by C. W. Stokes
“Hi Shelby, Hi Amanda, where are you two off to?”
“We are going to try out the new burger place down the street.” Amanda said.
“A good burger sounds really good right about now.” Alex looked at them.
“Why don’t you join us?” Amanda asked her. Shelby was surprised.
“Thanks kiddo, but I need to go see Liz before I go up and crash for a few days.” She tweaked Amanda’s nose before she walked off.
“Come on Manda, let’s go get a burger.” They walked out onto the sidewalk. The sun was beginning to set as they walked down the street. The sunset reminded Shelby of the night in Mexico when she had been on the patio and the late summer storm blew in. She pushed the thoughts away. She wasn’t going to think about Max; not anymore. He was gone, and she had to move on no matter what tomorrow would bring.
They walked into the restaurant, and a waitress sat them in a booth towards the back. The menus were on the table, and as the waitress waited to take their order her phone buzzed. She looked down and saw that it was Max. She pushed the ignore button. What could he possibly have to say to her? She was going to enjoy her evening with Amanda. They ordered their dinner and sat chatting while they waited for their food.
Their food arrived pretty quickly and soon they were both eating their burgers and drinking the huge malt that Shelby had ordered. Amanda laughed at Shelby when she saw just how big it was. Amanda grabbed a straw and began to help her drink the silky smooth drink. They both knew she wouldn’t be able to drink it all by herself, but it was still good and so were the burgers. They finished their meals and headed back to TAG.
As they walked back Shelby's thoughts drifted back to the events of the day. Once again she was left with picking up the pieces once he was gone. Except this time she was the one who ended it, but it didn't make the pain hurt any less. She had planned on telling him about Amanda after the assignment was over, but now there was no point.
When they got home, they both changed into their pajamas and settled in to watch a movie. Shelby popped some popcorn even though they were both completely stuffed from dinner, but it just didn't seem right to watch a movie without the finger licking buttery popcorn. Sitting next to Amanda on the couch, she snuggled up next to her as they scrolled through the movies to see what was available they settled on My Fair Lady.
She felt Amanda’s deep breathing next to her short after the movie started. It had been a long time since she had fallen asleep in her arms. She laid her down on the couch and covered her up with a blanket. Picking up the phone, she called Liz. “Is it too late for that dessert?” she asked.
“Of course not, come on up. Alex is here.” Liz told her.
“Great, I’ll be up in a few minutes.” She hung up walking over to Amanda she reached down to nudge her daughter awake. “Amanda, honey I’m going upstairs to visit with Liz for a little bit.”
“Ok,” She said sleepily before she lay her head back down on the pillow pulling her blanket up around her chin. Shelby kissed her on the head before she left.
###
She walked into Liz’s apartment a short while later and found Alex, Tabby and Jo sitting at the table. Liz was pulling a cheesecake out of the fridge. She walked over and pulled out the plates from the cabinet and sat them down on the table as Liz was cutting the cheesecake. They each grabbed a fork and slid a slice onto their plate.
“Ladies as always you did an awesome job.” Liz lifted her fork in a salute.
“Was there any doubt that we would? Tomorrow we will kick butt?” Tabby declared.
“Speaking of, aren’t you supposed to be getting ready?” Shelby snapped at Tabby. She couldn’t quite feel the enthusiasm. She was still upset about the way Max had reacted to the virus. She had wanted things to end on a positive note, but it hadn’t.
“We are flying in later this evening and will be ready to go in whenever we get the authorization from Liz.” Jo said looking at Shelby.
Liz was watching her closely. “Shelby, they will execute the warrants first thing in the morning and should have the indictment by the end of the month.” Liz told her.
“That’s great. I’m glad that we were able to help them with all of it.” she said reluctantly.
“Shelby, what’s going on?” Jo asked her. “You of all people should be happy about this. If it wasn’t for your technology we wouldn’t have been able to get the evidence.”
“Max saw the virus in my office.” She looked at Liz waiting for a reaction.
“What do you mean? Shelby?” Liz asked cautiously.
“When I met with you to tell you that we had the evidence, I left the console open and the virus was up on the screen. Max had gone to tell John, but when I got back both of them were in my office staring at the screen. Max demanded to know what it was and then threatened that if I didn't explain it he would have no choice but to interfere or possibly arrest me.” She stopped to take a sip of water. “I lost my temper and told him that he'd have to have evidence before he could do that, just like he needed evidence to arrest Oleg and Patricia.” She saw the shocked look on everyone’s faces.
“Shelby, I’m sorry.” Tabby said as she looked to Liz, and before she could get it out.
“Denied Tabby. You can’t interfere with Max. Shelby will take care of him.” Liz warned her. Tabby deflated at Liz’s warning, but she still had her feathers ruffled.
“Tabby, really I’m ok. I knew it probably wasn't going to last, and it was best this way.” she said, but couldn’t convince herself that it was true.
Tabby and Jo left a little while later to get ready to help John's team the next day. Liz, Shelby and Alex sat around the table in silence.
“I told him about my sister.” she whispered.
“Oh Shelby, why?” Liz asked her.
