Page 16 of Solid as Steele
He didn’t have to be told twice to grab some food. He loaded his plate, the gooey cheese in the eggs fighting against the spoon. He poured a steaming black cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice and turned. “Thanks for cooking. Can I get you anything while I’m over here?”
“We’re good.” She stabbed her mound of eggs. “Ryan says you’re a natural with the gun, and you did a double-tap. Hope that means you’re one of the white knights of law enforcement and will get back up on your trusty steed soon.”
“White knights?” He sat on the far side of her. “That’s a lot to live up to.”
“Not for me. Just being a law enforcement officer, especially these days, qualifies a person for that honor.”
Ryan held his slice of bacon midair and eyed her. “Hey, what about a former one?”
“Yeah, you count.”
Owen swallowed a crispy bite of bacon and swung on the stool to face Ryan. “You were an officer once?”
“Right after I got my master’s in public administration and found out I don’t like being inside all day. I did a four-year stint as a deputy, but I was still craving the outdoors. Then the executive director for Wilderness Ways resigned, and I stepped in.”
“Wilderness Ways?” Owen sipped his coffee, made as strong as the day before.
“A wilderness counseling program for troubled teens. We lease the resort next to my family’s place.”
“You do both? Work as the director and at the family business?”
“Yep.” He poked his fork into a clump of eggs. “Now that my parents retired and moved to town, my oldest brother Reid runs the survival business. My brother Russ and I help out when we can, but business is booming so Russ and I will have to step up more.”
“You’re a busy guy.”
“A guy who works extremely hard so he doesn’t have to think about Mia.” Mackenzie arched a brow at Ryan.
“About today,” Ryan said.
“Ah yes.” Mackenzie kept her attention pinned to Ryan. “Avoid the topic as usual.”
Ryan cast her a sharp look. “That’s water under the bridge and not worth talking about.”
She sighed. “Not sure you’re right, but I give up.”
“So, today.” Owen brought them back as he wanted to get going as soon as they finished their meal.
“Right.” Ryan grabbed his orange juice. “I’ll do the tracking for the most part, but we all need situational awareness. Which basically means observing and correctly interpreting your observations.”
“I can do that,” Mackenzie said.
Ryan looked at Owen. “Might be harder for you since your memory’s impaired. In tracking, we rely on mental models. Basically, it’s the way we look at and understand the world. These models create expectations of how the world works for us. We grasp what occurred before, what’s happening at the moment, and that gives a sense of what will likely happen next.”
“And I don’t have the past.”
“Exactly,” Ryan said. “Today we’ll be concentrating on the environment and don’t need to deal with the human behavior and psychology. We know where you’ve been and that you were fleeing. Gives us some of your mental mindset. Unless I’m wrong.”
“You got it right.”
“I won’t discount the psychology totally, but it’ll take a back seat.” Ryan took a long drink of the juice, draining the last half of the glass. “We’ll use two procedures. Scan and search. Scanning the area to get a big-picture overview while keeping an open focus. Then I’ll do an in-depth analysis of an area or of an object.”
“Sounds like you know what you’re doing,” Owen said, once again impressed.
“I’ll explain more as we move, but time’s wasting.” Ryan pushed to his feet. “Let’s take a bathroom break and get on the trail.”
“You guys go first while I load the dishwasher.”
Ryan took off for the bathroom.
