Ultimate Courage

by Piper J. Drake

  Elisa huffed. “I’m glad to. Besides, Boom and I could always stop for some frozen yogurt too. Maybe we’ll eat it in your car on the way back.”

  Aw now, some things in the world just weren’t a wise idea.

  Chapter Ten

  We’ve got poster board, spray paints in blue and purple, a glue stick, and Sharpies.” Elisa ticked off their loot on the fingers of one hand as she stood with Boom surveying the trunk of Alex’s car. “What do you think might be missing?”

  Boom pondered for a moment, rubbing her chin in what was probably an adorable imitation of one of her father’s habits. Elisa couldn’t wait to see Alex do it.

  “I can print out pictures of Pluto to glue onto the board.” Boom sounded unsure. Standing next to Elisa, she usually came to about chest height but now she drooped into an exaggerated slump. “I thought they’d look great, but none of it seems to stand out much. All the kids are going to be doing space stuff and we don’t get an A unless we really stand out from the rest of the projects.”

  “Hmm.” Elisa wondered when elementary school had gotten so competitive. Though honestly, she liked Boom even more for going after the top grade instead of simply planning to make a science project good enough to pass. Boom was a tomboy, no doubt about it, but she had a sharp mind, too. Some things that came out of her mouth were way more mature than what Elisa would’ve expected from a ten-year-old. “We could get some fluorescent spray paint and rig your poster with some mini backlights we saw on sale in there. It’d make your versions of Pluto glow.”

  Boom turned to her with wide eyes. “Really? Will it work during the day at school?”

  Good question.

  Elisa wrinkled her nose. “Depends on how bright your classroom is and how many windows there are. If you turn off the classroom lights, you might be able to see it, but the teacher would have to let you pull all the blinds to block light coming in from the windows, too.”

  “I don’t think Miss Patrick would let me take the time to do that during my presentation.” Boom began to worry at her bottom lip with her fingers. Her lips were chapped, and Elisa had noticed Boom putting on lip balm before they went into the store, but the girl hadn’t reapplied since. Maybe Boom only remembered when they were going into a place and not when her lips actually felt dry. “There’s a lot of kids in the class, and our presentations should be short and almost speak for themselves.”

  Miss Patrick must give those instructions fairly consistently. Boom had fallen into a sing-song sort of cadence when she’d recalled the teacher’s words. To Elisa, it meant the child was repeating something she heard all the time.

  “Not a bad point.” Elisa didn’t want to undermine the teacher’s instructions. She closed the trunk and held out her hand to Boom. “Are you feeling up to going back into the store? Maybe we’ll find something inspiring if we walk inside again.”

  Boom gave her a big smile. “I’m okay. Totally.”

  Elisa returned the smile. Really, Boom made it easy. Still, the girl was starting to look a little glassy-eyed. Elisa had better come up with an epiphany quickly and get Boom back to the kennels before she ran out of energy.

  Besides, Alex might get worried.

  The thought of Boom’s father brought on a few mental images. He’d stood out during class, even from far away. He cut a great figure against the backdrop of the grassy fields and trees lining the perimeter of the property. Even in the new button-up shirt, his built body was clearly noticeable. He filled out the fabric with a solid chest, broad shoulders, and even his biceps were noticeable inside the sleeves. When he’d started running with the rest of his class in the morning, Elisa had snuck more than a couple of looks out the window. Alex, standing, was a sight to see. Alex in motion was worth several minutes of staring and drooling. Then, the fabric of his shirt and pants moved and the musculature underneath was even more impressive. It didn’t take much of a mental leap to imagine muscles rippling under deliciously bare skin.

  With an effort, Elisa wrenched her brain back around to the task at hand. Science projects and standing out from the crowd.

  “Do you really think the other projects will be that much more different?” Elisa fished for some clues as to what Boom’s teacher might be comparing Boom’s work to. “What sorts of things do the other kids put together?”

