Trinity: Military War Dog (38 page)

“Do you mean your biological father or the minister of defense?”

Haur gave a slow nod. So Daniels knew more about him than he’d thought. “You go to a park to skate on the frozen lake. You see the ice, you know it’s ice, but you do not know how thick it is, how deep its hard facets go.”

Daniels watched him.

Haur said no more.

“Daniels, Zheng.”

They both looked to the leader, Watterboy, who held up a finger and circled it in the air.

Without a second glance, Daniels moved into the group with his dog, who hadn’t given Haur a second glance. That was a good sign, right? The dog didn’t see him as a threat.

He moved into position.

“SOCOM is running a UAV over the area to see if we can pin down the location of the missing and their captors. There’s been too much snowfall to know which direction they’re headed.” Watterboy folded a piece of paper and slid it into his slanted chest pocket. “Daniels, once we get that lead, we’ll want you to take point. You cool with that?”

The man’s eyes glinted with appreciation. “Yes, sir.”

Smart guy, giving recognition to the authority. Haur had this lingering feeling that Daniels had at one time been an equal if not superior to the men here.

“Zheng, we’ll need you to talk to us, let us know if you expect something, if a situation would make sense.” Watterboy’s eyes stabbed with accusation. “You came to us, so if you want to find your man, you gotta talk to us. Clear?”

“I am not your enemy.”

A shorter man with a vest strapped over a very wide chest snorted. “Yeah, that’s what my last dead enemy combatant said.”

Heat churned through Haur’s stomach, but he squelched the fury. He expected this. Still, he must not be a doormat yet not be a rabid dog at the gate.

“Do you understand?” Watterboy asked, his lips tight. His eyes hidden behind the dark sunglasses. “I don’t need trouble from you, and I don’t have to drag you on this mission.”

“Your message is clear.”

Whatever Zheng was up to, Heath wasn’t going to be a part. Or a pawn. The guy wanted an ally. Heath could understand. But it wasn’t going to be him. He would not be used to hurt his country or those he had vowed to protect fifteen years ago when sworn into the Army. It angered him to think this dude might try to play him.

“Coming online.” Candyman angled a handheld device to avoid glare from the low-slung sunlight and the blanket of white.

The mention of the UAV’s activation drew Heath’s gaze skyward. Though he saw nothing against the swirling snow and sun, Heath knew the UAV had or soon would make its first pass.

“Getting a dual feed,” Candyman said.

The Green Berets hovered over the handheld device, blocking his view. No, not just his view—him. They didn’t believe in him. Not like they used to when they’d follow him into the blackest of nights.

Maybe they’re right
. Though the chiropractor adjusted his spine, it wasn’t a miracle cure for the brain damage that occurred two years ago.

“Too bad, I need you on that team.”

Wind howled and tore at his clothes, the sky darkening. While they were waiting for the UAV information, he could get a leg up on this mission. Heath jogged back to the tent where the survey team had slept. He pointed to the blanket and bedding. “Trinity.”

She lowered her head and sniffed the material.

On a knee, Heath rifled through the broken box. Lifted a sweatshirt and held it up to Trinity. Again, she pressed her snout to the fabric, nudged her nose further in, then sat and looked up at him as if to say, “What now?”

She wasn’t a combat tracking dog—and what he wouldn’t do for that specialty like Aspen’s dog, Talon, had training in—but Trinity was a Spec Forces dog. She’d been trained and handled in the higher altitudes, the rocky, uneven terrain, the brutal weather. She could catch a scent and read body language. And take down the worst of the worst.

Though he was asking a lot of Trinity, he couldn’t help but question what this would take out of him. If he could even fulfill this mission. Though a migraine hadn’t exploded through his head, the ever-present thump was there. But Heath knew he was asking a lot of Trin this time—to find a woman she’d only met for a few hours, on a ground now covered with snow, which would eventually freeze her sensitive snout.

Purpose and meaning spiraled through his veins. He might have sucked down there at the base, working the speaking gig, but up here, his determination renewed that he’d been brought here for a purpose. As he looked up to the sky, the view crisscrossed with mountain peaks and spines, Heath knew meeting her at the base was no coincidence.

You brought me here for Jia, didn’t You, God?
Maybe that was why he couldn’t stop thinking about her, couldn’t shake that beguiling smile and no-nonsense charm from his memory banks.

Heath stood, scanned Trin’s new outfit, and couldn’t help the smile. Sleek and sophisticated, the new vest made her appear top of the line. “You look sexy, girl.” Smoothing a hand over her head, he whispered, “Do me proud like always.” He released her lead and once again showed his girl the sweatshirt. “Trinity, seek.”

She spun around, tail wagging, and headed out of the tent. Now, here was a classic example of trust. Trinity had never let him down. Even when he’d been flat on his back, unconscious.

