Cage (The K9 Files #27)

Epilogue

“W e’ll have to go visit them,” Kat announced to Badger, as she finally put down her phone, still stunned at the turn of events for Cage and Risa. Kat beamed with satisfaction, proud of having guessed it, or for prodding this one into being.

Badger chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t believe that the whole lot of them are together, and even the old man is moving down to join them.”

“And yet, why not?” she asked, with a giddy smile. “Being alone is a terrible position to be in.”

He caught her head gently between his hands, kissing her, then whispered, “Which is why I am so grateful that you came into my life.”

She smiled up at him. “You know I’ll never let you forget that, right?”

He burst out laughing. “Yep, I know that, and I think we’ve done pretty darn well together.”

“We have, indeed,” she declared. “Now if only I could find some help and some good news for Trey.”

“Trey?” Badger asked, staring at her in confusion.

“Yeah, Trey, one of your guys… and now my guy.”

He blinked at that and then nodded. “He’s relatively new here, so why all of a sudden is he at the top of your concern list?”

“It’s not that he’s at the top,” she clarified, “but he’s definitely somebody I want to see happier. I feel as if he’s had an awful lot of trauma in his life, so he’s due for some good stuff for a change.”

“Sure,” Badger agreed cautiously, “but we’re also talking about finding lost War Dogs, not starting human relationships. Despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, you aren’t a matchmaker.” When she just smirked at him, he relented. “Okay, so you are a matchmaker, but we’re really supposed to be doing this for dogs.”

She smiled. “If it works out for both, why not? That’s perfectly fine with me.”

“Sure,” he conceded, with an eye roll, “but I don’t know how it’s happened. I recognize that it has, but we can’t expect a love match to happen every time. And, for that matter, I would think you would be all about Timber getting a partner.”

“Oh, I think Timber’s partner is coming,” she said, with a chuckle. “I just don’t think he’ll recognize it when it happens. How is he doing right now?” she asked, looking over at Badger.

“As far as I know, he’s doing just fine. We plan to head out there this weekend and take a look, remember?”

“Yep, I know,” she said, “but I still keep thinking about Trey. I was wondering about him for the next job.”

“I thought we didn’t have any next job,” Badger noted.

“Just a couple,” she said. “I know you keep thinking that we’re done, but they are still trickling in.”

“Right. And how much of that trickling in is due to the fact that you keep finding all the dogs and each of the men involved in finding them? And what of Timber? We should be helping him.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who’s involved to that extent,” she pointed out. “That’s all you and your guys. I don’t know if we have money to send people anywhere, unless I check with you. Besides, we are already helping Timber, and Trey’s still on my mind right now.”

“Where is this next dog?” Badger asked cautiously. “You know we always try to find the money for expenses on these War Dog jobs. Sometimes it’s just easier than others.”

“No doubt about that,” she agreed, “and this one’s in Maine.”

“Maine, huh ? That entails a flight or a drive, maybe of a decent distance. What’s in Maine?”

“It’s more a case of who ’s in Maine.”

“Meaning?”

“This case is one where, chances are,… it’s not good news. That’s why I’m hesitating about sending Trey out there. I don’t want him to feel as if this is a loss, and it could be our first situation where the War Dog is gone for real.”

“Explain, please,” Badger stated in a sharper tone. “I don’t think I’ve heard about this one.”

“Maybe not,” she noted. “So, the K9 dog went to its handler, and they were in Maine. He’s a fisherman and goes out all the time. Anyway, he got caught in a big storm, and there’s been no sign of him.”

“Oh, great ,” Badger muttered. “Don’t tell me the dog was with him.”

“The dog was with him, and, of course, as far as the military is concerned, both were lost at sea because nobody has seen any sign of them.”

“How long has it been?”

“It hasn’t been as long as you might think,” she said, looking down at the paperwork. “Three weeks.”

“Well, that’s long enough. If he’s caught out somewhere, three weeks is a long time to try to survive.”

“Yes, except the K9 handler was also a survival specialist.”

“So, he would have a better chance than most, but—”

“I know,” she replied, “and that’s why I was a little worried about asking Trey.”

Just then somebody poked his head in and greeted them. “Are you talking about me?”

She smiled at him. “Yes, we are. I asked you to come by, didn’t I?” She gave Badger a look and continued. “I do have an open opportunity. You know the K9 dogs we’ve been dealing with?”

Trey nodded. “Yeah, I sure do, and I was wondering if you had one of those jobs that I could do. It’s not that I’m not happy to help out around here, as I have been. It’s just that a War Dog job would make me feel a little more useful.”

