The Defense Secretary said, “Exactly, and that’s what this meeting is supposed to be about. But first, I have to say this was an excellent operation by “P” Branch, along with our Special Forces, both in locating this base and rescuing the kidnap victims. I hope there can be some further operations like this in the future. Drew? Will that be possible?”
Drew stood up and said, “This was just a onetime opportunity and I’m certainly not in a position to make any commitments. Besides, everyone agreed this was an exception to our non interference policy that’s been in place since … well … since the U.S. government first learned that some of the reports about supernatural and paranormal activity were actually true. That was over forty years ago.”
Hanson said, “Well, that was before … most of us always figured all the hocus pocus stuff you guys were supposedly monitoring was bullshit, regardless of all those briefings we received. But, now that you’ve proved these angels of death are able to fly around out there and help us like this? That’s different.”
Drew glanced at General Blake but could see from the look on his face that Hanson’s angels of death comment was not based on any leak coming from anywhere in the Army’s chain of command. And, he certainly didn’t want to openly challenge Hanson about that. He instead announced, “There are no angels of death flying around. Sorry! And, the asset who helped us was very special. Unique. While “P” Branch is pleased this operation has established some credibility concerning what we do, our asset is not available.”
“Why not? Where did he go? Why can’t you bring him along to our next meeting?” Hanson was only half joking, which Drew found disturbing. He chose to merely ignore him and sat back down.
The Secretary of Defense then heard from each of the military representatives as well as from the CIA about what their respective organizations had planned, both for how to eventually publish some official findings concerning the new Taliban base as well as specific details on what they proposed doing to neutralize it.
The U.S. and NATO operations had changed significantly, after their troop withdrawals in 2014, and rather than having their large combat mission they now only had a smaller support, train, advise and assist mission. Thus, dealing with such a large Taliban base would need to be very carefully managed. Rather than referring to all of this effort as an Operation, it was only to be considered as a Campaign, which was an operational strategy on a much smaller scale.
In deference to the Assistant Secretary of State, it was decided to now refer to all of this as Campaign Angel’s Wing. Naturally, the military would use the acronym CAW.
It was also agreed they would all meet again in three or four weeks for another CAW review session.
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Jan 26, 2019
Missy was in the gym, pumping iron, when Cadet Christopher Bernhard approached her. Cadet Kion Gosselin and a couple of others were with him. She was the only one who happened to be in this section of the gym, which was usually only used by the men. She was bench pressing and did not have anyone there to spot her. Perhaps that had been a mistake.
“Well, guys, will you look at this!” announced Bernhard. “What have we here? And, without a single one of her special friends around to help her out. My, my, my. Am I gonna be hearing from your special friends, Cadet McCrea? Will there be any harassment charges being filed? Should I be worried?”
Missy realized these guys must have planned this. Glancing around, she noticed everyone else in the gym had suddenly left and she was alone. There were no witnesses to back up anything she might report and she doubted these guys would be confronting her like this if there was much likelihood that anyone else might be entering the gym anytime soon. They surely had a couple more of their friends positioned to either prevent that or else give ample warning if they couldn’t prevent that.
Bernhard was a huge guy at six-five and had to weigh at least two-fifty. And, as one of the star players on the West Point football team, he was used to getting his way. He obviously considered getting special treatment to be an entitlement and she knew this time he wasn’t going to allow anyone to interfere. He wanted to mess with her and he was certain he could get away with it today.
Missy was still holding the barbell which she had just lowered to her chest. “I certainly see no reason why you should be worried, Cadet Bernhard, Sir!” She had paused with the barbell held in position while she’d made her statement. Then, she slowly began pushing the bar back up. Before she could get her arms fully extended, however, Bernhard reached down and grabbed it with both hands. Although he made it appear as though he was spotting her, he was preventing any further movement upward.
“Hey, perhaps I can be of assistance? It looks like you might be needing just a bit more weight on this bar. You know … to get in a good workout. Guys? Let’s help Missy out. She obviously needs a good workout. Let’s all see what we can do.”
While a twenty pound weight was being added onto each end of the bar, thanks to two of the guys, Cadet Gosselin walked around to stand at the foot of the bench. Missy was wearing loose shorts and a tee shirt over her sports bra, so not much of her flesh was exposed. But, Gosselin was clearly undressing her with his eyes and enjoying himself. With the added weight, there now was about a hundred and sixty pounds on the bar. Missy allowed the bar to slowly drop back down until it was on her lower chest, just below her breasts.
Bernhard’s hands continued to solidly grasp the bar as it dropped down, so his wrists were brought into contact with her nipples. She looked up at him and smiled. “Hey, guys? Can you put two more plates on? That’ll bring this up to an even two hundred pounds. I like to get even … “ She hesitated for a full second after emphasizing the word even, so her message was very clear; then she finished by adding the word, “numbers.” She’d warned them.
