I wake up before dawn, because today I’m driving to one of the state prisons to interview an inmate who once tried to kill me. To tell the truth, I had a rough night, but not because I’m afraid—I’m anxious to talk to this scumbag, a man who kidnapped me, my brother, and my mother when I was two, and who probably was responsible for the death of my father. A cold case detective who’s working my father’s homicide will meet me at the prison to see if this guy will talk; we believe he’s the only known witness to my father’s murder, and he might be able to shed light on the circumstances surrounding his death.

I turned off the alarm before it rang, but my movement was enough to awaken my K-9 partner Robo, who sleeps on his cushion beside my bed. Robo raises his head to watch me, and when I sit up, he leaps to his feet and goes shoulders down into a long stretch, his pink tongue curling against his black lips in the moonlight that streams through the window above him. When I get out of bed, he goes into his happy dance and leads the way to the back door of our small stucco rental on the west side of Timber Creek, a tiny mountain town in the Colorado high country. I shrug on some slippers and a sweatshirt so that I can go out on the porch to watch him while he patrols the fenced perimeter. His life has been threatened more than once in our very own backyard, so I guard him each time he goes outside and never let him out of my sight.

While Robo sniffs each plant and clump of grass he comes to, I marvel again at how gorgeous he is. Predominately black with tan markings, Robo is one hundred pounds of high drive, alpha male German shepherd, and his coat glistens in the light from the porch. As soon as he finishes his business, I’ll take a quick shower, dress in my Timber Creek County Sheriff’s Office uniform, load Robo into the back of our K-9 unit and start the four hour drive to the prison. Typically, we would go to the station or drive out to have breakfast with my fiancé, Cole Walker, and his two daughters—but not today.

My stomach is a bit queasy, so I’m not sure I’ll eat any breakfast. As Robo trots toward me from the far side of the yard, a happy grin on his face, I decide I’ll feed him his kibble and while he eats I’ll pack a thermos of black coffee and a few energy bars, my go-to snack when I’m on a case. When I get home from the prison tonight, I’ll visit Cole and his kids. I’m sure I’ll have much to tell Cole after the girls go to bed. If I’m lucky, I can read the younger one her bedtime story, something that soothes me even on the worst of days. 

I’ve longed for a family ever since mine broke apart, a tragedy caused in part by this guy I will meet face-to-face today. How will I juggle the emotions brought on by the events yet to come this day? I don’t really know. I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.

Read Striking Range to see how Mattie’s day evolves.

Striking Range, A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery #7
Genre: Police Procedural
Release: September 2021
Purchase Link

A deadly secret is buried in the Colorado high country–and murder is only the beginning in the seventh gripping installment of Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mysteries.

He was suspect number one–the man who tried to kill Deputy Mattie Cobb and may have killed her father thirty years earlier. But when Mattie and cold case detective Jim Hauck reach the Colorado state prison where they will finally get to interview him, he’s found dead in his cell. There’s only one clue: a map leading to Timber Creek and rugged Redstone Ridge.

Though she usually works with veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie’s K-9 partner Robo has just sired a litter of pups, who require special, time-consuming care at Cole’s clinic. Left to explore the map’s clue without him, Mattie and Robo journey into the burned forest surrounding Redstone Ridge. But before they can finish their search they’re called to help investigate the death of a young woman found in a campground filled with elk hunters. Identification of the deceased points to her having recently given birth, but the infant is nowhere to be found.

As a deadly storm descends upon the mountains, covering everything with a layer of ice and snow, Mattie and her team search for the missing newborn. The storm batters the area, taking its toll on the team and forcing the sheriff to call in reinforcements. When new evidence surfaces, they decide that finding the woman’s killer will lead them to her baby, making them even more desperate to solve the case.

Then Cole goes missing, stranded alone in the high country with a person that Mattie now suspects is the mastermind behind several murders, including her father’s. She and Robo take to the trail to find Cole–but the killer has a cold-blooded plan that threatens them all.

About the author
Margaret Mizushima writes the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She serves as president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected the 2019 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals. Find her on Facebook, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram @margmizu, and her website at  margaretmizushima.com.

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