AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you think you’re going to pump me for information on my sister, you’re delusional.”
Dean really hadn’t been trying for information on Violet in this instance, and when they were just a few feet from Dean’s unit, he stopped and faced Casey. “Look, Casey, I’m interested in what’s going on with you and every kid who walks through that door. My goal is to make sure you don’t end up back in here or worse. I’m not gonna lie, your sister is beautiful, but she’s not in my unit. You are.”
Dean put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and would have said more, but Casey jerked away violently and yelled, “Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever fucking touch me!”
Dean put his hands up in the air, and Liam, a young man who had been with him for a couple of months, jogged over with his dog, Ranger, in tow. Ranger was a black and white medium sized dog with a ton of energy who had come a long way in the last few months with Liam’s gentle hand guiding him.
“Everything all right, sir?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, Liam. This is Casey. Let’s get him set up in line.”
Liam was a tall, thin kid with dirty blond hair and crooked teeth. He had been caught shoplifting and earned a three-month sentence at Alpha Dog. Dean had read his file—a junkie mother followed by four foster homes. When he’d run away from the last one, he’d stolen a sack of groceries and an iPod, the latter of which he hoped to sell, but had been caught at the door.
Dean had pulled him into his group and found out that Liam was a natural leader and had been taking care of other runaways he’d met. The other kids in the unit turned to Liam when there was a dispute. Dean thought the kid deserved better than the hand life had dealt him. Liam was just past sixteen, and Dean had been searching for some way to help him get out of the system.
“Come on, dude,” Liam said.
Casey eyed Dean warily as he followed Liam into formation. All of the kids were to keep three feet between them and hold onto their leashes at all times.
“Attention!” Everyone except Casey stood straight, and Dean waited until Casey finally copied Liam’s stance. “We have a new unit member, Casey Douglas. Please answer any questions he may have and help him feel welcome. He is in Barrack B. Who is in B?”
Liam, Jeff, and Carlos raised their hands.
“Good, you can keep an eye on him and make sure he’s settling in. Now, let’s get started.”
Dean brought Dilbert along and made him sit. “Your dog should always be sitting, whether in front of you or alongside you. Dilbert, about-face.”
Dilbert shifted to a sitting position next to Dean. It wasn’t nearly as fast as some of the other trainers’ dogs, but Dean gave him a treat anyway.
As Dean continued the lesson, he tried not to think about how much he enjoyed this part. Teaching the kids, seeing their faces when their dogs followed a command perfectly . . . They needed this program, and Dean wanted it to succeed and spread. That was the military’s goal: to open up facilities like this across the country. It created new job opportunities for military personnel and established good rapport with the community.
But it wasn’t where Dean belonged. He wanted to be back where the action was, needed to prove that he wasn’t done. That what had happened wasn’t his fault.
Pushing that day from his mind, he barked, “Next up, down-stay! Let’s go.”
“Hey, Sparks!” Martinez called from behind him.
Dean turned around, irritated, but walked over to where Sergeant Oliver Martinez stood by the fence, his blue eyes watching Dean with concern.
“What?” Dean growled.
“Your psychiatrist called. You missed your appointment this morning.”
“My appointment is tomorrow. It’s always Tuesday morning.” Every week, the same conversation over and over.
Martinez gave him a fierce frown. “No, remember I told you she’d called and had to change it to today because she was going out of town, and you said yeah, fine?”
“Fuck.” He couldn’t have her thinking he was skipping out on his appointments. Not when he was so close to getting back what he’d lost.
“Lucky for you, I am a smooth-talking voodoo daddy and told her you had an emergency pop up with one of the kids. Asked her if you could come in an hour.”
Dean laughed with relief. “Thanks, man. I’m glad you answered the phone. Best would have left me out to dry.”
“Yeah, you owe me two because I’m about to take over your class for you while you get the hell out of here and handle your business. And start updating your appointments in your phone like you live in this century.”
Dean didn’t point out that up until Oliver had met his girlfriend, Evelyn Reynolds, he’d been just as clueless as Dean when it came to technology. He didn’t have the time to bring it up if he wanted to make it to Rita Wentworth’s office.
He raced through the facility with Dilbert puffing beside him. When they stopped off at his office for his keys and wallet, Dean put Dilbert in his crate. The dog sucked down half his water bowl before collapsing onto his fluffy dog bed.
