“Don’t blame yourself for having a suboptimal run-in with an egomaniac. They’re hard to beat if you don’t have practice with them. They’re even hard to beat if you do. But you managed to do it anyway.”
“Alex, I think we are all playing checkers and you are playing 3-D laser chess.”
Dear Ms. <firstname> Butler, We regret to inform you that we are not moving further with your application at this time. We appreciate your interest in the Renewable Energy Innovations family, however, we had a large and competitive group of applicants for this position. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Cheers, David Brandt Employee Happiness Coordinator
Zoey sighed into her open laptop. Well, the email addressed to Ms. <firstname> Butler was a new low. It was impressive, really, that her job search had gotten even worse. While Zoey suspected she’d only been receiving form rejections these past several months, it turned her stomach to have it so obviously confirmed. Only a few years earlier, she’d had her choice of extremely competitive offers before even graduating from college. She’d had the luxury of thinking hard about each offer before choosing the opportunity she believed would change her life. Unfortunately, it had.
When Zoey began her career as a materials science engineer for Future State Energy, they had been the newest and most impressive player in the energy storage industry. While her peers had taken jobs with automakers focused on designing stylish electric cars, Zoey was interested in less splashy, but equally impactful, work in the battery industry. Someone needed to create power management solutions for the wind turbines and solar panels that generally garnered more attention in the news. The company she now referred to as “the F-word” claimed their solid-state technology would leapfrog the work of the more well-known players in the battery industry by decades, revolutionizing renewable energy and improving the future of the planet. There was just one small problem with Future State’s technology—the exciting claims made by the charismatic head of development, Ophelia Wagner, were too good to be true. Ophelia loved bragging that the talent at Future State was second to none. That, at least, was true. Zoey’s coworkers were incredibly talented scientists and engineers. Unfortunately for them all, Ophelia had made claims even they couldn’t materialize.
Once Zoey was answering the FBI’s questions in a deserted conference room, it became clear that she’d been hired by Ophelia to buy time and make Ophelia’s exaggerations look believable, even to scientists and engineers within the company. She’d tried to stick it out and make it right, but after a few months of regular interviews with the FBI, uncomfortable conversations with possibly duplicitous coworkers, and a nearly constant feeling of humiliation, Zoey couldn’t take it anymore. Her last straw was when her boss, Marco Ortiz, had defended the quality of the lab’s work, getting into a not-so-subtle yelling match with the then-CEO, JJ Harris. Marco had been right, and JJ was demoted, but it did nothing to ease Zoey’s mind. She’d run the tests. She should have known. She found it increasingly hard to focus and couldn’t sleep. Zoey quit, sure she would receive more offers than when she had no experience at all. Instead, they regretted to inform her. Zoey focused on her current surroundings to pull herself out of the bad memories. Her hand was resting on the rustic kitchen table she’d helped her sister, and roommate since college, paint a cheerful yellow. The smell of the morning’s coffee still hung in the air. Back in the present, she looked at her computer again. She wouldn’t stop being persistent, even if things got hard. Especially when things got hard. She looked down at her computer screen—a new email had arrived. She knew what it would say before she clicked on it, but she couldn’t help looking anyway. They, too, regretted to inform her. Zoey squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying with frustration. It wouldn’t do any good. She’d run that experiment several times in the last few months and her conclusions were utterly repeatable. No number of form-based platitudes ever made her feel better. She needed an actual job. A tear escaped and she gave in to the moment for a few seconds, then wiped it away. There was nothing wrong with crying. She was human and three rejections in one afternoon hurt. She let herself feel it for another minute, then rolled her eyes at the one remaining email, still sitting unread. She shook her head and clicked on it. A representative from human resources at Future State claimed they were back in the game. According to the email, the F-word had evolved into a paragon of ethical decision-making and behavior. And they wanted her back. Was she available for a conversation? She deleted the message immediately. Why did they want her back so badly? They kept asking, even when she’d never responded to their emails. For a brief moment, Zoey considered pulling the email from Future State out of her trash folder. A job was a job, after all. She closed her eyes to resist temptation. Nothing good could come from going back. She’d been lucky she hadn’t ended up in jail. She’d had so many meetings with the FBI, reviewing her meticulous notes, Zoey ended up on a first-name basis with Alexis, the special agent in charge of the raid. Under different circumstances, they might have even become friends, as much time as they spent together. And Zoey had spent a fair amount of time with Alexis’s Labrador retriever, Waffle, whose wagging tail made him friends with everyone, regardless of the circumstances. Without the conversations with Alexis, Zoey would have never realized the extent to which her work was a purposeful misdirect, intended to cover illegal activity and lies to investors. She’d left the company without looking back, keeping nothing from Future State except a free flash drive Marco had given her that he didn’t want. And only because she hadn’t realized she’d forgotten to take it out of her purse. She’d nearly chucked it in the trash when she found it, but she couldn’t bear to be wasteful.
