by Margaret Kay
“Yes, I’m not sure I want to go to sleep before Anthony gets back,” she admitted. “Thank you,” she added as an obvious afterthought.
Shepherd reached out a hand to her. She instinctively took it. “Sienna, I’m sorry you saw that tonight, but that is who we are and what we do. Garcia is damn good at what he does, the whole team is, but there is always a risk.”
Sienna thought about him in the wheelchair, Yes, he was an example of how the risk was real.
“Do you ever regr,” she stopped herself mid-sentence, mid-word. Her eyes darted to Angel.
She heard Shepherd sigh heavily. “Do I ever regret the risk I took that landed me in this chair?”
A wave of guilt washed over her. How could she have nearly asked him that?
“I wish I hadn’t been shot and partially paralyzed, but I don’t regret for one second that I tried to protect Angel or that my team was responsible for rescuing her.”
“Twice,” Angel interrupted, “actually three times if you include Lassiter helping me through it after.”
Shepherd drew Angel in for a quick hug with his free hand. “Sienna, there is a lot of bad in the world and many people are so well insulated from it in their daily lives that they never know about it. For the rest who suddenly find themselves in trouble they can’t get out of, people like me and my team are there. For them, no, I have no regrets.”
“I’m sorry. That was so invasive of me. I shouldn’t have asked.”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. And I’m sure if you ask Garcia if he has any regrets about anything, he’ll agree with me. The only thing you have to figure out is if you can be with someone who does this for a living. This isn’t just the kind of work Garcia does, it’s who he is. Remember that.”
She nodded solemnly.
Shepherd released her hand and then rolled back towards the door. “I’m heading up to get a few hours’ sleep. I’ll see both of you tomorrow, I’m sure, or rather today,” he added glancing at his watch. It was past midnight. He then left, and quietly closed the door behind himself
“I should probably take Sammy up to his crib and try to get a few hours’ sleep too.”
“Angel, thank you.” She gave her a hug.
Angel’s eyes shifted to her sleeping baby. “I’ll be texting Lassiter for an appointment with him this morning. Would you like me to get one for you too?”
Sienna looked indecisive.
Angel raised her eyebrows.
“Sure,” she finally replied.
Angel nodded. “And just in case you’re wondering. I have no regrets either. Even if I see that kind of thing occasionally, even if I worry like crazy every time Jackson is on a mission, there is nowhere I’d rather be and with no one I’d rather be with. This team is my family and I’ve never been a part of anything like this. If anything ever happens to Jackson, God forbid, I know the rest of them will always be there for Sammy and me. And if you’re with Anthony, the same will hold true for you.”
“Thank you,” Sienna repeated.
Angel gathered the sleeping baby and left with him. Sienna plopped back into the chair and hugged her knees to her chest. That was where Anthony found her when he entered the room hours later. His eyes met hers when he opened the door, surprised he wasn’t walking into a dark room. She hopped up from the chair and threw her arms around him.
“Sweetheart, why aren’t you asleep? Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Three-thirty,” she replied, pulling just far enough from him to look into his eyes.
He kissed her tenderly.
“Your hair is wet.” And he smelled good. He’d just showered.
“Yeah, I cleaned up real fast in the locker room.”
Sienna remembered the blood that had splattered on him after he shot that man. Her eyes gazed at his neck, where it had been. He wore different clothes than in the video. She hugged him again. “I was in Ops, when it happened.”
Garcia nodded. Yes, Shepherd had told him and Jackson that the two women were in Ops when it went south. He also told him about the conversation with the women after the mission was concluded. “I’m sorry you saw that. Should I request an appointment with Lassiter for you today?”
“Angel already did. It’s at eleven this morning.”
Garcia was glad she’d be talking with him. He’d just left Lassiter, standard procedure after a mission like that one. Lassiter had seen him first. Jackson was in with Lassiter now. Lambchop would follow Jackson. He guided her to the bed and pulled the covers back. “We’d better get some sleep.”
Just like that? How could he fall asleep? Sienna was exhausted, but she was also too keyed up to sleep. Before she knew it, Anthony was removing her clothing. Once she was completely naked, he prompted her to lay down. She slid beneath the covers and watched him strip naked as well. His warm, muscled body pressed to hers as he joined her beneath the covers enveloping her in his clean, fresh scent.
His hungry hands glided over her skin as he kissed her passionately and with need. There was an intensity in him that Sienna had not seen before. Before she knew it, he settled between her legs, his undulating body making love to her with power and purpose. His concentrated focus, while sexy as hell, was almost alarming.
Garcia was completely engulfed in the act of making love to his woman. He was completely absorbed in being one with her, being surrounded by her, his consciousness connected with her in the most primal of ways. He needed her, needed to feel every inch of her around him, pressed to him, skin to skin with nothing between them. He held her tightly as he released into her, an orgasm so powerful he was nearly knocked unconscious.
