Anger had been slowly building through this latter part of the discussion. “Why single out David Cruz? There are several trainers here on site and there’ve been handlers involved with Atlas since he returned to the US. Did you keep close tabs on every one of them?”
“Once this asset came under my sphere of influence, everyone involved with it was scrutinized, yes.” Captain Jones huffed. She could almost picture him tugging the front of his uniform straight in his annoyance. “Cruz is of particular concern both because of his service record and his direct involvement with the asset.”
She bit back an ugly retort.
Her stepfather was judging a man he’d never met and assuming the worst about him based on the unfortunate outcomes of other people’s lives. She wouldn’t deny things happened like this. Truly. It happened a lot. And she understood that.
But the men of Hope’s Crossing Kennels had built something so much better here with their energy after they’d left active duty. To suspect any of them of having succumbed to delusions or alcoholism or drug usage—any of the things her stepfather was alluding to—was so completely wrong, she couldn’t ignore it.
“These are good men here.” She said it slowly and clearly. All pretenses of friendly conversation dropped. “I would stake my reputation on the quality of their training and the kennels they’ve established. They build a safe haven and are continuing to give to the community in their own way. It’s not the Service, but it is still incredibly admirable.”
Silence. Then her stepfather cleared his throat again. “All the same, I would like reports on his approach and activities while he’s working with you and the dog. All influences on the asset are of interest to me at this time.”
“He has a name. Atlas is doing well.” He could acknowledge David as a good man and Atlas as a living soul, not a simple thing to be inventoried.
“He has a designation number and responds to the name ‘Atlas’s.” Her stepfather made the clarification. “If you want to work with more military working dogs, you should ensure you refer to them as both their designation and their name.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. He was right. And it killed her to admit it so she kept silent.
“This could be the first of many contracts for you and you would do well to look at it as a key objective to come out as the lead trainer in this.” There he went, setting goals for somebody other than himself. Maybe it worked for the people under his command. It didn’t suit her. “I didn’t mention this at the beginning because you have a stubborn tendency to go in exact opposition to my suggestions in order to spite me. However, I hope you’ve matured enough to realize this is counterproductive to your career development and I would like to think you wouldn’t jeopardize the career you’ve worked hard to establish against my better judgment in order to spite me again.”
Of course not. He’d trapped her in logic. Go against his recommendation and she hurt her own career. Follow his suggestion and she’d be following his lead, doing exactly what he wanted her to do. He won either way.
“Working independently is admirable, Evelyn.” And there was her full first name.
She gritted her teeth.
“What it doesn’t give you experience in is leadership.” His voice took on a distinctively patronizing tone. “Only by working with people—actual humans—and earning their respect, can you learn leadership.”
“Not everyone respects you.” As soon as she said it, she snapped her mouth shut. Now she sounded petulant even to herself.
He remained unperturbed. “No. You are correct. Let’s clarify then and say you become a true leader when people follow you even if they don’t respect you because they have no choice but to acknowledge yours is the better judgment.”
Like this particular situation.
“I’m sorry you don’t like this.” He paused. “And I would like to remind you that life isn’t about getting people to like you. It’s about ensuring that what needs to be done, is. They can hate you and it wouldn’t matter so long as they do what needs doing.”
She sighed. “I’m not in the military.”
It wasn’t so much the status reports. She gave those to her clients regularly as a standard practice. Being able to see the progress of their relationship with their dog over time positively reinforced the hard work involved and illustrated the value of her services. But she didn’t work with people or dogs who didn’t like her. If she wasn’t able to build a rapport, she refunded the money and dissolved the contract.
“No, but this would be true in any corporate environment.” She didn’t hear it but she could picture him shrugging.
A key reason she’d chosen a profession with the flexibility and freedom she had now. It hadn’t been the easy path by any means. But it had been truer to the way she wanted to spend her time.