by Margaret Kay
Doc nodded. “I’m not trained, but I’ve jumped in plenty of times when Shepherd has been in pain.”
“And how is the pain level today?” Diana asked Shepherd.
Really? Asking that in this public waiting room? “Not bad, just a few twinges of the sciatica.”
“Good, sounds like something we’re doing may be having a positive impact,” Diana said. “Debra, after the massage, please show them to the main therapy floor and I’ll join you there.”
“Judi is waiting for you in the main therapy area,” Debra said.
“Great, thank you.” She flashed a smile at Shepherd. “I’ll see you in about an hour.” Then she retreated down the hallway.
“Please come on back,” Debra said, motioning to the open door. “We’ll be in room two.”
Shepherd led the way, pondering what Dr. Diana said. Yes, the last few days he did have less pain than the last few months. Maybe it was due to something she was doing. Once inside the room, he shed his shoes and socks and then pulled his t-shirt and sweatpants off. He hauled himself onto the table.
Even though Debra was older and didn’t look too strong, she gave him a deep massage that worked out all the right places. She also gave Doc a great lesson on the technique she used and why. Shepherd had to admit, as he redressed, that it had been a good massage, possibly even better than the massages Vic gave him. The heating pad that covered the entire surface of the table below the sheet that they used in this office was a game changer.
Debra led them to the main therapy floor. It was crowded. He rolled up to the only table not in use. He glanced around and studied the other patients. It was a diverse group, from teenagers to eighty-year-olds involved in therapy just as varied. One older man struggled to pull himself to a sitting position. A wheelchair sat beside his table. A teen-aged girl, with a red angry scar on her leg, balanced on a wobble board. Her therapist gave her a high five. Another middle-aged man lifted light dumbbells with arms that were emaciated.
“How was your massage?” Dr. Diana asked Shepherd, coming up behind him.
“Good,” he said, turning to face her. “I liked Debra’s technique.”
Diana noticed his posture. He sat tall in his chair, but his back had a significant arch to it even though his abs appeared fully engaged. She smiled. “I was hoping you would. Debra brings twenty years of experience in therapeutic as well as relaxation techniques. She’s an excellent addition to my staff.” She patted the table. “Let’s get started.” Once he sat on the table, she viewed his posture from the side. “Stay just as you are. I need to feel your abdominals and your lower back.” She reached both hands to him. One felt his incredibly tight abs, the other the relaxed lower back muscles. Then she took hold of his shoulder. “Relax your shoulders forward a bit.” She gently guided him into a better posture.
Shepherd felt a searing flame of desire race through him at her soft touch. He was stunned by it. She was close enough that he smelled the incredible fresh scent that clung to her. “I feel like I’m slouching.”
“Trust me, Colonel, you are not even close to slouching. Quite the contrary, your form right now is perfect.” She turned to Doc. “Did you notice how his back had an unnatural arch to it before and it’s now straight?”
“Yes, I guess I never noticed that before.”
“Colonel, I need you to try to keep your shoulders forward like this. And Doc, when you’re with him, watch for it and tell him when he has the arch in his back. Part of the problem is that your abs are so strong, but the muscles in your lower back are not. I think this could be causing some of your pain.”
Shepherd wasn’t sure how that could be the case, but he agreed to try to modify his posture. Diana put him through his normal therapy routine while explaining to Doc what to do and what to watch for. He was amazed once again at how deep she brought his stretches. And he was conscious of every place she touched him.
His experience on the drop table being adjusted mirrored his first. The loud sound the drop table made when she suddenly pressed on an area, moving bone, was jarring. Several adjustments in the numbness was once again gone.
“Doctor Diana, whatever you just did got rid of the pins and needles and the numbness again.” He knew his voice was too loud.
Diana felt over his back at the spot she’d just adjusted. “It’s right at L-4 and L-5, what I’d expect. Lay perfectly still and let’s see how long it lasts. And I want to test something. Let me know if you feel me touch you and tell me where you feel it.” She pressed into both buttocks.
“Feel that, both sides of my butt.”
She lightly touched his upper thighs. Nothing. She pressed harder.
“I’m pretty sure you just touched my upper thighs on both legs.”
She lightly touched his ankles. Nothing. She pressed harder.
“I felt something, I think, on my right ankle.”
Diana repeated the light touch, followed by the firmer pressure on his calf and underside of his knee. Same results. She exchanged glances with Doc, who looked shocked by what he was witnessing. No, this man was not paralyzed in the true sense of it.
A few minutes later, he felt the all too familiar sensation return. “The numbness is back.”
“I’ll finish the adjustment and then hit that spot again,” Diana said, frustrated it hadn’t lasted longer. “The fact it was gone for five minutes is substantial. We’re on the right track.”
