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  Five

  The first week of training had come and gone, focusing on searching for traditional bomb components such as TNT, water gel and RDX, explosive powders, and dynamite. Adam was proving himself at the top of the heap every time they had a new exercise. It was a fine line to walk between shining bright and not causing his fellow bomb detectors to resent him. He didn’t need to cause problems for himself by earning their animosity.

  What he found most interesting was how he truly respected and admired both of his instructors. Miller could be smug and snarky sometimes, but he was also thorough and determined to show them how to be the best. Burnette was the perfect complement to Miller. She was a wealth of knowledge about everything to do with bombs and the various techniques to identify them. She was also methodical in implementing them. On top of it, she was easy on the eyes. He knew he shouldn’t think of her that way, but he couldn’t help himself. She was that gorgeous.

  Over the past week, when no one was watching him, his gaze was drawn more and more to the beautiful brunette instructor. Her eyes twinkled when one of the teams did something right, which caused him to do as many things to perfection as he could. He loved putting that spark in them.

  As Adam finished putting on his uniform, he refreshed his memory, going over the new techniques for searching for the chemical families of improvised explosives in his head. This week, they were switching focus which meant Valor would have to home in on urea nitrate, fertilizer, gunpowder, and hydrogen peroxide, the key components of IEDs. This was why Adam had wanted to come to DCSRA. He figured with the specialized, top-notch training under his belt, his superiors might be finally ready to send him overseas to work in the hot zones.

  The dormitories were made up of individual rooms for each trainee so that they could keep their dog with them. Some trainees opted to let their dogs stay at the kennel, but Adam preferred keeping Valor with him. It was abnormal, considering the military frowned on handlers showing too much affection to their partners. There was a fear that a handler might choose to protect their dog or not put them in harm’s way because of it. Adam thought just the opposite. He was certain it made them a better team.

  Adam arrived at the classroom designated for the bomb detection group. He was the first to arrive and noticed that Instructor Burnette was busy lining up dozens of canisters at the back of the room. As she moved from one to the next, he couldn’t help but notice how her uniform fit snuggly over her curvy body.

  She glanced up and saw him staring at her. He could swear he felt his cheeks turn red with embarrassment. Quickly, he averted his eyes and hurried to one of the seats at the front with Valor sitting next to the chair.

  “Is everything all right?” he heard her ask as she came up beside him. “You hurried off so quickly, it made me wonder if something was wrong.”

  Adam looked up at her, and his voice caught in his throat. She was looking down at him with those stunning brown eyes of hers, and he found himself at a loss for words.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked with a confused look on her face.

  He nodded, then cleared his throat. “Yes, I just didn’t realize I was going to be early.”

  “I’d offer to let you help me with the canisters, but since you’re already doing so well, I wouldn’t want the other handlers to accuse you of having an unfair advantage by knowing what is in them.”

  He had a mixed reaction to her statement. Part of him was pleased that she noticed how well he was doing. He liked receiving her praise. The other part of him was disappointed he wouldn’t have a chance to stand close to her as they arranged the canisters. It would have given him a chance to get to know her without anyone else around.

  Adam tried to remind himself that none of those reactions was proper in his work environment. What was going on with him? He shouldn’t be feeling this way about anyone, let alone his instructor. He should be focusing on his career. He was so close to getting his post overseas; he didn’t need to blow it by getting caught up in an attraction to a woman who was clearly off-limits. He needed to focus on the nature of their relationship, not on the individual he was attracted to.

  The rest of the teams and Instructor Miller showed up a few minutes later, filling in the seats around Adam. Part of him was relieved to no longer be alone with Burnette.

  Instructor Miller took to the front of the room. “Good morning, trainees. I want to start off by telling you to be prepared for a physically and mentally exhausting day. All of you have had traditional IED training. Today, however, we are going to be training your dogs to learn to search for traditional IED elements combined with other abnormal components of explosive fuels such as confectioner sugar, bath salts, and baby powder. These variations are actually the challenging part of being able to identify and locate IED threats. Dogs need to learn when traditional chemicals are combined with rogue elements, it can still make a bomb.”

  Adam had read about this on the internet. He had wanted to stay current on the newest techniques for searching for IEDs; so much so, that he had been working on this very process during his time off. He had spent several weekends having Valor smell various combinations in their apartment, teaching him the differences.

  Instructor Burnette came forward next giving more details. “It’s important that your partners understand that despite the smell being mixed with something else, it can still go bang. We do this by exposing each dog to thousands of different explosive smells and thousands of different non-explosive ones. When your K9 partner deconstructs an odor into specific components, they’re trained to pick out one culprit chemical. When there are other safe fuels that are mixed in, it can confuse the scent, making it one of the terrorist’s best tactics. Let me give you a great analogy that will explain it. One of the experts in our field, likens it to salsa. When you walk into a kitchen and smell salsa being made, your nose says salsa. A dog’s nose, on the other hand, doesn’t recognize it as that. He instinctively registers it as tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and salt. You will be the ones to help your K9 partner understand its salsa, or in our world, a bomb.”

