by Jenna Brandt
“Officer Reggie Collins and Staff Sergeant Alex Murray provide training for missing persons, Sergeant Major Juan Perez and Officer Paul Smithen run cadaver training, Officer John Lee and Gunnery Sergeant Justin Ford handle tracking and scouting, Officer Clara Burnette and Staff Sergeant Adam Reynolds oversee bomb detection, Officers Sean West and Dylan Burke handle patrol and sentry training, and Officers Matthew Knight and Ray Carlson are in charge of narcotics training. The final eight instructors oversee specialized terrain training; Mason Fredericks and Tom Powell train at the lake for water rescue while Officer Ross Canter and Master Sergeant James Franklin train in the nearby mountains for avalanche and snow conditions. Finally, Officers Jesse Dixon, Joe Griffin, and Terrance Bilmont oversee urban disasters such as terrorist attacks, as well as natural disasters which include mudslides, wildfires, and earthquakes.”
The deputy commander spent the remaining time going over the other staff members at the facility and the schedule for the rest of the day. Once they were finished, they were dismissed for lunch before they started their initial training in the afternoon.
Inside the cafeteria, you could have heard a pin drop from how quiet everyone was. Though the trainees were sitting with each another, they weren’t talking. A few minutes later, the staff came in and made their way to a few of the empty back tables. They didn’t seem to have any reservation about talking and laughing amongst themselves. Ted noticed that several of the other trainees looked over, as if debating whether it meant they could talk. After several minutes, they slowly started doing so. Soon a soft hum of chattering could be heard in the room.
“Let me be the first to introduce myself. I’m Kenneth Daniels. I’m an officer with Boston PD and here for narcotics training,” the young blond man with a friendly smile said.
“Nice to meet you, Kenneth,” Ted said with a nod of his head. “I’m Officer Ted Hendricks. I was with Clear Mountain Search and Rescue out of Colorado before coming here to train for the specialized terrain division, specifically natural disasters.”
“I’m going to be in specialized terrain, too. I’m Special Agent Mark Turano. The FBI sent me here for terrorist disaster training,” said the burly, middle-aged, auburn-haired man with a beard sitting across from them.
The final brown-haired man at the table took a little longer to introduce himself. He spoke with a Southern drawl and a small stutter. “I’m Will B-Burdue, from the New Orleans Police Department. I was s-sent here to train for bomb detection.”
“My friend, Adam Reynolds, heads up bomb detection. He’s a good guy,” Ted said with a grin. “You couldn’t have a better instructor.”
“Glad to h-hear that,” Will said with relief in his brown eyes.
The handlers spent the rest of the time talking about their most memorable assignments in search and rescue, and before they knew it, lunch time was over. Mark and Ted decided they would walk together with their K9 partners over to the classrooms since they were in the same division. They entered the room marked disasters to find Officers Joe Griffin, Terrance Bilmont and Jesse Dixon standing at the front of the room. As the trainees entered the room, they gestured for them to take seats.
Once the clock struck one, Instructor Bilmont went to the back and shut the door while Instructor Griffin spoke to the group. “Good afternoon, trainees, welcome to your first day at the most prestigious and elite urban and natural disaster search and rescue school in the world. All of you have been hand-selected to train here because you are the best in your departments, but what you need to know is that means nothing here. Here, you are starting out from scratch. You will do things our way—which is the best and only way. No matter how good you think you are at search and rescue, no matter how many rewards you’ve won or lives you’ve saved,” he looked directly at Ted and paused for a moment, “none of that means anything here. Here, there is only one thing that matters. Our house, our rules. What that means is everything you think you know, what you’ve learned and used as a handler, doesn’t matter here. DCSRA is the best of best, which means we don’t want to hear anything you have to say. We don’t need to hear about your expertise or techniques, because none of what you know is near good enough to surpass what the three of us know about disaster training.”
Their instructors didn’t miss a beat. They started right in on going over their expectations and requirements. Ted pulled out his notepad and pen, taking down notes so he wouldn’t forget anything. By the end of the first day, he was exhausted. As he made his way back to his dorm to get ready for dinner, he got a text from Deanna.
How did your first day go?
He thought about his answer. School had never been easy for him, and with the amount of bookwork required, he wondered if he would be able to cut it. He knew, however, he had nowhere else to go if this didn’t work out. He had given his notice to his Clear Mountain captain, certain that his future was at DCSRA.
Harder than I thought, but I’m making it work.
She texted back:
You want to talk about it?
Though part of him wanted to accept the offer, he was so tired all he wanted to do was grab some dinner, finish the written assignment, and go to sleep.
Rain check. Give me a couple of days to get used to my routine and we can do a video date.
There was a long pause before she texted back a final time.
Okay. Just know I’m praying for you. TTYS
Ted felt bad about his response to Deanna. He could tell she wasn’t happy about it. He had to remind himself that as hard as it was for him to be here, it was equally hard for her to be left back there without him. Silently, he sent up a prayer asking God to help him succeed both at the academy and as a boyfriend. He didn’t want to fail at either job.