Zoey let out a breath. Her emergency fund was running out and she’d been painted into a metaphorical corner. She slammed her laptop lid shut and her sister, Elise, sitting nearby on the couch, jumped. Elise closed the book she’d been reading and looked up at Zoey, giving her a half-hearted smile. “Still no leads, huh?” “No. No leads.” Zoey rested her chin on her hand. She normally had the patience to find joy in even the most tedious and time-consuming experiments, but this experiment was testing even her. “Listen, I can cover next month’s rent.” Zoey waved a hand to cut her off. “No way. I’m not freeloading off of family. You do enough good for the world. You don’t need to add me to your list.” “I can charge you interest and call it a loan if it makes you feel better.” Elise tossed her brown hair over her shoulder and lifted an eyebrow. While they had nearly the same dark blue eye color, Elise’s loose curls gave her an effortlessly beautiful, beach-ready look minutes after she rolled out of bed in the morning, as opposed to Zoey’s unruly strawberry blonde waves. As a result, Zoey usually didn’t bother with her hair. Like usual, she’d pulled her hair back into a tight twist. Elise’s eyes held a challenge, but it was gentle. Elise shared Zoey’s stubbornness but also had as big a heart as anyone Zoey had ever met. “I appreciate it more than you know, but it’s not a long-term strategy.” Zoey rubbed her temples. “You know what the real garbage burger is?” “There’s just one?” Elise placed her non-fiction book about the financial management of endangered species breeding programs on the coffee table and walked towards the kitchen. While they were both in the sciences, their interests had gone in wildly different directions. Zoey liked the ordered and repeatable nature of materials science engineering, and Elise had ultimately found her ideal job working for an animal conservation not-for-profit. Elise would do anything to help her sister get a leg up, but her employer was very selective and they weren’t exactly looking for engineers. Elise had distributed Zoey’s résumé on the narrow chance they’d find her a spot designing animal habitats, but they’d still regretted to inform her. “Okay. It’s more than one. But this is more like the ketchup on the actual garbage burger. Or pickles. I’m not sure.” Elise flicked a switch on the electric kettle and turned to face her. “Okay, hit me with your worst pickles.”
Zoey scrunched up her nose. “Nope, that feels like we’ve taken it a step too far. The real garbage burger—hold the pickles—is that one of the FBI agents had the nerve to tell me she was sorry.” Elise dropped her mouth open in mock alarm. “You’re kidding. That is so rude. Just like that? Wow. I hope you let them know how upset you were. She didn’t thank you too, did she? That would have been awful.” Zoey dropped her head in her hands for a moment, then looked back up into the concerned eyes of her sister. “What good is it to be sorry when I’m unemployed? After years of work, all those late nights studying, I may have to switch careers, Elise. I just paid off my student loans. I can’t afford to live here on unemployment, and you can’t afford to have a freeloading renter forever.” Elise lowered a teabag into a big white mug, poured hot water over the top of it, then brought the mug to Zoey. “Sis, neither of us have ever been good at wallowing and you’ve been doing it for the last half hour. So, what are you going to do?”
She let out a snort. “Besides go complain to the rude FBI agent, of course.” Zoey smacked her hand on the table. “Yes. That’s exactly what I should do.” “Zoey, please don’t get yourself arrested.” Elise’s own mug of tea was frozen in the air, halfway to her mouth. “Or me. I don’t want to get arrested either. This might make me an accomplice. I’m not sure. I could search the internet. Wait. Would that make it premeditated? That’s worse, right?” Zoey took a sip from the cup of tea, flipped open the lid of her aging laptop with her free hand, and waited for it to hum to life. “I won’t get arrested.” She tapped her fingernails rapidly against the ceramic mug until she felt Elise’s hand on her back. “Zoey, what are you doing?” Her voice was cautious, as if she was approaching one of the endangered animals her organization saved. One of the dangerous ones. “I like this apartment and don’t need a SWAT team to break down the door. I just got finished repainting it last weekend. It’s the light purple you picked out. If you promise that you won’t do anything to make them destroy it, I’ll concede that you were right and it’s the perfect color.”
