SOLACE: Behind The Shield (Beauty 0f Life Book 2)

by Laura Acton

Missing Rookie

  34

  March 7

  Toronto Zoo – 10:00 p.m.

  Jon bellowed into the hippo enclosure, “Dan! Dan! Goddammit Dan, answer! Where the hell are you?” I’m gonna kill the rookie when I find him. Real fear started to billow up. Dammit, where is he and why doesn’t he answer? Both where and why concerned Jon deeply.

  Actually, he knew where—somewhere in this damned zoo, but as to the exact location—no one had a goddamned clue. The why became crystal clear, though Jon didn’t want to admit the obvious—he wanted a different answer than the truth his mind kept throwing at him. Dan can’t respond… laying somewhere either injured or dead.

  Fear of what they might find when they located Dan made his gut wrench. As usual, he covered fear with other emotions. Letting anger reign as his flashlight combed through the enclosure searching for Dan and he bellowed again, “Dammit, Dan, respond!”

  “Jon, settle down. You’re not doing yourself or the others any good. We’ll locate him. I suggest everyone mute their headsets so you can hear Dan if he responds. Unmute only to give me your status or if you find Dan,” Nick stated calmly over the headset from the area they set up as the command post.

  Nick needed to project a composure he currently didn’t possess to keep everyone focused. He recognized the anger in Jon’s voice, and the team understood the unbridled fury covered his apprehension. A concern they all presently shared. Worry Nick couldn’t allow to claim the upper hand on him—it wouldn’t help anyone if he succumbed to his anxiety.

  Tonight’s training went to hell in a hand-basket starting with the bomb fiasco. Now almost five hours later, it morphed into an all-out search for their missing rookie since no one heard from Dan in over an hour.

  With the only source of light being flashlights, the process proceeded at a snail’s pace. The first place searched, the big cat enclosures painted a picture of what danger lurked within the zoo. Nick almost experienced a heart attack when Charlie Team’s Sergeant, Colton Harmon, called out he glimpsed something motionless in the lion enclosure which might be Dan. Thank goodness it turned out to be a rock.

  “Hyena enclosure cleared,” Loki reported. He stopped a moment to wipe his reddened eyes with the soft damp cloth again. “Going to the grizzly bears in the Canadian Domain region, next.” He muted his headset and started to jog. His mind whirled at all the possible places Dan could be, and why he failed to answer, none of them good.

  Tonight’s activities fell into shambles. It started with the fake bombs which should’ve contained only flour, and snowballed from there. He desired to throttle the lab tech who thought it would be funny to mix in cayenne pepper. Loki’s eyes blurred and burned again, so he wiped them with the wetted rag as he jogged.

  “Reptile and snake house clear. No sign of him. Moving to the arachnids and bats building,” Lexa informed the teams. She walked as swiftly as her sore leg allowed to the next building which contained spiders and other creepy crawlies. Lexa wanted to run, but her knee still ached from her tumble down the stairs when the damned air horn startled her. She would have one hell of a bruise by tomorrow.

  Lexa didn’t think Dan would be in this area since it was too far from where she spotted him heading when they dispersed for the training scenario. But they needed to search everywhere because he did not respond despite their repeated inquiries.

  She hoped Dan wasn’t gravely wounded wherever he ended up, and that he only experienced a communications malfunction and still hid from Charlie Team trying to win the team-against-team training for Alpha Team. Though her intuition told her, this was not a headset issue, and Dan was injured. The unknown elements … where and how badly.

  Things had changed since she took Dan home after the pill mix-up. They met after shift for dinner several times in the last week and a half—as friends. She enjoyed learning about him, and he began to open up to her. She loved the view as he smiled more often … a truly awesome sight.

  Lexa refocused on her task as Bram reported and she entered the arachnids and bats building.

  “Polar bear area clear. On my way to the arctic wolf exhibit,” Bram informed them before muting. This isn’t like him. No simple radio malfunction would result in Dan not answering for so long. With Dan remaining out of contact the situation must be dire. But what the hell happened to him?

