Missy's Operation Lily Pad (Missy the Werecat Book 6)

by P. G. Allison

  “Well, I’m more worried whether she’ll keep from getting herself into more trouble chasing boys.” Missy sighed. “That’s what led to her being grabbed. She just had to sneak out and go partying, remember?”

  The three friends continued discussing all the trouble which young girls often got into while partying with boys, especially if there was some drinking going on. Others came up and joined them, adding to the stories, while congratulating themselves on having somehow gotten through all those high school years without being too badly traumatized from all the various adventures they’d lived through.

  Things continued being busy and hectic, going the way most parties went, so Missy didn’t have any chance to pull Heather aside for a private talk. Finally, she managed doing that and once they were alone in one of the spare rooms upstairs, she closed the door and looked at her sister.

  Heather wasn’t sure why Missy had been so mysterious about dragging her upstairs for this little chat and right away she said, “Okay, Missy. What’s going on?”

  Missy smiled and said, “Relax! I only wanted to ask about when you and Donald are planning your wedding. Have you decided anything yet?”

  “Oh, well … we figured maybe June. Just like Aaron and Michelle are thinking, since you’re either busy at the academy or else doing Army training and there aren’t that many opportunities. As my Maid of Honor …”

  Missy interrupted and said, “Why not when I’m home for Christmas? I don’t think I’ll have to be over in Afghanistan this year.”

  Heather laughed, saying, “But that only gives us a month and I doubt we can arrange things that quickly.” She was surprised Missy would even suggest this.

  “Okay, but … how many days late is your period, Heather?”

  “My period? Why, I’m a few days overdue but that’s happened before. Whenever I get stressed, you know? Between my busy work schedule and the holiday celebrations and knowing Donald was probably going to propose …” Heather suddenly paled visibly as she realized Missy obviously was asking all this for a reason. “What? What do you know? Are you going to say I’m pregnant?”

  Missy nodded her head and said, “Congratulations! I was guessing you didn’t know. That’s why I wanted to get you aside, away from the others. I didn’t want you to be blindsided by this in front of anyone. Will Donald be happy?”

  “Wow!” Heather sat there a moment, stunned and silent. Then she brightened and said, “Oh, yes! He’s going to be thrilled. We both will be very happy to have a child. We just hadn’t anticipated being happy quite this soon. I get why you’re thinking our wedding ought to be next month. Gee! This is indeed a surprise!” She giggled.

  Missy smiled and said, “Oh, well … you might say this is more of a double surprise. You see … you’re having twins!”

  -----

  Later, after Heather had shared the news with Donald, Missy had needed to explain things once again. Yes, she was able to sense there were two embryos. No, she didn’t yet know if boys or girls or one of each. Yes, she was absolutely positive. No, she had no idea whether either child might be a supernatural. And … yes … because of their family genetics, that was indeed a very real possibility. They’d talked about that earlier, of course, when Missy had revealed to Donald how she was a werecat-witch with all her many abilities.

  Heather and Donald were very excited and, while wanting to wait a couple months before sharing their news with the rest of the world, they did let Heather’s parents know. Plus John and Patrick. All of a sudden, they needed to plan for a wedding which would now be only a month away.

  The afternoon eventually transitioned into early evening and, thanks to yet another beautiful day outside with the temperature in the mid-fifties, most of the cooking was done on a couple of barbeque grills out on the patio. There were burgers and hot dogs, chicken and steak tips, and lots of other food as well. And drinks. Yes, Michelle’s dad had indeed planned all this, having known Aaron would be proposing, and this party really hadn’t been all that impromptu an event after all.

  Missy had just finished enjoying her second helping of steak, cooked extra rare, when her smart phone rang. From the ringtone, she knew it would be Marcia Goodding. “P” Branch had an aircraft standing by at Logan airport, just in case. Marcia and her husband Les had spent this holiday weekend in Boston. Missy looked at Mike and said, “I think we may need to say our goodbyes.” Then she answered her phone.

  Marcia said, “Missy, I hope your visit home has gone well. But, as we had warned might happen, your help is needed. Oliver is very sure he’s sensing residual energy from a very powerful witch over at the embassy in Turkey. They were merely touring through the empty building over there today, since it’s the weekend and most folks are off. But, he could definitely feel something, from one of the offices. He even thinks it’s maybe from a water witch. His mother was a water witch, you know.”

  ‘Yeah, I remember that.” Missy sighed. “I’m guessing the person who belongs to that office isn’t anyone in the “P” Branch database.”

  “He’s not. The man’s name is Arvind Pancholi. He’s originally from India but has been working for the CIA and the Foreign Service for maybe twenty years. It’s possible, of course, that he’s merely a latent witch and there’s nothing to worry about. His position isn’t at a very high level but, if it turns out he might be a spy? Well … there’s definitely a lot of stuff which he has access to.”

  “And, what makes you worry I might be needed over there?” Missy had reviewed various possible scenarios with Drew Martinson, the head of “P” Branch. She knew any unknown supernaturals found at any of the U.S. Embassies would be considered a very high risk until properly cleared. This was why “P” Branch had been keeping an aircraft ready to whisk her over there, ever since Oliver and Candace had started their tour.

