Chapter 3

You can trust your dog to guard your house, but never trust your dog to guard your sandwich.

-T-shirt

Payton

 

“Who did you say you were again?” I asked, with a large amount of confusion.

 

“My name is Claudia. I’m here to start training you with Alpha.” She said, gesturing to the massive German Shepherd that was sitting fancily at her side.

 

I hunkered down, ass to the back of my legs, and regarded the beautiful boy. He was pure black. Not a hint of brown showing over his entire coat, and he was gorgeous. Normally, when you think of German Shepherds, you think about their tan and black coat. This big boy had the coarse hair, pointy ears, and long nose that was synonymous with Germans, but with a pure midnight coat.

 

He looked at me with an intelligence that, quite frankly, freaked me out a little. “I’m sorry to say that I didn’t order a dog. Not that he’s not pretty stinkin’ awesome, but I would hate to take him when he’s not really mine.”

 

My moral code, at times, can be iffy, but I draw the line at stealing someone else’s badass dog. The longer I stared, the larger he seemed to get.

The tall, sable haired woman, Claudia, smiled a breathtaking smile and then said, “Max said you would do this. Sol told me that Max arranged for the dog, and to get him here as soon as possible. You were in luck; I was doing a police training seminar in Lubbock with Alpha, and could just zip right on over within a couple hours. I was supposed to deliver him next week, but we didn’t see any point in boarding him on a plane just to be shipped right back the next week.”

 

“Oh, my God. I’m going to kick his ass. Do you know how to get to Iraq?” I asked facetiously.

 

The man was relentless. He’d been gone for two and a half days, and, already, he’d called me more than he had in the past month when he was here. He’d asked multiple times how I’d been sleeping, but I never told him the whole truth. Yes, I slept, but not very well. I’d gotten a little over eight hours total in the last seventy two hours, which was not conducive with work, or functioning for that matter.

 

He’d asked me, repeatedly, to move into his place, but I was adamant that I stick it out, get over the hang-up I had with being alone. Somehow, he knew that I was lying; he knew I wasn’t sleeping.

 

Answering the phone at four in the morning, bright eyed and panting, probably didn’t help my case. Around three this morning I’d woken up from the same recurring nightmare. The one where I was laying on the concrete, face down, with the two men standing over me. They took turns kicking me. I’d started out in a tight ball, but after a few minutes, I no longer had the strength to protect myself. My scream of pain, when one of them stomped down on my hip, was what woke me from sleep. Instead of the futile effort of going back to sleep, I started my morning workout of Insanity three hours early.

 

When Max had called, I’d just finished the workout and was lying on the floor in a heap. He was lucky my phone was on the floor playing the latest John Corey book on audio; otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the strength to get up and get it. He never did mention why he was calling so late... well late for me since it was four in the morning. My only guess was that he somehow knew I wasn’t sleeping. Which explained the dog now exploring my apartment. The man just couldn’t mind his own damn business.

 

Then a thought struck me. “Wait a minute. What do you mean when you say you were doing police training?”

 

She gave me another bright smile. “Alpha is a protection dog. He’s trained to protect his trainer, or, in your case, owner. He will protect you from anything you could possibly imagine. Burglaries, muggings, fires. You name it; he will protect you from it. He’s also a trained service dog. Which means you can take him anywhere you want. Max took the liberty of having you certified as needing a service dog as well. You should have something in the mail within the next couple of days. You can even take him to work with you.”

 

I rolled my eyes heavenward. That man. He was such a shit, as well as stubborn and annoying. He was perfect.

 

“I’m not sure what hospital policy is, but I’m pretty sure they won’t let me bring my dog to work with me. Probably against public health standards or something. Don’t you actually have to have a medical condition to use a service dog?”

 

She regarded me with sadness in her eyes.

 

“Honey, you have six locks on your door. From what I can see, you have alarms on the window; although somewhat flimsy, they’ll work. You have a baseball bat leaning in the corner, a stun gun on the coffee table, and a Taser on the mantle. You’ve obviously had some sort of attack at some point in time, and you’re scared shitless. A: you need an alarm. B: you probably have PTSD, but you’re stubborn and refuse to go talk with someone. That, in itself, is a medical condition, which enables you to have a service dog. C: the hospital you work at can’t refuse to let you have the dog. It’s against the law.”

 

What the h-e-double hockey sticks? “Wow. I can’t believe you saw all that with less than two minutes in my apartment. FYI, alarms cost out the ass, and I don’t have the money to buy one.”

 

I wasn’t touching the PTSD comment with a ten-foot pole. I’d heard it, time and time again, from my parents, brother, and friends. I didn’t want to talk to some random stranger about my fucked up head either.

 

She nodded in understanding. “Very true. I’ve had to be very observant in my life. Let’s just say when I wasn’t, I got hurt. Now, seeing as Alpha’s made himself at home on your couch, let me go over some of the commands with you. What you can ask him to do, and a little about his history. We’ll do this a little bit over the next few days until you can do it without my help. I understand you work tonight, so we can work for an hour or so today, and I’ll take Alpha back to the hotel with me until tomorrow afternoon. After that, he can stay here, even if you have to work.”

 

Sure enough, the dog was knocked out on my couch. Good thing I had a sectional, or there would be nowhere to sit. The dog took up two whole cushions, and then some. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I’d always wanted a pet, but my childhood wasn’t conducive with a dog.

