Page 10 of Kent's Watch
“Mr. Palmer!” came the harsh cry from across the outside training course. Kent looked up and saw Rita standing there glaring at him with her fisted hands on her hips.
“What?”
“Are you going to do as I instructed?”
“No.”
“Are you defying me?”
“No.” Kent glared back at her and never looked away from her. She was spitting mad, and the way her eyes glared, and her cheeks turned rosy, he had never seen anyone more beautiful. It took what little control he had not to get an erection at what he saw.
“Care to tell me why you’re not doing as instructed? If you continue to defy me, I can always flunk you and take Bluey away from you.”
Kent firmed his jaw as he walked several feet toward her. “First,” he said firmly. “Mydog’s name is Tate when he is working. Tator or Tator Tot when he is not. Second, it’s ninety-five freaking degrees out here, and the piece of equipment you want my dog to go on has been in the blazing sun for the last four hours. I refuse to allow my dog’s paws to be burnt on that metal.” Kent angrily pointed to the metal equipment Rita wanted to begin training the dogs on. They continued with a glaring contest until Julie came up and stepped between them.
“Okay, folks. It looks like this heat is getting the better of us. Let’s take a break and get some cool water for ourselves and our dogs.” She turned and gripped Rita by the arm and dragged her away. When they were on the other side of the park, with her back to the others, Julie laid into Rita.
“What the hell is your problem, Rita? Why are you antagonizing Kent so much today?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Why the hell not?”
“He’s lying to me.”
“About what?”
“He’s trained dogs before. There is no way in hell Bluey can be trained that quickly. I want to know who he’s trained before. Let’s hope he’s not a ringer for another training facility and put here as a plant. If that’s the case, I won’t be responsible for what I do to him!”
“First, it’s not Bluey, it’s Tate. Second, what did Stone’s report say?”
“That’s just it,” Rita sighed heavily as she took her eyes off Kent and focused on Julie. “Stone can’t find anything on him. All he can come up with was that he’s former military. Nothing else. No branch of the service, nothing about what he did for them, nothing.”
“Maybe he was in a secret department or something. Like Black Ops or something and they can’t reveal what they did.” Julie turned so she could look across the park to study Kent. “Now that you mention it, I can see him being former military. He stands tall and proud. His shoulders aren’t slumped, and his hair, though a little longer than regulation, still looks like a military cut. I say he had a very important job while he served his country.” Julie looked at Rita, and saw she continued to throw daggers across the way.
“I’m calling training for the day, and I’m giving them the weekend off.” She held up her hand when Rita turned her glare onto her. “There is no reason why these dogs need to be trained here at the facility for thirty hours a week. Three days a week for three hours will be fine. We’ve done it like that in the past, I don’t know why you changed it for this group.” When Rita started to challenge her, Julie only raised a brow at her. “Do I have to call Marvin in?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Watch me. Rita, I love you like the sister I never had. But you need to stop being a bitch toward Kent Palmer. He did nothing to you.” Julie suddenly reared back and stared at her friend in shock. “Oh my god, are you jealous because he’s trained Tate so well so far? Could he be a better trainer than you?”
Rita turned on her heel and left the area without saying a word. Julie noted that she walked toward the path that led into the woods behind the facility. Heaving a sigh, she went over and gathered the others closer.
“I’m sorry for what you witnessed, but I’m calling the training for the day. Take the weekend off. You won’t have to report until nine on Monday. Continue to train your dog at your home. When you return, there will be a new training schedule.”
“What is it?” Lisa asked as she picked up Charlie and cuddled him in her arms. Kent winced when he pictured her trying to do that in a few months when the pup was hitting the scales at eighty pounds or more. He shook his head to get back into the game.
“Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from nine until noon. That has always been our schedule, and though I shouldn’t admit this, Rita changed it for this session. When it gets closer to certification we will assess you and your dogs and increase training as we see fit. Until then, have a great few days to bond with your dogs.”
Kent waited until the others went inside to gather their items, and after they started leaving, he looked at Julie with raised brows.
“Can I ask you what her beef with me is?”
Julie studied the man before her, and knew he wouldn’t accept anything but the truth from her, so she gave it to him. “Rita said that she doesn’t trust you because you lied about training dogs in the past.” She held up her hand when he tried to speak. “I know, but she also said after what Tim Vickers didto Charlie, she contacted BHP to do a deep background check on everyone here. Yours came back as only being in the military. She’s bound and determined that you trained dogs before.”
“Christ,” Kent said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. When he dropped his hand, he looked at Julie sadly. “I’ll tell you what I told her. I never trained a dog before. However, I worked with several men who had trained military K-9s. I asked questions. There was a time that I had to get a dog out of a sticky situation when his handler wasn’t available. It only worked because we had worked together before. That’s all. She was already trained before that particular mission.”
“I understand, and I don’t want to talk ill of Rita, but there’s a lot of pressure on her with this class. I might have added fuel to the fire for saying what I did.”
