Lachlan clasped his hands behind his back as he paced again. “To keep her safe,” he echoed. At forty-four, with silver just creeping into the dark auburn hair over his ears, Lachlan reminded Camden of a college professor giving a lecture, though most professors Camden had known didn’t have the ready-for-active-duty physique his boss possessed, but more of a ready-for-active-Netflix-watching dad-bod.
Lachlan got to the end of the room and turned on his heel. “Don’t you think a simple command of, ‘get down’ would suffice?”
“It depends?” Kyle’s voice held the slightest questioning tone.
Not good, kid, Camden thought.You’re giving my man fresh meat.
“So you think a six-foot-four marine bodyguard telling a five-foot-two teen megastar in six-inch heels who’s surrounded by crazed fans to ‘get down’ isn’t enough to make her comply?”
“Well—”
“You think he needs to shout, and I quote, ‘Get down, you idiot, don’t make me say it again,’ to get through to her?”
“Sir, I—”
“I’ve had principals ask for a different bodyguard just because the one assigned to them didn’t match their outfit that day. You think one’s gonna put up with being called a fucking idiot?”
“Teenagers can be defiant, sir, so I was just—”
Lachlan stopped pacing right in front of Kyle. Camden watched the blood rise in his boss’s neck to his face.
Now we’re getting to it, Camden thought. He practically beamed the words ‘teachable moment’ at his boss’s cranium. As if Lachlan had caught the thought, he took a deep breath and his color faded back to normal.
“Did she show you defiance right then?”
“No, sir.”
“What about before, when you met her and discussed and defined the parameters of the job?”
“Not then, either, sir.” Kyle couldn’t hold Lachlan’s gaze so he looked at the polished surface of the table instead.
“This isn’t the sandbox, Kyle. These aren’t people whose town’s been overrun by insurgents who were then beaten back and held at bay by us. We didn’t needlessly push those civilians around, either, once we’d cleared their town. We won hearts and minds. Our clients are used to a high level of respect and deference from everyone around them at all times. Often, their biggest worry is that they got soy instead of oat milk in their twenty-dollar smoothie. But not always. They don’t appreciate being reminded that they aren’t always in control, and that very bad things can happen to them. A death threat is a death threat, no matter who you are and what you’ve been through. When you yell at them as you did with our actress today, it disrespects them. It panics them and it makes you look panicky, too. Worst of all, it makes Watchdog look like a joke.”
“That was not my intent, sir. I apologize.”
“I don’t need a fucking apology, kid. I need you to get it right next time. Think you can do that?”
Dude thought he was about to get shitcanned, Camden thought as Kyle’s face brightened. “Sir, yes, sir.”
“Enough with the sir, yes, sir. You’re dismissed. But I want you to review the video on talking to clients. The web address is in your handbook. You’re gonna run through this scenario until you get it right. Win hearts and minds, just the same as Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“Got it. Thanks.” Kyle practically burned a trail behind him as he set a land speed record exiting the conference room.
Lachlan rubbed his face. “Damn kids these days. I feel more like a school principal than anything else.”
Camden laughed at his boss.
“What?” Lachlan glared at him.
Camden pushed off from the wall and walked to the conference table. “I was just thinking you looked like an old-fart professor.”
“Fuck you. I’m not getting older, they’re getting younger.”
“If you say so. He’s notthatyoung, just looks it.” The men took a seat across from each other as Camden continued. “The Pup did good otherwise. Fast reflexes and good instincts. And he’s exceptional with our K9 unit and service training. I like him.”
“Yeah, he did all right,” Lachlan growled. “Killer reflexes and cool except for his mouth. I like him, too. But the truth is, he’s better with the dogs than with our clients in need of bodyguards so I’d like to keep him training the dogs. It’s why I hired him, that’s his wheelhouse, he was a dog handler in the military. Don’t know why he thinks he needs to prove himself as a bodyguard. I think you can still shape him into what I want. Keep him training the dogs. Gonna take a while till I trust him out there, if ever.”
“What about me?” Camden asked.
