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  WESTON

  The K9 Files, Book 8

  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

  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

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  About Greyson

  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!

  Weston was at an impasse in his life, after hearing about his unknown daughter, who’d already been adopted by another family. Only the father had since passed away… So … accepting the mission to track down the missing, blind-in-one-eye, limping K9 dog named Shambhala—in Alaska—was exactly where he needed to be to sort out this other issue in his life. Finding the dog turned out to be easier than Weston had expected, but sorting out how and why this dog’s owner’s had been murdered was something else again.

  Now a widower, Danielle knew her daughter also needed a father, so she’d contacted Weston, not sure if he even knew of the baby’s existence. When he said he was on the way, she was concerned at what she’d started and that emotion then turned to terror when Sari’s birth mother showed up at Danielle’s doorstep, looking for her daughter again.

  Things turn ugly when Weston’s K9 investigation impacts his daughter’s life and her new mother. He must do something, or everything he’s finally found will be lost.

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  Prologue

  Weston Thurlow walked into the offices of Titanium Corp and threw himself down into the big office chair on one side of the boardroom table. “I want in.”

  Cade looked at Erick, who sat beside him, then across at Weston. “In what?”

  “Whatever deal that has all these guys disappearing. I want in on it too.”

  Erick looked at Cade with a raised eyebrow. They both looked at Weston again. “Say what?”

  Weston grinned. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I’ve been hearing all kinds of stuff,” he said, “so no holding back on me.”

  “All kinds of stuff?” Cade asked. “Can you be more specific?”

  “Pierce, Blaze, Zane, Parker, Lucas, even Ethan,” he said. “What the heck is going on with them? I heard something about dogs.”

  “Why are you interested in dogs all of a sudden?” Erick asked, settling back, as if finally understanding.

  Just then Badger walked in. “What was that about dogs?” he asked, as he tossed a file in front of Cade. On the top was a picture of Carter, sitting on a railing, a woman’s arms wrapped around him and their faces pressed together, both looking deliriously happy.

  Cade looked at it and grinned. “And another one bites the dust.”

  “Or we could say, Another very successful story,” Erick corrected, nudging him with his shoulder.

  Cade nodded. “Or we could say that. They do look happy together.”

  “Who?” Weston hopped up to take a look. “Yeah, there’s Carter. What the hell has he been up to? And who’s the woman?”

  “Sister of his best friend,” Badger said. “Said he needed to go back and fix a few things, find where his real heart lay.”

  “Oh, all that mushy stuff,” Weston said. “But what kind of jobs are they doing? Do you know how boring it is, day in and day out? All I do is work.”

  “And yet, here you are looking for another job,” Cade remarked with a wry smile. “Ironic, isn’t it?”

  Weston shrugged. “Yeah, well, it’s because I’m bored. Don’t you have something else for me to do?”

  “Do you have any experience with dogs?”

  “Some,” he said. “I worked in a K9 unit for a while.”

  “Only a while?”

  “I got promoted,” he said. “And then I got blown up. You know how that works. When life takes you down a path you didn’t expect to travel.” And, of course, he knew they did know. All too well because they’d all been on the same path into the unknown.

  Badger smiled at him. “What part of the country are you from?”

  “Why?” Weston asked.

  “Because we’ve got dogs all across the country, and we’re trying to fit people who have a reason to go someplace to track dogs down in that area.” He quickly explained about the K9 program.

  Weston’s gaze narrowed with interest. “Wow, sounds like a real mess.”

  “Yep, that’s exactly what it is. But we have seven down and five more to go.”

  “Did they all come to the mainland?” Weston asked.

  “You mean in the US?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking.”

  “Well, one’s in Alaska, one in Hawaii. Does that count?”

  He jumped up. “I’ll take the one in Alaska. It would be Anchorage, right?”

  “Well, that’s where it was flown to. But I think it went out to a homesteading family. When a follow-up check was done, they couldn’t get a hold of anyone. No one was particularly worried. They tried several times, and honestly nothing might be wrong, but, until someone connects with the owner, the file can’t be closed.”

  “Good, that should be easy enough. Likely they have terrible phone reception out on the homestead, if any at all. The phone is probably off, even if they do have reception. So a simple house call should take care of that,” he said. “I’m from Alaska, and I’ve been looking to visit anyway.”

  “Did you leave a long-lost love back there too?”

  He winced. “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?” Badger asked.