  Boom’s normally bright expression dimmed somewhat, and the girl looked down at the floor, her short blond hair falling forward to conceal part of her face. Elisa wondered if Boom’s hair would darken as she got older. Despite summer highlights from being out in the sun all day, Alex’s hair was a darker brown and probably almost black in winter. “Well, there were lots of different things. Glitter and stickers, and one girl even had oil paints because her mom does paintings to sell in New Hope.”

  “Ah.” Elisa cursed herself for bursting the girl’s happy mood. It had to be tough for her and for Alex to go day to day without her mother. No way was Elisa going to ask about the mother, either. Definitely had to be a difficult topic. “Well, it sounds like your teacher likes to see texture and creativity in your projects.”

  Crafts had been some of Elisa’s favorite hobbies once upon a time. She’d loved scrapbooking, working with different papers of various weights and printed with colorful patterns. But it’d be too obvious to get space-themed paper or stickers. Others would’ve done it. Boom was looking for something different.

  Elisa’s gaze fell on a nearby sales rack. “Have you ever done origami?”

  Boom scrunched up her face. “Ori-what?”

  “Origami.” Elisa led her over to the rack and picked up a packet of square paper, colored in soft swirls of white and gold. It had a shimmery, pearlescent quality to it. “You fold fine paper in complex patterns to make different kinds of shapes. The Japanese do it. They make paper cranes and frogs and flowers, all kinds of things. I know there’s a pattern to fold the paper into a sort of ball or balloon and we could attach it to your board in all the places where you’re showing Pluto in orbit or in its place with the other planets of the solar system. Then we could take LED lights and put them inside the paper balls to make them light up with a battery. So it’ll be different from just the lights and more unusual.”

  “Oh, I’ve seen the kids in some of the anime shows do the cranes and the stars.” Boom beamed at her, the previous melancholy evaporated. “That sounds cool!”

  Relief washed through her. It wouldn’t cost Alex too much more, either. There were some fun sets of blinking LED earrings on sale over by the register that’d make installing them inside the origami planets easy. “Then we’ve got a plan.”

  They grabbed the rest of their supplies and headed for the register. In a few minutes, they were ready to head out and Elisa glanced out the glass doors of the store. She’d left her car parked in front of Revolution MMA a few storefronts down in the same shopping center. She wondered if she should check on it while she was here.

  Abruptly she froze. Her heart jumped up and fear constricted her throat.

  “What?” Boom stopped with her, small hand trapped in hers.

  Her heart beat so loud the sound filled her ears as Elisa watched a man idly stroll by her car and look inside. Could be a random passerby. Maybe. But she didn’t think so. Most people came to a shopping center with a purpose. They parked their cars and headed into a particular store. There was a purpose to what those people did.

  “Boom, do you know if there’s ever been car robberies in this area?” Elisa tried to keep the question light and mildly inquisitive.

  Boom craned her neck to look for her father’s car. “Not really. Sifu Gary and Sifu Greg say we should always pay attention to who is around us out in the parking lot and lock the car door as soon as we get in. They say we shouldn’t ever sit in the car checking our phones or playing games. Because someone could just walk by and jump in the car with us or break the window to get at us and our stuff. But that’s any parking lot and mostly at night.”

  “Those are good th
ings to keep in mind.” Elisa forced out the response in a whisper as the man she’d seen took a lap down the row of cars and came back to hers. Hers was the only car he peered into. And then he bent down to check out something near her tire.

  Nope. She was not sticking around to watch more. If she and Boom headed to Revolution MMA, it’d be toward her car and the man messing with it, too. Better to go to Alex’s car and put some distance between them. Now.

  “Let’s go.” Elisa grasped Boom’s hand more firmly and almost yanked the girl off her feet in the rush to leave the store and break for Alex’s car.

  Boom exclaimed in surprise but stretched her long legs to keep up.

  Keeping her head down, Elisa hustled Boom into the car and then hurried to the other side. Every time she glanced back, the man was still on the ground between her car and another one, studying something under hers.

