“Explosives or narcotics?” Forte could train his dogs to detect either on command. The dogs were smart enough to learn to recognize the types of scents just fine, but it wasn’t common to find a dog who could learn to differentiate what his handler wanted him to find. It required extra training for both the dog and the handler to develop the enhanced communication.
“Human. We specialized in high-value target location and acquisition.” Which explained some of the shadows around Sa’s eyes. Teams trained to track humans in those kinds of situations faced a lot of hard decisions. “My partner was retired when I was discharged, but she’s too old for ongoing duty. My father’s former military and adopted her, so she’s still in the family and with people who understand her. She gets all the tennis balls she wants. She earned them.”
Forte grunted. All lined up with what they’d figured from Beckhorn’s recommendation. “How did you know Beckhorn?”
The corner of Sa’s mouth lifted. “Met him during phase-two training. Man knows his dogs.”
Yeah, he did. Beckhorn was a key part of the training program at Lackland Air Force Base. There were instances when the various military branches came together or conducted cross-training. The program for military working dogs was one of them.
But Sa wasn’t here on behalf of the U.S. military. Forte cocked his head to one side. “What skill sets are you looking for from one of our dogs?”
“I’m joining a private military contract organization. It was established years ago, but it’s changing its base of operations to Hawaii and rebuilding. I did a couple of joint missions with their squad while I was still active duty.” Sa rolled his shoulders. The memory of some of those missions might weigh heavier on the man than others. “This team specializes in search and extraction, VIP protection, and high-value target retrieval.”
Forte raised his eyebrows. There weren’t many private teams like that. It was extremely specialized, even for his working dogs. But they could be the difference between the rescue of a hostage and that person disappearing from existence.
“Combat or stealth?” It may or may not matter when it came to the specific dog, but Forte wanted to know in general. Sometimes a client wanted a team to go in the front door and make a lot of noise while they were at it. Other times, the client needed a team to go in and get out without ever showing up in the public eye.
“Stealth, for the most part.” Sa chuckled. “With private work, sometimes the missions turn out to be a little less defined, from what I hear.”
Forte had considered private contracting. Hell, it was a valid career option after military service, to be sure. He’d made a different choice, but he did like to keep contacts out there with good people in the business. When it’d come down to it, he’d opted for the simpler way of life when it came to training dogs. Every day wasn’t a balance of ethics and finance.
“Get settled tonight. Let’s have you work with one of the dogs tomorrow and see if there’s a connection.” He had his impressions, and so far, Sa was a good candidate. Ultimately, though, Forte would let the dog judge the man. “Rojas will get you started and I’ll be on site in the morning.”
Sa looked around them. “You all seem to be somewhat stretched for resources.”
Forte met the other man’s steady gaze. There was nothing but professional interest. No malice. “We’ve got a situation in need of careful attention.”
“Understood.” Sa paused. “If I, or my team, can help, let me know.”
Forte nodded. This wasn’t just about the acquisition of a working dog. This was an offer of a business relationship. “Thanks.”
Networking. Connections. Considering the suspicions Forte had about Sophie’s safety, they could come in handy if they cleared Cruz’s background checks.
Chapter Seven
Early-morning runs were always interesting with the way the seasons changed in Pennsylvania. Fall had come quickly and given them a good cold snap, but the past few days had been pleasantly mild. Still, the nights had been cold enough to create a thin layer of black ice on the asphalt until the sun came up and melted it away. It required a decent amount of attention to make sure he didn’t wipe out on the street. Luckily, Haydn had experienced it once and developed a good eye for the stuff. As long as the two of them jogged together, Forte could rely on Haydn to let him know when a minor course change would be advisable.
Forte opened the back of his SUV. “Haydn, over.”
Haydn obediently hopped into the back area of the vehicle. On the two nights since Sophie had returned from the hospital, it’d been Haydn’s home away from home. Mostly because Forte wanted to keep watch and hadn’t wanted to risk staying in Sophie’s apartment while he did it. The parking lot was a better vantage point than the inside of her apartment in any case.
There was also too much temptation there. And until he, Rojas, and Cruz were sure the car bomb incident hadn’t been targeted specifically at her, he was going to maintain vigilance.