Zoey set down her cup of tea. “Hear me out. The details of what happened at Future State can’t be shared publicly, according to about a billion pieces of paperwork that I signed. But there is one place that knows what actually happened. The only potential employer who has the evidence that I’m honest, hardworking, and ethical is the FBI. Maybe they have something.” Elise looked down at Zoey’s still-full mug of tea. “Do you need something stronger? Maybe we could take a break and get a glass of wine instead?” “I’m good, actually. Thank you. I know it sounds like desperation talking. But I’m desperate.” “Let me get this straight. You would like to quit searching for a job in materials engineering…to go work for the FBI?” Elise grimaced. “Like is a strong word.” Zoey frowned. “I like to eat. I like to drive a car and have a roof over my head. Admittedly, I don’t have all the details ironed out. But it can’t be worse than…” “We regret to inform you?” Elise winced. “Exactly.” She clicked over to her email.
Alexis had given her a business card. She’d seemed sincere. Only time would tell if the agent was as sincere as she’d seemed. A few minutes later, Zoey looked up and found Elise staring at her with concern, her eyes only darting back to the newly painted front door once. “Is this a good idea?” Zoey shut the lid of her laptop. “I mean, even if it isn’t, I sent it. Now we wait.” “Well, if they do break down the door, at least I kept the paint can.”
~~~~
What a cool book! And a wonderful beginning to a new series by K. T. Lee... Starting with a twist, when a dog who had just been pulled back for possible K-9 use, was given a second-chance, with an individual who knew nothing about K-9 activity, but had been personally selected by the dog! More later!
Zoey had worked for Future State Energy as an engineer until an investigation began and determined that they'd committed fraud against their customers. Zoey was a part of the FBI investigation, but had been found not guilty of being part of the scheme... Still she was out of a job and had been trying ever since to find another job in materials engineering. But she had been tainted by the scandal, even though she had been proven not guilty...and could not even get an interview.
Finally in frustration, she wrote to the Special Agent with whom she had been involved and explained what was happening and, more or less, indicated that FBI owed her a job! Quite a gutsy move--and smart too! Indeed, she was called in for an interview and when she arrived was shown into the K-9 Training facility. Zoey knew absolutely nothing about this type of activity, and had never worked with animals...but an interesting thing happened when they all asked her to try it out... But it soon proved to be more than that!
“Morning, Agent Graham. Sorry, I had to say hi to Tank first.” “Just Liam is fine.” He shrugged. “And I can’t blame you. Tank is easy to like. He’s not working, so pet him as long as you like.” He made eye contact and she, once again, noticed the intelligence behind them. There was also a hint of concern. Her breath caught a little, and a feeling strong enough to overwhelm her stress made itself known. Oh no. She did not need this right now. For all she knew, Agent Charming was taken. The dog. The dog was charming. Not the agent. The not-charming agent could be taken. Not that it mattered to her. She had questions to answer. She froze. Liam could be the one with questions. The inconvenient feeling evaporated, replaced entirely with suspicion. Zoey eyed Liam. “Alexis said the FBI might have some questions for me about Future State. You know anything about that?” “Yeah.” Liam jerked his head towards the conference rooms. “A couple of folks from the Chicago office wanted to ask you some follow-up questions. Want to hang out with me and Tank until they’re ready to bring you in?” Zoey winced. “Do you have to say it like that? Bring me in?” She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Not your fault. Bad memories.” Liam took a step closer, and Tank pushed his head into her palm. “I’m sorry. You just seem so confident—I shouldn’t assume you’re alright. Are you okay?” “Oh yeah. Water under the bridge.” Zoey gave Tank a quick pet and shook out her shoulders. “It just took me by surprise, that’s all.” Liam studied her. “Do you normally mind surprises?” Zoey plucked her purse off the conveyor belt and hefted it on her shoulder. “Depends on what kind of surprise it is. I mean, a cupcake is great. I love a surprise cup of coffee. Both at the same time? Amazing. Potentially getting investigated for the second time in exchange for accepting a new job…not my favorite at all. I’m feeling a little like I walked into a trap. And honestly, I don’t have any emotional bandwidth to defend myself right now.” Liam grinned. “How about a bribe?” “Is this some kind of test?” Zoey pinched the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t do it, you know. I was working in the part of the business meant to look legitimate, and no one bothered to tell me that the company was breaking the law. Had they, I would have run fast and far away from them. What’s a girl got to do to shake that? I’ve cooperated with the FBI—” Liam raised his index finger and she waved it away. “—I’m not finished—moved halfway across the country, and have offered to scoop as much dog poop as it takes to repair the totally undeserved hit to my reputation.” Tank nudged his nose into her hand, and she looked down. Obviously, he could tell she was agitated. And she had every right to be.