As Shepherd and Doc reached their vehicles, Shepherd saw the smirk on Doc’s face. “What?”
Doc pointed back at the building. “I’m calling bullshit on you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Shepherd demanded.
Doc’s lips curved into a knowing grin. “Committed to only two weeks with her? Really? Shep, you clearly believe she and her office are doing good for you. You admit her massage therapist is good. You have less pain and even brief periods with no numbness when on her table. Shep, you had feeling in places you haven’t in years.”
“I think the numbness prevented me from realizing that I could feel pressure. I didn’t feel much on my left leg. The right has always had sensations. I just wasn’t sure if they were real.”
“They’re real alright,” Doc said. “And I saw you during your therapy session. I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I think you got more out of it than you have gotten out of Vic’s sessions lately.”
“I’m still not sure she and her office are the right fit for me.” He hit the button on his key fob to open the door and deploy the lift.
Doc laughed aloud. “Why, because you’re attracted to her?”
Shepherd’s head snapped to view him. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” Doc said with a smile. “Don’t worry, you didn’t look like a lovesick puppy dog swooning over the good doctor. But I know you, so I recognized the subtle signs. She’s something, I’ll give you that. You could only be so lucky to have a woman like that interested in you.”
“You are mistaken,” Shepherd protested, garnering him another snicker from Doc. “Go home to your wife and daughter, speaking of someone else who is lucky to have a woman like her.”
“You better believe I am. I know that. Good luck with your meeting with Manning this afternoon. I’m not sure if I’d rather do more DEA missions or take on CIA cases, but I damn sure don’t want to tail cheating husbands, delve into pharmaceutical espionage, or other corporate bullshit. I think I speak for the rest of the team too.”
“Thanks, Doc. See you Monday. Dr. Diana is due at our building around seventeen hundred for another therapy session. I’ll want you to sit in on it.”
Doc patted his shoulder. “Count on it.”
Shepherd seethed with anger as he drove back to HQ. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He wasn’t sure what made him madder, the fact that he was attracted to Dr. Diana, or that Doc had seen it. The best way to nip it was to sever contact with her. She was a complication he neither had time for nor wanted to pursue. Two
weeks.
Once back at HQ, he slid a pair of blue jeans on to replace the sweatpants. It was Saturday. The call with Manning was not a video call. He’d dress casually, which he rarely did. He was in his office for only a few minutes when Cooper arrived.
“Thank you for coming in for this meeting, John.”
Cooper nodded. He took a seat at the conference table beside Shepherd. “Doc called me after he left the appointment with you. Are you really having sensations of feeling in your legs?”
Shepherd wondered what else Doc told him. “Yes, and brief periods with no pain or numbness. I don’t know, time will tell if this is something to get excited about. I’m going to put my sessions with Dr. Diana for the next two weeks on your calendar. I need you to be available to handle things during them. She’s so damn busy, I won’t be able to push an appointment with her by even fifteen minutes to handle agency issues like I did with Vic.”
“No problem,” Cooper said. “Before we hop on this call with Manning, has anything changed that I should know about?”
“No, we hold firm that our agency will have control of the go order or our people will not be involved in the raid. That last mission was a cluster-fuck and we will not put our people’s lives in the hands of some pencil-pushing unqualified agent-in-charge that doesn’t have a damn clue.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Garcia said, entering the room. “You know how I feel about it.”
Shepherd’s lips pulled into a grin. Garcia was not silent about his thoughts on anything. He and everyone else on the team knew how Garcia felt. “And you have a special understanding of the DEA, having worked for them. That’s why you’re here. During the call with Manning, unless I signal you otherwise, I’d like you to remain silent. We’ll mute our line if you have something to contribute. I think he’ll hold back if he knows you are present for the call.”
Lambchop came into the room and closed the door behind himself once he’d surveyed the room and saw that all were present. “What about me? Are you going to tell Manning that I’m in the room?”
“Yes. You were on in Ops when that shit-show went down in Nashville. I have provided Manning our tape of your conversation with his agent-in-charge. I want you to argue the point with him,” Shepherd said. “Flat out, refuse your team participating in any further missions under the current circumstances.”
The phone rang. Shepherd knew it was Jason Manning before he checked the display to see the caller ID confirm it. “Shepherd,” he answered. “I have you on speaker. Cooper and Johnson are in the room.”
“Gentlemen,” Manning said. “Let’s cut through the pleasantries and the shit, Shepherd. What’s it going to take to get your team back on the partner missions?”
Shepherd watched all three men react to Manning’s statement. Garcia looked like he wanted to reply, and Manning would not like what he had to say. There was a reason he left the DEA to work for Shepherd Security. Cooper and Lambchop were ready with a litany of requirements. “Our position has not changed,” Shepherd said. “Your agent-in-charge made a bad call, giving the go order when a party was in process.”
