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“Means you’re crazy for wanting to do it daily, something that is punishing or hard to do.”
“Oh, I see,” and he jotted down the explanation. “So, I am a pig?”
Sky choked. She coughed, holding her hand against her throat.
Cal chuckled. “No. A glutton, someone who eats LIKE a pig. Overeats. Greedy. You’re NOT a pig, okay? Nobody’s calling you names.”
Alex poured more syrup on his pancakes, scowling, trying to marry together all the adjectives Cal threw at him, and come up with a picture that he understood. “But when I run the O course? I am not eating. And I do not run like a pig, either.”
Sky patted him gently on the shoulder, after taking a drink of water to clear her throat. “Alex, we use the word ‘glutton’ in more ways than just describing the eating of food. It could mean, like what you’re doing by taking that very tough O course daily. It’s not something most people could do.”
“Except SEALs,” Cal noted proudly.
“Yes,” Sky said, “SEALs do run that O course all the time. It keeps them in good shape. Which,” she smiled up at Alex’s confused-looking face, “is why you do it. It is a very punishing course. It is not something many would put themselves through.”
“Okay…,” Alex said, thinking he had a handle on the slang. “So? If I clean all my weapons in my armory locker every day? Does that make me a ‘glutton for punishment’?”
Cal grinned. “Well, being operators, we know the importance of keeping our weapons clean and in great working order. Think of this in different terms. Anything you would do that is extreme. Running the O course every day is extreme.”
“Oh,” Alex said suddenly, “such as plowing a field with a team of horses? If I have plowed the field once and it is fine and I go back out and do it again? Is that being a glutton for punishment?”
“Bingo,” Cal murmured, giving him a proud look. “You got it.” He brought over three more pancakes and sat down next to Lauren.
“Did you really plow fields with horses?” Sky asked.
“Yes,” Alex said. “Our farm family was poor when I was young. We could not afford a tractor. The other farm collectives had them, but we were very far out into the country. Not easy to reach. My family owned a thousand acres. We had a huge multi-generational family. Boys like me, who were big and strong for their age, always got to handle the plows in the fields with our heavy draft horses. They were very tall and large,” he said, “and they were a beautiful strawberry roan color. They would weigh around fourteen-hundred pounds, and were fifteen hands high.”
“Wow,” Sky said, amazed. “You have such an interesting background!”
Alex didn’t want to go there. He gave Sky a fond smile and said, “Please, eat your omelet while it is hot?” And then he happened to glance up and Lauren was studying him intently, an odd expression on her face. It wasn’t anger, which was her usual expression for him. Maybe interest? Unable to interpret it, Alex looked away, unsure of why she was staring at him. Lauren usually refused to make eye contact with him at all. Women… they were confusing to him at the best of times. Lauren was like an intricate Chinese puzzle; so many levels, twists and turns within her. Just when Alex thought he understood her, she’d destroy the confidence he’d just gained.
“I just got a call from Gage earlier,” Cal said between bites, getting Lauren and Alex’s attention. “He said we just got awarded a huge Defense contract.”
“What does that mean?” Alex asked. Since joining, he’d spent the last three months training, getting in shape and learning American weapons systems, and spending a lot of time out at their firing range.
“It means missions are going to be handed out to us,” Lauren said. “We’re gaining a reputation among the US civilian agencies for being good at what we do. I worked with Gage on that contract and we won it. Shield has enough people onboard to take outside contracts from time to time, and this is one of them.”
“Good,” Alex said, pleased that she’d responded in a husky tone that did not have anger in it. “Maybe Gage will reward me? I will be given an assignment? I am tired of sitting around. I need the action.”
Cal chuckled. “Spoken like a true operator. Don’t worry, Hunter will put you on a mission when he thinks you’re ready for it, Alex. He’s a very good planner, and knows how to choose the right crew for an op.”
“Maybe my lucky day, eh?” and Alex grinned, anxious to get back into the fight.
The next morning,when Lauren walked into Shield’s front office, Mandy, the receptionist, handed her a note. That meant a mission. Lauren felt relief, wanting to get out of the office and back into the field. Away from Kazak.Finally.She thanked Mandy and breezed through the side door, walking down the white-tiled hallway to Gage’s office.
“Hey,” she called, entering with a knock, “you got a mission for me? I’m dying to get into the field.” Gage Hunter was thirty years old, a Marine Corps sniper with nine years of combat experience under his belt. He lifted his head from his papers in front of him.
“Yeah, have a seat, Lauren,” he invited. “Got something hot from the Defense Department contract we just won. Your partner will be arriving shortly.”
Lauren sat down at a small briefing table near Gage’s desk. She pulled out her laptop from her ruck and opened it up, ready to type in information. “Great. Where are we going?”
“Peru.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I’ve not done anything in South America. Sure you got the right sniper?”
“Positive,” he said, typing some keystrokes on his computer.
Lauren was busy opening a document when she felt someone enter the office. She raised her head. Her eyes narrowed. Alex Kazak stood uncertainly in the doorway.
