Operation Bayou Angel

by Margaret Kay

  Angel came back into the kitchen carrying the most adorable dark-haired toddler, bringing a smile to Brielle’s face. He rubbed his sleepy eyes. He was clearly the combination of Angel and Jackson. She immediately thought of Toby and wondered how he and Tina were. She hadn’t even said goodbye to Tina when the DEA Agent led her and Toby away. She’d have to reach out to Tina and see how they were.

  “Oh, thank you for making me a cup of tea,” Angel said. She got a sippy cup out of the refrigerator and grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter. Then she sat with her little boy on her lap. “Sammy, this is Miss Brielle, a friend of Mommy and Daddy’s.”

  The little boy smiled at Brielle and acted shy.

  “Hi Sammy,” Brielle said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Angel laughed. “He’s still waking up. He’s usually not so shy.”

  “Brian has a genuine affection for him,” Brielle said. “Can I talk in front of him?”

  Angel’s gaze grew more serious. She nodded. “We spell certain things, but for the most part, he doesn’t understand a lot.”

  Brielle nodded. She’d never say anything inappropriate in front of the child. “I just left Dr. Lassiter’s office. I was really upset when I left Mr. Shepherd’s office. I chose not to write the article on what went on down in the bayou.”

  “How come?”

  “I wrote a different article, on what you guys do here.”

  A worried expression came to Angel’s face.

  “It wasn’t for anyone but Mr. Shepherd to read. I decided I couldn’t have the life I always dreamed about, as a reporter. I can’t work the hours and travel as I would need to because if I did, Brian and I wouldn’t last.”

  “Brielle, you don’t know that,” Angel argued.

  “Yes, I do. Brian told me he is usually away for work at least eighty percent of the time. If I’m working that twenty percent when he’s home, we’ll never see each other. That kind of relationship will never work, and Brian is more important to me than anything else.”

  “Then why were you upset?”

  “Because I’m not sure I can be okay with his job and not worry to death every time he goes to work. How do you do it?”

  Angel glanced at her son. “Because it’s who he is and what he does. If it wasn’t for people like him and the others here, I wouldn’t be a-l-i-v-e.” She spelled out the word alive. “Also, because I know how competent everyone else is. I trust them with his l-i-f-e, just as he does.”

  “I know it’s who Brian is too, and I could never ask him to give up who he is. I hope at some point I can have that same faith and truly accept that.”

  “Give it some time,” Angel advised. “This is all very new. The more experience you get with it, and the more you understand what we do, the easier it will be to accept that and have the same faith in the team that I have.”

  Shortly thereafter, Brielle received a text message from Shepherd, asking her to come to his office. She approached his door with apprehension. Why did he want to see her now? This time it was open. She was surprised when she stepped into the room and both Brian and Cooper were seated at the conference room table with Shepherd.

  “Thank you for coming so promptly,” Shepherd said to her. “Please close the door and join us.”

  She closed the door quietly, as though it was the door to a nursery with a sleeping baby within. Then she approached the table and took a seat beside Brian, her eyes silently questioning him. Brian flashed her a smile and gave her a small nod which helped to put her at ease.

  “Brielle Jarboe meet Jason Manning, Deputy Director of the DEA,” Shepherd said, bringing her attention to the man on the large monitor on the wall.

  “Ms. Jarboe, it’s nice to meet you,” Manning said.

  Her eyes studied the man on the monitor. Jason Manning was in his early sixties. He was a white man with a full head of salt and pepper hair. He looked serious, an all business expression across his thin face. “You too, sir,” she replied.

  “I read your piece on Shepherd Security. It’s good. I’m told you have declined the exclusive to report on the takedown of the BioDynamix facility.”

  “That’s correct,” Brielle replied.

  “Why Brielle?” Sherman asked. “This story is yours.”

  “I don’t want the attention that will go along with it.” Her gaze shifted to Brian. “I know you think we can work it out if I get a good journalism job, but I know that would be the end of us and you’re what’s important to me, Brian.”

  “Then write the article and let us release it with a fictitious reporter byline,” Manning said. “You make up a name.”

  “The story has to be told and we want you to tell it,” Shepherd interjected.

  “Can you submit it to me by first thing tomorrow morning?” Manning asked.

  Brielle nodded. “Yeah, I should be able to. I had it half written when I realized the Shepherd Security story was the real one that I wanted to write.”

  “Brielle, Shepherd Security has a contract with the DEA to partner with them on missions to get intel on and take down suspected drug labs and distribution centers in various cities in the United States. Those too are stories that need to be reported on,” Shepherd said.

  “And we need to carefully control what information is reported. This fictitious staff reporter we are creating could be very valuable at writing those stories too,” Manning said. “We want you to be that reporter.”

  “You would officially be employed by Shepherd Security,” Shepherd said. “To have the full picture, you’ll sit in on mission briefings, be in Ops to see how surveillance is carried out, be there if you can stomach it when the team goes in, and during the take down.”

