by Bella Juarez
* * * *
Major Frank Stanfield sat down and moved his mouse so that his computer screen would turn on. He picked up his coffee and took a drink. He hated all these interruptions to his day. Why can’t they put us in one of the new buildings, for Christ’s sake! He had just been promoted to commander of the Force Recon personnel office. He typed in his password and saw that a screen had popped up on his monitor. It was asking him to view a new device that had just been installed.
“Jeysus! They never tell me anything around here,” Frank grumbled to himself.
Frank clicked off the screen and the box went away. He started perusing his e-mails and got to work on some updates to records that needed to be approved. He started looking through the folders on his desk. He snorted in disgust. Reese Thompson always seemed to land on his feet. It seemed the fair-haired boy of Force Recon had completed Marine War College and was being recommended for promotion to lieutenant colonel. Frank grudgingly signed the papers knowing damned good and well if he didn’t some general would be breathing down his neck.
Reese was probably in line for some choice assignment after he pinned on his new rank. Frank opened the program that contained the personnel information for Force Recon. He signed in with his password and called up Reese’s information. He placed his electronic signature in the proper box. In sixty days, Reese Thompson would have a new title.
* * * *
Marco sat outside in his car and smiled with satisfaction. His little program was working nicely. The man had almost immediately logged on to the personnel system that Marco needed to mine data from. He had a new mission. Find out what set of Force Recon Marines had been in Fallujah three years ago. Apparently, these guys had taken some information that was now critical to a new boss of his. He frowned. Three years was ancient in the data world. But plans had been laid and now they were ready to carry them out and were missing some critical information.
Marco watched as the data mining program kicked in. It was running in the background of the man’s computer where he had planted the flash drive and subsequent virus that was now gathering his information. He closed the lid on the laptop and drove off. The server at Crescent Environmental would take care of the rest.
* * * *
Victoria rolled over and groaned. Reese was already gone for the day and she was just getting started. She was exhausted and for the last couple of days couldn’t seem to get enough sleep. She sat at the edge of the bed and felt a sudden wave of nausea seize her. She made it to the bathroom in time to throw up the water she had drank earlier when she had gone downstairs to see Reese off to work. She ran a hot shower and stepped inside. She couldn’t shake the tiredness.
Victoria went through the motions of dressing and went down to her old room by the kitchen that Reese had converted to a study for her. Thank goodness she didn’t have to go anywhere today. She had to fix a bunch of reports that her boss had given her to correct and polish. She shook her head as she felt the need to sleep numb her brain. I must be coming down with the flu. She hoped she hadn’t passed anything to Reese. He was scheduled to leave in a few weeks for a conference in Korea.
Victoria picked up her cell phone and called her primary care doctor for an appointment. They couldn’t get her in to see the doctor, but they could get her in right away to see the PA. She picked up her purse and drove the ten minutes to the clinic where her doctor’s office was located. She wanted to nap as she sat waiting. Finally, the nurse directed her back to a room. The PA entered the room and greeted her warmly.
“Ms. Thompson? What can I do for you today?” the PA asked.
“I think I’m coming down with a bad case of the flu. I’ve been really tired for the last couple of days and today I started throwing up,” Victoria said.
“Hmmm…We haven’t seen too many cases of the flu yet. But you never know. Have you had a fever?” the PA asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Victoria said.
The woman got up and started checking Victoria’s breathing. “When was your last period?” the PA asked.
“Three, maybe four weeks ago,” Victoria said and then reconsidered. Since she had stopped taking her birth control pills four months ago she hadn’t really kept track.
“Any tenderness in your breasts?” the PA asked.
Victoria thought for a moment. She almost came out of her skin when Reese had grabbed her during their lovemaking two nights ago.
“A little,” Victoria answered.
“Mind if I take a quick blood test?” the PA asked.
“No, anything to figure out what’s wrong with me,” Victoria said with a yawn.
Victoria followed the PA back to the lab in the clinic. She waited for her blood to be drawn and was shown back to her exam room where she collapsed on the exam table while waiting for the results. She woke to the PA gently rousing her from a nap.
“Mrs. Thompson? I hope I have good news for you.” The PA smiled.
Victoria sat up groggily and looked at the woman. She grudgingly wondered what gave the woman the right to have so much energy.
“Yes?” Victoria asked.
“You don’t have the flu. But you need to take one of these in the morning and one at night, with meals,” the PA said, handing her a large bottle of pills.
“What’s wrong with me?” Victoria asked, alarmed.
“You’re pregnant.”
“What? Are you sure?” Victoria exclaimed.
“I hope it’s good news. Yes, I’m sure. That’s why I did a blood test. Do you have an ob-gyn? If not I can recommend one.”
“Uh…” Victoria started.
Reese and Victoria had decided five months ago they had waited long enough. They had been married two years and everything was going smoothly. She never expected it to happen so fast. He, on the other hand, was anxious, wondering what the hell was taking them so long.
“Mrs. Thompson?” the PA questioned.
“Yes, I have a gyn,” Victoria said.
