by Margaret Kay
The plane landed at the Chicago Executive Airport and taxied to the private, Shepherd Security Hangar. Once within, Jackson went down the stairs first, his arms loaded with bags. Mother descended the stairs next carrying a backpack and two of the rifle cases that were both slung over his right shoulder. He reached a hand back to assist Kennedy if she needed it. She didn’t. When her feet hit the concrete, the heat engulfed her, and he again took hold of her arm. “I told you, I’m not going to try anything.”
Mother’s lips curved into a slight grin. “Sorry, it’s just protocol.”
She shook her head but remained quiet and let him lead her to the big, black SUV that was parked nearby. Even the windows were tinted black. Jackson had the back open and loaded his bags in. Then she watched him as he took the bags from Danny. By this time, Landon had come down the stairs, his arms loaded with bags too.
Kennedy glanced around the hangar. There were several other aircraft within, even a helicopter. But there weren’t any other people, but them. The other thing she noticed was how clean it was, even the floors.
Jackson opened the driver’s door and turned the engine over. “I’m going to crank the AC and get it cooled off. I think we’re breaking a heat record today. The high is forecasted over a hundred. I think Doc brought the Houston heat back with him. They got back last night by the way.” He reclosed the door and then headed back towards the plane to get the last of the bags.
“Good, I’m glad they took the whole two weeks. That has to mean it went well. They both needed that,” Lambchop said.
Kennedy felt numb to such mundane things as the weather forecast and discussions about people she didn’t know. She had to think about the date to remember it was the middle of August, so naturally it would be hot. And where did they fly into again? It took a moment for her to remember that it was somewhere near Chicago, at least that was what they had said.
A trickle of sweat ran down her neck. Yes, it was hot! She was surprised when Jackson appeared in front of her and Danny, handing each a cold bottle of water. He handed one to Landon as well and then he piled the remainder of the bags in the back of the SUV.
“It should be cooled off by now,” Mother said to Kennedy. He opened the car door and motioned her in. She was surprised how cool it already was. Then he climbed in beside her. “Stay in the middle seat and put your seat belt on.”
She had already scooted over to the far side. “I will before he puts the car in drive. I’m not going to try to jump out the door at a stoplight or anything. I promise.”
He pointed to the middle seat between them. “Middle seat, please.”
“Fine,” she said, sliding back to the middle of the car. She put the seatbelt on and then took a long drink of the ice-cold water. It felt good going down her throat.
A few seconds later the other two men got into the front seat of the car. She realized she had not even thanked Jackson for giving her the bottle of water. “Thank you for the water, Jackson. It is as hot as L.A. out there.”
His eyes flickered to her in the rear-view mirror. “I promise we’re in Chicago and not L.A.” He smiled. Then he put his sunglasses on, which sat on the dashboard and he put the car in drive.
Kennedy paid attention to the road signs and very quickly was assured they were indeed in the Chicago area. They had not landed at either O’Hare or Midway Airport. It was a smaller airport. She saw the large commercial airplanes descending and on approach to O’Hare, at least that was what Danny said, as they made the twenty-minute drive into the suburbs, finally pulling into a parking garage next to the tallest building in the area. It was across the street from a large mall.
The car drove deep into the second sub-basement level and went through several security gates and garage doors. Jackson parked in front of an elevator. Danny opened the door, slid out, and motioned for her to do the same. She glanced around the private parking garage and at the dozen or so other vehicles parked in the area. The entire area was sealed off from the rest of the parking garage. In front of them was the elevator and a door.
“We’ll get the bags,” Lambchop said. “Go ahead and take her up to the kitchen on five.”
Danny stepped towards the elevator without grabbing hold of her arm. “Come on. Lunch will be out by now. Are you hungry?”
She followed him numbly, still looking around. “Yes, I guess so. Where are we?”
“This is our headquarters.”
She watched him press his palm to a pad and he entered a code into the keypad. Twenty seconds later, the elevator door opened. “Across from a mall?” She said with a smile.
He pressed five on the panel and the doors closed. “Because of your prior relationship with Sloan, you have been allowed to see where our headquarters is. A certain degree of trust has been extended to you that most others don’t get. Do yourself a favor and forget this location.”
His words struck her as a warning, even though his voice was friendly as he spoke. She nodded.
The elevator doors opened into a hallway. It could be any hallway in any office building. It looked normal in every way. But then the door that was tucked into the corner opened and three men came into the hallway. They all openly carried handguns, two of them on their hips, the third in a holster under his left arm.
Mother noticed Kennedy flinch when Garcia, BT, and Michael came out of Shepherd’s office. He wasn’t sure what they would have to do to make her feel more comfortable around them. “Hey,” he greeted them with a smile. He clasped hands with Garcia, and they bumped shoulders. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Not much,” Garcia replied as they released each other. “I’ll sack out for a few hours up in my office later.”
Mother greeted BT next, the same way. “Nice to see you out of Ops.”
