Chapter 7
As Alex slidbetween the soft tan sheets of the huge king-size bed, alone in the penthouse apartment, he opened the app on his phone that showed him Katlin was in Tajikistan. Or maybe that was Kyrgyzstan. Or Uzbekistan? Who knew in that part of the world? Lines drawn on maps by politicians meant nothing to people who’d been fighting for over two thousand years.
He closed his eyes and sent a small prayer heavenward, asking to protect Katlin and her team since he wasn’t there as her backup this time.
The da-thump, da-thump, da-thump of her heartbeat coming through the speaker helped him fall asleep.
Staccato thud, thud, thud, thud as his boots hit the hardpacked sand.
Bullets rained around him.
He gave the order, “No prisoners.” His team would kill every last enemy.
Red tracers illuminated the small ravine.
Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat. He no longer felt the recoil in his shoulder from the three short bursts.
Urgent.
He had to get to Ty. They’d been ambushed.
Woof
Damnit?
He wasn’t there with them in Afghanistan.
Woof, woof
Alex instantly awakened.
Damnit was pawing at him.
“What’s the matter, boy? Do you have to go out?” Alex was sure he’d taken him out just before he’d gone to bed. Damnit licked his sweaty face.
The dog worked his muzzle under Alex’s hand, forcing him to pet the soft short hair. “What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream, too?”
As Alex caught his breath and slowed his heart rate, he realized that he hadn’t finished the dream. It had been the dream, the one he seemed to have over and over again as though his mind wouldn’t leave it alone.
Damnit had awakened him just before the worst part, thank God.
Alex got up and wiped the sweat off his body with a towel. Since the sheets were soaked on his half of the bed, he crawled in on her side, missing Kat even more. Damnit put his paws on the side of the bed as though asking permission. He wondered if she allowed the big puppy on the bed when she was alone.
What the hell. Alex rarely was able to go back to sleep after the dream. “All right.” he patted the bed. “You can come up.”
Damnit leaped onto the bed and snuggled next to Alex’s back. To his surprise, he fell asleep quickly and woke up the next morning refreshed. Usually, the dream wiped him out emotionally. All too often, if Alex did get back to sleep, he’d fall right back into the dream where he left off.
None of that had happened.
After their morning routine, Alex placed a call to Damnit’s trainer. “Hey, Tanner, this is Alex Wolf. Do you have a minute?”
“If you need me to take Damnit, I have room for him now. The trainer from the facility that burned was able to complete the training of several dogs and move them into their new homes.”
Alex stroked the dog from his ears to his tail. “No. I think we’re doing just fine. I’ll keep him with me, but I have a question. Did you train Damnit to be a real service dog?”
There was a long pause on the other end before the man in Virginia answered the question. “Katlin paid me to train her dog to the basic commands, but you know what my wife does for a living, right?”
Tanner’s wife, Bailey, worked for the VA certifying PTSD in veterans and arranging for trained dogs. That’s how they’d met. “Of course, Bailey and Kat have been friends for years.”
“Katlin is unaware of the fact that she’s starting to show signs of mild PTSD already. Since Damnit spends so much time here at the kennel, Bailey had me train him with those skills.”
“What exactly does Damnit do to help her?” Alex was actually asking for himself as well.
“Petting Damnit helps calm her. He’s also trained to walk on her left side because she doesn’t like to have anything near her shooting hand.” Tanner chuckled. “I doubt you’ve noticed it, but she even carries her purse on her left shoulder unless her gun is in there. If she’s standing in a line, she hates to have people on her right, so Damnit stands there, or he’ll sit and watch the people around her.”
“He sat on my heels looking at the people in line behind me at the airport,” Alex confessed.
“You don’t like people coming up behind you, do you?” Tanner was right on the mark. So was Damnit.
“Is he trained for nightmares?” Alex almost hated to admit the weakness.
“Most definitely. Katlin had a really bad one when Bailey spent the night in her D.C. condo a few years ago. My wife had a hell of a time waking her up, so I trained Damnit to get in her face and bark. He’ll also jump on the bed and sleep with her if allowed.”
Alex let out a heavy breath. That explained so much. He wondered if he should get a dog for himself and have Tanner train it. He’d bet Damnit would like a little friend. Just then, the dog worked his way under Alex’s hand. He automatically started petting the big pup.
He didn’t need a dog. He already had one.
Kane popped into his mind. “Can a dog be trained to detect fluctuations in sugar levels?”
“Certainly. We call them DADs, Diabetic Alert Dog. They take a little bit more training because they have to be matched to the owner.” Tanner went on to explain, “The dog has to learn what his master smells like when he’s normal and alert, and when he smells ketones, which means his sugar level is changing. Like I said, it just takes a little longer and there’s a lot of training time spent directly with the owner. Why, do you know someone who’s diabetic?”
Alex grinned. “I most certainly do. Can you start working on a DAD for me right away?”
“Consider it done. Is this a veteran’s dog or civilian?”
“Veteran. Why? Do you think Bailey might be able to VA certify him?” Alex had originally thought Guardian would pay for the dog and training, but if he got it done through the VA that would be even better.
“I’ll talk to Bailey and see what she can do. There’ a fifteen-month-old Labrador Retriever that came to us after the fire. He has his basics down solid, and that breed is known for a keen nose. I’ll be in touch.”