Operation: Fallen Angel (Shepherd Security Book 4)

by Margaret Kay

“That was the first thing I did. These employees shake out to who they’re supposed to be, verified through outside sources. I ran everyone through the Nationwide Criminal with SSN Trace with Alias Database, the Sex Offender Registry, the Global Criminal Watch List, the Federal Criminal Database. I also ran everyone for Nationwide Wants and Warrants, and through CODIS and AFIS.”

  Cooper shook his head again. Doc could tell he was getting frustrated. “Anything else suspicious?”

  “Just that no one has hit on me,” Madison said. “My short-skirted ass has walked all over that manufacturing floor and not a single man has even flirted with me.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’m losing my sex appeal.”

  “Never!” Cooper said with an exaggerated expression of disbelief on his face.

  “I’d like Jackson and me to confront Janey Walters on the clean piss tests,” Doc said.

  Cooper nodded. “I say we divide the Walters’ up and confront them both with the same questions to see what answers we get.”

  They spent the next twenty minutes scripting out the questions each team would ask the separated couple. Cooper, Madison, and Garcia would grill Rick while Doc and Jackson would have a not so routine HR meeting with Janey. Their questions would be identical and then the team would meet after to compare notes.

  It was after hours when the team found the Walters’ getting ready to leave for the day. The team insisted on meeting with them each, right then and there. After their meetings with each, they reconvened.

  “Rick claims to know nothing about anything HR related,” Cooper said.

  “And Janey has the same ignorance regarding R&D and the manufacturing process,” Jackson replied.

  “I don’t believe either of them,” Garcia said. “I don’t teach fourth grade, but I can tell you everything about Sienna’s job.”

  “Unless they don’t talk about work after they are home,” Doc suggested.

  “Come on, Madison and I never stop discussing work.”

  “I don’t think it’s possible to work together and not talk about it when your home,” Madison agreed.

  They went over the answers to the questions, one by one.

  “Rick can describe how the random piss tests are determined but said the company doctor is in charge of collecting them and sending them to the offsite laboratory,” Cooper said.

  “Hum, that’s odd. Janey said she’s in charge of pulling the names every week for the tests, but she is not present for them. That’s left to the company doctor. And the company doctor, Dr. Rod Stanley, is the one who runs the tests. They don’t get sent offsite,” Jackson said.

  “I’d like to interview the good doctor first thing tomorrow morning and see what he says,” Doc said. “There’s something about the guy I don’t like.”

  Cooper nodded. “Do it.”

  “What don’t you like about him?” Madison asked. This was the first they were hearing about Doc’s feeling.

  “I can’t put my finger on it. He has been cooperative, opened all the records to me, answered all my questions. But he’s downplayed his role, minimized how much he does, referred to himself as a dispenser of Tylenol as his main function. Most doctors don’t do that.”

  “Come to think of it,” Jackson said, “that’s another thing that is odd. Their safety record is too good. Not a single Work-Comp claim in three years. I wish I would have thought about that before we interviewed the owners.”

  “We can go back at them with that one in the next round. I have a feeling we will be talking with them again,” Cooper said. His gaze went back to Jackson and Doc. “Rick explained the cash infusion just over four years ago as inheritance money invested in the business so they could go after government contracts, knew it was the only way to be solvent enough to qualify. He anticipated a few years of loss based on their bids.”

  “Janey stated nearly the same thing, but she didn’t call it an inheritance. She called it her mamma’s money,” Doc said, feigning Janey’s southern accent on the last two words. He chuckled.

  Garcia clicked the keys on his laptop. A few seconds later he looked up. “Janey Walters’ mamma is alive and well in a retirement villa in Naples, Florida.”

  “Inheritance, my ass!” Madison exclaimed. “These clients of ours are either stupid or under the influence of something if they think they can slip all of this past us.”

  “Oh, and Miss Janey claims they have an aggressive anti-drug education policy. That is why no one has gotten popped,” Doc said. “Their employees just don’t use, plain and simple.” His voice easily shifted to the southern accent again.

  Garcia let out a sarcastic sound. “Every company has employees that use. Cannabis leaves tat-guy smokes. I guarantee you.”

  “You need to be with Doc and Jackson when they meet the remainder of the employees. I want you to take a few smoke breaks with every shift too. You better stop and get a pack on the way back to the hotel tonight,” Cooper ordered. “And while you’re at it, be a pig regarding Madison too. See if any of the guys jump on your bandwagon. My wife is hot. No one flirting with her or hitting on her is beyond suspicious.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “And wear a short-sleeved shirt tomorrow so your tats show, and no tie,” Cooper added. “The more you can look like one of them, the better the chance you have that someone will get comfortable and slip up.”

  Garcia nodded.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Cooper ordered, coming to his feet. “We’ll be back at zero-five-hundred. I want us to come in, unannounced, during the last few hours of third shift.”