Two days had passed since Ted started the academy. Deanna had given Ted the space he needed to get used to being there. She was excited when he texted her and said he had some free time Wednesday evening and wanted to claim that video date with her.
Deanna had picked out the perfect outfit—a pair of skinny jeans and a cream sweater. The outfit looked casual at first glance but also enhanced her features enough that she hoped Ted would notice.
Her laptop buzzed and she clicked the button. Ted’s familiar face popped up on her screen. “Hey, there beautiful,” he said with a giant grin. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”
“I could say the same about you,” she said, her lips curving up to form a happy smile. “It feels like forever since I’ve seen you and it hasn’t even been a week.”
“Well, we used to see each other every day, so a week feels like a month.”
She nodded. “Did you decide what movie we’re going to watch?”
He shrugged. “I figured after putting this off for the past couple of days, the least I could do was let you pick.”
“Trying to butter me up, are you?” she teased, flipping her red curls over her shoulder. “You know I like it when I’m in charge.”
“You know I do,” he flirted back, giving her a wink.
“I guess if I get to pick, I will go with one of my favorites. I also know we can stream it from both our TVs. How about 50 First Dates.”
A look of relief flooded Ted’s face. “Whew, I was worried you were going to pick some chick flick or drama.”
She let out a laugh as she shook her head. “If I wanted you to fall asleep, I’d pick one of those. I know better than that. I figured this is the best of both worlds. It’s got comedy and romance. Besides, I love Drew Barrymore.”
Ted quirked one eyebrow as he tilted his head. “Is that the real reason or is it because I remind you of Adam Sandler and their relationship reminds you of ours?”
“You mean besides the fact that she has amnesia and can’t remember him?”
“Well, I guess not that part. I was talking more about how he’s goofy and bumbles everything, and she’s gorgeous and perfect and way too good for him.”
“You really are trying to butter me up, aren�
�t you?”
“You know it’s true, but if it works on getting you to forgive me for my lack of attention lately, I’ll take that as an added bonus.”
“All right, enough of that,” she said, her cheeks warming from the compliment. “I’ve got my popcorn. Do you have yours?”
He nodded, lifting his bowl of the golden popped kernels. “I’m ready.”
“I think we’re ready then,” she said, leaning back into her sofa to get comfortable.
They counted down and hit the play button at the same time. The familiar images of the movie came across the screen and they both settled into their spots, engrossed in the movie. A few times, out of habit, she reached out to grab his hand during a romantic scene. Each time, an emptiness took a hold of her when she remembered he wasn’t there. Even though she wanted this date to go well, it just wasn’t the same as being together in a real way.
By the end of the movie, Deanna found herself wondering how she was going to be able to handle this for weeks, possibly months on end. And for what? If Ted got the job, he wouldn’t be coming back. Her life was in Clear Mountain. Where did that leave them?
Ted leaned forward, looking at her in a way that made it clear he must feel the same way. Instead of admitting it though, he simply said, “I enjoyed the movie.”
“I did too. It would have been better if we could watch together—you know, in person.”
“I know, but we just need to give it time. We’ll figure out a way to make this work. I care about you, Deanna.”
She nodded. “I care about you, too.”
“I have to get ready for training tomorrow. I’ll text you afterward.”
“Sounds good. Stay safe.”
As the video screen went black, her heart felt like it was filling with the same void. She didn’t want to think they couldn’t make it, but she wondered if all of this was pointless. Pushing that troubling thought away, she stood up and took her popcorn bowl into the kitchen. As she cleaned up, she sent up a silent prayer asking God to give her patience and understanding during this difficult time.
6
It was the final day of Ted’s first week of training. Though the week had started out difficult and he had been consistently in the bottom of the pack of trainees, Ted and Titan were finally getting the hang of the new search techniques. Towards the middle of the week, they managed to work their way up towards the top. In the past couple of days, they were ranking in the top three teams, and in one instance, they even got the highest marks of the twenty-four trainee teams.
“Good boy, Titan, good boy,” Ted said, handing his K9 partner a treat for finding the rescue dummy that had been wedged between two pieces of concrete.
“Nice find,” Instructor Dixon praised, coming up beside them and marking it down on his clipboard. “That’s your third for this session. Soon enough, you’ll be steadily out-performing all the other trainees.”
“Maybe we didn’t make a mistake by picking him for the potential instructor position after all,” Instructor Bilmont said as he approached the pair. “I wasn’t so sure at the beginning of the week, but he’s turned it around.”
“I don’t know. He still has three weeks to go,” Instructor Griffin chimed in as he joined the group. “Sometimes a trainee gets a burst of luck, and then it dwindles out. The key is to see if he can keep up the results.”
“Care to make a bet on it?” Dixon asked, crossing his arms. “I bet you a night out at the bar in Woody that he makes it through to the end.”
