Operation: Unknown Angel

by Margaret Kay

  “And?”

  “Nada. No one who resembles either of the two drawings the Sanchez woman made with Wang.”

  Now Mother chuckled. Certainly, Garcia knew that the Sanchez woman was his girl. “Did you look hard at the other platform manager? Wally Dalton?”

  “Mother, he doesn’t resemble either picture. There are no unexplained deposits in his accounts. The FBI found him at his ex-wife’s house in Texas. He claims he made the status updates.”

  Mother ran his hand through his hair and then downed a pull of his beer. “These people are not that smart. We shouldn’t be running into one dead end after another. And Keeling? I know there has to be money involved.”

  “I’m sure there is,” Garcia agreed. “I just can’t find it.”

  The boarding announcement came over the speaker. “That’s me. I have to go.” He disconnected the call, ate the last bite of his dinner, and drained his beer. He left some bills on the bar and then grabbed his backpack and headed to his gate.

  Annaka’s alarm went off. After silencing it, she sat up and turned her sunlamp on. Time to get back into her normal routine. She checked her phone. There was a text message from Danny. He’d landed at O’Hare. She messaged him back. Then she went into her games. Danny played all ten of them. It was her turn. After she played them, she left a flirty message in the chat screen for him. A new text popped in from him asking when she could talk. She hit dial.

  He answered on the first ring. “Good morning, cariño.”

  Annaka felt the corners of her mouth lift. “Good morning, Danny. How was your flight?”

  “Long. I slept most of the way though. I’m at the office. I have a meeting this afternoon. Evidently, we’re going back out sooner than planned, tomorrow.”

  “Really?” Her spirits dropped. He’d said while at the office he could talk or text often, but that could be limited when he was out on a mission.

  “Yes. I don’t know why the timetable was sped up, will find out this afternoon.”

  “I miss you already,” she said.

  Mother loved to hear her say that. He missed her too. He was glad they’d be getting back out in the field. When on a mission he was busy and wouldn’t think about missing her too much. If he was just sitting around the office for a few days, thoughts of her would dominate and prevent him from concentrating on anything else. “I miss you too, cariño. I’ll call and text as often as I can. So, are you headed to the research office?”

  “Soon. I just woke up.”

  “How’d you sleep?”

  “Probably better than you did,” she answered with a laugh.

  “Our tech guy went through all the emails that were obtained through the subpoena. Carstairs deleted all emails regarding the leak.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “They wiped them off their server before turning over the emails,” Mother said.

  “Or just didn’t turn them over.”

  “No, they wiped them. And our guy browsed through the ID pictures of all the employees. Your two suspects were not in their files.”

  “Or maybe they wiped them too?” Annaka suggested.

  Mother hadn’t considered that. Maybe they were employees after all, and maybe their files had been wiped clean with the emails. “Yeah, maybe,” he agreed.

  “So, getting the emails through the subpoena basically did nothing.” Annaka’s voice was deflated.

  “It proves they went out of their way to conceal this. We know those emails were sent,” Mother said, forcefully. “This confirms to me that they were behind your kidnapping.”

  Annaka breathed out the heaviness in her chest. “Knowing and proving are two different things.”

  “We’ll find something.” Mother tried to sound convincing.

  “You sound as frustrated as I feel,” Annaka said.

  “I am, but I know patience and staying on it usually pays off. Don’t lose hope, cariño. I haven’t.” Lambchop appeared in the doorway to his office. Mother held a finger up, indicating he’d only be another minute.

  “I’m sorry. I know you and your group are trying. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

  “You don’t. Listen, I have to go. I’ll call you back later.”

  “Oh, sure,” she said, disappointed he had to go already.

  “Keep your eyes open, be alert, and be safe. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “Bye.”

  Mother disconnected the call.

  “How is she doing?” Lambchop asked.

  “She’s frustrated we haven’t found anything.”

  The corner of Lambchop’s lips dipped in a smirk. “Like the rest of us.” He nodded towards the hall. “Sloan just got in. He and Kaylee hit that snowstorm in Indiana. They’re getting hammered up near the lake. I thought we’d have our team meeting in the gym while we work out and meet some of our PT requirements.”

  Mother stood and followed Lambchop from the office. “Doc does know he’s being a pain in the ass, doesn’t he?”

  Lambchop laughed. “Per the logs, you haven’t been in the gym since the night we got back from the mission in Algeria.”

  Mother knew he hadn’t had a good work out since that night. “Yeah,” he agreed.

  They took the stairs down to subbasement level two. After changing into the workout clothes that he kept in his locker down in the gym, he joined the rest of his team by the weights. Sloan greeted him with a hand clasp. He drew Sloan in for a shoulder bump. “Hey, man. Welcome back. Did you have a nice visit with your families?”