  “Any questions?” Instructor Miller asked, glancing at the five teams. Westerly already washed out, and decided to return to his post at his Air Force base. When everyone shook their heads, he continued. “Once we know your partners have a handle on the new smells, we will test your progress on the training ground.”

  They spent the next few hours having the dogs take turns smelling the various canisters. Some of the dogs picked up the scents better than others, but Valor far out-performed all of them due to his secret private training.

  Once the classroom portion of the day was done, the group made their way to the rubble search grounds. Instructor Burnette and her K9 partner slowed down until she was walking next to Adam. “You did a great job in there, Reynolds. I was really impressed. We’ve never had a new trainee do that well. You have to tell me your secret.”

  Adam glanced around, making sure that no one else was listening to their conversation. “I read up about the new theories on IEDs and had been doing it on my own. I was hoping to have a chance to show my commanders and earn a position overseas.”

  “I read your file. Didn’t you already serve overseas? Not many soldiers voluntarily want to go back for another deployment.”

  “Well, I feel like I owe it to my team. An IED took out my entire squad. Once I recovered from my injuries, I decided I wanted to cross-train into bomb detection to help keep it from happening to anyone else.”

  “That wasn’t in your file,” she pointed out.

  “It was a classified mission at the time, so it never made it into my official file,” he explained. “I worked reconnaissance, and while we were scouting an area, an IED planted in a bush went off.”

  “That’s awful, Reynolds, I’m sorry that happened to your team. It speaks volumes about you that you decided to do this job in order to honor them.”

  They arrived at the urban rubble environment. It was the first t
ime they would be working in the urban setting since arriving. He was looking forward to seeing how Valor responded when looking for IEDs.

  The place was littered with broken down buildings, burnt out storefronts, and chunks of concrete. There were staircases that led to platforms and other buildings. There was an abandoned car and bus, as well as a playground.

  “This is impressive,” Adam marveled. “I can’t believe the detail of this place.”

  “It helps to see how the dogs react in a replica of real-world environments while still maintaining safety,” Instructor Burnette explained. “We get much more authentic results this way.”

  Within ten minutes of searching, Adam and Valor fell into a steady routine. He watched for his partner’s cues that Valor had found something. After a few seconds, his K9 got really excited, and his tail wagged as his sniffing quickened and deepened. Adam knew that meant he had found something, causing him to be ready for his final alert. Sure enough, Valor sat down next to a piece of upturned concrete near the back corner of a staircase.

  Adam moved forward to confirm Valor found an IED. When he saw the edge of something that didn’t belong, he immediately raised his hand to signal they had a potential bomb.

  Instructor Burnette came up nodding in approval. “Good job, Reynolds, you identified the first IED in the search area.”

  She moved on to check on the progress of a different team.

  Bernard came up alongside Adam, a frown making it clear he was irritated. “There you go again, showing off, and making the rest of us look like slackers. Man, could you be any more of a teacher’s pet?”

  “He can’t help himself; he’s hot for teacher,” Colby added in a whisper as he came up behind them. “Haven’t you seen the way he looks at her when he thinks no one is watching? He totally has it bad.”

  “Is that right, Reynolds? Are you into Instructor Burnette?” Bernard questioned.

  Adam shook his head adamantly, not liking the two of them ganging up on him. “No, I just like doing my job to the best of my abilities, which is what the two of you should be worried about, not my lack-of-love life. Get back to searching before you get us all into trouble.”

  Colby rolled his eyes. “Nice deflection, Reynolds, but don’t think this isn’t getting brought up later. We’re definitely getting to the bottom of it.”

  Adam didn’t like the sound of that. The last thing he wanted was for the other guys to be pestering and harassing him about his apparently obvious attraction to their instructor.

  “What’s going on here? There shouldn’t be any talking; it could set off a device,” Instructor Burnette snapped at the group. “I have a good mind to kick the three of you out of here simply on principle.”

  “We’ll stop right now,” Adam said, giving a withering glare to the other two men for getting him into trouble.

  “Good, because if you ever act like this in a live scenario, you might not get a second chance. Get back to searching.”

  At the end of the day, as Adam was packing up his bag, he overheard Bernard complaining to Instructor Miller.

  “I just don’t get it. She sees fire everywhere when there isn’t even smoke. Why is she like that?”

  “It’s what makes Mother a great bomb detector, not to mention teacher,” Instructor Miller explained. “She’s usually three steps ahead of everyone else. And for the record, if you ever try to come between Mother and Father again, you’ll disappear from this academy faster than a toupee in a hurricane.”

  Adam quietly left the training area, not wanting them to know he overheard their conversation. Why was Bernard so mad at Instructor Burnette? She hadn’t done anything Instructor Miller wouldn’t have done. Was it because she was a woman? Was it because of what he perceived was going on between Adam and her? If that was the case, he needed to figure out a way to let go of his attraction to her before it got them both into a whole mess of trouble. The problem was, he didn’t know how.