  Quebec

  Doc rode with Garcia on the way back to the hotel. It was past nineteen-hundred hours. The convenience store he would stop in was beside a salad and sandwich shop. That was what Doc wanted for dinner, a salad with grilled chicken atop it. They had been eating unhealthy fare the last few days. Lunch had been pizza ordered in.

  “When next you talk to Sienna, thank her for me. Elizabeth has enjoyed staying with her and helping her grade her papers. I really appreciate her having Elizabeth. I would have worried too much about her had she stayed alone at my condo.”

  “No worries,” Garcia said. “Sienna has enjoyed it and having Elizabeth there is keeping her company too. I think Elizabeth is spoiling her though, she has had lunch made for Sienna when she comes home during her lunch break.” He chuckled. “And I’m hoping it’s softening Sienna so that she’ll finally agree to marry me and get pregnant. I’m going to really push her when we get back. I think this wanting to wait shit is fucking ridiculous.”

  Doc wasn’t sure why he was pushing so hard. “Why the hurry?”

  “I just want to get on with my life,” Garcia said. “I spent more years under as Razor when I was with the DEA than I ever wanted. And going back under last year,” he paused and shook his head. “Fuck man, that was six months of my life I will never get back. Besides, from the second I was with Sienna; I knew she was it. And it wasn’t just because the sex was so good.”

  Doc wished he felt the same. He wanted to feel that way about Elizabeth. He just didn’t. Hell, the sex wasn’t even great as he was focused on trying to be gentle with her because she was so inexperienced and pregnant. He rubbed his forehead and then his hand slid to his tense neck.

  “Explain,” Garcia prompted.

  “Explain what?”

  Garcia laughed sarcastically. “You, my brother, are not on the same page. Everything about this, from the second you got back to the hangar in Djibouti through now has been off. I know none of us pushed you when you were obviously going through some bad shit after we got back, but maybe we should have. I have eyes. I know you’re not in love with that girl you married.”

  Doc sighed out loud. “I’m doing the right thing by marrying her. She’s pregnant with my kid.”

  “Yeah, explain that one.”

  Now Doc laughed sarcastically. “I really need to explain to you, of all people, how she got pregnant?”

  “Fuck you,” Garcia threw back
. “You follow regs. It’s who you are. And I’ll never believe you took advantage of that young thing, unlike what I did as Razor with Sienna. I was a fucking predator, not that she was innocent.”

  “Elizabeth was, innocent.”

  “I assumed,” Garcia said. “Is that what your problem has been?”

  “Partly.”

  Garcia waited. “Out with it. What else gave you such a serious mind-fuck? Because that’s what it’s been from where I’m sitting.”

  Doc stared out his side window. “When under as Razor, did you ever think you were done, that there was no way you were getting out of a spot alive?”

  Garcia pulled into a parking spot in front of the store. He put the car in park. He faced Doc. “More times than I’d like to admit. It’s a dark place, accepting you’re going to die. I was really fucked up from it for a while, well, that and all the drugs that were in my system. You’ve been talking with Lassiter, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Doc admitted. “I actually feel better about a lot of things now that Elizabeth is with me and I know about the baby.”

  Garcia’s lips curved into a grin. “No longer a Sister, no longer innocent. Please tell me you’re at least enjoying the more primal side of married life with that sweet little thing in your bed.”

  Doc let fly a string of curses. “You don’t get it. She was a virgin. She was as innocent as they come, with the Sisters’ since she was twelve years old.”

  “She’s no longer a Sister, she’s no longer a virgin, and she sure as hell isn’t twelve years old any longer. What’s the problem?”

  Doc felt an irrational anger build. “We’re done here.” He removed his seatbelt and took hold of the car door, leaning up.

  Garcia grabbed him and slammed him back into his seat. “We’re not done here. What is your fucking problem?” Garcia stared him down. “Are you telling me you haven’t slept with her since she got here?”

  “No, I’ve slept with her,” Doc defended.

  A wry grin spread over Garcia’s lips. “Missionary sex, nice and easy like you did with the virgin. That’s all you’ve done. Isn’t it? You’ve held yourself back.”

  Doc let a whole new string of curses loose using the word fuck as a noun, a verb, an adjective, and an adverb in the same rant.

  Garcia laughed. “That’s it.” He nodded knowingly. “You’ve got to turn yourself loose. She can take it. When we get back, fuck her without thinking about it. Just do what feels right. You’ll feel a lot better from it. You’re married to her; your baby is inside her. That’s your territory man, claim it.”

  “She’s pregnant.”

  “Talk with Jackson about that. It doesn’t matter. Certainly, you know sex won’t hurt the baby.”

  “Do you understand innocent and untouched?”

  “Maybe the first time you touched her, not now,” Garcia said.

  “I don’t want to scare her.”

  Garcia laughed. “Sounds like you still have an issue with that.”

  “With what?” Doc demanded.

  “That you were her first. What, did she freak out?”

  “No, she handled it well. She’s been fine every time,” Doc admitted.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Garcia insisted.