“He made me so angry and he'd been questioning why I didn’t like Roger and it just came rushing out.” Her eyes began to water as she looked at Alex. “What is going on with you? You’ve been so quiet and reserved lately.” She wanted to change the subject.
She saw her hesitate, “What do you know about Agent McCade?” she asked them.
They both looked at her in surprise. “We met him initially with Max the day that John asked for our help. He went with Tabby and Jo to New York the night before they found the videos. Why?” Liz asked
“He was on the plane with Tabby and Jo?” Alex asked her.
“Yes. Alex I personally went with them to the airport and watched them get on the plane.” Shelby said. “Plus I watched him in the club as Jo and Tabby scoped out the back room. He’s the one who spotted Pretrovsky.”
“It’s just that I met him in Las Vegas or so I thought.” Alex pushed her palms against her eyes. “I’m really tired, so I’m going downstairs to take a really long bath and go to bed.” she said as she got up from the table.
“Alex, if you need anything you only have to ask.” Shelby told her.
They both watched her leave. Liz turned back to her. “Shelby are you going to be alright?”
“Yes Liz I’ll be alright. It’s just going to hurt for a while. I made the mistake of falling in love with him again. I didn’t want too, but I did. He was able to walk in to my life and just as easily walk right back out.” She got up from the table. “That long bath sounds really good right now, so I'm going to go and then get some much needed sleep. I’ll be in my office early in the morning ready to go.” She walked to the elevator.
“Shelby, is there anything I can do?” Liz asked her.
“No, this is one thing that no one can help with.” She got on the elevator and went home.
###
Max was sitting in the spare bedroom of John’s loft thinking about Shelby. He couldn’t get the look on her face out of his mind. She had been hurt. What had she said about Hawk being responsible for her sister’s death? He was going to look into that, but he had to concentrate on tomorrow.
They were going in to arrest Patricia Young and Douglas Oleg for
the murder of Agent Kim Le. He had doubted that he would be able to be a part of arresting whoever had killed her, but was glad that he was. He was angry that Patricia could turn on the agency that had given her opportunities that so many women didn’t get in the bureau. He couldn’t believe that she could be greedy enough to turn on her on gender to peddle in human trafficking. He was going to enjoy arresting her and watch as they put her away for life if they didn’t give her the death penalty.
Once all of this was over he was going to go to Shelby and see what he could do to help her with Hawk. He knew that she didn’t like him, but now that he understood why, he wanted to help. He didn’t want to help her just because he didn’t like Hawk but because he was in love with her. The realization hit him hard. He knew that his feelings had grown, but he hadn’t realized that she had snuck back in and stole his heart just as she had years before.
He hadn’t had a problem with being alone all these years, but suddenly he didn’t like it at all. She made him feel whole. When he had gone down to Mexico to escape the horror of Kim’s death he hadn’t realized what he had been missing. She had opened up that part of him that he had buried during his assignment so long ago.
He had been on his own for so long that he hadn’t realized that he needed someone to talk too. Not just anyone, he needed Shelby. He had come to rely on her. He had looked forward to seeing her every day. He enjoyed waking up with her in his arms. He liked the way she chewed the inside of her lip when she was in deep thought or the way she wiggled her nose as she worked at her computer. She was right, not everything was black and white. He would do what was necessary to get her back in his life.
Chapter Twenty Three
When Shelby walked into her office the next morning she wasn’t quite sure how she would feel. Her sanctuary had resorted back to being spacious and somewhat empty. She had gotten used to Max being there every day. She looked at his cup sitting on her desk and wondered what he was doing at that moment. Opening the console she pulled up the screen with the cameras still focused on the club. She saw Patricia’s car parked in the back.
Alex walked in and sat down next to her. “Shelby, I need you to do me a favor.”
“Sure Alex, what is it?” she asked.
“Can you run a search on McCade?”
“What are you looking for?”
“I need to know everything. Where he’s from, parents, siblings, his entire background.”
Shelby looked at Alex for a minute. Something wasn’t right, but she also knew that Alex wouldn’t ask her to do this unless it was important. She nodded her head and placed her hand on Alex’s. “I’ll get you the information. Give me a couple of days, ok?”
“Ok.” Alex nodded and squeezed her hand. “Thanks Shelby, for not asking why.” She stood up and walked out the door.
She pulled up a separate screen and entered the search information for Ross McCade.
Liz walked in as she finished entering the search criteria.
“I just got off the phone with Jo, and they are moving in.” She told Shelby.
Her screen to the left started flashing. When she looked at it, she saw John and Max creeping up to the front of the club. Tabby, Jo and Ross were at the back door. Jo had disabled Patricia’s car in case she was able to make it out the back.
“Jo, can you hear me? I need each of you to signal that you can hear me.” Shelby said to the group.
“Check, you’re clear.” Jo was the first to respond.
“Tabby.” She watched as Tabby nodded.
Ross and John both acknowledged with a signal. “Max.” He finally nodded, but she had wanted to hear his voice.
“Good, I have you on video and the cameras inside are still active. Patricia is in the office, and the hidden door is open. Go slow and be careful. I’ll be your eyes as you proceed.” She told them.