  “We did,” Sloan confirmed. “I hear you never made it to Cali.”

  Mother grinned. “No. Did you hear about the mission?”

  Sloan chuckled, a shit-eating grin on his face. “So, Dr. Ass turned out to be a hottie.”

  Mother’s eyes shifted to both Lambchop and Sherman, silently reprimanding them both. “She’s amazing,” he finally told Sloan. “No husband, doesn’t live in a double-wide with how many kids did you say?”

  Sloan laughed. “I don’t remember, four, I think. Anyway, yeah, Sherman filled me in.” He turned more serious. “I’m glad you got to her. No leads yet though, huh?”

  Mother shook his head. “No. One dead end after another.”

  “We’re still working on it,” Lambchop guaranteed him.

  “Is she safe where she is?” Sloan asked.

  “I hope so,” Mother replied. “Couldn’t get her to come back here with me. We ordered a couple security cameras so she can monitor her house when she’s not there, but they won’t be in for another week or two. She didn’t want a security system, said the cameras with motion alerts would be enough.”

  “So, where did you leave it with her?” Sherman asked.

  “She’s planning to visit here in January or if I can take time, I’ll meet her for a week in Key West.”

  Sloan slapped him on the shoulder. “Good for you, man.”

  Lambchop pointed to the weight benches. “Let’s hit it.”

  “I’m sorry Danny had to leave,” Ayla whispered in Annaka’s ear.

  Annaka looked up from her computer. She had been deep in thought, didn’t even see Ayla come over. “Thanks, me too. I’ll see him later this month. We’re going to give a long-distance relationship a try.” She forced a smile she wasn’t feeling. “We had fun New Year’s Eve at your place.”

  Ayla fingered the scarf she’d given Annaka for Christmas, which Annaka wore. “This color does look good on you. I knew it would. We had fun too. You and Danny are good together. Make it work, the long-distance thing. I know you are devoted to your career, but a good man is even harder to find than whales.”

  Annaka chuckled. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I don’t have to make a choice. Besides, I don’t think Danny would ever ask me to.”

  “Would he ever move here to be with you?” Ayla asked.

  Annaka shook her head no. “I highly doubt that. And I wouldn’t ask either.”

  “Where does th
at leave your future together? You can’t do the long-distance thing forever, can you?”

  That question gave Annaka pause. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Good question. I don’t know. Good thing I don’t have to answer it right now.” She glanced back down at her computer and got back to work as Ayla stepped back over to her own desk.

  Remi was at her desk as was Renault. They were all working on their arguments against the new seismic survey and exploratory drilling license, that thanks to Patrick Keeling, was granted to Carstairs. Clint Ames had sent his preliminary arguments to all three of them via email. He was working overnights. So far, none of them had any new or compelling information to submit.

  “You’d think after Prince William Sound that the state regulators would know how devastating an oil spill is to the environment,” Remi said to no one in particular.

  “They do, they just have short memories of how bad it really was,” Ayla said. “That was over ten years ago. A long time and several elections ago.”

  “I’m not sure how many of the members were on the board back then,” Remi said. “But every time I’ve spoken to them, I’ve cited the Exxon Valdez and the spill in Prince William Sound as reason to not allow any expansion of the current drilling operations. When they okayed the deeper well depths a few years ago, I knew they weren’t really listening.”

  “We need to make them listen,” Renault spoke up. “This new proposed drilling is just too damn close to the glacier. Damn Patrick for putting us in this position. Annaka, what do you hear from your boyfriend regarding their investigation into Patrick?”

  Annaka was thrown off guard by his question. Boyfriend? Was that what Danny was? Her lips tipped into a grin hearing him described that way. “They’re still investigating him. They believe he had to have been paid off, but they can’t find the money.”

  “I’m sure it’s tucked into a numbered Swiss bank account or is hidden away in some other foreign bank in a country that specializes in hiding funds for crooks. I’d kill the bastard if he weren’t already dead,” Renault said, shocking everyone.

  Mother left the Shepherd Security building after the briefing. Las Vegas, Nevada, was the destination for the next DEA Partner Mission. They’d be wheels up at zero six hundred hours tomorrow morning. He set the alarm on his phone and watch for zero four hundred.

  After a shower, he packed his backpack with the street clothes he would need on this mission. The tactical gear belonging to the six Operators who were going on this mission was packed in the SUVs in HQ’s private parking area. Ryan would load their ammo in the morning. The team would meet there and drive the two SUVs to the Shepherd Security Hangar at Chicago Executive Airport. All of Delta Team plus Taco and Powder from Charlie Team were going on this mission.

  After he settled into bed, he hit dial. Annaka answered on the third ring. “Hi cariño.”

  “Hi. I was hoping I’d hear from you tonight.”

