by Margaret Kay
Madison chuckled out loud. “Is this a continuation of the job interview I walked out on?” She wondered if it was not, was it a date?
“It’s an invitation to grab lunch and give me more time to convince you why Shepherd Security is a team you want to join. We’re a tight group and go out for beers together often. You’d think the number of hours we spend together would make that the last thing we’d want to do, but it isn’t. That speaks volumes about the team.”
She knew the place he meant. It did have good burgers, and it was lunch time. It also had a nice fenced-in patio in the back that would be the perfect place to have their burgers and drink their beers on a day this beautiful. They found themselves there with a frosty one in hand shortly thereafter.
Cooper sat relaxed with his feet crossed at the ankles. “You can’t tell me you really enjoy your current job more than you did your job while you were in,” he said. “If you loved it, you wouldn’t have come on the interview.” He brought his glass to his lips.
Madison considered her words carefully as she watched his perfectly shaped lips sip the brew. “There are some things I miss about the Army, the comradery, the discipline of the unit, and everyone working together to achieve a goal. With that being said, there is also plenty I don’t miss, and that is what’s stopping me from accepting your job offer.”
Cooper smiled a sly grin. He had her. He sat up and leaned in closer to her, his weight resting on his forearms. He dropped his voice low and his honey-brown eyes invaded hers. “I think I can guess what you don’t miss, and we don’t operate that way. We’ve got the best of both worlds going. We don’t exist; therefore, we don’t have to follow the rules. We’re privately funded, so we have the best toys and gadgets. But we also have the backing of those who count, unless we fuck up and then they don’t know us. There’s no bureaucracy, no one tying our hands. We get shit done and we make a difference.”
“How do you get your cases?” She asked, using Shepherd’s name for their Ops.
“Many different ways. There are more than a dozen agencies, federal and state, that direct dial us with requests. We also get handed the most sensitive cases by the highest-ranking leaders in our government when they can’t expose our official assets to what could turn out to be a shit-storm of public backlash if it ever got out that the US was officially engaging in such action. We operate mostly on US soil and within neighboring nations, but that is not written in stone. We go after the bad guys and help those most in need of protection. We are well acquainted with WITSEC for the innocent when needed.”
“Jackson’s wife?”
Cooper nodded. “But you don’t get to know her story until you sign on the dotted line.”
Madison laughed a nervous laugh. She couldn’t believe she was so close to agreeing to take this job. And she couldn’t deny she was attracted to this man, either, not a good thing when she was seriously about to go to work with him. She didn’t get involved with coworkers, ever, another holdover from her military days. She had seen the bad complications romantic entanglements caused. She had learned at an early age that it was smartest to never go there.
“With all these referrals coming in, how are the cases chosen?” She asked as the waitress approached with their burgers.
Now she was getting down to the real questions that proved she was seriously thinking about it. He ordered another round for them and toyed with a french fry. “There are some that are automatic. Anything where the life of an American is in jeopardy or a high value target is attainable are a given. Requests from certain channels are greenlighted and assets immediately assigned. Others are put in the hopper and queued up when assets are available. The last set of cases get a manual review and discussion by the team leads and other internal experts.”
She considered that for a moment while she took a big bite of her burger and chewed. “How many people are employed by Shepherd and how many ground teams are you running?”
The right corner of his mouth pulled upward. “That’s classified and not released to nonemployees. Let’s just say enough to meet operational requirements. Staffing is never an issue.”
She sighed and frowned as she shook her head. Then she took a long pull from her mug. “I probably need my head examined, but yeah, I’m in. You’ve got yourself an Analyst.”
Cooper smiled and shook his head. “This time you’re both an analyst and operative,” he said.
Her surprised expression accompanied a head shake of her own. “Oh, hell no!”
Cooper laughed. “Blondie, you’re way too talented to be cooped up in an Ops Center and we need a female for several cases in the field that are pressing.”
“You have no female ground assets?”
Cooper smiled wide. “We do now.” He lifted his mug, clanked it against hers and then drank half of it in one long pull. Then he sat back relaxed and re-crossed his feet at his ankles. His job was done.
Delta
“You’re going to be her Supervisory Officer?” Shepherd asked skeptically and somewhat surprised.
“I can’t trust her with any of those assholes,” Cooper replied. He met Shepherd’s hard stare. “Shep, I don’t doubt her professionalism for a second, but after what happened with Jackson, I’m not taking any chances. It turned out okay with Jax and Angel, but we might not get that lucky next time.”
Shepherd chuckled. “That wasn’t what I was asking. It was you as her Supervisory and Training Officer I was referring to. You’re going to train her? Let’s just say you’re not the most patient person I know. And you tend to come across as subtle as a two-by-four. We need her. Don’t fuck this one up and drive her away.”
