Page 4 of Hero Unbound

Becky’s eyes lit up. “Oh, don’t worry! The Mayor’s Inn updated some rooms a few years back, and now they have kitchenettes and a sitting area. They rent them out at a discounted weekly rate—it would be perfect.”

And would also require a credit card, which Eva didn’t have. Hers had all been frozen, as well as access to her bank account. But telling Becky that would just lead to more questions.

“Yeah, perfect.” The suggestion had also basically eliminated Eva’s ability to ask to stay with Becky without it seeming very strange.

But a chance to work with animals again… She hadn’t done that in more than a year.

What would it hurt? Despite what she’d done, she was more than qualified, especially for vet tech stuff. She could bring the dogs with her to work and, most importantly, would have some funds.

Some choices.

She hadn’t had that in way too long.

“I’d be working at Linear Tactical? Honestly, the most I remember about that place is the giant playground.”

Becky grinned. “I grew up on that thing—all the next gen LT kids did. I swear, one day Theo just jumped off the playground and started working there. He took over day-to-day operations a few years ago when Dad and the rest of the original crew decided to retire.”

“LT still does the self-defense training and stuff?” Eva couldn’t really remember. She’d been a child when they came here—nothing had been more important than the playground.

“Yep. When Dad and Uncle Finn and the gang started it, they focused primarily on that, situational awareness and weapons slash wilderness training.”

“But there’re enough animals for me to be there full time?”

“They added some therapy and service animals before Dad retired, but Theo really expanded it once he took over.” For the first time the whole evening, Becky’s smile faltered. “We had a friend suffering from PTSD, and we were all hoping it would help.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” It didn’t sound like it had worked out well.

“Me too. So, do all these questions mean you’ll take the job for a couple weeks? Please say yes. Please say yes. Please say yes.”

“Yes.”

She just hoped it wasn’t a huge mistake.

2

Dawn coming up over the Linear Tactical property was Theo Lindstrom’s favorite time of day.

There wasn’t any one particular location he preferred best. Sometimes he caught the sunrise while practicing tai chi martial arts combos out in one of the open fields.Sometimes it was while pushing his body to its limits sprinting through the miles of surrounding mountain wilderness, carrying weapons and a fifty-pound rucksack.Hell, sometimes it was on his own deck with a cup of coffee.

But always alone. Alone was what Theo did. It was better and safer for everyone that way—since outside the boundaries of Oak Creek, Theo Lindstrom didn’t officially exist.

His father’s code name was Ghost, but it was just as true for Theo as well.

Today, he was watching the sunrise with his coffee outside the office, wincing a little at the cuts and bruises covering his body. They hadn’t been there last night at the Eagle’s Nest when Becky had explained she’d hired Eva Dempsey as a vet assistant who would be working here full time for a few weeks.

He’d gotten them by being dragged out of bed around midnight by some of the Linear Tactical team members—current and former, like his dad—and taken, blindfolded, and tied up out in the wilderness.

A surprise nighttime SERE—survive, evade, resist, extract—session, or at least the survival and evading part.

Theo knew the drill. He’d had to get himself out of captivity and back home without tripping any of the sensors or traps the team had laid out for him. And he had.

Linear Tactical might exist primarily to teach others how to survive different types of dangerous situations, but they didn’t subscribe to that being anacademic exercise for the instructors. Every person involvedwith the company was an expert in what they taught. Most of them througha militarybackground.

Theo hadn’t had the option of joining the military, but he damned well made sure he had the physical and tactical skills to make up for it. But hell if he hadn’t gotten a shit-ton of bruises from the challenges these sadistic bastards—also known as his friends and family—had set up for him last night.

He hadn’t seen any of them once they’d dumped him ten miles from the Linear property, although he was sure they’d had cameras set up to watch the show. He’d barely made it back before dawn, but he had. Therefore considered a successful, although painful, mission.

He was looking forward to the couple hours he’d have before activity at Linear would pick up—self-defense classes, marksmanship instruction, and a situational awareness seminar were all on the docket for today. Plus, the various therapists who would be coming on and off property to utilize the animals with their patients.

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