  Marcia said, “Well, the man is currently not home and no one knows where he might be. If he comes back to work Monday morning and checks out okay, that’s one thing. But …”

  Missy interrupted and said, “Yeah, if he doesn’t check out okay or, worse yet, if he doesn’t show up for work, then my abilities might come in handy. I understand. It’s what we talked about.” Both Drew and General Blake had asked if she was willing to deal with possible situations like this. Unknowns which potentially might be her country’s worst nightmare. And, she’d told them she wouldn’t refuse any call to duty like that, but only after she first discussed it with Mike and got his full support.

  “Okay then,” said Marcia. “Your buddy Sergeant Town will pick you and Mike up. You’re at his house, right?”

  “Yeah. We’ll be ready.” Missy smiled to herself. Sergeant First Class Henry Town had served with her while she was with Team Twenty-Two during Campaign Angel’s Wing that summer. He was still assigned to this Special Forces team which had been reconstituted as the Army’s quick reaction force for dealing with any supernatural elements.

  That had happened after she and Tracy had rescued Candace. After the team had watched what Tracy did with her fireballs, burning up half a village, full disclosure had been necessary. The team’s roster had been expanded since then and their commander had been promoted. Thus, Major Grimes was now a major.

  Sergeant Town was back in the U.S. due to his temporary assignment to West Point where he was assisting Major Khan with the special language class which General Blake had asked for. Missy and a dozen others were learning Farsi and Pashto by taking an accelerated, intensive and total immersion course. This was almost every day, in addition to all their other West Point classes and duties.

  Missy knew Sergeant Town had to be thrilled about returning to the Mid-East and rejoining his team, even if only for a few days. She wasn’t at all surprised he’d spent Thanksgiving up in Boston with Les and Marcia, rather than staying down at the academy during the holiday break.

  As for her and Mike? Well, they’d been able to enjoy themselves for the past forty-eight hours, free from any other responsibilities. And, they’d
continue being together for this new challenge. So, it was all good.

  Missy had advised “P” Branch she’d need to be at a hundred percent if and when they had her dealing with any unknown supernaturals. And, that meant her Mike needed to be somewhere within five hundred miles, where she could fully experience him. Otherwise, she would need to deal with the very huge void which being separated from him would cause her to feel inside. While she could still function with that void and had done so a few times already, she wouldn’t be at a hundred percent.

  An hour later, she and Mike were on the “P” Branch aircraft and headed for Turkey. With the time difference, they’d be arriving in Ankara sometime late Sunday evening, local time. Maybe she would get the chance to confront this Arvind Pancholi that night, if he’d returned to his home by then. Otherwise, she’d be helping with the investigation as everyone tried to determine just who this witch might be and what had he been up to for the past twenty years.

  Chapter Eight

  Dec 1, 2019

  Sami Massallah was ushered into the small office where Colonel Chory and Major Grimes were waiting. He had flown commercial that morning, from Kabul, and this meeting was in secret. As the CIA’s top Special Operations Group (SOG) operative in Afghanistan, he carried no identification which might associate him with the U.S. but worked under deep cover. His reports were typically sent back via secure satellite links to Charles Winword back in Washington D.C.

  Born and raised as a U.S. citizen, his Turkish ancestry, appearance and ability to speak that language had helped him rise to his current high position within the CIA’s most clandestine branch and he had been serving in the Middle East now for many years. He had been brought into the very small circle of officials who knew about supernaturals and had been acting as liaison to Team Twenty-Two since mid-October. It had been Intel from his operative right there in Ankara which had led to locating and stopping the WIJO bombing threat on Thanksgiving.

  He had met with Major Grimes several times now but this was his first meeting with Colonel Chory. Major Grimes made the introductions and they then discussed what little they’d managed to learn about Arvind Pancholi since Oliver had identified his office as having residual witch energy.

  Colonel Chory said, “Tell me about your informant here in Ankara. He’s the one who first reported hearing some things which could only have come from that Homeland Security traitor. We’re now wondering if this Pancholi might have helped with getting that info to WIJO.”

  Sami said, “Well, Mamdouh Ozdemir isn’t normally a source for information concerning WIJO. He works in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I recruited him several years ago to infiltrate some of the anti-American groups here in Turkey. As you know, after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 there have been several such groups. Many here are opposed to the way the U.S. always favors and supports Israel. Of course, some of these individuals are now actively supporting WIJO.”

  “And, your guy learned there were high level secrets concerning U.S. border security which one group here in Ankara obtained and sent on to WIJO, right?” Colonel Chory had been briefed how those secrets had to have been leaked by that traitor Philip Arnold, the official who had fled right after Manuel Rodriguez had been taken. Thanks to Missy, Rodriguez had willingly agreed to going into the permanent custody of “P” Branch. And, yeah … he had identified Philip Arnold as his source at Homeland Security who had been covering for him as well as feeding him all sorts of information. The worldwide hunt for this traitor had so far been unsuccessful.

