Page 7 of Smoky Mountain K-9

Drawing in a deep breath to dispel the disquiet in his mind, he answered the rest of Mara’s question. “And Ben didn’t exactly steal me. My previous department couldn’t afford a K-9 deputy anymore, so Ferris County bought Maverick from them and hired me.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Just like that, they bought a dog?”

“It was in their budget already. The dog they had retired and so did his handler, and they hadn’t replaced the team yet. I got lucky, I guess. I don’t know what would have happened to us otherwise.” Thankfully, he hadn’t even really needed to worry about it. Ben got wind of the situation and offered to buy the dog almost as soon as Carter was informed they were shutting down his unit.

“Where was this?”

“Fort Carrington. It’s south of Asheville.”

“Is that where you’re from?”

“No. I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. My mom still lives there.”

“How come you aren’t there, then? No jobs?”

“Pretty much. I was in the Marines for twelve years. The last four I spent as a dog handler. When I got out, I knew I wanted to continue that, so police work seemed like the most logical step. I spent about a year on patrol—in Charleston—before the opportunity to be a K-9 officer came up. Maverick and I have been partners for almost six years now.”

“Why did you leave the Marines? Twelve years is a long time.”

“Yeah, well, that’s it exactly. It’s a long time. And the job I did—it was rough. I needed to leave.” He clenched and unclenched his hands around the steering wheel, praying she didn’t dig any deeper. It wasn’t something he wanted to talk about.

She stared out the window, then at her hands, before glancing at him. “Memories are a bitch.”

He let out a soft snort. She had that right. “Yeah.”

“I bet your mom’s glad to have you closer, though. Is she your only family?”

“I have an aunt there too. My mom’s sister. My dad passed away a few years ago from a heart attack. I’m an only child.”

“Lucky.”

He glanced at her. “To be an only child?”

She nodded. “I have two brothers and a sister. My sister’s great, but my brothers are a pain in the ass.” She chuckled.

Carter smiled. “Older or younger?”

“Older. Which is why they’re a pain in my ass. I’m the youngest. Irish Catholic boys take their duties as big brothers very seriously.”

That made him laugh. “I had a guy like that in my unit once. He had a sister in high school who started dating some guy while we were deployed. It drove him nuts that he couldn’t be there to interrogate the kid. He finally made her video chat with the boy and grilled him then.”

Mara giggled. “Yeah, that sounds like something my brothers would do. Which is why I’m not mentioning this date to them. They’d demand to know everything about you, even though this is just a night out between new friends.” She shook her head. “You’d think I was still sixteen instead of thirty-four.”

“It’s nice that they look out for you, though.”

“Yeah, I guess. I love them, but I’m glad they gave me some space when I came here. The silence helped me deal, you know?”

He nodded. He did know. Sometimes, the best way to sort things out was to be alone.

“So, you know how old I am. How old are you?” She shifted in her seat, turning to face him. “I’m guessing mid-thirties, from what you’ve said.”

His head bobbed. “I’ll be thirty-seven next month. I entered the Marines right out of high school. What about you? College?”

“Yeah. I was a psychology major. I wanted to be a therapist. The plan was to get a doctorate and open my own practice. Then my university started an equestrian therapy program. That was all she wrote for me. I’ve been riding since I was a little girl, and the premise of the therapy intrigued me. I wouldn’t want to do anything else now.”

“Do you still do sessions?”

“Not as much as I’d like. But I like training people how to do it. I find that almost as rewarding. Especially when they go out and spread the knowledge by starting new programs.”