It was 0900 when the phone rang, and they were both still lying in bed. Sometime in the night Sam had turned to Raleigh, and he woke up with her cuddled next to him with her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. He quickly grabbed the phone, careful not to wake her up as he slipped out of bed and into the other room.
“Ya, this is Chief Fitzgerald.” Still drowsy from the previous night, he stretched.
“Fitz, it’s me, Matt. Wanted to let you know JAG is on their way to talk with Anderson. Just giving you a heads up. What time you plan on coming in?”
“I was thinking ’bout thirteen hundred, if that’s cool?”
“Ya, of course. I’ll be over at the detention center. So just come on over there when you get to post.”
“Roger that, I will see you then.”
Raleigh hung up the phone then dialed room service. If he couldn’t treat Sam to a great dinner last night, the least he could do would be to get her breakfast in bed.
“This is Room Service. How may I help you?”
“Hello, I’d like to order a number one and a number four. Can you bring up a rose and a tray for the bed also?”
“Yes sir, we can do that.”
“Great, thank you.”
“Ok, sir, we will be up in about fifteen minutes. Thank you.”
Raleigh waited by the door, watching through the peephole for the cart to come to the door. He didn’t want to risk them knocking and waking Sam. He wanted to be the one she saw standing there, ready to serve her any way she wanted. He barely caught the guy as he walked up to the door. His fist was balled up ready to hit the door when Raleigh swung it open.
“Thanks, here’s a twenty. I will leave the cart outside the door. Is that ok?”
“Yes, sir,” he said and left as Raleigh quietly pulled the cart inside. He placed Sam’s plate on the tray along with the single rose and sat down and wrote her a note.
Baby, I am so sorry. Just know I thought of you the entire night. When I came back in and saw how stunning you looked, I wanted to make love to you right then. But know this, you are amazing and like no other women I have ever met. I want our time to be special. So, when this is all done and over with, I will make it all up to you. Xo xo Raleigh.
He poked the note just under the plate and carried the tray into the bedroom.
“Sam, darlin’.” He set the tray down for a moment and touched her arm. “Sam, baby. I got us breakfast. Why don’t you sit up and let me take care of you?”
Sam stirred and stretched, then saw Raleigh standing above her in just his boxers with a tray filled with food and a single rose.
“Sit up, baby. I got your favorite. I know you gotta be hungry because you didn’t eat much of your dinner. It’s still on the table in the other room.”
Raleigh knelt down and placed the tray in front of Sam then crawled into bed next to her.
“Baby, I am so sorry about last night. Do you forgive me?”
“Hmmm, let me think about that for a moment,” she said as she smirked at him. “I understand, Raleigh. I know we have a mission. It just sucked is all.”
“I know, baby. I promise to make it up to you.”
“Oh, you're gonna make it up to me all right.” Then she leaned over and kissed him more deeply than she had ever kissed a man. “And I forgive you.”
As they sat under the covers, they cuddled and fed each other bites of egg. Sam had never felt so loved and safe before; she was having feelings for this man she barely knew and it scared her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and just relaxed. Raleigh loved it when she did that; it made him feel wanted and alive for the first time in years. He didn’t want to lose her or this. For him, she was his salvation and he wanted her to be his. He didn’t want to get out of bed, and he wanted her close so when it was the right time he would tell her everything.
Chapter 13
Sam closed her eyes and drifted off. Raleigh was so warm, and the sound of his heart beating was intoxicating. She felt comfortable with him, a feeling she hadn’t had in quite a while. So when his phone rang again, it jarred her awake and she jumped. He squeezed her, patted her shoulder, then grabbed the phone.
“Chief Fitzgerald speaking.”
“Ya, Fitz, it's Matty. You are gonna wanna come down here ASAP. Anderson’s lawyer just informed me he wants to cooperate. How soon can you be here?”
“Holy shit. Okay, be there in a few minutes.” Sam’s lifted her head so she could listen in. “Just gotta get dressed and we will be there.”