  Brielle was stunned. She merely nodded her head yes. Were they really offering her this job? And an exclusive on many more stories to come?

  “And since there would not be enough of the DEA writing work to make this a full-time job for you, and since we could use your writing skills with various reports, we would have other agency work that would be assigned to you,” Cooper piped up.

  “It is not general knowledge, yet, but Angel is pregnant again so we could use some additional front-desk help. Doc’s wife Elizabeth is her backup, but that baby of theirs is keeping her awake more nights than not and she’s not available as much as I think we will need her to be, at least not right now,” Shepherd added. “So, that is another need we have that you could fill if you take the job.”

  “You’re offering me a job?” Brielle asked after a lengthy silence. Then her eyes went to Brian. He nodded and smiled. She could tell that he was as pleased by this as she was.

  “We’ll draw up the employment contract if you agree. The position will officially be Special Projects Coordinator,” Shepherd said. “We’ll give you an office up on seven near Sherman’s.”

  A proud smile curved Brielle’s lips. “I’d love to take this job.”

  “Is there a but coming?” Cooper asked after a few quiet moments that the men waited, thinking more was coming from her.

  A big grin spread over her face. “There’s no but. Yes, thank you. I accept your offer.” Though she had no idea what the offer was. She didn’t know the salary or benefits, the expectations or the work schedule, and it didn’t matter either. She’d get to write stories that mattered and be with Brian.

  “Very good,” Shepherd said. “We’ll get into particulars later. Have that article submitted to me by zero seven-thirty tomorrow and after I review it, I will forward it on to you, Manning.”

  “Meet with me tomorrow at zero eight hundred,” Cooper said. “We’ll get you set up with the access you’ll need.”

  Brielle nodded. “Thank you.”

  Cooper came to his feet. He came up to Sherman. “Come on, I’ll help you up and get you back to bed like I promised the Undertaker I would, don’t want to piss him off.” He reached his hand out to Sherman and pulled him to his feet.

  Brielle could tell the movement hurt Bri
an’s ribs. She hoped he’d heal quickly. She knew they couldn’t go back to his place until he could get up and down on his own. She followed them out of the room and onto the elevator.

  “I read the article you wrote,” Cooper said to Brielle. “Shepherd was impressed by your insights and by how you worded it, and not much impresses him.”

  A smile formed on Brielle’s lips. “Is that right? Wow. I would not have thought that.”

  “What, that not much impresses Shepherd?” Cooper asked.

  “No, that he was impressed by it. I pretty much guessed that not much impresses him. He seems like a tough and demanding man.”

  “You have no idea,” Sherman said with a chuckle.

  The doors opened and the three of them stepped off on nine.

  “Let’s get you settled in bed,” Cooper said.

  “I’m already fed up with taking it easy and lying around,” Sherman complained as they reached the door to the apartment. He opened it and stepped inside.

  Cooper chuckled. “You are not a pleasant patient.” His eyes went to Brielle. “Come hang out on five whenever you want a break from Mr. Pain-in-the-ass.”

  Brielle laughed. “No, right here with Brian is exactly where I want to be.”

  “Lunch should be here soon. I’ll prop you up in more of a sitting position, but after he eats, Brielle, he has to lie further reclined. You’ll have to pull a few pillows out from behind him. Don’t you dare try to raise yourself up for her to do it, Sherman,”

  “I’ll call Doc if she can’t,” Sherman said. “I won’t try to get up by myself yet.”

  “Hold him to that, Brielle,” Cooper said half-jokingly. Then he left.

  Brielle took a seat next to him on the bed. She learned that Angel ordered out lunch five days a week, with Shepherd picking up the tab. She ordered from fifteen different places, rotating the restaurant and the food in the catering sized order. There were always leftovers in the refrigerator in the kitchen on five. Brielle would have to make plates from there for their dinner tonight.

  “That’s quite a perk, lunch provided every day.”

  “Shepherd applies common sense to everything. It makes sense for him to provide meals because Ops is manned twenty-four-by-seven. Sometimes, they end up being on twelve hours or more. They need to have food available. Plus, we get back from missions at all hours. We need to eat too, and it isn’t always convenient to run to the store or through a fast-food drive-thru, and it takes more time away from our work to do so. Plus, fast-food is not healthy.”

  Brielle laughed that sexy sound that Sherman loved. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as health-conscious,” she said.

  “I do try to be healthy, not that I don’t love a good burger and a beer, or a pizza, but you have to fuel your body properly for it to perform well. Doc is our senior medic, and he is all about healthy foods. He’s actually taught me a lot about healthy eating.”

  “I guess I never thought about things as normal as having meals available for people working long hours, or for us just flying in and staying here in the apartment. I was surprised at that Coast Guard base that they stocked the galley for us. Otherwise, someone would have had to go shopping or go pick up fast-food for every meal. When we went to sleep last night, I was wondering if there was a place walking-distance I could go get us breakfast.”