  Boom’s comment about never sitting in the car checking phones echoed in her spinning thoughts and Elisa decided not to call Alex, just get back to him. Locking the car doors, Elisa forced herself to pull out smoothly and drive away at normal speed. First of all, she wasn’t sure if she knew how to peel out of a parking lot but it didn’t seem like a good idea and would definitely attract the stranger’s attention. Second, she needed to drive safely with Boom in the car.

  Going for the calmest tone possible, she cleared her throat. “Boom, why don’t you call your dad and tell him we’re on our way back.”

  “Sure.”

  That way, if they were delayed, Alex would know something had gone wrong. Hopefully, it wouldn’t.

  Her heart raced the entire ride home and she could only give Boom lame excuses as to why she’d rushed them out of there. After a few abortive rounds of questioning, Boom settled back into the passenger seat.

  When they pulled through the gate of the kennels and up the long drive, Boom reached over and patted Elisa’s arm. “Don’t worry, Elisa. We’re home now and Dad’s here.”

  * * *

  Rojas had Souze on a lead, working through standard obedience training, when the girls returned. Boom rolled out of the passenger side with a smile and waved at him with her good arm. Elisa emerged from the driver’s side more slowly.

  Grinning, he returned the wave and headed toward them. Souze walked at his side in a perfect heel position, attention on Rojas. The dog was good, very good, on most days. He had the energy, desire to work, and intelligence to easily complete his training every day. What seemed lacking on some days was his level of aggression and prey drive.

  Oh, he’d go after the usual tennis ball Rojas and the other trainers used as a reward during training. And Souze had amazing scent skills. But when it came time for bite work and some of the more violent aspects of training key to ensuring dogs were ready for military or K9 work, Souze hesitated. The dog was wary, and when prodded to actually bite, he was formidable. More than capable of taking down a full-grown man. But a handler in a combat situation needed instantaneous precision from his dog, an eagerness Souze was lacking.

  Rojas was convinced Souze had it in him. They just needed to work together to find the trigger. As Cruz’s companion, Lyn, might’ve said, they needed to get inside Souze’s head and understand his motivation. Until then, Souze wouldn’t be a good fit as a military working dog or K9, no matter how otherwise capable he was.

  “Dad!” Boom skipped toward him, completely unworried about the big dog at his side. “Elisa helped me come up with the best idea for my presentation!”

  Rojas grinned and came to a stop, murmuring a command for Souze to sit. The GSD’s big ears were up and forward, listening to Boom with detached interest. “Yeah? So the mission was a success.”

  Boom’s face was flushed with excitement, but her eyes were somewhat glazed. She was running out of gas quickly, and it was just about time for her next dose of pain meds for the broken arm. “Getting the supplies was a success. There’s still a lot to do.”

  “Yup, and to do it right, you’re going to need proper rest.” Rojas dropped to one knee and opened his arms to her, keeping an eye on Souze’s reaction. The big dog sat obediently and otherwise could care less. In fact, Souze’s gaze had settled on Elisa, who was approaching at a slower walk with bags of random craft supplies.

  Boom came forward to throw her arms around his neck for a hug. She was a smart girl and only ever rushed him when he wasn’t working with a dog. Sudden movement and approaching a handler too quickly could trigger a defensive response from the dog. He’d been careful to teach Boom to wait until he gave the signal the way he had—going on one knee and opening his arms to her in clear body language for both hers and the dog’s benefit. Once he did give her the signal, though, his daughter didn’t hold back on the affection, and he loved her for it.

  After a moment, Boom straightened from the hug and gave Souze a thoughtful look. “I could go upstairs and take a nap now then work on my project later.”

  Which was a major indicator of how tired his daughter was feeling. Normally, Boom fought going to bed at all, tooth and nail.

  Elisa smiled as she approached. “I can leave these on the porch.”

  Souze straightened almost imperceptibly as Elisa approached. Not eager and no welcoming signs. Just a sharpening of focus on the woman.

  Rojas nodded. “Thanks. I’ll put Souze away and come back to take the stuff inside on my way back.”

  “I’ll go wash up.” Boom jogged toward the house.

  Before Elisa could follow, Rojas rose to his feet. “Anything you want to tell me?”

