Operation: Healing Angel

by Margaret Kay

  “Someone please make sure you properly Mirandize these guys,” Cooper said, causing Shepherd’s lips to curve into a smirk.

  Shepherd raised his phone to his ear. Manning answered on the first ring. “Take down is complete. We’ve got five men in custody, one DOA, will send the video evidence over. Two of them are sailors, one in uniform the other in civies. Chamberlin is my next call after we hang up. Expect NCIS on the scene. Got pills being handed off and envelopes full of bills being passed to all. You’ll want to make sure your people Mirandize them again. One of the perps is an attorney.”

  “A crooked mob attorney,” Madison called to him.

  “Vergio Sandalucci doesn’t exist that I can find,” Brielle advised. “Looks like a half-ass constructed alias.”

  Shepherd relayed their information to Manning as well. Then he hung up and had a duplicate conversation with SecNav. As expected, NCIS Agents were being sent to collect the two sailors. “What about the shipboard sting operations?”

  “We have the UPC and Observer as well as a corpsman and a doctor identified being in on it. I’m sure there are more,” Chamberlin said.

  “As well as one marine as identified by the Adderall in his possession that sent our man to that particular doctor who prescribed it,” Shepherd reminded him. He continued to watch his team in the warehouse over the monitor. They verbally identified what was onsite, Adderall, Vicodin, Oxy, Dexadrine, all prescription amphetamines or pain killers, just like the original information provided stated was being smuggled onto the boats. Three thousand dollars in cash was in each envelope. Every man except the attorney had a weapon in his possession. “One of my men was also verbally warned by one of his shipmates, accusing him of being an undercover NCIS Agent. I think he needs to be looked at too,” Shepherd said.

  “I’m not sure your team’s job is done on those boats yet, Shepherd,” Chamberlin said. “I think it will depend what these two sailors have to say.”

  “I’d like to keep my men Garcia and Wilson with the DEA as they interrogate the four men they will be taking into custody, and my man Johnson with your NCIS Team.”

  “Sherman has already been shaken down and gotten evidence. Keep him with NCIS as well, but put the others back under, just in case we need to have them bait more sailors we think are involved.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shepherd acknowledged. He agreed with the approach. He relayed the orders to his team. “Mother and Undertaker, report back to your ships. Looks like you’re sailing tomorrow morning.”

  “I don’t like that the Birdman and I won’t be there to cover them,” Lambchop groused.

  “We need you with the NCIS Team. I still have to wonder if SecNav thinks he has a problem there as well,” Shepherd replied. “Go hard on the two sailors during questioning. If they give it up, we may not need to bait anyone else on the boats.”

  Sierra

  It was Wednesday, thirteen hundred hours, when the team returned to HQ from Norfolk. Shepherd and Cooper were at the conference table in his office. The eight men entered after they’d unpacked and stored their gear. Shepherd sent a text to Brielle, requesting her presence for the debrief. Angel had already left for the day, adhering to her reduced schedule as mandated by her doctor. Brielle was at the reception desk to cover it.

  “I let Ops know the front desk would be unmanned. They’re watching it,” Brielle said as she took her seat. She placed her cell phone beside her laptop on the table.

  “We won’t be long,” Shepherd said. “Good job on this one, team. SecNav sends his thanks.” He watched the men as they responded with smiles and snippets of conversation amongst themselves. They were proud of the job they’d done.

  “I’m glad this was resolved before we sailed,” Michael Cooper said. His eyes went to Lambchop and swept over to Shepherd as he spoke. “And thank you for the opportunity to participate in this Op.”

  “You did good on this, Bubbles,” Lambchop said. “Good instincts on your shipmate threatening you. You played that one right.”

  “More opportunities will come your way,” Shepherd guaranteed. “We will have the Lear shuttle you back to Bull Shoals this afternoon to rejoin your team where it will pick up the rest of Charlie Team. Wilson and Burke, they will join you here for a briefing tomorrow morning for your next mission.”

  Both men nodded.

  “A special callout to the work Lambchop and Mother did while interrogating Petty Officers Harris and Brenner. Without you getting them to give it all up, the team would have been on those ships when they sailed this morning and we would not be calling this one closed,” Shepherd said.

  “We even got NCIS to drop their complaints about you,” Cooper added, his trademark smirk curving over his lips.

  Both Lambchop and Mother laughed. “We couldn’t be outdone by Garcia and Wilson,” Lambchop said, his hands raised to his shoulders in a surrendering gesture. “Besides, both Petty Officers knew they were in a shitstorm of trouble. There was no denying that they were involved in illegal drug trafficking.”

  Garcia sat back, unapologetic, a defiant expression on his face. “Whittier and Mangio are career criminals that someone should have done something about a long time ago. I was not about to let them get released to hurt anyone else.”

  Shepherd scrubbed his hand over his face. He respected that, but he also knew that Garcia had danced on both sides of the line while ‘interrogating’ the two men while in DEA custody. “You got results but were close to compromising the confessions. Just watch it going forward. It’s one thing when perps are in our custody, another when they are in the DEA’s custody.”