  “Dan where are you, buddy?” Bram muttered as he flicked on his flashlight to illuminate his way between enclosures. He wanted to find Dan and get the heck out of this disaster of a training scenario. He could only imagine the ass chewing the lab tech who set up the training bombs would receive from Commander Gambrill.

  Bram believed no matter how loud, long, and angry the diatribe the tech received it wouldn’t be enough, especially if the unwarranted spice or unexpected blast sounding from the air horn caused Dan’s problems. He rubbed his sore ears. The loud ringing eventually stopped, but they remained irritated. The stupid air horn going off inches from his already tender ears messed with his equilibrium again.

  Ray searched the crocodile exhibit ruing the fact if Dan fell in, they might never find him. Crocodiles liked to drown their prey and keep their intended meal submerged. He consoled himself with the knowledge none of them heard any splashing over the comms, but a nasty thought entered his head. What if the radio shorted out upon hitting the water and failed to transmit?

  As he shone the light on the occupants of the enclosure, the eerie glowing crocodile eyes unnerved him. Ray liked the zoo usually, but at night it became surreal and sinister. Finishing his third pass on the lagoon Ray said, “No sign of Dan in the pond. Next stop, the Komodo dragon enclosure.”

  Nick listened to the reports from Alpha Team, Charlie Team, and the few Bravo Team members aiding their efforts and marked them off on a map of the cleared areas. The remaining places to investigate still outnumbered those explored. The facility encompassed an area so large a thorough search would take them hours. Time Dan might not have if he was in fact injured.

  He tore off his hat and tossed it to the table. Nick paced in a tight circle thinking and stopped to rub his face briskly. Where the hell is Dan? If he is injured, we need to locate him fast … sometimes seconds influence the outcome. If he isn’t hurt and only not responding, I’ll help Jon chew his ass. Dan will regret … no. No, this isn’t like him, Dan follows protocol and orders.

  Dan must be incapacitated. Otherwise, he would have contacted us somehow. He would’ve phoned if his mic malfunctioned. Dan’s too well trained to leave the team wondering about him.

  Rollback Time Five Hours …

  TRF HQ – Men’s Locker Room – 5:00 p.m.

  As the team entered TRF headquarters, Jon instructed, “Dan and Bram, grab a shower, then join us in the briefing room so we can discuss strategy for tonight’s training.” The guys strode towards the lockers as the others ambled to the conference room.

  Once inside the locker area, Bram lowered himself to the bench and rubbed at both ears. Finally getting over the otitis media he suffered, a gift from his daughters or maybe his wife, he was not sure. Like most diseases plaguing children, the ear infection spread through the household. First affecting all his girls, then Kelly, and lastly himself. His ears still bugged him today.

  Bram bent his head to the side and slapped at his right ear to try and release the water. The dunking he received on the call would not do anything to improve the lingering and annoying soreness. He stripped off his uniform down to boxers, grabbed his towel, and went for a quick warm shower.

  On his way, he glanced at Dan’s locker. Damn, the kid is fast. He spotted the pile of sodden clothes and noted the shower running. This call could have been a horrible disaster. Happily, he and Dan had been in the right place at the right time to save five children. Being cold and wet for the last hour was a minor price to pay for five lives.

  Dan immersed himself fully in the shower’s spray allowing the hot water to roll down his back. The temperate flow soothed and warmed his tired muscles
and chilled body. He and Bram jumped into the pool’s deep end to grab the toddlers when the maniac tossed them in. The kids sunk so fast and the thought of them drowning scared him.

  One of the little girls reminded him of little Allie. After he glimpsed her scared little face going under, Dan didn’t hesitate to act regardless of his aquaphobia—though it helped that it was only a pool and not a lake. Mercifully, they rescued all five in time.

  Bram dove down, pulled them to the surface and handed the children to him. Dan lifted them to Lexa and Ray as he managed to tread water. Teamwork at its finest and although the girls ended up wet and cold, they survived. Today he made a difference, which made him happy.

  The thought of Allie made Dan smiled. The sweet girl wrapped him around her little pinkie finger. He enjoyed taking care of Leslie, Emilie, Allie, and Sharlie several days ago while Kellie drove Bram to the doctor because an ear infection caused Bram’s equilibrium to be off.