Out of the corner of her eye, Zoey saw a puff of a dog about half Tank’s size coming towards them at a dead sprint. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the dog was whooping with glee and smiling as it scampered down the hallway. She crouched down to greet the dog on instinct, and the dog ran straight into her. She fell over laughing, and the dog wiggled, waving its fluffy tail in the air and sneaking a lick on her nose. Liam looked over the fluffball at Zoey. He picked up the loose end of the newcomer’s leash. The dog sat perfectly, as if she hadn’t just bolted down the hallway at warp speed. “Sorry, Zoey. Bribe was a figure of speech. This is Tasha. Tasha, this is my new buddy, Zoey.” Heat flooded Zoey’s cheeks and she rose, brushing dust off her pants. She reached down to pet Tasha from an upright position. The medium-sized dog kept sneaking glances at the black lab sitting at Liam’s side. She was a mix of colors but mostly white with a sprinkling of tan and black spots around her eyebrows, giving her what would be a serious expression if her mouth wasn’t open in a doggy smile. If Zoey didn’t know better, she’d think the dog was more than a little bit mischievous. “Well, hello, Miss Tasha. That was quite the greeting.” Alexis jogged over with Waffle in tow. “Sorry about that. I was juggling treats, two leashes, and we had an unexpected bump in the hallway with one of the new puppies. When Tasha spotted you, she was off like a shot.” She looked down at Tasha. “We’re still working on our focus, aren’t we?” She put her hands on her hips, but one hand held a stuffed toy in the shape of a cow that had one ear chewed off. Tasha swished her tail. “If you promise you’ll be good, you can have your cow back.” Tasha lay on the floor and looked up at Alexis, her brown eyes projecting a silent promise to never run off to greet people ever again unless it was really, truly worth it. Alexis threw her the cow with a chuckle, and Tasha snagged it out of the air and began to chew on it. Liam smiled the easy smile that had probably sent Tasha in a beeline his direction. “So, you agree, then?” Alexis looked Zoey up and down. “After yesterday, no question.” Tasha, for her part, loudly squeaked her well-loved cow. “Wait, what does yesterday have to do with Tasha? And me?” Zoey eyed them both. Tasha stopped squeaking the toy at the sound of her name, looking up and swishing her luxuriously fluffy tail against the ground.
Alexis clapped a hand on Zoey’s back. “I knew I liked you. Smart and observant.” “Okay, all this flattery is upgrading my concern to suspicion.” Zoey squatted to scratch Tasha behind one ear and was rewarded with another tiny lick to her hand. Tasha got up to sniff Zoey’s pants more thoroughly, then moved onto her shoes, all without dropping the cow from her mouth. Alexis pulled a treat from her bag and got Tasha into a perfect, focused sit. The cow tumbled from her mouth. Tasha’s back legs quivered a little with the effort, but she earned her reward, catching it easily as it flew through the air. “Tasha was assigned to a trainer who is no longer able to work with us. It’s left us with an extra puppy and no agent to help.” Alexis exchanged a look with Liam. “Full disclosure, Tasha and her trainer didn’t connect.” Zoey narrowed her eyes. “Didn’t connect?” Liam cleared his throat. “We had a dirty agent. He was working with a drug runner and was removed from the program before he ever really got started.” Liam looked at Tasha with pride. “Tasha never quite clicked with him, did you, girl? And he flunked Scarlett’s test.” “What a smart girl!” Zoey smiled at Tasha, whose pointy white ears perked up at the praise. Alexis nodded. “Exactly. So, since we’re an agent short, we don’t have room for her in the program. She has potential. She came in through a dog rescue and I don’t want to send her back. It’s just that I lost the funding when I lost the agent.” “I just got here. I don’t know if I’m qualified for that. I mean, what happens if I say no?” Alexis studied Zoey. “Are you really going to say no to the dog everyone else gave up on? All she needs is a second chance. And we’ll help you out.” Tasha looked up at Zoey as if waiting for her fate, her cow forgotten. Zoey’s face flushed. We regret to inform you…She ran a hand over the soft fur on Tasha’s head and was rewarded with another tail swish. “What kind of dog is she?” Alexis shrugged. “Some Samoyed, maybe a little border collie? Her tail doesn’t curve over her back like a Samoyed’s would, so she’s definitely a mix. It’s hard to say, honestly. She sheds like it’s her job, but she’s energetic and curious. A real go-getter.” “You can tell if a dog is a go-getter?” Zoey eyed Alexis. “You bet. And, trust