Operation: Departed Angel (Shepherd Security Book 5)

by Margaret Kay

  “Sir, I apologize for my disrespectful conduct while in your office. I did not behave in a manner worthy of this agency.” He wished he would have been on his feet while saying his apology.

  Shepherd ran his hand through his hair again. “I think we can both agree that was the case. But there were extenuating circumstances I recognize.”

  Sloan cracked a smile. “Yes, a five foot three with newly dyed red hair circumstance that made me crazy.”

  Shepherd laughed. “That tends to happen when you’re personally involved. I expect no more instances though.”

  “There won’t be, sir,” Sloan guaranteed. “And she’s fine with my job and the frequency that I’ll be gone. That won’t be an issue. I explained everything to her. The only thing she’s anxious about is what she’ll be doing while I’m gone. There was no personal history, work history, or anything in the envelope from the Marshals.”

  Shepherd pulled a few pieces of paper from one of his stacks on the desk. “St. Vincent thought he was taking her with him when he was here. It would have been built after he had her secured, but since she stayed, here is an inventory form for her to complete. Have her do it tonight and bring it back to me tomorrow. The Marshals will set up a history for her based on her answers. I assume she’ll be looking for a job? Is she interested in that position at Sienna’s school that Cooper text messaged me about Sunday night?”

  Sloan took the paper and nodded. “Yes, she’s very interested. I’m not sure if the Marshals can pull that one off for her, giving her the credentials to get the job, but it would make sense in a lot of ways. If they can’t build her a history working as a teacher without her actually having experience, she’s willing to go back to school to finish her bachelor’s degree. She was a junior when she quit school.”

  “I’ll make a call to St. Vincent when we’re done and see where he’s at on that request. I sent it along to him when I heard from Cooper. Still have her complete the form though.” He handed another sheet of paper over. “To add her to the agency’s insurance policies as your dependent. I’m assuming you want this?”

  “Yes, thanks, until she gets coverage of her own, I guess she needs medical and dental.” He read the amount that was written on the yellow post-it note that it would cost him each pay period. That’s when it hit him that he was taking her on as a dependent.

  “See Garcia. He’s issuing her an agency cell phone. Explain to her about Ops. All dependents are covered the same as agency personnel. And I have authorized a tracker to be installed in her as well. If there is anything else that comes to mind, let me or Cooper know.”

  “I will, thank you, Shepherd.” He stood, knowing he was just dismissed.

  “You have an appointment with Lassiter right now,” Shepherd said.

  “Yes, sir,” Sloan replied. That was news to him. And then he left.

  Sloan gazed up from his coffee cup and into Lassiter’s face. Lassiter was smiling. “What?”

  “Tell me again about punching Trio, right there in Shepherd’s office.”

  “I’ve already told you,” Sloan said.

  “This time put a name to the emotions you felt. Pissed off isn’t good enough.”

  “It was stupid, thinking for even a second that Mother would be in there to convince Kennedy to stay with him. I know that.”

  “But your stupid-ass self didn’t know it at the time,” Lassiter reminded him.

  “Look, I was stressed out at that moment. Kennedy was about to be gone and I didn’t know how to stop it.”

  “You didn’t know how to ask her to stay?”

  Sloan shook his head.

  “And how are things with you and Kennedy now? Or Kaylee. I guess I should start calling her by her new name.”

  “Even that is so damn awkward. I’ve called her both names over the weekend. Her official ID from the Marshals says Kennedy. I hope she’ll drop this stupid name thing.”

  “I understand why she wants a new name to go with her new life. Sloan, she doesn’t like the person Kennedy has been for over ten years. It’s her way of starting over, starting fresh.”

  “Do you think so?”

  Lassiter sighed. “Of course, I do. You haven’t asked her why she’s hell-bent on a new name?”

  Sloan shook his head again.

  “You two need to get your shit together and start communicating better.”

  Sloan laughed sarcastically. “That kind of takes two, doesn’t it?”

  “So, Kennedy isn’t doing her part either?”

  “No, she’s slipped right back into old habits.” He told Lassiter about what happened Sunday afternoon on their way to Garcia’s. “When a woman says something is fine in the voice she was using, you know damned well nothing is fine.”

  “Did you call her on it?”

  Sloan shook his head. “I didn’t want to start a fight. I knew she was nervous about spending time with the other women, which she discovered I was right and was unnecessary to stress about.”

  “Every time she holds back, you have to call her on it. This job is hard, and the separations add to that. You can’t waste any time on this bullshit when you’re together and you can’t do your job effectively if you’re worrying about her and whatever bullshit drama went on before you left.”

  “Won’t calling her out on not communicating, create drama?”

  “You sit her down tonight and talk. Talk about expectations of open communication without judgment and how important it is. Tell her you both need to call each other out if it happens and make a pact to listen to each other. And if that doesn’t work, get her in here to talk with me. I’ll even see you together and do couples counseling with you if you want.”