  “I did not leave a single mark on either one of them,” Garcia insisted. “Not that anyone would ever see, anyway. And there was no video evidence, just the word of a scumbag against reputable law enforcement professionals. It was better treatment than they deserved after what they did to Agent Beck, beating and torturing him for over a day until he died from it.”

  Yes, Garcia had gotten a full confession from the two men regarding the murder of Beck, which they were responsible for. They both gave up details about the drug distribution network, which was now being shut down. They implicated the two other members of the triad, Peppers and the deceased Sandelucci. Mangio even admitted that he was one of the triad, when Garcia let him breathe that was. When Garcia and Wilson were done with them, the regular DEA moved in to finalize their confessions and their plea deals. They would not see the inside of a courtroom. They would go right from the interrogation room to a federal penitentiary.

  “And let’s not forget that they were responsible for the hit on Rae Ella in the alley. None of this case would have been made without her. I sure hope the Marshals get her settled someplace safe and get her a normal, safe life. She’s a nice girl,” Wilson said.

  Garcia’s lips drew into a grin. “You two were chummy on the flight back. Did I see a tear in your eyes when she went with St. Vincent?”

  Wilson laughed, shaking his long, blonde hair from his face. “Don’t try to stir any shit up, Garcia. The girl is nice, doesn’t mean I want a relationship with her.”

  Laughter erupted around the table.

  Shepherd gave them a moment. “As I said, we got results, but both teams interrogating suspects while in the custody of regular law enforcement stepped over the line. Just watch it going forward is all I’m saying. We were lucky this time. We might not be next time.”

  “Shep, you know these scumbags needed a little incentive to give it up. Five of the six men in that warehouse were carrying and they wouldn’t have hesitated to take us out, even announcing ourselves as law enforcement. With drugs and money comes assholes with guns that have no moral issue with using them. I know they are afforded rights once they are in custody. Maybe next time we get the answers before we turn them over to that recognized law enforcement entity. I’m tired of playing by the rules and getting shot at for my efforts,” Sherman said.

  “Maybe,” Shepherd replied. “We do when it is necessary
, but it is not something that I think should be our normal operating procedure.”

  “Brielle, did you need any other information for the article or the report?” Cooper asked.

  “I just need the final list on the number of pills and their street value that were seized at the warehouse. I can get that from Manning, though. And Jimmy,” she said, her eyes going to Wilson, “I have a few questions regarding the mission report you filed, need clarification on a few points, but we can do that after this meeting if you’ll come back to the reception desk with me.”

  Wilson nodded. “Of course.”

  “And Michael, your mission report was concise and complete. I just wanted to let you know how good it was. Thank you for getting it in so quickly.”

  Shepherd smiled, impressed with Brielle for calling both out. Yes, she was very good in this role. He would have to see what else they could throw her way.

  “I should have it complete in a few hours and I’ll get it submitted to you before I go home, Cooper,” Brielle said.

  “Thank you, Brielle,” Shepherd said. “Even with the legalization of cannabis in so many states, the threat of other drugs, even prescription drugs sold illegally, is still a grave one across our nation, and as this case showed, to our military. As long as we have the proper controls in place to protect our team, I believe we need to continue our relationship with the DEA with these partner missions. I have a meeting scheduled next week with Manning to hammer out the details and enact a new schedule for the missions going forward. Alpha, Delta, and Charlie Teams will be actively engaged in those missions by blending the team members with the staffing strategy proposed by Lambchop and Cooper earlier this year. We’ll continue with teams of six from across the three teams conducting four DEA Partner missions most months. Charlie Team should expect more of these missions, with only half of their team assigned to the Power Grid Protection Project at any given time. We’ll rotate you to give you proper exposure to other cases while still having a few of your team members assigned to help Echo Team.” His gaze went to Michael Cooper. “We’ll pull you and the other members of Echo Team into those cases occasionally as well, to round out the assigned team.”

  Michael Cooper’s lips pulled into a wide smile. Burke and Wilson both looked pleased as well.

  “We’re caught up on backlogged cases and are nearly caught up on our PGP Project schedule,” Cooper said. “I want all teams to make sure you are up to date on your mandatory training. Use the next week to be sure we are. Lambchop and Wilson, we’ll meet in my office when this briefing is over to go over where your teams are at on that.”

  “One last item to bring you up to date on,” Shepherd said. “Shepherd Security will, on a limited, case-by-case basis, begin to work with the CIA following up on domestic leads that they cannot touch and are not appropriate to be handed off to the FBI, DEA, or ATF. I’m still working with Mason to define our role, but those limited cases will begin to come our way within a few weeks. More details to follow. Unless you were told otherwise, you are dismissed if your mission reports are complete. Go home and get some rest. You will be advised via text message what time you are due to report back tomorrow.”

  Later that evening, when Diana returned from class, Shepherd found himself struggling to make it through her prescribed workout. He was three days into it. Shouldn’t it be getting easier? The one thing that had happened was that with her chiropractic adjustments, the sensation of full feeling in his lower half remained, and he only occasionally experienced bouts of sciatica-like pain sensations down his left leg, and even those were resolved by standing rather than sitting.