Now Cooper chuckled. “I’m sorry, I merely require people do their damn jobs. I don’t consider that as being impatient. Besides, the men refer to me as Shepherd-light, so I don’t need to tell you, your warning is like the pot calling the kettle black.”
“I never said I was going to try to be her SO. I know my limitations,” Shepherd shot back. “Go easy,” he warned.
“Why, because she’s a woman?”
“No, because she’s a human being who has been out of the military for two years. She’s not a recruit you need to break. She’s an Operative you need to train.”
Cooper waived a dismissive hand. A knock at the door halted further conversation.
“Come,” Shepherd yelled to the door.
The door opened, and Jackson stepped in. “Should I come back?”
“No, you’re right on time. Cooper and I were just finishing up.” Shepherd nodded to Cooper, dismissing him.
Cooper clasped Jackson on the shoulder on his way out, closing the door behind himself. Shepherd motioned to the guest chairs in front of his desk. Jackson took a seat. He had no idea what this meeting was about. The invitation had held no topic.
“Jackson, I don’t want you to take this conversation the wrong way,” Shepherd began. “You’re a damn good Operator. That’s not what this is about. It’s about Angel and your baby.”
Shepherd was uncharacteristically cautious. “Just spit it out.” Jackson felt nervous.
“No one will think badly of you if you opt to limit or eliminate your time in the field. We have plenty to do here in the office and if I can adjust to it, you can too.”
Jackson let out a measured breath. He shook his head. “You want to bench me?”
“No, I want to give you an option with no judgment. I get it. If it were me, with a kid on the way, I might think twice about the field work.” Shepherd watched him. Jackson said nothing, so Shepherd continued. “You know if anything were ever to happen to you, we would all take care of your family. Hell, I’d personally make sure they had everything they would ever need, would personally protect them too. But if you want to,” Shepherd was interrupted midsentence by Jackson.
“I don’t want to. I don’t need to change anything. Angel understands, and she supports the mission, supports me doing my job.”
“I know she does,” Shepherd conceded. “That�
�s not what this is about, son.” Damn-it, he offended Jackson. That hadn’t been his intent. “It’s about you, at any time, having the option. That’s all.”
A small smile curved over Jackson’s lips. “If anything, ever happens to me I don’t want my kid calling you Dad, maybe Grandpa.”
Shepherd barked out a laugh. “Dad it will be.”
Jackson also laughed.
Now that the tension was broken, Shepherd approached it a bit differently. “Look, keep it the way it is, make a change, whatever you and Angel want. I just wanted you to know that no matter what, you have a job, and no one will judge you for any decision you ever decide to make. You and Angel are family and as far as I’m concerned this is the right offer to make to family.”
“Thanks, Shep,” Jackson said, truly grateful. “If Angel and I ever decide to make that change, I’ll come have a conversation with you, but for now,” he paused as he shook his head.
Shepherd rolled out from behind his desk. He laid a hand to Jackson’s shoulder. “Understood.”
Echo
Two-weeks’ notice given at her job, loose ends tied up, prep for the new job done, background check and security clearance rushed through, and Madison found herself standing in the lobby of the ten-story building that was her new place of employment. It was Monday morning, a new week, a new job, a new start to her life, which up till two weeks ago she had not considered was needed. She was told to come through the public entrance this first day.
She was dressed in casual attire as instructed, black skinny jeans tucked into her favorite one-inch heeled black, leather boots, a long-length, V-neck, white t-shirt with an equally long, light blue cardigan sweater over the top of it. In her briefcase she had the contents that would normally be in her purse plus a pair of running shoes, yoga pants, a sports bra and an exercise tank that were wrapped around the spare magazines of ammo for the nine nestled in the small of her back. Come armed, was the directive.
She stared at the elevator displays noting the floor number each was on or advancing to. She saw several security cameras and was sure Shepherd’s group was well aware of her presence. Shepherd’s group, huh! Her group. She still couldn’t believe she had agreed to take this job.
She sipped the coffee in her hand that she had just purchased at the coffee and deli shop just within the doors of the building. Besides the elevator in this lobby and the coffee shop and deli, there was a jewelry store and watch repair, a staffing organization, and an optician. She wondered if they were all legitimate businesses or if they were Shepherd fronts.
The elevator doors opened, and she waited as a half-dozen bodies filed out. She pressed five and stood alone gazing into the camera in the corner of the ceiling as the car rose. She stepped into an empty hallway on five and once again pulled the heavy black door open and entered the public Shepherd Security suite.
Angel glanced up from the other side of the glass and smiled. Madison heard the door to the inner suite buzz its telltale sound, harkening her within. She took a deep breath and crossed the waiting room.
Angel waited just within the door, a friendly smile of exuberance beaming. “Welcome,” she said, extending her right hand.
