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“So, no to Eagle Eye?” Frank waved us off. “Whatever, I’ll form my own team later.”
“Whatever.” I laughed. “Although wouldn’t it be amazing to have brother companies all over the US someday? I mean, teams fighting an organization that’s quickly expanding all over the world isn’t the craziest of ideas.”
“Yeah, and my team will be called Eagle Eye.” Frank huffed playfully.
“Maybe even Canada could get involved,” Dad said, deep in thought. “No one would ever suspect our friendly ally to the north.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there.” I sighed.
“You should.” Dad sipped his beer. “We should plan a trip sometime.”
“Now, that’s something to work toward.” Zack banged the table, making us all laugh.
We spent the night giving each other shit and planned out what the next steps should be.
A week or so later, I met Dad in the newly finished kitchen.
“Congratulations, Dad!” I tapped my shoulder to his. “Look how far you’ve taken us. We’re that much closer to our dream.”
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” He shook his head as if in disbelief. We both couldn’t get our heads around it. Things were finally coming together.
The fridge was fully stocked, and two massive dishwashers, which had to be specially made, had just been installed and were already performing a test run. I even had a friend make the house logo out of copper wire. It was an upside-down triangle with a break halfway down where the word Shadows was written through it. An outline of our beloved Montana mountains was outlined along the top. Mom and I had come up with it, and I was pleased with the outcome.
“They sure did an amazing job.” I ran my hand along the countertop and admired the beautiful craftsmanship. Dad hadn’t skimped on a thing. It was top of the line all the way.
“Yes, they did.” He looked at his watch, and I knew I hadn’t been asked to be here today just to see the final touches on the house.
“What’s going on?”
“Washington’s been interviewing psychologists for the house, and I think we’ve found one who will work. I’ve spent some time with him, but I want you to meet him. Just because I like him doesn’t mean you will, so I need to see what you think before we make the final call.”
“Great. I’d be happy to.” I was pleased he wanted to involve me in the decision making.
“Good, because he’s getting set up in the room by the stairs, next to the big office. He’s just here on a trial basis. We haven’t firmed up anything with him yet. Why not go in as a new client and see how he works?”
“Okay, sure. Should I call Zack and Frank and see what they think?”
“Already thought of that. They’ll be here in a few hours.” He pulled some files out of his bag and placed them on the island. “When you’re done, I’d like to talk to you about the latest on the Cartel. We need to speed up our training. There’s been chatter from Washington, and they’re anxiously waiting for the green light to deploy us to Mexico.”
I quickly looked interested.
“Apparently, there’s a southern politician who got himself in trouble while visiting Tijuana with his family. They found a few local guys who’d said he was poking around on stuff that wasn’t for him. They had Cartel connections. According to the guy’s wife, he’s been missing for the past two days. They want to send a team over and gather intel before they make any moves.” He flipped open the folder, and I scanned the information on the missing man.
“Geez.” I fingered the awful photos. “Yeah, if these are photos of what they’d do to their own people who cross them, imagine what’s happening to this politician as we speak. Jesus, they even killed the dog.” I threw down a photo in disgust. “Imagine what they’d do to us,” I added.
“Speaking of dogs, we got the funding you wanted for the two K9 trainers. Figure out where you’re getting the dogs, and let’s get that buttoned up sooner rather than later.”
“Copy that.”
“I’m not gonna sugar coat this, Dan. I’ve got a pretty good idea of the things you’ve been through. So, I know you can handle this.”
“Sadly,” I pushed some of the photos around as I studied the gruesome murders, “this is nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“So, let’s make sure these animals are stopped.” Dad pulled the photos away from me and nodded at the door. “The doctor awaits.”
I gave my head a shake to clear it of the images I’d just seen and walked down the hall, curious to meet the man who was going to mess with our heads. I stopped at the open door and took him in. He had a distinguished look about him. He didn’t wear a white coat but did have on a rather stiff white dress shirt. His pants had a military crease, and his shoes gleamed with polish but looked expensive. He had his legs crossed and swung one foot as he studied the notes on his lap. He was younger than I expected but oozed poise and education.
“You must be Daniel Logan.” He looked over with a friendly smile as he adjusted his glasses on his nose.