Trinity: Military War Dog by Ronie Kendig Read Free Book Online

somehow weak, or less?”
    Heath stared at his boots. “Wasn’t thinking anything of the sort.” Though it might seem odd, him talking to a woman not related to him, they’d both spent many hours watching over his uncle. She had leverage in his life not many did. “Besides, I wasn’t looking for it. This gig came to me.”
    “How?”
    Still … talking to this woman always made him want to close up. Claire had an uncanny ability to read him, to cut open his heart and expose things he hadn’t seen or didn’t want to see. But he told her about A Breed Apart, about Jibril, about his new training regimen that had helped him overcome most of the TBI effects.
    “I feel good, focused, for the first time in eighteen months.”
    Quiet draped the room, punctuated by the bleeping and hissing machines. When seconds turned into minutes and he felt the bore of her gaze drilling him, he finally closed his eyes. “Go on. Get it out. I know you want to say something.”
    “You’re not weak, Heath.”
    His attention snapped to hers.
    “Going back, doing this—it may be a good thing—but it’s not going to give you back what you think you lost. You’re a strong, amazing young man. Bobby always said that. He was very proud of you.”
    But Uncle Bobby didn’t know today from ten years ago. He didn’t know that Heath had lost all he’d worked for, all the general had lauded and clapped him on the back for.
    “Yeah, he was.” Heat and pressure built in his chest. He rolled it up and stuffed it away with his humiliation and shattered pride. “I’d better get going.” He called Trinity and started down the quiet hall.
    “Heath.” Her voice chased him.
    He hesitated at the juncture that led to the elevators as he met her soft gaze.
    “The man Robert loved is the man whose character got him where he was. Not the career he chose or the uniform he wore—or doesn’t wear.” That tone again, the one that slipped past his barriers—like a slick coating on a sour pill that made it go down easier—forced him to listen. “No matter what you do or where you go, your character is what will always make your uncle proud.”
    “Claire, he’s not even conscious. When he’s awake, the doctors aren’t sure if he’s lucid. He believes I’m a soldier, an elite soldier. That’s what he remembers.” His throat thickened. “I’m not that man anymore.”

    Lackland AFB
San Antonio, Texas
    “It’s not personal.”
    “Bull!” Heath’s temples throbbed as he faced off with Jibril.
    When a uniformed presence made itself known shifting into his periphery, Heath lowered his voice so the MP would leave off. “You and I both know this is very personal. Two days ago, this was
my
gig. The PAO asked for me. I agreed. Now, everyone’s going?”
    “Heath, please—it’s not—”
    “Don’t lie to me, Jibril.” Heath cocked his head. “We’re too good of friends to go there.”
    Jibril held his gaze but didn’t look away. Silence hung rank and rancid between them as they stood on the tarmac, the C-130 engines ramping up with a whinnying screech. The jumbo plane would ferry them halfway across the world so Heath could begin the speaking engagements.
    Heath glanced down at the crate that held Trinity. Just like his partner, he felt caged by the TBI. Would he ever be free? What was this, some enormous lesson on trust?
Is that what this is, God? Because I think I already wrote the book on this with the surgery
.
    Jibril broke the silence after a jet roared into the sky from another runway. “It makes sense, Ghost. This is the first mission for the organization. I was coming anyway, and it’s logical to bring Timbrel and Aspen. We all need to feel this out. Their dogs aren’t coming though.”
    Pulse whooshing through his ears, Heath reared up. “This. Isn’t. About. The. Dogs.” If only it were. It wouldn’t feel like such a colossal ambush. He took long, deep breaths, trying to calm himself, head off the thumping that warned