meets a woman more interesting than anyone he’d met in a long time. His job to find this missing dog seems like a long shot, until he learns about the B&B neighbor’s son and his pack of dogs, who have been scaring Kellie …

Kellie loves her bed-and-breakfast establishment, as much as she loves meeting new people, particularly when she doesn’t have a great relationship with many of the locals, who judged her harshly for a past mistake. Determined to enjoy life regardless, she tries to move on but finds it hard to leave her past behind. And now there’s her neighbor …

Having Jenner around makes Kellie feel more secure and gives her hope that maybe good people still exist in this world. Yet, before they can truly move forward, there is a canine issue, … and a neighbor with something else on his mind …

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Prologue

Badger read the text and looked over at Kat. “Wow, look at that,” he said, holding up his phone, showing the text message of the heart emoji.

“Ah, looks to me like we have another happy success story. It just blows me away that it’s happening time and time again.” She smiled, looking over at him.

“I know. So who do we have next?”

“You want me to look?” she asked.

“Yeah. Do you know anybody who needs rescuing?”

“I don’t know about rescuing, but I have a case that’s driving me crazy.”

“What do you mean by a case?”

“Somebody who isn’t adapting well to his prosthetics because he’s pushing them too hard,” she admitted.

“What’s he doing?”

“Tons of outdoor hiking, survival-type stuff,” she noted. “He’s all over the board. He brought me back one of the latest titanium prosthetics that was damn near broken.” Badger stared at her in shock. “Well, he’s also big,” she added, “and I guess I hadn’t made quite enough allowances for that.”

“How big?”

“Six feet two,” she replied, “and I suspect, with both legs, he would be somewhere around two-sixty.”

“Right.” Badger nodded. “That’s big. Does he like dogs?”

“I can ask him.”

“Sure, ask away. What does he do for a living?”

“He’s ex-navy,” she stated. “Why?”

“Because I don’t have anybody around here to recruit. We’ve pretty well tapped out all our resources, at least for the moment, though we always have new guys coming and going. But you know what? We do have another missing War Dog.”

“I could ask anyway. He seems to keep himself so busy because he has nothing else to do.”

“Does he know anything about dogs but also horses, cattle, or anything like that?”

“Why?”

“Because it sounds like this War Dog was taken to a ranch in Kentucky,” he explained.

“What happened to it?” she asked, astonished.

“Nobody knows. It just disappeared.”

“Coyotes?”

“Not likely,” he said.

“Is this dog injured?”

“No, it seemed to be healthy, but, according to everybody we’ve talked to, it just vanished.”

“You don’t sound like you believe that.”

“Nope, I sure don’t. Not if the dog was well treated.”

“And, of course, that’s the trick, isn’t it?” she stated. “Not only do you have to find sincerely good people but you also have to find someone the dog bonds with.”

“I’m thinking that, in this case, we have a problem because the wife died, and the dog was basically bonded to her.”

“Of course, and now the dog is dealing with yet another loss.”

“Exactly,” Badger agreed. “I need somebody who’ll give the dog an outdoor life.”

“Well, maybe my client would be a good fit,” she suggested. “I can ask him.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jake,” she said. “No wait.” She stopped and reconsidered that. “Jenner. It’s Jenner.”

“Not a problem,” Badger said. “Give him a call.”

She grabbed her phone and called him. He sounded surprised to hear from her. “Have a question or two,” she stated. “I know you’re really active outdoors, but I just wondered if you ever had any experience with dogs.”

“Of course,” he said. “Why?”

“My husband has been dealing with some of these retired K9 War Dogs. I think I told you about that.”

“Yeah, I heard something about it. So, what’s up?”

“A dog in Kentucky went missing, and we were sitting here brainstorming, trying to find somebody willing to make a trip up there to take a look for the dog.”

“Why Kentucky?” he asked, his voice hard.

“The dog may be at a ranch there.” She hesitated and asked, “Is that triggering something for you?”

“Yeah, … my ex-wife is there.”

“Ah,” Kat replied, “so I gather you’re not the right person for this job.”

“I don’t know,” he stated. “What’s involved?”

