Page 41 of Crowe
“Six deputies. Two females, four males. Couple rookies. The lieutenant requested ashoot-don’t-shootemphasis and hand-to-hand. One has a prior shoulder injury on the left side. It’s flagged.”
“Good catch. We’ll need to make sure whoever runs hand-to-hand knows.”
“It’s already in the notes.”
He tried not to look pleased.Failed.
“Okay, umm, I have a few more things to take care of. I’ll meet you up at the house.” Bobby gave us a curt nod and turned towards the shed.
Noah fell into step beside me as we headed back toward the farmhouse, but I could feel him watching me as we walked.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing, it's just, you’re good with him.”
“He’s good at his job.”
“And you told him that.”
“He is.”
“I know.” Noah glanced over. “I’m just saying you took the time to make sure he knew you thought so. That means a lot.”
“He’s a good kid, but he isn’t quite sure of himself yet, so he needed to hear it.”
“Yeah.” He watched the treeline. “You’re good at that. Seeing what people need. At seeing what I need. Like bringing me out here today so I wouldn’t get bored.”
I reached over and took his hand.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. The farmhouse stood steady at the edge of the clearing, porch wide, metal roof catching the light.
When we reached the porch, Noah stopped and turned to look at me. “I love what you’ve created here. They’re lucky to have you.”
The camp had been my idea. I built it. I’d walked every acre before we broke ground. But Wolfe backed it, and if he hadn’t believed in my vision, none of it would’ve been possible.
“No more lucky than I am to have them.”
“Well, I’m lucky to have all of you. I don’t know how I would get through all of this without Three Bears Tactical at my back.”
“Good thing is, you don’t have to. We’ve got you, Noah. Speaking of which, we should head back. I wanted to get with the guys and get an update on things.”
Chapter fourteen
Crowe
The East Texas group arrived late Tuesday night. Bobby had agreed to meet them and get them all situated since we wouldn’t start our training until Wednesday morning.
I got up early on Wednesday so I would have time to stop and grab breakfast burritos for the camp since I hadn’t been there to prep breakfast. I hadn’t wanted to leave Noah at the apartment alone for three days, but I had a job to do, and I knew that was the safest place for him, and that was what mattered most.
When I arrived at camp, a couple of the trainees were sitting out near the firepit with Bobby. I introduced myself and then said, “I’ll take the food inside. Bobby, round everyone up. We have a busy day ahead of us today, so I want to get an early start.”
Normally, I eased a group into things on their first day with some team-building activities, but since they were only coming for three days instead of the normal week, we didn’t have time for that. Hawk would be there around nine to start us off hot with his specialty, hand-to-hand training.
A few minutes later, they began filing into the house. There were six of them. The two women, Reyes and Castillo, and the four guys, Garza, Webb, Mitchell, and Okafor. I leaned against the counter with my coffee, watching them all while they passed around the food.
I could already tell I was going to like Reyes. She had quite an intensity that made me think she would be running her own department in a few years. Okafor was a rookie, but he didn’t carry himself like one, so if I hadn’t read the files Bobby had put together on each of them, I wouldn’t have realized it. They all seemed to get along so that was a good sign.
Hawk arrived a few minutes later. He got himself a cup of coffee and joined them at the table, taking a few minutes to get to know them all before I announced that it was time to wrap it up and get started.
