by Margaret Kay
“The network was everyday women who wanted to help bring peace and a civil change to their country, moms and grandmothers. Yeah, there was no way in hell those bastards were getting access to those names,” she said.
“And you navigated yourself out in the cold, alone, and out of touch with command,” Shepherd continued. “A blond, white woman, alone in the Middle East.”
“You hid and survived for five days on your own,” Cooper added.
“Until you made your way to an asset you knew about, who, you somehow managed to convince to help you and not kill you,” Shepherd concluded.
Her lips unconsciously curved into a fond grin thinking about Ian Hardy, that asset. Six feet, four inches of toned, handsome British Intelligence, her 007. She’d never met him before that day she was waiting for him in his hotel room when he entered. Her only regret was that she never got the opportunity to sleep with him. That would have been something to remember, she was sure.
“Miller?” Shepherd said, getting her attention.
“Yes, sorry,” she replied, shaking herself from the memories. “I haven’t thought about that in a long time.”
“There was bureaucratic bullshit that contributed to that whole cluster-fuck situation that will never happen here. We don’t leave any asset hanging out there on their own, ever,” Shepherd barked.
“Good to know,” she said. Yeah, we’ll see.
Cooper came to his feet. Her eyes went to Shepherd. “We aren’t as rigorous as active duty units, try to keep it more informal, but chain of command exists. You’ll see no saluting or coming to attention bullshit except during playful fuckery, but that’s the world the majority of us came from and the respect of each other and our positions permeates all we do. Cooper is your next in line, but my door is always open.”
She stood. She knew dialogue that dismissed her when she heard it. “Thank you, Shepherd,” she said unsure if it should be Mr. Shepherd, Sam, or whatever his military rank had been. She suspected Colonel was appropriate.
He nodded. “Oh, and we’re ordering Chinese for lunch. Be sure to get your orders to Angel by eleven.”
Cooper’s lips curved into a grin. Ordering out lunch was the only thing he enjoyed about being in the office. “Looks like the takeout menu is our first order of business,” he told Madison as he led her from the room.
She followed him back through the hallway, stopping briefly in the kitchenette to toss his empty coffee cup in the trash, which he did with an arcing flair. Then they went to Angel’s desk. She smiled and handed the takeout menu their way, open to the lunch specials page.
Madison and Cooper ordered the same meal. “Oh, that’s cute, SO and trainee so alike. Maybe there is hope this won’t be anything short of a train wreck.” Angel giggled.
Madison turned her attention to Cooper. “SO?”
“Yeah, I’m your Supervisory and Training Officer,” he said.
Angel snorted out a laugh. “Sorry, Madison, the only one worse-suited for the job is Doc.”
“Hey, hey,” Cooper argued. “And this will not be any sort of train wreck, little Miss Negative,” he said pinning Angel with a playful glare.
Madison sucked down a swallow of her coffee, unsure how she felt about Cooper taking the role of her Supervisory and Training Officer. She watched him joke around with Angel for a few more minutes. There was a comfort between them. She was curious what Angel’s history was that Jackson had referenced during her interview.
There was no doubt she found John Cooper attractive, something she would purposefully keep tamped down. Her mind wondered to what kind of Supervisory and Training Officer he’d be. She bet he’d be tough and demanding. The next few weeks would most likely not be too pleasant. She hoped she would get a schedule, so she would know what to expect.
Cooper led her down the hall in the other direction past more closed doors, a lounge of sorts with couches, air hockey, ping pong, and pool tables, and a dart board. He brought her to an open door which bore the label J. Cooper. It was another corner office. Though it wasn’t quite as large and lavish as Shepherd’s office, it was a close second. It was set-up the same way and the furniture looked comfortable.
He closed the door after she entered. He motioned her to the conference room table where several file folders sat stacked in front of one chair. “Sit,” he said motioning to the chair in front of the file folders.
He crowded in and leaned over her, flipping the top one open. She was distracted by the clean, manly scent wafting from him and by the heat radiating off his appealing body, until his hip grazed her arm and the hard pistol in its holster made its presence known. Her eyes flickered to the piece, his H&K .40 by the looks of it.
“So, these are standard receipt of equipment vouchers, computer equipment, tactical gear, and weapons you’ll be issued. Just sign them all. You’ll receive the noted equipment over the course of the day.” He flipped the folder over and opened the one below. “These are medical, dental, and life insurance registration forms. Your medical is covered one-hundred percent, premiums and service. Fill those out and sign them too.” He flipped that folder closed as well. “This is the most important. It’s your employment contract. I’m sure you’ll want to take your time with this one and read the terms.” He flipped that folder over as well. “And this is your personal info we need, next of kin to notify, several emergency contacts, special skills and any limitations. It’s for our records only, your continued employment does not hinge on the limitations section.”
