Landon, after a tough couple of years helping his navy buddy live out his last years, needed a break. Tracking a war dog named Chica to make sure it was okay sounded perfect. Especially being able to take his three chihuahuas with him. But finding a dog that had been part of a large shipment heading to a rescue across the Canadian border but had gone missing on the last stop before the border – well that was going to be a challenge. Particularly one that had a lame leg and half a paw.

Sabrina had spent years volunteering at a local vet clinic, because all animals had a soft spot in her heart. Finding out Landon is trying to track down a missing War Dog, well how could she not volunteer to help him? Still when her world flips upside down, she’s more than happy to have Landon close by.

Now if only they could find the dog and figure out who was responsible for endangering her life…

The war dog Chica had a good retirement until, her caretaker died. She along with many other dogs was shipped to Canada. Unfortunately, she never made it across the border.

Badger and his wife Kat have been helping the government find missing war dogs and this is the next one they need to find, hopefully quickly. They contact one of Kat’s patients only to find he’s unavailable for a while. However, his brother might be able to help them out.

Landon had been caretaker for his friend Joe and now that he is gone, he could use a bit of a distraction. He still has the three chihuahuas that brought Joe so much joy in his last days. Landon cared for them since their birth bottle feeding them around the clock, they are family to him.

When his brother calls to ask if he wants to help find the war dog he immediately says yes and calls Kat and Badger. is more than willing to help find Chica, now he just has to figure out where to start. It takes a while, but he manages to find the phone number of the man’s mother. She informs him of the accident and the hospital where he is a patient, requesting only that he let her know how her son Charlie is really doing. The hospital is close to the border crossing where Chica went missing so visiting in person is Landon’s choice.

Sabrina volunteers at the Veterinary clinic where her best friend Angela works. Angela’s partner is a veterinarian who hopes to join the practice, but so far, they haven’t come to terms with Angela’s boss. As a result, they are extremely busy, and Sabrina frequently picks up a meal and helps out with the animals after her regular shifts as a nurse at the local hospital. She’s picking up lunch for Angela and her boss Dave when she meets Landon. He’s debating which sandwich to buy.

They run into each other again in the hospital parking lot and the third time is inside the hospital when he gets lost while talking on the phone first with Charlie’s boss, and then with Badger.

This is a favorite scene.

Stepping into a waiting room, Landon made a quick call to Charlie’s boss, who confirmed what the injured man had told Landon. She didn’t have any more information on the location of the dog but did add that it had been a last-minute solution to put Chica on the truck going up to Canada. She also confirmed that the cross-country transport was a common practice and that they did it several times a year. He shook his head at that because it just seemed crazy that Americans weren’t looking after their own, but apparently the Canadians had been doing this for years, and it was a system that worked very well.

She was really anxious that nothing mess it up because they had hundreds more already looking toward the next load.

And, with that, Landon contacted Badger to give him an update as to how far he had gotten, as he slowly wandered down the hallway toward his truck. By the time he put away his phone, he realized he must have taken a wrong turn, and he was in a completely different part of the hospital. He frowned, did a full turn, and just as he went to walk up to a counter to ask for directions, a woman stepped up and then chuckled. “Okay, now three times can’t be a coincidence.”

He looked back to see the woman from the sandwich shop. He smiled at her. “I was talking on the phone with my boss, and I completely lost track of where I was, and now … I’m lost.”

“That’s easy to do in this hospital,” she declared, with an eye roll. “You’re not the first person.”

“So how do I get back to the parking lot?” he asked, raising his hands. “It seems foolish to admit I got lost inside the building.”

She grinned and took him to a window at the end of the hallway, then pointed out where the parking lot was.

Landon frowned. “I know I was talking and walking for a while, but, jeez, I didn’t think I’d managed to travel that far.”

“A hallway connects the two buildings,” she explained, “so if you ended up there, you wouldn’t even have realized that you left one building for another, but you would have already been heading in this direction.”

“Okay, but this doesn’t bode well for my trip though.”

“What trip?” she asked. “Did you get to see the guy you hoped to see?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I came here because Charlie was taking a load of dogs up to Canada, and one of them, a War Dog, somehow got lost.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Lost?” she asked cautiously.

He winced and nodded. “Yeah, lost. Apparently anyway.” Then he explained the little bit that he knew about the situation.