  “Well, I left a daughter back there apparently,” he said, his voice going superquiet at the old pain rearing its head. “She was adopted out to a very nice family. Only I know that the adoptive mother lost her husband recently. About a year ago.” Feeling overwhelmed but in too deep to stop now, he continued, “They, uh, they’ve been asking me to stop by for a visit because—well, the mother feels my little girl should get to know her dad, now that her other dad is gone.” Weston paused. “She’s close to eighteen months old now, and I’ve never met her.”

  All the men looked at him in surprise. Dumbfounded, was more like it.

  “I know,” he said, nodding. “I didn’t expect to have a child. But, when a one-night stand ended up telling me a year afterward that she’d had my child and had put it up for adoption, yeah, you could say it wasn’t exactly the highlight of my life. I went from fury to grief in a heartbeat and settled somewhere in between.”

  “Well, we don’t pay for these jobs,” Badger said, “but there are benefits.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Weston said, his face drawn. “It’s time for me to face the
music.”

  “Good,” Badger said. “Because the dog up there—her name is Shambhala—and she could really use a calm retirement home.”

  “Why is that?”

  “She’s blind in one eye, and she’s missing a leg.” And, with that, Badger reached for a stack of folders. Flipping through, he pulled out the one in question and handed it to Weston. “You get a copy of that and not a whole lot else.”

  Weston grinned. “I’ll take it.”

  Chapter 1

  Weston knew he’d asked for this. But, as the plane landed in Anchorage, he felt the misgivings ripple through him. It was fine and dandy to be on the side of right and to do the proper thing, but, in this case, he knew it would come with some pain and some sense of not having done the right thing a long time ago. But then it wasn’t like anybody had given him the chance to be a father. That opportunity had been taken from him right at the beginning.

  If he’d only known about the pregnancy, he could have done things differently, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t had a choice in the matter, and yet he still felt guilty that his daughter was growing up without him. Not that she was very old, but every day was a day she hadn’t had Weston in her life. And that was devastating. Mind-boggling, in a way. It was wrong, but he just didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it. Long-term.

  He hadn’t told the adoptive mother he was coming, and he should have. Daniela Rogers had contacted him a couple times, but he’d held off, not knowing when he’d get there, and then, all of a sudden, it happened, and he was here.

  As he stared up at the runway on this early July morning, he realized just how much he both missed and didn’t miss this place. He’d spent a lot of years here. Good years.

  Weston would have taken his daughter in a heartbeat, if he’d known about her, and, once again he was back to that—if he’d known—but, at the time she’d been born, he’d been getting blown up. Would knowing have changed any of that? The surgeries? The rehab? No. And no.

  It took a good ten minutes for the plane to finally taxi to the gate, and, by the time he made it to the center of the airport, his checked bag had arrived.

  With the big backpack he always traveled with tossed over his shoulders, he still hadn’t made up his mind as to where he was going first. With a big sigh, he walked out of the airport, heading to the nearest taxi.

  A woman stood there, her hands on her hips, studying him.

  Okay. Hard to miss her. He raised an eyebrow—noting she was pretty, very pretty; wore a wedding ring, so off limits; but also seemed mad—and was about to walk past when she called out his name.

  “Weston?”

  He stopped, then turned to look at her and slowly nodded. The adoptive mother. The widow. “Are you Daniela?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you were coming?”

  “I figured I’d do that when I got here,” he said. “Sometimes traveling doesn’t go the way it’s expected. How did you know I was coming in?”

  “I have my ways,” she said.

  At that, his second eyebrow went up. “Interesting,” he said. “That sounds like you’re stalking me.”

  “No,” she said. “I’m not, but, in truth, I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I am too,” he said. “I just don’t know how it’ll work.”

  “You’re here for a job?”

  “For you, my daughter and a job. Yes,” he said.

  “But I suppose it was the job that brought you here,” she said, her tone turning hard.

  His first instinct was to glare at her. His second was to win her over. He sighed. “It’s been a rough few months. And the plan was to come, but I was also healing. And I’ll be honest. This whole thing has sent me for a loop.” At that, her face softened, and he hated that almost more. The last thing he wanted was pity. No place for that in his world. He just felt this need to share with her, to communicate transparently. For Sari. Right?

  But he held back going into more details about his unplanned-for exit from navy life. For most people, when they heard about his injuries and his long recovery, sympathy was the first thing that came to mind. That his injuries had been horrific enough a new-to-him but seasoned doctor winced when he brought him up to speed on his last visit didn’t help. Multiple compound fractures, soft tissue damage all resulting in several metal plates in his body and now missing a rib. But he’d survived. Still he wasn’t completely against Daniela knowing if it softened her attitude toward him because, of course, he should have hopped a plane the minute he had heard about his daughter. But he hadn’t. Yet kicking himself more than he already had wouldn’t help.