  Lovable Allie could talk him into doing almost anything. He would never tell the guys, but he allowed Bram’s daughters to rope him into playing tea party and dolls. It brought back pleasant memories of playing with Sara. Today’s shift went down in his book as a good day and tonight should be fun.

  Dan shut off the water and dried off. He slapped the left side of his head several times. Ever since climbing out of the chilly pool, he couldn’t release the trapped liquid in his left ear. No amount of yawning, rubbing, or slapping seemed to dislodge it. He rubbed at the base of his ear with force trying to relieve the annoying pressure. After striding back to his locker, Dan dressed in his spare uniform and retrieved his only dry boots.

  After pulling them on, he pulled the lace tight it snapped. “Crap.” He replaced the shoelace with one from a soggy boot. Glancing at the dry, but under-sized shoes, he wished he bought two pairs. His feet would be aching by the time they finished tonight. Though, the cramped footwear didn’t diminish Dan’s grin. Tonight’s session sounded like fun and would mark a couple of firsts for him. One, his first participation in the team against team training. Two, a zoo visit. He had not been to one since he was eight.

  Alpha Team prepared for tonight’s events by taking an outing to the zoo on their day off. Although the actual scenarios were not going to be revealed until briefing today, they reconned the area. Unfortunately, the newness of his surroundings and the animals distracted him somewhat, and Jon laid into him for not maintaining focus. Rightly so, Dan thought a bit ashamed of his lack of concentration. The rest of them teased him for several days for not paying attention to Jon. He could’ve done without that, but then again, they treated him as one of them including him in their normal joking.

  He learned of Jon’s ultra-competitiveness and training for an exercise, which brought more normalcy to his life. In fact, it made him feel almost like he was back in the unit. Blaze utilized the same practices, that’s why their unit became the most elite Guardian unit—Blaze trained them hard, so they were always prepared.

  Dan’s heart squeezed tightly at the loss of his unit. They had been brothers, and he still missed every single one of them. His eyes lifted and stared at the picture of him and Brody. He missed Brody so very much.

  Refusing to allow his past intrude and ruin his mood, Dan shoved those emotions down, focusing on the positives. I made a real difference today saving five children Tonight the team would whoop ass and come out on top. According to Bram, preparing for the training scenarios was how Alpha Team won every competition since Jon took over as tactical lead.

  Dan worked his jaw a couple of times, wishing he could rid the water which became more than annoying. Closing his locker, he said, “Ready, Bram?”

  “Almost. I’ll meet you out there,” Bram said as he buttoned up his shirt. He rubbed the base of his ear again, glad the infection cleared with the antibiotics, but hated that it messed with his equilibrium for a few days. Luckily, those were his days off, but Bram missed the outing with the rest of the team. Fortunately, he knew the zoo like the back of his hand having taken his girls there often.

  Tonight should be interesting. It had been a while since they did a nighttime training session against another team in such a unique area. Normally, restricted to a section of an office building or warehouse. The openness would allow for many different scenarios. Bram wondered what would be in store for them. He closed the locker and headed out to the briefing room to find out.

  Sound and Fury

  35

  March 7

  TRF HQ – Briefing Room – 5:20 p.m.

  Laughter met Bram as he rounded the corner and enter the room. He smiled viewing the team munching on pizza, salad, and drinking soda. The TRF department sprang for dinner.

  Rightly so, since they came in to cover half a shift for Delta Team when Sergeant Glen Turpin, tactical leader Bill Raffin, and team member Aaron Plouffe went home mid-shift after a Molotov cocktail was lobbed at them during a riot while escorting a prisoner. It left all three of them with minor burns to their hands and arms.

  With the night training session, Alpha Team was supposed to have the day off, but Gambrill called Boss, and he agreed they would cover for the injured team. Earlier today, Bram overheard Jon brag to Charlie Team’s tactical lead, Paul Miller, that his team could handle an extended day and still win, making Alpha’s victory tonight sweeter.

  Bram sat in his regular seat and Loki slid a pizza box to him. Taking a slice, Bram asked, “What did I miss?”

  Lexa handed him a soda. “Nothing much. We’ve been shooting the breeze until you and Dan joined us.”