“Oh my, I hope you find the poor thing.”

“That’s my intention.” He smiled. “I just don’t know what all will be involved in getting there.”

She nodded. Pointing down the hallway, she began to escort him to his truck. “I volunteer at a vet clinic here in town,” she added. “That’s who I was getting all the sandwiches for this morning. Animals get dropped off there all the time.”

“How can somebody do that?” he asked, staring at her. “I have three dogs of my own out in the truck right now.”

“Three?” she repeated, her eyebrows shooting up again.

He nodded. “Chihuahuas.” She gave him a tiny smirk. “Don’t say it,” he warned her in good humor, even as he narrowed his gaze at her.

“Say what?” she teased, obviously trying hard to keep a straight face.

“That I don’t look like a guy who would have Chihuahuas.”

She nodded. “You said it, not me.” She gave him a huge smile. “But, hey, at least you’ve got dogs.”

“Always had dogs,” he confirmed. “Love them. Absolutely love them.”

“So do I. I have two at home myself, and I’m absolutely thrilled that you’re searching for this poor dog,” she stated. “Since I work for free at the vet clinic, I can’t volunteer any of their services, but I know that we’re always more than happy to help out, if you end up in a spot of trouble and the dog needs somebody to look after it.”

He shrugged. “I hope not. I don’t know what the score will be. Chica’s been lost a couple months now, so not sure what she’s already been through since then. Plus, she had her own war wounds to heal from. So I’m really hoping somebody has been good to her in the interim.”

She nodded. “If you do find Chica, let me know.”

“How will I do that?” he asked, looking at her. “You haven’t given me your number.”

“In the interest of helping out an animal, I can do that. This is for the vet clinic.”

“What about afterhours?” She nodded. “Fine, here’s my cell. Don’t abuse it.”

He grinned at her. “Never. Unless it’s a case of a dog that needs help.”

At that, her smile fell away. “If that’s the case, you call me. Where was she lost? How far away is it from here?”

He shrugged. “Not too far. I just got a location at the Canadian border where it was last seen.”

She frowned at that. “You know what? I feel like I heard rumors about a wounded dog being picked up somewhere near here.”

He stared at her. “I don’t suppose you have a way to chase down those rumors?”

She shook her head slowly. “No, but now it’ll really bug me until I figure it out.”

“If you do”— he pulled out his phone again and quickly sent her a text—“ that’s my number. I’m Landon. Let me know if you hear anything.”

“Sure. And I’m Sabrina. What’ll happen to the dog if you do find her?”

“First off,” Landon noted, “we need to make sure that she’s okay and gets whatever medical treatment she needs. It’s missing half a paw already, so it’s very distinctive. Plus, she’s also had multiple breaks in her back leg, so she limps.”

“Right, and there’s a fine distinction with that too.”

“She’s also a highly trained War Dog. She’s used to being in difficult situations and still going strong, so she won’t necessarily look like she’s injured or down to that extent.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Kind of like you, huh?”

He winced at that. “Is that really how I come across?” he asked in mock horror. “Like I’m a lame dog, one step away from being put down?”

She frowned, then burst out laughing. “Uh, no, that’s the last thing I would say about you.” Still snickering, she explained, “You’re more like a junkyard dog than a retired War Dog, and you look like you’ve seen better times in your life.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m still dealing with losing that friend of mine.”

At that, her smile sobered. “I’m sorry. I deal with loss at my work all the time, and it’s never easy, even when you haven’t gotten to know them very well yet.”

“Nope, not easy,” he confirmed, “and, just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, something comes out of the blue and throws you for a loop.”

“Agreed,” she replied, “but you’re doing really well.”

He smiled at her. “How would you know that?” he asked in a teasing manner.

“Hey, I can see that you’re doing well,” she stated. “I have really good instincts.”

“I hope so,” he said. They had reached the front door, where Landon had entered. “And, if you do hear anything about the dog, let me know.”

“Will do.” And she stood at the entrance and watched as the most interesting man she’d met in a very long time got into his vehicle and drove off.
Dale Mayer. Landon (Kindle Locations 548-610). Valley Publishing Ltd..