Bernhard laughed at her and looked at his friends. “She likes to get even, guys? Get it? Ha, ha. Very funny. Go ahead and put more weights on, just like she said. She’s really asking for it now, right?” He began pressing his wrists up against her breasts which, not surprisingly, made her nipples poke up and out. When the added weights were in place, Bernhard finally released the bar. He figured she wouldn’t have any chance of lifting it, so why not enjoy himself a little. He had her where he wanted her, right? He began fondling her breasts and his erection was suddenly very evident, bulging inside his pants, just inches away from Missy’s face.
Missy said, “I don’t recall asking you to touch my tits, Chris. You really have not considered all the possibilities here, have you?” Her eyes were suddenly filled with gold speckles and she smiled up at him. Then, she turned her head, first to stare at the guy on her left and then over to the guy on her right. Then she glanced down at Gosselin and said, “Kion? You probably don’t want to be standing down there right now.” Finally, she returned her eyes to stare back up at Bernhard.
Bernhard was obviously now getting very aroused, and his hands continued to squeeze Missy’s breasts. He was having lots of fun and didn’t pay much attention to how Missy’s eyes were now blazing away at him.
Missy started pressing the barbell back up, slowly at first but then she began moving it faster. Part way up and back down, part way up and back down, part way up again … and back down. Each time she pushed it upward, she did so with greater apparent effort, as though she was really struggling with all the added weight.
Since Bernhard considered her to be quite helpless and was still trying to hold onto her breasts, in spite of her movements, he was leaning over her and his face was within her reach. When she suddenly pushed the barbell up yet again, only fully extending her arms this time, he was not quick enough and it smashed into his chin. He was coldcocked and dropped backwards, down onto the floor behind her.
Missy lowered the bar part way and then levered her body upwards so she began sitting up. Gosselin, shocked at Bernhard getting knocked out, suddenly realized she was preparing to throw the bar right at him, with all two hundred pounds on it. He back
ed away and then moved to the side, just managing to avoid being hit as she indeed thrust the bar out and it flew by and went crashing onto the floor and rolled away.
Missy said, “Opps! Sorry about that, guys! I seem to have dropped something … you know how us silly girls are. Always dropping things and being clumsy …” She stood up and stepped away from the bench. “Now, I certainly hope that no one will complain about my little gym accident here.” She stared at each of the men.
Then, she walked around to stare down at Bernhard. “Oh, look? Cadet Bernhard seems to have had an accident also … I think he must have slipped and banged his chin on something. I’ll just let you big, strong men help get him back up to his room. Or, maybe the infirmary might be better. Okay?”
Everything had started out slow but then had suddenly happened so fast that the guys standing there were still in shock. What they had just witnessed couldn’t be possible, could it? None of them could toss two hundred pounds around the way this girl apparently had just done. They looked down at Bernhard and then over to the barbell that continued to roll slowly, several feet away.
Missy said, “Gotta go now! Thanks again for helping me with my workout, guys. I think I’ll go shower and change. Maybe I’ll practice shooting some targets with my rifle now. Big meet tomorrow and my teammates are all counting on me.”
Missy then grabbed the towel and water bottle that she’d brought in with her and headed out towards the exit. She didn’t look back. Then, as she passed through the doors, she smiled at the two guys who were standing outside. They were very surprised to see her come walking out. They rushed into the gym and she continued on her way, unnoticed.
Unnoticed, that is, except for Sergeant Chasen. He’d been hanging around outside, close enough to keep tabs on her, but also maintaining enough distance to not arouse any suspicions. Although he didn’t witness what happened inside the gym, he did notice the way the third year cadets had somehow managed to isolate her, getting her all to themselves, with two staying outside on watch and four going inside and closing the doors. Based on the way the two guys reacted when seeing her come out, he decided to stay behind and continue watching, rather than follow her.
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Jan 27, 2019
Ben Marchitto listened to Sergeant Chasen’s latest report, which still didn’t provide the answers he wanted, but as more and more time kept passing without any hint that the FBI or any local law enforcement agencies were interested, perhaps he and Sal were being paranoid. He planned to continue keeping track of whatever Missy might be up to, nonetheless. It was too dangerous otherwise. Losing sight of her was not an option.
Marchitto asked, “So you still have absolutely nothing for what she did or where she went during those two weeks at Christmas? She and the boyfriend maybe met up with that FBI guy Ulrey who visited her once in October. Maybe? Tell me more about this FBI guy and why I shouldn’t be worried.”
“Well, like I said, he’s only a friend; he’s not part of the FBI’s Organized Crime Branch or anything. He mostly investigates kidnappings, like when she was gone for those two years. You know all about that, right?” It had taken him a lot of work to research her history and find all the connections, but Chasen had learned where Robert Ulrey had helped out Missy’s family, first while she was missing and then later on when she’d reappeared.
“Yeah, yeah … we have all that in our file on her. The girl who disappeared from soccer camp. Then she comes back. So, Ulrey was the one who investigated that? And, now he’s just a friend? This is all you’ve got?”
