Julie Miller
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CRIME SCENE K-9
Protectors at K-9 Ranch #5
Copyright ©2025 by Julie Miller
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Enterprises
Excerpt
A broken woman... A wounded veteran... One big secret... And a heroic K-9 determined to save them all...
1 September…
Levi sat in his bunk and listened to Zoe apologize over the phone. Again.
This was the third time she’d cancelled a face-to-face chat on the computer and had opted to call him on his cell. “Sorry I haven’t been able to do a FaceTime chat. I’ve been working a lot of nights, and the hours are just too crazy to schedule something like that. Either we’re getting summoned out on a call or…”
“Or what?”
Her hesitation made him think she was buying time to come up with something else besides what she’d originally been about to say.
“I… I’m just not comfortable making a long personal call while I’m at work.”
“You embarrassed one of your friends might see me on your computer screen?”
“No!” she snapped, sounding shocked by the suggestion. “It’s just…you and me are a private thing. The guys will tease me if they find out, and Lexi and Chelsea will want to know all the juicy details—and all we’re doing is talking. And…and I haven’t told my family about you yet. Dad will find out for sure if there’s any gossip around here about us.”
She’d told him that first night together that she sometimes interpreted teasing as criticism, that even the friendliest gibe could make her question her emotions or make her feel she was doing something wrong. She’d also shared how her brain illogically assumed that any gossip she didn’t hear for herself was about her. As to why she hadn’t told her father and two older brothers about him, he had no clue . He assumed it had something to do with her anxiety issues. Her father, Brian Stockman, was a veteran police officer. Maybe she worried that he’d be overprotective about her getting involved in a new relationship. And Levi had first-hand experience about how over-protective a big brother could be. His sister, Lexi, would attest to that. Would her father and brothers worry that he’d play mind games on her and take advantage of her vulnerability the way her last boyfriend had? Maybe she was trying to be independent and make sure their relationship was on solid footing before she introduced him to her dad. Or maybe she was simply trying to save them both from the hassle of explaining just how close they’d gotten that week back in July.
But Zoe said none of that.
Levi stroked his hand along Sky’s head and back as the big dog stretched out beside him. The contented dog and repetitive strokes soothed enough of the suspicion roiling inside him so that he could keep his tone calm and not let Zoe’s excuses escalate this conversation into an argument. “I told you I was fine staying up late so that you can chat during the day. As long as it coincides with satellite availability. I know long-distance isn’t an easy way to build a relationship, but we’re both hard workers. We don’t give up. I thought you wanted to put in the effort. I do.”
“You have certain hours you have to be on duty.”
He hated that she hadn’t immediately responded with an I do, too.
But instead of pushing her to agree, he responded to what she had said. “Not twenty-four/seven. Not unless we’re on lockdown and facing an imminent threat. If you’re on the night shift and your free time is during the day, let me be the one to stay up late and lose a couple hours of sleep.” He wasn’t above begging at this point. “Come on. Please? I love hearing your voice. But I want to see you, too. I miss you. I miss us.”
“Just the two of us?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Sky heaved a deep breath and rolled onto his side, exposing his belly for a tummy rub. “Well, I guess Sky, too. He’ll end up wherever I go.”
“I’m glad you have Sky. I hope I can meet him in person one day.”
“Of course, you’re going to meet him in person. I’ve already got the release paperwork started. When I get home—”
“Sorry—, I really have to go.” He heard a murmur of voices in the background, though none of them were distinct. Then he heard a knock on her office door, and she quickly she ran her words together to finish the conversation. “I’m on call tonight, and the team is waiting on me. I’ll see what I can do about the FaceTime thing. I’ll text or call when I’m available. Pet Sky for me. Stay safe. Goodbye, Levi.”
Click. She ended the call.
Goodbye?
How could one simple word sound so ominous?
15 October…
THE NEXT TIME they did meet face- to- face, Levi got the feeling that things weren’t improving for Zoe, him, or their chance at a future together.
When she appeared on the screen, she was curled up on her couch again. The blanket was pulled up to her shoulders, and all those shades of pink pillows were tucked around her like a little girl clutching her stash of teddy bears. She hadn’t dolled herself up for him—but he didn’t mind that. Although there was some makeup trick she did that made her blue eyes pop like the clearest icy mountain lake, he actually preferred her natural look. Clean, smooth skin. The natural rosy pink of her lips. Long, dark lashes that brushed against the cool alabaster of her skin that revealed every tinge of embarrassment and every flush of passion.
But, whether natural or drawn-on, her beauty tonight was a pale imitation of the woman from his summer encounter who lived in his dreams. Her long hair hung in a limp ponytail over her shoulder. There were visible shadows beneath her eyes, almost making them look bruised. And though he spied the neckline of a thick cable turtleneck, beneath the pillows and blanket, she was shivering.
“Are you sick?” The words were out before he realized he probably should have eased into the question with some polite chit-chat first.
The shadow of a smile told him she remembered his blunt way of speaking. “I’ve felt better,” she admitted. “I took a couple of days off. I’m back on call tonight.”
That didn’t answer his question.
“Did you have a panic attack?” He knew it took her some time to recover from an episode, especially if it had been bad enough to require her taking her medication. She’d said it made her brain fuzzy, and it definitely made her sleepy.