  Swallowing a bite of his third slice of pizza, Dan questioned with an enthusiastic glint in his eyes, “So, do we have access to the entire zoo or are there areas we are restricted from?”

  Ray grinned watching Dan eat. The guy packs it away so damned fast. He also witnessed the disappearance of Dan’s usual stoic demeanor as their rookie appeared extremely jazzed about tonight’s session. He couldn’t blame him. Ray enjoyed the team-against-team competition, and the location also excited him. So different than the uninspired warehouses typically used.

  Jon answered, “The whole zoo. A few scenarios have been set up. The first is one Loki’s gonna love. Each team will be given a section to locate and disarm five bombs. This means Loki’s going to walk us through disarming them, so we beat our rival’s time.”

  Dan swallowed the last of his pizza. “What types of bombs are used?”

  Loki piped up, “Flour bombs. If you don’t disarm it in time or correctly, you’re dusted. Not that I’ve ever experienced one going off.” Loki snickered. “Last time we trained with Bravo Team, they became ghost-like, doused in flour.”

  Lexa laughed. “I remember that one. Doug became ticked off when Curtis cut the wrong wire and set off a chain reaction.”

  Jon brought their attention back. “The next two scenarios will be where one team plays the bad guys and the other tries to apprehend them. We’ll swap roles, but we are playing subjects first.”

  “Sounds a bit like hide and seek in the dark,” Dan offered.

  “I know, right?” Loki said and launched into how he used to win the game every time he played with his sisters when they were children.

  It seemed strange but a welcome change to find the rookie so eager and displaying emotion. The headway the team made with their rookie began to manifest in various ways. Jon observed a relaxing of Dan’s demeanor in the past weeks, catching glimpses of a few smiles and overhearing him crack a couple of jokes with Loki. Stoic, soldier Dan possessing a sense of humor surprised him. Jon wanted to believe his own efforts to change and embrace Dan as a teammate would lead to a path of redemption for his errors as TL.

  Recently, Jon partnered Lexa and Dan together often because she paved roads even Bram had not traveled yet. Dan’s and Lexa’s chatter over the headset was interesting, though sometimes tough to follow the convolutions of thoughts as those two maintained multiple threads of within one dialog.

  All appeared to be o
n track which made Nick, Gambrill, and the team happy, and Jon reveled in their contentment.

  Chuckling at Loki’s animated description of his favorite hiding spot as a boy, Jon interrupted, “Yes, this is similar to the child’s game, but with a laser tag twist. We’ll be wearing special vests and carrying guns which are the weight, size, and configuration of our MP5s, but equipped with lasers.”

  Loki beamed like a kid in an all you can eat candy shop. “They’re exceptionally cool.”

  Jon scanned the team and spotted Dan grabbing a fourth slice. The rookie regained all his lost weight and appeared healthy and fit … another positive sign. He also noted enthusiasm emanating from everyone, himself included. Tonight should be fun.

  He took a drink of soda before explaining, “The vest and guns record where we’re hit or where we tag the subject. Points will be awarded based on how the subjects are apprehended. Eight points for taking one uninjured, five for alive but injured, and only one point if killed. So, we want to catch as many uninjured as possible.

  “Points deductions occur for various reasons. While we are the good guys, if a subject tags you in a non-lethal area, we receive a five-point deduction. But, if they manage a kill shot, then twenty-points are deducted. So, no getting shot, we want to win.”

  Dan liked a scoring system which gave more weight to saving lives, but inquired, “Why the disparate point values?” He took a bite of his fifth piece of pizza as he rubbed his left ear at the twinge of pain.

  Nick supplied the answer. “TRF wants you all to realize your lives are important. We train, so we stay safe while protecting others.”

  Digging into his salad, Dan nodded. The more he acculturated to TRF, the better he liked it here. Although he experienced a rough start with the team, ever since Christmas things improved a little more each day.

  Dinners with Lexa provided him an opportunity to converse with someone outside of work—even if he spent half his time quelling his desire to kiss her. They would meet at Jarmal’s place after shift, order a burger and beer, and talk until they must head home. Neither one wanted to incur the wrath of Jon if they showed up late the following day. So, though they wished to stay longer, they usually went their separate ways early.