by Mark Graham
“Come in,” Stu said with a smile, at which the last two agents entered the room.
“Take a seat and get comfortable,” Stu said, “the Director will be here in a few minutes.”
Joyce sat in an empty chair between Ice and Talon.
“Hey!” Nick the American Indian guy hollered. “Does this mean we’re getting another split tail for an agents position? Fucken women are taking over the world. It’s the reason everything has gone into the shitter!” Nick said acting pissed off.
Cynthia spoke up, “Well fuck you ya stupid fuck’n Indian. I can do anything you can do twice as well, and with intelligence go one on one with you having half of my brain tied behind my back!” She jumped up appearing to be very pissed. Joyce didn’t know if she should do anything. She took the wise decision and just sat there looking stupid, she thought.
“Well fuck you Cynthia, you God damn poor excuse of a human being!” He stood up to only by separated by what the distance of what three chairs would take up.
Cynthia flipped Nick off, “you poor excuse of a human, and you ain’t a real man.”
It seemed as if everybody was looking at Joyce, when they all broke out in laughter. Joyce recovered and was surprised she even spoke but said, “Damn, it is so good to hear you guys have a great sense of humor,” she said with a smile, “I haven’t experienced this since I was a street cop.”
She watched as Nick gave a couple agents a ten dollar bill. The one said, “see, I told you she wouldn’t run out of the room. You’re lucky Nick that she just didn’t jump up and kick your ass herself.” They all broke out at that, with Nick sitting back down and mumbling something sarcastic, but did have a smile on his face.
They all heard the helicopter come in. It seemed to be so close, as it actually was. They listened as the helicopter caused just a low hum, then was turned completely off.
“Well,” Jack said, “sounds like he isn’t going to stop and run. When he intends to do that they keep the helicopter ready to go the instant he walks out the door.”
A minute later the Director walked in the door wearing a nice suit and tie. He directly looked at Joyce and smiled, going over and offering his hand. “I know you must be Joyce since you’re the only one in here wearing white. Stu, see if you can find some coveralls right now so she doesn’t stick out so much.”
The Director sat on the stool after Stu vacated it and joined the group.
The Director went on, “so you think you’re ready for this huh?” he asked.
Joyce was immediately impressed with the man. He wasn’t what she expected. This guy could be a grocery clerk or an insurance salesman. But in reality he looked just like he meant to look. Most people underestimated him to their own demise. He could stay in the ring with the best of them and even had some tricks up his sleeve that surprised people going against him.
“We’ll take a minute here Joyce,” the Director said. “we’ll make this short and sweet. Some of these guys will do what I’m going to do and take fifteen minutes to do it. All these others are qualified agents. They are the best with what they do, except for maybe Talon over there.” Everybody, including Talon laughed at that. “The lady there is Cynthia. She specializes in a few areas and is definitely an asset to us. Nick there is a smart ass Indian but makes a great intimidator, and does a real decent job at terminally taking care of a problem if you know what I mean.” He smiled and Joyce returned the smile. “Talon there is the ugliest man I’ve ever seen but has a heart of gold. If you need back up, he does a great job of it. What you don’t know is that he is well versed in most of the things we do, and is even smart enough to have two master degrees.” If the Director wasn’t there that would have brought out a few smart ass statements. “This little black guy over there can literally kick ass. He’s great with women. I found out they think he is cute. However, he is a dynamo!” If Jack could turn red he would be. “and Stu there is a fine agent also. He’s a great sniper, probably one of our best, and is way into martial arts. Now Ice there, he’s another story, so I don’t think you can come close to what you’ll have to experience with him. What’s strange is that he is usually the person who is the roughest on probationary agents. You will not have to put up with that, and lucky for it, because it will his job to teach you ways of doing things and give you tips to stay alive. Although he is quite good at everything we do, he is a good sniper, and probably specializes in close in death and torture. Yeah Ice, you are one hard-core cold son of a bitch.”
“Thank you sir,” Ice returned.
“Stu, you got something for Joyce to wear?” the Director asked.
“Yes sir,” Stu answered, “I have three here of different sizes. She can see which one fits the best and we can go from there.”
“Great,” the Director continued, “Joyce, go to the room across the hall and find out which one fits you the best. Just leave that white suit there in the trash can that is in that room. The rest of us will get a refill of coffee. I got a box of fresh donuts over there too,” He said with a smile.
The agent who had accompanied the Director in the helicopter had brought the box of donuts over, placing them on the table. He immediately left and went back to where the pilot was standing, near the helicopter.
A few moments later Joyce returned wearing one of the blue coveralls like everybody but the Director. Ice noticed that she was wearing a set meant to be used by a female and he admitted to himself that she was a very good looking lady, with just the right shape. He told himself that he had to be very careful.
“Okay, let’s get this swearing in thing over with,” the Director said seriously. He brought Joyce up to the front and raise you right hand. The Director did a good job and the process basically covered everything expected from the agents. Joyce had to swallow at a couple things mentioned but realized that every person in the room had committed themselves the same way.