me, you want the ones with a big personality and energy for this job.” Waffle’s tail began to thump against the ground. Zoey rubbed the back of her neck. “And what would this involve?” Alexis pulled a tennis ball out of a pouch on her waist. Waffle gently took it out of her hand and lay on the ground to start squeaking it. Tasha watched with interest for a moment before pouncing on Waffle’s head. There was a brief scuffle while Alexis coaxed Tasha back into a sit and rewarded her with a ball of her own. She squeaked it twice, dropped it on the floor, then scampered after it when it rolled away. Waffle resumed squeaking his own toy with one eye on the ornery fluffball. “Well, if you agree, we’ll train you for a few days. Then, you can bring her back home with you. You’ll be with her twenty-four seven and train with the agents already in the program. It’s not easy work. She’ll need walked, played with, let out, and trained when you are tired, sick, or it’s inconvenient. And you’ll have to spend more time here than most. We don’t normally throw dogs at untrained people. I just want Tasha to have a chance.” Zoey sighed. Sometimes, you just had to jump in. “Okay. I’ll take Miss Mischievous High Potential home. I can’t say no to that face. You must be really desperate.” Liam smiled. “Or you gave us the chance to take on one more dog. Every dog we train is another nose out there looking for trouble. You’ll have to work closely with Alexis and me. That okay?” Before Zoey could answer, Scarlett popped her head into the hallway from one of the conference rooms. Just the sight of Scarlett sent Zoey’s heart thundering, suddenly remembering that before she was tackled by the bulldozer of fluff, Alexis had some questions about Future State. “Alex, you ready?” “Yep. Let me get Tasha’s crate and then we’ll all join you. She’s not quite ready to lay down and be still around the other dogs yet. We’re still practicing. Liam, why don’t you come in with us? I’d like your thoughts.”
Soon, Tank and Waffle were settled on the floor of the conference room while Tasha sat in her crate, paws crossed and ears perked, as if listening to the humans carefully. The humans sat in chairs and Scarlett delivered a folder to each of them. Zoey eyed Scarlett and Liam shifted in his seat. Well, at least he probably wasn’t in on it, if the TED Talk she saw on body language was telling the truth. With all the secrets around here, she might have to spring for the author’s book. Zoey swallowed. “Am I in trouble?” Alexis shook her head. “The opposite, actually. I’m wondering if you’d be willing to help with a slightly different job than the one you had planned.” Zoey’s face fell. “I don’t get to work with the dogs? That doesn’t make any sense. What about Tasha?” Tasha lowered her head to rest it on her stuffed cow, ears still alert. Alexis held up a staying hand. “No, we’d still like you to do that. We’re just looking for your insight. If things don’t quiet down, we’d like to have you connect with Scarlett’s team every week or so.” “I honestly don’t know what more I can tell you at this point.” Scarlett gestured at the folder and Zoey opened it. A summary of potential threats included familiar names. People she used to consider friends. She closed the folder. “I’m sorry, I don’t feel right about helping you chase down people you’ve already cleared. For obvious reasons.” “I understand that. Let me explain, and you can still back out if you don’t agree, okay?” Zoey crossed her arms. “Okay.” Scarlett looked at Alexis. “We haven’t officially closed the Future State case.” Zoey’s eyebrows shot up. “They’re involved in a major government contract to build energy storage facilities throughout the country. We assumed there wasn’t anything else to find, but last week, someone anonymously called their ethics hotline, worried that the research lab was doing some unauthorized work with flammable electrolytes. Our team has sniffed around the edges, but we’ve found no evidence. There are a few folks that were always pretty high on our suspect list that we had initially crossed off. We’re revisiting that. If you aren’t worried about them, that’s still valuable information.” Zoey ran a hand through her hair. “Okay.” She opened the folder and pointed to a picture of Kendra Pappas, a marketing employee with a big personality and drive to spare. Zoey sighed. “What did Kendra do?” Scarlett tapped her manila folder. “She’s just very well connected to those who committed the crime.” Zoey snorted. “Kendra is well connected to everyone. She’s in marketing and knows everyone and everything worth knowing.” Zoey pictured Kendra in her mind’s eye, whipping out her business card at the end of any interaction with someone new. After