Page 26 of K-9 Justice

“Can you makethis thing go any faster?” Ivy held on to the handle above the passenger-side door as they raced into Alpine Valley. She’d tried calling her logistics coordinator, Jocelyn Carville, a dozen times without any answer.

Alpine Valley’s chief of police wasn’t answering either.

Carson floored the accelerator. Dirt gusted across the unpaved road in front of them, blocking out his view of the lights up ahead. Months ago an entire cliffside had buried Alpine Valley after a bitter chief of police attempted to bring downSangre porSangrehimself. Even before that, the cartel had raided secluded towns like this, burning everything in its path.

Now a killer could be loose in Alpine Valley’s streets.

The engine revved higher at his touch, and the SUV bolted forward. “Try the police chief again.”

Ivy allowed herself a moment of unbalance and grabbed for her phone with her uninjured hand. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Her physician had specifically instructed her to rest, but trying to talk her out of helping one of her fellow operatives had been out of the question. She raised the phone to her ear. And waited. “No voicemail. It just keeps ringing. It’s like his phone is turned off. That’s not like Baker. He’s never been out of reach.”

Carson didn’t want to offer theories as to why Alpine Valley’s chief of police suddenly wasn’t available. No good came of catastrophizing. But there was a chance Sebastian or someone within the cartel had gotten to the chief and his Socorro partner first. There was no other reason why a photo of Jocelyn should’ve been in that warehouse office. “This isn’t your fault, Ivy. You didn’t bring this down on them.”

“That’s easy to say when you aren’t the one who is supposed to protect them.” She inhaled audibly. “My operatives—my team—have been there from day one. They believe in the cause just the same as I do, if not more. They’re the ones who are in the field. They’re the ones getting shot and stabbed and abducted. Because I pay them to. They risk their lives and the lives of the people they love because of me, and it’s up to me to make sure they make it out of this alive.”

Carson checked the rearview mirror, targeting Max lying across the back seat. The K-9 locked her gaze on him. “Max has been undercover with me since the day I was recruited by Sebastian. It was a risk bringing her with me, especially as young as she was, but I knew I needed the extra protection. I didn’t have anyone else as long as I was part of the cartel. She’s riskedher life for me more times than I can count. Not because I asked her to. But because she loves me. Those operatives you have working for you, Ivy, they’re not just doing a job because you give them a paycheck in return. They believe in you. They trust you. They would’ve found a job that doesn’t get them shot and stabbed otherwise.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Should you get the chance to meet my team, I don’t recommend you tell them you just compared them to a German shepherd. It might not go over well.”

He couldn’t help but smile at that, at her willingness to add a bit of humor to a terrifying situation. Carson set his hand on her knee and squeezed. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“I’m not sure that’s something you can promise, Carson.” Ivy faced him, the dim glow of the SUV’s control panel washing her in a blue tint. “We don’t even know what we’re walking into.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He didn’t know how to explain his own brand of confidence right there in that moment. “Because we’re walking in there together.”

Carson followed the navigation mounted between them, taking a hard right onto Alpine Valley’s Main Street. Evidence that the cartel had left its mark was everywhere, in half-burned buildings, new construction, and shaded windows this late at night.

“Up on the left.” Ivy was already peeling herself out of her seat by the time he came to a full stop in front of the modest rambler coated in a dark stucco. The house itself stuck out among the ones on either side of it with their traditional Mexican style and coloring, making it an easy target. She unholstered her weapon with her nondominant hand, but not as awkwardly as he’d assumed she would. Which meant she’d practiced shooting with both hands. Always ready for the next threat. “No lightson inside or vehicles on the streets. Do you see any movement around the perimeter?”

Carson shoved the SUV into Park, getting Max’s attention. She perked up in the back seat, then scanned her surroundings out the window. Ready. “No. Nothing.”

Still, something didn’t feel right. It was the same sensation of dread he’d experienced inside the salvage yard. He pulled his backup sidearm and checked the rounds left in the magazine. “We go in together. You go where I go. Understand?”

The last time they’d entered into a house with cartel inside, Ivy had ended up under the killer’s control, and it had taken Carson losing another kidney to get her back. He couldn’t go through that again.

“I understand.” No argument this time. No trying to take control of the situation. She was trusting him to put her operative and the chief of police at the top of his priority list. “They have a German shepherd. Maverick. He’s a bomb detection K-9 and fiercely protective of Jocelyn.”

“In that case, we’ll let Max go first.” Except Carson didn’t want to leave the safety of the vehicle. No. It wasn’t that. He’d gone headfirst into any number of situations with higher stakes. He didn’t want Ivy to leave the safety of the vehicle. But asking her to stay behind would betray their partnership, and he couldn’t turn back on his decision to come home now. Not when he was so close to getting the future he’d always wanted. “On three.”

“Three.” Ivy didn’t wait for the countdown. Every second they hesitated could cost her teammate, and she was the kind of person to take mistakes personally.

So Carson followed. He let Max out of the back seat, approaching the front door low and fast. Ivy moved in time with him despite her injuries. Whether by force or by habit, he wasn’t sure. They reached the front door, but Carson was the one to pull back the heavy metal screen protecting the aged wood. Itwas a recent installation. Considering the nature of the couple’s work, he was willing to bet the Socorro operative had added the extra measure of security. “Does your logistics coordinator have a Socorro security system, too?”

“No. Baker wouldn’t allow it. He doesn’t particularly agree with our values, but I imagine he’s got his own security system in place.” Ivy stood back enough to give him room to swing the screen door wide and test the doorknob.

The dead bolt hadn’t been engaged.

“Is he the kind that dares criminals to break into his home, or was this supposed to be locked?” Carson tried to make out a layout of the home with his limited vision, but the only way to get a read on the place was to step inside.

Ivy raised her weapon, taking the first step over the threshold. She led him straight into the living room with a hallway branching directly to the back of the house and what he assumed was the kitchen. Another branch went right. Most likely to the bedrooms. She scanned the living room gun first and allowed his nerves to take a step down. “Clear.”

He moved in behind her, then pushed ahead down the hallway. Max beat him to it, her tags tinkling together as she advanced. The kitchen was small and looked to be original, from what little he could see of the streetlights coming through the windows. No movement. No one waiting to ambush them. “Clear.”

They turned their attention to the hallway. “I’m thinking nobody is here, or Maverick isn’t a very good guard dog.”

Ivy didn’t answer, seemingly bracing herself as she moved into the hallway. The first bedroom housed an office. It belonged to the chief, from the disarray of paperwork on the surface of the desk. No logistics coordinator would be so careless. The room straight across from it looked to be a guest bedroom. Madeup nice and tidy. Small bathroom with no windows midway through. A heavy metal garage door on the other side. Locked.

Two bedrooms sat at the end of the hall, almost making a T formation. Ivy took the one on the right. Carson the one on the left. He kicked the door inward. But the door stopped short of hitting the wall behind it. He hit the light switch near the door.

---