A couple of things happen as Sabrina helps out by contacting the vets she knows, including Angela. Angela is very skeptical with regard to Landon thinking her friend is being gullible and pushes Sabrina away rather than bringing her closer.

She does get a clue from a rescue who has sighted Chica but was unable to catch her. Landon sets up some cameras and puts out food for Chica. He hears her but doesn’t yet see her. He does however, meet a problem with a BB gun.

There’s so much that goes on with Chica’s situation and also with Angela. The relationship between Landon and Sabrina also develops into more.

I love these rescues; every war dog deserves to retire to a loving home.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

In advance of another major attack, Terk races to Levi’s compound in Texas, where Terk finally gets to meet Celia, the woman carrying his child. Thankfully he arrives in time to protect his friends and new family from another attack, but he’s determined to get to the end of this nightmare that tried to earlier destroy his team.

Finally meeting this stranger-whose child Celia may be carrying-how could she not be suspicious? But after meeting Terk, she believes he had nothing to do with her pregnancy. Only after some deep conversations, as they peel layer from layer, do possible answers surface.

When the pieces finally come together into the most probably theory, Terk realizes how simple this whole mess really is. But solving it? … That’s a whole different story.

When we left Terkel and the team, he was headed back to the US and Levi’s compound. It’s time to solve the mystery of Celia, the woman who is carrying his child.

Trouble is following Terk and Merk to Texas, they arrive to an almost empty compound since Levi decided to keep folks to a minimum. Celia is less than receptive to Terk, after all, she woke up in a strange place, pregnant and no recollection of how it all happened.

There’s also more to Celia than meets the eye as we find out as she asks about Terk’s abilities.

This is a favorite scene.

Celia bit her lip, not willing to share when nobody else was.

Ice nudged her gently. “The only way we’ll get to the bottom of this is if everybody opens up.”

“You mean, like why somebody won’t tell me what Terk’s ability is?” she muttered out loud, staring directly at Terk.

Hearing her voice, Terk was roused from his musings. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I want to know what is so special about you? Why you?”

His gaze suddenly narrowed, and he gave a clipped nod. “I guess that’s fair.” He sat down beside her.

With Ice on one side and him on the other, Celia suddenly felt squished between two very large personalities. Yet oddly enough, she didn’t feel threatened. It was a strange feeling, almost as if she were protected. She frowned and tried hard to refocus her attention on what Terk was saying.

“I know things,” Terk claimed, with a shrug. “I don’t always know what I need to know, and I certainly don’t always know things that would be helpful,” he explained, “but I get premonitions, and … I work with energy. I assembled a team with varying abilities of their own, and we’ve been quite effective as a unit.”

“Doing what?” Celia asked.

“We were a black ops division of the US government stationed out of Paris,” he explained. “Just after they shut us down out of the blue”— he stopped to collect his thoughts—“ my entire team was attacked.”

She sucked in a breath and stared at him, wide-eyed.

“I haven’t ruled out our own government’s involvement. Subsequent attacks have continued.”

She winced at that. “Why would anyone do that?”

“Because we know too much,” he stated boldly.

Such honesty was in his voice that she didn’t doubt him. “Know too much or can do too much?”

His lips twitched at that. “If it was the government, I can only assume it’s because they decided we were dangerous.”

She sucked in her breath, and he looked over at her, with a gaze so intense, it sent shivers down her spine. “Dangerous in what way?”

“We can do things,” he said, pinning her with a sharp look that she felt to her soul. “We know things that nobody else should be allowed to know.” He shrugged. “But, if you’re thinking that I know what you did yesterday or something like that, you’re wrong. I can’t read your mind either.” He shook his head. “I get hit out of the blue with all kinds of stuff, sometimes helpful, sometimes not.”

At that, Merk walked into the room, sat down, and looked at them sitting side by side. “And Terk can do a lot more than that, which is why he was recruited by the government in the first place. And, since he’s been there, they have successfully completed an amazing number of missions. But sometimes the creation becomes something beyond the original intent, and not all have the ability to contain it or to control it.”

Celia sat back and felt everything inside her stilling, given this information. “I might have an idea,” she murmured, “about why I was chosen.”

Immediately everybody turned to look at her, and she looked over at Ice and nodded. “I was right.”

Ice reached across to pick up her chilled fingers, then gently squeezed her hand. “Go on.”

