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I withheld my smile and leaned forward, removing two plates from the top of the cooler. Then I flipped open the lid and brought out two beers. The twins had grabbed theirs, and Danny hadn’t. For some reason. I extended one in silent offering, and he accepted it.
It was a good time to go soft on Danny—in my own way.
“You’ve been in my care for five months,” I said. “The Army spent nine years and approximately two million dollars to turn him into one of the best soldiers this country’s ever seen.”
I twisted the cap off my beer and took a swig.
Danny blinked and sort of froze.
Reese let out a low whistle and eyed Danny.
I hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true.
No matter how long Danny was here for, I wanted to show him I was more than an instructor. He deserved that, and it was for me too. As much as he could piss me off, we were both civilians now—technically—and maybe a fresh start could eliminate the hostility.
I didn’t wanna be the fucker who started being all nice because of what he’d been through. And with that said, another voice piped up and said I could at least treat him with more respect. We were equals after all. Besides, if I wanted to be more than an instructor, I had to remember that he was more than a soldier too. So…yeah, my mind was still fucked.
I’d find a balance somehow. Once I figured out what route I’d approve for him. Because it was extremely difficult to consider preparing him for a life in the private sector. The thought made me restless. Who would hold him back when his temper got the best of him? Who would be his backup? But in the end…it wasn’t up to me, was it? He was a grown man.
River cleared his throat. “Reese.” He nodded at the grill.
“Right.” Reese turned the steaks over. “Yeah, I think dinner’s ready.”
“Wonderful.” I was starving. I got up and grabbed one of the plates and pushed the salad to the side. Someone had cut up tomatoes and thick slices of cucumber. “Which one is medium-rare?”
“All of them.” Reese placed a steak on my plate, followed by a wrapped potato, then handed me a knife and fork. “But, so…is it possible we could maybe do more than just relax while we’re here?”
The twins were eager. Reese might be the talker, but he spoke on River’s behalf too. They wanted the same things.
“I’m sure I can think of something.” I returned to my seat and scooted it closer to the cooler and placed my plate there. The food looked damn good.
“Sweet. Danny told us about the time you sent his unit out on a foraging hike,” Reese mentioned.
“Uh-huh.” I peeled the foil off the potato, and then Danny was right there with a stick of butter and a knife. Oh, absolutely. I nodded, and he cut a quarter of the stick onto my potato. Perfect. “Cheers. Grab your food.” I cut into my steak and glanced back at Reese. “You want a task like that?”
He shrugged. “It’s a good skill to have, isn’t it? Being able to forage stuff in the woods…?”
I supposed. “It certainly couldn’t hurt, but I can’t envision a scenario where you’d have to forage for food in an American forest.” I loaded steak and buttery potato onto my fork and dug in.
My comment had made Reese think twice. He chewed on the inside of his cheek while he plated food for his brother and himself.
“You never work domestically, do you?”
I shook my head. “I’m not saying it won’t happen in the future, but I don’t think you need any further training in it. You’ve been camping and hunting all your life, eh?”
He inclined his head.
“Then I’d rather you picked up another language or learned what plants you can eat in Cambodia or Colombia.” Man, this steak was perfect. The baked potato too. “Those are the places Hillcroft will send you to. The Middle East, South America, Africa, certain parts of Asia.” I waved my fork at Danny, just as he sat down to eat. “Every soldier insistent on becoming a PMC has to shake the military mind-set. There’s no structure to what we do. We have our own survival techniques, and most of them are about blending in.”
The SAS was the best branch in the world for that, because they created gray men. We were called operators, not soldiers. Regular armed forces built machines who walked and carried themselves a certain way. The SAS shaped men into background features. Sure, we’d gone through all the physical training too. We had to be strong, agile, fit—the whole nine yards. But most of it was mental.
Which gave me an idea. “I know what you can do—and we can incorporate a physical aspect.”
The twins perked up.
“I’ll give you twelve hours starting right after dinner,” I said, retrieving my wallet from my back pocket. “Here’s a hundred bucks.” I handed two fifties to River. “A more likely scenario is…let’s say, an extraction. You’re tasked with bringing home a diplomat from Venezuela. You have to spend the night in the jungle, where you’re invisible, before you set your plan in motion.” I nodded for the lake and the forest. “I can’t give you a jungle, so an American forest will have to do. But when you set foot on this porch tomorrow at—” I checked my watch “—eight thirty, you gotta sell your personas to me. Become two men who blend in with the background, whom no one would suspect of smuggling a diplomat out of the country. We’re talking character history, dialects, names, personal information, your whole cover. Clothes, pocket litter, quirks, traits.”
River’s eyes flashed with determination. A challenge like this one was right up his alley. Reese tended to prefer the physical challenges, but he needed to learn this too.
