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BURIED LIES
A National Forest K-9 Suspense
BY KATHLEEN DONNELLY

BLURB

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BURIED LIES
A National Forest K-9 Suspense
BY KATHLEEN DONNELLY

Excerpt

NOTE FROM KATHLEEN: Many thanks to Karen for having me as a guest on her blog again! I am excited to release Book #4 in the National Forest K-9 series—Buried Lies. I had so much fun writing this book because Josh’s past comes into play as he’s framed for murder. It’s up to Maya and K-9 Juniper to prove he’s innocent. Enjoy this excerpt where Josh along with his K-9, Finn, and Maya begin to realize that Josh may be in big trouble…

Josh had Finn in his gear, ready to go. Maya suggested taking him away from the slash pile and casting him out in different directions to see if they could figure out if the murder had happened here or somewhere else. If there was blood or even bone fragments where the victim had been shot, then Finn would find it.

“Just stay away from those footprints, I haven’t cast them yet,” Miranda called out.

“Got it,” Josh said.

“Let’s go farther over the hill,” Maya said. “That way, hopefully we won’t mess with this scene.”

Josh nodded and they headed away from the area. Rory followed them too.

“Why don’t you back Josh up?” Maya asked her.

“Really? I’d love to,” Rory said.

Maya knew one of Rory’s goals was to work a K – 9. The more she backed up officers, the better she’d be when she had her own dog. Josh cast Finn out and his nose went to the ground. He worked back and forth and then, tail wagging, trotted off in the direction of the road to Dead Man’s Pass. Based on his body language, Maya could tell he was catching some sort of odor. They’d taught him to find both live scent and human remains, so it could be either. When they were done working Finn, Maya would get Juniper out to see if she could find any evidence.

They came upon an area where there were tire tracks that led from the road to the pass. While this area wasn’t meant for a vehicle, it was a clear spot with no trees or large boulders. Someone had used this to cut over towards the slash pile area.

Finn started a zigzag pattern back and forth, working a scent cone. He’d found something. Maya had already dropped an evidence marker by the tire tracks, but then Finn sat and stared at the ground. Some of the snow patches were dark red. Blood. She placed a yellow evidence marker down next to the spot. This could prove that maybe the person was killed somewhere else and then moved to the slash pile. Maya hoped the person had been deceased before they were set on fire.

Josh praised Finn and threw him a toy. Maya expected him to be a little more excited about his dog’s great find, but Josh still seemed upset. Not that she blamed him. She just hoped it didn’t rub off on his dog.

“After you get done playing, let’s see if he can find anything more in the area on the road,” Maya said.

“Okay,” Josh agreed.

He didn’t say much more. They headed toward the road and Josh cast Finn out again. Finn’s nose went up in the air this time as he caught a scent. His tail pricked straight up and he followed his nose, his ears flopping in rhythm with his trot. The Lab made a hard turn on the road toward the pass and went down a small hill and then sat again.

The snow had melted in this spot, but Maya could see footprints, and it seemed like there were several different ones. Finn stared at the ground. She realized there was another bloodstain. A big one. Then she saw what appeared to be drag marks through the mud.

“Reward Finn,” Maya said, placing another yellow evidence marker near the bloodstain. “I’ll get Juniper, and we’ll see what kind of track we can do and if we can find any evidence. I don’t know what happened out here, but it was bad. Rory, grab some crime – scene tape and start from the road. We don’t need anyone driving up here and messing up this scene.”

“You got it,” Rory said, heading back toward their vehicles.

Josh played with Finn. His face was tight and a bit pale.

“What’s going on?” Maya asked. “This is more than people from Chicago visiting here.”

Josh turned to her, and at first, she didn’t think he was going to answer. Then he said, “This is where I was supposed to meet Amber. But I didn’t drive up this far. I stayed at the bottom of the hill. What if she was here? What if that body is her?”

Speechless for a moment, Maya finally said, “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Because we weren’t really near this spot and I didn’t think it could be connected. But dogs don’t lie. Finn went right to this area. Where someone was recently killed and then burned. Probably to cover up the evidence. But there’s too many coincidences. I don’t believe in those.”

“Neither do I,” Maya said. “We’ll figure this out.”

She hoped no more surprises popped up when she worked Juniper. Whoever did this was one sick person, and Josh was right — they’d probably thought they could destroy evidence with fire.

What they didn’t know was that they were up against two excellent K – 9s. And Juniper was itching to work.

About Author Kathleen Donnelly…

Links to Kathleen’s websites, blogs, books, #ad, etc.:

Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.to/4pQEQ6h

Amazon Mass Market Paperback:
https://amzn.to/4r3J0Zu

Old Firehouse Books (signed copies available)

Harlequin

Barnes and Noble

Apple Books

Google Play

Kobo  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/buried-lies-15

Walmart

Target

Bookshop.org

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Working Tails: The Stories Behind the K-9s