  Souze’s attention had given her away. Elisa was very good at pulling all of her fear and any telltale signs of anxiety and hiding them away somewhere. But a human couldn’t hide that sort of state from a dog. Pheromones, modulation in tone of voice, minute twitches in body language communicated a human’s mental state to an alert dog. And Rojas had long ago learned to read a dog’s responses. It’d saved lives on missions overseas, including his. And soldiers who ignored the warnings died, plus got other people killed along with them.

  Old memories reached up and hooked into him, trying to drag him into a continuous replay of missions long completed and in the past. Every one of them had been intense, none of them had been easy, and some of them had damaged him forever.

  A whine cut into his train of thought and Souze’s shoulder bumped his leg. Rojas looked down into the dog’s eager gaze and gave his ears a scratch. Souze was becoming a lifeline.

  Looking at Elisa, there wasn’t any doubt that she stood ready to run. And in the short time he’d come to know her, he decided he didn’t want her to.

  “I have to go.” The words came out as a whisper, controlled and measured. “I thought I could give this a try, and I owe you and your friends a lot already. I’ll have to find some way to pay you someday. But I should leave as soon as possible.”

  Rojas blinked. He’d been willing to give the woman some space, but hearing her sound so defeated made him want to tell her, show her, she didn’t have to be on her own. More importantly, Boom had been with her when whatever had happened to change her mind had hit. “Was my daughter in danger at any time?”

  Elisa swallowed. She didn’t shake her head or immediately blurt out a denial. She thought about it and met his gaze directly. “I don’t think so. As soon as I realized there was an issue, we got in the car and I brought her back. Safe.”

  Well, it might’ve made more sense not to come straight back, but it all depended on how much danger there had been to make Elisa add that last qualifier on the end of her statement.

  He let out a slow breath, reining in his anger. “Start from the beginning. Tell me exactly what happened.”

  She did.

  For a nasty second, he wanted to rage at his own stupidity in entrusting his daughter to this woman and to shake Elisa for placing Boom in danger. But Elisa hadn’t. Under normal circumstances, the trip should’ve been fine. Hell, he’d known Elisa had been running from something and they’d had friends nearb
y just in case. Elisa and Serena should’ve been safe and Elisa shouldn’t be blamed for the persecution she was subject to. He needed to make sure the people he cared about remained protected. “I’ve respected your privacy up to now, but I do need to know if we should be expecting any unwanted company.”

  “I hope not.”

  He stared at her. “We’ll plan for the worst-case scenario.”

  She bit her lip. “Which is also why I should leave. The stranger I saw didn’t seem to have noticed us. He was too busy looking over my car, under it. I got us back to your car while he was down there so I don’t think he saw us.”

  “Take me through it one more time.” He needed to see if the details were consistent, if she was remembering clearly. And he wanted her to get some distance from what’d happened by thinking it through.

  He’d warn Cruz to keep an extra close eye on the security feeds tonight, just in case. Gary and Greg had security cameras with line of sight to the first couple of rows of cars in front of their school, so he could also check into the identity of this guy. Could be someone who’d dropped something between cars and made Elisa jumpy. But Elisa had demonstrated a presence of mind and practicality thus far, so he was guessing she’d really seen what she thought she’d seen. He wasn’t going to doubt her until proof presented itself to say otherwise. And he had the means to verify what she’d told him.

  His daughter was safely upstairs and about to take a nap, happy about the help and ideas Elisa had given her.

  Elisa clasped her hands in front of her. “I’ll call a cab, get back to my car and head out. Hopefully he didn’t do anything to it and I can sell it in the next town I stop in.”

  Alex studied Souze. Souze continued to watch Elisa. The dog’s ears were still swiveled to catch every nuance of what she said. His posture was tense, and his shoulders almost trembled with the tension he was sensing from the woman. As composed as she appeared, chances were she was frightened out of her mind.

  His daughter was safe. He could help Elisa be safe, too. The men of Hope’s Crossing Kennels had better means to protect the people they cared about than most. They didn’t just keep their old military habits close; it was a part of who each of them was.