“What? Roofing doesn’t make you feel useful?” Badger teased, with a smile.

“Hey, I’m happy to do any grunt work you have, but tracking down one of these dogs would be something that would always warm my heart.”

“And we’ve had great luck up until now, but the thing is, this case isn’t the same as the others.”

When she explained it to him, Trey frowned. “Well, if he’s lost at sea, there’s really nothing I can do.”

“I understand,” Kat said, “and that’s why I was surprised when the War Department asked us, except that both the veteran, who is Silas, and the dog, Schooner, are both survival specialists.”

“Ah.” Trey nodded, his interest evident from his facial expression. “So, am I looking for the dog or am I looking for the handler… or both?”

“In a case like this, your official job is to look for the dog, but obviously, if you found either or both, we would be ecstatic.”

“Right,” Trey noted.

“More so because the veteran was out with his daughter, from his first family. She’s twenty-four and is also missing. He left behind a second family as well,… and his partner is carrying twins.”

“Christ,” Trey muttered. “This seems to be a foregone conclusion and could be a very depressing job.”

“I know it,” she admitted, “which is why I was a bit hesitant to send you.”

He nodded slowly. “But”—he stopped for a moment, then nodded—“still better to know, one way or the other, right?”

“It absolutely is better to have that closure, but, if it’ll drag you down, it may not be worth it to send you. We don’t need you to suffer from any more depression.”

He glared, his jaw tightening at her words.

She nodded. “I get it. That’s not something you want to hear or to talk about, but I don’t want to send you to a job that could trigger you into a downward spiral.”

“I already know what I’m diving in to,” he pointed out, “and obviously I would do my best to find everybody involved.”

“You’re a good fit for it,” Kat declared, with a smile. “You are definitely uniquely qualified.”

He stared at her and smiled. “Don’t suppose you saw my file by any chance, did you?”

She gave him a fat smile. “You would be surprised at the things I can find out if I apply myself.”

“Right. So, I probably have just as much survival training as they do. Plus, I’m a marine, and I was raised in fishing communities not that far from that region. Do I know the guy?”

“I don’t know.” Kat pulled out the file. “You tell me. His name is Silas Ragner, and it’s his daughter—”

“Missy,… oh my God.” He stared at Kat. “It’s Missy, Missy Ragner?”

She looked through the file and then nodded. “Yeah, Missy Ragner. Does that make a difference?”

“Just tell me how I’m getting there, and I’ll be on my way. Missy Ragner was…” He stopped and smiled. “She’s a few years younger than I am, but she was that bright kid on the block, who would go pick flowers and deliver them when you were sick, even though that was the last thing you wanted anybody else to know. She was the girl who just couldn’t stop herself from helping people. She was really one of the brightest lights in town.”

“Did you know her on a personal level?”

“Outside of being in the same town, no, not really,” he said. “I did go to school with her, but she was a few years behind me, but she was always, you know, pretty special.” He shrugged. “It would be a huge loss if the community lost her too.”

“Well, it sounds as if you need to go find out,” Kat noted.

“I would be happy to, and, if I’d known, I would have gone already.”

“Exactly. So, in this case, it’s the dog and two people.”

“What about search and rescue?”

“They gave up,” she shared.

He winced. “That bad, huh ?”

“Rough terrain,” she shared, “and I don’t have all the details, but you can contact search and rescue as soon as you get there, and they’ll have more for you.”

“Of course.” Trey glanced around, as if already looking to grab his to-go bag.

“So, if this is a yes on your part, we’ll arrange a flight and a rental vehicle.”

“A flight would be good,” he said. “I already have a vehicle available to me. My brother lives there, and I haven’t been back in a bit. It’s well past time for a visit, but somehow going there was just one more thing on my list that I didn’t get around to.”

“Now you’ll have a chance to take care of that too. Is there any reason not to?”

“No, not at all, and, as a matter of fact, they’ll be delighted.”

“Good. How about Missy?”

“Missy,” he repeated, clearly looking back in time and picturing her for a moment. “Well, if she’s still alive and out there struggling to survive, she’ll be mad as a hatter. She had good outdoor skills because her dad made sure of it, but that’s a long time to be out there.”

“Well, they are together hopefully, and the weather’s been good,” Kat pointed out. “So, if they’ve managed to get grounded somewhere, you and I both know they have a chance.”

“Yeah.” Trey turned and headed to the door. “Fly me out tonight, will you?”

“It might have to be tomorrow.”

He shook his head. “They don’t have time for it to be tomorrow. Get me out tonight.” And, with that, he was gone.