The Girlfriend Rescue Read online

  The Girlfriend Rescue

  Disaster City Search and Rescue

  Jenna Brandt

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Locale and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or actual locations is purely coincidental. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email [email protected].

  Text copyright © Jenna Brandt 2019.

  Cover copyright by Jenna Brandt & Jo Grafford

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  A Note from the Author

  Disaster City Search and Rescue

  Also by Jenna Brandt

  Join My Mailing List and Reader’s Groups

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Praise for Jenna Brandt

  I am always excited when I see a new book by Jenna Brandt.

  Lori Dykes, Amazon Customer

  Jenna Brandt is, in my estimation, the most gifted author of Christian fiction in this generation!

  Paula Rose Michelson, Fellow Author

  Ms. Brandt writes from the heart and you can feel it in every page turned.

  Sandra Sewell White, Longtime Reader

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  The Girlfriend Rescue

  A search and rescue cop training to become a K-9 handler, a lovely dispatcher who always has his back, and an earthquake that threatens to tear them apart…

  Officer Ted Hendricks has been biding his time, locating missing skiers and hikers for three years in Colorado, while waiting for a chance to become a K-9 handler. When a spot opens up at the Disaster City Search and Rescue facility in Texas, he jumps at the chance to go, even though it means leaving his girlfriend behind.

  Dispatcher Deanna Harper had one strict rule — never date a cop. That all changed when she got to know Ted Hendricks. He was the only single officer in the department who didn’t hit on her, which made him all the more appealing. When he decides to travel across the country to train as a K-9 handler, she decides he’s worth taking a chance on a long distance relationship.

  When Ted’s team is deployed to help in the aftermath of an earthquake in Colorado, Ted finds out that Deanna was in the epicenter. Can Ted find Deanna in time to save her? Will Deanna be able to survive until he does? And if they reunite, will they find a way to be together despite the distance between them?

  Step into the world of Disaster City Search and Rescue, where officers, firefighters, military, and medics, train and work alongside each other with the dogs they love, to do the most dangerous job of all — help lost and injured victims find their way home.

  1

  Ted Hendricks pulled his beanie cap down over his sandy blond hair to cover the edge of his ears. Even though spring was approaching, the Colorado mornings still held that crisp, cool air that made layers a necessity.

  “You ready for your next search, Titan?” Ted asked his unofficial K9 partner, removing his leash and let him sniff the sock in his hand. “You’ve done great on the last two; let’s make it three.”

  Titan sniffed several times, inhaling deeply. He turned and took off in the opposite direction. Ted followed, pleased that his partner was headed in the right direction. Every time he wondered if the K9 was going to underperform, Titan proved to Ted that he was the most capable search and rescue dog out there. It still shocked Ted that no one wanted to work with him after his police officer partner in Boulder was killed in a car accident. When the police bulletin went out to the county offering adoption for the dog, Ted immediately seized the opportunity. Not only was he a big animal person because he grew up on a farm just outside Clear Mountain, but he knew it was the perfect way to prove he could be a great additional K9 handler for the Clear Mountain Search and Rescue team.

  Titan continued up the dirt trail, moving along the edge, stopping occasionally to take another whiff of whatever was driving him forward. About twenty yards further up the trail, Titan found the spot where the other matching sock had been hidden earlier in the day by Ted. He barked and sat down next to a bush on the side of the path.

  Ted jogged up and dug inside the bush. He plucked out the sock with pride. “Great job, Titan, you did really good,” he said, pulling out a treat from his cargo-pants’ pocket and giving it to the German shepherd.

  Titan barked a second time, wagging his tail with joy. Ted ruffled his partner’s fur, laughing at how happy he was at his work. Ted had been worried whether or not they would bond and make a good team; however, the moment he picked him up from the Boulder County police kennel, there was an instant connection.

  “You ready to head over and get Deanna?” Ted asked, as he re-attached the leash to Titan’s collar.

  He barked again, wagging his tail even faster at the mention of Ted’s girlfriend. The only person Titan liked more than Ted was Deanna, and he couldn’t blame his K9 friend. Deanna was amazing. Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous with curly red hair and bright green eyes, she was smart, funny, and one of the kindest people he knew. Even though he had worked with her for years, he had purposely never gone after her. He saw how it bothered her when the other men at the station hit on her, and he didn’t want to be that guy. Plus, he didn’t think he had time for a relationship when he was so focused on his career. When Deanna asked him out on a date, her pursuit was the first time he thought about the possibility of making room for anything other than his job and his family.