 

My dad was career Marine. Last year he retired at the age of sixty-five, at the rank of Colonel. Over the course of my childhood, we’d never been in one place more than three years. Even now, he still actively participated in a civilian capacity. I don’t exactly know what he does; then again, I’ve never really asked. He made it a point not to discuss his job with us. I didn’t want him to lie to me, as I was sure he would have to do. I was convinced he did some secret military spook stuff.

 

My mom was originally from Jefferson, TX. When I turned eighteen, I looked for a school that was near my extended family. Every weekend, for the past five years, I’ve had Sunday dinner with my dad’s parents, Pepaw and Nanny. It’s so nice to have roots after spending my entire childhood anticipating the next move. When my father finally retired, they bought acreage across the street from my grandparents. For the first time in my brother’s life, he didn’t have to worry about moving, which, to a teenager, means the world.

 

“That sounds like it’ll work, but I have dinner tomorrow with my grandparents. Can you come around noon? I have to be at dinner by three. That’ll give me a couple of hours to work with you two, and then drive the hour it takes to get to Jefferson from here.”

 

“Let’s get started. The first thing I want to tell you is that Alpha will ‘guard’ if you tell him to. For instance, say you were in a situation where you needed Alpha to protect someone else besides you. All you would say is ‘Guard’ and he’ll do it.” She explained.

 

For the next hour and a half, we worked on commands; by the end of it, I was ready to worship at Max’s feet. Already, I was feeling safer and I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait for Alpha to stay with me permanently. Max was one perceptive man.

 

***

 

That night at work, I asked my supervisor, Tammy, about bringing a service dog with me to work.

 

“Honestly, Payton, I would have to ask my boss. I don’t see a problem with it, but it could be a violation of some kind, and I haven’t the slightest idea about those. Let me run it by the director, and I’ll get back to you.” Tammy said.

 

I nodded in understanding, then went to the board that told me what rooms would be mine tonight. I was the newest member of the well-baby and postpartum nursing staff. Can I tell you I absolutely love my job? Who wouldn’t want to hold newborn babies all day long?

 

“You’ll never believe the size of the latest baby! Eleven pounds thirteen ounces. She did it naturally, too!” Cheyenne exclaimed as I walked into the nurse’s station.

 

“Holy Crap! That’s one awesome woman! When I’m pregnant, I won’t be having any pain meds either. I want to see if I can do it naturally.” I teased.

 

Cheyenne burst out laughing.

 

“You’re so full of shit. You’ll be walking in the door demanding the epidural before anyone even examines you.”

 

Cheyenne was one of my closest friends. We met during our first year of nursing school, two years ago. Then when we started our jobs a couple of months ago, we became even closer. We also found we had a lot in common. The best friendships are built on inappropriateness and sarcasm; we had that in spades. Cheyenne had, in turn, introduced me to her best friend, Ember, and another in their group, Blaine. It was the type of instant friendship that you knew would last a lifetime.

 

The night shift went by quickly. I was able to make the nearly twelve pound baby’s acquaintance, and was flabbergasted to find out that the mother was a young girl, maybe fifteen years old, who was only an inch or so taller than me. I would have loved to see how big she was before she gave birth. Before we knew it, Cheyenne and I were walking out to the employee parking lot.

 

My scooter was in the designated parking spot for motorcycles, and I laughed when I saw Cheyenne’s ride next to mine. Hers definitely won, seeing as her ride had one hot sexy man sitting astride it.

 

Sam was a gorgeous specimen of a man. Tall, broad, and built in all the right places. His Ray-Bans reflected the morning sun; I was drawn to the smirk he had at the corner of his mouth. He was hunched over the front of his bike, elbows resting on the gas tank as he watched us approach. A black skullcap covered his hair.

 

“Get any crap about your ‘beanie’ today, Sam?” I asked with a laugh.

 

He glared, and I laughed harder. When I’d first met him, he was wearing a skullcap just like the one he was wearing now. Max and James were giving him shit because he called it a ‘beanie.’ Needless to say, Sam didn’t take kindly to being made fun of, and put the boys in their places. I knew where he got the beanie from though. It was a Northern thing. One I’d heard a lot when we were stationed in North Dakota.

 

Sam has warmed to me some. When I first met him, I was scared even to speak to him. When I get nervous, my attitude comes out to play, and, unfortunately, that’s what Sam got. It took us a few months before I was able to calm down enough when he was around to be nice to him. I’m sure he thought I was a really big bitch.

 

“Bite me.” He said in a deep voice.

 

Not as deep as Max’s, but it still gave me a little shivers inside. I was a whore for a good voice.

 

“Where at?” I asked pleasantly.

 

“How ya doin’, Bubbles?” Sam asked in a sugary sweet voice.

 

Too sweet if you asked me. I would never live this down. Now Cheyenne would want to know, and then everyone would know that I wore boy’s underwear.

 

“I’m great. Max had a dog delivered to me yesterday. Know anything about that?”

 

He smiled, and I knew he was aware of what was going on, probably even more so than me.

 

“Yeah. Sure do. Let’s go sweet cheeks, I’ve got a ton of shit to do and places to be.”

 

Sam was kind enough to wait for me to get on my scooter and pull out in traffic before he left. Although it was an alpha-male thing to do, I was grateful none-the-less. You learn a new respect for parking lots and public places that leave you isolated once you’ve gone through a beating as I had. I would take anything I could get.