They watched as John pulled his Glock as he opened the front door to the club and disappeared inside. Shelby switched the view to the inside cameras to watch their progress. The club was quiet and empty this time of day. She watched as Max veered to the left while John moved to the right. Tabby, Jo and Ross moved in from the back. Pulling up the camera from inside Oleg’s office she saw the door behind the book case was open. Shelby watched as a woman walked out of the room. “Liz!” She yelled. “Do you know who that is?” She pointed to the screen.
“Natasha Sokolov.” Liz said and immediately John’s posture change at the mention of the name. “Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but Natasha Sokolov just came out of the hidden room.”
They watched as the group stopped in the lounge area.
“Who the hell is Natasha Sokolov?” Jo demanded.
“She’s an assassin.” John bit out.
###
Patricia was sitting at the desk waiting on Douglas. He was in the back with Natasha Sokolov. She had arrived that morning to talk to him about Aleksei Yakov. Aleksei was Douglas’ boss in Russia. She didn’t know what the connection was now, but she didn’t care as long as it didn’t interfere with her getting paid. She had been sent in to infiltrate his operation, but it didn’t take long for her to get caught up in the business.
These girls were coming to America for a better life. They just had to pay a small price before they were able to continue on to living in the land of the free. All she had to do was turn a blind eye to what was really happening and she'd made more in one year than she would have her entire lifetime at the bureau. She would be able to retire whenever she wanted to.
She was getting impatient with them though. Douglas was supposed to finish up with Natasha so they could move forward with their next shipment. When Douglas had first spotted Ivan several nights before in the club he was sure that he wouldn’t live to see the next day. But nothing had happened and now Natasha was here.
She strained to listen as Douglas and Natasha talked in the back room. She heard a thud on the floor and got up to go check on him, but didn’t have a chance before Natasha walked out. Patricia would never be able to hear, speak or breathe again.
###
Shelby watched in horror as Natasha walked up to Patricia and shot her point blank in the head.
“Jo, she just shot Patricia and I’m guessing Oleg is probably in the hidden room. You need to get out of there. She is coming your way.” Shelby yelled!
They watched as John motioned for Max and Ross to retreat, but as they were backing out Ivan Petrovsky walked in. Tabby broke away from Jo as she was backing out of the rear entrance and ran towards Ivan as he entered the lounge.
“Tabby! Abort! Now” Liz demanded.
Tabby crouched and dove towards him and fired her Sig at Petrovsky. She saw something roll from his hand just as a loud explosion ripped through the club and the screens went black.
Liz screamed at the monitors, “NO!”
Shelby’s blood ran cold. She had never seen Liz lose her control. The screens had all gone dark which meant only one thing. A bomb had gone off in the building. Shelby turned to her console and tried pulling up the camera from the parking lot across the back alley. It was still on, but the screen had snow across it. She could make out the building and some movement, but she couldn’t tell what the movement was from and by whom.
Liz’s phone was ringing and Shelby picked it up. “Hello?” She answered and put the call on speaker.
“Shelby? It’s John, where’s Liz?” His voice was rough.
“I’m here, what happened?” she said a little too harsh.
“As we were backing out of the club, Ivan walked into the lounge and threw an MK3 grenade. Natasha was coming out of the office when he threw the grenade and Tabby was able to get a few shots off at him before he threw the explosive. If Shelby hadn’t told us about Natasha we would have been in that blast. As it is we are just scraped and fairly pissed off.” He bit out. “Actually Tabby is more than fairly pissed off.”
“I can only imagine. Put her on the phone.” Liz told him.
“Hey Liz, that mothe
r fucker got away. Oh hell no! Liz, please don’t tell me to walk away from this.” She yelled.
“Tabby, I’m not going to tell you to walk away. But I'm going to tell you that in all good time. You get my meaning, right?” Liz asked her.
There was a long pause of silence before she relented. “Yes Liz I do.”
“Good. We'll talk about you disobeying orders later. Now, let me talk to Jo.” She told her.
“Liz, she is pissed, but we all seem to be alright. I think everyone’s just shaken that we didn’t see this one.” She told Liz.
“We should have taken the sighting of Petrovsky a little more serious. Natasha is never far behind Petrovsky whenever he has a job to do. But we can discuss him when we do our debriefing later. I’m glad that everyone is alright. Finish up there and call us if you need anything.” She murmured and hung up the phone. Liz paused for a moment to get her bearings around her. She stood straight and let out a deep breath. “Shelby, I’m going back to my office, if anything else develops, please call me as soon as possible.”
“Of course I will Liz.” She told her as she watched her walk out of the office.
Shelby sank down into her chair and bowed her head into her hands. She looked at her phone hoping that Max would call. She didn’t want to think about what would have if they hadn't been a part of this operation. They would have walked right into the grenade and just like that they would have been gone. Max had been within feet of being blown up. The one man who made her feel alive. He had brought her body to life and made her step out of her comfort zone on so many occasions. He allowed her to be spontaneous. Now she had to move forward and what was she going to do without him in her life? She didn’t want to think about it.
She switched all of the monitors back to Rogers’s businesses and homes. She pulled the virus up on the main screen and just sat there watching it as it worked its way through the network.