He stayed within a half-dozen feet, monitoring her, the surroundings, and waiting … anticipating that second when she’d get a—

Her bark lanced his anticipation. She sat and stared again.

Good girl
. “She’s got a hit.” Heath jogged toward her.

Trinity’s powerful front legs hauled her over an incline, her back legs scrambling for purchase. Rocks and debris dribbled down, dusting Heath’s face as he hurried to maintain a visual.

“Daniels, hold up!”

“No, go, go,” Candyman shouted. “UAV shows movement in that area.”

Exhilaration of the hunt propelled Heath onward. He searched for headache pangs, dizziness … Nothing.

Zigzagging, Trinity darted along a snow-covered path, her silky amber-and-black coat a stark contrast to the bed of white lying deeper with each hour. Grateful for the boots protecting his feet, Heath would need to monitor her condition. Trinity would keep working till her last breath if it meant completing the task he’d given her.

It amazed him, really. For him, it was a mission to honor his country, to do his best. For her, it was also a mission to do her best, but she lived for one goal: to please him. Loyal, brave …

No different than the men hauling butt behind him. To his left, he noticed a man consistently at his side. Zheng Haur.

Around a bend, Trinity slowed. Sniffed. Circled back.

“What’s wrong?” Watters asked.

Heath shook his head. She’d find the trail soon. “Just give her room to work.” As they waited, wind and heavy breathing from the team swirled together. Heath tugged up his collar and tucked his chin, seeking warmth against the dropping temperatures.

“Snow’s probably covering up the trail.” Watters hunched his shoulders as his breath came out in steamy puffs.

Heath nodded. True, but if the trail was there, Trinity would find it.

She trotted back to him, circled, then returned to a cleft. Heath walked behind her but noted the others slumping against rocks and crouching. Taking five. Anxiety crept around his shoulders and tightened.
Come on, girl. You can do it
.

A lone bark strapped through the afternoon.

Heath hurried to where she sat. “What is it, girl?”

She scooted forward on her haunches. Nose to the rocks.

“What’s she got, Daniels?”

“Not sure.” Kneeling, he studied where snow had piled up against the rocks. He brushed aside the loose powder.

Trinity nudged in beside him, her snout acting as an arrow.

And he saw. The snow he’d brushed aside was stained red. “Blood.” He cleared away a larger area and the circle grew.

“Human? Animal?”

Heath shook his head as Watters crouched beside him. “No way to know. But with the location, and since Trinity hit on it and had Jia’s scent …”

“We know Jia was injured—the girl said she was shot. Might be her blood.”

Nodding, Heath stood. “Maybe they took a break here.”

“Or she fell.”

“Possible. Maybe both.” Heath turned and surveyed the path. “So, if they came this way …” The path wasn’t wide and didn’t branch off, so there would only be one course of action. “Why can’t Trin catch her scent?”

“Perhaps she was unconscious.” The thickly accented voice came from behind.

Heath and Watters turned toward Zheng Haur.

Zheng shrugged. “They would have to carry her, which would mean her scent would not be as strong. Yes?”

“No. There are different types of tracking—air-scent dogs and tracking dogs. Trinity is trained mostly for air scent, but she does have tracking, or trailing, training.” Heath looked around the scene. “Which makes her losing the scent a mystery.” Vertical collided with horizontal. The path disappeared around a bend. What options were there that might preclude Trinity from maintaining course? Hidden trails? The escapees getting choppered out? Nah, the peaks were too jagged and close together to allow that. So …

Hand along the cliff face, Heath wondered …

Watters leaned in. “What are you thinking?”

“The woman who brought the Afghan child to the FOB said they hid in a cave-like tunnel.”

Watterboy spun toward the rest of the team. “Search for a tunnel.”

Heath stepped back and peered up at the overhang that partially covered this section of the path. He visually traced it as he moved until a jagged crescent blinked at him. “See that?”

“A ledge broke off—small avalanche.”

Heath jabbed his hand into the mound and hauled back a section of snow. The others moved in without a word to help clear it away.

“Got it!” Candyman announced. “There’s a tunnel.”

Manpower tripled on the site to clear the debris away. Once a hole was made, Watters waved everyone back. “Give Ghost and Trinity room to work.”

Nodding his appreciation to Watterboy, Heath motioned Trinity into the opening that yawned in the face of the mountain. The rubble inside shifted as Heath maneuvered into the darkness. Weapon up, SureFire button pressed, he sidestepped into the black hole. Trinity’s claws clicked as she moved beneath the beam of light. She barked and kept moving.

“She’s got it.” Heath twisted and turned back.

When he did, a loud
whoosh
breathed through the tunnel.

Darkness collapsed on him.

        Twenty-Eight