“No, no! I’ll tell Alice to take care of that. She’ll know what changes I might want. Make sure all the staff understand she’s in charge.”
“Speaking about the staff,” said Fred. “Your giving them such a generous pay increase has gone over extremely well. They’re hugely disappointed you’re not living up here all the time. Hopefully, you’ll have periods in the future when you can stay.”
“Unfortunately, those times will be few and far between. I’ll be in the Army once I finish school in two years and will need to go wherever they send me. I’m hoping you can step up and play a larger role in our pack. If you want me to find someone else, let me know.”
“Oh, I’m willing. And, for all the administrative stuff, that’s fine. But you’ll always be our Alpha, Missy. Any executive decisions … or any disciplinary matters? Those will all be for you. The fact you can teleport will probably make that possible, since even when you’re deployed …”
“I can make it home in a few hours, as needed. Okay, okay.” Missy sighed. “Good talking to you, Fred. Text me if anything comes up. I’ll try and call you every week so we can discuss things.”
After she finished with Fred, she called Alice. She thanked her effusively for all she was doing for her pack and explained about needing help with setting up her bedroom. She told her to see Mike about some clothes. Then she asked if her husband Mark could help on another matter.
“Oh, course!” said Alice. “Name it.”
“I know Mark’s managing those millions you and your mom have now, plus the Roseanne Fund finances and … well … can you have him handle my finances as well? He can charge whatever he wants, of course.”
Alice said, “Missy, do you realize just how wealthy you are now? From what Fred told me, it’s gazillions.”
Missy laughed. “No, I have no idea, other than he told me basically the same thing. I know the pack’s lawyers are working to transfer everything over to me. But, I think I need to have it all put into a trust or fund or something, with you and Mark managing it.”
“Wow. Why us? Why not Mike?”
“Mike’s focusing on becoming a doctor. He wants to do research into genetics someday. I think he wants to specialize in supernatural genes and DNA. Go figure!” Missy giggled. “He does not want to worry about money management. Just like you don’t either, since you’re all about social work and helping women who have been abused or are at risk for being abused.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. I suppose we should be honored. He will be going on to Harvard for his MBA after he graduates this year, so he’ll probably be good at this. If he’s managing your money in addition to mine, he’ll need to start his own company right now and begin hiring some experts to help him with everything.”
“Well, he’s John’s best friend and I trust him. And, there aren’t really many firms which know about the supernatural. It’s possible the ones managing things for the New England pack and their former Alpha might but … I think I’d rather go with Mark.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thursday, Mar 26, 2020
Ed Collinsworth had again gathered Robert’s team in the conference room at Hanscom AFB. He said, “I just wanted to see where we are concerning that Zhu-Gung organization.” After hearing from Missy late Monday how they were selling drugs to some of the New York crime organizations and probably planning to make trouble, he had handed out various assignments to his team the next day.
“As I explained earlier,” continued Ed, “Troy Dangelmeyer also heard from his mother they were back. She’s saying they want to find the witch responsible for killing Richard Hwang. She told them it wasn’t anyone associated with her coven and that she wouldn’t speculate on whom it might have been. They didn’t like that and made some threats. She’s been talking to the other covens, making sure they’ll support her in the event this becomes a war amongst the witches.”
“Does she know the truth?” asked Desiree Yerger. She knew her Salem coven had been contacted by Angelina about this.
“She told Troy she thinks Missy must be that witch but she’s not telling anyone else that. Troy told her she was right.”
“And, now we’re also learning there may be a war amongst the crime families,” said Dale Hewson. “This can’t stay on the back burner any longer. We really need to get all these Zhu-Gung people under surveillance.”
“Missy said she could sense Wagner Shen and Antony Ying were in New York City,” continued Ed. “She can probably identify where they’re located by teleporting nearby and spending some time circling around, but she’s rather busy right now. The reason for merely circling around … keeping her distance … is so they won’t sense her presence, tipping them off that we’ve found them.”
