Extreme Honor

by Piper J. Drake

  “You don’t ever get stuck in a window seat with someone sleeping?” The image of her squirming in a coach seat, too polite to wake somebody up, amused him.

  “It happens, but usually people want to get up at least once during a flight and stretch their legs, too.” She shifted in her seat again. He increased his speed some to get them to the rest stop faster. Entertaining as it might be, he didn’t actually want her uncomfortable if he could do something about it. “The longest I’ve ever had to wait is the twenty minutes or so during takeoff or landing.”

  “And you’ve never been caught having to go then?” The rest stop came up on the left-hand side and he slowed as he took the exit.

  “Murphy’s Law kicks in once in a while and I have to go just because we’re not allowed to leave our seats.” Lyn laughed—a self-conscious, sort of embarrassed sound. “I try to always time it so I go right before we board and right before we land so I don’t have the issue.”

  He could see her milling around at the airport, timing her visit to the rest room perfectly to boarding. “What do you do if the flight has a delay after you’ve boarded?”

  “Hope I can make it.” She sounded serious, grim even.

  He went over a speed bump nice and slow. No need to aggravate the full bladders in the car. A parking spot opened up right up front near the entrance to the welcome center building. He pulled in smooth and dropped the car into park.

  “Thanks!” She popped out of the car.

  He got out and called after her. “I’m going to take Atlas a ways down so he can do his business. When you’re done, come down this way and meet us.”

  She waved in acknowledgment, hurrying into the large building.

  Cruz chuckled. She really had to go.

  Honestly, he didn’t mind. It was a long way down to Richmond, Virginia, and the Navy SEAL he’d located. Sheer luck the guy was stationed close enough to seek out with a casual day trip. A long one, but doable in a day and a night.

  The man had been one of the soldiers in the highlights video and it’d taken some creative digging to figure out who he was. Cruz was still waiting on the decryption for the full-length video, hoping to get better face shots of the others in the room for identification. In the meantime, Cruz was on a mission to get information from the one he’d located but doing this with Lyn and Atlas put a different spin on the trip. He was willing to take some time and go at an easy pace for this ride. Serious as things were, he couldn’t help but smile with her around.

  Maybe it was her way of enjoying things all around her. The outlook was contagious. She’d been looking out the window the entire trip and commenting on the greenery or buildings or whatever she saw. The world hadn’t gone to crap when you looked at it through her eyes. Not that she was naïve, because a person blinded to the bad all around them would irritate the hell out of him. No. She was aware of the awful things in life. But she took them, dealt with them, and still came through with a positive outlook. It took a different kind of strength than the obvious and he admired her for it.

  Atlas walked beside him on the lead, relaxed and mildly interested in the people around them. The big dog had watched Lyn go until he couldn’t see her anymore but had come along with Cruz without resistance. He was alert as he should be, but relaxed in his own way. He even stopped to sniff a weed.

  They both had it bad.

  And Lyn? She didn’t even know the power she had over them.

  * * *

  David had no idea how attractive he was.

  Lyn paused to take in the scene. David and Atlas had reached the end of the long walkway leading away from the welcome center building. Maybe they’d even made it to the plot of grass marked for dog walking and come back. But currently, they were surrounded by a pack of teenage cheerleaders and a smattering of moms. No doubt the moms were every bit as interested in catching the surly man’s eye as the teens were.

  And David had on his best grouch face, scowling and generally attempting to brush off any attempts at conversation.

  Only when it came to questions about Atlas, his armor had chinks. His answers might be curt but he still answered. And the teens peppered him with more questions. She could see the girls pointing to the big dog. From a distance, Lyn couldn’t make out what David was saying but his dark, growly voice sent delicious shivers across her skin.

  The man gave good voice.

  Of course, the moms weren’t in a hurry to lead their girls away either. They added their own comments and laughed, tossing their hair salon-perfect hair. Lyn tugged at a loose lock of her own hair self-consciously. She’d caught a look at herself in the mirror in the bathroom. Tidy but not exactly looking like a supermodel. Every one of those women was made up, done up, and looking fabulous. How did women manage it on road trips and why would they bother chaperoning a bunch of cheerleaders?

  Because leave a man like David out on his own within five hundred yards of those teenage girls and they’d flock to him. It was hot-guy radar. Had to be.

  Lyn hung back, unwilling to break it up. Insecurity was an ugly beast and she readily admitted she was succumbing to it. Rather than show it to David, it’d be better to wait at a distance. Instead, she observed Atlas—which was her job, after all. Atlas was standing at heel, trying to keep all of those waving hands in sight. Generally, dogs didn’t like all those grasping hands coming at their face. So far, though, Atlas had managed not to get defensive. He was wary but not upset. Under control. David was doing his part as handler, keeping the girls at a minimum distance to allow Atlas to feel safe.

  They weren’t rehabilitating him to be friendly.

  Social, yes. Able to pass calmly through anything and still follow commands, absolutely. But he wasn’t a pet and he wasn’t expected to play with random people. He wasn’t a PR dog.