  Once back at the parking lot of the Clear Mountain Resort, they loaded into Ted’s truck and headed down the main road back into town. He drove to the east side of town and pulled up to a set of townhomes.

  “Wait here, Titan. I’ll be right back.”

  Ted hopped out of his truck and headed up the walkway. He reached the top of the steps and knocked on the door of the left unit. A few minutes later, Deanna opened the door. She was pulling on her last heel. “Just give me a quick sec,” she said, moving over to grab her purse and jacket from the coat rack behind the door.

  Ted grinned, repressing the chuckle that wanted to escape. It was so like Deanna to be late. She was as easy-going as they came in her personal life. This was probably her way of off-setting the need to be tough-as-nails when she was at work trying to keep up with the cops.

  “Are we going to make it on time? I don’t want your parents to be upset with me.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Ted promised, as he helped her into her black jacket. He hated covering up her blue blouse and jeans—which hugged the curves of her body perfectly—but he knew it was still a little too chilly to go anywhere without a coat. “Besides, they love you. You don’t
have anything to worry about.”

  “Good, because I know how important this is to your mom,” Deanna said, locking the door behind her before they took off.

  Saturday brunch was a tradition Ted’s mother started for the family when his first brother moved out on his own four years ago. As the youngest of the three brothers, Ted decided to move out two years ago. His mother complained all the time about having an empty nest now that they were all gone. It was probably why she liked Deanna so much. She thought it meant Ted would be settling down soon and giving her lots of grandchildren. His oldest brother, Phil, enjoyed the single life. Ken, the middle son, had only had one daughter from a previous relationship and swore he was done. This was the main reason their mother pinned all her hopes on Ted.

  A few miles outside of town, they reached a dirt road that led to Ted’s family’s ranch. Set back and surrounded by trees was a rambling farmhouse with a wooden barn next to it. There were also two large silos and, next to the barn, a corral filled with horses.

  Ted climbed out of the truck and came around to help Deanna climb down, then kept the door open to let Titan out as well. They made their way to the front of the house, but before they could even knock, the door swung open. “Uncle Teddy!” his six-year-old niece, Maggie, yelled with a giant grin on her face. “You ready to play Minecraft with me?” All of a sudden, noticing Titan, she pushed past Deanna and Ted to wrap her arms around the dog’s neck. “Never mind, I want to play with Titan instead. Come on, boy,” she said, gesturing for the K9 to follow her.

  Ted and Deanna trailed after them into the dining room where the men were sitting around the table and his mother was putting out the last of the dishes.

  “Can I help you with anything, Mrs. Hendricks?” Deanna offered.

  “How many times do I need to remind you to call me Tamara?”

  “I guess it’s just a habit from my job. I tend to call everyone ma’am or by their last name,” Deanna explained.

  “Well, I suppose Mrs. Hendricks is better than ma’am. That would make me feel so old.”

  The men around the table chuckled.

  “We wouldn’t want that,” Ken said, elbowing their brother Phil in the side. “Mom wants to pretend she’s still twenty-two.”

  “Stop that,” she chastised, patting her blonde mane. “Can I help it that I don’t have a single gray hair on my head.”

  “Dying your hair will do that,” Phil pointed out with a wry grin.

  “I don’t appreciate the accusation,” she said, giving her son a withering look of anger. Turning her attention to Deanna, she added, “I don’t need to dye. I have great genes. Just remember that, dear, when you and Teddy decide to finally get married and have children together. They’re going to be blessed with the same great genes.”

  “Let’s hurry up and eat before the game comes on. I want to find out who is going to make it to the state finals,” Ted’s father, Bill, said as he gestured to the empty seats next to him. “Sit down.”

  “Come on in here, Maggie,” Ted’s mother called out towards the living room. “It’s time to eat.”

  Deanna and Ted did as they were directed just as Maggie came running into the room with Titan behind her. She took the last remaining chair at the table, and Titan laid down on the floor beside her.

  His father said a prayer over the food before they passed the dishes of mashed potatoes, fried chicken, green beans, and bread around the table. The family laughed and talked about their week. Maggie kept slipping pieces of food to Titan. Ted knew he should probably stop it; it wasn’t the best idea to feed him from the table, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop it since it made them both so happy.

  Just as they were finishing up the meal, Ted’s cell phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw it was a call from work. “I have to take this.” He answered the call only to be informed he was getting called in for a missing hiker. He wished he could take Titan with him and prove how great of a team they were, but he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to seek the captain’s approval yet. It would just have to wait until next time.

  “Ken, do you mind giving Deanna a ride home for me?” Ted asked, standing up from the table. “I have to go to work. We’ve got a missing hiker.”