  Doc just shook his head.

  “You have the problem, not her. I guarantee you she may not have had sex before you, but she knew about it. Where she’s worked, she knows a lot more than you give her credit for. She’s not as innocent as you’ve built her up to be.”

  “She was a nun,” Doc said.

  “You’re hung up on that. Do you have any idea what she saw in that free clinic in Seattle? How about in that African village? It’s not like she was cloistered in some monastery. She’s seen more than most, I guarantee it.”

  “So, what am I supposed to do with that?” Doc asked.

  “You do understand you have an opportunity, don’t you?”

  Doc scoffed at that. “What possible opportunity do I have?”

  “To teach her how to be the woman you want her to be. If you only have missionary sex, that’s all she’s going to think sex is. Don’t flatter yourself that you’ll hurt her if you do it in any other positions.”

  “Fuck you,” Doc spat.

  Garcia laughed. “Just think about it. At some point your wild side is going to come out. You can’t keep that beast caged forever.” He nodded to add emphasis. Then he got out of the car. “Hey, get me a beef sandwich and some chips,” he yelled to Doc’s back as he approached the door to the sandwich shop.

  “I’ll get you grilled chicken, it’s healthier,” Doc yelled back.

  The next morning at zero-five hundred, the five of them parked in front of the Walters Tactical Equipment Company. They all had their assignments. Cooper headed to the conference room, which was near both Rick and Janey’s offices. He’d watch for them to arrive. He wasn’t sure what time they usually got in, but they had both already arrived at the office the previous four days before the team did. The four other members of the team headed to the production floor to surprise the third shift.

  Rick Walters was already on the manufacturing floor conferring with his third shift supervisor when the team arrived. He momentarily seemed disturbed by their unexpected presence but covered it up quickly. The team saw right through him and insisted on introductions and access to the employees.

  “Of course,” Rick agreed. “I wish I’d known though. We are struggling with a manufacturing deadline. There were some equipment problems overnight. I got the call from Chuck,” he said motioning to his third shift supervisor, “two hours ago.”

  Chuck Geist, the third shift supervisor, was a crusty old Marine buddy of Rick Walters. He had a head full of thick gray hair. He was a medium skinned black man, who Jackson knew from his employee file to be sixty-seven years old.

  “We’ll try not to interrupt operations too much,” Jackson assured them. “I just need to verify onsite identities to the personnel files.”

  Rick and Chuck exchanged glances.

  “Unless that’s a problem?” Doc asked.

  “Not at all,” Rick assured them.

  “And I’m going to go validate the QA team and their processes on this shift,” Madison said with a smile. Today she wore tight blue jeans and a clingy red sweater.

  Jackson, Garcia, and Doc watched the employees as she strutted away, across the manufacturing floor. They noticed more than a few sets of eyes follow her from the room, including Rick Walters’ appreciative gaze.

  Hum. That was interesting, Doc thought. His gaze met Rick Walters’ eyes after Madison had disappeared from view. Walters knew he was busted. He flashed Doc a brief and defiant shit-eating grin. Doc found that even more interesting.

  They met the employees, validating workers to their employee files. Cannabis tattoo guy, Jason Piedmont, was at work. He talked with Garcia during the last smoke break of the shift. Garcia’s DEA instincts were on high alert while they chatted.

  Garcia chuckled as the twenty-nine-year-old, long-haired, heavily tattooed, heavy metal guitarist crushed out his smoke and then headed back to his machine. Piedmont openly professed to missing his drug of choice. “But hey, you gotta follow the rules to earn some bank,” he’d said. “I damn near lost my woman and kid. She wasn’t into the starving artist thing and told me it was time I grew the fuck up and supported her. So, I did.”

  Garcia judged that he was clean. There was one third shift employee though that Garcia suspected was using something, probably not weed though. Cecily Mays was twitchy. She didn’t make eye contact with him and she sure as hell didn’t say two words to him during the smoke break. He’d been around addicts enough to know that she was using something highly addictive. He would talk with Doc. She would definitely be included in the next drug screening.

  The company doctor, Dr. Rod Stanley, arrived at zero-eight hundred. Doc had been waiting in his office for him for an hour. Doc grilled him about the drug screening protocols. He learned t
hat Janey Walters ran a third-party, off-site, secure software program on Friday afternoon each week before she left for the night. Not only did the program pull employee numbers at random for testing the following week, it also randomized which day the testing would take place. Ten employees were selected each week.

  Dr. Rod would get an email the day before the testing was to take place, so he would know which day to come in at six a.m. to administer the tests to any third shift employees selected. He was not given the employee ID numbers to match up to employee names until the day of the testing. That was delivered to him via email at five a.m. on the testing day.

  Testing was done on site using integrated test cups that have a flat panel results window to easily identify failing test results. The cups tested for thirteen commonly abused drugs. Selected employees would be searched to ensure they had no liquids on them. They would take the cup into a designated screening room with no water source.