Madison transferred the coffee cup to her left hand. “Thanks,” she said as they shook hands. She glanced around the empty hallway.
It was as though Angel could read her mind. “Shepherd is waiting for you in his office.” She took a few steps. “This way.”
Angel led her deep within the suite. They passed several closed doors, a few conference rooms, a large kitchenette, an open lobby area with staircases leading up and down, and another elevator. Tucked back in the corner was the closed door that read S. Shepherd.
Angel smiled at her as she rapped her knuckles against the door and opened it before any type of response or invitation was given. Angel led the way in. “Hey boss,” she greeted Shepherd, her eyes leading his to Madison who entered behind her.
“Thank you, Angel,” he said warmly. “Miller, welcome aboard.” He rolled forward and extended his hand.
Madison shook his hand and smiled. “Thank you.” It was all she could say. She honestly didn’t know how she felt about it yet, hadn’t fully processed why she’d made this move.
What she did note was the soft expression and warm tone Shepherd used when looking at or speaking to Angel and how it instantly turned into an all-business, more detached look when his gaze shifted to her.
“Call me when you need me,” Angel said before sliding back out the door and reclosing it behind her.
Shepherd motioned to the guest chairs in front of his large desk. “Come, sit,” he said as he rolled in that direction.
Her eyes swept the room. A conference table with seating for eight sat before a large monitor, video enabled, no doubt. To the right was a comfortable seating area with several leather couches and a couple of comfortable looking chairs. A second door was on that wall that probably led to his private bathroom. His impressive desk sat back in the corner framed by floor to ceiling windows that ran the length of both walls, bullet proof, security shielded, and impenetrable she was sure.
She sat herself in the first chair as the door near the seating area opened and John Cooper strode through. He wore blue jeans and a royal blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He held the same coffee cup she did in his left hand. He had that cocky smile on his lips. He strutted over to them like a rooster into his hen house.
She rose as he approached.
“Welcome aboard,” he said with a grin, his hand extended.
They shook, and she retook her seat. Cooper sat beside her. She reaffixed her eyes on Shepherd. He struck her as a no-nonsense man and she wasn’t surprised when he got down to business right away.
“Cooper will show you around, take care of a few housekeeping HR items, and get you access to everything you need. We usually would want you to spend a few days with each unit to get fully oriented to us, but we have a few cases that are way too hot to wait on. We need you in the field yesterday,” Shepherd said.
“I’ve never been in the field,” she reminded him.
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “You were smack in the middle of the fucked-up Op that was named Sandstorm. Should have been named Shitstorm from what I read in the mission notes,” Shepherd remarked.
She bit her lip and focused silent eyes on him. That whole mission was classified top secret, need to know, at the highest levels only. Surely, he knew she wouldn’t discuss it. What was this, a test?
“I have a higher security clearance than you ever did, Miller,” Shepherd said as though he could read her mind. “Working for us, yours has been bumped up a notch from where it was.” He handed a folder to her.
Both Shepherd and Cooper watched her expectantly as she took it and flipped through the contents. When she gazed up, her surprised eyes met Shepherd’s and then shifted to Cooper’s. He held a pen out towards her. That cocky grin returned to his lips as she took it. “Welcome to the A-Team, darlin’,” he said.
She scrubbed her hand over her face, signed the document accepting the security clearance and all that meant, and handed the file folder back to Shepherd.
“So, Shitstorm, good work. It’s not every day an analyst with no field experience gets exposed and pulled out into the action,” Shepherd said watching her very closely.
“Good work? No. Five people died who shouldn’t have,” she replied.
“Not by your doing and from what I can tell it would have been a shit-ton more had it not been for you,” Shepherd said.
“If you had the training then. that we’re going to give you, it might have been none that were killed. None of you on the ground were properly trained to deal with what came your way,” Cooper spoke up. “What was readily apparent in all the accounts of the mission is that you reacted with good instincts, kept your cool, and performed better than anyone could have dreamed. Sometimes, an Op just goes sideways and all you can do is handle the shit th
at comes your way.”
Madison’s mind flashed back to that day. Memories of the gunfire, explosions, blood, and panic assaulted all her senses. She could smell the caustic smoke that choked her, hear the ear-piercing pop-pop of the automatic weapons fire that shattered her ears. She could see the bright, red blood splatter as people she knew hit the ground with pain-filled and panicked screams. She could feel the pounding in her chest of her own heart beating so fast she thought it would explode, and taste not only the thick smoke but the bile that rose in her throat. Even now, with all the time that had passed and geographically how far she was from it, she fought the retching of her stomach which threatened to reject the yogurt and granola she had eaten for breakfast.
“You put your own life in jeopardy to prevent the Tangos from getting access to the network,” Cooper said, bringing her thoughts back to the office.