  “What about Titan?” Maggie asked, looking down at her K9 friend.

  “Can you keep him here until I can pick him up later?” Ted asked.

  “We can watch him, can’t we, Daddy?” Maggie begged. “Please, Daddy, please?”

  He shrugged. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

  Ted leaned over and gave Deanna a quick kiss. “Sorry about this. I’ll call you later.”

  “I knew what I was signing up for when I decided to date a search and rescue cop,” she teased with a smile. “Go find that missing hiker.”

  As Ted took off, he was grateful for his wonderful family and girlfriend; however, part of him still longed for the one thing he didn’t have that he always wanted. He wanted to be a K9 handler. He knew he needed to finally just go for it, but in the back of his mind, he worried that it wasn’t going to work out. Pushing that troubling thought away, Ted focused on what he needed to do next. He sped towards the station, ready to meet his team, and start their search.

  The first day back to work after Deanna Harper’s weekend off was a doozy. Clear Mountain was a mid-size town, but you wouldn’t know it from the number of calls in her queue at the moment. All morning, the phone had been ringing off the hook with calls for service directed to them from the county 9-1-1 center.

  She worked her way through the calls one at a time, hoping to get done in time for her friend’s arrival. Just as she was finishing up her final call, Hayley Hall Bishop rushed into the room, seven months visibly pregnant.

  “Let me guess, you’re not going to have time for lunch?” Hayley asked as she came to rest at the edge of Deanna’s desk.

  Deanna held up one finger as she continued to speak into her microphone, “Copy that, Ocean Two, you are clear and can head to the next call pending. It’s a burglary in progress, but be advised, it’s Mrs. Mclintock. It’s most likely cats in the alley.” Deanna ended the call and leaned back in her chair, letting out a heavy sigh. “I thought today would be slow. Mondays usually are, but something must be in the water. It’s been nonstop calls all day.”

  “I can go grab some lunch and bring it back here,” Hayley offered, pushing her brown hair behind her ear.

  “Would you mind? That sounds great. I didn’t bring anything with me because I thought we would be going out to lunch. I don’t know what I was thinking. I almost always end up eating lunch at my desk.”

  “You thought having a second dispatcher was going to make things easier for you, but I’m guessing that isn’t the case.”

  Deanna shook her head. “I like Janet well enough as a person, but I get the feeling she’s here more for the socializing than the actual work.” Deanna glanced around to make sure they were alone, then lowered her voice and added,” I resent that the captain hired her without asking me first. I would have told him she had a reputation for being a badge bunny. On top of that, she’s not professional at all. She’s already late back from lunch—again—and with the amount of calls we’ve had today, I don’t think I should leave her alone when she gets back.”

  “Believe me, I understand having to manage workers who don’t take the job as seriously as you do. It’s the story of my life at the Gazette.”

  “You have to deal with it way more than I do,” Deanna pointed out. “I just have one problematic worker.”

  “Yes, but you’ve had to put up with the guys around here hitting on you, too. I can’t even imagine having to deal with that day in and day out. I’d end up biting off someone’s head if the men at the Gazette treated me the way the men around here treat you.”

  “I know from the outside it seems difficult, but the single men are usually on their best behavior in an effort to win me over. The guys who really bother me are the ones who think I got my job because of my
looks. They act like there’s nothing upstairs, and I’m just another badge bunny looking to land a cop for a boyfriend. It’s why I was so resistant to dating cops to begin with. I didn’t want to fall into that stereotype.”

  “You mean like Janet?” Hayley said with a roll of her eyes. “Isn’t she on her fourth cop-boyfriend?”

  “Fifth,” Deanna corrected. “She dated three in Boulder before she moved to Clear Mountain.”

  “Well, at least everyone knows that you and Ted are the real deal. You passed up multiple chances to date plenty of guys around here.”

  Deanna nodded. “What can I say, the fact he didn’t flirt with me, and never made me feel like a piece of meat was exactly why I was attracted to him. He didn’t see me as a conquest, but as a real person with a brain and the ability to use it. It’s the sexiest thing about him.”

  “Seriously? And the fact he’s the most ripped guy at the station has nothing to do with it?”

  “Hey now, I resent that comment,” Connor Bishop, Hayley’s husband, said coming up behind his wife. “I keep myself pretty fit.”

  She turned around and placed her hand on his arm and squeezed. “Why yes you do, and I have to admit, I like it. It doesn’t seem fair; however, that I can eat whatever I want because of the baby, and you still have to watch what you eat.”