Watching From The Shadows: Trident Security Book 5 by Samantha A. Cole

up at him expectantly, its tail wagging furiously. “Beau, isn’t it?”
    The dog woofed in response to his name as he sat down, his rear end still twitching.
    “I thought you were supposed to be a bad-ass dog who only understands German.” He picked up the ball while Beau’s eyes tracked it in anticipation. “Look, I have no problem playing fetch with you, but next time, can you put on the brakes a little sooner and not two feet away from me? I thought you were about to take me down.”
    “Woof.”
    Darius chuckled. With the dog’s markings, it looked like he had a permanent smile and it was infectious. “All right. You only get one throw now, otherwise I’ll be late. But you can hit me up for a game of fetch later. Agreed?”
    “ Woof.”
    Rearing back, he threw the ball toward the far west end of the compound with the dog hauling ass after it. Shaking his head, he started for the offices again. Inside, he reintroduced himself to the company secretary, Colleen McKinley. The petite blonde was a pretty woman, with luscious curves, and obviously engaged with a huge diamond ring on her tiny hand. That was probably a good thing since, although she was the typical girl-next-door he was normally attracted to, he’d be stupid to get involved with a Trident employee. He didn’t play in the same sandbox where he worked.
    “Hi, Darius. Nice to see you again. Welcome aboard.” Smiling, she handed him a large brown envelope. “In there is your ID, insurance paperwork, tax forms for the payroll, computer passwords, which you’ll need to change after signing in the first time, and a few other papers you need. Later, Brody will get your handprint scanned into the system, so you can access any locked area in the compound. If you have a seat in the conference room over there, Ian will be with you in a moment. Can I get you some coffee from the break room?”
    He grinned—the woman was damn efficient. “Thanks, but I can get it myself if you point the way.”
    “Sure. Down the hall, last door on the right.”
    After helping himself to a fresh cup of gourmet coffee from company’s Keurig machine, he wandered back to the conference room and took a seat. But he immediately stood again when two men and a woman entered the room, with the lead being his old teammate and new boss.
    “Hey, Batman.” Ian held out his hand and when Darius took it, pulled him into a man-hug, slapping him on the back a few times. “Glad to finally have you on board. Did you get settled in Reverend’s condo?”
    “Yeah. Since Jake left most of it furnished, I put my stuff in storage for now. I’ll have to thank him again for renting it to me.”
    “When he’s in town, he stays here in Nick’s place now, so he was glad to rent it to someone he knew.” Stepping away again, Ian gestured to the man who’d been standing behind him. “Darius Knight, Navy SEALs, this is one of your new teammates, Valentino Mancini, call sign ‘Romeo’, Army SF and FBI HRT.”
    Darius was impressed with the credentials—Special Forces, and then a gig with the Fed’s Hostage Rescue Team. He shook the tall, dark-haired man’s hand, and then turned to the woman who Ian introduced next. “And this is one of our new snipers, Lindsey Abbott, Marines, call sign ‘Costello’. She’ll be training with your team for a bit, before starting assignments with mine. She’ll be filling in for Reverend while he’s getting the west coast team up and running.”
    Holding out his hand, Darius gave her a nod. “Nice to meet you.”
    The brunette was about six inches shorter than his own height of six-foot-two, but her military training was noticeable with her straight spine, shoulders back, head up, and eyes directly focused on his. She shook his hand and smiled, which lit up her face. “Same here. Why Batman?”
    It was obvious to him how the others probably got their call signs. Abbott was ‘Costello’ from the old comedy duo, and Valentino had most likely gotten