  “Great, we’re not even married and already need marriage counseling,” Sloan moaned.

  “Is that where you see this relationship heading?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I told her I’d like to take it one day at a time and see where this relationship goes.”

  “Nothing like giving the girl security by being noncommittal. Jesus, Sloan, with what she’s been through, she needs something to hold on to.”

  “You really think so?” Sloan asked.

  Lassiter just raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know how an otherwise intelligent man could be so clueless.

  “I didn’t want to put pressure on her with defining our relationship.”

  “You wanted her to stay, and she wanted to stay with you. You both have feelings for each other and want to see if you’ll work this time. Start there, profess your feelings and see if she follows suit. If she holds back, call her on it.”

  “I just want the old Kennedy back, the one that sang all the time because she was happy. The one who would text me just to say hi, how’s your day? I see glimmers of her when she’s relaxed. I see that beautiful natural smile of hers with a sparkle in her eyes, but then it’s gone.”

  “That happy Kennedy wore your engagement ring. She loved you and knew you loved her too. It was safe for her to be herself. Give her time, security, and communication to bring you closer. That’s all it’s going to take. But you have to establish that communication. That’s key.”

  Sloan nodded.

  “Have you defined living arrangements, finances, any of those things?”

  Sloan grunted out a sarcastic humph. “No, we haven’t gotten to any of that.”

  “What did you do all weekend?” Lassiter asked.

  A telling smile spread over Sloan’s face.

  “All weekend, seriously?” Lassiter asked. “When you go home tonight, keep your dick in your pants until you have a conversation with her. Your team leaves tomorrow morning and these things cannot go unsaid while you’re away.” Lassiter took a business card from his wallet. “Give this to Kaylee. Have her call me if she wants to talk and sort anything out.”

  “I guess I’ll leave my car with her so she can get around. It didn’t really hit me that I was taking her on as a dependent. I thought of it more of us just living togeth
er again.”

  “You’re not twenty-one years old any longer.”

  “Yeah, don’t I know it.”

  “And it’s going to take her some time to build a life. Right now, she has nothing, few personal belongings, no job, no cash. All she has is you. That’s as dependent as it gets.”

  When Sloan left Lassiter’s office, he went to eight, to Garcia’s workroom which was beside Ops. Garcia didn’t have her phone ready yet. “Give me about a half-hour and I’ll have it,” Garcia promised.

  Sloan left and went down one flight of stairs to Sherman’s office. He plopped himself on Sherman’s couch, feet up. “Man, I’m so fucked.”

  A grin came to Sherman’s lips. “How so? Or do I want to know?”

  “I met with Shepherd and then Lassiter. So, I guess I’ve taken Kennedy on as a dependent. She’s being added to our health insurance and Shepherd’s deducting money from my paycheck to cover it. Lassiter informed me she has no one and nothing, just me, which is as dependent as a person can get. Her shit is all over my dresser and bathroom counter. She hasn’t gotten any neater in the last decade. She always did leave everything lying everywhere.”

  “Do you regret asking her to stay?” Sherman asked.

  “No, but I thought she’d be more of, I don’t know, an equal, a roommate like before. She can’t even get a job yet until the Marshals build Kennedy Cole a history, so I’m financially supporting her till then.”

  “This is temporary. Why the issue? It seems to me you’d do whatever you need to, to make things easier on her.”

  “I will, it’s just that, oh hell, I don’t know. I feel like someone just handed baby Olivia to me and said, good luck with her, and then left.”

  “You sound like a selfish prick,” Sherman said, as only he could. “It’s not like you’re strapped for cash. None of us are. So, you have to spend a few thousand till the Marshals get that history built and she can get a job? Big fucking deal. You’re in love with this girl, right?”

  “Yeah, I am,” Sloan said. “Maybe I’m batshit crazy, but I do love her, despite everything I know about her.”

  Sloan would admit he was distracted during the mission briefing. The last thing that Lassiter said to him echoed through his thoughts. He was all Kennedy had right now. She was dependent on him. And Sherman was right. It was up to him to do what he needed to, to make things easier on her. When he was out of this meeting, he’d add her to his credit card and have one express shipped to her in case she needed it while he was away. He knew the Marshals gave her one-hundred dollars cash in that envelope. He’d hit the ATM on the way home too and get her a couple hundred dollars. She may need it.

  “Sloan?” Shepherd’s sharp voice snapped him back to the room.

  “Yes, sir,” he replied.

  “DEA case, heroin laced with fentanyl, very dangerous shit killing a lot of people. Recon on a suspected illegal lab. Are you with us?”

  “I am now, sir,” he replied, garnering a few chuckles from his teammates.

  “The DEA doesn’t have enough to get a warrant, that’s where we come in,” Shepherd said.

