Beowulf: Explosives Detection Dog Read Online Free PDF Page B

integrity of the entire building?”
    Man, he needed a Dr Pepper.
    Scratch that. A glycerin tablet.
    “That building belongs to a family connected to our industrious humanitarian and who is a colonel in the ISAF!”
    A curse split the tension.
    Lance spun. “That’s right. Curse, because that’s exactly what you turned me into!” He stomped back to his desk. “How am I supposed to explain this to General Phillips?”
    Watters lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. “Permission to speak, sir?”
    Lance huffed. “Fine. Speak. Tell me something that I can pass to my superiors that will convince them not to discharge my sorry carcass. And if that happens, if they do, you can kiss your careers good-bye, because by golly, I will take you down, too.”
    “Sir,” Watters began, his voice firm and calm, “Hogan and her dog found that scent.”
    “No kidding.”
    “It was a false positive, but through that we found the room.”
    “That’s right. After you killed Colonel Karzai’s right hand. After you blew up the wall of his shop.”
    “Sir,” VanAllen interjected, “may I?”
    Lance threw his hands up. “Why not? Watters sure isn’t helping.”
    “Sir, the man I hit took a shot at me first. You authorized use of deadly force—”
    “Don’t you dare,” Lance barked. “Don’t throw this back in my face, VanAllen.”
    “Not my intention in the least, sir. My point is that this man had hostile intentions. If the wall and the printing press weren’t a problem, then why attack us? Why hide the entrance?”
    Lance couldn’t fight it. The man had a point. It didn’t make sense—none of it made sense. But it didn’t matter. Karzai would grind him and the team up like hamburger.
    “I’d like to make a request, sir,” Russo said.
    Lance glared at him. “Go on.”
    “I think Hogan is trouble. She and this dog—”
    “Don’t,” VanAllen snapped, his face red beneath that sandy blond beard. “Do not blame her on this.”
    “That dog—”
    “Did what he was trained to do. Cyanide is used in both printing and in WMDs. He’s trained to find it and he did. He can’t read the signs on the doors.”
    “No,” Lance growled. “But you sure can.”
    VanAllen closed his mouth. His eyes screamed his fury.
    Though Lance couldn’t see the man’s lips, he was sure they were thin and pulled tight. “VanAllen, trim up that rat’s nest you call a beard.” He grabbed a cold can from the fridge. “I want your after-action reports on my desk at 0800. Dismissed.”

    Tony stepped from the general’s office in the subbase command center and got hit with a blast of hot, unrelenting Afghanistan heat.
    A weight plowed into his shoulder from behind.
    He stumbled and looked back.
    Rocket stormed past him.
    Tony grabbed the guy by the drag straps. Hauled him up against the building. Pressed his forearm into his throat. “I don’t care if you are pissed off at me, I am still your superior officer.”
    Dark icy eyes hit his. “Noted. Sir.”
    “Hey.” Dean came up beside them. “Let’s ratchet it down. The whole mission was messed up. Placing blame doesn’t do any good.”
    Taking in a breath, Tony released Rocket. Patted his shoulders. “I understand your anger.”
    “Don’t do me any favors. I still think tasking our team with her is a mistake.”
    “Noted.” Tony held the man’s gaze.
    “Russo,” Dean said, moving in on Rocket, “you can check your attitude or your discharge papers.”
    Rocket’s eyes widened.
    “It’s one thing to have a problem with something. It’s another to let it get in the way.” Dean looked to the side as if weighing his words. “We all need to put this behind us. The dog did what he was trained to do. And if we all think about it, though we can’t prove a thing, there is something wrong with that shop. The hidden press. The guy who tried to off Candyman.”
    Dean’s hazel eyes met the rest of the team. “Burnett’s going to take some serious heat, but we need to