Celia took a deep breath, but just then Levi walked in. Realizing that something important was going on, he sat down. She took a deep breath. “I ran a test group, doing research on psychic phenomena,” she admitted. “I’m a scientist, and I was researching superhuman abilities and the possibility of the impossible. I had grants for studying all kinds of abilities,” she murmured.

Terk looked at her. “Like the electrodes to the head testing?” She smirked. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to test, but that’s not the way I was testing. We were doing a lot of work, especially with aquakinesis, what some might think of as spoon-bending stuff.”

Terk nodded slowly. “And what makes you think that would have put you onto somebody’s radar?”

She looked over at Terk and saw the understanding in his gaze. “My research would do that. Particularly if Stone’s theory is right.”

“The one about creating more of you?” Merk asked, an eyebrow up.

“Yes.” Terk looked over at Celia. “You were doing the testing because you have abilities, don’t you?”

She nodded slowly. “I do, but it’s not something that has ever really been ratified. And honestly, they’ve been very dulled since I woke up here. From the drugs I suppose, so I am not sure I have any now.”

“Ratification is for governments,” Terk noted. “For those of us in the field, it’s not something we need.”

“Might not be something you need,” she murmured, “but competing for grant money to study it means you have to have some proof. Now”— she shrugged—“ I might need a career change.”

“How well-known are you in your field?”

She shrugged again. “Not at all really, but there was definitely some outcry when I got the grant money. A few detractors thought I had abilities to somehow influence the grant award decision.”

He snorted at that. “Not sure what abilities you have.” He studied her with that same liquid gaze that rattled her spine and seemed to see right through her.

Celia stated, “I can sense energy.” She wasn’t sure if that would be enough for them. She didn’t want to go into too much detail at this point.

“Nice.”

He was trying to put her at ease and obviously saw what she wasn’t saying.

“Give them time to resurface. Drugs can blunt them for quite a while.”

“So someone decided that a cross between the two of us would make children who would do what we do?” Celia asked Terk.

“I have no idea,” Terk murmured. “Of all the crazy things I’ve dreamed up over time, that is not one that occurred to me.”

She snorted. “Well, I’m not the kind of person who walks around expecting terrorist groups to be looking for a secret weapon either.”

“No? That’s my department,” he said, with half a smile. “But somehow taking my sperm and utilizing it in this way never occurred to me.”

“Is that even possible?” Levi asked, his tone somber.

Ice immediately nodded. “Yes, sperm can be aspirated many ways, but I keep going back to the fact that you’d have to be unconscious.”

Terk’s gaze lifted, and he studied her for a moment. “I was in the hospital, remember?”

“I do, and, from what you told me, you were comatose for a few days.”

“A little longer than they thought was normal,” he murmured.

At that, she winced. “What are the chances you were deliberately put under? Deliberately attacked for just this reason?”

“Probably way too high for my liking,” he replied. He crossed his arms, then leaned back against the chair, but it was obvious from the ticking of a muscle at his jawline that the news bothered him.

At that, Ice turned and looked at Celia. “What about you?”

“I was supposed to have an ovary removed because I’d been having some problems.”

“Was it about the same time?”

She winced. “Yeah, you could say that. Also at the time I was having trouble with a stalker. And honestly, I didn’t have any remembrance of it, but I assumed that I’d been attacked and raped by him.”

At that, Terk sucked his breath back. “Well, you can bet it wasn’t me.”

She looked at him. “And you can bet I had nothing to do with what happened to you. And yet, the bottom line is, this child exists.”

He looked at her and repeated, “Child?”

At that, her lips twitched. “I know. I was trying not to say it out loud.”

“Say what?” Levi asked, confused.

“What’s going on?” Ice asked, having picked up on interchange between them.

“I’m carrying …” Celia began.

At the same time, Celia and Terk voiced the ultimate truth together in unison.

“Twins.”
Dale Mayer. Terkel’s Twist (Kindle Locations 573-640). Valley Publishing Ltd..

With that bit of information, things start to make more sense. Although it’s still bazaar and quite frankly more premeditated than initially thought.

As they ready for an attack they manage to get a big heads up from surveillance cameras. Then the fun begins.

From start to finish this book is filled with intrigue, suspense and action. I can’t wait for the final book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.