by Margaret Kay
“Yes, it has. I’d like to think the changes have made us stronger and better at our jobs.” Cooper nodded towards the rear of the plane. “So, what’s this really about?”
“I don’t know,” Lambchop said, eyeing Mother. “Maybe it’s about balance. So much has changed for us all since we took this job. When I was composing my Christmas Eve sermon, I thought about everything that happened last year. Sherman got shot. Elizabeth and Doc became parents. Sienna, Brielle, and Angel became pregnant, and you and Madison adopted Hahna. That is five children added or soon to be added to our Shepherd Security family. It was just four years ago that Angel and Jackson got married.” He paused and chuckled. “The first to fall.”
Cooper chuckled as well. “But we still do a demanding job and we do it damn well.”
“That’s what I’m getting at. Mother would rather have been off the last few days to be with Annaka, but he wasn’t. He was still on duty and working the case with the rest of us. Jackson checked in regularly with Angel, as did you with Madison,” Lambchop said.
“And so did Sloan and Sherman,” Cooper interjected. “What’s your point?”
“Checking in with your families didn’t undermine the job. We were still effective. Got the job done.”
“I’m not following you,” Cooper admitted.
“Sherman and Sloan’s weddings have been on hold, waiting for the time that operationally we could take a breath and shut things down long enough for them to say, ‘I do’. There needs to be more balance. Cases are lined up. Hell, cases have always been lined up. When aren’t there ten cases in the hopper pending our availability to work on them?”
“Yeah and sometimes shit goes down that we have to jump on with no warning, like that mission just before Christmas where we found Hahna.”
“I get that. Those kinds of things will always be out there, but it’s the normal day to day that I think we can and should try to make a little saner. Garcia is the prime example. The man’s a workaholic and he’s going to be a dad soon.”
Cooper laughed. “Don’t worry about him. Sienna will put him in his place pretty damn quick if he doesn’t change his ways after his son gets here. And I don’t think she will even have to. I think just holding his kid in his arms will be enough. Alpha Team becoming a part-time field team was no random occurrence. Jackson and Doc specifically asked for more time at home and Shepherd responded. At the time, I wasn’t ready to ride a desk fifty percent of the time. And hell, I’m still not.”
Jackson had been sleeping. He woke up and heard the end of their conversation and jumped in. “I’m happy with the rotation, can’t say when I won’t want to do the field work. But Angel needs me at home part of the time, and I want my kids to know me.”
Lambchop’s eyes again flickered to the back of the plane. He knew Sloan and Kaylee were also going to try to get pregnant this year. He wondered when Mother and Annaka would get married and if they would have children.
“Shepherd, I’m sure, will make a similar adjustment for Delta Team. I think we need to have a meeting with him and discuss how to create more balance. When we are all out of the office, I know Ops is stretched thin. Alpha and Delta Teams have always worked well together. I think there needs to be a more blending of the teams so that field time can be cut down for the members of Delta Team that are in relationships. I don’t see that happening any other way. We still have way too many cases.”
Cooper nodded. “And that would enable me to do more field time if I wanted. I surely do not want more time at HQ writing reports. I think it’s worth discussing and I know Shepherd would be open to the dialogue.”
Just then, the chime sounded and alerted them that they would be descending. The nose of the plane immediately angled down. The landing was smooth. The air was cold when they stepped out of the aircraft, reminding them it was the end of January in Chicago.
They drove the short distance to HQ, the unassuming ten-story office building near the large Woodfield Mall. Lambchop drove one of the two agency SUVs that they had left at Chicago Executive Airport when they’d left on the mission nearly a week earlier. He put it in park upon arriving in the private Shepherd Security parking area on the second subbasement level of the parking garage. It was hidden behind a security gate and two secure garage doors that required both a palm print scan and a code entered into the keypad to gain access. Mother sat in the back seat with Annaka.
“Angel is here. Why don’t you bring Annaka up to hang out with her during our debrief?” Jackson said.
“What’s Angel doing here on a Sunday?” Mother asked.
Jackson pivoted in his seat to face Mother. “She has a few appointments on Tuesday, is taking off work so she is in today to get some reports done for Shepherd, conserving her sick time. Elizabeth is watching Sammy.”
Mother opened his door. “I’ll be right back to help unload after I get her to Angel.”
Lambchop watched her slide out of the vehicle behind Mother. He and the others got busy unloading their gear. Mother caught up with them in the Team Room. After stowing their gear and weapons, the six team members mounted the stairs to report to Shepherd’s office for their debrief.
Sherman’s fiancé, Brielle, was with Shepherd in his office. Brielle wore several hats at the agency. She wrote the news releases for the DEA on the raids under a pseudonym. She also helped to complete the mission reports, a task Cooper was glad she’d taken over for him, though he still completed the final review before each was officially submitted. She attended all briefings, debriefs, and watched mission footage, either live or taped. And she recently took on some of the research to help the digital team.