  Sami nodded and said, “It was Mamdouh who brought me the information concerning the three attacks WIJO was planning against our Thanksgiving Day parades. He heard his group leader and someone with WIJO discussing those plans. But, he never managed to learn where his group leader had originally gotten all that leaked information which the Homeland Security traitor provided. This witch Pancholi might be that guy, acting as go-between. Do we know where he is right now?”

  Major Grimes said, “Not yet. The fact he’s probably using false identification papers to travel is suspicious. If he were using his own ID’s, we would have located him by now. We have facial recognition software searching through airport and train station departure photos, but he probably managed to hide himself from those.”

  “Oliver seems pretty certain this witch is no longer anywhere in Ankara.” Colonel Chory had listened to Oliver’s explanation that morning, all about energy and what Oliver could and could not sense, what he could and could not track, etc. He was convinced. Pancholi was gone. Oliver was now staying near enough to Pancholi’s home where he could sense the man’s return, should he come back, but yet far enough away so Pancholi wouldn’t detect him.

  Sami said, “And, Missy will be arriving later tonight? I don’t mind saying this … I really am excited I’ll finally get to meet her. I was told she somehow managed those mysterious explosions which took out that final suicide team before they could bomb the New York City parade, right? Do we know how she managed that? I mean, I realize she’s this powerful witch and also a werecat, but … well … I haven’t heard any details on this.”

  Colonel Chory laughed. “General Blake hasn’t provided me with any actual details on that either. But, he claims she definitely did that. Oliver says she keeps discovering more and more abilities and supposedly she can now teleport and make herself invisible. The major and I are also very excited about having her back over here again. If what Oliver says is true about what a water witch might be capable of doing? We sure as hell will need her to deal with Pancholi. Oliver says his air witch powers and abilities are absolutely no match and will be completely useless against a water witch.”

  -----

  Askar-Samar Karimi was both frustrated and a little worried. He had returned to his office in Herat the day before, after that disappointing meeting with Pancholi in Istanbul, only to learn about the unsuccessful attack in Pakistan where, once again, WIJO had been embarrassed because of Candace Axtell. That had led to this meeting today with WIJO’s other Western Afghanistan leaders; all the mistakes and poor decisions related to what had happened in Islamabad were being thoroughly reviewed. The meeting was well attended by over two dozen of their top leaders along with another forty military and quasi-military members.

  There were many places to assign blame. First, of course, was why hadn’t their Intel sources, both in the U.S. and in Pakistan, known about this girl’s visit until she was already at the U.S. Embassy? It had come as a complete surprise when she had turned up there on the same day as the failed attack on New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Next, why hadn’t their local forces in Islamabad been able to succeed?

  True, there had been little opportunity since the girl had only stayed a couple days and could not be targeted while in the embassy or at the compound or at the airport, as security for those locations was impenetrable. That really had only left when she was travelling back and forth between the embassy and the compound, which was when the attempt had been made. Unfortunately, she had been very well guarded and her attackers had not been successful.

  One of the leaders at this meeting said, “I’ve listened to the explanation about there being more than one vehicle so the exact vehicle this girl was in was not known. But, why then weren’t all the vehicles blown up? Or, even one? While her capture would have been preferred, it would have been very good to have killed her. Instead, once again we are portrayed as incompetents.”

  The intelligence officer giving the briefing explained, “Even though they had little notice and no time to bring in any significant forces, there were several teams equipped with mortars, RPG’s and other heavy weapons. Unfortunately, those teams were all attacked and either stopped or killed. We believe this was by U.S. Special Forces teams which had anticipated all the locations and routes which might be used for deployment of such weapons.”

  Another leader said, “So, the U.S. dangles as bait this Infidel who escaped from our base near Kushk last
August, knowing we would attack, and then counters that attack? Once again, we have failed and are made to look foolish?”

  Karimi listened as the discussion continued and the complaints about all the recent failures were voiced. And, while those failures were frustrating, it was his own association with the teams they’d sent to Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City which was making him worried. While his role, having obtained key information leaked by that Homeland Security traitor, would have greatly advanced his rise within WIJO’s leadership had the attacks been successful, now he was tainted with the failures.

  Most were discounting all the initial reports which they’d received as propaganda. No one could really explain whatever top secret capability had enabled the U.S. government to make arrests in Philadelphia and Chicago, capturing all their trained volunteers who had infiltrated there. Even more baffling were the mysterious explosions which had killed their New York City team. Simultaneous explosions at three different locations.

  But, what kept bothering Karimi was how those initial reports had claimed psychics were providing assistance to the FBI. Just as Pancholi had claimed FBI psychics had reportedly helped in Mexico where Candace Axtell had initially been kidnapped. Only, Pancholi was saying these psychics weren’t really psychics. No, that description was obviously false, hiding the fact the U.S. was using special individuals with special abilities. Special individuals like that porn star, the dancer. Individuals doing things not humanly possible.

  Doing impossible things like locating and rescuing Candace Axtell. And, things like finding that Taliban base. Pancholi claimed the girl dancing so outrageously had been a soldier, fighting in Afghanistan when that base had been captured. She’d been badly wounded and yet, only a few weeks later? She’d been dancing down in Mexico in ways not really possible. Not for a normal human. Coincidence? Pancholi had said this porn star and those psychics were demons.