After he’d caught his breath, he kissed her again, this time slowly, tenderly. “Stay with me, Sienna. Move in with me. Don’t go back to Virginia.” His voice was soft and pleading.
Her thoughts swirled through her head. After sex like that, it wasn’t the time for her to say no to him. But she wasn’t ready to decide the rest of her life. “Is it really over? Am I safe now?”
“You will be in a few days. We’re just wrapping up some loose ends. We got Mendoza, well, the DEA did. And with the cipher unlocked, no one needs you for it. You’re safe now.”
He felt her tremble in his arms. He kissed her again
Victor
Sienna sipped her tea and gazed back out the window at the parking lot of the mall. It looked like a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining high in the dark blue sky and nearly everyone she saw wore shorts and other light weight clothing.
“So, what are you going to do now that it’s over?” Joe Lassiter’s voice broke in on her overwhelming thoughts.
“Live my life without fear. Isn’t that the right answer?”
Lassiter chuckled. “That’s your destination but I’d be surprised if you are there already.”
Her eyes reaffixed on him. “Anthony wants me to move here, in with him.”
“What do you want?”
“Good question. I honestly don’t know.” She paused and considered it. “No, strike that. I know I want to be with Anthony. It just feels wrong to consider moving forward with him when I don’t think I’ve grieved over losing Greg yet. And I don’t want to doom a relationship with Anthony because I got into it when I wasn’t ready to.”
“That all sounds like sage advice from some self-help book. But in practice, there is wiggle room you know.” He watched her consider his words. “What’s your definition of a whore, Sienna?”
Her shocked expression met his. “I can’t believe you asked me that.”
Lassiter smiled. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I want you to realize that your sexual relationship with Anthony is healthy, normal, and acceptable. I get the feeling you have regrets or bad thoughts about how it began.”
“You have no idea how it began,” she said softly.
“Sure, I do. I read Garcia’s mission report and have had several meetings with him since he got back. I know what he did, how it played out.”
&nbs
p; She felt the heat rise up her face. Her hands trembled. She didn’t know if she felt more embarrassed, angry, or humiliated. She hid her face in her hands. “I’m not proud of it.”
“Sienna,” Lassiter’s soft voice said after several quiet moments. He’d waited, hoping she would continue. “You are not a whore, were not a whore that night. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Garcia gave you the choice. He didn’t force you. And you chose to have sex with him that night, and every night after.”
“Can we please not talk about this?”
“Why wasn’t that okay, sleeping with him?”
She chuckled sarcastically. “I didn’t even like him, the Razor I met that night, that is. He was a disgusting criminal. And he was a condescending, smug ass. I would never have sex with someone like him.”
Now Lassiter chuckled. “Yeah, I have to agree with you. That Razor persona he played had few redeeming qualities. It’s a good thing that Anthony Garcia’s real qualities somehow made an appearance with you.”
Her eyes met his. “He was different in bed and the next morning, gentle, caring.”
Lassiter nodded. “It was rough for him, being under in that persona for so long. It wasn’t a surprise to me that he felt for you, what he did. He’s a good guy and I suspect the moment he thought you were one of the good guys who was in trouble, his instincts to protect you kicked into high gear.”
“That still doesn’t explain why I slept with someone I couldn’t stand and was afraid of.”
“Were you attracted to him physically?”
Sienna glanced out the window again. “I’m not sure, but what I will admit is that when we kissed that first time,” she paused and shook her head, mortified that she was telling him this. “No one had ever kissed me like that. And what I felt from it, I didn’t want to say no to, so I didn’t.”
Lassiter smiled wide. “Sounds like chemistry to me. And that is nothing to be ashamed of. Knowing that you and your husband had not had sexual relations for so long, I think it was a very healthy thing for you to engage in.”
Sienna held a hand up in a stopping gesture. “Can we please not talk about this?”
Lassiter shook his head. “Sienna, Greg was your past. And I do agree that you have some issues there to resolve and you do need to mourn the loss. But while you are doing that, there is no reason Anthony cannot be your present and your future, even this soon after Greg died. I’m a firm believer in embracing what is in front of you, the timing be damned. But that is up to you to decide, if you are ready for a relationship with him right now. It’s also up to you if you are going to return to your life in Virginia or move here.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”
“Then don’t decide. Just let it be for a while until you are ready to make that decision.”
Sienna chuckled. “I can’t just let it be. I have to let my principal know if I’m coming back to work. The next school year starts in just a few weeks. There is also the question of my house and what I’m going to do with it. And if I do move here, where am I going to live? Where am I going to work? The possibility of getting a teaching position this close to the start of the school year is slim.”