  Six

  Ben had warned the trainees they would be tired when the day was over, but what he left out was that it took a toll on the instructors, too. Clara felt like every muscle was hurting at the moment. What she wouldn’t give for a massage from Henry, but she knew that was out of the question.

  She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to ease the knot away that had formed between her shoulder blades.

  “I could use one of those, too,” she heard Reynolds’ familiar voice say from behind her. He came up beside her, holding his tray of food. She glanced up from the cafeteria table, and immediately regretted making eye contact with him. He looked great in his DCSRA uniform, but he looked even better in his civilian clothes. He had on a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. His muscles were poking out from the edges of the sleeves and she could swear she saw the edge of a tattoo. She didn’t know why, but she was curious to know what he had inked on his upper arm. Not just because it would tell her more about him, but because it would mean she would get to see him without a shirt on. The idea of that was more appealing than she cared to admit, even to herself.

  “Maybe I should make a suggestion for us to hire a masseuse for the academy,” she teased. “I wonder how that would go over.”

  “Probably not that great,” he said, sitting down at the table across from her. It was the first time any of the trainees had crossed the boundary when they were off-the-clock. Not that it couldn’t happen, but they usually stuck together and left the instructors to themselves.

  “You sure you want to add fuel to the fire?” Clara asked, glancing around the room. “I mean, they already think you’re the teacher’s pet.”

  “You heard about that?”

  She shrugged. “It’s why I broke that huddle up earlier today. I mean, it really could have set off a device, but I did it more to get you away from them.”

  “Thanks for that,” he said with a grin. “I was really uncomfortable. You didn’t have to be so harsh with me though, when it wasn’t even my fault.”

  “Hey, I wasn’t about to make it worse for you. I had to make it look like I was treating you all the same.”

  “I don’t think it’s going to help. They want to believe I don’t deserve my top spot in the rankings.”

  “Don’t worry about it. They’re just suffering from professional jealousy. You’re out-performing all of them, and they hate it. They’ll do anything to get under your skin.”

  “Well, it’s working,” he admitted, looking over to meet her eyes. “I don’t want anyone to think that I’m getting praise and accolades if I don’t deserve them.”

  “That’s just it, you do. Don’t doubt yourself, Reynolds. You’re one of the most naturally gifted handlers I’ve seen in years. You were built for this job.”

  A few more people joined their table. The meal passed with everyone talking about their day. By the time they were all finished, the trainees were ready to go relax in the recreational center.

  “You coming?” Reynolds asked, lagging behind the group to invite her.

  She shook her head. “No, it’s frowned upon for instructors to fraternize with trainees.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Her fellow instructors would definitely comment if she did, especially if she was hanging out with the trainee who was at the center of rumors circulating about her favoritism.

  Clara wished she could deny the rumors outright, but the problem was, part of her did favor Adam. Not just because he was the best trainee at the academy—because he was—but also because she found him insanely attractive. It was best if she didn’t engage with him outside training anymore. It would be the only way for her to keep it as professional as possible.

  “I need to head back to my apartment. I’ll see you tomorrow, Reynolds.”

  The look of disappointment was clear on his face, and for a moment, she almost changed her mind. Then she found a new well of resolve and turned to walk away. If she didn’t watch out, he was going to become a real problem for her.

  Seven

  The secon
d week was ending. Another trainee had washed out after having a difficult time with IEDs, leaving just four to finish out the rest of the month. To celebrate surviving half the training, their instructors decided that a good old-fashioned competition was in order. They were split into teams designated by Sarge and both led by one of their instructors.

  To Adam’s surprise, he was assigned to Instructor Burnette’s team. He hadn’t expected it, but he could say he was glad about it. He liked the idea of working closely with her while showing off his skills to her again.

  “Here are the rules,” Instructor Miller said to the group that was standing in the middle of the crashed airplane training grounds. “Teams will search for bombs which will be a mix of traditional explosive devices and IEDs. Before anyone complains, we didn’t hide the bombs. Sarge did that so it would be fair. He will also be monitoring the competition to make sure there isn’t any cheating. This will be timed, but don’t make mistakes because of it. Like always, there will be traps and decoys. If you set off a trap, you’re out. If you get tricked by a decoy, you’re also out. My suggestion, take your cues from Mother and Father since we always know best.”

  Sarge raised his arm, then dropped it as he clicked the stopwatch on in his other hand. The teams took off in opposite directions. At first, both teams followed their instructors, but as more and more bombs were found, the remaining men became cocky.

  Bernard was the first one to have a trap explode in his face. Adam had to admit, even though it left his team at a disadvantage, it was worth it just to see him covered in blue paint. He did find two actual bombs before that happened, but as Instructor Miller explained, he was out. That meant it was up to Adam and Instructor Burnette to keep their lead. Easier said than done with the other team breathing down their necks with an extra man. Within a few minutes, they had nearly caught up to Adam’s team with only one bomb to tie, and two to win.