Shepherd rolled over to his conference table as the men entered. “While you flew back, the DEA tallied up what was seized in the two raids in Seattle last night. Between the two locations, a total of two hundred ten grams of heroin, two hundred fifty grams of fentanyl and over two thousand counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl were found along with a pill press. There was over thirty-three thousand dollars in cash and six guns confiscated. Three of those guns were stolen. The raid on the house in the Laurelhurst neighborhood by the DEA brought down three more perps, one of whom is cooperating. She has given up their supply chain. This leads right back to our old friend Jorge Gomez and the Juarez Cartel.”
“We need to cross the border and just go get that fucker,” Sherman insisted. “That’s the mission we need to be sanctioned to do.”
“Cut the snake’s head off,” Sloan added.
Lambchop watched the corner of Shepherd’s lips tip up. He knew that Shepherd too held that view. He also knew that Shepherd had requested clearance to conduct that very mission several times, but the powers that sanctioned their missions declined it each time.
“I’m as frustrated as you are,” Shepherd said. “I know it feels like we’re banging our heads against the wall, but these missions do help to curb the problem. Washington truly believes that if we eliminate Gomez, there are ten others ready to step in and fill the void he leaves. It’s interdiction and enforcement on this side of the border that is needed.”
“And we know Gomez. We know how he operates, which makes it easier for us to dismantle the networks on this side of the border,” Cooper added. “You get someone new in there and he may have new tactics that will take us time to get up to speed on.”
“So, we maintain the status quo. That’s bullshit,” Mother remarked.
“No, not maintain, exploit,” Lambchop jumped in.
Shepherd nodded. “It’s not perfect, but nothing in life is. And let’s not lose sight of the win this mission was. The local cops and the DEA couldn’t make the case, but we did, and that allowed them to dismantle the network. That house in Laurelhurst most likely supplied eight to ten other direct points of sale in the city.”
Lambchop grinned and nodded. He was proud of that. A local distribution point was shut down. He thought about that poor guy in the alley who had passed out in front of their car. He
was safe from dying of an overdose for a little while, at least.
“Are there any developments from Alaska?” Lambchop asked before Mother could.
“Annaka is still in the building, isn’t she?” Shepherd asked Mother.
“Yes. She’s in with Angel.”
“We’ll have a debrief of what went down in Anchorage and the updates with her in the room after this meeting, but what I will tell you is that Charles Devlin is fully cooperating with the local FBI. The first words out of his mouth when they arrested him were ‘I want a lawyer and a deal’. He claims that this went much higher up in the Carstairs organization than him.”
Charles Devlin was the Vice President of the Alaska Operations at Carstairs Gas and Oil. He was a smug SOB in an Armani suit that Patrick Keeling’s cousin, Peter, had implicated in the kidnapping scheme. Peter Keeling had said that his cousin would get paid very well by Charles Devlin, who stood to get paid a big commission for expanding drilling in the Cook Inlet where Mother’s girlfriend worked with Patrick Keeling and other researchers. Greed was what drove the nightmare that Annaka was dragged into.
“Our next mission is already underway in Texas, at Carstairs’ headquarters in Midland. Garcia and Madison are onsite at the FBI’s request. You all will be joining them tomorrow,” Shepherd said. “Doc is the only member of Alpha Team that will sit this one out.”
Lambchop saw the surprise on everyone’s face, everyone except for Cooper. Of course, he would have known about it. Whatever the mission was, it must be big if two teams would be deployed. “What about the next DEA Partner Mission, slotted for next week?” Lambchop asked.
“We’ll see how the mission in Midland, Texas is going. If we can spare two of you, we’ll pull you from it to join Doc and three members from Charlie Team to run it. If not, we’ll push it out a week or two. This mission takes priority. Our involvement was officially requested by the FBI,” Shepherd replied. “Powder’s grandmother passed away. He’s on emergency leave for the next ten days. Angel will send something out to everyone this afternoon and take a collection to send flowers.”
Alexander ‘Doc’ Williams was Alpha Team’s medic. Mike ‘Powder’ Rogers was Charlie Team’s. Each team had a medic, another smart staffing policy by Shepherd. Lambchop knew that Rogers was close with his grandmother, who was the matriarch of his upper-class Denver family. He was glad Rogers got to go home to be with his family to say goodbye to her. He wished he would have been able to when his grandmother passed away.
Bootcamp
Johnson laid on his bunk. Lights out was in twenty minutes. His body ached from the PT that day, but it ached in a good way. He was half-way through basic training. He wouldn’t say it had been a breeze, but he wouldn’t say it had been hell on Earth as many of those in his company did.