“We?” Matt teased.
“Ya, we. I will stop and grab Sergeant O’Hara. See ya soon.”
When he hung up the phone, he looked down at Sam. “You hear that? We gotta get to the detention center ASAP. I hadn’t been able to tell you what happened last night, but the long and short of it is Jackson was set up by his supervisor Sergeant First Class Anderson. MPs brought Anderson in last night. He gave us the ‘fuck you’ and asked for a lawyer. Well, lawyer musta convinced him he should cooperate, so we gotta get down there cuz Anderson is gonna spill. How soon can you be ready?”
“Won’t take me long, maybe twenty minutes to shower and get dressed. Longer if you join me.” She smiled and winked at him.
“My lord, woman,” he said, laughing. “You’re killing me. Probably best I go shower in the broken shower, otherwise we won’t show up for hours.”
“Ya, you’re probably right. Ok, won’t be long.” He watched as she crawled out from under the covers, and his reaction was evident. He had forgotten that all she had on was a thong. Her ass looked like a beautiful, plump peach and her breasts fell just perfectly. He wanted to take her right there. He looked down and he was rock hard. Trying to hide his erection, he grabbed the closest thing—his uniform jacket.
Sam turned, looked right at him, and said, “You like what you see?”
He almost choked when he answered. “Oh yeah.”
“Well, darlin’,” she said. “You missed out. This all coulda been yours last night.”
“Aww, Sam, I know and I'm so sorry.”
“It’s ok. I’m just teasing you. Go get ready. I won’t be long.”
***
When they pulled up to the Detention Center, Matt was outside, waiting and pacing. Raleigh jumped out of the car. “What’s up? Why the pacing, man?”
“No reason. Just wanna find out what this guy has to say. You know me, man, I get antsy waiting.”
Raleigh walked over to the passenger door and helped Sam out, then proceeded into the building. When they reached the room, Raleigh turned to Matt. “So how do they wanna do this? Do they want one of us, or can we all go in?”
“Lawyer didn’t say. Hold one and I will find out.” Matt knocked on the interview room door and motioned for Anderson’s attorney to come out.
“Major Smith, this is Chief Fitzgerald, the one that’s investigating the equipment loss and the murder up in the Chicago area. And this is Sergeant O’Hara with the Twelve-Sixty-Sixth Transportation Company. She is the Supply Sergeant that took over for the murder victim, who was the old Supply Sergeant at the Twelve-Sixty-Sixth.”
“Well, Chief, looks like you got your hands full.”
“Yeah, Major, I do. The reason I asked you out here is I wasn’t sure how you wanted to proceed with the interview. Can all three of us be in attendance, or would you rather only have one of us doing the interview?”
“If you allow me to ask my client his preference, I would appreciate that.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Be right back, sirs.”
As Matt, Raleigh, and Sam waited outside the door, the young, blonde MP Sergeant emerged from the adjacent office. “Can I get any of you some coffee while you wait?”
Matt was the first to answer as he walked closer so he thought only she could hear. “I will have a large cup of coffee. Make it tall and blonde.” Raleigh could tell she was surprised, but Matt didn’t notice and continued. “You can bring it to me in the closet over there
and we can knock out a quickie.” Then the sergeant’s face changed, and she looked shaken by Matt’s comments.
Raleigh pulled him by his arm over to the corner. “Are you fuckin’ insane, man? What the hell are you doing? Ya know all it takes is one person to overhear or for her to report it, and you are done for.”
“Naw, she won’t report it. She knows who I am and what I will do if she does. She’s not stupid.”
“You’re a fuckin idiot, Matt.”
“Well, it’s no worse than what you’re doing.”
“There is a difference, and besides, it’s consensual.”
“So, something is going on?”
“No, I didn’t say that. What I meant to say is that it would be consensual. If she made the move first.”
“Whatever, man. Doesn’t matter who makes the first move. You are just saying it’s ok if you do it but not if I do it.”
