Free Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm by Linda Kay Silva

this...with—”
    “Yes? With what?”
    “With this jerk!”
    Coolly, Tony leaned against the wall, still managing his Huck Finn grin.
    The captain, however, wasn’t so cool. “I wasn’t aware that I’d given you a choice.”
    “You didn’t, Captain, but—”
    “But nothing. You will work with Tony Carducci whether you like him or not. This isn’t a romance, Stevens, it’s a job. And your job is to train this man the best way you can. Do you understand?”
    Delta inhaled slowly. She couldn’t even stand to look at the rookie standing there with that smug look on his face. “Yes, sir.”
    “Good, because I don’t give a rat’s ass what the history is between you two. From here on out, you’re on the same side, you got that?”
    Both parties nodded. Tony seemed unaltered by Delta’s attack of his character and merely shrugged off her insult. “Can we start tonight, Captain?”
    Captain Henry looked over at Delta, but she did not return the gaze. “You ready to work tonight, Stevens, or do we find you a nice big desk?”
    Delta glared over at Tony Carducci. She hated this. She hated someone else co-opting her choices. And she hated the fact that this particular decision had already been made. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
    “Your enthusiasm is overwhelming.”
    “So is your choice of rookies.”
    Captain Henry let that one go. “Meet for muster and be sure to have the weekly FTO report on my desk every Monday morning by Oh-ninehundred sharp.”
    “Great!” Tony said, snapping to attention. “Come on, partner. Let’s go kick some ass.” As Tony strolled to the range office, Delta glowered at Captain Henry. Every fiber in her body recoiled against the idea of suffering through ten hours or more with a punk she’d already seen bite off more than he could chew. This wasn’t a partnership, it was glorified babysitting.
    “You’re making a big mistake, sir. That kid is an accident waiting to happen.”
    A slight grin twitched Captain Henry’s moustache. “Well, it’s now your job to see to it that it doesn’t.” Whirling out the door, Captain Henry vanished, leaving Delta to nurse her anger alone.
    Watching her new partner strut over and flirt with the data entry clerk, Delta grit her teeth. He was all the things she hated most about some men, rolled into one big chauvinistic, egotistical pig.
    “Accident waiting to happen?” Delta uttered to herself. “I’m afraid it already has.” Trying not to slam the door behind her, Delta walked over to Connie and plopped down in the chair.
    “I’m afraid to ask,” Connie said, glancing over at Tony.
    “Can you believe it? Of all the rookies, of all the people in the world, I have to be partnered with that jerk.”
    “It’s bad karma, Del. Even before you became partners, you had to save him from himself. This doesn’t bode well at all. What are you going to do?”
    Watching Tony maneuver around the clerk, Delta sneered in contempt. She should have let those guys pummel some sense into him. Instead, she saved him just in time to be a headache for her. What luck. What joy. What a drag. “There’s not much I can do. The captain was adamant about it.”
    Connie turned from Eddie. “So, you’re stuck with him?”
    Delta sighed loudly. “Appears so. It’s that, or sitting behind a damned desk all night long.”
    Connie faked a wince. “Oh, now wouldn’t that just be awful?”
    “I’m sorry, Con, but I just don’t know how you do it. It would drive me crazy to sit here all night.”
    “That’s because you are a doer and I am a thinker. They pay you to do and they pay me to think. It’s what we were born into. Knowing this, you’re going to have to go out there and do the best you can with what you have.”
    Delta nodded and rose. “I hate it when you’re so damned logical.”
    “That’s what I get paid for.” Connie reached out and squeezed Delta’s hand. “That, and making sure you stay out of trouble.”
    “Oh