Lassiter reached across the table and took hold of her hands. “Those are all issues that you are putting too much importance on. As far as your principal, he’ll make do regardless. You’re a responsible person, wanting to make things easier on him, but he will figure it out if you are not ready to make a decision yet. You have a nice sum coming to you from Greg’s life insurance with the CIA. You can go for quite a while without working. If you want to work here, there is always substitute teaching until you find the school you will get your permanent position at. Let’s talk about your house in Virginia. Can you really see yourself living there, after everything that has happened?”
“No,” she answered with no thought required.
“That was easy. My advice is you don’t force yourself to make any decisions yet. The right path will show itself to you when you are ready to see it.”
“So, patience?”
Lassiter chuckled. “Yes, a difficult thing for most.”
Sienna nodded and forced a small smile.
“And in the meantime, if you want to continue to see me, to work through some of these things, I’d be happy to help you.”
Sienna nodded again. “When I was in Ops last night and things turned bad so fast, I couldn’t even move. I didn’t want to see what was happening, didn’t want to hear the gunfire, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. Even when Shepherd yelled at us to go, I couldn’t move at first. I’m afraid that if I’m ever someplace and someone shoots, I’ll be too afraid to run, or even drop to the ground.”
“You’ve been through some frightening events. It’s going to take time for you to deal with everything. That’s what I’m here for.” He smiled sincerely.
“Yes, thank you. I don’t want this to rule my life going forward.”
He shook his head. “It won’t.” He picked his phone up from the table. “Let’s set another appointment, say in two days. You’ll still be around, won’t you?”
Sienna smiled. “Yes, I will.”
They set the time and day and then Sienna followed him from the kitchen. He led her back to the door that led to his outer office. Anthony waited there, as he’d promised he would. Her lips automatically formed a smile at the sight of him.
Whiskey
It was two in the afternoon, fourteen hundred hours. Garcia led Sienna down the stairs to floor five and to the main conference room, the only one large enough to accommodate everyone who would be at the meeting. Even though he had told her it was just the post-Op close-out briefing, nothing to be nervous about, she was. She knew she may get the rest of the answers to her questions. She wasn’t sure if knowing would bring her any peace.
Sienna glanced around the table. Of course, Shepherd was there, as were all members of the two teams who had been involved the previous night. Yvette sat beside the man previously introduced as Miraldi. The other man who had been in Ops was there too, BT. He sat on the other side of Yvette. Doctor Lassiter entered just as everyone took their seats.
“Good job last night, everyone,” Shepherd began, interrupting the many voices that had been talking in the room. Everyone instantly quieted when he spoke and focused their attention on him. “I have updates on several key items. With using his daughter as leverage, Mendoza has been very cooperative. The DEA have him in isolation, where he’ll remain. No one from the cartel will be able to get to him.”
“Mendoza confirmed the two NSA agents were working for him and he had them killed because they wouldn’t turn Sienna over. He was sure they had double crossed him. He also has confirmed that he was responsible for the death of your husband, Sienna,” Cooper said.
Anthony took her hand under the table. She flashed him a brave smile. Then her expression took a more serious cast. “Why did he kill him?”
“According to Mendoza, Greg Andrews came on his radar in Colombia, during one of Greg’s missions there. His mission was classified, so I cannot share it, but let’s just say it was the CIA doing what the CIA does. A month or so later, he saw you two together in Fairfax and the pieces fell into place for Mendoza,” Shepherd reported. “Greg got too close to his operation, figured out things that Mendoza didn’t want him figuring out.”
“What about little Sophia? You said the DEA is using her as leverage. I don’t like the sound of that. She’s just an innocent little girl,” Sienna said, her eyes on Shepherd.
“The DEA has threatened harm to his daughter to get Mendoza to talk, and likewise has promised visitation if he cooperates. No harm will come to her, that I promise.” Shepherd’s eyes shifted to Madison. “Miller was online this morning during a video chat with the DEA in Virginia. They had Luisa Santana in an interview room. Thanks to Madison, she has cooperated and provided additional information on Mendoza.”
“Luisa and Sophia have been placed in WitSec and will be re
located,” Madison said, gazing at Sienna. “They will be given new identities and will be safe.”
“Thank you,” Sienna said softly.
Madison smiled and nodded. “They will let Sophia see her dad one more time, after they have gotten all the info, they need out of him.”
“DEA is in the process of rounding up the legal growers who were buying from the cartel,” Shepherd said.
“Go figure, the legal growers couldn’t keep up with the demand for the pot, so they turned to the cartel to supply their inventory,” Cooper said.
“I still can’t believe that one. Greed,” Madison interjected. “Pure and simple. They’d rather buy illegal weed then sacrifice sales when they couldn’t produce enough of their own.”