  “I’m sure Angel will have breakfast for us tomorrow in the fridge right now too. We’ll bring it up with us later so that we have it when we wake up.”

  The text came from Angel that lunch was set up in the kitchen. Brielle went down to get plates for Brian and herself. She entered into a room full of people, half she didn’t know. A woman with short, spikey red hair came up to her. “Hi Brielle. I’m Yvette, also known as Control on comms.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Brielle said.

  “How’s Sherman feeling?”

  “He’s sore, but he’ll be fine,” Brielle replied.

  “Good. I hate it when one of ours is injured. I worry about them all while they’re in the field.”

  “We love you too, Yvette,” Doc said with a laugh from near the large tin trays of food that smelled incredible. There was a young, tiny woman standing beside him with her dish-water blond hair in a ponytail. “Brielle, my wife, Elizabeth.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Elizabeth said, stepping forward.

  Brielle was surprised by Doc’s wife. She wasn’t sure what she envisioned his wife would look like, but this young woman was not it. “It’s great to meet you too,” Brielle replied. “Don’t you have a little baby?”

  Elizabeth giggled. “Yes, Olivia.” She pointed towards the room Brielle knew was the nursery. “She’s in the crib taking a nap. She’s a great sleeper during the day, it’s the nights that I can’t get her to stay asleep.”

  “I think she was born to work overnights,” Doc said.

  “Train her for Ops so the rest of us can work fewer overnight shifts,” Yvette said. “Three months old is old enough,” she added with a laugh.

  Brielle giggled. “So, Brian told me that you also work here at the office.”

  “Yes, I’m in to man the front desk and public phone line for a few hours while Angel works on some budget stuff for Shepherd. I’ll also help take care of Sammy until he goes down for his afternoon nap. Angel is so lucky that he has a schedule she can count on.”

  Just then Angel entered the kitchen, holding Sammy’s hand. “That’s because he isn’t three months old. You’ll get there, Elizabeth. She’ll settle into a routine.”

  “She already has, keeping us awake all night,” Doc complained.

  Brielle smiled at the thought of how normal this conversation was compared to what this group did. Just the day before, Doc was firing his weapon at who they guessed were Chinese gang members and he was working alongside Gary to save Brian’s life. Today he was moaning about his baby, keeping them awake at night and introducing her to his wife.

  “I’ll see you later, I’m sure,” Yvette said to Brielle. She had two containers of food in her hands. “I have to get back up to Ops.”

  “Is that for Garcia?” Doc asked.

  “Yeah, he’s covering for Smith. Smith was on for twenty-four hours. He’s sacked out in his office right now.” She left the room.

  Doc shook his head. “I’m sure Garcia was on for that long too. Angel, get me on Shepherd’s calendar this afternoon, will you?”

  “Will do, Doc,” Angel said. Brielle still stood back, watching the others serve themselves from the containers that were lined up on the counter. “Brielle, get in here and make plates for you both.” She opened the cabinet. “Here are the containers to take it in. Just bring them back down and wash them at some point.”

  “I will, thank you.” She wanted to congratulate Angel, knowing that she was pregnant, but Mr. Shepherd had said it wasn’t common knowledge yet. She loaded the container for Brian with a serving of each of the dishes, garden salad, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. She had no idea what he liked or disliked. She ate everything, so she could always finish his uneaten portions for dinner. Then she placed portions of each in her container.

  She rode the elevator back up with a man named Ryan. She vaguely recalled seeing him when they were here before. He said he maintained all the supplies from toilet paper to weapons and ammo. He got off on the eighth floor.

  The rest of the day flew by. After Brielle finished the article she promised to write, and she sent it to Shepherd that afternoon, she snuggled with Brian in bed. They watched a movie, took a nap, and then Brielle went back to the kitchen and got their dinner portions and the breakfast foods for them for the next morning too. She felt relaxed when they turned the light out, but the same thing happened every time she was about to drift off. The moment Brian was shot flashed through her mind.

  Tango

  Brielle made her way to Cooper’s office at eight a.m. the next morning. She was surprised that he already had an employment contract for her to sig
n, with a salary more generous than she expected. There were also medical and dental enrollment forms for her to sign. The premiums were covered one hundred percent by Shepherd Security, with great coverage. They provided life insurance, though she couldn’t decide who to list as beneficiary. After Cooper guaranteed her that she could change it any time, she put down her sister, Dahlia.

  Cooper advised her that she needed to go see Garcia when they were done regarding porting her personal cell phone number over to the Shepherd Security profile. The agency phone would be all she carried, but Garcia would explain it to her. He also gave her an agency issued, secure laptop like everyone else had. Garcia would help her out with that too, but it was set up and ready to go for her.

  “Brielle, one more thing,” Cooper said. “Do you remember how the team all has trackers in our shoulders?”