Page 80 of Operation K-9 Brothers
“You gonna rat me out to your sister?”
“Nah, man.I ain’t no snitch.’Sides, she’s so fed up with me that she don’t believe a word I say anymore.”
Her brother had missed his calling.He belonged on stage.
“You repeat what I’m gonna tell you, and I’ll come find you,” Lane said.
Nichole shivered, knowing Lane meant it.She shouldn’t have let Mark walk in that room.
“Read you loud and clear, bro.So, what really did happen?”
“I got in a little trouble with some badass dudes.They were looking for me.My bad luck, they found me right after Daniels left.I can take on two and come out on top, but three?Not a fucking chance.”
“Damn, that’s some bad luck.”
Her brother had done it!He’d gotten the proof they needed that Jack hadn’t done it.She pumped a victory fist in the air.She felt guilty for the little bit of doubt that had crept into her mind over the past few days, but Jack was partly to blame for that.If he’d seen her, talked to her, told her he was innocent, those snippets of doubt would have never popped up.
Now get out of the room, Mark.
As soon as they got home, she called Jack, wanting to tell him about the recording, but got his voice mail again.He could ignore her phone calls, but he couldn’t ignore her if she was at his door first thing in the morning.
I’m on the way over.
Jack read the text message from Nichole, then deleted it.He now had a record, and he was probably going to prison.His attorney had called to tell him that Gregory was awake and talking, claiming that Jack had been the one to beat him up.Had he?He didn’t want to believe he could lose it so badly that he’d put a man in a coma and not remember.Damn that black hole in his memory.
She was on the way to his house, and there wasn’t anyone in the world he wanted to see more—including his SEAL brothers, whom he loved to the depths of his heart—but if he saw her, he’d lose his resolve to do the right thing.He owed her an apology, a big one, but he’d do it in a letter.Or maybe he shouldn’t.It would be better for her to let her hate him.
He loaded Dakota in his truck and left.Nichole needed to realize he wasn’t good enough for her, not anymore.“Cry Me a River,” he heard his buddy Double D sing in his ear.Jack snorted.DD was forever quoting song titles that managed to fit any situation.Even though Noah Alba—Double D because he always carried a pair of dice once belonging to his father in his pocket—was on the other side of the world, he’d somehow managed to ghost himself into Jack’s stateside life.
Damn, he missed his teammates.He missed Nichole even more.
He’d visited a no-kill shelter yesterday afternoon but hadn’t found a suitable dog for the Jacobys yet.Since this was going to be a fast-tracked training, the dog needed to be young but past the rambunctious puppy stage.
He found the perfect candidate at the second shelter of the morning.
The dog was a golden retriever–German shepherd mix with intelligent brown eyes and a calm temperament that the shelter had named Larry.The shelter’s vet estimated his age close to three years old.
After filling out the paperwork and paying the adoption fee, Jack clipped the leash he’d brought to the dog’s collar and walked him outside.He squatted in front of Larry.“Here’s the deal, pal.Your new name is Trucker, and you’re going to have a special job in life.Time is of the essence, and your intelligent eyes tell me you’re a quick learner.That’s important considering...well, I’m not going to get into all that right now.”
Trucker’s gaze stayed on him, his ears perked up.It was a good sign.“Let’s just say that I’ve got a mess on my hands, but that’s got nothing to do with you other than we’re gonna have to work fast.”He stood.“Come on, Trucker, there’s someone you need to meet.”
As he’d guessed, Trucker right away recognized Dakota as alpha and lowered his head in submission.That was going to make things easier since he planned to use Dakota in the dog’s training.After introducing them, he got both dogs loaded into the truck, Dakota in the front passenger seat and Trucker in the back.
The first thing he did when he got home was give Trucker a bath.After drying him off, he let the dog explore the house.While Trucker was investigating the different rooms, Dakota sat at the entrance to the hallway, her ears up, listening.
“We have an important job,” he told her.She glanced at him.“Yeah, we have to get him trained for one of our brothers in need.You up for it, girl?”
If it hadn’t been for his dog, he wasn’t sure what his mental state would be.When he’d first arrived home, she’d helped him stay calm, had been there to get him through his nightmares, had given him a reason to get up in the mornings.He’d taken care of her, and she’d returned the favor tenfold.Now they would pay it forward, giving another brother a tool to help him get better.
Dakota disappeared down the hallway, returning a minute later with Trucker following her.She led him to her bed, and when he curled up on it, she walked to Jack, settling down at his feet.It grew quiet, too quiet.He slapped a hand over his bouncing leg.A run, that was what he needed.
After changing into shorts and running shoes, he headed out, leaving Dakota to keep watch on Trucker.He’d hoped to outrun his thoughts, the future he no longer had, the worry that he was going to prison, and most of all, the ache of missing Nichole.It wasn’t happening, so he ran faster.
