by Margaret Kay
Madison laughed. “It should be. It’s always a pleasure to watch your team work. I’ll catch you next time.” Then she turned to Sienna. “We better head to two.”
“Catch you later, Xena,” several of the men said.
Sienna nodded and followed her from the room. Once in the hall, Sienna asked all the questions she had while watching the operation that just occurred. “Where were they at? What exactly had they been doing? What did they mean when they talked about hacking and breaches?”
Madison smiled as she pulled the door open to the stairwell after pressing her palm to the scan pad and entering her code to unlock it. “Our team was on-site at a power production facility that has been under constant cyberattacks and has suffered a few breaches to non-vital equipment. It’s only a matter of time before the hackers get control of the important equipment and cause catastrophic failures. They were attaching sensors and scanning equipment to detect a breach if one occurs and stop it. We’ve been enabling this on a lot of important equipment as part of a contract we have with a specific US government entity tasked with safeguarding our power grids. Our equipment mimics the host equipment and the attackers don’t realize their hack has been stopped and hijacked into our loop. Nor do they realize that we’re backtracking their signal to discover where their attack originated.”
“Who is behind the cyberattacks?”
“Pick your state-sponsored bad guy, Russia, China, Romania, Brazil, Taiwan, Turkey. Hell, even India is a player.”
Madison pressed her palm to the scan pad on level two, entered her code, and then pulled the door open just as her cell phone chimed in her pocket. Retrieving it, she saw the message from Angel. Given the late Op that was planned, Angel was ordering dinner for everyone, Mediterranean. Oh, how she had missed being in the office!
Shepherd believed in supplying his people with the best of everything they needed to get the job done, including food. And lucky for them, the surrounding area offered every type of food one could ever want, and Angel had menus for every single restaurant, diner, dive-bar, sandwich shop, deli, mega grocery store buffet, and take-out place. Coordinating meals was just one of Angel’s many talents.
“Hope you like Mediterranean food. Angel is ordering dinner for everyone.”
Sienna nodded. “I don’t even know how to repay all of you for everything you’ve all done for me.”
“You’re not going to get a bill for services rendered, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Madison replied. “This is what we do. We keep people safe.”
“Surely, someone has to pay for all this.”
Madison giggled. “Relax, that won’t be you.” She pulled the door open to the hair salon.
Within, Angel’s aunt, Meredith Mays, was just putting her work apron on. She smiled warmly as the two women entered. “Hello,” she greeted.
“Hi Meredith. Thank you for coming in today,” Madison said as she gave the petite, dark haired woman a hug. “This is Sienna,” she introduced.
Meredith took Sienna’s hand and gave it a motherly squeeze, not really a shake. “It is nice to meet you.” She motioned her to the chair. “I understand we are doing a color and a cut.”
Madison pulled up the picture of Sienna from her driver’s license photo on her phone. She positioned it so both Sienna and Meredith could see it.
“Ugh! My driver’s license picture. I hate that one,” Siena said with a little laugh.
“Is it the right color?” Meredith asked.
“Yes,” Sienna answered. “But I was having a really bad hair day. Madison, didn’t you guys get into my Facebook page? I have a few better ones there of the cut styled right, that’s if we can even make it look anything like that now with the hack-job I did on it.”
Meredith laughed. She looked over Sienna’s hair carefully as Madison brought up a few other pictures of Sienna, including two that Sienna indicated she liked. “Okay, let me get the color on first,” Meredith said. “I can replicate that cut, but shorter and with a few more layers due to what’s been done to it, but I can get it looking pretty close.”
“Thank you,” Sienna said. Somehow, getting her appearance back felt significant, like it meant getting her life back. She knew there was still a lot ahead, before that happened, but this was an important first step.
The next few hours went by quickly and with a lot of talking and laughing. Sienna found Meredith to be a warm and genuine woman whose company put her at ease. She recognized mannerisms and speech patterns like Angel’s and wasn’t surprised to learn that Meredith had been a second mother to Angel. Meredith loved little Sammy as a grandmother and was looking forward to the birth of her own daughter’s first child in a few months. Sienna also learned that about a year earlier Meredith’s daughter and her husband moved to the Chicago area and Meredith followed, setting up the shop in this building shortly thereafter.
Meredith ran the straightening iron through Sienna’s bangs one last time and then gave it a light spray of hairspray. “There, what do you think?” She asked with a smile.
Sienna smiled as she viewed herself in the mirror. Her hair was shorter by several inches, but it was her usual style and her natural color. Meredith did a wonderful job. She looked like her normal self again. “It’s perfect, thank you!”
“You are very welcome, honey,” Meredith said patting her shoulders. She removed the cape and shook it off.
Sienna stood and gave Meredith a hug. “I don’t have any money on me.” Her eyes went to Madison. “How will I pay her?”
Madison laughed. “Shepherd Security picks up the tab for all personnel’s cuts.”
Sienna forced a smile. If felt so odd not paying for things for herself. She felt as though she should at least give Meredith a tip for her services, but she didn’t have even a dollar on her.
