K-9 Prime Target (K-9 Avalanche Rescue #3)

Chapter One

“Look at that dog!”

“Aww, she’s so cute!”

SkyCrest Resort Ski Patroller Nina Rose smiled down at her golden retriever, Sky, who grinned back at her. A ski school class of excited eight- and nine-year-olds gathered around them, the children’s faces ruddy from the cold.

“All right, Sky, let’s show the boys and girls what to do when they come to a trail intersection.” At Nina’s signal, the dog turned her head to look to her right.

“That’s correct,” Nina said. “Whenever you come to an intersection, you should look uphill to check that your way is clear.”

She directed her attention to the dog once more. “Now, Sky, show the class what can happen if you don’t check before you ski into the intersection.”

At another hand signal, the dog flopped onto her side in the snow.

The children erupted in giggles. “Can we pet her please, Miss Nina?” a little girl with long brown pigtails pleaded.

“You can pet her, but take turns and be gentle.”

The children surrounded the dog, who popped to her feet, plumed tail wagging as they gave her gentle pats.

“That was clever of you to teach Sky those tricks.” The ski instructor, Tabitha, a compact forty-something with deep smile lines at the corners of bright green eyes, joined Nina. “I can tell the kids to look where they’re going ten times a day, but when Sky teaches them, they actually remember it.”

“Teaching her new tricks keeps her engaged and challenged,” Nina said.

“I guess she doesn’t get that many opportunities to rescue someone from an avalanche,” Tabitha said. “Good thing, too.” She clapped her hands together. “All right, kids. Time to say goodbye to Sky and Nina and put your skis back on.”

The children reluctantly left the dog and hurried to where they had abandoned their skis on the side of the run.

One little girl, dimples on either side of her mouth, detoured to approach Nina.

“I saw you at the Olympics when you won your medal,” she said.

“I mean, I watched it on TV. You were so amazing.”

“It was pretty amazing,” Nina agreed. Those moments of standing on the podium, being presented with a silver medal for giant slalom seemed like a dream now.

“Could I see the medal?” the girl asked. She stared at Nina’s chest, as if she expected the ski patroller to pull it from beneath her shirt.

“I don’t usually wear it,” Nina said. This wasn’t the first time a child—or even someone older—had assumed she must wear the medal all the time, like a necklace.

“Oh.” The dimples disappeared.

“Would you like one of Sky’s trading cards?” Nina asked.

The girl brightened. “Yes!”

Nina handed out cards to all the children. Each card had a picture of Sky, posed on the snow in her red ski patrol harness. The back of the card had information about the two-year-old red golden retriever and SkyCrest Resort’s avalanche dog program.

“All right, everybody,” Tabitha called. “Let’s line up. It’s time to ski.”

Nina, Sky sitting at her side, waved as the children followed Tabitha down the slope in a train of colorful bibs and helmets.

“Come on, Sky,” Nina said. “Let’s get some lunch.”

Sky ran alongside as Nina skied to the base area.

Several people stopped to take photos of the handsome dog, and several turned their cameras to the tall, lithe patroller with the blond ponytail streaming from beneath her helmet.

Nina tensed, but reminded herself that this was part of her job, too, to be a representative of SkyCrest.

At the bottom of Lift Four, she stowed her skis in the rack outside ski patrol headquarters, then unlocked the door and went inside.

Sky trotted to the large water bowl just inside the door and drank noisily, then obediently entered her crate, turned around twice and settled on the foam mattress. “Good girl.” Nina patted the dog, then secured the door of the crate and left again, locking the door behind her.

She set off across the ski village toward a food truck that sold excellent gyros.

She had to detour around a hydraulic lift and looked up to see a workman hanging a banner from one of the light poles that ringed the shopping area.

A breeze straightened the banner as he unfurled it, and she gaped at her own smiling image.

Welcome to SkyCrest, the banner proclaimed. Home of Olympic Silver Medalist Nina Rose.

Nina’s heart beat faster, and it was harder to breathe.

“It’s all right,” she whispered. “You’re safe.

” But she searched the crowd around her, fear rising as she realized how many people filled the shops or gathered around the fire pit.

Some of them had seen the banner and were pointing at it. And at her.

Pain clawed at her chest and her vision fogged. She recognized the onset of a panic attack, but knowing what was happening didn’t help her stop the symptoms. Desperate to escape, she turned and ran.

