“We call her Sparky at work. She recently joined us after returning from her honeymoon. Keep an eye out for her dog, and I’ll warn you she has a temper,” Leo said.
“What about her blindness?” Cole asked bluntly, not wanting to sound disrespectful, but he wondered about what she did for the team.
“What about it?” Leo growled protectively, earning him more favor in Cole’s eyes.
“What does she do for the team? I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, and I know technology helps a ton of blind people. I’m asking because I noticed she returned to the mountain with Whiskey. She doesn’t seem the type to let you discriminate against her sex, and you mentioned the men will help me unload.”
“Sparky has an uncanny ability to recall things like maps, and she only needs to walk a room once to get her bearings. She’s helping me with a few contracts in the Middle East. I don’t take too many over there, but I have a contact who reached out with a special request. I only recently discovered she can speak several languages, including swearing if you eat her donut. Her blindness doesn’t pose a disability for us. We don’t discriminate, and she’s the first to volunteer. In fact, she’s ordering your groceries with Bear as we speak from the list of things you ordered online from your last purchases. She’ll most likely arrive with Kassie, who wanted to introduce herself to you.”
Reading between the lines, Cole nodded. The only female on the team did her fair share. He never once thought she didn’t. He wanted to understand what she did for the team, and since she obviously joked about her blindness, he didn’t want to say anything wrong.
“What about the volunteering? Who do I speak with?” he asked, fully vested in finding his place in the community.
“You can talk to Kassie. They have sign-up boards in the hospital. I’ll have Sparky show you. Whiskey drops her off every other day, and tomorrow’s her time to visit her friend.”
“Thanks for giving me this opportunity,” Cole said, glancing up to meet Leo’s piercing stare. “It came at the right time, and I’m anxious to get to work.”
“I saved the best for last,” Leo said ominously. “We have several veteran support groups within a short distance from us at the hospital. I encourage my men to partake in them from time to time when life throws us a few curve balls.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Cole said, his anxiety rising.
Leo stared at his new team member. “No one comes from war unscathed. You may have worked with animals, but something tells me with your track record, the military wasted no time throwing offers at you to convince you to stay, which leads me to my question. What happened to send you running?”
Cole swallowed. He only arrived today and the wise leader already called him out. “I lost my edge. I trained three of the five dogs killed. They never once missed their mark during training sessions. I went with them on security details to ensure the dogs handled the noise and distractions without any issues.”
“You can’t hold yourself personally responsible for someone else’s mistake. What if the handlers didn’t correctly perceive the warning? I’ve heard these dogs have a sixth sense about these things,” Leo reasoned, watching for Cole’s reaction.
“I don’t hold myself responsible. The dogs knew their jobs backward and forward,” Cole said, slowly. “I suspect they never anticipated Brody surviving. I worked with him on the training ground once he healed. He never once missed his mark. The accidents happened almost a month to five weeks apart. They claimed it was due to the increased violence in the areas, but I don’t believe them.”
Leo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What do you think happened?”
“I believe someone murdered those dogs or the handlers for another reason. I can’t prove any of it, but I think they used the incidents to distract from something else, like shipments of drugs or guns,” Cole confessed, thinking he might lose his job for accusing the military of his wild theories.
“Why do you think that?” Leo asked, not even blinking an eye at his accusation.
He took a deep breath, finally feeling relieved at finding someone who might have the means to help him figure out who killed John and the others. “The day of John’s death, I brought Brody up to the unit after his yearly physical and shots. Usually, handlers stick with their dogs. With the three others down, John offered to scout for another team. He worked with their dog before and felt confident in doing it. I promised to bring Brody the following day. When I took him, I saw the supplies. When they reported a dog down, and I learned of Brody’s accident, I insisted on going with the vet to care for him. The shipment remained intact on the side of the road. When I pulled up the records of the incident to record Brody’s injuries, the summary mentioned the rebels raided the supplies. My suspicions grew from there. They hounded me to re-up, but I didn’t feel inclined. When I agreed to extend another six months, the colonel threatened to force me to stay longer, citing they needed my skills. My sergeant adamantly agreed with him. I used thetime to investigate. I grew closer to discovering who might be behind it when all of a sudden, my paperwork went through, and Brody got approved after months of red tape. It seemed too coincidental.”
“Tomorrow, you’ll sit down with Bear and Sparky. Tell them everything you told me. We’ll investigate it with you. You’re now a member of our team and whoever planned the attacks must be prosecuted. They killed innocent people and animals. Most of all, they turned their backs on the men and women who serve our country.”
A car door slammed outside and he heard a few more vehicles pull up. Leo and Cole rose at the same time and walked toward the front of the house. As they neared the cabin’s entrance, Cole stopped Leo.
“How did you know?”
“You’re too valuable to them to simply let you go. The fact I received two contracts with your former unit within days of our last meeting sent up red flags. I want you here to keep an eye on you, but I’m not stupid enough to let your talent go to waste. We’ll help you figure this out,” Leo said before letting his team inside and heading to Cole’s truck for the rest.
Cole followed behind, feeling like Leo punched him in the gut. The man didn’t hire him for a permanent position. He brought him here to watch him. It appeared Brody wasn’t the only one who needed to prove his worth after all.
CHAPTER 6
Scarlett entered Hannah’s room,carrying a small pumpkin, a candle warmer, and a fall-scented candle.
“Hi, Hannah. Did you sleep okay? The wind howled all night. The temperatures keep dipping and then warming up. People will be dropping like flies with all the viruses going around,” she said, placing the items on the table.
Hannah never moved. Her body held her prisoner as she watched Scarlett set up the warmer. She placed the candle inside and fiddled with the timer.
“I hope you like this scent. It has cinnamon in it and smells like the weather outside. Kassie permitted me to leave the candle warmer in here. You won’t have to light it. I set it for four hours, but you can change it to your preferences,” Scarlett babbled.
Hannah wanted to say thank you, but her body refused to move.