“Can I get in on this?” Bilmont interjected. “I bet he not only makes it to the end, but graduates at the top of the class.”
What on earth was going on? Why did these men think it was acceptable to bet on his future? He wasn’t an action figure they could toss around like he was a toy.
Griffin rolled his eyes. “All right, you’re both on. You two have way too much faith in this guy. If he washes out—which I think he will—you both owe me a night of drinks.”
“But if he graduates at the top—you owe both of us drinks for the night,” Bilmont countered.
“Deal,” Griffin said, shaking both man’s hands.
Ted turned away disgusted. He gently tugged on Titan’s leash making it clear he wanted to get away. Just when he thought he was doing good, they made him feel worthless again. What was wrong with these guys?
“Where do you think you’re going, Trainee?” Griffin asked, his voice making it clear he wasn’t dismissed.
Even though he didn’t want to, Ted stopped in his tracks. He paused, inhaled deeply, then turned around, ready for the next verbal assault.
Griffin moved forward until he was only inches away from Ted. He narrowed his steely gray eyes until they were merely slits. “The other guys saw something in you, and that’s why you got this spot to begin with. I want you to know, I don’t see it. I think you’ve simply managed to find a little luck, but luck doesn’t cut it in this job. You have to have gumption, determination, skill.”
Ted lifted his chin up in defiance. “You don’t know me then. I have all of those traits in spades. I’m going to prove you wrong if it’s the last thing I do.”
Griffin looked shocked at first, then almost pleased for a moment, before it was quickly masked by a look of apathy. “Whatever, Trainee, get back to work.”
Ted pushed himself even harder, wanting to show Griffin he was dead wrong about him. He was a great cop, and an even better K9 handler. By the end of the final session, Ted had managed to find three more rescue dummies, which put him two rescues above the rest of the trainees. It tied him for the best first week performance of any trainee. Take that, Griffin.
Apparently, word got around about his record for the week. At dinner that night, several of the other trainees came up and congratulated him on his accomplishment. What surprised him most was that Adam even came up and did the same.
“Congrats, Ted,” Adam said, sitting down next to him and patting him on the back. “I knew you were going to do great here when I recommended you for the spot.”
“I thought it was a rule that instructors weren’t supposed to fraternize with the trainees.”
“I thought you knew by now, I do what I want, and what I want to do right now is congratulate my friend for a job well done.” He stood up, and before he turned around to leave, he added, “Keep it up. I look forward to when you come out on the other side a full-fledged team member. It’ll be nice to have an old friend around here.”
Ted’s heart filled with warmth from the acknowledgement. Even though he felt like he was alone here, he had to remind himself he had a friend in his corner. Not only that, but God was also on his side. As long as he continued to hold onto his faith and remembered God made him for this job, no one could tear him down enough to make him quit. He was going to graduate from the academy and prove everyone who doubted him wrong.
Deanna was nervous. It had been an impulse decision to buy the ticket to Dallas. When her work week ended and she realized she wasn’t on the volunteer schedule for church, she suddenly had a free weekend at her fingertips. Wanting to see Ted was all she could think about, and she found herself booking a ticket via her phone. Three hours later, she was boarding a plane headed for Texas.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Dallas, the jewel of the Lone Star state,” the pilot’s voice boomed over the intercom. “You will find the weather to be a perfect 71 degrees today with not a cloud in the sky. Enjoy your stay and fly again with us here on Allied Airways.”
A few minutes later, the plane came to a stop at the terminal. The seatbelt light went out, letting the passengers know they could get up to disembark. Deanna stood up and pulled her carry-on down from the overhead compartment. She had strategically packed a small enough bag that she wouldn’t have to check it. She didn’t want to take the chance that her luggage got lost when she was only going to be there for a couple of days.
She picked up her rental car and entered the address for the Disaster City Search and Resc
ue Academy. Even though she didn’t tell Ted she was coming, she hoped he wouldn’t mind her surprising him with a visit. She figured it was the weekend, so he was probably resting and bored stiff. This way, at least they could spend some time together before they both got back into their work weeks.
It was a quick half hour drive to the academy, and when she arrived at the place, Deanna was surprised by how active the academy was even though it was the weekend. She pulled into one of the spots in the parking lot and climbed out. As she walked through the campus, she was surprised that everyone seemed like they were still working. She was starting to have second thoughts about bothering Ted, but before she could change her mind, someone came and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Can I help you, miss?” the young blond man asked with curiosity. “You look lost.”
“Do I look that out of place?”
“Well, we only have a handful of women at the academy currently, so you stick out like a sore thumb.”
“I’m here to see my boyfriend, Ted Hendricks. He’s training at the academy.”
“Oh, I know, Ted. We met the first day of training. I’m Kenneth Daniels,” he said with a friendly smile. “He’s staying on the same floor as me. I can take you to his room.”