Chasen had been quite fascinated by all the things he’d ended up learning about Missy McCrea. He said, “Does your file also show how she won that trophy in martial arts? I’ve been researching her and …”
“Yeah, we know, we know. Don’t bother telling me, we have all that as well. We have a lot more on her than anything you’ll ever find out there on the internet. There’s a lot of things about her that we’re not telling you. Just keep track of her, okay? What she does, who she sees … what about those away games? Is she sneaking off then to maybe meet with anyone?” Marchitto knew she had to have done that on the night she’d paid Sal a visit. He didn’t really believe she could be in two places at once.
“Not very likely, but of course it’s always possible.” Chasen wasn’t able to perform any bed checks but he knew how closely monitored all the cadets were, especially plebes. It wouldn’t be very easy for a plebe to sneak out. After pausing for a bit, he said, “Do you want to hear how she recently put this guy into the infirmary?”
Marchitto indeed wanted to hear about that. He figured any trouble the witch might get herself into could only be a good thing as far as he and Sal were concerned. “Okay, okay. What happened?”
Chasen said, “Well, there were all these upperclass cadets and, somehow, they managed to isolate her in the gym. She was trapped in there all alone and then four guys went in with two others staying outside to keep watch. I didn’t see what happened, but … afterwards … she came walking out acting all nice and normal. I did actually see that.”
“So?”
“So, a few minutes later? All the guys come out, carrying this one guy … they took him over to the infirmary. He was out cold. She had to have done that, but they’re all claiming he accidently fell and banged his chin. They probably don’t want it known their star football linebacker, famous for crushing opponents out on the field, was somehow knocked out by a girl.”
Marchitto laughed. “Serves him right for trying to mess with her. And, no … I’m not at all surprised.”
This was a bit disturbing for Chasen to hear. Marchitto wasn’t at all surprised? What weren’t they telling him? Supposedly, they knew a lot more about this girl. He knew Marchitto had visited her once, back in September. But that was the only connection he’d been able to find to anyone in organized crime. “Okay, then. Right. Is there anything else about this girl that I should know, then? Besides the fact she’s able to take down huge guys without breaking a nail and is setting all kinds of records for her marksmanship with both pistol and rifle? If ever a broad belonged in the military, it’s this broad.”
Marchitto laughed again. “Quite right, I’m sure, Sergeant. Keep me informed. And, don’t you try messing with her. Just stay out of her way and you should be fine.”
Chapter Seventeen
Feb 1, 2019
Kelsey stopped by Missy’s room, hoping to find her former roommate. Sally was there and told her Missy would return shortly … she was showering after her recent basketball game … another victory. It looked pretty certain the team was headed for the playoffs this year with an excellent chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament.
“Sally, did she tell you what happened with Cadet Bernhard last Saturday? In the gym?”
“No, what did you hear? She hasn’t said anything about him lately. But, I know she got him to stop hassling me. I haven’t gotten a single demerit since Missy and I started rooming together. She’s really something, but of course you know all about that.”
Kelsey smiled and said, “Oh, she’s the best! Does she make you wait outside while she gets the room ready for inspection? Sharon and I never got to watch how she did it, but our room was always perfect. Missy can move really, really fast sometimes.”
“No, that’s not been a problem. At least, not yet. She did complement me on how great she thought I was doing, thanking me for being really strac and everything. We’re both very similar that way.” Sally had been thrilled at how fastidious Missy was, especially since her previous roommate Barbara had not been very squared away at all and they’d both gotten demerits on several occasions for their room.
“Good for you, then. But, at any rate … I was hoping to learn what happened. One of the guys in my class … the class that I’m giving, actually. Kelsey’s Korner? Did Missy tell you about that?”
“Of course, Kelsey. I know all about it and I have to say, you’re doing a great job. The word on you is that s
omehow you can make things clear and easy to understand. You really have a gift for that. Especially with Calculus. I hear several guys think you saved their ass, getting them to pass their end of term exams.”
Kelsey was pleased to hear this from Sally. She knew she’d been getting a good reputation but for Sally to have heard from guys talking about her like that was definitely an ego boost. Before she had a chance to say anything, Missy walked in.
“Hey, Kelsey! How’s it going?” Missy was happy to see her and they hadn’t talked for quite a while due to how busy they both had been. “Everything okay?”
“She was just explaining how one of the guys in her Kelsey Korner class told her something happened with you and that asshole Bernhard. I’m guessing it’s one of the football players that told her. Am I right, Kelsey? What have you heard?”
Kelsey laughed and said, “Yeah. Mitch Cooper. He was second string linebacker last season, so he’s always hearing things from the guys on the team. And, there’s this rumor that Missy somehow really pissed off Bernhard. Something about an incident in the gym last Saturday. But, Mitch doesn’t know exactly what. He knows Missy used to be my roommate, so he figured maybe I would know.
Missy had heard from Sharon how Kelsey was getting some help lately with her workouts from some football player who was really sweet on her. He was supposedly getting her ready for her next physical fitness test. Sharon thought it was hilarious, since the two of them were both so shy and neither one wanted to admit they had any romantic feelings for the other. But, Kelsey was spending a lot of extra time helping the guy with his math and he was now working with her in the gym almost every day. But, they were still just friends. Right.
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