Page 2 of Kent's Watch
Julie nodded without responding because she knew Rita was already lost in her paperwork. On a grin, she bent down and called Zeke, lying on his bed in the corner, to the door. She took him out to do his business, then after she fed him, she let him back into Rita’s office. The next item on her list was to call in the dinner order for Rita. On a grin, she settled down to do the last calls to the references listed on the applications for the next CSARs training that was coming up in two weeks. It was great that Rita liked to train the people with the dogs they would be using on the search and rescues, but sometimes Julie thought Rita was a little stiff on her rules. Don’t get her wrong, she loved the woman like a sister, they’d been best friends sincegrade school, but sometimes she wouldn’t bend on her rules. As she pictured Rita standing before the group of people for the next class, the image of Kent Palmer as he’d handed in the last-minute application popped into her mind. She grinned at herself, thinking he might be just what Rita needed to relax.
Four hours later, Julie let herself back into the office of Chambers Search and Rescue and made her way to Rita’s office. Seeing her boss still doing paperwork, she put the bag of food on the corner of her desk and took the dog out again. After she let Zeke back into the office, Julie made sure the mother dogs and their babies were settling in for the night, and quickly let herself out of the building, making sure to lock up after herself.
Rita tossedthe pen on the center of her desk and sighed in contentment. She looked over at her dog, Zeke, with a gigantic grin. “All done.” It surprised her that he didn’t immediately jump to his feet and demand to be let out. She looked at the corner of her desk and grinned when she spotted the to-go container sitting there. As she pulled it toward her, she saw the note and laughed. Julie had written that she’d taken Zeke out and noted the time. Shaking her head, Rita devoured half the sandwich and chips before doing anything else. As she slowly ate the second half of her dinner, she picked up the application and studied it.
“Kent Palmer, nice strong name,” she said as she continued to eat and read. After she finished her meal, she took care of the trash and cleaned herself up. With a fresh bottle of water in her hand she settled back down behind the desk to pick up the phone. It was answered on the third ring.
“Cogburn.”
“Jake, it’s Rita.”
“Oh, hey, is everything alright? Do you need the guys for a call?”
“No, no, everything’s fine. I’m calling you on a different matter.”
“Which is?”
“I don’t know whether you know this or not, but I’m starting a new class in two weeks. Julie told me that a new application came in after the deadline.”
“You going to accept it? I don’t mean this in a bad way, but I know how much you hate your rules to be broken.”
“Actually, it depends on you.”
“Me, why would I have anything to do with an applicant for your search and rescue training?”
“He listed you as a reference. I wanted to talk to you directly about him.”
“Who?”
“A guy by the name of Kent Palmer.”
“Palmer, Palmer, Palmer, Palmer,” Jake whispered in the phone. “I don’t recall anyone by that name.”
“Says here he was in the military for twenty years.”
“Does he list any other references?”
“Yes, Seth Falco, and Spencer Barnes.”
The line on Jake’s side remained silent for several moments, then came a chuckle. “Ah, I know who you’re talking about now. New guy in town, he arrived with four of his buddies. I had like an hour conversation with them when they first arrived.” He went silent, then chuckled again. “Actually, they work for me, but not full-time. I only call them in when it’s absolutely necessary.”
“So, they do work for you?”
“They will, but not like my guys do.” He paused, then sighed heavily. “Let me put it this way, because of their experience inthe military, there may be a chance that we’ll need their services in the future. Until then, they’re basically living their lives as civilians. If Palmer filled out an application for your school, if it were me, I wouldn’t turn him down.”
“Thanks, Jake.” Rita nodded as she made a note in the margin of Kent Palmer’s application. “How is Striker doing?”
“Good, RJ’s been working with him and he’s not so clingy as before.”
“Good, you know you can call if you need to.”
“Thanks, Rita, I’ll pass that along to RJ.”
“You do that.” They rang off from one another and Rita looked over the application again. She wrote a message on a Post-It note, and placed over the front page of the application. On her way out, she laid the papers in the center of Julie’s desk. She and Zeke left the office for the night, but not before she went to the back of the building and made sure the mother dogs and pups were all settled in for the night. She spent an extra thirty minutes with them. She couldn’t resist playing with her favorite pup. He had been born a runt, and she still didn’t know whether she would allow him to be in the upcoming class or not. She really, really wanted to keep him for himself. With a smile on her face, she quickly left to head home.
Kent Palmer calledout to the person who knocked on his new apartment door to enter, and smiled when it was opened by a friend of his, Spencer Barnes. Though they had served in the military, they hadn’t been in the same branch. Where Spencer was a former Navy SEAL, Kent had served in the Air Force as a Pararescue. He was assigned to a special team and his area of expertise was search and rescue, as well as being a combatmedical personnel. He had loved everything about his job, but found that after twenty years, it was time to get out. Though he was only thirty-eight, his body couldn’t take the wear and tear he put it through every day while on the job. He and his buddies realized about two years before they finally left the Air Force that their job was for younger men. Don’t get him wrong, it was great, but his body told him it was time for something different.
“What’s up?” Kent asked Spencer as he came in carrying a bag. He immediately went to the kitchen island and set the bag down. In seconds he pulled out two beers and took one over to Kent.
