Page 15 of Kent's Watch
Kent turned to the dog and said firmly, “Tate, come.” Everyone watched in shock as the dog hurried forward. He received a treat and a good boy with a head rub. Kent picked him up and strapped him to his chest.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” Mason asked from his position at the safety lines.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about when Tate is full grown and has to jump out of a helicopter. Do you want him strapped to your front?”
“Yeah,” Spencer Barnes said as he joined them. “Wouldn’t it be better if he starts out strapped to your back?”
Kent studied the dog in his arms, then his friends. “I can see your point, but what if he’s on my back and we’re being shot at? Remember all those missions we were on, and Carl took Whisky down strapped to his front? He covered Whisky’s six with his legs.”
“Ah, that’s right. Sorry.”
“Don’t be, I want us all to be comfortable in training Tate. He needs to be relaxed around you all, not just me. I’m going to be at this most of the day.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know if he’ll get sick the higher we climb or not. That’s why I’m training him here.” He looked at his friends and grinned. “You never know what will happen if we get called out on a mission.”
The others agreed with him, and told him that if he needed them for anything, to call him, and they would come help with any search and rescue mission if they were available. Kent liked that his friends were willing to jump in and help, even though they had their own lives and were retired.
CHAPTER 7
Sunday,around mid-morning, Rita looked up from weeding her flower garden, sat back on her heels, and sighed heavily. She watched as her father, Marvin Chambers, and his dog, Tank, exited his truck. She stayed where she was, and watched as the two dogs greeted each other. Afterward, Zeke went to welcome Marvin, while Tank came to say hi to Rita. She had to laugh as Tank rubbed his eighty-pound body on her. She pushed him off her when he tried to climb on her lap. With a snap of her fingers, she pointed to the ground beside her, and nodded as the dog immediately followed instructions to sit beside her instead of on her. Once Zeke finished welcoming her father, he held out a hand to help her up. She dusted off the seat of her pants, her knees, then tried to rub the dirt off her hands.
By silent agreement, they made their way into her house, and after giving both dogs a treat, Rita sent them into the living room. As she washed her hands, her father started a pot of coffee. She knew then he was there for a special reason. She gave a silent sigh, thinking he was going to question her about her new class at the school. She didn’t have long to wait for an answer. As she washed up, her father got the cups ready for the coffee. They settled at the small table by the window towait for the coffee to finish. Marvin didn’t wait to drill her with questions.
“What happened in class?”
“What do you mean?” Rita had no idea what he was referring to.
“Did you and one of your students assault another student.”
“Christ on a cracker. How the hell did you find out?” Rita demanded, but held up her hand to hold off his answer. She rose to her feet and left the room, calling over her shoulder that she would be right back. She was back by the time the coffee was done. Armed with her laptop and the copy of the incident in question on the flash drive, she set everything up while her father fixed their cups of coffee. As he settled down, she told him to press play. She wouldn’t answer any questions until he saw the evidence first.
“Damn it,” Marvin whispered as he scrubbed his face, sat back hard, and stared at her. With both hands in the air in a surrender motion, he shook his head at her. “I’m not criticizing, and from what I saw, you were right to take him outside. There’s no reason why anyone should abuse an animal like that. I do have some questions though.”
Rita studied her father and realized he wasn’t there to ream her a new one for the way things were handled. “What?”
“One, who was the guy that laid his hand on the asshat’s shoulder?”
“Another student.” Rita looked at him with a grin. “He claimed Bluey.”
“Wow, okay, but what’s his name? From what little I saw, he seems to be a force to be reckoned with.”
“He is, his name is Kent Palmer, and I…” she paused as she sighed heavily and slumped back in her chair. “I don’t trust him. At least not fully.”
“Why?” Marvin demanded, not as the former boss of CSAR, but as a father. “Did he do something to you?”
“No,” she refused to look at her father as the image of Kent’s photo on her phone popped in her head and how she had used the batteries he’d sent her while staring at his image. She shook her head and sighed again. She sipped her coffee, then cradled the cup close to her chest as she sighed heavily. After several moments of silence, she looked directly at her father. “I know I don’t have anything to back this up, but I think he’s lying to me.”
“About?”
“I’ve asked him repeatedly if he’s ever trained a dog before. He repeatedly says no. The only thing he says is that he’s been around handlers with K-9s before. He’s observed them together and paid attention.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Marvin asked in confusion. “What has he done that makes him suspicious of him?”
Rita closed her eyes, shook her head, then opened them. “He had Bluey loose leash trained in less than an hour.”