“Well, no money for one thing,” she noted. “I can tell you that.”

“I don’t need money,” he said quietly.

“I know. It’s one of the reasons why I thought about you. We just need somebody to go see what happened to the dog. I mean, if it died or something, that’s one thing. Or if it’s been adopted by somebody else and is happy, that’s all good. But if it’s suffering out there somewhere, we need it brought into a better situation. You mentioned your ex-wife. What kind of scenario did you leave behind?”

“She didn’t like military life and chose somebody else instead,” he noted quietly.

“Ouch, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to her since.”

“Maybe it’s time to make peace?”

He hesitated. “Maybe, … not exactly what I was thinking I would be doing.”

“No, but how do you feel about a dog in need?”

“That,” he replied, “I would do in a heartbeat.”

“That makes you the right man for the job then,” she stated. “I’ll pass you over to Badger now. And by the way,” she said, before she handed the phone over, “what is your wife’s name?”

“Laura,” he said. “Why?”

“Huh, that’s a nice name.”

“She’s a nice woman, or at least she was.”

“Are you sure she remarried?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, “but she divorced me pretty damn fast.”

“Maybe she just needed to know that you would come home one day.”

“Well, I did, and she wasn’t expecting it. Or maybe she was afraid I’d come home in pieces, like I did,” he admitted, his voice even harder.

“Pieces that you’ve been working really hard at putting back together,” she added.

“Yeah, but, as you know, nothing is perfect about any of it.”

“Nothing is perfect in life at all,” she reminded him. “It’s all about progress.”

“Well, if I can help a dog, I’m happy to,” he said. “Besides, it’ll stop me from going crazy. I’m kind of growing tired of all the hikes.”

“That doesn’t sound normal for you.”

“No, I know,” he admitted. “I guess maybe I’m just missing something in life.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, her voice soft as she whispered, “You’re missing Laura.”

“Doesn’t matter if I’m missing her or not,” he snapped. “She made a choice, and it didn’t include me.”

“Maybe you need to go see why she made that choice,” she added, her intuition kicking in.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “If nothing else, it’ll be good to call it quits, to look at my past, and to move forward again,” he noted. “For that reason alone, I should probably do this. I’ll do it because I need to,” he added, “but I’ll enjoy it because I get to help an animal. That makes it worthwhile to me.”

And with that, she said, “Good enough, now here is Badger.”

Chapter 1

Jenner Morrison drove down through the horse ranches, long green pastures, and white fences, shaking his head. “Is there any other place quite like Kentucky for horses?” he murmured out loud.

The area was still postcard picturesque. Just as he remembered Ashland.

But then, hey, he hadn’t been here in many, many years. Not since his ex-wife had divorced him, and, at first, he’d thought she had married his best friend. He’d heard soon afterward that it was somebody different. Still, his supposed buddy had confessed to sleeping with Laura, just not marrying her, and so Jenner had also ditched his best friend at the same time.

At the airport, Jenner had picked up the rental truck, wanting space for a large dog crate, if needed. His main concern was finding the War Dog named Sisco. A male that had had several broken ankles apparently, according to his file, all healed, yet he’d lost his speed. Although he still had the perfect training at that point in time, he’d been adopted out. Which was good for him because he got to live the rest of his life in retirement. But what happened to him after that was a whole different story. And this all happened to Sisco a town over from where his ex-wife now lived.

As Jenner drove along more huge green pastures and white fences, he just smiled. Something was so very familiar about all this. He’d been raised on a horse farm, had many happy years here, until the family had sold it after his mother’s death. She’d been the horse-crazy one, and his father had always hated the farm part. She had died from a head injury, caused by a fall while out riding. Still, Jenner certainly didn’t blame the horse.

As it was, they’d moved to the opposite side of the country, California, and that’s where he’d signed up for the navy and had met Laura soon afterward. Only she’d been from this area, and, as they’d spent a lot of time back-and-forth with her family and with his, this still always remained one of Jenner’s favorite locations. It kind of blew him away that he was even back here again. After what? Seven years? Nine?

