Operation: Healing Angel

by Margaret Kay

  “It sounds like a wonderful childhood.” He planned to work hard to be able to go cross-country skiing this winter.

  “It was,” Diana answered. “My parents provided us with a loving home, safety, and a great education. My mom homeschooled us, and the curriculum of the homeschool network she belonged to was intense. Each of us excelled, educationally,” she said. “We also grew up with a strong religious foundation.”

  She pulled off the gravel path to what Shepherd would call a dusty trail. A few minutes later, the car pulled up in front of a sturdy-looking log cabin. The roof in the front pitched sharply from the two-story peak. Two skylights were in the center of it. There was a front porch with a swing, a screened-in, side porch, with a firepit and sitting area beside it. “Well, this is it.” She had a big smile on her face, putting the car in park.

  “It looks very well maintained,” Shepherd said.

  “My brother, Luke, lives about an hour from here. He brings his kids every other weekend and they take care of the place.”

  Shepherd knew from the dossier on her that her brother Luke, two years older than her, was a fireman in a nearby town. She also had two younger sisters. “Will they be here this weekend too?”

  Diana opened her door. “No, he’s on at the firehouse this weekend.”

  Shepherd opened his door and pulled himself out. He was glad to hear that. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted her to himself this weekend. “We have a lot to carry in. I’ll grab the groceries.”

  “They’ll keep. Leave everything for now. I want to show you the place first.”

  He saw a genuine excitement in her that brought a smile to his face. He followed her to the side of the house. From the patio there, the lake could be seen through the sparse line of trees that grew from the ground that sloped towards the lake’s banks approximately two-hundred yards away. He took in the view, appreciating its beauty. “Wow. That’s all I can say. I can see why this is one of your favorite places.” He was glad he’d brought his camera.

  She smiled wider and nodded. “Come on, let’s go in.” She unlocked the door on the screened-in porch. It was a homey area with a table and chairs and two couches. “We spent a lot of time on this porch. My siblings and I used to play board games and do our homework at the table out here.”

  Two sliding glass doors separated the space from the inside of the cabin. She unlocked one of the doors and pulled it open. Shepherd stepped in behind her to the rustic interior. Raw wood beams lined the ceiling that vaulted over the living room and kitchen. A staircase on the far wall led up to a railed off loft. Diana flipped the light switch on to illuminate the large country kitchen.

  “The master bedroom and bathroom are back there.” She pointed to a hallway at the back of the kitchen. “That’s where we’ll stay. There are two more bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.”

  “This is very nice,” Shepherd said. He looked forward to the next three days, here with her.

  They carried in the groceries and their bags. Then they took a walk through the woods, down to the lake. There was a pier with a boathouse. She unlocked the door, and they went in. Up on a lift inside, was a small pontoon boat. There were also several kayaks and canoes. Standing at the edge of the pier, Shepherd gazed out over the lake at the beautiful, clear water. Across the lake, only a few cottages and cabins could be seen nestled in the dense trees.

  “This lake has to be one of the best-kept secrets. I can’t imagine why this isn’t crowded with homes,” he said.

  “This whole area back here is private, owned by the same families for generations. And those families have all been resolute that this place would not become overcrowded and spoiled.” She took hold of his hand. “I’m glad I can share this with you. Thank you for coming with me.”

  Shepherd leaned into her and kissed her. He pulled her body against his, reveling in the sensation and the emotions that passed between them. “Thank you for inviting me,” he whispered when he pulled his lips from hers.

  “I was thinking, after we unpack everything, we could either go on a hike or we could take the pontoon boat out and I could show you the lake. My brother Luke has it ready to go for us to use.”

  “I’d like to take the canoe or the kayaks at some point too this weekend,” Shepherd said.

  “Will you feel up to a hike?”

  “Yes,” he confirmed. “I am feeling stronger every day. Aren’t you the one though, that has reminded me not to overdo it?”

  She giggled. “Yes, and we won’t overdo it. We’ll take it slow and stick to easy trails, nothing strenuous yet.”

  Shepherd draped his arm around her. “I’ll want strenuous by fall. Hopefully, we can come back up here when the fall colors are at their peak and we won’t have to worry about how intense the trails might be. That’s my goal.”

  “I approve of that goal,” she said, and then kissed him again.

  “And I’d like to be able to come back up here and go cross-country skiing come winter.”

  “That’s two more trips here.” She felt a warmth spread through her. He was planning their time together into the winter. And he was planning more time away from the office to be with her.

  “It’s beautiful here, and it is one of your favorite places. I hope I’m not overstepping, by inviting myself.”

  Diana shook her head. “No, not at all. Though at some point, I’m sure my brother Luke, and his family will be here when we are. Maybe even some of my other siblings too.” She’d wait a bit longer to spring the big family get-together over Labor Day weekend on him that Luke was planning.

  “I’m in all the way, Diana. Whenever you are ready to introduce me to the rest of your family, I’m all for it.” He kissed her with as much gusto as he would if a pastor had just pronounced them man and wife.

