Payback (The Canine Handler Book 1) Read Free Page A

classified it, human remains detection. And this past summer they had passed their evaluations in water recovery.
    The dogs were obsessed with their noses and scenting. Anything and everything was fair game, even when they were not training or working. At times, it could be embarrassing where they would stick their noses. No place, no area, nothing was off-limits or private that didn’t deserve a good sniff.
    Sarah thought it might be best to load the dogs in the truck prior to changing into her search uniform. She herded both dogs out the front door.
    “Truck,” she commanded and they ran to the vehicle and stopped at the tailgate. “Wait.” The dogs stood and watched Sarah as she made her way to the back of the truck. Dropping the tailgate, she told both dogs to “hup” and they responded by jumping into the bed of the truck. Two extra-large dog traveling crates were secured just inside the truck bed. The dogs patiently waited while Sarah opened the crate doors. Giving the cue, “Crate,” each dog went into his respective crate. She locked and secured the doors behind them.
    “You guys are awesome,” she lavished them with praise. Leaving the tailgate and hatch of the truck cap open to allow cool air to circulate, Sarah turned and headed back inside the house.
    “Okay, my turn,” she said out loud, and headed down the short hallway. No pictures or decorations of any sort hung on the walls. The dark wood paneling dated her home. The lack of décor expressed the frugal minimalist in her. No reminders, no pictures of the past, no sentiment of days gone by. The only item that hung on any wall was an unframed mirror above a small table at the end of the hall.
    Sarah went to the closet where her team uniform hung. Her phone started to ping with responses from teammates as she pulled her official issued team shirt and BDUs—military type trousers—off the hangers. She would wait to hear from everyone before she called Dave back.
    It was the responsibility of each team member to send a return text stating whether they were available or not. They were all civilian volunteers. Never expected to show up to every search or call-out, they still needed to respond regardless. It wouldn’t be much longer since most of the team had already sent their reply. As in the past, when she had acted as the dispatcher for her commander for a call-out, it was only a matter of minutes.
    The smell of coffee circulated throughout the house. Sarah pulled two travel mugs from her cabinet, and filled one for now and one for later. She liked to be prepared and preferred her own stout homebrew over the usual watered-down crap that was normally offered at a search.
    Stepping outside her kitchen door into the breezeway, Sarah covered herself with bug repellent. She stood for a moment to let the spray dry. Gunner and Sam excitedly barked in their crates. She laughed thinking how eager they were to be going out to work.
    “Chill out, guys! We’ll be heading out soon!” she yelled to the two impatient dogs.
    They didn’t know the difference between training and actually being deployed on a real search, she contemplated. To them it was all the same. It was a game. They used their noses to locate humans and in return, they got to play enthusiastically with their favorite toy and their handler. What could be better to a couple of extremely high play-driven dogs?
    Checking her phone again, she went through the responses on the screen. Texts had come in from everyone. The team commander, as well as two other canine handlers were available and could respond to the search within half an hour. She sent all three a text with an ETA of 1100 hours and the base camp address.
    Finding Dave’s number, she dialed. He picked up on the first ring.
    “Hey Dave, Sarah here.” She could hear the commotion of base camp in the background ratcheting up her anxiety another notch.
    “What can you provide for us?” Dave asked.
    “We can supply five dogs. They can