“Good, you’ll want to make an appointment with them as soon as possible. Remember one in the morning and one at night. It’ll help,” the PA said.
Victoria nodded and looked down at the bottle in her hand. Prenatal vitamins. She left the office and went home. She sat behind her desk and stared at the bottle for what seemed like an eternity. It took her BlackBerry vibrating on the desk to drag her out of her stupor. She looked at the phone. It was Reese.
“Hey, sweetness! I was checking on you. You didn’t look very good when I left this morning. You okay?” Reese asked.
“I guess.”
“You still feeling bad, sweetness? Maybe you should go check it out,” Reese said, concerned.
“I just got back from the doctor.” Victoria said.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Uh…I don’t think I should tell you over the phone,” Victoria said, looking at the bottle of vitamins sitting on her desk.
“I’ll be home in twenty minutes,” Reese said, ending the call.
* * * *
Reese wanted to break the land speed record as he tried to get home. Victoria hadn’t been right for over a week now. Today she really looked bad. Unlike Reese’s first wife, who bitched about every little ache and pain, Victoria would be dead before he knew what was going on because she never complained. He was on his lunch hour when he called to check on her. She sounded distant and far away. He contemplated all kinds of scenarios as he drove home. He knew that her mother had died from cancer and her father had a mild case of diabetes. He recalled her telling him that her mother had died in her midthirties. She was in that age range. There were all kinds of things that ran through his mind and it seemed as if he couldn’t get home fast enough.
Reese finally saw the house come into view and felt like he could start breathing again. He walked into the house and saw the light in Victoria’s study almost immediately. She seemed lost as she sat at her desk, staring at the screen of her computer. He walked into the study and knelt beside
her chair. She turned and looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time.
“Sweetness? What is it? What did the doctor tell you?” Reese asked, concerned.
“Reese…” Victoria started.
“Baby, what? You’re scaring me, Victoria,” Reese said, taking her hand.
Victoria smiled and looked at a large white bottle on her desk. Reese reached for the bottle and read the label. Prenatal vitamins. It took a moment for the implication of what was in the bottle and what it was needed for to register with him. He started laughing and let out a sigh of relief.
“We’re having a baby,” Victoria said.
“Are you sure?” Reese asked.
“Pretty sure, they did a blood test,” Victoria said.
“Maybe this will help perk you up a little bit,” Reese said, returning the bottle to her desk. “About damn time!” Victoria laughed and gave him a little shove. “Should I take the rest of the day and spend it with you?” he asked.
“No, there’s a three-day weekend coming up. You can pamper me then,” Victoria teased. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Will you let me pamper you?” Reese asked, kissing Victoria.
“This weekend? You bet,” Victoria said.
“Okay, sweetness, I’ll see you when I get home tonight,” Reese said.
As soon as Reese was out the door he was on the phone to his mom. He couldn’t wait to tell everyone who would listen he was going to be a father. His mom was happy and excited. When he got back to work, he was distracted. He should have taken the rest of the day off. There was so much he wanted to do and none of it involved work. Jim honed in on his lack of focus and after a meeting asked him about it.
“I just found out I’m going to be a daddy,” Reese said.
Jim’s eyes widened at the revelation. “No shit? Damn it, bro! Congratulations!” he said.
They apparently were causing quite a commotion in the office and drawing a lot of attention. He didn’t care. He was happy and thrilled with the news.
“Everyone gather around and show the brother some love! He’s going to be a daddy!” Jim announced to the entire office.
Jim above everyone knew how important this was for Reese. The rest of the afternoon was wasted. He did receive advice from dads and moms about what to expect and what would be happening and how his life would change. He was ready. He wanted kids more than anything else. Victoria was making his life complete.
He was in his office looking over some information for his conference when he heard a light knock on his door.
“Gavin! Come in,” Reese said.
Reese hadn’t seen Special Agent Walsh in months. Walsh smiled and reached across his desk. They shook hands and Walsh took a seat.
“Where’ve you been?” Reese asked.
“Victoria, Texas,” Walsh said.
“Victoria? That’s my wife’s name. What’s going on in Texas that requires my attention?” Reese asked.
“I finally narrowed down that list and have been following some trails,” Walsh said.
“It’s only taken you, what, three years,” Reese quipped.
“This is a tangled-ass mess. We’ve figured out these guys are setting up shop in small-town USA. The police departments are too small to do anything about it, so they can operate without anybody watching. Most of my spare time has been setting up a task force to deal with these guys. The one I’m working with is in Texas,” Walsh said.
“I thought they were trying to be government contractors?” Reese asked.
“That’s part of the plan. That’s what I came to talk to you about. There are five companies with contracts here at Quantico on the suspect list,” Walsh said handing Reese a folder.
Reese opened the folder and his jaw dropped slightly. He looked up sharply at Walsh. “My wife works for one of these companies,” he said.
“What? Which one?” Walsh asked with wide eyes.
“Crescent Environmental. She’s one of their lead engineers.”
“Can I talk to her?” Walsh asked.