“Great, welcome to our world,” the Director said shaking her hand. “Welcome aboard.”
The rest of the agents walked over and shook her hand and actually all of them were very nice with her. Except for the blue coveralls she could think she was back at a staff meeting they had back when she just got out of school.
“I have good news and bad news,” the Director stated, informing them he had more on the agenda.
“I really don’t know any bad news but guess it’s how you take it. If you want to stay here for a month or too I guess it could be bad news,” he chuckled at his own joke. “We do have the research on the blood cell thing. They did a whole lot of research, and it took a scientist a year out of school to come up with the answer and can prove it they tell me. The chemical Ice sprayed in that room was the same chemical they meant it to be. With all the previous tests I guess some idiot wasn’t complete in his comparison. Human blood has another factor in it that animal blood doesn’t have. We would like them to continue there research because what they had claimed could make our jobs a lot more easy. However the lab they used will be demolished before our people make it back into public.”
“The guy who fucked up will be taken care of by a different agency. Since there was no chemical it is impossible to charge him with the exact crime. I understand he will play quite a price for his mistake.”
“No Jack, we will not be doing the execution of anything on this,” he smiled at Jack as the small black man kind of sank in his seat. “The guy might do time. The least he will get is his licenses removed and be on a black list causing him to have a hard time getting a part time job at Walmart.”
“But, the agents did find something else which will ruin a couple people’s day. They found that two of the scientist were making chemical cocaine which was very potent and were making millions off it. They are now in custody. I don’t think they will let us deal with it, but they have enough evidence to put them in prison for a very long time.”
“So, what’s next?” Stu asked, being the lead on this case.
“Well . . . we will have a few of y
ou stay here with them for a few days. Your time in the building should be less and less everyday. If you want to play games and continue to interrogate some people for the sake of interrogating, go ahead.
“Tomorrow some time, a bus load of administrative type people and a couple attorneys will show up. To make it short and simple, each person will be offered five hundred thousand dollars if they agree with and promise to abide to the letter of the form. Each will be offered jobs similar to what they are doing here within the United States. They will understand that if they should say anything to anybody that they will be arrested and spend the rest of their life in jail; or, told they will lose their life if they rat the thing out. The reason I want you to slowly depart is so they have less of a chance to recognize you. In fact, I doubt if you will see any of them again. We do have the FBI who will transport these people home and help them do whatever they need to do to get on with their lives. They will remember those agents a lot better than they remember you. The FBI will be the savior to these persons. If asked, they will be told we are only a contract company who takes care of situations like this. You all, every one of you did a great job.”
Every body in the room slapped hands and got excited that they would stop being baby-sitters. More than one of them would like to punch out a couple of their clients but always were in there best behavior, gentlemen and a gentle woman.
“Ice and Joyce are going with me on the helicopter.,” the Director said. “Joyce needs to get started and see how she does in a baptism of fire.”
The rest of the people hoorayed and padded Ice on the back and gave Joyce her “good lucks.”
Joyce was amazed that within the hour she would be in the air, and would shortly thereafter be back in civilization. Ice winked at her and the three of them walked out the door and to the helicopter which took them to a whole lot of experiences. Joyce quietly hoped she would be a success with getting through her probation.
Chapter Fourteen
The Director needed to take care of some business like usual. Ice had a day to take care of a few open ends, and they wanted Joyce to take the day to do whatever she needed to do, and kind of close up her apartment to be left for awhile. The Director gave her a change of address form to fill out and he had it put in the mail. In turn all mail to her would be forwarded. Any bills needing a payment would be paid and if she had any outstanding debt like credit cars or whatever they would simply pay them off.
Ice told Joyce that the day after they would be going to his home and show her several things to get on board. He agreed to pick her up and they would take a flight from New York to Toledo, Ohio where they would rent a car and get to Maumee. She learned too that Ice would take her to a gun range and get her qualified with a .40 caliber semi-automatic, a shotgun, and a rifle. The Director had given her a hundred dollars in twenties and tens and told her to take a cab to the airport. They parted ways and each went to where they needed to go. Ice decided he needed to get physical with something; so he thought that running would workout the mass killing thing behind him. Joyce went home, straightened things out and paid her bills. She felt she needed to get some new clothes that might do better in what she expected she would be doing and picked up a new toiletry bag and all the facial stuff she needed. Joyce didn’t know it so she cut corners where she could, not knowing the bill when it came in would be paid.
As their plane was landing Joyce went through all the stuff she and Ice had talked over on the way over. She figured reviewing it in her mind would help her remember anything important. They had started out by having an understanding that during the flight they could not talk anything to do with their work. In turn they shared small talk and learned many things of each other.
Joyce learned about Ice’s up bringing and the basics of what he went through in the Marine Corps; and he learned how Joyce had come to be where she was at before this thing hit the fan. They learned that both of them enjoyed movies, and spent hours watching DVD’s.