“Yeah, well, I’m heading back there now for a short shift. Your mission sure as hell ballooned into something big.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, that it interrupted your training,” Mother said. Then he reached his right hand out to Cooper’s brother. “Hey, man, welcome aboard.”
Michael shook his hand. “Thanks, it’s good to be here.”
“Nothing like starting when things are chaotic,” Mother remarked.
“Nah, I’m used to that. It was the same when I checked into SUBRON 6. I was supposed to be assigned to the USS Albany, but when I got there, they changed my orders and assigned me to the John Warner, but they didn’t tell the captain of the Albany. They actually showed me AWAL the first two days. It wasn’t until I tried to leave base, when Base Security detained me, that it got sorted out. I’d say, even with the chaos here the last few days, it’s been smoother than that.” He chuckled. “I don’t think I have to worry about time in the brig here.”
Kennedy watched them closely. The man Danny greeted first, looked intense. His dark eyes were as serious looking as Gary’s. He wore a polo shirt with jeans, his black hair was buzzed short on the sides, a bit longer on top. His arms, including his forearms were very muscled, and he had several tattoos on them. He looked solid and strong. He was Hispanic, like Danny. But he was leaner than Danny and he gave off a dangerous vibe.
The second man he’d clasped hands and shoulder bumped had dark hair and a full beard and mustache just like Jackson. This man looked just as solid as the others and around the same age. He was the one who wore the shoulder holster. His hair was longer, like Gary’s.
The last man was younger than anyone she’d seen. His hair was shaved short, a medium brown color that spilled short curls onto his forehead, but it was his eyes that drew her attention. They were a light shade of brown, almost a golden. He was the one who was talking about the Albany and the John something, that she gathered from the conversation were ships. This man had been in the Navy too.
Then the first man, the intense one, turned to her. “You provided good details. I’ve been working all night on the intel you provided.”
“Kennedy, this is Razor,” Mother said. “We’ve been keeping i
t to callsigns and first names,” he told Garcia.
Garcia smiled. “I’m not sure it matters. From what I’ve found, her story checks out.” He reached his right hand towards her. “It’s nice to meet you, Kennedy.”
She shook his hand and smiled, remembering how Gary and Brian had talked about him the previous evening. “You too.”
“BT and Michael,” Mother introduced, pointing to each.
They both shook her hand as well.
Mother pointed down the hallway. “Come on, let’s go get some lunch.” He led her down the hallway to the kitchenette. Angel was within, opening the top to the large tray that held submarine sandwiches. Bags of chips sat on the table beside it. A bowl of oranges and apples was there as well. “Hi Angel,” he greeted.
“Danny,” she replied with a smile, glancing up at him. “And you must be Kennedy. I’m Angel, the office manager here.”
Mother snickered. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s much more than our office manager.”
Angel sat the top of the tray aside and then focused her attention on Kennedy. “It’s nice to meet you. Make yourself at home here.” She pointed out the refrigerator and the Keurig coffee maker.
“Thank you,” Kennedy said. She watched Angel place two sandwiches on a plate with an apple. Then she grabbed a bottle of water and left the room.
Sloan broke every speed record racing across the states of Ohio and Indiana. He got stopped by the State Police twice and badged his way out of both tickets. He pulled into the garage of the Shepherd Security Building just four hours forty minutes after departing the funeral home to say goodbye to Allen and retrieve the gun from under the bed up in his and Kennedy’s old love nest. It was thirteen hundred Central Standard Time.
Sherman sent a text to Lambchop, advising him of their arrival.
“We’re in the kitchen on five,” Lambchop replied. Sherman read the text aloud to Sloan. “Good, I’m starving. There better be some lunch left.”
Sloan didn’t care if the Birdman was dying of starvation. All he wanted was to get to Kennedy and be sure she was okay. “You’ll live.”
The two men took the stairs up to five, Sloan setting a brisk pace. He and Sherman greeted Jackson, who stood just outside the kitchen.
“Speed much, Sloan?” Mother asked sarcastically as he entered the room. “We didn’t expect you for another hour or so.”
Sloan viewed him, seated beside Kennedy. A platter of sub sandwiches sat in front of her on the table. “The interstate was clear, so we just buzzed through.” His smiling eyes shifted from Mother to Kennedy.
She smiled as she placed a potato chip into her mouth. Even though everything had been fine with the three men, Kennedy was relieved that Gary was here.
Lambchop’s lips curled into a grin. “You’re going to need to take that up with Big Bear. Two State Troopers made inquiries. Ninety in a seventy, huh?”
“Official business,” Sloan said with a smile. “Has he come in for lunch?”
Lambchop shook his head no. “Angel brought his to his office.”
“I’m glad there are some sandwiches left,” Sherman said, pointing to the tray. “He wouldn’t even stop to get lunch.” Sherman grabbed a sandwich and took a healthy bite.
