Page 9 of Donovan's Men

The younger man—the redhead with vivid green eyes—crouched down and held out his hand. The older man cleared his throat. Before the younger man could rise, though, Marianne gave Ollie his command, and he headed straight for the now-wary guy.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Puts him in the right headspace if he can get to work right away.”

“Oh, I don’t…” Even as the words spoken by the young guy trailed off, Ollie nuzzled him.

“Yeah, you do.” The blond guy with, yes, blue eyes said the words quietly. “I’m Valentino Langston—the executive producer ofVJ.You can call me Val.”

The redhead snorted.

Val cleared his throat. “And this—” He sighed dramatically. “—is my husband, Seamus.” A serious expression crossed his face. “He was on set yesterday.”

Ah.

Marianne crouched, putting herself just behind Ollie. “He’s still new at the job. You’ll have to go easy on him.”

Seamus winced. “I’m really okay.”

He’s anything but.

Hala shivered. Probably from the wind that swept down from the north.

“Right, let’s head inside.” Val pointed toward the enormous building.

Seamus rose, clearly reluctant.

“You can spend as much time as you like with him,” Marianne assured him.

“There are others—”

She waved him off. “Ollie’s good to go for the whole day. He never runs out of energy, although he leashes it when necessary.”

Ollie glanced up at her as if to saychallenge accepted. I’d worked with quite a few comfort dogs over the years, but Ollie truly topped the greats. He planted himself between Marianne and Seamus as we all entered the building.

Just before I stepped inside, I eyed the lightening sky to the east, offered up a little request for help, and followed into the space.

Val led us down a corridor until we eventually reached a door. He hesitated. “We have a few people here. The rest are coming in a couple of hours—we didn’t want to overwhelm you or them.”

“No problem.” I’d done this more than a dozen times over the years, and it never got easier. The people just beyond this door would’ve endured many levels of trauma yesterday. We could offer guidance, but we couldn’t fix whatever effects lingered in just one session.

After opening the door, Val stepped inside with the rest of us following. Ian and I brought up the rear, ensuring Marianne and Ollie were visible first.

A group of people clustered around a table with coffee and pastries while another set huddled in a group of chairs.

I surveyed the room, trying to take in as much as I could.

My gaze stuttered on Julie Reyes—distinctive with her long, white-blonde hair. She stood close to a South Asian actress I recognized…Ah, Lindy Doshi.

I spotted Elouise Hynes, another actress on the show. I was familiar with her work as I’d seen a movie she starred in just after Christmas.

The woman standing next to Elouise, with the purple-and-blue dyed hair, was her girlfriend, Kelci.

My gaze shot back to Julie and Lindy. Lindy towered over petite Julie and likely stood just a few inches or so shorter thanmyself. Her protective stance with Julie indicated a strong level of familiarity.

Val stepped into the space between the two clusters of people, and everyone hushed.

Impressive. Sometimes hierarchical structures could be detrimental, but the evident admiration this group had for Val spoke to his ability to lead.

Or they were all terrified of him—but I didn’t get that vibe.