  After a lengthy kiss, she pulled away and smiled. He noticed that her eyes sparkled with life and excitement.

  “Come on, let’s go unpack.”

  He looped his arm around her waist. “I have a better idea, let’s try out that bed.”

  “I like that idea too.” Her smile was flirty.

  Hours later, when they got out of bed, they went on that hike. Shepherd took his camera and got many great shots. Few people knew of his love for photography and nature. He liked that he shared it with her. He did look forward to coming back here during the fall and getting more pictures. There was one place high on the hill overlooking the lake that would make a breathtaking display.

  “I’m thinking it would be pretty cool to take another picture from here at the peak of the fall colors and another from this very spot in the winter when it is covered with a fresh snowfall. Then we display all three pictures side by side in either one frame or matching frames.”

  Diana smiled and embraced him. “I think that sounds beautiful. You have no pictures over your bed. I think that would look great there. There isn’t much room in the living room.”

  Shepherd shook his head. “I want a sexy picture of you over the bed. I was thinking the three pics from up here I’d display in my office down on five. No one else will ever see them if they’re over the bed.”

  Diana laughed. “Don’t hold your breath on that sexy picture of me. That’s not quite my style, but I like the idea of putting the three different seasons pictures in your office so that others can enjoy them.” She gifted him with a kiss. “How do your legs feel after the hike up here?”

  “Pretty good,” he confirmed. “And that was the easy trail, huh?”

  Diana laughed again. “Yes, it is.”

  The remainder of the evening was magical, a steak dinner, a fire in the firepit and a bottle of red wine. When they went back to bed, they made love again and drifted off to an exhausted, contented slumber. The next day was a repeat of the communing with nature, a pontoon boat ride across the lake for several enjoyable hours in the sunlight followed by another hike through the woods. By the time the sun began to dip beneath the tree line, they were preparing the fish they’d brought
for their dinner to enjoy with the bottle of white wine.

  They ate by the firepit where he’d cooked the fish. Shepherd refilled their wine glasses, and they settled in to enjoy the fire, the quiet, and the conversation. Diana was proud of him for only calling into work three times each day. Things were quiet at work, which let him relax. They had had a fun day and a half.

  “So tomorrow, let’s take the kayaks out,” she said.

  “Sounds good. I told Cooper I’d be back to the office to take over around eighteen hundred tomorrow night. We could grab dinner someplace and take it back to HQ to eat.”

  “I guess we do have to go back to reality. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, my practice, school, all of it. But I miss being a kid and spending all summer here. There is something so relaxing about being out here.”

  “Maybe over the Fourth of July weekend we can come back. It’s on a Friday this year. Maybe we can sneak up here Thursday night and stay all weekend,” Shepherd suggested.

  “I’d love that,” she said.

  Shepherd put another log on the fire and then retook his seat beside Diana. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. He could get used to this type of peace and quiet. It had been way too long since he enjoyed an evening like this and to have two in a row was incredible.

  He heard a few cracking branches and a rustling that put him on high alert. He saw the glint of the nearly full moon off something metallic deep in the tree line where the sounds had originated, where his eyes now focused. He saw a dark figure move to conceal himself behind a tree. Instinctively, he drew his weapon and slid from his seat, drawing Diana with him. “Shh, stay perfectly still and do exactly what I tell you,” he whispered.

  Diana saw his gun in his hand and the intense expression on his face. “What is it?” She breathed as she slid from her seat.

  “Someone is out there to the east,” he said in a still hushed voice. “It’s not an animal.” A second sound from the west drew his attention. “And there is another moving in from the west.” He glanced around. He evaluated their best move. Inside the house would be the safest place, but the fire would cast shadows onto the house as they moved, giving the Tangos their exact location. Diana wore a white sweater. Below it, she wore dark colored clothing. His clothes too were dark colors. Moving unseen towards the trees would be a better option. “Take your sweater off.”

  She immediately did, not doubting his sincerity that there was a threat. He draped it over the chair. He took her hand in his left, holding his weapon at the ready in his right. “Stay low and move as quietly as you can.” He drew her back, away from the fire towards the trees. The boat house was his destination. It would supply cover. They could even take off in one of the canoes if need be, as long as they hugged the shore. With the bright, nearly full moon in the night sky, they’d be seen clear as day on the lake.

  He led her through the sparse trees, his gaze darting back and forth from the direction they were heading to behind them to see if they were being followed. They weren’t that he saw. Before they reached the pier, he stopped them and crouched down behind a tree stump. He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened a new text message to Ops. He tapped in one-two-three-four, the universal panic code.

