Maggie K. Black - Standing Fast

Framed!

A Military K-9 Unit Story

Suspected of aiding a serial killer, single dad Chase McLear is desperate to prove his innocence. However, someone’s determined for him to be found guilty—and now they’re targeting Chase’s little girl. Preschool teacher Maisy Lockwood’s father was one of the killer’s victims, but Maisy believes Chase has been framed. Can Chase’s K-9 beagle sniff out the evidence to clear his name before the killer makes them his next victims?

MAGGIE K. BLACK is an award-winning journalist and romantic suspense author with an insatiable love of traveling the world. She has lived in the American South, Europe and the Middle East. She now makes her home in Canada with her history-teacher husband, their two beautiful girls and a small but mighty dog. Maggie enjoys connecting with her readers at maggiekblack.com.

Also By Maggie K. Black

Love Inspired Suspense

Military K-9 Unit

Standing Fast

True North Heroes

Undercover Holiday Fiancée

The Littlest Target

True North Bodyguards

Kidnapped at Christmas

Rescue at Cedar Lake

Protective Measures

Killer Assignment

Deadline

Silent Hunter

Headline: Murder

Christmas Blackout

Tactical Rescue

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Standing Fast

Maggie K. Black

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08459-8

STANDING FAST

© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

“Did you have anything at all to do with the death of my father?”

Chase blinked as if something about Maisy’s bluntness surprised him. But then he looked down at her again, his gaze strong and unflinching. “No, ma’am.”

“Then how did my father’s cross end up in your home?”

“I have no idea.”

Her gut said he was telling the truth, but her brain was a whole different matter. If Chase was innocent, then was her faith in the team misplaced? Or was she wrong to believe the man now standing in front of her?

Neither option was a comforting one.

* * *

MILITARY K-9 UNIT:

These soldiers track down a serial killer

with the help of their brave canine partners

Mission to Protect—Terri Reed, April 2018

Bound by Duty—Valerie Hansen, May 2018

Top Secret Target—Dana Mentink, June 2018

Standing Fast—Maggie K. Black, July 2018

Rescue Operation—Lenora Worth, August 2018

Explosive Force—Lynette Eason, September 2018

Battle Tested—Laura Scott, October 2018

Valiant Defender—Shirlee McCoy, November 2018

Military K-9 Unit Christmas—Valerie Hansen and Laura Scott, December 2018

Dear Reader,

Have you ever felt like an outsider or been outside a group looking in? Eight years ago, I stood in a hotel lobby at the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference, trying to get up the nerve to go talk to a group of Love Inspired authors. There they were, sitting in a line under the escalator, typing away and talking about poison. I summoned my courage and admitted I wanted to write books like theirs. Lynette Eason invited me to sit with them and ask questions.

That day my life changed. I met my wonderful editor, Emily Rodmell, who edited this Military K-9 Unit series, that afternoon. A year later, I submitted a book, and while it wasn’t accepted, Emily provided me with helpful notes and Lynette encouraged me to try again. I did and one year later, Emily called to tell me Love Inspired would be publishing Killer Assignment .

Being part of this K-9 series, which includes books by some of my own writing heroines, is a dream come true. I really identified with Chase and Maisy, who both felt like outsiders, and I loved watching their romance unfold. I hope you enjoyed it too.

If you want to find out more about writing for Love Inspired, visit www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com, follow Emily on Twitter at @emilyrodmellor find her on Facebook at Emily Rodmell, Editorfor tips and advice. You can find me on Twitter at @maggiekblackor at www.maggiekblack.com.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Maggie

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

—Ephesians 6:13

Thank you to my wonderful editor, Emily Rodmell, for including me in this, my first continuity series. Thanks as always to my agent, Melissa Jeglinski, who discussed series writing with me over chicken Parmesan.

Also, huge amounts of gratitude to Lynette Eason, Valerie Hansen, Shirlee McCoy, Dana Mentink, Terri Reed, Laura Scott and Lenora Worth for your support, guidance and friendship as I was crafting this book. I’m honored to write alongside you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

The scream was high-pitched and terrified, shattering the muggy darkness of predawn July and sending Senior Airman Chase McLear shooting straight out of bed like a bullet from a gun before he’d even fully woken up. Furious howls from his K-9 beagle, Queenie, sounded the alarm that danger was near. Chase’s long legs propelled him across the floor, clad in gray track pant civvies. He felt the muscles in his arms tense for an unknown battle, as the faces of the brave men and women who’d been viciously killed by Boyd Sullivan, the notorious Red Rose Killer, flickered like a slideshow through his mind.