Physically, it had been easier than he thought it would be. He had been in great shape before he reported to bootcamp, though. He could understand why those that were not fit were struggling. There had been a lot more classes and information to memorize than he thought there would be. But he had buckled down and studied hard. The discipline and all the rules didn’t bother him. His momma had run a pretty tight ship at home while he was growing up, so it hadn’t been that hard to adapt to the discipline of bootcamp.
He had been recognized as one of the top recruits in his company. And he had been given the position of Recruit Leading Petty Officer within the first week of being there. It had surprised him at the time that he was recognized as a leader, but Coach Bennett had said on several occasions that he saw him that way. Coach also gave him a lot of great advice on how to excel at bootcamp, advice he had listened to.
“Recruit Johnson, front and center,” the voice of his company commander bellowed.
Johnson hopped up from his lower bunk and stood at attention at the foot of the bed. In preparation for sleep, he wore only his shorts and his white t-shirt. “Sir, Recruit Johnson reporting as ordered,” he barked.
“Put some pants and shoes on and meet me in my office,” his company commander said.
“Sir, yes, sir!”
He quickly dressed and then made his way through the sleeping hall. Several of the guys in his company that he was friendly with approached him and made comments such as “this can’t be good” or “what the hell did you do?” Johnson knew it couldn’t be good and as far as he knew, he had done nothing wrong. He’d been recognized by the company commander as an exemplary recruit on many occasions. He’d passed every test with flying colors and passed every inspection. He even excelled on the shooting range, which had come as a huge surprise given the fact that he’d never touched a gun before.
He approached the company commander’s office. The door was open. He came to attention just outside the door. “Sir, Recruit Johnson reporting as ordered.”
Another man was inside with the company commander. He recognized the emblem on his uniform. He was a chaplain. He had gone to church services every Sunday since reporting to bootcamp, but he’d never seen this man lead any service.
“Recruit Johnson, this is Lieutenant JG Watts, Navy Chaplain.”
“Sir,” Johnson acknowledged. He was confused why he’d been called to the office.
“At ease, Recruit,” the Lieutenant said. “I’m sorry to tell you that your grandmother passed away this morning.”
Johnson’s eyes filled with tears. He bit them back and steeled himself. “Sir, what happens now?”
“I’ve spoken with your parents. You will be able to call them shortly,” his company commander said. “It’s your choice. You can be granted one week of emergency leave to travel home and when you return, you will be placed in a different recruit training class a week behind your current group or you can opt to remain in your training cycle. That is one of the things you can talk over with your parents.”
“I’ve spoken with your mother and she understands the choice you must make. She will leave it up to you, but she thinks you should remain,” the chaplain said.
“I understand, sir,” he replied. The fact was, he was halfway through. He didn’t want to get delayed by a week, and he certainly didn’t want to have to get moved to a different training division. He had friends in his division. The bonds were already forming, and the group was becoming cohesive.
“I understand you are a religious man, Johnson. The logs tell me you have attended church services every week,” the chaplain said.
“Sir, yes sir. And I went to church every week with my mother and grandmother when I was younger.”
“Your grandmother was a woman of faith. She is with our Lord now. I hope you can take peace in that.”
“Yes, sir,” Johnson replied, still in shock.
“Would you like me to say a prayer with you before you make the phone call to your parents, Johnson?”
“Yes, thank you sir.” His mind raced with thoughts as the chaplain said a prayer, which he barely heard. Even though he didn’t focus on the words, it brought him some peace. He responded with the required “Amen” when the chaplain was through.
It was comforting just to hear his momma’s voice. “Grandma was so proud of you. She wouldn’t want you to leave training and come home. She’s not here, Landon, and your father and I don’t need you home. We’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure, Momma?” Johnson asked.
“I am, son. We are still planning to drive in for your graduation. Your father has that weekend off. I’m not sure if he can take another weekend off instead. Your company commander told me you’d delay graduating if you came home.”
“Yes. I’d have to transfer into a different training class.”
“Don’t do that, son. Stay and do your best. Continue to make your grandma proud of you.”
“I will, Momma. I love you.”
“I love you too, very much, Landon. And I am so proud of you.”
After Johnson told his company commander of his choice to remain, he returned to his bunk. His buddy, Stephan Arnott, a white guy with red h
air from San Francisco, came over and sat beside him on his bunk. He told him about his grandmother’s death and his decision to not go home.
“A fucking heart attack,” Johnson said, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry man, but I’m glad you aren’t going home.”
They had both volunteered for the SEAL program. They would find out in a few weeks if they were accepted or not. If they were, they would skip the A School program for their ratings and go right to BUD/S in Coronado. Physically, Arnott and Johnson were the top of their class. Johnson knew being a SEAL was what he wanted, and he hoped to do it with Arnott.
***
Lambchop’s thoughts were pulled back to the present by Mother’s voice. “What about Annaka’s house blowing up?”
Shepherd nodded. “It was done at Devlin’s direction, same as the kidnapping of Dr. Remington Ipsen’s family.”