Then he flipped the folders back over and opened the equipment vouchers folder. She picked up the first voucher. It listed four different computer equipment items. She hesitated and then her gaze went to his.
“Problem?” He asked.
“I’d prefer to sign the equipment vouchers as the equipment is issued,” she said.
The corner of his lip twitched as his jaw set. “Cautious, I like that. But we trust each other around here. I’m not out to screw you for a couple thousand dollars’ worth of equipment.”
She considered it for a second. He was right, she doubted he would. She nodded and signed the documents, her eyes scanning the list of equipment on each form. Cooper took the folder from her when she’d signed the last form.
“I’m going to run this to be processed. Keep working on the others while I’m gone.” He pointed to the door on the wall by the seating area. “Bathroom’s through there if you need it.” Then he disappeared out the door they had entered, closing it behind himself.
She completed the insurance forms, contemplating beneficiary on the life insurance form. They were insuring her on a corporate policy that would pay Shepherd Security a half-a-million if she died under any circumstances. The private policy covered all manner of death but suicide with a two-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar face value. That was the one that required a beneficiary. She pulled that one from the folder and left it on top, incomplete.
Then she pulled out the lengthy employment contract and read it word for word. It stated the oath she was all too familiar with at the bottom and had a line for the witness to sign next to hers. Her stomach cramped up as she read it.
Cooper returned as she stared at it, considering the fact that she was about to take the oath again, something she never thought she would do. “Ah, you’re at The Oath. I can see it on your face,” he said with a smile. He took a seat beside her. He noticed the life insurance form pulled and atop the folder. He looked it over. “My beneficiary is St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Pick your charity if you don’t want to list family.”
“It’s not that,” she said blowing out a breath.
He flipped open the folder that contained her personal information inventory. She had not filled any of it out. “I’ll assume your inability to fill out sections on this is related.”
“Yes,” she said with a small, sad smile that Cooper couldn’t read.
“Your parents both live in Phoenix and our investigation shows you also have a sister who live
s in Seattle.”
Madison nodded.
“Your phone records indicate you call your parents every Sunday.”
Madison chuckled. Of course, they knew everything about her. “I do.”
“Madison, you have to complete these two sheets today.” He pointed to the file folders. “All paperwork must be completed first, before we do anything else.”
She scrubbed her hand over her face and picked the pen back up. She filled her parents in as beneficiaries and then she signed the employment contract. Cooper signed the witness line. He handed her the contract back.
“The Oath,” he prompted.
She looked him straight in the eyes and recited The Oath word for word without even glancing at the paper. Her stomach was queasy, her head felt light, and her chest hurt when she finished. That was it. She was no longer officially a civilian.
“Okay, so here is the standard onboarding speech I give everyone regarding expectations of behavior that isn’t detailed out in the employment contract. You have some immunity from prosecution for civil shit like speeding when off a case, bar fights and the like as well as from some criminal shit, but not full immunity. Shepherd and I aren’t going to fuck around with petty-ass shit too much before we bust you on it.”
She laughed it off. “Don’t worry, that won’t be an issue. I don’t get in many bar fights.”
“We can’t help too much with major shit. Don’t get caught with drugs or engaging in racketeering. And if you’re guilty of an unjustified murder, not associated with a case, we’ll bail on you. But anything related to a case, your ass is covered.”
“Got it,” she agreed.
“There’s one more thing, Miller,” Cooper said. “As your SO, there are certain things I am tasked with assisting you with. While you’re on probation and assigned to me, you can’t go hooking up with just anyone.”
Madison rubbed her hands over her face again. “We are not having this conversation. My love life,” she began.
“Is my business,” Cooper interjected. “Look, I don’t like this anymore than you do, but this is the way it is. For the next six months if you have an itch that needs scratching you come to me and I will either check out and approve who you are considering banging, or I will hook you up with an approved partner.”
“Approved partner, what the fuck?” She stopped herself midsentence. “Never mind, I won’t ask. Don’t worry. It won’t be a problem.”
Cooper raised an eyebrow. It would be for him. “So, does that mean you don’t have anyone for me to check out right now? You’re not seeing anyone?”
She waved her hand while choking back a smile. “Nope, that won’t be necessary. But I’m sure you already know that, know everything about me.”
“Just remember this conversation and come to me whenever you need to,” he added.
“Got it,” she said to placate him.
“And we have a strict no fraternization policy that covers anyone you come in contact with while doing the job.”
“Yes, I saw that in the employment contract. That won’t be a problem either,” she assured him. “I know it’s never a good policy to get your honey where you get your money.”