He drove up to the bed-and-breakfast that he’d booked for this odd trip down memory lane. “Focus on the dog, not the memories,” he muttered to himself. He pulled up in front and parked.

Horse Happy was the name of the place. He shook his head.

“Horse Nuts would be a better name. After all, that’s what everyone around here is,” he muttered. He hopped out of the truck, grabbed his duffel bag, and walked in the front entrance. It was a long two-story structure with four dormers and a big wraparound veranda. The yellow-and-white trim added to the bright yet cozy come stay with us vibe. He liked it. Big double doors opened to a huge reception area, with a small desk beside the stairs, that was aimed upward.

A woman looked up and smiled at him. “Hey, I’m Kellie Spalding. Welcome to my home.” She asked him, “Do you have a reservation?” He nodded and gave her his name. “Okay, I do have you down here.” She frowned, as she looked at the booking, and he waited for the inevitable questions. “I don’t have down the number of nights that you’re staying.” She looked up at him. “Will this be just an overnight stay?”

He shrugged. “No, it’ll be at least two. Possibly a week. If you have room.”

“That’s fine. I’ll give you the front room, on the second floor.” She handed him a key, pointed at the stairs, and added, “Dinner is included, as is the continental breakfast. Unless you have other plans, I’ll see you for dinner at five o’clock.” She glanced at her watch and frowned. “Which means I need to get to the kitchen pretty soon,” she said, with a bright laugh.

She held out the credit card machine. He paid for the first night. “I’m pretty easy to feed.” Careful of his limp, he moved slowly toward the stairs and up. His leg was especially sore after the drive. He felt her curious gaze following him, but, when he got to the room in question, he used the key and stepped inside. A large double bed, a big double window, and a window seat. Plus a lovely rug at the foot of the bed. That was all good.

He dropped his duffel bag on the bed, walked over to the big double window, and sent Badger a text message. I’m here. And, with that, he pulled out his laptop, looked around, and noted a small recliner chair but no side table.

With another assessing look, he emptied one of night tables and moved it over, so he could put the laptop on it while he sat. Hardly the best scenario, but it would work in the short term. Then he sat down and brought up a map of Sisco’s past locations.

The area wasn’t very far from here, within walking distance. With that knowledge, he grabbed his phone and headed back downstairs. When he got to the bottom, he felt his prosthetic ankle kicking slightly offside. He swore at that.

Kellie, still at the front desk, looked at him anxiously. “Problems?”

He faced her, frowning. “Unless you have an Allen wrench, it could be.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Absolutely no problem. I do have one?”

“Yeah, if you’ve got one,” he replied. She disappeared into another room, and he followed her slowly. When he saw a half-open door to a den, with a couple tables and easy chairs, he asked, “Is this room for the guests?”

“Yes, absolutely,” she said, “plus the large dining room down here, and then we have the kitchen around the corner. Do you need a space?”

“I’m looking for a place to work on my laptop.”

“Oh, easily done. Pick a spot. Anywhere you’re comfortable.”

“Not an issue now, but good to know. I planned to go for a walk around the area right now, until dinner is ready. That’s when you heard me cursing my ankle.”

She stopped and stared at him and slowly handed him the Allen wrench. He looked down at it, walked over to a chair, and sat. He lifted his ankle across his other knee and pulled up his pant leg.

“Oh my,” she said immediately.

He was so accustomed to this prosthetic. It was an older model that he’d decided to travel with, while Kat worked on adaptations to his newer ones. “Yeah, sometimes the mechanics don’t work so well. It is an older model.”

He quickly shifted where the metal had been grating on the moving parts and, using the Allen wrench, adjusted the joints. He hopped to his feet and moved around a bit, bending and extending his leg. He walked back to the stairs, walked up a few, turned around, and walked back down again. And then he returned the wrench to her. “Thanks.”

She took it willingly and added, “That looks like quite an injury you must have had.”

“Just one of multiple at the same time,” he replied agreeably. “I was in the navy. We were doing war games on a small Zodiac, when we took on a little more than we expected in terms of damage,” he explained. “But I’m here, and I’m alive and well. That’s all that matters,”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she noted, concern on her face.

“Are there any local general stores or something nearby that’s walkable?”

