Ashton (The K9 Files #32)

Prologue

Badger heard Kat’s phone chime as she picked it up to see a text that had just come in. She read it and smiled.

Badger looked over at her. They were tucked up in bed and should have been asleep a long time ago, but something was just so special about being together at this hour when they were both still awake. “What’s that smile all about?” he asked.

She held up her phone so he could see.

“Who’s it from?”

“Wilden,” she said, with a smile.

“And he’s thanking you?” He raised one eyebrow.

“Yep, he is.”

“Why?”

She chuckled and shrugged. “Not sure, but I imagine that right now he’s in a place where he’s ecstatic to be. I’ll let him have his moment, then ask when the time is right.”

“Ah.” Badger gave her a smile. “I can see how that might deserve a thank you.”

She chuckled. “It’s nice to know that I’ve still got the magic touch.”

He rolled his eyes. “Nobody quite understands how you manage it,” he muttered, “but you do, and everybody is grateful. However, one of these days, you’ll run out of K9 cases.”

“Maybe,” she acknowledged, “but that day is not today.”

He shifted and looked at her.

She nodded and then planted a kiss on his lips. “Yeah, I’m not stopping anytime soon. I’m about to send Ashton out on another one.”

“Really? I didn’t hear about that.”

“I did mention it, but you were a little bit busy,” she noted, with a wry smile.

“What was I doing?”

“Oh, I don’t know, trying to build more houses for other people who need them more than anything else.

And by the way,” she added, raising a hand to his lips, “this one’s in Missouri.

The dog’s name is Khan, presumably after Genghis Khan, but I don’t know that for sure.

In fact, I don’t know much about this case at all.

Sounds more typical with each file these days. ”

He frowned. “Why Ashton then?”

She laughed. “I’m pretty sure he went to school in Missouri.”

Badger thought about it, and then a smile crossed his lips. “You mean, before he went into the military?”

“Yeah. In case you didn’t know, he’s some financial planner. Then there was this big free-for-all with his family, and he ended up leaving.”

“Do you know anything about what happened with the family? One of these times you’ll get into trouble and not even know which end is up when you send these people out there.”

“His grandmother is an issue, and his grandfather has gone missing. There was quite a bit of turmoil over it, at least according to the news.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it’s been a few days already and nobody has found him. I thought maybe Ashton should head over and see.”

“Don’t tell me. Is a great-granddaughter or someone involved?”

She smiled up against him and wrapped her arms around him. “Maybe.”

“But, if so, they would be related.”

“Not in this case. She’s a cousin to Ashton, by way of adoption.”

He started to chuckle. “And you already have it all figured out.”

“Not quite,” she admitted, “but I have a good start. Now it’s just a matter of leaving it up to them and seeing if it works.”

“You have such a sweet look to you, yet you are deviously conniving.”

“Nah, I just have faith.”

He turned to face her, tilted her chin, and gave her a kiss. “And I have faith in you.”