“The arrangement works well,” Meredith said. “Everyone I’ve come in contact with from Shepherd Security are so nice and respectful. Even the big muscled guys are just big teddy bears.” She laughed.
“Just don’t tell them that,” Madison said with a laugh. “See you later, Meredith.” She gave her a hug. Meredith gave Sienna another hug and the two women left.
Garcia paused in front of the door to Doctor Lassiter’s office, a required in person check-in. He wasn’t surprised this visit had been mandated today. He knew the reason for it, hell, if anyone did, it was him. He also knew it wasn’t necessary. He came out from under cover this time a completely different person than he had last time, mostly due to his team covering his six, and partially, he believed, because of Sienna.
He pulled the door open and went to the inner door. He waited a beat before it opened, and Joe Lassiter’s scarred face greeted him with a smile. Joe engulfed him in a big hug. “Welcome back!” He motioned him in. He led him through the hallway to his office.
“Oh, this is an in the office conversation,” Garcia said with a sarcastic laugh.
“Yes, I need to fill out some paperwork on you for Shepherd as we talk.”
Joe took a seat at his desk and brought up the form on the monitor. It was one of the new electronic forms to simplify and automate various workflows. Madison and Doc had identified a bunch of processes that would be well suited to on-line forms. Madison especially had wanted to get all the new employee forms on-line. When she had started at the agency and was greeted by stacks of paper forms, she knew she could improve the process. Shepherd was receptive to the change and while they covered Garcia, she and Doc worked on them and rolled them out one at a time.
“Is this my official fitness for duty review?” Garcia asked.
“No, not yet. Though it is a part of it. I don’t see any red flags, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Garcia laughed. “Make sure you let me know which of the meetings will be it, so I say the right things.”
Joe laughed as well. “You know how this works. There is no right or wrong.”
“Yeah, I know, there’s only how I feel. And as long as I feel som
ething that’s the right answer,” Garcia said, almost mockingly.
Joe ran through a list of questions, all of which Garcia answered honestly. “And being back in the office, how do you feel about it?”
“It’s good to be back in familiar territory. I went up to Ops, just to see Yvette and BT. Charlie Team was mid-mission and I was able to get my hands on a keyboard and help them through an issue. I’ve missed the Ops Center.”
Joe nodded. “Tonight’s mission.”
“Yes, one last performance as the gang-leader. I’ll be glad to be done. First thing tomorrow, I plan to see Meredith and get my hair cut.”
Joe nodded again. He wasn’t buying that all was well with Garcia coming out from under the deep cover. “And the woman, Sienna?”
Garcia smiled. “What about her?”
“She’s here.”
Garcia laughed. “She is. I don’t know where it will go with her. I know I like her a lot and want to see where it will go, if that’s what she wants too.” He shrugged, not sure what else to say. “We’re staying in the apartment on nine tonight.”
Joe typed into the form, filling a few fields. When he turned back, he pinned Garcia with a serious stare. “Look, I don’t doubt your sincerity for a second. It’s just that I expected more restlessness from you, coming back. Six months wasn’t as long as the years you spent as that persona previously, but I expected, I don’t know, some reintegration issues.”
Garcia laughed again. “I was in contact with you and the team the whole six months. That went a long way to keeping me centered. And Sienna, well, focusing on her is my mission now. I guess you could say I’m reintegrating well with this new mission.”
“And the fact that she started out with the persona, and not the Shepherd Security Operator, that isn’t freezing you in that other role?”
“No, as far as I am concerned, I’ve been the Shepherd Security Operator all along. This time being under was much different than the last time. I approached it differently from day one.” Garcia watched Lassiter, who gazed at him with expectation. “Joe, I’m not bull-shitting you here. If I have any issues, you will be the first to know, but I’m not having any. I’m glad to be back and can’t wait for tonight’s Op to be over so I can close the book on Razor the gang-leader.”
“Let’s back up to when you first took Sienna into your custody while under cover,” Joe said. “If I talk with the lady, will she confirm you were the same person then as you are now?”
Garcia scrubbed his hand over his face. Joe had him there. “No, I was that persona, a jackass who treated her like a piece of meat. But as soon as I saw that she was so far out of her element, saw how innocent she was, I softened, and the real Anthony Garcia interacted with her. There was expected behavior in that role, and I fulfilled that expected behavior, had to, to keep my cover.”
“Cooper reported that you had wanted to go back under, thought your cover might have still been intact.”
“For about a day, I did. The mission isn’t complete, but we have other ways to attack it than Razor being on the inside.”
Joe typed into his computer, filling a few more fields. “I want to see you again tomorrow, after your hair is cut. Schedule time with me before your team heads east.”
“Will do,” Garcia said, coming to his feet. “Joe, I promise I’ll let you know if I have any issues. I know last time, I was less than forthcoming at first, but I have said repeatedly that I wouldn’t have come out of it if it weren’t for you.”
Lassiter nodded. He too came to his feet. He and Garcia shook hands, and then they pulled each other in for a shoulder bump. “Good luck tonight.”
