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Chapter 2
“Columbia SWAT is one of the most decorated squads in the state,” Earl Sutton announced as they walked through the hotel front doors.
Roxxy nodded to the doorman and glanced at her father. Earl was a handsome man at the age of sixty. He was distinguished-looking with his graying hair, carefully shaved beard, and tailored suit.
“I’ve heard many good things about them,” Roxxy replied. She widened her stride to keep up with her father’s. The sound of their suitcase wheels rolling on the floor echoed through the air.
“It will do them some good to be audited and assessed. It will be our job to offer recommendations for improvement.”
Roxxy nodded and followed her father to the front desk of the hotel.
Her father, a former member of the US Army, was a retired veteran who’d begun a company off of an idea he’d had. Logistics Intelligence Services was born a little over twenty years ago. He’d built their company from the ground up. Now it boasted a stellar reputation in which law enforcement agencies could trust.
Roxxy was excited to be in the city. She didn’t come too often. She currently lived with her parents on the family farm that was located an hour and a half away. While here on their assignment, they would be staying in town at a hotel.
“Hello, and welcome. How may I help you?” the desk clerk asked with a smile. He was a handsome man with perfect white teeth.
“Hello, I have two rooms reserved. Last name Sutton,” Roxxy announced. She leaned against the desk. Her gaze dropped down to his name badge—Ryan.
“I’ll be happy to help. Let me bring up the reservation,” Ryan said. His fingers flew across the keyboard. “I will need your driver’s license and a credit card.”
“Two rooms, huh.” Her father chuckled. He pulled out his wallet and handed the requested items to Ryan. “You’re too cool to share a room with your dear old dad?”
Roxxy rolled her eyes. Her father always acted like he was insulted when she didn’t want to share a room with him.
“Dad…” She sighed and turned to him. She loved her father dearly, but they worked together and lived together. She needed a little space, even if it was a hotel room while they were in town. “We go through this every single trip. You know I like to have a room to myself just to unwind and have some me time.”
“We’re in the city. It’s not safe for a woman to stay alone,” her father stressed.
Roxxy couldn’t hold back her snort. She had a beautiful piece strapped to her thigh, and her suitcase held a few of her favorite guns.
She wasn’t worried at all.
“Dad, I will be fine.” She smiled to soften the rejection. “If it makes you feel better, you’re still in the same hotel, and you taught me well.”
His lips pressed firmly together while he returned her stare. “I don’t like it.”
“Here’s your room keys” Ryan interrupted the father-daughter stare off.
Earl focused his attention to the hotel clerk to finish their check-in.
Roxxy breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew how stubborn her father was, this wouldn’t be the last time she would hear this. No matter how well he’d trained her, she would always be his baby girl.
While growing up, Roxxy was the apple in her father’s eye. She was the one he taught how to use a gun at the age of six. Not only had she learned to ride horses, work the farm, and get her school lessons, but she’d learned how to handle a weapon. By the age of ten, she was a sharpshooter. He’d instilled training in her as if she were one of his soldiers. By the time she was sixteen, she could easily hang with one of the many law enforcers who used their training facilities to enhance their infiltrating teams.
In reality, Roxxy didn’t need protection, but in Earl Sutton’s eyes, she was that young Roxxy in pigtails.
“Let’s go, Roxxy.” Her father turned away from the desk.
Roxxy threw a smile to Ryan and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. She pulled it behind her while she followed her father toward the bank of elevators.
They were the first to arrive in Columbia, which was the norm. She and her father usually met with the administration and squad leaders first to go over what would be expected and everything they would need to perform a full assessment. The rest of the team would arrive a day later and join them.
“Sergeant MacArthur was telling me their tryouts are tomorrow. I figured it would be good for me to attend.” Roxxy stepped into the elevator.
Her father entered behind her and hit their two floors.
