Operation: Recruited Angel (Shepherd Security Book 2)

by Margaret Kay

Madison never knew what complete trust in another was until she and Cooper stepped over this line. To open your heart, soul, and body to another the way she had to Cooper was unfathomable to her before. She knew with past lovers she had always remained reserved, had never fully let go, had never allowed herself to simmer in the passion and physical excitement she felt.

  Cooper gazed into the beautiful, sparkling blue eyes of the woman he held, his woman. The peace he felt was consuming, a marked change to what he typically felt after sex. Normally, yes, the release left him free of whatever mental anguishes or stresses he felt, but this was different. This was more. Making love to Madison left him euphoric, energized, a sense of tranquility permeating his being that he didn’t think he had ever known.

  He kissed her again with the passion that had crept into every corner of his consciousness. Then he reached over and turned the bedside light off. As far as he was concerned, the only way to end tonight was to hold her as he fell asleep. After what they had just experienced, no words were needed.

  Madison lay there for several minutes, trying to wrap her mind around how phenomenal this sexual experience with Cooper was, before she realized he had turned the light off and was just holding her silently. She stopped herself from talking, wondering if he felt the same way she did, dazed by how explosive and emotionally connecting their lovemaking was. It was exceptional the first time. How could it be that much better this time? That seemed impossible.

  “Stop thinking,” Cooper murmured. “Just enjoy what this feels like.”

  She sighed out a small laugh. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  Cooper snuggled closer, wrapping his body more tightly around hers. “Because I know how your beautiful brain rolls everything around, analyzing everything from every possible angle. Just stop. Just feel. Just accept how good it is.”

  And, without another word, she did just that. She held him and just took in every sensation, and she just let it be what it was. It felt good. It felt right. It felt safe. She felt content, cared for, and loved. She drifted off to sleep quickly with that bliss surrounding her as surely as Cooper’s arms were.

  Victor

  Madison took a bite of her sandwich spiral while watching the camera feeds of the building security panel switch from one view to the other. She was getting a feel for the camera placements and timing of the view rotation. It was just Garcia and her manning Ops. BT wouldn’t be in until fourteen-hundred that afternoon. He needed two hours of personal time. She welcomed this time to orient her to the Ops Center. This was her first partial shift for training purposes. It felt as though she’d come home.

  Her phone chimed a sound she never heard it make.

  Garcia nearly leapt out of his chair. He grabbed it before she had the chance to, being careful not to answer it. He tapped the displayed incoming phone number into his laptop. Then his eyes flickered up to Madison. “That’s the decoy phone line. If Diaz doesn’t leave you a message, you’ll call him back.”

  They waited what seemed an eternity before the phone made a different sound and the voicemail icon popped up on the display screen.

  “Yes!” Garcia exclaimed while pumping his fist. He handed the phone to Madison. “Put the message on speaker.”

  She unlocked it and hit play on the message.

  “Hey sweet-thing, do you know who this is?” Diaz’s unmistakable voice broadcast into the room. “I’m calling to collect on that free sixty-minute massage you promised me.” He recited his callback number, which was the number that had displayed. “Call me and let’s do this.” He sounded confident and cocky, his words alluding to more than a massage.

  Garcia ran the number. It was a burn phone sold in Chicago four days earlier from a store that Diaz had not gone near. It must have been in the backpack that Mendoza gave him. “Interesting.”

  “Did you notice he didn’t say his name?”

  Garcia nodded. “He never told you his name when you made contact with him either.”

  Madison searched her thoughts of the encounter. “No, he didn’t. I’m glad you noted that. If I was to call him Diaz, and he knew he didn’t tell me his name, that would be a tip-off.”

  “That’s why you didn’t answer the phone. You always want to keep your advantage by analyzing the current and prior situations when contacting a subject. If you can pull it off, all contact is on your terms and scripted.”

  Madison nodded. There was a lot more to this than met the eye.

  “You will have to ask him for his name when you call back. Not yet though. Cooper will want to be here for that.” He picked up his own phone and stabbed out a text message to Cooper. Not even a minute later, his phone rang. “Hey Coop,” he greeted.

  “Yeah, hold on that call-back until I’m there. I want the whole team assembled, and a script prepared for Miller.”

  Madison heard Cooper through Anthony’s phone. Her lips tipped up into a smile that she couldn’t control. Memories of the quickie they shared that morning made her cheeks flush pink. What he had done to her body that morning had been incredible. She took a long drink of her cold water to try to help herself cool off.

  “I’ll set a team meeting for fourteen-hundred when BT gets in. I’ll pull Miraldi back from the Tech-Lab shortly and do a turn over to him in preparation, so Madison and I are freed up.” He ended the call and then eyed Madison questioningly. “Your face is red.”

  “I got a strong peppercorn in the Italian spiral, watch it,” she lied as she pointed to his plate.