“Thanks, it’ll be a quick in and out.”
When Madison and Sienna left Meredith, they went back to Madison’s office so Sienna could look over more pictures until dinner arrived. There were thousands of them. And those were just of men who fit the general description of Collin Lowry. Sienna tagged a few photos of possible matches, but then the photo of the man she had met popped up. This one was definitely him.
“Madison, I’ve got him. It’s him. I’m sure.”
Madison was seated, reclined on her couch with her eyes closed. She got up right away and came to look over Sienna’s shoulder. “This is him?”
“Yes, I’m sure it is.”
Madison clicked a few keys. Then she made a call on her cell phone. Yvette answered on the first ring. “Hey, I just sent over the picture of the CIA Agent Sienna met as a coworker of her husband. He was introduced to her as Collin Lowry. Run him to ground. Shepherd will want it ASAP.”
“You got it,” Yvette replied.
“Thanks,” Madison said and then disconnected the call. Her eyes shifted to Sienna. “Good job.”
“Now what?”
“Dinner should be here soon. Let’s head down to Angel and check on it.”
Sienna followed her from the room and down the stairs. They exited the stairwell by Shepherd’s office and the elevator. Madison led her through the hallway and into a kitchenette of sorts. The food had just arrived, and Angel was in the process of opening the steaming large tins of food. They were lined up on the counter.
“Oh, hi,” Angel greeted. “Wow, Sienna, your hair looks great.”
“Thanks, your aunt did a great job.”
“Yes, Meredith is amazing,” Angel said. Just then the sounds of the baby crying came over the baby monitor which sat on the counter. “Oh, hey, Madison, can you get Sammy?”
“Of course,” Madison replied. She hurried from the room.
“Can I help?” Sienna asked coming beside Angel. She began to take off the lid of one of the steaming hot tinfoil pans. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she smelled the food. Her stomach rumbled with an intense hunger.
Through the baby monitor they heard Madison. “Hey, little man. Are you supposed to be waking up? Your mommy is busy.”
They heard cooing sounds. Angel laughed softly. “Madison always forgets about the baby monitor. I love listening to how she talks to him.”
“Oh, you are soaking wet. Let’s get you a freshy.” They heard rustling of clothes and plastic. “Now don’t spray me, little man.” They heard more cooing coming from baby Sammy. “That’s right, nice and dry feels so much better, doesn’t it?” They heard the sounds of kisses. “Love you, little man. Let’s take you to your mommy. I bet you’re hungry. It’s a good thing your Uncle Cooper isn’t here, he’d have quite a bit to say about you getting a titty, I’m sure.” She laughed again.
In the kitchen both Angel and Sienna laughed, hearing Madison’s one-sided conversation with the three-month-old. When she appeared at the door with the bleary-eyed baby, Angel stopped what she was doing and went over to him. She picked up a pacifier from the counter and stuck it in his mouth.
“Let me finish getting this set up and then I’ll feed you.”
“We can get it,” Madison said, handing the soft, warm baby over. “Go feed him so you can sit down and eat with us.”
“Thanks. You know where the paper plates and plastic are, right?” Angel pointed to a cabinet over the counter.
“Of course, I do. Go, take care of your baby. Sienna and I will take care of this. I’ll send the text out to everyone too.”
“Thanks, Madison,” Angel replied, and then she turned the baby monitor off, before slipping out the door.
Madison sent the text to everyone who may be in the office still, unsure who all were there. She wasn’t surprised when the masses converged on the kitchen five minutes later.
Sienna was surprised by the noise and many side conversations that quickly filled the room with the many bodies. She recognized all the men who’d been in the meeting when she first arrived. Michaela, the pretty dark-haired woman came in with Yvette, the red-head. Yvette filled two containers and left right away. Michaela sat at the table beside Landon, Lambchop, the Reverend as he had introduced himself. They immediately engaged in conversation. Sienna wondered if they too, were a couple.
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Sienna sat awkwardly beside Madison as everyone helped themselves to food and also sat. It was like a big holiday family dinner, a family she wasn’t a part of. Finally, Anthony came in. He flashed a smile at her that put all other thoughts out of her head. One of the men had just sat his plate in the empty spot beside her.
“No, you don’t, Sloan. I’m sitting there,” Garcia yelled from the counter buffet.
Gary ‘the Undertaker’ Sloan laughed at him, eyeing him with a telling look on his face. He was messing with Garcia, knew Garcia wouldn’t let anyone sit beside his woman. He wondered what had happened to Alpha Team, three out of the four of them now in relationships.
His eyes swept to Madison and then across the table to Cooper. That one had been the biggest shock. Cooper had always been Mr. Straight-Laced. Cooper disobeying any regulation was unfathomable. He glanced back at Garcia. He’d always thought of Garcia as more of a geek, so he supposed his surprise of Garcia getting involved with a woman during a case was more of a surprise that he noticed something other than a keyboard. He chuckled to himself with that thought.
