by Margaret Kay
“The Sheriff just got done showing them the pictures from their house of the drugs. They were also told that the Sheriff’s Department found a box with similarly wrapped drugs at Mel’s Tavern, behind the bar,” Cooper filled them in.
“Here’s what I want to know. Who all was in on the scam at Walters Tactical Equipment to hide failed piss tests, how was it done, and who was blackmailing the owners? Who took the shot at my partner with the twelve-gauge when he was coming out of the building last night? And who is your supplier. You had a hell of a lot of drugs in your basement.”
The couple stared at each other.
“Tick, tick,” Garcia said. “Cecily, I have it logged that you were brought in at two minutes till midnight. You’ll be held for twenty-four hours.”
“The Deputy came to my house before nine last night,” Cecily argued.
“Oh, well, maybe I falsified the time. You know all about falsifying records, don’t you Cec?” Garcia mocked.
It took until two in the afternoon for Cecily and Billy to crack. Cecily had been barfing her guts out for over an hour. “I need help!” She screamed.
“You have ten more hours,” Garcia said.
“Fine, whatever you want to know,” she moaned.
“End this and get her help, man,” Billy said. “It was Rod Stanley. All if it was Rod Stanley.”
“He didn’t take the shot at my partner,” Garcia argued.
“No, that was me. But I used birdshot and as far away as I was, it would only hurt him. It wouldn’t have killed him. We just needed him to back off. Rod called me panicked. He knew the auditor was close to putting it together. He told me if I didn’t go do it, he’d throw Cec under the bus and turn me in for the drugs. Now get her help, man. You promised.”
After taking their statements, the Sheriff booked Billy Mays on a multitude of charges. Cecily Mays was transferred to the hospital, as a prisoner, and an FBI Agent from the Great Falls office came and took Dr. Rod Stanley into Federal custody. The team went to give their report to their clients, Rick and Janey Walters.
“That son of a bitch!” Rick exploded. “If he wasn’t in custody, I’d kill the fucker!”
“I trusted Dr. Rod,” Janey said in disbelief. “I can’t believe he did any of those things.”
“According to Cecily Mays, when the employees were selected each week for screening, he would text message the ones he knew used. It would cost them a hundred dollars for an alternate who was clean to fill their cups. Dr. Rod didn’t put names on the cups until after the sample was collected, so none of the alternates knew their name hadn’t come up,” Doc said. “The same held true if a person got popped during the screening. Dr. Rod would shake them down for the money to slip in a clean sample.”
“Did any of my Shift Managers know what was going on?” Rick demanded.
“Not according to Cecily Mays and we tend to believe her. Because the entire list of employees that was selected was not shared with the Shift Managers when it spit out, none of them knew. So, if eight from their shift were called down, they couldn’t verify if they had all been selected or not. That is the first thing I would change in your process,” Doc said, staring at Janey. “When the list spits out each week, it needs to go to all three Shift Managers as well as you both and whoever you hire to conduct the tests.”
Janey nodded. “There is a lot we need to change. Does this make us fail the audit?”
“We are passing you for all aspects except the drug screening. For that, given the circumstances, you have two months to get your process cleaned up. A real DoD auditor will be back then for that portion only,” Cooper said.
“So, was it Rod Stanley who was blackmailing us?” Rick asked.
“Stanley hasn’t given a statement or admitted to anything, but we believe so. Billy and Cecily Mays didn’t have the access needed to cause a fail. Only Rod Stanley did,” Cooper said.
“Oh, and I’d stop the shell game of money transfers going forward,” Madison said. “It’s highly unlikely your original audit team will be back next year, and any other auditor will flag it.”
Both Rick and Janey nodded.
“You have some housecleaning to do,” Jackson said.
“You have at least three more people we know of who work for you using. And this is a small town. Half your first shift was at Mel’s Tavern when the Sheriff took Dr. Rod and Billy Mays away in cuffs. If they were there or not, your entire staff more than likely knows about the arrests. Some may even know why. You need to get in front of this,” Doc said.
“I’d recommend a mandatory piss test for all employees immediately,” Garcia said.
“And given that you consider your employees family, that great policy you have of offering FMLA for drug treatment, with no job repercussions, needs to be offered to anyone in lieu of the screening,” Doc said.
“But it does need to be noted in their employee file,” Jackson said. “You haven’t done anything against DoD procedures, but you sure as hell have skirted them.”
“Well, we surely will make the changes,” Janey drawled. “I thank you for uncovering what was going on.” Her eyes then went to her husband.
“We have just enough time to call first shift together before they leave for the day and have our meeting with them. And then we can meet with the second shift as soon as they are in. Most of third shift is pulling some overtime tonight, so we can meet with them too,” Rick said.
“We’ll get an approved DoD screener in here Monday and screen the entire staff, well any who don’t request FMLA,” Janey guaranteed.
