Kyle found his way to the front entrance through halls smelling of sanitizer, wondering how he was supposed to call a ride without his phone. Maybe he could ask the lady sitting at the information desk to call him a cab—if any were running—and have the driver take him to his rental since the road was plowed. Then he remembered he’d followed the ambulance on Arden’s snowmobile.Perfect. He could—
Gina was waiting for him just inside the entrance, an oversized tote on one shoulder and his duffel bag slung over the other. Camo sat next to her.What the fuck? No. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
When he got to her, she nodded once and turned silently. That was the other thing—if agents were together during a call to heel, they were supposed to say as little as possible to each other until they were at the office. This super-spy stuff always sounded fun to Kyle but right now it sucked.
A totally-not-conspicuous-at-all black Lincoln was parked under the pavilion.
“Arden’s snowmobile—”
“Already taken care of.” She opened the trunk and dropped Kyle’s duffel in. “The horses, too. Rounded up and safe at a neighbor’s.”
“But my rental is in a ditch on the side of the road. Probably extra-buried after the plow went through,” Kyle said, thinking the fees for retrieving it and getting it back to Colorado Springs would be astronomical.
“Consider it a write-off covered by work. You’re welcome.”
They rode in silence, but at least the drive was short and the road was plowed by now. Who knew Longmont had an airport? Within an hour, they were wheels-up and headed back to LA, courtesy of Gina and several three-letter government agencies.
Camo nudged Kyle’s hand, begging for pets. Kyle scratched his buddy’s gold and black head. Two dogs in one—that was Camo. He’d lived one life protecting Kyle and one defending Sean only to comfort Arden later. It was a shame he wasn’t two physical dogs.
The storm had blown itself out at least and the flight was relatively smooth. Kyle couldn’t complain about the swank private jet itself. The one and only thing he’d wanted and he’d gotten it—Camo was with him on a plane headed home—but now Kyle would give anything not to have Camo with him, and how messed up was that?
He’d decided the minute he heard Arden’s story about her brother that as much as Kyle loved Camo, she needed the dog there with her more. If all that shit hadn’t gone down with Rick—and continued to rain on Kyle in a perfect shitstorm—he would have told Arden to keep Camo. Once he was able to use his phone again, Kyle planned on calling Lackland Airforce Base and telling them that if by some miracle his paperwork reappeared to disregard his request. Camo belonged with Arden.
He just hoped Arden thought Kyle belonged with her, too.
* * *
Hours later, they pulled into Watchdog Security’s parking garage. No surprise—it looked like they were the last ones to arrive. Kyle killed the engine but before they got out, Gina laid a hand on his forearm.
“It’s not all bad, Kyle.” She gave him a reassuring smile.
“Feels like it.”
“Word of advice. Take what wins you can, where you can.”
She opened the SUV door, grabbed her tote, and got out. She waited for him to let Camo out and they went in together. Fleur bounded down the hall from the courtyard and Gina broke into a warm and beautiful smile. She dropped to her knees and the dog pressed her head against Gina’s forehead.
“Missed you too, girl,” she whispered.
Kyle stopped being mad at Gina after that.
The sound of the dogs’ nails clicking on the tiled floors bounced through the quiet halls as they walked to the main conference room. Gina stepped ahead of Kyle and opened the door for him. Everyone sitting at the conference table stood up—Jake, Camden, Nashville, Costello, and Lachlan at the head of the table.
All eyes were on Kyle as each man saluted him.
“What?” Kyle turned to find Gina saluting him as well. “I don’t understand.”
“Son, you have carried a heavy burden with you for over two years now,” Lachlan said, “and you’ve done that with dignity and in silence. Every person in this room now knows the sacrifice you made to protect your SEAL team from a disgrace they never deserved. I think I speak for all of us when I say we are proud to be on your current team. You’ve always had our backs, son, and in the face of this new threat, we’ve got yours.”
Kyle closed his eyes against the flooding emotion threatening to overwhelm him. “Thank you,” he finally said when he opened them again. “I’ve been honored since day one to be a part of Watchdog, and I’m grateful for the chance you took on me.”
“We like you too, Pup,” Jake said, smiling. He turned to Lachlan. “Now, can we get this show on the road? Some of us have loving wives, and-or fiancées, waiting back home.” He tagged Camden on the arm.
“Yeah, yeah, take your seats.” Lachlan snagged the cut-down, chewed-up pen casing he used as a cigarette substitute and shoved it in the corner of his mouth while everyone but Gina sat down. She took her customary place against the wall while Fleur sat next to her. Kyle took the last empty chair and Camo curled up under the table at his feet.
“I don’t do a call to heel lightly,” Lachlan started. “This is the very first one and God willing, it’s the last. I hoped I’d never have to use it, because it’s reserved for direct attacks against Watchdog. I realize now that I was naïve thinking that, because when you’re in our business and you’re doing your job right, they will come for you sooner or later.”
He pointed to the folder on the table in front of him. Everyone had a matching one of their own. “Now the reason I've called all of you here today is that our teammate Kyle here went and accidentally kicked a hornets’ nest, before the hornets could even move in. Bound to happen, son, so that’s not a criticism. Kyle, since you weren't able to access your phone the minute I called to heel, I have a feeling you haven't checked your bank account.” He shifted the pen casing to the other side of his mouth.