  He heard the smile in her voice in her return greeting. “Are you home from the office yet?”

  “Yes, just walked in with takeout from the diner. What are you doing?”

  “I just showered and am lying in bed. I have to be up at zero four hundred tomorrow.”

  “Is that when you are flying out on your next mission?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t elaborate, couldn’t.

  “I know you call them missions.” She wasn’t sure what she was trying to ask. She knew he couldn’t tell her much more.

  The silence stretched for several seconds. “Yes. I should still be able to text and call you some. But I’ll be working, so if you call and I don’t pick up, you’ll know why. Leave me a message and I promise I’ll call back as soon as I can.”

  “I understand,” she said. The truth was she really didn’t because she didn’t know the exact nature of his work. He’d called their time in Alaska with her ‘a mission’ that his boss sanctioned. She didn’t know how dangerous his job was, but she assumed there was some risk involved every time he went on a mission.

  “Cariño, are you still there?”

  “I’m sorry, yes, just taking my dinner out of the bag. If you don’t mind, I’ll put my phone on speaker so we can talk as I eat. It’ll be like you’re having dinner with me.”

  “Have you made any progress in coming up with hard data to submit to stop that seismic survey and the exploratory drilling?”

  “Not yet. We have a lot of hypotheses, but so far, nothing concrete enough to stop them from drilling. I’m beginning to think a strong earthquake to prove our theory is what it’s going to take. Clint is frustrated. The data he’s getting off the equipment doesn’t support what we are sure is going on.”

  “Keep working the problem, cariño. You’ll figure it out. I have faith in you.”

  Her lips curled into a smile. “I like your confidence.” She hesitated. “I miss you, Danny.” There was a pause on the line. When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “I know you’ve only been gone a day, but.”

  “Annaka, I miss you too,” he said, cutting her off. He breathed out a heavy sigh. “Long-distance relationships aren’t easy. But I have faith we can make this one work. I have to know you want to try.”

  “You know I do,” she replied.

  “That’s all that matters. As you said, it’s only been a day. This is still new. We need to settle into what this relationship is going to be until we arrange a week or so to be together.”

  “I know you’re right. I just really miss seeing you, miss being with you.”

  Mother felt the same. “Then let’s put this on video chat. I’d like to see your beautiful face.” He didn’t wait for her to approve it. He switched the call to video. He smiled as the screen changed over. She flashed him a smile. “Yes, that’s much better.”

  “Let me prop my phone against something.” Her water bottle was the only thing is sight that would work. After she had it set up, she continued. “That’s better.” She gave him another smile. “I never felt lonely in my life until you were gone,” she confessed, staring deeply into his eyes on the screen of her phone.

  He chuckled. “And remember how I told you before Christmas that I felt lonely?”

  She nodded as she took a bite of her dinner.

  “Well, ever since we found you in that cabin, I no longer feel that way. Tonight, before I called you, I felt happy. I knew you were there. I knew I could talk with you tonight. I’d looked forward to it all day, actually.”

  “I always looked forward to our games and messaging with you. But this is much better.” She gave him another smile. “I guess it’s all perspective and appreciating the moments like this that we do have instead of concentrating on the fact that you physically are not here.”

  He nodded. “I think that this thing between us is special, even if we can’t be together as much as we’d like.”

  She nodded too. “It is. And I am glad to have you in my life this way versus not at all.”

  They talked while she ate for over a half hour. “I hate to go, but I better,” Mother said.

  “Be safe, Danny.”

  “Always,” he assured her. “You too.”

  “Always,” she replied with the same confidence he had.

  Mike

  It had been five days since Danny left on his mission. She had no idea where he was. They had text messaged quite a bit and had pulled off at least one phone call a day. Danny was not able to do a video call during this time though. She missed seeing his face, missed staring into his eyes, missed seeing his smile.

  The researchers at Anchor Point decided that since they didn’t have any concrete proof to provide to overturn the granting of the seismic survey and exploratory drilling, that presenting their combined concern with what they did know in a paper was all they could do. They’d worked on collecting any data to support their theories all week. That would have to be enough. They all made compelling arguments, and they also cited that they had not been consulted prior to Patrick Keeling giving the appr
oval.

  Annaka wrote an entire section linking Patrick to her falsified report. She’d come to believe that not only was he complicit in her kidnapping, he was in on it from the beginning, probably had helped to plan it. She also included information about the two men who were still unidentified who had the exact information needed to give platform C-Three a clean bill of ecological health.

  Leaving the research building, she approached her car, shivering against the gusty wind that blew off the mountain. Dusk was settling over the area. She’d gotten to work at six a.m. and was tired. It had been a long day, but it had been productive. She and Remi had put the finishing touches on the report, and Remi had just transmitted it via email to the manager in charge of review at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.