“Yeah.”
“Did you take one of your pills?” That could explain the fatigue and slight disorientation.
“I can’t take them right now.”
Probably because she was heading to work.
“What happened?”
Her nostrils flared and her breathing quickened. She brushed her fingers against the laptop screen as if she was caressing his image. But despite the wistful gesture, she didn’t elaborate. Her fingers curled into a fist and fell back to her lap.
“Honey, I really need you to talk to me. I’m worried about you.”
She was focused on something beyond her laptop—on the coffee table, perhaps. Or maybe her eyes saw nothing at all. “I don’t want you to worry. You have enough on your plate already.”
“That’s what people who care about each other do.”
She glanced back toward the computer screen. “But you need to watch your back. Take care of yourself while you’re deployed.”
“Sky watches my back,” he insisted. “I’ve been doing this Marine thing a long time. I can get the job done and worry about you.”
“I’m a distraction.”
“You’re not.” Well, she had been. Sure, he could compartmentalize and do his job. But with every missed call, every mail call without a letter, she moved to the front of his thoughts again. “Are you cold? You guys getting an early winter there? I was hoping you’d step outside and show me some fall foliage. Or enclose an autumn leaf in your next letter. Are you getting snow already? I miss the seasons changing.”
There was no response. Zoe’s lower lip trembled as if she was about to cry. Or crawl out of her skin.
Oh, hell. She wasn’t recovering from a panic attack. She was having one right now.
Levi sat at attention. “Babe, look at me.” She glanced toward the computer but didn’t meet his gaze. When cajoling didn’t get her attention on him, he summoned his Master Sergeant voice and clipped a command. “Zoe, eye contact. Please.” He ground his teeth together, stemming the concern that wanted to spew out.
There were tears in her eyes when she lifted her gaze. He needed to think like a medic right now, not as a man who loved her. He needed to calm her down.
“Don’t zone out on me. Take a deep breath.” He pointed to his nose. “Right with me, babe. In through your nose.” He held it to the count of five. “And slowly out through your mouth.” Her chin shook as she breathed out. “Again.” He kept his tone deep and calm and evenly modulated, much as he’d talk to an injured animal or frightened child. “In through the nose. Out through the mouth.” There was less trembling this time. “Again. In. Out.”
Her unblinking focus zeroed in on his lips. She was concentrating on matching his movements, trusting him to calm her and distract her from the overwhelming emotions. “In. Out.”
He watched her visibly calm down as she began to regulate her own breathing. He barely detected her nod that said she was doing better.
“Here.” He tapped his thigh, urging Sky to climb onto his lap. “Sky, right.” When the German shepherd turned his head, Levi caught him around the jowls and muzzle in some rough house petting the dog loved. “Look at this face.” Sky’s tongue lolled out, and his panting fogged up the screen. “See? You can’t cry when you see this face.”
The breath she huffed out was almost a laugh. “That’s a goofy face.” She reached for the screen. “I wish I could pet him. Would he let me?”
“Yeah,” he assured her, knowing Sky would sense her as part of his pack once he understood how important she was to Levi. “Good boy. Get down.” He rewarded the dog with some more petting and faced the screen again. “He wouldn’t let anybody hurt you. He’d watch over you if you had to shut down for a little while.”
Zoe nodded, pressed her lips together, then zeroed in on Levi’s gaze. “I wish that I could touch you, too. That I could feel your arms around me. I miss that. You’re an anchor for me. I wish that you…” Something in her peripheral vision distracted her. Her frown returned along with her clutch around those pillows. “Sorry about almost losing it. I guess I got overwhelmed.”
“By what? What set it off?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to burden you.”
“Don’t apologize for being who you are. I told you I was okay with this. You are so smart and intuitive and sensitive and kind that a panic attack doesn’t even faze me.”
“It should. It’s not normal, Levi. I’m not normal. How could you possibly want to be with someone like me?”
“How could I not?” He ignored the self-derogatory comment, remembering how he’d helped her get out of her head and move on to a healthier mindset. “It’s always going to be the two of us, remember? We’re a team. We’ve got this.” He checked the watch on his wrist. “We still have ten minutes. Do you need to talk about what happened? You know I’m a good listener.”
“I know.” For a moment, he didn’t think she was going to explain. But, eventually, she started. “I got a letter. Actually…more than one… They…” He heard a phone ringing in the background. Her body stiffened and the color blanched from her face. What the hell? She leaned forward to pick up her phone and breathed an audible sigh of relief. “I need to take this call. It’s the lab. I have to go.”
“Who did you think was calling?” he snapped, feeling like he was interrogating a prisoner who wouldn’t talk. “What letters? From whom? What did they say that upset you? Talk to me.”
“It’s okay. I’m handling it.”
Clearly, she wasn’t. “Zoe…”
She waved. “Bye. Be safe.”
“Zo—”
The screen went dark.
What the hell had set off that panic attack? Letters? His letters? Was it her inverted work schedule? The stress of finding time when they could be together? Was she starting to rethink him coming home to Kansas City and becoming part of her life?
How had their loving, sometimes funny, always meaningful conversations gotten reduced to polite chats and panic attacks?
Something was wrong. Something had changed.
And he wasn’t going to figure it out from eight- thousand miles away.
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