  “Well, you’re here now,” she said, and her smile was a little easier than before.

  He studied her for a long moment and then nodded. “That I am. And I apologize,” he said. “I had no idea of her existence.”

  “She’s waiting for us at home,” she said.

  He stopped and looked at her in surprise. “Alone?”

  “No, of course not alone,” she said, shaking her head. “My sister is there.” She motioned toward a double-cab half-ton truck sitting in the lot. “This is mine,” she said, already off at a brisk walk, expecting him to follow. She opened the driver’s door, then hopped in and waited for him to go around and get in.

  He put his backpack on the back seat and hopped in. “I haven’t made any plans yet about where to stay.”

  “I know,” she said. “I gather you’re one of those ‘wing it’ kind of guys.”

  Again, feeling like it was a dig, he bit his tongue. “No,” he said mildly. “Like I said, my travel arrangements happened really fast, and I wasn’t sure where I would end up, nor what exactly I’d be doing up here.”

  “Right,” she said.

  “Will you tell me how you found out I was flying in today?”

  “Your landlady,” she said briefly.

  He stopped, thought about that, then nodded. “Of course Helen would do that.”

  “Was it top secret?” Daniela asked.

  “No, of course not,” he said with a half smile. “You just surprised me.”

  “I used to work for dispatch,” she said quietly. “So it was within the realm of possibility that I could track you down.”

  “Is that how you tracked me originally?” He wondered how he hadn’t known she worked for dispatch.

  “No,” she said. “That was done through the child’s mother.”

  Interesting how everybody avoided using Angel’s name. What a dichotomy that moniker was. “I didn’t realize you were in contact with Angel,” he said.

  “I was briefly,” she said, “but only at the time of the adoption. I filed the information away and didn’t look at it until after Charlie died. Honestly she’s not someone I wanted to stay in contact with. It was hard to find her even then to finalize the paperwork. I had to go through multiple people until everything was taken care of.”

  “You mean, multiple bars?”

  She shot him a hard look. “If it was good enough for you to find her there, it was good enough for me to find her there too.”

  He felt ashamed. “Look. Can we start again?” he said. “I’m Weston Thurlow, and I just arrived in Anchorage. I’m looking forward to meeting Sari and you.”

  “Sari is looking forward to meeting you too,” Daniela said instantly. “And I’m Daniela Rogers. Pleased to meet you finally.”

  He nodded. “Can we agree it was a bad deal from the beginning?”

  “Did you really not know?” she asked curiously.

  “I had no idea,” he said shortly. “I wasn’t very happy when I found out.” When she sucked in her breath, he turned toward her. “But not for the reason you think.” When Daniela didn’t say anything, he forged on. “Look. If I’d known she was pregnant, I would have been there. I don’t know if we’d have been together, but I’d have been there. Or, even later, when she decided to bail, I’d have taken responsibility for that baby in a minute, if I’d known.”

  At that Dan
iela made a startled exclamation and glanced at him. “Seriously?”

  He shot her a hard look. “Absolutely. That’s my flesh and blood, and she was given away without me even knowing she existed. How do you think I felt?”

  She gave him a second shocked look and then returned to driving, but her face twisted with an expression he didn’t know her well enough to understand. “When did you find out?”

  “After the adoption was already done,” he said quietly. “Angel called me up when she was drunk one night and told me what she’d done. She kept all the details to herself, just letting me know enough to twist the knife.”

  Again Daniela’s breath caught in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s a hard way to find out you have a child.”

  “Had a child. And it was a devastatingly hard way to find out. I’ve wanted to wring Angel’s neck for what she did but couldn’t trust myself to be up here.”

  “You apparently feel strongly about it.”

  “If you had lost a child, wouldn’t you?” He knew his words were wrong when her face blanched. A split-second later he realized that a woman who adopted somebody else’s child likely had done so because she couldn’t have any of her own.

  She gave a clipped nod, and, even though her face was pale, she answered in a controlled tone. “I would have been devastated,” she said softly. “I, um, I can’t have any children, which is why I adopted Sari.”

  “Of course,” he said. “I really appreciate that you gave her a home.”

  Daniela looked over at the stranger in her truck. She’d used a lot of persuasion to let his landlady know what their connection was and why she needed to meet him at the airport. So far, he’d rebuffed all her efforts to come meet Sari, but it was for Sari’s sake that she was doing this.

  At least she thought so. Maybe it was for her own. She didn’t want to examine that too closely. But since her husband’s death, Sari hadn’t been the same child. It had been hard on the little girl. There was also guilt involved because Daniela had experienced a certain amount of relief knowing Charlie was gone. And how horrible was that?