Prologue
The Players
World Cares
Rylee Jones – Co-director Operations
Neesa Meesang – Co-director of Operations
Sun Yu, lawyer
Mandy, logistics
Erica, PA
George, lead Team Quebec
Stew, security
FBI
Dakota Kayne with K9 Tank
Benny Burnett with wife, Martha Burnett
Jasper Lee
Kumar Singh with partner Veer
Iniquus
Hailey Sterling, logistics
Reaper Hamilton, trainer
Halo and K9 Max, Charlie
Hawkeye and K9 Cooper, Charlie
Ares and K9 Judge, Bravo
Mace and K9 Diesel, Bravo
Nutsbe and K9 Beowolf, Panther Force
Chapter One
Dakota
Sunday
Dakota Kayne dropped the gunmetal grey duffle to the ground, a bright blue Cerberus Tactical K9 logo stamped on the side. He glanced toward his massive German shepherd, Tank, sitting expectantly in front of him. “Let’s see what they’ve packed for us, hey boy?”
Pulling the zipper, Dakota reached in to retrieve a bundle of neatly coiled lines resting at the top. Underneath was a water bottle, energy pouches, a towel, a race number with safety pins, and two tubes of grease paint. He left those in place as he held the handful of webbing and bungee cords under his dog’s nose. “Hey, Tank, have you done this before?”
Tank’s whole body shifted to excitement mode as he leaned forward, tapped his nose on the webbing, then shifted his gaze up to lock with Dakota’s. Big for a German shepherd, Tank was all muscle and enthusiasm. Tank’s biggest muscle by far, though, was his heart. If Tank were doing it, he would give 100%.
This was the first time in almost two months that Dakota and Tank were together.