  “I didn’t take any of the Italian spirals. I like their ham and swiss the best.” Then he lifted another and popped it into his mouth.

  At fourteen-hundred BT got on shift and relieved Garcia and Madison in the Ops Center. Madison was happy Miraldi wasn’t completely pissed about being called back early. She knew he wanted more time with Michaela in the Tech-Lab, but he had also known he was on call to return to the Ops Center when needed. Technically, she and Garcia were still on active for field duty, which of course took precedence.

  They were the last to arrive in Shepherd’s office for the meeting. Madison had expected it to take place in one of the conference rooms or in Cooper’s office. She certainly didn’t want to have to be face-to-face with Shepherd in this office this soon after admitting her transgression and his declaring himself her new SO.

  Shepherd sat back and observed, letting Cooper take the lead in the meeting. First, he had Garcia put the message up on the large monitor. He played it throughout the room. He recapped his findings on the origin of the burn phone. Jackson summarized the surveillance data on the motel room Diaz was holed up in.

  Then Shepherd pinned her with a serious stare that she couldn’t decipher. “Are you ready for this, Miller? It’s your call if we continue to make contact with Diaz.”

  Madison nodded. “Yes. This is an in with him.”

  “You’re in, is that he wants to fuck you,” Cooper grumbled.

  Shepherd shot him a warning stare. “We can take over a massage clinic, staff it with our people. The risk should be minimal, and we would be observing at all times.”

  “What is the purpose?” Cooper asked. “We aren’t going to let him go any further with her, he’s not taking her back to his biker bar with his scumbag buddies, so we can try to implant her with that group. That is not happening.” He wanted to be sure that was out there. No, she would not be used that way. That would be too dangerous.

  “It could give us an opportunity to plant more tech on him, a better tracker, maybe a wire. Hell, if he leaves his phone in his clothes, while he’s on the table getting his massage, I can clone the damn thing,” Garcia debated.

  “That’s if he holds onto that burner phone long enough for us to get something,” Cooper argued. He didn’t like it.

  Shepherd nodded. “We move forward with it. Miller, we’ll script the call out for you and have you call to set it up just as soon as Garcia finds me a small massage parlor we can take over. I’ll have Vic, my physical ther
apist, give you a few basics on how to perform a massage. He’s due later this afternoon. Plan on a late evening everyone.”

  The Next Day

  Madison clasped her hands together. They were shaking. Diaz was due any minute.

  “Showtime, boys and girls. The subject just pulled into the parking lot,” Lambchop’s voice came through everyone’s comms. “When his treatment is underway, I will wire his car.”

  Mother popped his comms out of his ear and stepped behind the counter. Madison removed hers as well and handed it to Cooper. They both retreated back into the hallway that led to the massage rooms. Cooper opened the door to room number two, beside the one the massage would take place in. He nodded to Garcia and Jackson, who would be monitoring the surveillance equipment.

  “Let’s do this by the numbers,” Cooper said.

  They nodded.

  He closed the door and he and Madison hung back in the hallway waiting. Finally, the chime on the door tinkled. They heard Mother’s voice greet Diaz. Then they heard Diaz’s unmistakable twangy voice.

  “Please have a seat. She should be nearly ready for you. Our normal front counter girl is out sick, again, so I will let Maddie work out the payment,” Mother’s annoyed voice said.

  Cooper’s eyes remained fixed on his watch. He made them wait four minutes. Then he nodded. They stepped towards the main room.

  “Have a good week, I’ll see you next week,” Madison said.

  “I forgot to tell you, I’m out of town next week for work. Make it two weeks,” Cooper said.

  “Sure,” Madison replied. She flashed a smile at Diaz. As Cooper left, she approached him. “Hi, did you find us okay?”

  “Yeah, you gave good directions.”

  “Maddie, I didn’t do anything about forms or payment. We seriously need a receptionist that is more reliable. I have a client due at two-thirty. I’m going to have to lock the door,” Mother said with aggravation.

  Madison shrugged her shoulders. “Then turn the sign to closed and lock it. I’ll man the desk after I’m done with this client.” Her gaze settled back on Diaz. She smiled and nodded. “Are you ready?”

  He shot to his feet and followed her back into the hallway. She led him to door number one. She closed the door and leaned against it. “So, besides your tense back muscles that I already am acquainted with, do you have any other muscles that need attention?” Yes, her conversation had been carefully scripted by the team. Much to Cooper’s dismay, she would come off as flirty.

  “Oh sweet-thing, I think you know what muscle needs attention.” He shot her a sexual leer.

  “That I’m massaging. This isn’t a hook up. I’m not a prostitute. The offer is for a bona fide massage.” She acted like she had caught herself saying something she didn’t mean. “I’m sorry, poor choice of words. I mean a legitimate, no sex massage.”

  He laughed out loud.

  “Shh,” she hushed him. “This is a quiet environment aimed at producing the most calming effect for our clients.”

