Silent Creed Read Online Free Page A

alarm the dog. Like most of their dogs, Bolo had come to Creed and Hannah as a rescue. He hadn’t been a year old, still had his puppy teeth, but they could only guess his pedigree. Hannah was convinced Bolo had to have some Labrador retriever mixed in him. Ridgebacks weren’t natural swimmers, but Bolo’s webbed toes—similar to those of a Lab—contributed to the dog’s love of water. He wouldn’t mind the rain, but Creed would need to keep him from bounding into flooded areas. In his mind he was already calculating all the obstacles and risks. That’s when he thought about the one that might be the biggest obstacle.
    “Is Logan meeting us at the site?”
    At first he wasn’t sure if she heard him over the battering of the rain on the roof of the vehicle and the accelerated
swish-swish
of the windshield wipers. Then he saw Isabel exchange a look with the driver before she answered. “No, I think he’s stuck in D.C. until tomorrow.”
    Creed pretended it was no big deal. He certainly didn’t need Peter Logan there in order to do his job. As a matter of fact, it would probably make his job easier. What didn’t sit right with Creed was that the urgency somehow didn’t warrant Logan’s presence.
    “Who’s in charge of clearing the area we need to search?” he asked.
    Again, the pair exchanged a glance. He wanted to tell them he didn’t need to know their classified bullshit. He just needed some basic information. When Isabel took too much time to answer, Creed realized that it might not be a reluctance to share but rather that she didn’t know.
    As if reading his thoughts, she shrugged and finally said, “Of this particular area, I guess we are.”
    He waited for a laugh that never came. She wasn’t joking. And in that short response she had just told him volumes. Isabel Klein had never been involved in a search and rescue of a disaster site, or any other site, for that matter.
    Creed stroked Bolo’s neck, more in an effort to keep himself calm rather than Bolo. Both of them had worked with amateurs before. Didn’t mean he had to like it. Creed wasn’t necessarily a rules kind of guy, but protocol in dangerous circumstances helped protect his dogs.
    Bolo turned to look over at Creed, eyes searching out his. He knew that look. Bolo was anxious to get to work—actually, to get to play. If only it were all that simple.

6.
    Pensacola, Florida
    H annah Washington couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe she should have turned down this assignment despite Creed insisting everything was fine. He sure hadn’t looked fine. During the entire forty-five minutes it had taken her to drive him and Bolo to the airfield, Creed had remained tight-lipped and sullen, like some dark cloud had descended over him at just the mention of this Peter Logan. All he’d said was that he’d known the man in Afghanistan and something about a favor.
    She glanced in the rearview mirror to see Grace staring at her. The Jack Russell terrier was disappointed that she couldn’t go along with Creed and Bolo. Not only was Grace one of their best air-scent dogs, she was a multitask dog. She could sniff out cadavers as well as survivors and had also learned to detect a variety of things from viruses and cancer to cocaine, meth, and heroin.
    Grace and Creed had spent most of the summer together working with airport customs and the Coast Guard. They’d even become celebrities. But Creed insisted Grace was too small to work disaster sites. As compensation, Hannah brought her along to run errands with her.
    Grace still looked disappointed, staring at Hannah as if that would make her turn around and go get Creed.
    “I don’t need you judging me,” she told the dog with a glance over her shoulder.
    She already regretted sending him. It was Hannah’s job to vet the assignments and requests that came their way. Her job to make sure their dogs would be okay and not in undue danger. Same went for the handlers. But she couldn’t protect Rye