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Unlike himself

The Squadron Commander’s closed door loomed ahead Man, the old open-door-policy days of Zach Dawson’s coh it Not the first rea and sure wouldn’t be his last Daniel rapped his knuckles, twice

"Yes"

Okay, guess that meant enter Daniel stepped inside the spacious office, stopping short of an oversize wooden desk loos behind it "You wanted to see lance up from the file in front of him, the subtle put-down not lost on Daniel He waited Studied the rows of airplane photos, a C-17 fraside a print of the C-141 Quade flew earlier Cornell diploo there Actually, his father had wanted him to attend Harvard or Yale, but they didn’t have ROTC prograious schools didn’t even make Daniel’s list of possibilities

Quade closed the file with precision before raising his gaze to Daniel without standing "Is that how you report in a uy wanted to play it Quade’s turf, they had to play Quade’s way Just like days of old with Franklin Baker

Daniel drew to attention and snapped a sharp salute "Captain Baker reporting as ordered, sir"

Quade returned the salute, no invitation to sit on the sofa followed like with the past co a secret stash of Little Debbie cakes out of his desk drawer to share either Yeah, he’d received a few "chats" from Dawson about how to better balance the secrets ops Daniel pulled with the co-at-attention bulk

"Baker, I’m sure you realize why you’re in here"

"Yes, sir" He kept his eyes on the flag just behind Quade and consoled himself with the fact that a squadron cohteenit felt like this "chat" would last

The coer on the closed file with a red cover sheet declaring "Secret" "You’re lucky you covered your ass planning this one"

Daniel didn’t botherexcuses Air Force Acade some caution into him

Quade continued, "I don’t question the mission’s importance And I know daht-up about where you’re going But, Captain, that was my plane and those were my flyers No s you pulled, their safety is still on my shoulders You should have placed a courtesy call to me"

The past blended with the present, toohishe wanted was to think of his old round

Quade blinked slowly "Answer iven Dawson a courtesy call?"

Nailed The question and its obvious affirht back to the present, a not so comfortable place to be He kept his eyes forward andtrip he and Mary Elise would make with the boys

The Squadron Co his hands on the edge of his desk and standing "You didn’t calla different take on your plan"

Silence seemed the wisest course of action Bunk beds They would shop for those first and then pick out sheets Austin said he wanted sailboats Fine Mary Elise would help Trey open up enough for the kid to choose what he wanted, too

Quade pushed a paper across the desk Daniel glanced down The guy couldn’t actually intend to write hirounds? Daniel looked closer and found … leave papers The co him teeks vacation

"Get your household in order"

Confusion shifted the ground under his feet He’d expected to have to beg for leave "Thank you, sir"

"Don’t thank me This isn’t soood to h the words, snagging a fresh file to open "Dismissed, Baker"

O-kay Daniel spun on his heel to leave, the prospect of bunk-bed shopping suddenly not so daunting after all

"Baker?"

Slowly Daniel turned

Quade stood with his back to the door, shuffling pages in the file as if Daniel only warranted half of his attention "Boundary pushing is necessary to expand the airframe’s capabilities Confidence in the air is ade to the back "Intellectual arrogance, however, will put you face-to-face with an eneht-sideout T-shirt Quade reached for the file cabinet "Close the door behind you"

Daniel stepped into the hall, shoulders tensed just as after countless confrontations with his father Hell, yeah, he had trouble with authority figures Didn’t take a freaking Siged Pushed his boundaries, stayed alive and kept his career on track, accepting the occasional chewing out as the price to pay for freedom

What baffled him, however, was how easily he’d fallen into the old habit of keeping his te Mary Elise