Free Never Forget: A Novella in the Echo Platoon Series by Marliss Melton

less-than-pleasant conversation. Unprepared to leave a message—so much depended on his responses—she hung up, opting to try again later.
    Leaving the phone on her dresser, she went to check on Curtis.
    To her surprise, he wasn’t toggling a controller in an attempt to obliterate space aliens or enemy combatants. Instead, he was sitting at his desk, reading off a website. The photos on the page told her he was researching dogs of the same breed as Draco.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, coming to stand behind him.
    “These Belgian Malinois are amazing dogs,” he said with zeal. “They’re the most fearless dogs in the world, bred for protection for centuries as protectors. They’ll even jump out of airplanes at high altitudes wearing an oxygen mask. How cool is that?”
    “Are you serious?”
    “Yep. Right here, see?” He showed her a picture of a dog like Draco wearing a harness and a face mask, fur flying as he plummeted through the air in the arms of an operative with a parachute.
    “They’re like secret weapons, these dogs. Terrorists are deathly afraid of them.” He read her a paragraph brimming with accounts of lives saved as dogs detected hidden explosives and ammunition caches. “Draco must be bored out of his mind after doing all this stuff.”
    Hearing the pride and awe in Curtis’s voice, Maya felt her concerns give way to a different feeling. Something like gratitude uplifted her. Suddenly her son, whose life had revolved around the latest PS4 release, was interested in a real-world phenomenon—keeping operatives safe from terrorists. In just two days, and despite having been bitten, Curtis was all about this crazy dog.
    “You really don’t think Draco will bite you again?” she asked, revealing her main concern.
    He craned his neck to look up at her. “I know he won’t,” he said with conviction. “He knew the minute it happened what he did. I saw it in his eyes. Please, Mom, I want to go back. And it’s not about the money either. That dog needs me right now.”
    His words rocked her back on her heels. The dog needed Curtis, and Curtis needed the dog. She ought to give them both another chance. But what about Rusty, who hadn’t answered her phone call? His tone earlier that day had suggested his realization that the liabilities involved weren’t worth his time or his money.
    “Can I go back tomorrow?” Curtis pressed.
    “I don’t know, honey. I haven’t gotten through to Rusty yet.”
    “Well, try again.”
    She ruffled his hair. “All right. I’ll try again.”
    Curtis went back to his monitor. “Let me know what he says,” he called as she walked away.
    Returning to her bedroom downstairs, Maya picked up her phone to see if Rusty had called her back. He hadn’t. Heaving an uncertain sigh, she thought for a moment about what she should say, then she dialed his number, ready to leave a message this time.
    *
    A T SHORTLY AFTER midnight, Rusty collapsed onto his bed with barely enough energy to crawl beneath the sheets. He patted the comforter, summoning the dog up next to him.
    With Draco turning circles between his legs, Rusty suddenly remembered Maya was supposed to call him earlier that evening. Concern that he’d missed her call had him swiping his cellphone off its charger to check.
    “Damn it.”
    Sure enough, she’d called him—twice. He’d been too busy welcoming his guests to Never Forget Retreat to pay attention to his cellphone vibrating. And he’d remained busy right up until a minute earlier. She must have assumed he’d just blown her off.
    Bracing himself for her almost-certain rejection, he accessed his voicemail. She was going to tell him Curtis couldn’t care for Draco any more. She wouldn’t even bring up their potential date on Friday night.
    “Hi, Rusty, this is Maya.” Her tone, he noticed, was carefully neutral. “Curtis is doing fine. He’s actually online right now looking up Belgian Malinois, if you can believe it. I guess that dog