  Diana placed a kiss on his lips when he finished the second exercise standing between the parallel bars. “You are running through these exercises much more smoothly now, with only three days of doing them. I can tell that you are doing your mid-day set!”

  He was happy she was pleased with his progress. That made one of them.

  “We are going to add some balance exercises to make this tougher,” she said. “And to get you closer to being ready to walk unassisted.”

  Shepherd loved her optimism. He wouldn’t tell her he still found completing the exercises to be difficult and didn’t need it to be tougher. “Great, let’s get me there.”

  But after he did the two balancing exercises that she showed him, which he wobbled terribly through, he was once again humbled at how far he had to go yet before he’d be ready. Standing toe to heel without his body leaning to one side and then the other, even as he held onto the bars, was impossible. The second, standing on one foot and attempting to balance, reminded him how weak his left side was.

  “Okay, that wasn’t bad for the first time attempting it,” Diana said. “Try to spend some time in those positions when standing in the lift in your office throughout the day. That will help.”

  She was so upbeat and positive that Shepherd believed her that his progress wasn’t dismal. He knew he had to keep at it and push himself. Later that night, when they went to bed, he pledged to her that he would push himself harder. He wanted full mobility back. That was the goal, to get there safely.

  “You are doing fantastic,” she reiterated. “Stop beating yourself up. It’s a process and you are ahead of the game.” She pressed a kiss to his lips and let her hands wander over his strong body.

  Before she knew it, they made love, Sam showing her how strong he was. As she relaxed in his arms after, she thought back on the past few days since agreeing to stay with him. As far as she was concerned, the test was done. Any doubts she may have had about being with him, given what his life was like, were gone. Everything about being with him felt right. Besides Monday night, he’d also been woken with work stuff to deal with the night before as well. That night at dinner he took a call too that necessitated him taking it in his office. She was okay with it, could live with it.

  She nestled in with contentment and closed her eyes. Sam was already asleep. She hoped he felt as pleased with their relationship as she did. It was comfortable yet exciting, serious yet fun. The full spectrum of emotions was unexpected, the satisfaction complete. He was a friend, a lover, a patient, and he encouraged her to follow her passions. He gave of himself and demanded nothing from her.

  Over the next few weeks, their life together became a smooth routine. Shepherd did begin to breeze through her exercises, and she did increase the difficulty and repetitions of each. She added more and kept him physically challenged. He was able to stand for long periods, barely holding on to anything. He was ready to try to walk unassisted.

  Diana brought more of her belongings from her home, stopping by her house a few times a week to check on it and grab different clothing for the changing weather. It was mid-May and summer arrived early. Temperatures rose into the mid-seventies. She brought a load of short-sleeved shirts and a few pairs of shorts over to his place.

  She was putting them away when Shepherd and Doc came into the room. It was the day they’d been working towards. Sam was going to get out of the wheelchair and walk unassisted. He was ready. He hadn’t had a spasm in his back or a moment of his legs giving out on him in weeks. He had complete feeling in both legs, with maybe just a little sciatic tingling in the left leg on occasion.

  Sam stood in front of his wheelchair as she came over to him to give him a hug and a kiss. He’d been rising and standing unassisted for a few days. He’d been standing and shifting to different seats, out of his wheelchair too. “How was your day?” She asked after she greeted him.

  “Good. Yours?” He asked.

  “Knowing what we are going to do here, now, it’s been fantastic. You are so ready for this, Sam, but I need to remind you that if you feel fatigued or weak at any point now, or in the following days, you need to sit and rest. Do not push it. And if you lose your balance or something happens and you fall, make sure you do not arch your back.”

  Shepherd chuckled. “I’ve got it. Fall correctly.” He saw her warning glare. “Or more importantly, don’t let
my body get to the point that I might fall. Rest when I need to.”

  She nodded emphatically. “Okay, Doc, move the wheelchair and let’s walk into the workout room to do a few of the bending and squatting exercises. After that, we’ll walk into the kitchen and get some dinner.”

  Her words were controlled, but she felt excitement, hope, and anxiety at the prospect of him walking. This was it, what they’d worked towards. Every part of her felt the anticipation and the trepidation with this step. She handed him the cane. She would have preferred he started out with a walker, but he refused. She doubted he’d use the cane for long either.

  Shepherd slowly made his way into the workout room. “This feels so good. I feel strong and stable.”

  He knew he probably had a goofy smile on his face. He was walking. On his own, no harness, no bars to hold on to. Something that just over a month earlier he wouldn’t have thought he would ever do again, was now a reality. Emotions crashed over him that he hadn’t expected. He wanted to weep in appreciation. He wanted to fall to his knees and thank God for this miracle. He wanted to kiss Diana and make love to her for her knowledge, work, and persistence in getting him to this point. And he wished Angel was here to see this. Tomorrow morning, she would. He looked forward to giving her a hug, hoping that this would finally allow her to free herself from the guilt she felt that he’d been protecting her when it happened.