“You can talk to me or we have a shrink available for you if you need to talk out why putting down beneficiary info was difficult.”
He watched her with an alarming focus. “No story there, nothing to talk about, but thank you.” Her determined glare met his.
He nodded. Miss Madison Miller was a tough cookie. He’d see how tough in the coming weeks, but he suspected she would surprise him, and he didn’t surprise easily.
“I’ve glanced over all the training you received in the Army. You should never have been on the ground in Iraq.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be a high-risk location.”
“Yeah, but it was. We normally wouldn’t send you out until you have had extensive training, but as Shepherd told you, we need you in the field ASAP and this first case is classified as low risk. I’m going to spend two weeks and give you the training you need for it, and then when it’s done another two weeks to prepare you with the skills you need for the second case. I’m sorry, it’s not optimal. I’d prefer to give you all the skills you may ever need before taking you out, but,” he paused and shook his head.
“I get it. You’re pressed for time.”
“So, for your training. You’ve range qualified, so the only weapons training we’ll do is on the different calibers you will be issued to make sure you are comfortable with each weapon’s operation,” Cooper said. “That’ll take less than four hours.”
She nodded.
“And you’re a black belt in karate, so hand to hand combat is covered. We’ll probably have one or two sessions sparring just to be sure it all checks out,” he said.
She smiled uncomfortably and nodded her agreement to this as well. She was never uncomfortable sparring with men, but for some reason the idea of going at it with Cooper made her feel uneasy.
“We will also cover alternate weapons, or everyday weapons, McGyver shit,” he said with a chuckle. “You need to be able to think on your feet and improvise when needed.”
She nodded again. A small smile pulled at her lips. His eyes silently questioned her reaction. “Sorry, I’m just envisioning a stiletto going through someone’s eye or temple.”
He chuckled as he nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about, improvising.”
“That should be fun.”
“Surveillance and tailing are subjects we’ll have to schedule when we can get two other team members to assist. We usually run three-man tails. We’ll cover that later this week.”
“I’ve done it as the eye in the sky, never on the ground. From what I’ve seen it takes a certain finesse.”
Cooper nodded yes to her statement. He was pretty sure she would have that finesse. “For a couple hours a day for the next two weeks we’ll hit undercover protocol or what some guys like to call street smarts. We’ll review it over and over until you can recite it forward and backwards in your sleep. It will save your life if an Op ever goes south.”
This sent a chill down her spine. She knew all too well what going south meant.
“We’ll also have Doc run you through some remedial combat medical training. We’ve all got basic knowledge.”
She nodded again, steeling herself against the dread that was beginning to consume her. This shit was all too real, reminding her of what she had signed up for.
“Garcia wants a few hours of your time in the Ops Center too, so we’ll work that in.”
Now that got her attention. There was no doubt she would feel more at ease there, comfortable territory. “So, how many field teams are you running?”
“Four. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. We also employ eight pilots to shuttle us around, and eight Ops Center Analysts who double as our IT geeks. Angel is our only clerical support, more of an office manager and bookkeeper. We employ one equipment manager who maintains our inventory and fills all requisitions. And we have a Tech-Goddess by the name of Michaela. All the cool gadgets we have, she invented. There is also a team shrink on the payroll. You’ll meet with him as well and get cleared before you go out. We rotate a few members between the teams based on the missions, but a few are permanently assigned. You will be a floater.”
“Besides Shepherd, you, Doc, Jackson, and Garcia were in my interview. Are you the four team leads?”
“No, Doc and I are permanent members of Alfa. Jackson is mostly on Alfa but rotates as needed to the other teams acting as team lead. Garcia splits his time in Operations or the Control Center and on Alfa. He has wicked computer skills but is a damn good Operator, so we can’t let him stay in the Ops Center hidey-hole he’d prefer. He has also acted as a team lead on Bravo when needed.”
“Is Doc a real doctor?”
“Better than. He was an experienced big city paramedic before his reserve unit got called up to active and deployed to the Sandbox. There he served w
ith distinction as a medic, taking any and all additional training where he could get it. He soon became the go-to guy for anything trauma, surpassing the skills of any MD. He took an active gig with the Rangers when his unit was rotating home, where he served four more years. I won’t even tell you what I’ve seen the man do to save lives. When I’m shot, he’s the only one I want to dig around for the bullet, no matter where it’s at, shrapnel, broken bones, you name it. He’s your guy.”
She considered that for a moment. She hoped she’d personally never need to know the extent of Doc’s skills. “Do you have medics on the other teams?”
“Yes, we have three other medics as permanent members of the other teams. Shepherd and I know the value of emergency care for us as well as anyone we extract.”
“What was Shepherd’s rank when he was in?”
