Chapter 5
Six months later.
The afternoon sun cast a golden glow over the backyard. The smell of barbecue smoke and freshly cut grass hung in the air.
Daniel stood at the grill, flipping burgers with a pair of tongs. He was wearing shorts and a faded t-shirt. The heavy, invisible weight that had sat on his shoulders for years was gone. He looked younger. He looked at peace.
"Hey, don't burn those, soldier," a voice called out.
Daniel smiled and looked over his shoulder. Rachel was sitting at the patio table, laughing with Daniel’s mother. The two women had bonded over the chaos of the last half-year. Rachel looked beautiful in the summer light, her lawyer's armor traded in for a sundress.
"I've got it under control," Daniel called back.
The trial of Colonel Hayes had been a media circus, but this time, Daniel wasn't the one on the defense stand. The evidence on the microchip, combined with the financial records Rachel had uncovered, blew the Apex Logistics scandal wide open. Hayes was serving life in a federal penitentiary. The men lost in Kandahar were finally given the honors and the truth they deserved.
Daniel felt a familiar nudge against his knee.
Zara was sitting beside him, looking up with wide, hopeful eyes. She wasn't wearing a tactical vest. She wasn't scanning for threats. She was wearing a bright red collar with a shiny new tag, and she was laser-focused on a hot dog.
"You think you deserve this?" Daniel asked her, raising an eyebrow.
Zara let out a soft woof and thumped her tail against the wooden deck.
Daniel chuckled, tossing her the hot dog. She caught it mid-air and trotted over to a sunny patch of grass to enjoy her prize.
Rachel walked over, handing Daniel a cold beer. She leaned against the railing beside him, watching the dog. "She looks good. You look good."
"I feel good," Daniel admitted, clinking his bottle against hers. "For the first time in a long time, it’s quiet in my head."
"We make a pretty good team," Rachel smiled, looking up at him. "You, me, and the furball."
"The best team," Daniel agreed. He reached out and gently took her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. Rachel didn't pull away; instead, she stepped closer, resting her head against his shoulder.
They watched as Daniel’s mother walked over to Zara, bending down to give the decorated war hero a belly rub. Zara let out a contented groan, rolling onto her back and soaking in the affection. She had crossed oceans, survived ambushes, and single-handedly dismantled a criminal conspiracy.
May you like
But right now, in the golden afternoon sun, she was exactly what she was always meant to be.
Just a dog, home at last with her boy.