“No, man, I’m just saying it's different. I don’t know how or why, it just is. There is something between Sam and me that I can’t explain. We instantly had a connection to each other. Doesn’t mean it’s right, just means it’s something we both want, but we just have done nothing about it.”
“Fine. I’ll stop,” Matt vowed.
“I’m just trying to look out for you, man,” Raleigh replied.
“I know. I get carried away sometimes.”
Raleigh glared at Matt. “Well, the least thing you can do is apologize.”
“Ya, probably should.”
While the men talked, Sam went with the female sergeant to get the coffee. As they entered the break room and were far enough away from Raleigh and Matt, Sam made conversation.
“Does that happen a lot to you?”
“Oh ya, all the time and worse. It’s hard working and trying to prove yourself as a competent police officer in a male-dominated job.”
“Oh, I understand. I get it, too. Happens on a daily basis. If it’s not the sexual comments, it’s the slaps on the ass or a touch. I get it, it’s a daily struggle.”
“Oh ya, and if you aren’t on board, so to speak, you’re a lesbian or a bitch. We can’t just be soldiers. We have to be female soldiers. Feels like most of the time the only reason we exist is to serve the men. At times, it seems like the only reason the Army allowed us into the mainstream is so we could be issued out like a piece of property for the males.”
“Oh, girl, I hear ya there. Army should give us a National Stock Number, then only issue us out as needed.” They both laughed. “The struggle is real, girl. We gotta stick together.”
Grabbing the coffees, the ladies walked back to the interview room to meet up with the guys, who were already there speaking with Anderson’s lawyer. The conversation seemed heated, but as they walked up their voices toned down.
“Any news?” Sam asked the group.
Raleigh replied, “Ya, looks like Anderson will only allow me to come in. You and Matt can observe from the other room. I was just getting ready to head in. The Major and I were just going over a plea agreement.”
“And what’s that, Chief?” she asked.
“Well, basically he wants immunity. Which, as I told the lawyer, is up to the prosecutor. All I can do is put in a good word for him if he gives us all he knows. I told him I would do all I could for him.”
“You're just too nice, Chief. I’d let him burn for what he’s done.”
“Well, Sergeant O’Hara, right now we don’t know what he has done, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I gotta go, but you and the major observe in the other room, and if you want to ask a question text me. Ok?”
“Roger, Chief.”
Raleigh mentally prepared himself as he stepped through the door and sat across from Anderson and his lawyer.
“Ok, Sergeant Anderson, whatcha got for me?”
“Sir, first off, let me tell you, I’m sorry about last night. This whole thing has gotten way outta hand. I didn’t sign up for any of this. I was just doing what I was told.”
“No problem, Sergeant. Why don’t you start from the beginning and go from there?”
“Ok. So this is what happened. About eight months ago this guy came to me and wanted to use one of the old SOC warehouses. Said he knew I was strapped for cash and would drop me some if I let him use the damn thing. So, I was like ok, cool. It shouldn’t hurt nuthin’. So then he started callin’ me, having me get the muscle to load equipment, so I grabbed some soldiers and we loaded and unloaded. No biggie, right? At least that’s how it started.”
“Is that all you got? Who was the guy?”
“Sir, I’m gettin’ to that part. So, the guy started droppin’ more cash, paying the soldiers who helped, too. It was cool and I didn’t think nothing of it. Figured it was a special ops thing. They always up to somethin’ weird, so I didn’t ask no questions. Questions get ya hurt or worse. That’s how that cute young sergeant out there in the hallway got hurt.”
“What do you mean? What do you know about Sergeant O’Hara?”
“Well, I know she was asking a lot of questions, and Thompson had me find a guy to take care of her. So I knew Jackson was from Chicago, so I asked him for a name and a phone number of one of his buddies. Jackson didn’t know shit about what was going on; he just needed the extra cash for his mom. So when Jackson got me the name, I gave it to Thompson.”
“Who’s Thompson?” Raleigh prayed it wasn’t Jared, but was pretty sure it was.