She shook her head at that. “No, we’re far out from the closest town for walking purposes. Not sure what you’re looking for in particular, and I don’t know how far you’re planning on going. Do you need me to push back dinner for you?”

“No, of course not. It’s not that big a deal,” he stated. “I was just wondering about a property close by here.”

Her eyebrows rose slowly. “Are you looking at buying?”

“No, I’m looking for a War Dog last seen in the area.” At that, her face creased, in a way that amazed him. She would never be any good at poker because her every expression showed. So far, he’d seen shock, curiosity, relief, and now more curiosity.

“War Dog?” she asked cautiously.

“Yeah, a dog adopted by one of the locals,” he noted. “It was a special dog from one of the overseas K9 units.”

“Oh.” She still frowned, now shook her head at that. “I’m not even sure which neighbor would have done that,” she murmured. When he gave her the name Stippletone, she added, “Well, they’re here, just a little bit down the road, but I don’t remember them having any kind of fancy dog.”

“I don’t think it would look like a fancy dog at all,” he replied. “At least not at this point in time. He looks like a normal dark-coated shepherd.”

She nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. The Stippletones always seemed to have a number of dogs around.”

“So you don’t know anything about this one, I guess?”

“No, I don’t.” She frowned. “I’m not sure that’s the family you want though.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, stopping as he reached the front door.

“The main family or the original family were really good people,” she stated, then hesitated. “I guess that’s really not something I should be talking about.”

“Please,” he urged her. “I’m here on a welfare check to make sure the animal is okay.”

Her lips formed a tiny rose bud. And then she shrugged. “I guess you’ll probably hear it from the locals anyway, but the older couple was killed in a car accident.”

He stared at her. “Both of them? Seriously?”

She nodded.

“Was that maybe two months ago?”

“About that, yeah,” she agreed, “and they were really good people. They’ll bend over backward to help anybody. Couple of times I’ve run into a bit of trouble, and they immediately helped. Now, they have a son, but I don’t know much about him.”

“Is there anybody else left in the family?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know of any other siblings.”

“So he may have the dog himself.”

“He might,” she replied, with a nod. “The family did like dogs—not unruly ones—but there are quite a few dogs there now with the son. I don’t …” She hesitated and crossed her arms on her chest.

He watched her body language with interest. “Obviously something about this bothers you.”

“It’s the dogs that bother me,” she admitted. “Believe you me. I’m an animal lover but a lot of these? I just get the feeling that … well, let me just say, I went for a walk one evening, and I got surrounded by them, and I was definitely scared. They were out of control, and I don’t know what they would have done if the son hadn’t been there to call them back.”

At that, Jenner frowned. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“No, and when I saw him later, he told me that I had just let my fears get ahold of me.”

“But you should never be afraid of dogs like that. When surrounded, however, it’s hard not to be. A pup can be dangerous. Now the War Dog is not the same. It’s been well trained. If he’s been well treated, he wouldn’t attack in a situation like that, particularly a War Dog that has extensive military training.”

“Well, the old owners, the couple? They raised shepherds for decades,” she shared. “I know that they were really very, very capable. I’m just not so sure about the son.”

“They wouldn’t have had the War Dog for very long,” he noted. “I think it was only adopted about six months ago. And then, when the welfare check came through, nobody knew anything about its whereabouts.”

“I don’t know about that either,” she stated. “The son seems to buy and sell animals, so he may very well have sold the War Dog.”

“That’s not allowed in the contract.”

“But the contract would likely had been with his parents, who are now deceased,” she pointed out.

Jenner nodded thoughtfully. “That could be why the welfare check didn’t go through and why the dog was flagged for a house call.”

“I’m really glad to hear that the government is checking up on these animals,” she stated warmly, “because they’ve done so much for our country. So you really want to confirm that they’re being well looked after.”

He nodded. “And I never was somebody who could leave an animal in need.” He looked over at her again, considering what she had said and what she wasn’t saying. “Did you have any trouble with the son?”

Again her arms clenched, as they wrapped around her chest. Then she shrugged. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“You’re not causing any trouble,” he stated firmly. “Perhaps you should just tell me what it is that makes you uneasy, besides the dogs, obviously.”

