46 -Â share a scene of a story that you havenât published yet
The minute Steve read the email, he bracedhimself. Heâd counted less than half a minute before Danny came stormingthrough Steveâs office door.
Steve gave him a look. âYou canât sayno to the Governor, Danny.â
âI donât care if itâs the fuckingPresident, Steven. No.â
Steve folded his arms over his chest andleaned back, smiling a little. âYou really canât say no, Danny,âSteve said again. Because he couldnât say noâthey couldnâtsay noâ but it would be a few minutes before Danny would bow to theinevitable, so Steve might as well get some amusement out of the fallout.
âI can. I can say no. I can say âIquit,â and a lot of other things that donât involve me spending a weeksurrounded by a bunch of you-clones.â
âItâs not just going to be SEALsthere, Danny. Thereâll be other military from all branchesââ
âOh, like that helps!â
âAnd,â Steve finished, âlotsof cops. You like cops, remember?â He quirked an eyebrow. âIf youârelucky, some of them might even wear ties.â
Danny glared at him. âYou think thisis funny?â
âThat youâre ranting about the factthat the military and the law enforcement community both think our task forceis doing so well we should show others how the military and police can worktogether? Yes, I think thatâs funny.â
âThatâs only because they donât knowus, Steven. One day of this workshop and theyâre going to wonder how we manageto figure out which kindergartener took someone elseâs eraser.â
Steve rolled his eyes. âReally?â
âYou want to give them the details onhow we use shark tanks, grenades and rides on the hood of our car asinterrogation techniques?â Danny said, ticking the list off on hisfingers. âOr maybe ruffies, do we want to tell them how those make suspectstalk?â
âWe donât have to tell them thosedetails, Danny. I was thinking weâd talk more about how the skill sets mesh,and maybe talk about our cases that have overlapped with the militaryhere.â
Danny sighed, and Steve realized the lookon his face wasnât just annoyance. There was something else there, just belowthe surface, something Steve couldnât quite put a finger on. He got up and wentaround the desk, putting a hand on Dannyâs shoulder. âWhatâs reallybothering you about this?â
âNothing,â Danny said, and Stevecould tell it was a lie. But he also knew that he wasnât getting this one outof Danny quickly, whatever it was. âI justâitâs a week away fromGrace.â
âItâs five days,â Steve said.âWeâll go up Sunday night and be back Friday night. See if Rachel will letyou have her the whole next week, maybe, instead of splitting the weekup?â
Danny nodded, but whatever the problem was,it still lurked in his eyes. âYeah, Iâll go call her. Iâm sure itâll befine.â
He turned, but Steve kept his hold onDannyâs shoulder. âHey,â Steve said softly. âDinner after we getdone here?â
Danny broke the hold and walked out,leaving Steve looking after him, wondering what the hell was going on.
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