“This is Johnson. My men will not go back in under the circumstances of someone unqualified calling the shots. If the go order does not come from our own Ops Center, it’s a no go for us. I was in Ops. I warned your man of the situation on the ground.”
“Shepherd shared the recording with me. This was a one off, certainly doesn’t warrant the control transferring from the DEA.”
“Then we don’t participate in the raids,” Cooper said. “And that means we don’t go in at the time of the raid, undercover. This last fuck-story was not the first that we’ve put our lives on the line to make the bust. But if control doesn’t change hands, it will be the last.”
“Cooper, you know damn well your team’s undercover operations have been covered well by the DEA in the past,” Manning argued.
Garcia reached over and muted the line. “Remind the fucker about the last time I was under for him. They did not cover me. This team did.”
Shepherd unmuted the phone. “Manning, you know better than anyone that it is the Shepherd Security Team that has covered their own. We all know what went down the last time you had our man, Garcia, under.”
“And we all know what was at stake during that operation,” Manning yelled, losing his cool.
“My team made that happen. My team dismantled what your people could not figure out, let alone touch. And that’s exactly why you offered my team the continuing contract,” Shepherd countered in a low, menacing voice. “Let’s cut through the shit. You have our terms. You figure it out.”
“Jesus Christ, Shepherd! We’re all on the same side.”
“You know your AIC fucked up in Nashville. One of my men was shot,” Shepherd reminded him.
“He had a vest on. He was fine.”
Garcia shot to his feet. Shepherd muted the phone. “Stand down. It’s not time yet.” He watched Garcia reluctantly sit. “Manning, that situation was out of control. You are lucky no agents died, mine or yours.”
“Is that what you want? Do you want me to admit the AIC made a mistake? Sure, I admit it. Let’s get past this.”
“Either my Ops Center gives the go order or we do not participate,” Shepherd repeated calmly.
“You have a contract with us,” Manning insisted.
Shepherd nodded at Garcia.
“You can shove that contract up your ass,” Garcia growled.
“And there he is. I knew you had to be listening in,” Manning said.
“My team leaves you with two options, Manning. Our Ops Center calls the go order based on the intel from the ground from my people, or we do not participate in the raid. We’re not opposed to fulfilling a portion of the contract by investigating and getting you actionable proof that will obtain you warrants.”
“I was on the ground in Nashville,” Garcia said. “When’s the last time your ass was on the line, Manning? That’s why I’m on this call. And that’s why I no longer work for the DEA. There are no acceptable losses calculated into the equation on Shepherd’s Team, unlike yours. We can get the job done without hanging any of our people out to dry.”
“I know you don’t believe me, Garcia. That isn’t what we did to you.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe you,” Garcia replied.
“Get back in touch with me when you have an answer,” Shepherd said.
“Take me off speaker,” Manning said.
Shepherd lifted the phone and cut the speaker. “You’re off.”
“Okay, on each mission it will be decided ahead of the raid if your Ops Center takes the lead or if your team will run the investigation and turn it over before the local DEA conducts the raid alone. We have a sensitive situation in Norfolk we need your help with.”
Satisfaction washed through Shepherd. Damn straight the DEA needed his team. “Does it involve the base?”
“Yes, you’ll also interface with the authorities there. The Department of the Navy has already approved your involvement.”
Son of a bitch! He had Manning over a barrel. Manning needed them and would have agreed to anything to keep their involvement. He wished he knew that before. He would have demanded a higher fee for his team’s work if he’d known. “What’s the timing of the mission?”
“We need your team on site yesterday.”
“I’m putting you back on speaker,” Shepherd said, and then muted the line. His eyes went to Cooper and Lambchop. “Manning has a sensitive job for us. Be ready with staffing recommendations when the call is done. The timing sucks with my new therapy schedule and my need to have you here, Cooper.” He unmuted the line. “You’re back on speaker, Manning.”
Deputy Director Manning laid the mission out. He wasn’t blowing smoke. It was sensitive and would require that whoever Shepherd would send would be able to blend in at Norfolk, prior Navy or Marines a must. “My team will be en route this evening. I’ll update you with our ETA
when we have it. We’ll fly into Hampton Roads. Make sure one of your teams are there to meet them with two loaner vehicles.”
“Thank you, Shepherd,” Manning said before disconnecting.
“Delta Team is best suited to this mission,” Lambchop said. He plus two of its members were SEALs. Danny ‘Mother’ Trio was a Marine Raider. His eyes went to Cooper. “What are your thoughts on your brother Michael rounding out the staffing for this mission?”
“He hasn’t received full Operator training,” Cooper said.
“He was a nuclear engineer on a sub for ten years. He knows his way around Norfolk,” Shepherd reminded him.
“Bubbles has been on our team for over a year,” Garcia added. “He can handle it.”