“The same is true for Troy Dangelmeyer, only he can’t teleport,” said Dale. “He’s the one who helped Robert find them last month; Robert used our helicopter then. Can we find them using any of our other resources?"
“Well, we know which law firm Zhu-Gung is using,” said one of their FBI team members. “They’ve been visiting the members we arrested. Simon Yang heads up that firm and has an office in New York City. I’ve arranged for him and that office to be watched now.”
“Good. I heard Simon has lodged a complaint about Peter Hui being in isolation with multiple guards all around him. We have strict limitations concerning all his visitors.” Ed chuckled. “He knows we know Peter is a water witch. He also knows we won’t give that as the reason for our restrictions and added precautions.”
Dale said, “I’ll get taps put on Simon’s phone and the phone lines at his office as well. What about hacking their computers?”
“I know some folks who can maybe help with that,” said Lisa. “Of course, best case would be to get our Missy virus software installed, giving us full access.”
Marie said, “Unfortunately, we still don’t have any Chinese versions of that software. And, Missy would need to determine which version should be used to infect their computers. That’s pretty complicated and I’m not sure she has the time to learn everything she’d need to know to figure that out.”
“Worse yet,” said Desiree, “those other witches can sense her presence, even when she’s in her spirit form. Remember when she popped in on them that last time? Shen and Ying are sure to recognize her if she goes anywhere near them again.”
Lieutenant Colonel Schermerhorn said, “Well, her identity has been revealed to WIJO. They know she’s a cadet at West Point. So her secret is out. With all the resources this Zhu-Gung coven has, they’ll probably figure out who she is soon enough.”
“All right. Let’s focus on the drugs they’re selling and who they’re selling them to,” said Ed. “I’ve called Glenn Paxton at our Organized Crime Division in New York. We’ll hear from his sources about any new drugs hitting the streets and we can try to work backwards from there. It’s pretty much what they’re always doing there anyway. I’ve explained we’re more concerned with just identifying all the players right now and getting them under surveillance, rather than whether there’s adequate evidence for making any arrests.”
Dale said, “In other words, we just have to keep working this on all fronts. If we can’t locate Shen, Ying and the others they brought with them in the next few days, using our normal resources, we can then go ask Missy or Troy to help.”
-----
When Lawrence Mallett returned to his room, his roommate Bastian asked, “Hey, did you finally get to see your Team Leader Missy?” He always would kid Larry about using her first name, ever since Larry had called her that rather than McCrea.
“Yeah. And, stop busting my balls about her, okay?” Larry had started out really worrying when he’d first been assigned to her. He’d bitched quite a bit to Bastian about having McCrea as his Team Leader. Then, of course, rather than interfering with his life, she’d proven to be really helpful.
“Okay. So, did you finally get to thank her for how she helped your girl Alyssa?
“Actu
ally, I did. She tried to play it down but I know she somehow worked a miracle and I told her that.” His girlfriend Alyssa Foster had been one of the freshman rugby players caught up in the same cheating scandal as Danielle Portis. “I also told her how much Alyssa wants to thank her. Alyssa only met her that once, at the Honor Board, and has never actually talked to her except for then. Missy says she’ll make a point of introducing herself to Alyssa sometime soon.”
Bastian chuckled and said, “Missy gains yet another adoring fan. You know? Until that Honor Board business, I thought McCrea had you mesmerized. Or, maybe hypnotized. I mean, you started out all paranoid but then started singing her praises. I was figuring you’d fallen seriously in lust, at first. After all … who could blame you? But, from everything I’ve been hearing, maybe she really is as wonderful as you’ve been telling me.”
“Actually, when you get to know her, you kind of get past how stunning she is to look at. That was a distraction for me, at first. But she has a boyfriend and the vibe she gives off just makes you realize she’s not available. Then, you start hearing what she has to say about stuff and begin seeing her as a person, rather than some hot, sexy babe you want to get into bed with.”