Kennedy held her bag of chips up towards Gary. “You want one?”
“Thanks,” Sloan said, taking several. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was starving. “So, everything went okay?”
“Yeah, no tails from the hotel,” Lambchop reported. He wouldn’t tell Sloan how Kennedy nearly lost her shit on the plane.
“Yeah, us neither. I guess no one was watching us. I can’t believe that someone isn’t wondering if they got the right girl or not. Certainly, Melody has been missed,” Sloan said.
Kennedy felt guilty, and she knew she had to tell them. “Actually, I had her send Stan a text that she was going out of town with some guy she’d met. It was kind of her thing, so Stan wouldn’t think twice about it.”
“And you didn’t think that would have been a good piece of information to share with us before now?” Sloan demanded.
She didn’t answer. She just gazed at him with a look he couldn’t decipher.
“Is there anything else you haven’t told us?” Sloan spat.
“Nope, just that. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Sloan closed his eyes and counted to five. He didn’t speak until he calmed himself down and reopened them. “Every little fact is a big deal in a case like this one. Just because she sent that text doesn’t mean someone won’t question if they killed her or you. Eventually, I think, someone is going to consider it’s a possibility.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I promise, if anything else comes to mind I’ll tell you right away.”
Mother laid his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze. “It’s okay. Let’s just be a little more forthcoming going forward.”
An irrational fire spread through Sloan. He knew it was irrational. He knew Kennedy needed to trust them all, and he knew Mother was just being supportive, doing what he was supposed to do to foster trust with her. He still couldn’t tear his eyes from Mother’s hand atop hers.
“Are you going to eat, Sloan?” Sherman’s voice cut in on his thoughts. Sherman was already seated at the table, diving into his second six-inch submarine sandwich.
“Yeah,” Sloan mumbled. He sat beside Sherman, across from Kennedy, and grabbed a sandwich and a bag of chips.
“Shepherd has arranged a video deposition for Kennedy with the FBI at eighteen hundred this evening,” Lambchop said.
“He got that set up fast,” Sloan said. He also picked up on the use of Shepherd’s name rather than his call sign. He felt uncomfortable with the amount of information Kennedy knew about them. He’d have to talk with Lambchop about it in private. “We spoke with Razor on the drive in. He and the digital recon unit have dug up so much crap on those men that Kennedy identified as sexual predators, a lot of rumors and allegations, sealed agreements and payoffs, but no charges and no indictments that have stuck.”
“It’s our job to make it stick this time,” Lambchop said. “These bastards are going down.”
“I did some research on high profile sex abuse cases, googled all the examples you cited the other night,” Sherman said, his eyes on Kennedy. “I guess I didn’t realize what this whole ‘Me Too’ movement was about, or how widespread sexual harassment and abuse is. These men are the slime of the Earth, treating women the way they do.”
Kennedy nodded. She would always be embarrassed by what she’d done over the years. Being with Gary and these men, she realized, sexual favors and expectations were not how it worked everywhere, as Stan had convinced her it did. She didn’t know much about these men, but she’d seen enough to judge for herself that they were decent, good people. No one had touched her, and no one had demanded anything from her for their protection.
Angel came back into the room carrying a toddler on her hip.
“Daddy,” the little boy squealed, reaching his arms towards Jackson.
Kennedy recognized him as the baby in the picture Jackson had shown her on the plane. He was even cuter in person. Jackson took the baby from Angel’s arms and gave him a kiss. Kennedy watched, fascinated by the sight of this solid, tough-looking man showing such tenderness with this little boy. She noticed the gun on Jackson’s hip and was further intrigued by the contrast.
Angel held out a sippy cup to the baby. “Want your milk?” The little boy grabbed the cup and brought it to his mouth. “He only slept an hour. He’s going to be a bear to get down tonight. You’ll be home, won’t you?”
“Yeah, babe, don’t worry.” He winked at her. “I’ll take care of getting my little buddy to bed,” he said in an animated voice to the baby.
Only then did Kennedy realize that Angel was Jackson’s wife. Gazing at the baby, it was clear the little guy was a product of them both. She couldn’t help but smile, watching them. A part of her felt sad though. Her eyes trave
led to Gary. They could have had what Angel and Jackson had. She wondered if it was even possible that they still could.
“He’s a cutie, isn’t he?” Sloan asked Kennedy.
“Yes, adorable.” Her eyes went back to Jackson, Angel, and the baby. “How old is he?”
Angel smiled wide. “Sixteen months, the best sixteen months of my life.”
All Kennedy could do was smile. She always thought she and Gary would get married and have kids of their own, but then she sang a few songs at an open mic night and she got invited to sing lead female vocals for a very successful local band. That was during her sophomore year of college. The feeling of being up on stage was even greater than when she performed in the musicals in high school, and she was hooked. One thing led to another and before she knew it Stan offered her a contract, Gary joined the Navy, she broke up with him, and moved to L.A.