Page 75 of Doozer

Heading back to my room, I packed my bag, shoving my boots on just as the car arrived.

Duke was standing on the front porch smoking a cigarette and he faced me as I started down the steps. “You let Pearl know when you get back safe, ya hear?”

I smiled. “Yeah, brother, I’ll letPearlknow.”

Duke gave me a chin lift and I climbed into the car, dreading the shitstorm I was about to go home to.

Fuck me and the horse I rode in on… or got kicked by… or whatever the fuck old-tyme adage worked in this situation.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Trouble

IWALKED INTO Dr. Fenton’s office this morning looking forward to our session. It had been four days since our last one, and I was in serious need of her counsel. Since the last time I’d seen her, I’d managed to earn three black eyes. One on my face, and two on my cadet record. After my back-to-back failures, I was confident Taxi was going to tell me to pack my bag and I hoped Dr. Fenton would have some insight on how I could persuade him to reconsider. Or maybe I could just ask him myself.

I entered to find Taxi sitting in the center of the room next to an empty chair and Dr. Fenton seated behind her desk.

“Good morning,” Dr. Fenton said, cheerily. “I’ve asked Taxi to join us for today’s session.”

“I can see that,” I replied, not so cheerily.

“I know this time is typically reserved for just the two of us to talk, but I thought now might be a good time for the three of us to have a chat,” Dr. Fenton said.

“A chat?” I asked, as my insides twisted into a knot. I began to ramble nervously. “Look, if you guys are gonna kick me out of the program please just tell me now because I’d rather not draw this out any longer than we have to—”

“Trouble,” Dr. Fenton, said sweetly interrupting me. “Please, take a seat.”

I did as she asked, avoiding eye contact with Taxi as I did. I couldn’t believe that after all I’d been through, I was about to wash out.

“Taxi, would you like to start us off?” Dr. Fenton asked.

“Sure,” he said, turning to me. “Trouble, why are you here at Quantico?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, taken aback by his question. “I’m here because you asked me to be here.”

“Just because I recruited you, doesn’t mean you had to say yes. What I’m asking is, what made you accept my invitation to come here?”

I twisted in my seat, desperately searching for the answer Taxi was looking for.

“I guess I didn’t realize I was being recruited. I just thought you had taken an interest in my shooting ability and one thing led to another.”

“You think I asked you to join an elite undercover FBI team because I took an interest in your shooting ability?” he asked.

“Yes,” I hissed.

Taxi paused for a moment before asking, “Trouble, do you remember the night we met?”

“It would be a little hard to forget,” I replied.

“I remember it, too. Quite clearly,” Taxi said, warmly. “When I met you, I felt like I’d found a diamond in the rough. I may have stumbled upon you with a rifle in your hand, but I had no idea if you could use it or not. As a matter of fact, if I recall correctly, you were set up to miss the shot that I interrupted.”

“Is that why you’re sending me home? Because I’m not a good enough shot?”

“Not good enough?” Taxi asked, sounding genuinely shocked. “Trouble, that double kill in Hogan’s Alley was like nothing I’d ever seen. Like nothing any of the trainers here have seen. It’s all everyone is talking about.”

“What? But you said we failed. You saidIfailed.”

“Tactically, you may have made the wrong call, but that shot was one in a million. Or two in a million, I don’t know, but the point is, you’re an even better shot than I thought you’d be. The question is, can you be theagentI need you to be?”

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