Page 53 of K-9 Prime Target

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“I’ve never entertained anyone at my house before,” Nina said, as she arranged a tray of canapés in the kitchen two nights later.

“This isn’t a party,” Liam said. “It’s a planning session.”

“We have food and drinks,” she said. “That sounds like a party to me, no matter the reason.” When she had contacted Connor about ski patrol possibly helping her to stop her assailant, she had told him she understood if no one wanted to get involved. Instead, almost everyone had agreed to help.

Chase was the first to arrive, with a six-pack of beer and his girlfriend, Cerise. “I brought Cerise along because she’s tougher than I am,” he said. “And smarter.”

“You see why I keep him around.” Cerise grinned. “But seriously, if you want to keep this ski patrol only, I can leave.”

“No, no stay,” Nina said. “We need all the smart, tough people we can get.”

The others arrived soon after, in twos and threes. Lily brought Scott with her and both their avalanche dogs, Shelby and Hunter. Connor came with his dog, Farley. “I’d have brought my girlfriend but she’s on special assignment somewhere in Eastern Colorado,” Connor said.

“Too bad,” Nina said. “It would have been good to have an FBI agent on our side.” Connor had met Special Agent Stacy Macrae when she worked to track down the bomber who threatened SkyCrest at the beginning of the year.

Raz and Renee arrived together, then Anders showed up with his dog, Darth. As other people and dogs came in, the room filled with conversation, barking and laughter.

“It sounds like morning meeting in here,” Connor said as he settled into one of the folding chairs Nina had placed around the room.

“Get yourselves something to eat and drink, then let’s get started,” Liam called from the living room.

Everyone gradually filtered into the room and settled into chairs or onto the floor. “Thanks for coming out tonight,” Liam began.

“You ought to know patrollers never turn down free beer,” Chase said. Cerise punched his shoulder, and he grinned.

“Nina needs your help,” Liam continued. “The man who injured her at the Mardi Gras parade is still out there, and the sheriff’s department isn’t having any success in tracking him down. Meanwhile, she’s still a target. Most of you know what happened to her four years ago in Lake Placid?”

Heads nodded around the room.

“We don’t want a repeat of that,” Anders said.

“What we want is her back on patrol,” Connor said. Others murmured agreement.

“Then help us catch this guy,” Liam said.

“How?” Brian asked.

Liam turned to Nina. She stood and moved to the center of the room, while Liam took a seat. They had agreed she should present the plan they had refined since their first discussion. “We don’t know for certain, but we believe the man who is after me is named Aaron Nicholson,” she said. “He’s the person who attacked me before. Since law enforcement can’t find him, we want to try to lure him out of hiding. By now he probably knows I’m not currently working at SkyCrest.”

“Booo!” someone at the back of the room said.

She smiled. “Believe me, I want to get back on patrol as soon as I can. We think if we make him believe I’m here at the house alone, he’ll see me as an easy target. Except I won’t be alone. A bunch of you will be hiding, waiting until he shows up.”

“We’ll teach him to mess with one of us,” Raz said.

“I don’t need you to beat him up,” Nina said. “Just keep him here until the sheriff arrives.”

“If we can lure him back into the bedroom, we can shut the door and trap him there,” Liam said. “But we need people stationed outside in case he tries to break a window or something.”

“We can overpower him and tie him up,” Anders said.

“He’ll have a knife,” Nina said. “I don’t want any of you hurt. Better to keep your distance.”

“We won’t do anything too reckless,” Brian said. “But the more of us there are, the easier he’ll be to overwhelm.”

“You’ll have to show up here stealthily and hide until he arrives,” Nina said.