Page 22 of Luck Be Mine
“What about?”
“He’d heard the rumors Scott is retiring and assumes I’ll be taking hisplace.”
“Hate to tell you, bro. But that one ain’t no secret.”
“Yeah, only he wants my slot.”
“Your slot? He’s not up for lieutenant commander.”
“No, the LT slot on our team.”
Doogie pulled back, his face furious. “Hell, no. Hell, fucking no.”
Not surprised, Hunt leaned against the side of the truck.
Doogie shot off the tailgate and paced. “Why? Why this spot?”
He raised a brow. “I can think of a few reasons, our IQS reputation for one.”
As a leader, the man did his usual: clamped his mouth shut, took more measured steps, and gestured with his hands as he went through his usual thinking process. Conclusion drawn, he stopped and faced Hunt. “He doesn’t fit.There’s no way. He can’t manage his own fucking team.”
“Uh-huh, tell me what you’ve heard.”
“Who do you think I am? Baxter? I don’t gather gossip. I observe.”
While Baxter was the best at gathering intel, facts, and gossip, his executive officer was no slouch. He waited.
Doogie sighed, then propped his hands on his hips. “Oh, all right. I’ll say this. That team has broken discipline. They’vehad a few major personnel changes. It’s fuckingwith them like integrating Tommy fucked with us.”
“How did we integrate Tommy?”
“We worked our asses off, trained, trained some more, did more than a fewmissions and after-action assessments. It took a few months to shake the crap out of Tommy. I do not want to do that again.”
“So why isn’t Stemmons doing a similar training with his current team?”
Doogie came closer, eyes hard and determined. “I do not know him other than as another SEAL. I don’t know why. Further, I do not care. He can’t have our team.”
“He can’t have our team,” Hunt repeated. “We don’t talk about it, but we have areputation to uphold. It will not fall apart because we killed awell-known terrorist. I won’t have it. But I’ve been clued in now, and I’m going to have to watch carefullybecause those problems will land on my plate.”
Doogie stepped back and sighed. “I’m glad they aren’t in my channel.
Anything you need, though, I’m here for it.”
“Including comforting my wife?”
“Yes. If truth be told.”
“Your mama is part of our family now.”
“Nice to know. Thankfully, you finally quit screwing around, found the damn woman, and brought her home. About time.”
Hunt rose off the tailgate and slammed it shut. “Be careful aroundStemmons.”
Doogie shrugged his shoulders. “He’s already looked at me twice like I’m someone to test. He’d lose.”
“Pass the word along, quietly.”
“Copy.”