  His lips tipped into a broad grin. “Calming isn’t what any man would want alone in a room with you.”

  At least he had lowered his voice a bit. She ignored his remark, but smiled flirtatiously, just a little, just enough to encourage him. “I’m going to step out. Please disrobe to your comfort level and we’ll start with you face down on the table. Cover yourself with the sheet to your waist please.” She pointed to the chair near the door. “You can place your clothes and personal effects there.”

  “Disrobe, now we’re talking,” he said with a smile, his eyes raking over her body. “By the way, I like the clingy tank top and pants look. They both look like they are made from that stretchy material that peels off so easy. Are you sure you can’t let this massage go a little further than normal?”

  “Pedro,” she admonished playfully, “a massage. That’s it.” She turned the lights lower.

  “If you insist. You can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said with a little laugh.

  She stepped into the hall, closing him within the room alone.

  Cooper had reentered the building as soon as Mother gave him the all clear. He was inside the room with Garcia and Jackson watching the encounter on the monitor, listening in with earphones covering both ears.

  They all watched him strip naked after she left. He settled himself on the table after rearranging his man-junk, and pulled the sheet up, just over his bare ass. He sat his phone to the table beside him though. Damn.

  Madison quietly opened the door to the room the three men were in. Her eyes gazed at him stripping and settling on the table.

  “The fucker’s naked,” Cooper whispered to her, taking his earphones off.

  “You’re all here. I’ll be fine.”

  Garcia came to his feet. “I’ll grab his stuff while you wash your hands but see if you can get that phone away from him.”

  Madison nodded. She went back to the door to room number one and quietly opened it. He watched her as she came to the head of the table. She activated relaxation music in a CD player on the counter in front of her. “Can I put your phone with your clothes? The goal is to relax.”

  He grasped his phone in his hand. “It stays with me.”

  “At least silence it. And I’d like you to close your eyes now and take ten deep breaths in preparation.” Then she washed her hands in the sink while watching him and she counted his breaths aloud. Garcia reached in and grabbed his clothes.

  Then she coated her hands with lavender scented oil and began the massage as Shepherd’s massage therapist taught her. She gently pressed down on different areas of his back followed by running her hands over the muscles from the small of his back up to his shoulders. After a good ten minutes of working on his back amid moans of pleasure from him, she worked each shoulder and over his heavily tattooed arms. He had ugly gang tats, skulls, marijuana leaves, words spelled out over his back, over his hands, fingers, knuckles.

  Cooper watched the camera feed seething that her hands were stroking over his bare flesh. He swore to God that if she massaged his temples and head like she did his, he would burst into that room thumping his chest like a barbarian to claim his woman. And then he’d beat the shit out of this guy.

  She did a quick five minutes on each leg, stopping before her fingers made contact with either butt cheek. Then she pulled the sheet halfway up his back.

  “Roll over to your back,” she said softly.

  “That’s it on this side? Sweet-thing, my ass is tense, could use your hands to work out the knots.” He raised his head and winked at her.

  “That body part would not be on the agenda,” she whispered. “Roll over and let’s work on your neck and upper chest.”

  After he had positioned himself onto his back, he grasped his hard cock and held it straight up tenting the sheet. His shit-eating grin focused on Madison.

  “That would not be a part of your body that I’m massaging today.”

  “Hum, you said today, not never. I’m making progress,” he said and then winked at her.

  “Close your eyes and let me work some magic on this side.”

  He complied and reclosed his eyes. “Oh sweet-thing, don’t you tease me. We both know what magic I’d like you to work on this side. I’m throbbing at the thought of it.”

  In the room next door, Cooper sighed and spoke in a whisper. “I want to beat the shit out of this guy.”

  “I’ll bet Madison would like to rip his dick off about now,” Garcia whispered in reply. He had just finished planting the wire in Diaz’s belt buckle and a second tracker in his wallet.

  Cooper didn’t want her anywhere near Diaz’s dick. As he watched though, he was impressed with her handling of this assignment. Diaz was slimy, but Madison handled herself like a pro. He was proud of her. He knew massaging over this scumbag was not what she wanted to do, but she worked her hands over him with no shyness.

  “Okay, our time is up,” she said. “I’d like you to close your eyes. I’m going to pl
ace a warm towel over your face and neck. Let me know if it’s too hot.” She took the steaming towel from the machine in the corner and then laid it over his face and neck. “Breathe deeply for ten counts,” she said as she patted the towel into his face, counting out loud. Garcia soundlessly opened the door and sat his clothing back to the chair before reclosing the door just as quietly.

  She wiped his face and neck with the towel. His eyes reopened.

  “Take your time getting up. You may be a bit dizzy. Redress and I’ll be back with a glass of water.”

  She tried to step away, but he grabbed her hand and held her in place as he sat up. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand, followed by one to her palm. She forced a pleasant expression when inside she recoiled.