Page 19 of Surge

Huh. “Guess this means I passed?”

Daniels gave a cockeyed nod. “For now.”

Garrett folded his arms across his chest. “I barely know you, Daniels.” He shifted his gaze to Daniels, who’d nearly reached the gate. “Can I trust them out there in the field?”

The man stopped, stood silently, squinting at the smear of red across the southern sky.

Garrett waited.

“Surge had issues after Tsunami’s death, yes. Dispositioned, yes.” Daniels’s hard gaze could cut steel. “I’m satisfied those issues are behind them.” He sized up Garrett. “Chapel told me exactly what was needed for this mission. Surge is my dog. Delaney is his trainer. I know them. They’re ready.”

Logically, Garrett knew it should be fine. But he felt like this was Samwise’s death in Tadjoura all over again. “But I don’t need a show-off on this mission.” He cringed. “Look what happened at the school.”

Daniels considered him. “Don’t recall mentioning that.”

“I heard you chewing her out.”

“Correcting her,” Daniels said, not missing a beat.

“You’re not going to convince me?” Garrett jutted his jaw, tossed the scent tin from hand to hand. He put it back in his pocket. “What happens out there on the mission?”

“As an operator, you know that can never be fully known.”

That was the ABA owner’s answer? Garrett shook his head. “I think this is a bad idea. What kind of training does Thompson have? Is she really qualified?”

“You’re ticking me off, frogman.” Daniels tightened his mouth. “I’ve already told you what you need to know.”

“How am I going to protect her?”

Daniels laughed. “Same thing I told her. You’re a SEAL. Zim’s a SEAL. If the two of you can’t handle it, Surge will.”

“But her attitude concerns me.”

Daniels stared hard. “Kind of like yours does me.”

Man, he hadn’t meant to insult the guy, or tick him off.

If it weren’t for those blasted lipids, he’d already be out of here. But he needed Surge, or civilians could die.

The girl—guess she came with the dog. And Daniels had Chapel’s rec. That told him A Breed Apart and their Legacy dogs were top-notch. “Okay.”

Hands on his belt, Daniels eyed him up and down.

Erasing the distance between them, Garrett swallowed his pride. “I overstepped.”

“You did.”

He extended his hand. “Truce?”

“Depends on how you treat my people, both the two-legged and the four-legged kind.”

“Understood.”

“Do you? Because it seems you’re trying to pull weight you don’t have. I’m doing this because Chapel talked you up.” His gaze raked over Garrett. “Never second-guessed the guy before.”

“Harsh.”

“Yeah, you were.” Daniels adjusted his ballcap and angled in. “I get the concern. But it’s unfounded. Either you trust ABA teams or you don’t. No skin off my back. Just know, word gets around. Chapel vouched for you, I agreed. Now you’ve questioned my call about my dogs and trainers, neither of which you know anything about, Walker. This business has a long memory. And so do I.”

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