one conversation with a new acquaintance, Kendra knew enough to guess at least three of their security questions on any given website. “Kendra can get anyone talking. Although, come to think of it, I don’t know much about her personally.” Scarlett wrote something down. “What about your old boss, the director of the research lab? Marco Ortiz has been responsible for development and testing. Lately, he’s been working on the government project.” “No. I’m sorry. Marco is literally the best person in the labs. He was as clueless as I was.” Zoey pushed the paper away. She directed her eyes to the ceiling. “Look, I get why he’d be on your radar. He’s gruff and a little cynical, and sure, he gets in arguments with management sometimes, but he’s the first person to offer help if you’re in trouble. He’s just a little too blunt. There was one time in the research lab, a manager came in and started trying to operate equipment without reading an instruction manual, and he was so mad—” Zoey looked up at Scarlett taking notes and stopped short, giving her a warning look. “That does NOT implicate him in some kind of crime. You know what, then he forgave them, and it was all okay. They even hugged. They’re besties now.” “And Lynn Sosa? The new CEO? What have you heard about her?” Scarlett looked up from scribbling notes. Zoey frowned. “I don’t know. She came after the raid, and I’d never heard of her before. Apparently, she came through the lab during her interview, but I didn’t see her. We overlapped a bit, but she was busy cleaning up Ophelia’s mess and making sure the old CEO didn’t walk out the door and take all of his knowledge with him. And honestly, I was distracted with my own problems then.” “What do your old friends from Future State say about her?” Scarlett tapped her pen against her open notebook. “I don’t really talk to them anymore. I…I didn’t know who I could trust. Which is fine. It’s absolutely fine.” Zoey cleared her throat. “Lynn replaced the old CEO, JJ Harris. He was demoted after not realizing what was going on right under his nose. I mean, he was upset and trying to find someone to blame, but he got over it. Rumor had it, he was telling people he didn’t really mind getting back to the nuts and bolts of the business. I mean, it’s great he even wanted to stay on. And I understand not wanting to be in charge. I don’t have any desire to run a company either.” Zoey looked up at the three FBI agents listening attentively. She flipped the paper in the folder over, but there was nothing on the back or behind it. “Is that all?” Alexis nodded. “For now. With any luck, the ethics hotline thing was a one-off, but if we need more help to wrap it up, we may ask you, if that’s okay.” “Yeah. Honestly, I was worried something else awful had happened.” Scarlett gave her a gentle smile. “Worrying about Future State is Alexis’s and my job. If I know who I’m dealing with, it’s easier to get them to work with me. I’ll add this to my notes, but I’m glad to hear you don’t think this crew is trouble right off the bat.” Scarlett flipped her notebook closed.
~~~~
It wasn't a surprise that the FBI was still monitoring Future State. They continued to have the original contract, but much more was now involved. There was a new staff and things were progressing, but they had not been able to determine exactly who was involved in the original criminal activities years ago. A new leader had been hired and things were progressing, even to the point that they had begun to advertise more staff for their new project. It was arranged that Liam would go in as undercover while Zoey would be returning as a former employee...
And in order to cover all bases, Liam and Zoey were to be introduced as "involved" and that was why they came in to work together in the same company. As you might have guessed, both Liam and Zoey were quite willing to "pretend..." Especially since Tank and Tisha got along so well! Everything seemed to be going fine, until...it...wasn't...
An accident occurred, and tighter watch was required. Once again, it was Zoey that identified the problem. But this time, Liam was there to support her. Would it be enough, especially if they got separated on the job, with each reporting to a different boss? Because the problem was on the actual construction site and only an expert would be able to determine what the problem was...
With great characters, including the addition of multiple K-9 players, readers will be enjoying the off-duty play time for the dogs, as well as their involvement when "working..." with their trainers! A delightful blend of mystery and mirth, with a bigger touch of romance coming at the end... Enjoy this one!
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