“Jared Thompson, Sergeant First Class I think, but I never saw him in uniform. He’s part of the Ninth Special Forces across the post.”
“So, is this Thompson the guy that hired you? Do you remember the guy’s name you gave to Thompson?”
“Ya, Thompson hired me, and ya, I remember his name. Its Jamal Hendricks. Thompson hired Hendricks to get rid of O’Hara. Said she was asking too many questions.”
“Do you know where Thompson is now?”
“Well, I suppose he’s at his apartment with his wife. He’s got a great place. Been making lots of money. I think he has her brother living there, too. Wife’s foreign, I think he met her in Afghanistan. At least that’s what I heard.”
“You know if he made any trips recently?”
“I heard he spends a lot of time in New Orleans. Wife has family there or something, but I’m not one hundred percent sure.”
It took everything in Raleigh’s power not to completely lose his bearings and scream. Damn it! What the hell is going on with Jared? Hiring someone to get rid of Sam, stealing government equipment, and selling it. What is he doing with the money? It’s gotta be millions he’s making.
“So, tell me, Anderson, who started the fire? We know you sent Jackson to set him up. Why Jackson?”
“Well, Thompson needed to get rid of Jackson cuz Hendricks could be traced back to him. So Thompson had me send Jackson to the warehouse to check the locks. I was supposed to ambush Jackson at the warehouse, but I couldn’t do it. Thompson said he was gonna start the fire and get rid of the body and the evidence.”
“So Thompson set the fire?” Raleigh asked.
Anderson explained, “That’s what he said he was gonna do. I didn’t witness him doing it, but that’s what the plan was. Thompson already moved most of the equipment out of the warehouse and into semi trucks he got onto post thru the back gate.”
“So, where do you think he took the equipment?”
“Well, if I had to guess, I would say New Orleans to the warehouse at the port.”
“How do you know about the warehouse in New Orleans?” Raleigh interrupted.
“Well, sir, because I overheard him on the phone. Told them he would be there in a few days to meet the trucks.”
“When was that? How many trucks?”
“Was yesterday morning, and he said six semi-trucks full.”
Raleigh paused and said, “Ok, Sergeant, I think that’s about it for right now. If I have any more questions I will stop by or go to your lawyer. I will do all I can for you. You’ve been a huge help
.”
Anderson quivered. “Sir, I’m not sure I will make it through the night for more questions. Those special ops guys have friends all over, and I am a liability now. They can get to me in here. I need your protection.”
“Sergeant, I will make sure you are safe. I will ask that you be moved. I have people I trust that will keep you safe. I promise.”
“And my family?”
Raleigh placed his hand on Anderson’s shoulder, attempting to reassure him, and said “I will make sure they are safe, also. Trust me, Anderson, I will keep all of you safe.”
Raleigh held his hand out to shake Anderson’s hand. Anderson struggled to move his hand, but Raleigh lowered and they shook. Raleigh looked at Anderson eye to eye and told him, “I promise you. Trust me.” Turning to Major Smith, he said, “Thank you, sir. I will be in contact.”
When he emerged from the interview room, Sam and Matt were already out in the hallway waiting. He could tell Sam was shocked and shaken by what she had heard. Matt was the same, but angrier. Matt knew Jared, but not as well as Raleigh. He could tell Matt was ready to hunt Jared down right now, but they needed a plan.
Chapter 14
“Conference room, now.” Raleigh’s voice was stern and rough as he motioned down the hallway to Matt and Sam. His mind was racing a million miles a minute, trying to get a grip on what he had just heard. As they piled into the small room and sat around the table, Sam dropped the stack of papers they had carried with them from the warehouse in Chicago. She was still shaken and a bit wobbly on her feet, stunned by what she had heard.
“Matt, can you grab the Officer in Charge here? I want him in on this. We need to pick up Thompson, ASAP.”
Matt rose from his chair and left the room. Sam looked up at Raleigh. “Are you ok?” she asked. “You seem more upset than you should. Do you know this Thompson?”
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