* * *

Liam Davies stared up at the banner that fluttered overhead, at the familiar face of Nina Rose.

She was just as he remembered her, clear-eyed and radiating a zest for life others found contagious.

And of course, beautiful, with a face and figure that had graced the cover of magazines from Sports Illustrated to Vogue.

A face he had first studied through the lens of his camera, then come to know more intimately.

He shook off the memory, and the dulled pain that accompanied it, and set off across the ski village once more.

SkyCrest Director of Operations Doug Elam had an office on the top floor of a six-story retail and office space on the outskirts of the ski village.

A dark-haired young woman who looked scarcely old enough to drive sat at a desk behind a nameplate that identified her as Kristie.

She greeted Liam with a smile. “Mr. Elam and Ms. Jarvis are waiting for you in Mr. Elam’s office,” she said after he had identified himself. “You can go right in.”

Elam, “Call me Doug,” could have passed for an old school Hollywood leading man, with a square jaw and swept-back dark hair tinged with silver.

The resort marketing director, Marlena Jarvis, sported close-cropped black curls on an angular, elegant face.

“Welcome to SkyCrest,” she said. “We’re looking forward to working with you on this project. ”

Doug leaned across his desk to offer his hand. “I was very impressed with your portfolio, but I admit I’m curious—most of your recent work has been on a much bigger scale. I understand you were recently in Ukraine?”

“Yes, but I’ve done ski related projects before—I was the principal videographer for a documentary about the U.S. Women’s Ski Team four years ago.”

“Yes, that really drew our attention,” Marlena said. “We feel lucky to have someone with your credentials working with us. Please, sit down.”

Liam took the chair she indicated. “Tell me what you’re hoping to accomplish with this marketing campaign,” he said.

As he had hoped, Marlena launched into a spiel about the need to sell SkyCrest as a fun, exciting destination with a passion for excellence and a dedication to the customer experience and a number of other buzzwords he let slide by.

He listened and nodded and made appropriate noises.

He could do this kind of job with one hand tied behind his back.

“Do you have any questions?” Marlena asked at last.

Before he could answer, the door to the office burst open and Nina rushed in.

Liam stared, not sure he could believe what he was seeing.

Her cheeks were flushed and her voice agitated, but she was the same Nina he remembered, athletic and beautiful.

He half rose from his chair, but she didn’t notice him, her attention focused on Marlena and Doug.

“You didn’t tell me my face was going to be on ten-foot banners all over town,” she said.

Kristie hurried in after Nina. “I’m sorry, Mr. Elam. She rushed right past me. But, I mean, she’s Nina Rose!”

Doug stood, smiling a movie-star smile. “Nina, your timing is excellent. I was just about to call and ask you to join us. We’re discussing SkyCrest’s new marketing campaign.”

Liam stood also. “Hello, Nina,” he said.

He had spent far too much time anticipating this meeting over the past four years. He had imagined Nina lashing out in anger, or perhaps bursting into tears. Maybe even throwing her arms around him.

Instead, she stared, her face losing all color.

“Nina, are you all right?” Marlena asked.

Nina shook her head. “Of course,” she whispered. “Just when I thought this day couldn’t get worse.”

Then she turned and walked out of the room.

No one said anything until the door slammed behind her.

“Do you two know each other?” Doug asked.

“We used to,” Liam said. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her.”

He ignored Marlena’s protests and headed after Nina.

* * *

It was true what they said, Nina thought as she waited for the elevator. You really couldn’t die of embarrassment.

Liam Davies. Of all people. The man who had every right to hate her for the way she had treated him. What was he doing here? In Doug’s office?

“Nina.”

The sound of her name, delivered in that deep voice with the slight Irish brogue. Even now, after all this time, that sound sent a hot flutter through her.

She straightened her shoulders and turned to face him. “Hello, Liam. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, actually.” An upward twitch of his lips took the sting from the words and melted the last of her reserve.

She sagged. “Oh, Liam, you don’t want anything to do with me, trust me. I’m a mess.”

“You’re obviously upset about something. The banners around town—with your face, ten feet tall?”

Her face burned. “I wasn’t expecting them,” she said. “It’s too much.”

“You should be used to your face being in the public eye. And aren’t you the resort’s—what do they call it—brand ambassador?”

A harsh laugh escaped her. “What a title.” She hugged her arms across her chest. “Most of the time I think of myself as a ski patroller.”