She nodded. “The dogs are definitely a part of it, but I guess, when it comes to him, there’s just something I don’t like.”

“In what way?” She just shook her head. “Please,” he urged her, “I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

“I don’t like the way he looks at me.”

At that, he took a step back. “Do you feel like you’re in danger?”

“I don’t feel safe. There’s just something …” She stopped, tilted her head, and added, “I don’t know, smeary.”

“Smeary?” he asked. “Not sure I know that word.”

“Just … slimy may be a better word. I don’t know. Something makes me want to take several steps back from him anytime I’m alone with him. He really crowds me too.”

“Meaning, he likes to step into your personal space?” Jenner asked, as he took several steps toward her.

She immediately backed up, nodding. “Yes, that and he comes here, even though I’m closed. He rang the doorbell a couple times, when he’s been really drunk. And it made me feel really uncomfortable.”

“And so you would be.” He looked around. “Do you have much for security?”

She shook her head. “Not a whole system. I do have a camera on the front door. I mean, we never have any problems in this area,” she explained. “It’s just been recently.”

“Do you have other guests staying here?”

“No, not right now,” she confirmed. “I do have two couples coming in on the weekend.”

“Okay.” Jenner nodded. “So it’s just you and me for the next few days.”

She nodded, as if uncertain about the way he had said that.

Kellie Spalding looked at her new guest, even as he studied her. She had been more than surprised to see his prosthetic leg because she had seen no indication, except for a slight limp. And now just the talk about a War Dog reminded her what she’d gone through last time, the gripping fear, as she had been surrounded by those dogs. She rubbed her arms. “Look. I don’t want to cause any trouble, but he’s the kind of guy I choose to avoid, if I can.”

“Got it.” As he opened the front door, he asked, “Any idea how many dogs he has?”

“Last I saw, three, four, maybe five even,” she replied.

“And that’s how many surrounded you?”

She nodded. “Yes, well, four seemed to be more aggressive, while one kinda hung back,” she said, with a headshake. “I don’t remember any of them being a shepherd.”

“What about his parents’ dogs?”

“They were down to just the one at the end. I remember her saying something about a charity dog.”

“That could have been Sisco, the military dog,” he noted thoughtfully.

“And they were the kind of people who would have definitely taken it in and would have even applied for that honor. He was military himself, and I know he always wanted to be of service in some way or another.”

“That makes sense then,” Jenner noted. “We don’t always know what happens when a War Dog is adopted. However, legally it would have been adopted by the parents, not necessarily the son.”

“Right,” she murmured. “The son isn’t the most agreeable person.”

“I don’t really care how agreeable he is, as long as the War Dog’s in good shape and is happy there.”

She nodded. “Well, I’ll let you get walking. You plan on being back in time for dinner?”

“I’ll be back in time,” he said. “I’ll just go down to your neighbors’ place and see what I can see.”

Chapter 2

Kellie watched as Jenner headed out the door. The limp was less pronounced now, or so she hoped. It would mean she’d helped in a small way. He was no longer in her sight, but she remained on the porch, just taking in the scenery. She loved it here. As she watched, another vehicle drove up. She smiled when the car door opened, and a fully pregnant Laura wiggled out. “Hey,” she greeted her friend, as she walked down her front steps, closer to Laura. “How’s life?”

“It’s fine,” Laura snapped, with an irritable shrug. “Just too much going on these days.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kellie replied. Laura often had a less-than-positive outlook on life. Even though she had so much going for her.

“I am too.” Laura let out a slow breath.

“You want to come inside and sit down?”

Laura shook her head. “Hey, sorry. I’m not trying to be a bitch, just had a really crappy day.”

“I’m sorry for that too,” Kellie noted. “You aren’t usually this irritated.”

“No, I’m not,” she agreed. “Got this phone message from my ex-husband, wanting to meet. I was trying to avoid that for a very long time, but apparently I don’t get to avoid it anymore.” She shook her head. “Although, if I’m lucky, maybe he’ll leave town without contacting me.”

“Is it a problem?”