Reese felt deflated suddenly. Victoria couldn’t know that she was working for possible terrorists. He couldn’t believe she would be involved in something like that. He also knew that he couldn’t deny this man. It would look like they were hiding something.
“Walsh, I don’t think she knows what’s going on here,” Reese said.
“I believe you, Reese. But she could be helpful.”
“How? I don’t want her in danger. In fact, I don’t want her near that place anymore. I’m telling her to quit.”
“No. Not yet. She can help us. I just want to know about the projects she’s working on. What do those projects involve? If she gives me the information I need, I’ll make sure nothing happens to her,” Walsh said.
“We need to talk to my boss,” Reese said.
For the next two hours they talked with the commanding officer of Force Recon at Quantico, Colonel Winslow. Thank God, Winslow had gotten to know Victoria fairly well. He was convinced she couldn’t be involved in anything shady. But Winslow did side with Walsh about her turning over information regarding the projects she was working on. The men decided that Reese would go home and bring her back to Quantico so Walsh could talk to her. He remembered on his way home that she had a small portable drive that she backed up her computer on every day. That little drive would have every project she had worked. He walked into the house and slowly walked to the room behind the kitchen. She was busy typing when he walked in. She smiled and looked pleasantly surprised.
“You’re home early,” Victoria said, returning to her work.
“Sweetness, I need you to come back to the office with me,” Reese said.
“Don’t tell me, you’ve already told everyone, haven’t you?” Victoria said with a scowl.
“Victoria, now. And I need you to back up your computer and bring the backup drive with you. I’ll explain on the way,” Reese said seriously.
Victoria stopped what she was doing and looked at Reese, puzzled. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Do it. Right now,” Reese said shortly.
“Okay,” Victoria said.
Reese led Victoria into his office building and to one of the secure briefing rooms. He closed the door and took the backup drive with him. He found Special Agent Walsh and handed him the drive. He told Walsh as far as he knew she had not changed computers and everything she had been working on since she had started with the company was backed up to that drive. Walsh took the drive and he led him to the room where she waited. She was very uncomfortable when he opened the door.
“Hello, Victoria, I’m Special Agent Gavin Walsh. I’m with the FBI. I’ve been working with Reese for some time on a case. And it happens that one of the companies on the list is one you work for. I’d like to ask you a couple of questions about your work there,” Gavin explained.
“My company? Have I done something wrong?” Victoria asked, alarmed.
“No, nothing like that. In fact, the information regarding the projects they’ve been awarded through the GSA system may go a long way to clear them,” Gavin said.
“I can assure you everything I do for them is legitimate. I brief the civil engineering staff myself. I know the projects get delivered,” Victoria said.
“I believe you. You have nothing to worry about,” Gavin said reassuringly.
“If there’s some kind of wrongdoing there I will quit, right now,” Victoria said, looking at Reese.
“No. Please don’t. In fact, that’s the last thing I want you to do. It would be helpful if I could contact you if I had questions. Is that okay?” Gavin asked.
“Of course, anything I can do to help you,” Victoria said.
“Can I return this to you sometime next week?” Gavin asked, pointing to the backup drive.
“Yes, keep it as long as you need to,” Victoria said.
“Can I ask you, do you know an Esteban Merles that might be on staff there? He would probably be a
n IT guy?” Gavin asked.
“No, we’re all civil or environmental engineers and we all work off site. No one but the two men who own the company has an office in Reston,” Victoria said.
“Okay. That’s very helpful. Thank you,” Gavin said with a smile. “That’s all I need. Victoria, please don’t tell anyone about this. It’s an ongoing investigation. Can I have your word that you will not discuss this with anyone?” Gavin asked.
“Yes. I’ll cooperate any way I can,” Victoria said.
“Thank you. Oh, and congratulations on the news,” Gavin said, smiling at Victoria.
Victoria glanced at Reese for reassurance. His stress level had diminished several levels as she talked with Special Agent Walsh. He smiled at her and could see her visibly relax.
She was quiet on the way home. He asked her if she wanted to stop and grab a bite. He could tell she was really disturbed by the events this afternoon. Reese stopped at a little bistro that Victoria really liked. Before they got off the truck, she stopped him.
“Reese, please tell me you don’t believe I would do something wrong,” Victoria urged.
“No, sweetness. I don’t believe you would do anything wrong,” Reese said gently as he leaned over and kissed Victoria.
“I know your job is really secretive and the last thing I want to do is get you in trouble. I mean what I say, I will quit,” Victoria said.
“It’s all good now. Listen to the man. You don’t need to quit. You cooperated. You told the truth as best you know it. That’s all I can ask. That’s all Gavin wanted you to do. Come on, I’m starving.”
Chapter Sixteen
Marco leaned forward as the matches appeared on the screen. A battalion of three hundred fifty Marines Force Recon troops, had been in Fallujah during the time that Marco had been asked to search. He grouped them by rank and found the top five officers. One caught his attention. Thompson. The name sounded familiar. He called up the personal record for Reese Thompson and looked through the Marine officer’s personnel and medical records.