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Sam and I watched each other as I waited to see what he would say. It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. He was far too calm, standing casually with his hands in his pockets.
My brain started trying to puzzle him out. Sam had a whole military unit with him, but they clearly weren’t answering to the military right now. He had ordered eyes on the military’s movements at the Palace and had backed us up against the soldiers we had trussed up in the cellar without question.
“Spill it. You have an ace up your sleeve, and I want to know what it is. We’re going to need it.”
I could see his lip twitch in response to either my deduction or my demand. But instead of answering me, he lifted his chin and countered with his own question.
“Why did you retire from the military? You had a decorated career as a highly respected commander. Even if you’re in your early forties, I’m guessing at that, you’re fit and strong. You could have worked operationally for a decade yet. Or demanded a cushy desk job higher up the chain of command. You’d earned it.”
Damn. He wasn’t pulling any punches with his questions tonight. I decided to be brutally honest, without giving too many details. It was the only way we were going to figure out if we could trust each other.
“I had to choose between my career and my morals. They were demanding I order my men to do things I couldn’t stomach asking them to do.”
“Does Damon know?”
I shook my head as I watched the river rushing past. I remembered standing on a different river bank with Damon, just before I retired, holding all my secrets inside. It felt good to let some out. “Some of it, but not all. It was my decision. That man takes on enough of the world’s problems. This one was on me.”
“So he’s a man and I’m a pup? Good to know,” Sam said with a sly grin.
“Yep, for now. Unless you prove otherwise.”
“Fair enough,” Sam said as he chuckled and I relaxed. If Sam was laughing right now, he had to be confident in his ability to call in reinforcements.
“Last question. Why did you trust Dio with Lexie?”
“It wasn’t my call. Bear trusted Dio with Lexie. I just backed him up.” I smirked at Sam. Bear whuffed gently at hearing his name and sat up. He had relaxed since Sam had gotten out of the water, and had been laying at my feet. He was still keeping an eye on Sam, though. I reached down and stroked his giant head, and he turned to look up at me.
We were in sight of the gate and I had left it open slightly in case Bear had felt the need to go back to Lexie. With Sam now calm, I wanted another set of eyes on her. I figured Dio was probably too distracted right now to keep eyes on the perimeter of the treehouse.
“Go keep watch over Lexie, Bear.”
Bear looked at Sam and gave him a light warning growl before he affectionately nudged my hip with his head and took off towards the gate.
Sam sighed heavily, and his shoulders slumped. “I’ve got my work cut out for me with him, don’t I?”
“Yep.” There was no use sugarcoating it. “But it will be worth it when he accepts you into his pack.”
Sam raised his eyebrow at the use of the word pack, but I ignored it.
“So, did I pass your test?” I asked.
Sam tilted his head and looked me up and down speculatively. I kept my posture open and casual, standing with my hands behind my back. It was a habit from my military days.
“What I’m about to tell you could endanger people if word got out. There are protocols and a strict vetting process for bringing new people in, but the Crash has changed everything.”
I nodded at him. “Understood. You don’t know me yet, but I will do almost anything to protect the people on this farm. The only line I draw is hurting other innocent people. If whatever you’re involved in doesn’t cross that line, your secret will be safe with me.”
“I know more about you than you think, Dave. Have you ever heard of the Network?”
I sucked in a breath. “It’s real?”
It was Sam’s turn to give me a curt nod. “What do you know?”
“Nothing. I came across a young soldier who wasn’t part of my team. He was dying from a gunshot wound while on patrol, but we weren’t in an active war zone area. The kid kept mumbling, telling me to find the Network. He tried to pass me a note, but it had his blood all over it and I couldn’t work out the code that was written on it. He died in my arms.”
Sam tensed up at that and took a half step towards me. “When was that? Do you still have the note?”
“It was a month before I retired. I burnt the note. There were too many eyes on me at that point. I couldn’t risk it being found. Somebody covered his death up and I never saw it in any official reports. I don’t know what happened to his body. Not being able to bury that young man honorably is one of my biggest regrets.”