  He could play, if he wanted. He did play with her and with David. Most of his games revolved around a much-loved tennis ball and fetch. She loved seeing Atlas happy. And once in a while, the perpetual tension left David’s shoulders. His face relaxed and the worry lines fell away. David was even more handsome when he was happy, too.

  But neither of them was the domesticated male those women and girls expected. It was unfair of them to demand either David or Atlas be safe, perfectly behaved, even submissive to poking and prodding and unwanted attention. But if they made one move to try to shoulder their way out of there, they would go from military hot to scary dangerous. If David even tried to be more assertive about insisting they leave Atlas be as a service dog, they’d decide David was mean rather than respecting Atlas’s space.

  Not fair.

  Suddenly, Lyn started walking. Neither David nor Atlas could be rude to get away. They were essentially trapped. And it’d reflect badly on them if they snapped to be free of the twittering attention showered on them. Fine. She could be a bitch on their behalf.

  “I bought us coffee for the road.” She plastered a broad smile on her face as she shouldered her way right through the other women and girls.

  Passive–aggressive whispers and mean girl giggles surrounded them. Ugh. She didn’t miss high school. And really, what was it about people losing all respect for personal space or someone working? Lyn remembered similar gaggles forming around hot police officers or firemen when she’d been on school field trips, more years ago than she cared to count.

  The center of attention—be they a man or a woman—always had an awkward time extracting themselves while leaving a positive impression.

  David looked like he’d seen salvation. Atlas’s ears swiveled forward and his tail even moved side to side once. Tock, tock.

  One of the girls said something. Lyn ignored it. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long. Ready to go?”

  “Yup.” David wrapped an arm around her shoulders like she was a lifesaver and he was drowning. They headed back to the car as the girls made sad pouty faces. The grown women shot looks that could put Lyn six feet under. David dropped a kiss on Lyn’s hair.

  No blu
shing. None. Nope.

  Damn it.

  Delighted warmth ran through her. Even if it was for show, he filled her with a happy glow.

  Once they all got in the car, David let out a long sigh. So did Atlas.

  A person would think they’d been through days of combat instead of surviving minutes with hungry ladies. Well, the latter might’ve been worse. Depended on the type of guy and his preferences.

  David started up the car. “Let’s go.”

  Lyn smiled at him—a genuine, happy smile.

  * * *

  “It should be the next right and up the street on our left.” Lyn hoped the GPS was correct. Otherwise, it’d be an incredibly awkward conversation when they knocked on the door.

  Actually, it was going to be awkward no matter what. At this point, how awkward was more an order of magnitude.

  “We’re going to drive around the block first,” David said, passing the right-hand turn and continuing onward. “Never hurts to get a good look at what cars are parked on the street and nearby.”

  “Did you get a look at the car the man was driving in New Hope?” She wondered if she should’ve been keeping an eye out for it this whole drive.

  Of course, they’d seen a lot of cars on the drive down from Pennsylvania to Virginia. It’d been a solid road trip. Atlas had settled into the back like a champ with very few issues. Come to think of it, Atlas probably had more experience than she did with road travel. The military working dog had also been trained in para-jumping and rappelling, so he was a lot more experienced in traversing distances in every direction. Officially, the purpose of this trip was to socialize Atlas in a variety of environments and record his reactions. She wondered what sort of other environments they were going to take him into today.

  “I did get a look at his car.” David scanned the street as he drove, parking around the corner from the house they wanted to visit. “But the man used to be a Navy SEAL. He’ll have switched cars by now. Either gotten a rental or maybe a cheap used car from a local dealership. Something easy to acquire and even easier to get rid of.”

  Lyn shifted in her seat. The man could be anywhere, still following her. “Why didn’t we call the police?”

  David hesitated. “No solid proof he was following you. It would’ve been my word against his. At most, they’d be able to bring him in for questioning but would’ve released him again. And he’d have gotten more careful.”

  “Oh.” The word sounded quiet, timid, to her ears.

  “This way, he’s still confident and hopefully underestimates me.” He reached out to brush her cheek with his knuckles briefly. “Which gives me an advantage in keeping the bastard away from you.”

  His touch gave her more reassurance than she thought possible and she tucked his words away to think about later. There’d been a lot of information to process in a short period of time.

  He gave Atlas the order to stay and left the car windows cracked for airflow. It was cool outside so Atlas would be safe in the car waiting for them. As they walked toward the house, they kept a casual pace.

  “Do you think he’s home?” It was late afternoon on a weekday. The entire neighborhood was quiet, though.

  “I think he will be home. He works day shift right now, based on my intel. Should’ve gotten home about twenty minutes ago so long as he didn’t get caught up on base.” David didn’t seem concerned and he didn’t elaborate on his sources of intelligence either. “If his family is home, he’s less likely to get overexcited.”

  She didn’t like causing trouble for the man’s family. It was one thing to search out a bunch of soldiers in her mind but now that they were here—about to talk to one—the ramifications were widening in scope. By a lot. “We’re just here to ask questions though, right?”

  David was silent for a second as they turned and walked up the driveway. “For right now, yes. But we all make choices and the reasons behind them get complicated.”

