Bam. If Camden didn’t go toe-to-toe with Lachlan right now, he’d probably lose this assignment entirely, old teammates or not, and how would that help anyone? “Look, I’m sorry I lost my cool. I can damn well still lead this team. If the chatter is correct about a foreign agent trying to build the next Manchurian candidate from the ground up, we’re all fucked, and that includes Elena. I recognize that, and I’m willing to put my personal life aside for the greater good. If she can get intel out of Cici, we’ll use it. But we’ll bring Elena in only within that scenario, and we’ll bring her in and protect her the way I see fit.”
“Elena may not even agree to help, seeing as she’s been in danger before,” Gina said. She pushed off from the wall and approached the table, Fleur following like a caramel-colored shadow. “And if she doesn’t, we’re back to digging for intel in other ways. Camden, are you still thinking of looking into the Bennetts’ medical records with the infertility clinic?” Gina actually took a seat at the table. Fleur plopped down at her feet.
“It’s about all we’ve got after digging through her college years, which were both boring and exemplary. But, HIPAA makes getting medical records difficult, especially in California. A crime hasn’t been committed yet that we know of, we aren’t trying to identify a victim or perp, we don’t have a missing person. No way a court’s gonna give us permission to grab Cici’s infertility records, especially if we have no idea what we’re looking for, if anything.”
While he’d been talking, he watched a spark grow in Gina’s eyes. “So, Spooky, howdowe get those records? I’m almost positive there’s something there.”
Gina templed her fingers and her red-painted nails clicked together. “Research team.”
“Research team?”
“A public or private nonprofit educational institution can request medical records for research purposes.”
Camden couldn’t stop the grin overtaking his lips. “And you just happen to know of an educational institution that would request records from a certain clinic?”
She nodded. “I think a study on the prevalence of twin births after fertility treatments ten years agojustgot funded.”
“How long would this take?”
“You’re not going to get the info overnight. HIPAA won’t allow a patient’s privacy to be violated. The clinic will still have to release the records minus any patient ID markers. That means no names, addresses, or identifying characteristics. We’ll have to narrow down the records to the dates Cici was treated and compare what we know about the Bennetts to the patient info theydogive us.”
“I can find the needle in that haystack,” Costello said.
“Cici’s and Roger’s ages are our best bet,” Gina told him. “So, the research team will ask for the patients’ ages as part of the data specifically required for the study.”
She said this so quickly and smoothly that Camden got the feeling Gina had put this idea into play the minute he’d mentioned the fertility issues at their last meeting.While I’m playing checkers, she’s playing chess. So glad she’s on the team.
“Any more chatter? Anything about Bennett being approached?”
“Nothing more yet,” Gina said. “That’s up to us to figure out.”
Camden ended the meeting feeling more lost than he had in years. But he knew one thing for certain—he’d do anything to keep Elena and Tina safe. Starting tonight.
* * *
When Camden went to the courtyard to pick up Toby, he was still thinking about the best way to keep everyone safe, including his clients. Kyle was just finishing up an obedience training class with a group of civilians. He held up a hand acknowledging Camden, while his other held Toby’s leash. Kyle often used Toby for his demonstrations with the classes or as a dog ambassador when he did a public demo. Toby had been assigned to Camden when he started at Watchdog, and the two immediately started to bond. When Camden sat in on Kyle’s second job interview, he’d been surprised to learn that Kyle didn’t have his own dog. He continued to be dumbfounded that the Pup hadn’t particularly bonded with any of the other dogs, though he obviously enjoyed working with all of them, and they loved him.
“Be sure to practice all week and stay consistent,” Kyle told the class as they got ready to leave. “Constant reinforcement does the job.”
“That advice works on kids, too,” Camden joked. “And new recruits.”
Kyle gave him a half-smile. “Next you’re gonna tell me there’s no difference between the two.”
“Aw, you stole my punchline.” Camden crouched and gave Toby a vigorous head-scratching.
Kyle handed him the leash. “This good boy makes my job easy.”
“That he does. Not that you need it. I’ve never seen someone handle dogs so well. How come you don’t have one of your own?”
This time, Kyle beamed. “I do have a dog, sir, but he’s still serving.” Like a proud dad, Kyle took out his wallet, removed a bedraggled photograph, and handed it to Camden. In head-to-toe desert fatigues, Kyle knelt next to a dog kitted up in a battle vest, a pair of goggles slung around his furry neck, large pink tongue lolling out the side of his smiling muzzle. “That’s my old partner, back when I was the dog handler on my team.”
Camden squinted. The dog looked like a Lab, but unlike any he’d ever seen before. Instead of solid black or yellow or chocolate, this dog’s coat was mottled black and yellow, like a tortoiseshell cat. “I thought they only used Malinois and German Shepherds.”
“Mostly they do. But my boy’s special. See his coat? He’s a chimera. I don’t know all the science, something to do with two sets of DNA, but I understand it’s like having two animals in one. All I know is that his sense of smell is twice as good as any other dog I’ve ever worked with. He’s found IEDs other dogs walked right past. And he tracks people better than any Bloodhound. He once found a little boy after a mortar brought down the house around him. Kid wouldn’t be alive otherwise. His name’s Camo. Short for Camouflage.”
Camden chuckled. “Perfect name.” He handed the photo back to Kyle.
“I haven’t seen him in nearly two years, not since I…left the SEALs.” Camden took note of the hesitation. “But, I put in the paperwork to adopt Camo once his duty is done and he’s back Stateside.”
