Rival Forces (K-9 Rescue #4)
D. D. Ayres
To my brother Michael and his wife Marlene.
Love ya, M&M!
PROLOGUE
December 30, FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
“What do you mean he’s gone? Gone where?”
“We are unable to provide that information at present.” The deputy U.S. marshal in the Phoenix office sounded miserable. “When Dr. Gunnar didn’t make his check-in call this morning, we came to the house.”
“Any signs of a struggle?”
“No. The apartment is neat and locked up. He didn’t pack but his wallet is missing.”
FBI task force supervisor Jamal Jackson ran a hand over his sleek dome. Three months in witness protection, and suddenly their key witness was in the wind. This was not good. “Sounds like something spooked him.”
“Yes, sir. That’s our judgment.”
“Find him. Now.”
Jackson glanced at his calendar. Missing witness. Hell of a way to start the New Year weekend.
CHAPTER ONE
December 30, South-Central Idaho
The high-pitched shriek warned Kye McGarren of an incident taking place on ski slope three. He shifted the view in his field glasses in time to see a female skier plow into a snowbank that formed one edge of the slope and tumble headfirst onto the other side.
“Your turn.”
Kye lowered his glasses to find his ski patrol partner for the week, Joe Saunders, grinning at him from their perch at the top of the slope. “I’m cutting you slack, old man. She looks hot. But I’ve already got a date for tomorrow night’s New Year’s Eve party.”
Kye grunted. At thirty-six, he was hardly old. Moreover, it was against company policy for staff to socialize with guests. Not that he would bring that up here. Technically, Joe had seniority. What Joe and the SAR squad members didn’t know was that they worked for Kye.
“Call it in. I’ll sit second until the EMS guys get there.” Kye adjusted his goggles and then picked up Lily, his SAR K-9, and slung her across his shoulders.
Lily, a forty-pound Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, often called a toller, confidently straddled Kye’s shoulders. Ski patrol dogs often piggybacked with their handlers to their target.
Kye grabbed his poles off the edge of his snowmobile and pushed off down the hill in a silky swoosh.
Lily barked, a bright eager sound that from a distance sounded a bit like a coyote. Often mistaken for small golden retrievers, tollers had bright-red fur but possessed higher energy and intelligence. With a white blaze down her chest, a rosy-pink nose, and a narrow wedge-shaped head like a fox’s, Lily looked dainty. But she was as tough as a wolf, with the balance and agility of a mountain goat. No terrain was too tough or too steep. She also had a nose that could pinpoint human scents buried beneath several feet of dirt, mud, water, or snow with equal ease.
He came up on the group of skiers who had paused at the edge of the slope where the female skier had gone off into the rough a little faster than necessary. They were laughing and taking pictures with their cell phones.
“Move back. Now.” Kye’s commands instantly parted the gawkers.
He lowered Lily to the ground and rubbed her fur briskly with both hands to energize and warm her. “Ready, Lily. Search! Search!”
With her flag of a tail held high, Lily barked twice as she plunged over the berm. SAR dogs worked off the leash in snow. It allowed them to cover search territory much faster than a slower-moving human could. In an avalanche situation, seconds counted.
Even as Kye dug his poles in the ground and kicked off his skis, Lily was barking in a key that meant she had found something.
The skier, in a bright-pink parka, was about ten feet beyond the edge of the slope, skis and poles scattered in the snow. She was kneeling in unpacked powder, and digging. If the volume of her curses was any indication, she was okay.
Kye waded through the calf-deep powder to the skier. “Are you injured? In pain? Any other problems?”
“Your shitty ski slope’s the problem. I almost died.” She didn’t spare him a glance as she continued to paw the snow. “I’ve lost my Dolce and Gabbana goggles!”
Kye rested a gloved hand lightly on her shoulder. “Are you certain you’re okay?”
She quick-rolled her shoulder to shrug off his touch without glancing up. “I’m suing. I swear, if I don’t find my stuff, I’m suing.”
Kye sighed as he glanced at Lily. “Search. Article.”
With the skier’s scent in her nostrils to guide her, Lily happily complied. On this gig, it wasn’t unusual for her to be asked to find glasses, cell phones, and other gear. A few quick circles and Lily found the spot where something with the skier’s scent lay buried. Digging quickly, she produced the goggles.
Kye took a waterproof chew toy from his pocket and tossed it to Lily as reward. “Good girl!” He dusted the snow off the goggles before handing them to the skier.