  She didn’t have a chance to pursue the topic because they’d reached the front door and David knocked.

  The sound of small feet stampeded toward the door before a feminine voice called out, “Let your father answer the door.”

  The man who answered the door was lean and dark, and intimidating. Lyn wondered what it was like living with a father like him, but then the man gave them a ready smile and laugh lines creased the corners of his eyes. “Can I help you?”

  “Sean Harris?” David asked, extending his hand. “I’m David Cruz. I’m reaching out to some of the teams who worked in co-op with the Air Force military working dog teams. Wanted to get some feedback if you can spare a couple of minutes.”

  The man’s smile quickly disappeared. Perhaps David’s approach was too transparent. Which unsettled Lyn because she’d considered his introduction pretty circumspect.

  “Seems unusual.” Harris’s voice maintained a neutral and significantly colder tone.

  David spread his hands out at his sides. “I’m retired from active duty, working on consult with the three-forty-first training squadron. Doing some informal research on how we can improve interactions with cooperative teams. Particularly the SEAL teams since you do have dogs of your own.”

  “Not every unit, as I’m sure you’re aware.” The ice melted a fraction but Harris didn’t step back to invite them inside. Beyond him, Lyn caught sight of three curious children. None of them could’ve been older than maybe ten years old. “My team has worked with several Air Force pairs.”

  David nodded. “Did any of them stick out to you as particularly difficult to work with? Any of the dogs have behaviors incompatible with the primary objectives of your team?”

  “Not that I remember.” Harris wasn’t buying it. Lyn noticed he hadn’t done more than glance at her the entire conversation but she got the sense he was keeping an eye on both of them.

  “Any of the teams memorable at all?” David asked.

  “I don’t know what you think you’re doing digging into things no one should know about.” Harris was done with pretending. “But you both need to walk away. Now.”

  David dropped the pretense, too. “There’s a man dead and no one knows the real reason why either.”

  Harris’s gaze swept the street to the right and left before filling the door even more, blocking Lyn’s view of his children. “I can’t talk to you. You should know this.”

  Which meant there was something to talk about. Lyn couldn’t believe they were in the middle of something so dire that a man as tough as this one obviously was could be frightened into silence.

  “I’m trying to do right by my friend,” David said quietly.

  Harris didn’t even flinch. “I have a family.”

  Then he closed the door in their faces.

  Chapter Twelve

  It’s hard to hold it against him.” Lyn climbed back into the car.

  Atlas sat up from the back seat and touched her cheek with his cool nose. She reached up to give him a scratch on the side of his head and he leaned into her hand.

  David finished buckling himself in and started up the car. “You think so?”

  He’d been silent on the walk back to the car. His jaw set but otherwise his features were neutral. Blank, almost. Only to her, he could never be a blank, forgettable face.

  “Well, family is a reason a lot of people do a lot of things, even things that aren’t exactly the right thing.” If someone had asked her a few years ago if she’d ever request a favor of her stepfather, she’d have ripped their head off and told them where they could shove it and the very thought of asking. She’d been determined to show him she had the intellect, talent, and determination to make it on her own in a field he’d dismissed as unimportant. But here she was, because she’d swallowed her pride and decided the chance to work with Atlas was worth her stepfather’s patronizing oversight. It’d been a compromise of her principles. She wasn’t sure what David would’ve thought of her choice but chances were he’d made difficult choices of his own.


  David didn’t respond to her statement, though. Instead, he was looking straight ahead and guiding the car onto the road.

  She sighed. So did Atlas. It would be a really long drive back up to Pennsylvania if David stayed withdrawn. On the other hand, she could understand his wanting to be left to his own thoughts. She could imagine—and it wouldn’t be even close to the reality—what he might be thinking about the dangers his friend had faced without the very men he was supposed to call his teammates guarding his back. If everything around you was likely to kill you, having the team you’re with willing to leave you exposed had to have been terrifying.

  Only some didn’t show fear, not in the way she or other people might be expecting to see it. Everything they presented to the world was very possibly different from what was actually going on inside their heads. David was hard to read in general and in this instance completely shut down. He might be angry or upset, sad or scared. But there wasn’t much body language for her to go by. All she had was Atlas and the big dog didn’t seem concerned by David at all as the dog leaned into her. She rubbed her forehead with her right hand since Atlas still had a monopoly on her left.

  Humans were complicated. It was why she preferred working with dogs.

  “Atlas, af.” David gave the command as he pulled onto the main highway. Atlas looked at him for a long moment, then turned and settled down to lay across the back seat. The delay in obeying commands was still there, but it was getting shorter. At least in response to David.

  She turned her head as she mentally did a little happy dance. Baby steps with Atlas. Every improvement, however subtle, was worth celebrating.

  Lyn continued to look out the windows and watch the world zip by. No need to reinforce the command for Atlas since the dog had obeyed. In fact, if she’d tried it would’ve undermined David’s authority anyway. Besides, she agreed Atlas shouldn’t be standing up between them on the higher speed roadways. If something happened, the big dog would fly right up into the front seat with them or even possibly through the windshield. Technically, they should have him secured in the back and not just free to lay back there.