“Hey, speaking of getting into bed with someone,” grinned Bastian. “How are things with Alyssa?”
“Screw you!” Larry laughed and threw a pillow at Bastian. He knew he never should have admitted how serious he was getting about his girlfriend. “It just so happens she’s not that kind of girl.” Larry’s attitude about women had changed considerably. He was no longer selfish and superficial, taking advantage. He really liked Alyssa and they’d been taking things slow. It was becoming a meaningful relationship, a first for him. Of course, while he’d managed to stop thinking about having sex with Missy McCrea, he couldn’t stop thinking about maybe someday having sex with Alyssa.
-----
Now that basketball season was over, Missy was playing again on the Black Knight’s varsity softball team. She’d already missed half the games due to the basketball team making it all the way to the Patriot League Semifinals but her coach had agreed that was okay. The way Missy covered the infield as their shortstop combined with her being a power hitter, never striking out, fully justified having her joining the softball team halfway through the season. If the team made it into the tournament, they’d have Missy playing with them.
Saturday would be their home debut at West Point’s Softball Complex, one of the finest on the East Coast. They were playing two games that day against Colgate and then two games on Sunday against Holy Cross. Each game went seven innings and typically took a little less than two hours.
When Missy joined the team that day for practice, there were several welcoming cheers. She was glad to be out there with them again and answered all the greetings, waving and calling to each of them. Brooke Ackerson was especially enthusiastic and ran up, saying, “There you are! Finally! I wasn’t sure you’d be back this year but the coach said you promised and here you are!” Brooke was also a yearling but they didn’t see each other much during classes since she was majoring in Life Science while Missy’s major was Defense and Strategic Studies.
“Hi Brooke. I’m excited to be back. You know how much I love playing. How was your spring break?” Missy got a kick out of hearing how each of her classmates had spent their time away. It allowed her to vicariously experience what normal life might be like, listening to them explain about being home with family, maybe spending time with boyfriends, etc., etc. What she and Mike had been able to manage doing could rarely ever be considered as normal.
“Hey, can we talk after practice? I want to run something by you. It happened while I was home.” Brooke seemed somewhat nervous about asking and obviously whatever it was about had affected her.
Missy said “Sure, no problem. I don’t have my language class tonight so I can talk as long as you want.” She saw Brooke was relieved and they both then got busy out on the playing field. After an hour and a half, practice finished up and Missy went over to see Brooke again.
“Cadet Weilgus is in your company, right?” asked Brooke, without waiting. “He’s friends with some of the other firsties in my company and I heard them talking about the way you handled things at that Honor Board. Also, I know you’re from Massachusetts.”
“Sure,” said Missy. “But I thought you wanted to talk about something that happened at home.” She knew Brooke was from somewhere in Indiana.
“Well, I do. It’s complicated. It’s about my older sister.” Brooke shook her head, unsure as to how to explain. Then she stared into Missy’s eyes and said. “Janey is gay. My parents don’t know and she’s trying to stay in the closet. But, she broke up with the girl she’d been with this year … they’re roommates at her college, actually. Or, they were. It turns out that girl has connections.”
Missy was not yet seeing what this might be about. Since Brooke had paused, Missy asked, “What sort of connections are you talking about?”
“Well, Janey says they’re in the mob or something. She goes to Boston University and this girl told Janey she had to leave school and get married to this guy because her family wants her to. And, in her family, that’s the way it is. You do what you’re told.”
“Janey’s girlfriend is from a mob family? In Boston?”
Brooke sighed and said, “Yeah. She told Janey she loves her but it’s over. She’s moved home and will commute for the rest of the year. Then, after she graduates, she’s marrying this guy because she has no choice. She didn’t even want to tell Janey about her family being big time criminals … it’s not just her father but she has two older brothers and they’re in the mob up there as well. At any rate, she’s always been afraid to talk about that. I mean, she was raised knowing she had to keep her mouth shut about any of that, or else, you know?”