  In Ops, Yvette received the text message. She isolated his tracker signal on the map with several clicks to the keyboard on the system that monitored all agency personnel’s trackers. He was still at the house on the lake. “Shepherd just text messaged the panic code. We have to assume he is under attack,” she said to Garcia, who stood beside her, her Ops partner and the one in charge of the agency to cover for Shepherd during his absence. Jackson had been in the previous day, all day. She typed quickly into the emergency activation system, scrambling both Alpha and Delta Teams. She also scrambled their chopper pilots. “I’ll have Alpha Team meet you at the military hangar at O’Hare. You’ll go up via chopper. I’m sending Delta Team by car.”

  “Roger, notify Alpha I’m bringing their ARs and ammo.” Garcia was out the door before Yvette could reply. He ran down the stairs to the team room on subbasement level two. He was piling weapons and ammo cans on a cart when Cooper entered the room.

  “I was a block away.” He opened an ammo locker and transferred several cans to the cart as well. “Madison is bringing Hahna to Elizabeth’s. She’ll meet us at the hangar.”

  As they transferred the cache of weapons and ammo into the back of one of the SUVs, Sloan and Sherman arrived in Sherman’s fancy little red sports car. Sherman pointed back at his car as he and Sloan rushed across the garage. “We’re taking her up, a hell of a lot faster than any of the agency cars.”

  Cooper and Garcia were just pulling out of the garage when Sherman and Sloan reappeared carrying their equipment. The first of the two garage doors opened and Lambchop drove through. On the other side of the garage door was Mother’s pickup truck.

  “Stay on comms,” Cooper yelled, and then he drove the SUV out of the private Shepherd Security area.

  Doc, Jackson, and Madison arrived at the hangar just seconds after Cooper and Garcia did. They transferred weapons and ammo into the chopper and then hopped on board within a few minutes without a word spoken. As the chopper took off, they donned their bullet-proof vests and each team member loaded and checked over their weapons.

  “Do we know any specifics on what went down?” Doc asked.

  “Negative,” Garcia said. He gave them a report on what he knew, which was not much.

  “Sherman is driving the Hellcat up. I wonder how many tickets he’ll get,” Cooper said with a smile.

  “All of Delta got scrambled too?” Madison asked.

  “Yeah, they’re driving in,” Garcia said.

  “Our ETA is an hour, give or take. A lot can happen in an hour. I sure hope Shepherd can find a place to hunker down and wait for us,” Cooper said.

  Shepherd led her onto the pier, and they crept to the boathouse. They slipped inside. The moonlight reflected off the water and onto the silver pontoons, illuminating the inside of the building just well enough to see. “Get up on the boat and lay on your stomach out of sight.” His voice was a whisper.

  She immediately climbed onto the lift apparatus and mounted the pontoon boat. She glanced back to see him move back towards the door. “Where are you going?” She demanded in a harsh murmur.

  “Just over here. Now lay flat on your stomach!” His voice was still barely audible. “And no matter what happens, don’t come down until I tell you it’s safe to.”

  Once she was out of sight, Shepherd pressed his back into the corner. From his vantage point, he had a clear view and aim on both the door and the opening at the waterside of the building. He’d see and be able to engage any motherfucker who dared poke his head in. Then he sent a short text message to Ops, advising of his exact location.

  He checked his watch a few times. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty. He calculated it would take about seven minutes for a team of professionals to clear the house and then converge on the boat dock, the second most logical place for them to seek refuge. Where were they? And who were they?

  Finally, he heard faint footfalls on the wood dock. He moderated his breathing, drawing in a calming deep breath. His training kicked in and he focused his attention between the door and the outer opening at the far end of the boathouse with an alert focus. The doorknob jiggled. He would try to wound, to disarm. He needed the information of who they were more than he needed them dead.

  From atop the pontoon boat, Diana heard the doorknob jiggle, multiplying the panic she felt. She tried to stop her trembling body. She was terrified. And she was cold. In her head, she silently recited every prayer she could think of. She also tried to hush her loud and ragged breathing. She felt her heart pounding hard in her chest and could practically hear her own blood surge through the arteries in her neck.

  Shepherd heard the footsteps move away from the door. The wood dock creaked. No, whoever it was would not give up that easily. He waited
. A second later, the door exploded open. He saw the man, dressed in black, rush in, handgun drawn. He and the assailant locked eyes. Shepherd fired one shot as the man dove for the ground. The round hit him in the middle of the forehead instead of his right shoulder as aimed due to his downward trajectory. Shepherd waited a beat and listened intently for his partner. He heard nothing.

  After a good twenty minutes, he crept forward. He kicked the man’s gun away from him and rolled him over to view the hole in his forehead. Well, fuck. So, where in the hell was his partner? And were there only two of them? Certainly, whoever sent them knew to send a small force. If they knew to come after him, they knew who he was and what he was capable of.

  He heard creaking on the roof. Fuck, one of them was up there. Diana was closest to the roof, and she laid there uncovered. She was at risk. He moved silently to the door and closed it. Then he returned to the corner, tracking the roof walker as he crossed from one side to the other. He remained at the waterside edge and Shepherd knew he was planning to breach the interior of the boathouse through the opening near the water.