Dana Mentink - Top Secret Target

Her true identity is a secret

The next explosive Military K-9 Unit thriller

With his ex-wife next on a killer’s hit list, military police lieutenant Ethan Webb and his K-9 partner, Titus, must guard the woman posing as her. But courageous private investigator Kendra Bell refuses to be just bait—she wants to help bring down the killer. Can she play her part without falling for her pretend ex-husband?

DANA MENTINK is a national bestselling author. She has been honored to win two Carol Awards, a HOLT Medallion and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She’s authored more than thirty novels to date for Love Inspired Suspense and Harlequin Heartwarming. Dana loves feedback from her readers. Contact her at danamentink.com.

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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Top Secret Target

Dana Mentink

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08453-6

TOP SECRET TARGET

© 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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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A shot whistled through the air. Kendra and Ethan hunkered low for cover.

“Anyone else you know who might be shooting at you?” Ethan asked.

“Could be anyone,” she said.

“You can play innocent with me, but I don’t think the marines are gonna be as warm and fuzzy.”

“If you think you’re warm and fuzzy,” she said, yanking the car’s back door handle, “then you’re pretty clueless.”

“We have to move. Shooter is going to change locations to get a better bead now that we’re pinned down.”

Kendra lugged Titus’s dog carrier out, and Ethan reached in to help. Another shot pinged the metal car roof, sending off sparks.

* * *

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,

What a pleasure and an honor to spend time writing about our men and women in the military and their fantastic canine partners. Of course, in order to enhance the suspense, some details were tweaked a bit, but it in no way diminishes the amazing service of the K-9s and their handlers. Mark Twain said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” Titus, along with his real-life counterparts, has plenty of fight, courage and loyalty. Truly they are soldiers of the highest caliber.

In addition to their courage, dogs like Titus in this story have legendary detection skills. As hero Ethan Webb explains about his dog Titus, “You walk into a room and smell chili cooking... a dog walks in and smells each ingredient in the pot.”

In this story, Titus, Ethan and Kendra are up to their ears in trouble, attempting to track serial killer Boyd Sullivan and a stalker from Kendra’s past. As the threats mount, the three will learn to trust each other, and Kendra and Ethan will have to face their own troubled pasts as they begin to fall in love. I hope you enjoy their journey! I love to hear from my readers. If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There is also a physical address on my website at www.danamentink.comif you prefer to correspond that way. God bless you, my friend!

Sincerely,

Dana Mentink

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

—Romans 8:1

To the men and women who serve bravely and selflessly, and to the families left behind who do the same.

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

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

First Lieutenant Ethan Webb of the Air Force Military Police brushed past the startled aide standing in Colonel Masters’s outer office at Baylor Marine Corps Base.

“The colonel is—”

“Waiting for me,” Ethan snapped. “I know.” Lieutenant Colonel Terence Masters, Ethan’s former father-in-law, was always a step ahead of him, it seemed. Ethan and Jillian’s divorce had cemented the bad feelings. He led Titus, his German shorthaired pointer, into the office, found Masters seated in his leather chair behind the gleaming wood desk. Mahogany, he’d been told, nineteenth century. Hard lines, unyielding contours and pretentious, like the man who owned it.