The team came to their feet. Their job was done, and they would head home immediately. Doc checked his watch. It was already past nineteen hundred in Chicago. It would be a late arrival home.
It was past midnight when Doc pulled into his garage. He was tired, but knowing Elizabeth waited in their bed reenergized him. Garcia’s words to ‘claim his territory’ brought a smile to his face. No, he couldn’t be his normal sexual self with Elizabeth yet. He was sure it would scare her. But she was his wife and he would make love to her tonight.
After dropping his bags in the kitchen, he came into the bedroom quietly. “You awake, honey?” He said in a normal speaking voice. He sat his gun and phone to the nightstand and then began to disrobe.
“I’m glad your home,” her sleepy voice answered from the bed.
He stripped naked and slid beneath the covers, taking her into his arms. He heard Garcia’s voice again tell him to claim his territory. No, keep it slow and gentle, he told himself. Her hand caressed over his face, down his neck, tickled him as it traveled down his chest and abs until it grasped his dick.
All thoughts of keeping it slow and gentle left his brain. He knew in that moment that he would uncage his beast, as Garcia said. Then he pushed all thoughts of Garcia from his mind, laughing to himself. He wouldn’t tell Garcia he thought of him while in bed with his wife, her hand on his cock!
Then he made love to his wife, for hours. He told her what he wanted her to do to him, and she did. He placed her in his favorite positions, none of them missionary, and spoke provocative words to her. He banished from his brain any thoughts of her prior experience level, believing she would be okay with what transpired. And she was. He brought her to orgasm six times. And after, as he held her tightly to himself, he felt at peace. He felt satisfied in a way he had not during prior sexual encounters with her.
Elizabeth opened the car door and winced as she slid into the front seat beside Sienna. She smiled pleasantly and greeted both her, and Angel, who sat in the back beside Sammy’s car seat. Elizabeth was glad they had this outing planned, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the topic that weighed on her mind.
“I’m glad the guys only have to be at work a half day,” Sienna said. “I understand debriefing and all they have to do after a mission, but jeez they were gone nearly two weeks!”
“That was the longest you and Anthony have been separated, isn’t it? Even the mission to Afric
a didn’t last that long,” Angel said.
“Yes, it is the longest and I will admit I really missed him,” Sienna said. She smiled at Elizabeth. “Since we’ve only been together since July, I’m still getting used to all this, myself. I’m glad you stayed with me. It was fun.”
Elizabeth nodded and smiled. “Me too. I hope Alexander and I can find a place in your neighborhood soon.”
“Until then, you are welcome at my house anytime,” Sienna assured her.
They pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. They were sat in a quiet back corner, per Angel’s request.
“Coffee, yes, and keep it coming,” Sienna said to the server. Her grinning gaze shifted between Angel and Elizabeth. “After last night, a full pot won’t be enough.”
“Why can’t they ever get back before midnight? That’s all I want to know,” Angel added.
“And after two weeks gone, jeez, we were up all night,” Sienna said.
“Well, he was anyway,” Angel added with a hearty laugh. Her eyes met Elizabeth’s. “I’m sure you know exactly what we’re talking about. I’m sure Doc was the same last night. They’re always like that when they get home from a mission,” Angel said.
Elizabeth was surprised by the openness of the conversation, but she shouldn’t have been. During the two weeks she spent with these two ladies, she discovered that few topics were off limits. She’d gotten to know them both very well, learned their stories on how they came to be with their men. She was inspired by their strength, learning what they had each gone through, what they had each overcome. And she shared with them what happened in Africa.
She was glad they had brought this up. She found Alexander’s appetite when he joined her in bed, startling. When they had gotten the call that the team was on its way back from Montana, Alexander told her they’d be back late, but asked that Sienna bring her home. He wanted her waiting in their bed for him. Looking back, Elizabeth knew she had been naïve. She hadn’t thought it was for sexual reasons.
“I wonder if both Cooper and Madison are like that with each other too? Wow! Can you even imagine what went on in their bedroom last night if they are?” Sienna said laughing.
“So, that’s normal?” Elizabeth finally forced herself to ask.
“Oh, yes, trust me. Very normal!” Angel answered. She giggled. “I think Sammy was conceived on one of those post-mission nights!” Her eyes shifted to Sienna. “So be careful, or don’t be.” She laughed obnoxiously. “By the way, when are you two going to get married, anyway?”
“Funny you should ask,” Sienna replied. “We talked about that this morning.” Sienna took a drink of the coffee the server just brought.
“Seriously, you can’t keep me waiting on that,” Angel complained.
Sienna giggled. “As soon as there can be a break and everyone can have the day off, we’ll get married. We’re going to get the marriage license Monday after work so it will be ready to go when the day presents itself.”