“As far as music goes I kind of like what are called the “Oldies but Goodies” because while I grew up my dad listened to it frequently. My mom did too but liked country the most,” Ice told her.
Joyce smiled and shared, “So did my parents and I actually like both. I find, as you probably do, the memories that it takes you during a time in your life where you were the best as far as you were concerned, and with good parents it brings back all good memories. I learned that children that had been abused, they don’t like the music their parents listened to.
“Really?” Ice said, “I can understand that.”
Ice learned that quite a few years before Joyce had earned trophies in shooting a bow, with a handgun, and a rifle.
“Well, that does impress me,” Ice told her, “How about shotgun?”
“I won in my class in skeet shooting. My dad loved to shoot skeet and I was probably about seven the first time we went. I remember it well because my dad and I went to the gun store and bought a small bored shotgun; I think it was a .410. I remember when we got home how angry I was because his shells were so much bigger than mine. By the time I grew big enough to shoot a .12 gauge I found out about the kick. I think it was on my eighth or ninth birthday.”
They talked about quite bit of stuff really, most of just short interesting things about each other. Joyce thought it very nice that Ice shared so much with her. Ice was hoping that seeing the good side of him might neutralize her feelings about what he did to earn his check.
After getting off the plane they immediately went to a door at the airport that allowed them entrance to what looked like a new and used car lot. “See that new Chevy pickup over there with tinted windows, the silver one?”
“Yeah,” she returned.
“Well that’s our vehicle. I find them more comfortable and can get through something that a small car can’t.”
“By the way Joyce,” Ice said, “here in Maumee my name is Steve, which is also my really real, real name.”
“How does that work?” Joyce asked.
“I was raised here and up to a few years ago my parents lived here until they died. I also have two brothers here. I will introduce you tomorrow probably. Hopefully we can learn a little more about you and we can talk about what will be good for you. I’ve been gone long enough that a lot of folks don’t know me, but enough do to know I’m my father’s son and my brother’s brother. My front here is that I am on active duty still in the Corps. I even have a complete uniform here at my house, just in case.”
“Wow, that is interesting, “ Joyce said impressed.
“On the way to my place I want to stop off at my brothers junk yard and cement company. There’s some things I need to show you and get you more in the frame of mine in what we do, or how we use things other’s don’t think of.”
“Okay,” she said.
“So just relax and pretend you’re a new girl friend and I’m showing you off,” he said smiling.
“Really?” she said, “hope I don’t have to do anything too personal.”
“At the most I might take your hand and hold it while we walk. We at least have to support people’s assumptions which is easy to do. So don’t be surprised at anything, and play along, okay?”
“No problem Steve,” she said laughing.
When they pulled into the junk yard gate Joyce was amazed how big it was and the very large buildings and equipment there. She saw the main office building that looked like a pole barn with windows and a door. Looking past the building she could see large piles of sand, and some courser stuff. There were a few towers over there too that she thought were probably some kind of machinery to mix the stuff and get it to the trunks. She was impressed when she saw twelve cement trucks, and knew there was some bucks put into this place.
Ice parked in front of the office area and told Joyce, “come on, you need to meet my little brother.”
They walked in the door and Ted was on the phone, but it seemed like he just hung up on whoever he was talking too
and met Steve and gave him a big bear hug. “And this must be your new friend,” he smiled and gave her a big bear hug too. “Glad to meet you little lady,” he said with a big smile. He turned, looking at Stever and said, “what the hell are you doing here. Second time I’ve seen you in about a month. I think it was a whole year went by before the time before then.
“Ted, I just want to show Joyce here some of our equipment and how I put it to use,” Steve said and winked at Joyce.
“You mean to tell me you are going to show her some of your secrets?” Ted asked looking kind of startled. He knew kind of what Steve did, but didn’t say anything to any body about what actually might have happened.
“Ted, this lady is my new partner,” Steve said with a smile. “I recruited her to become a candidate, she was accepted so she will be my shadow for about a year.”
“Oh, okay,” Ted said turning red and going back to his desk. “Just don’t be getting me in trouble. Ya’ know you’re a real pain in the ass for a brother and more so as a partner.”
“Partner?” Joyce asked.
“Yeah, I’ll explain it later,” he said quietly. “Well, until the next time Ted. See ya!”
“Okay my fine brother. Try keeping yourself out of trouble. And Joyce don’t let him get you in trouble either. I don’t know but it seems like people get killed a lot, way too many times for me to be comfortable with him,” he winked at Joyce with a smile. The way she looked back at Ted he knew that she knew and felt a lot better about the whole thing.
They drove to a large building that looked like an airport hangar kind of building. There were other ones just like this one, and in a row. They got out of the truck and went into one bay. In was full of old cars, and bins of shredded metal, and generally looked like an old metal shop might look like. Joyce thought so anyway.
“Here, put this hard hat and these safety glasses on,” Steve said as he gave her the items.
“See that large contraption over there?” Steve asked.