Zhukov's Dogs Read Online Free Page A

ever did in the field,” he said with a loud huff.
    “I thought you wanted this promotion,” I said.
    “I did. I mean, I still do and all, don’t get me wrong. There’s just
so
much damn paperwork.”
    After serving with Aiden for over a decade, I knew how much he hated working at a desk. I too dreaded the day I would have to trade the field for a corner office. Nobody could last in the Y.I.D. forever. When our youth faded, we were typically transferred to the G.F. or S.O.R. as low-ranking field operatives. Aiden’s tactical brilliance, though, made him unfortunate enough to be selected as a Y.I.D. general. It was a highly-coveted position that gave him the authority he’d always desired, but it also pulled him from active duty.
    “Hire an assistant?” I suggested. “All generals are allowed up to two.”
    Aiden’s eyes lit up, and a devious grin spread across his face. He stared into the open air above us dazedly as he said, “Yeah… Yeah. A blonde one… Wait, you said I could have two? Nik, what do you think? Two blondes? Or should I mix it up and get a brunette?”
    Any other day, I’d be happy to play along. Today, however, I was not in the mood. While he was busy going through paperwork and moving into a new office, I’d slept four hours in the last forty-eight and spent my entire morning running around, cleaning up messes made by the battalions I was in charge of. “Aiden, I didn’t clear my schedule so I could help you pick out an assistant. I haven’t slept. I’ve got two debriefings to get to, and both sets of idiots somehow managed to botch the most mundane, simple—”
    “Whoa! Deep breaths, buddy. Deep breaths,” Aiden said, putting his hands up like my frustrations were being physically thrown at him.
    I sighed and worked a hand through my hair. I shut my eyes for a second, taking a deep breath as instructed, and when I opened them again, I saw Aiden reaching into his jacket. He took a look around the room to make sure we were alone before saying under his breath, “You know, if you want, I’ve got something that’ll help take the edge off.”
    Aiden was always good for a morphine injection or a Percocet. While any sort of non-military issued medication was illegal in our ranks, they were more common than any of the higher-ups wanted to admit. Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of drugs unless I needed them to distract me from something like a gaping hole in my chest or a bone sticking out of my skin.
    “I’ll be fine,” I told him, waving the offer off. “It’s just been a rough couple of days.”
    “Sounds like it,” Aiden said. He dropped the two folders he’d been carrying onto the table between us. I reached for them, but before I could open the one on top, Aiden’s hand shot out and held it shut.
    “Aiden. Not in the mood,” I said warningly.
    “I know,” he said, bringing his other hand up and raising his index finger. “Which is exactly why, in exchange for the awesome mission I’m about to give you, you’re coming out with me tonight, and I’m going to help you land the prettiest girl. Prettier than that one chick in Istanbul last month.”
    “The gypsy we paid to keep quiet about the beheaded cult leader in the trunk?”
    “Yeah, that one.”
    Moments like these were exactly why I liked Aiden. Crude humor and womanizing habits aside, he was a great agent and an even better friend. We’d both been doing this our entire lives, and he was one of the few people who could actually relate to, and sympathize with, just how stressed out I was.
    For the first time in forty-eight sleep deprived hours, a genuine smile cracked my face. Aiden took it as my response. He clapped me on the shoulder with one hand and flipped open the folder on the table with the other. And just like that, we were in work mode again. A seriousness settled between us as I stared down at the elaborate blueprints at the top of the pile, which Aiden wasted no time in explaining.
    “These are