“Oh, yay!” Angel oozed. “And then how soon till we can talk babies?” Her smile shifted to Elizabeth. “It would be nice to have a third baby amongst us, wouldn’t it?”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh. She really liked Angel. She was very unlike her mother, Sister Bernice John. But the fact that she was the Sister’s daughter created a bond between them. She liked Sienna too, and she knew Sienna really wanted a baby, soon. They’d talked about that too.
Sienna laughed. “Not long. I’ll go off the pill after this pack is done. Anthony finally wore me down.” Her eyes shifted to Elizabeth. “Plus, I’d like my child to have others from the agency to grow up with whom are close in age.”
Elizabeth nodded. The three women had talked about that too, about how isolated as a new mother Angel felt. It wasn’t like she could talk with any other new mom outside of the agency about her feelings and fears when the team was in the field. There was one woman she met at a ‘Mommy and Me Yoga Class’ whose husband was a cop, who Angel had bonded with, but the woman obviously didn’t know what Angel’s husband did.
“You look like you have more to say, Elizabeth,” Angel prompted.
Elizabeth felt herself blush, her cheeks burning hot. No, she couldn’t talk about the intimate details of her and Alexander’s lovemaking, not even with these two women who she counted as close friends. He had not forced her to do anything, but what she did do, was quite a bit outside of her comfort zone.
When Alexander slid between the sheets beside her, he was already naked. She grasped his manhood with her hand and was rewarded with an erotic moan from him. “Your mouth, Elizabeth. Please let me feel your mouth around me.”
She knew she couldn’t say no to him. He had brought her immense pleasure with his mouth on her, several times. It felt awkward though, and the thought of it was gross as she did it. She felt clumsy and was not sure what to do. He told her what felt good though, even begging her to gently use her teeth on him. He stopped her before he came, thankfully, but the multiple positions he placed her in to make love to her were surprising and a few were even uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally.
His preferred position for her to orally pleasure him was with him standing and her on her knees in front of him, which felt wrong, dirty. And two of the positions he said were so he could watch his dick slide in and out of her, which he did with great focus. That felt even dirtier. But when he bent her over the bed and took her from behind, she felt the worst about it. It didn’t feel like making love. It felt like what others described as fucking, sex for the sake of sex.
He reciprocated the oral expression of affection so many times, in between the different positions that she still felt raw and swollen, though at the time, the physical ecstasy she felt had been incredible. She never knew someone could orgasm that many times in one night. And hours later when they were both worn out, he held her so tenderly and so tightly to himself that she had to believe he loved her.
She brought her thoughts back to the table. “No, not at all.”
Angel smirked. “Let’s see if I can figure it out. You were a Sister, probably not very experienced when you met Doc in Africa. He was only home a few days with you before they left on this mission, and last night you had post-mission sex for the first time.” She paused and laughed. “I’m surprised you can even walk normally this morning. You have to be sore.”
By the surprised expression on Elizabeth’s face, Angel knew she’d nailed it. She smiled smugly.
“After we drop you off at home, sit on a bag of frozen peas,” Sienna said. “I wish I could have the first night Anthony and I were together. I was on the back of his bike the whole day and was in agony.”
“Oh, wow, you really do know,” Elizabeth said, her eyes nervously going back and forth between her two friends.
“We do,” Angel confirmed. “Your body will get used to it, don’t worry. Sex is normal and natural.” She smiled wide. “And fun. Our guys work hard and play even harder,” she said with sexual intent. “Very normal.”
“They are not normal,” Sienna argued. “You know, I was married for ten years before I met Anthony and I never once had sex like I did with him from that first night on. I can attest that it isn’t normal.”
Elizabeth found herself giggling. Yes, she liked these two women very much. “Good to know. And thanks for the tip about the frozen peas.”
“Oh, and just so you know, you’ll have a slightly less intense repeat when he gets home from the briefing at the office later,” Sienna said.
“Unless they hear they’re going back out right away, then it will be even more intense,” Angel added.
“You better stock up on frozen peas,” Sienna said with a hearty laugh as their breakfasts were served.
Doc sat facing Lassiter in his kitchenette. This was the first mission in a long time that he hadn’t been required to meet with him immediately upon return to base. He considered this a milestone.
“So, the son of a bitch took a shot at you?”
“Yeah. I’m damn lucky he wasn’t seriously trying to kill me.” Doc laughed. “I still can’t believe they thought they’d just scare me off. Who does that?”
“Did it bring back any negative feelings?”
“Just pissed me off,” Doc replied.
Sierra
“Alexander, do you have a stamp?”
Doc pulled his shirt over his head. He had five minutes before he needed to leave for the office. It was Monday morning. They had a team meeting with Shepherd to discuss the next few missions in the hopper. He hoped none would be long ones like the Montana job they’d just returned from. “No, what do you need one for?”