“And, she loves Janey and swore her to secrecy, just so she could explain why she had to break up with her?” Missy was finally seeing it.
“Exactly! They met last year and really hit it off. Then they became roommates at school and … well … Janey says neither she nor her girlfriend had ever been with anyone before. But, once they were living together things just sort of happened. Janey is devastated. She has no one she can turn to, but we’ve always been close and I knew something was seriously wrong. I finally got her to tell me in spite of how she’s been sworn to secrecy and all.”
Missy grinned. “Some secrets just can’t be kept. Look, I know someone. Alice Mathews is a really close friend of mine. She’s a junior in college right there in Boston. And, she too has connections. I’ll have Alice visit your sister. Then she’ll talk to your sister’s girlfriend. If the two of them really love one another, then Alice will fix this. I promise you won’t regret having Janey talk to Alice. Okay?”
Chapter Twenty
Saturday, Mar 28, 2020
Sally Navarro was super excited. Since swimming season had finished up for both her and Troy, they were both free. Sort of. She was staying at the academy for the weekend since she only had one pass left and was saving it for another time. But Troy had come down and they could still be together during the day, both Saturday and Sunday. They’d had a fantastic time during spring break, only briefly visiting with her family and then with his. The rest of the time they’d been off having fun by themselves.
Ironically, the women’s softball team from Troy’s school was playing against West Point that day. So, she and Troy decided to make this an opportunity for seeing each other once again. Now they were watching the double header games and, while he was loudly cheering on the girls from his school, she and her friends were equally as loud cheering on Missy and the Black Knights. Troy knew all her friends pretty well now, having been to West Point several times before, and he got along great with all of them. But he was loving rooting for Colgate today and bantering with everyone.
Colgate actually won the first game, four to three, but West Point came back and won the next game, eight to one. Mis
sy had done well in both games and came over to where they were sitting afterwards and said she’d meet them all at Cullum Hall once she hit the showers and got changed. Tracy had not been at the games but would supposedly be joining them at Cullum Hall.
Sure enough, an hour later, their group had grown considerably when both Tracy and Missy finally showed up. Most of the cadets from their Khan’s Klass were there. Besides Missy, Tracy and Sally, these included Sharon, Kelsey, Mitch, Gary, Kelly, Tony and Marcus. Tony and Marcus had their non-cadet girlfriends Cassie and Chandra visiting them, as usual. And, Sally had Troy, of course. Then there were Karen, Nell and several other cadets who had started hanging out with this group whenever possible. They definitely had taken over one whole corner of the room.
Tracy announced, “Hey! It’s time for everyone to break out their short-timer calendars so you can count down the days until May fifteenth and our last end of term exam. According to this app on my phone, that’s only forty-seven and a wake-up!” She proudly displayed that to everyone. This was met with both cheers and boos.
Tony said, “Geez, we’re only back one week and you’re already getting antsy-pantsy about when we finish here? Wasn’t your vacation good enough? We all know John was with you, wherever it was.”
“While what you say is very true, I’m afraid the details of where we were and what we did are highly classified, so I’m not sharing them,” said Tracy with a big grin. “And I’m not being all antsy-pantsy about this. We’ll all be going off in different directions this summer. I’ve put in for four weeks at Fort Rucker. Then I’ll maybe come back and babysit the new plebes during their Beast training.”
“Okay, okay,” said Tony. Everyone knew Tracy wanted to fly Apache helicopter gunships someday and pilot training was at Fort Rucker. “I’m hoping to go to Airborne school like you and Missy did last summer. Then I’ll probably be back here, helping with Beast training, just like you. I still don’t know how you and Missy managed getting your wings so soon.”
Missy Goes to Hong Kong (Missy the Werecat Book 8) Page 13