  “We’ll start it as a recon mission, get eyes in there, see if we can intercept a shipment going in or coming out, get enough that we can give the DEA an anonymous tip with proof. After that, we may be invited to join in the fun when they raid, or we may come home. It depends on the status of that warrant. If there is a shipment going out the door, we’re going to stop it by any means necessary,” Cooper finished.

  “Cooper and Miller will accompany Delta Team on this one,” Shepherd said. “Cooper has point, with Lambchop second in command.”

  Lambchop nodded. He had already been made aware of the hierarchy. He was always fine with Cooper on any mission and running lead and everyone knew it. The two teams functioned flawlessly together and always had.

  “Okay, pack your gear, take off early and be back here by zero eight-hundred tomorrow morning,” Shepherd said. “Get the proof for the DEA. I don’t need to tell you how many people are dying out there because of this shit.”

  The men came to their feet. Sloan went up to eight right away to get Kennedy’s phone from Garcia.

  “Tell her to call or text Sienna if she needs anything while you’re gone.”

  “I will, Angel said the same for herself.” Sloan thought about it for a second. “It would be nice if they reached out to her too, just to check in.”

  “Oh, trust me, they will. Sienna’s already planning to invite her to an all-girls dinner one night when I’ll be late.”

  “When aren’t you?” Sloan asked sarcastically.

  “I’ll be in Ops covering your sorry asses.”

  Sloan chuckled. “Just how you like it.”

  Mother and Lambchop passed by Garcia’s office, bags in hand. “Yo, pack up and go home to your woman,” Mother said.

  “Thanks.” Sloan held the phone up to Garcia. “Hey, wait up, Trio!” Then he ran towards the two men. He nodded to Lambchop. “Give us a second, will you?”

  “Sure, see you both tomorrow. Enjoy your afternoon and night.” He pressed his palm to the scan pad and entered his code. Then he went into the stairwell, the door closing securely behind him.

  “Look, Trio, I should have called you over the weekend to apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

  “I’m sure you were busy, at least I hope you were,” Mother said with a grin. “There’s no apology needed.”

  “Yes, there is. I know you better than what my insecure mind jumped to, thinking you were there to stop Kennedy leaving for yourself. I was stupid, and I apologize.”

  “You were stupid because you almost let a woman you have feelings for walk out of your life. Don’t make that mistake again. I sure hope you’ve talked with her and you both know where you stand.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Lassiter,” Sloan said sarcastically. “Yes and no, but I will this afternoon.”

  Mother smiled and nodded. “Don’t fuck this up with her, Sloan, or you’ll have me to answer to.”

  “Yes, Mother,” Sloan said, not surprised Trio was playing mother-hen to him. He almost felt sorry for Trio’s seven younger siblings, who even Trio admitted he Mothered.

  Sierra

  Sloan packed up his gear and left it in the Team Room, ready for the morning. He did call his credit card company on the way home and he did stop at the ATM. In his mind he replayed his conversation with Lassiter and how to effectively communicate it to Kennedy to get her buy in. He knew Lassiter was right. They needed to communicate better.

  He arrived home and opened the garage door, hoping Kennedy wouldn’t be startled or afraid. At least after this she’d have a cell phone and he could keep her apprised of his schedule. He opened the door into the kitchen and called in. “Hey, Kaylee, it’s me.”

  He found her sitting on the couch, watching television, continuing coverage on the arrests of the sexual predators in L.A. It had been a nonstop media frenzy. At least thirty more women had come forward with allegations. A pad of paper with her neat little writing was on the couch cushion beside her with the remote for the television atop it. He picked up the remote and turned the television off. It couldn’t be healthy for her to watch so much about it.

  She rose from the couch without questioning him why he turned the television off. She knew. Without a word spoken, they embraced and kissed. As he pulled his lips away, he realized he was going to miss her while he was away. It was nice coming home to her.

  “Hi,” she said with a seductive smile. “You’re home earlier than I expected.

  “Yeah, we wrapped it up early at the office.” He pulled her cell phone from his pocket. “I have this for you.” He explained the secure nature of the phone, showed her the programmed contacts, and told her what Ops would do for her. “Here are the game apps already on the phone. You can’t download any Apps without Garcia’s permission, so I’d suggest you come up with a list you may want and then shoot him a text. As Admin, he’ll download the approved apps that
won’t compromise our system and push them through to your phone.”

  She sat the phone onto the coffee table and looked disgusted. He thought she’d be happy to have a phone again.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m frustrated,” Kennedy admitted. “I was here all day with nothing to do. I only had the two bags of my stuff to unpack. That took me all of an hour. You said to put my stuff wherever I wanted to, so it’s all over your dresser in the bedroom. When might I get my computer back?”

  “Garcia still had your laptop to go through and secure. I don’t think he’s had time yet to work on it. I’ll shoot him a text and ask how far he’s gotten and when you might have it. Madison and Cooper are going out on our Op with us tomorrow, but he’s staying behind to man Ops so he should have some time tomorrow as it’s a travel day.”