Author: Ali Vali
Category: LGBT
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Wiley sat and exhaled when Aubrey pressed up against her back. “Gremillion,” she said impatiently into the phone.
“Wiley, it’s Don.” Colonel Don Smith was her handler and connection to the military. No one became as successful as Wiley without some strings being attached to their retirement. Don was one of the concessions she’d made to try to reclaim her life and her freedom. “It’s been a while, but I need to talk to you.”
Her last official assignment had been over a year ago, and then her phone had gone silent. “What’s going on?” She didn’t mean to sound harsh since Don had been her only friend once upon a time.
“I’d come to you, but the president requested a meeting. How fast can you get here?”
“Why would the president need to see me?”
Aubrey’s head came off her shoulder at that question.
“We can’t discuss that topic over an unsecured line, but you need to get here, Wiley. The shit that’s going on here is mind-boggling.”
Wiley exhaled and shook her head. If she hadn’t gone into special forces, she probably would’ve ended up in Washington keeping a desk company for all those years. Her father was a master at that life, but she wasn’t known for her diplomacy. “If that’s an order, I won’t turn it down, but our life is here. We’re not uprooting our kid for anything or anyone.”
The firm statement of fact made Aubrey kiss her neck. “This isn’t a permanent post, but I’m sure they’d love to have you if you decided to stay.”
“That won’t be happening, but I’ll make arrangements and let you know.” Wiley hung up and slammed the phone down. “Shit. I don’t want anything to do with whatever this is.”
“Let’s get packed. There’s no way you’re going alone.”
She caught Aubrey before she got up and rolled on top of her. “We’ve got something better to do than pack.”
“So true, lover, so true.”
Chapter Nine
“Raise anchor and set the short course for Naval Station Norfolk,” Aidan said from her chair on the bridge. “If we get attacked, we’ll have plenty of backup.”
“Aye, Captain,” her navigator said.
“I want everyone on board hypervigilant.” She stood and stepped out to overlook the area. They wouldn’t have any problem firing on anyone else trying to get near them. Three fighter jets were brought up as the crew prepared to sail, and Berkley was down there in her flight suit. Her phone rang, and she smiled when she saw Berkley with her cell pressed to her ear.
“Do you know one of my favorite things about you?” Berkley asked, momentarily glancing up.
“What?” She leaned over the rail and tried to calm her need to go down and have Berkley close by.
“That cute ass of yours.” Berkley walked away from any potential eavesdroppers.
“Okay.” She laughed at the declaration, wondering why Berkley had chosen now to tell her that, other than when they still had cell service and she could.
“So do me a favor and go inside and don’t make such a beautiful target. Later on, I’ll need that beautiful ass in one piece.”
“Aye, Captain,” she said and lifted her hand in salute before going back inside. The trip would take a couple of hours, and because of what had happened, every branch of the armed forces was on high alert.
“Ma’am,” one of the bridge officers said. “You have a call from the Pentagon.”
“Sullivan,” she said, grabbing the nearest phone.
“Captain, this is the undersecretary. My apologies for bothering you, but I need you and Captain Levine to report to Secretary Orr’s office as soon as possible.”
The undersecretary had been out of the country when all this had begun, and Jerry Teague had used his absence to advance his cause while he still had time. “I’m under orders to reposition our ship at the moment, sir. Can this wait until tomorrow?”
“This morning, Captain Levine visited Jin Umeko. As Captain Levine was ambushed, so was a compound where Umeko was being held. By the time backup arrived, most of our personnel was dead, but Umeko survived.”
“Is she hurt?” Aidan massaged her temple and exhaled a long breath.
“Thankfully her training kicked in, and she was able to disappear into the woods behind the house. She waited until the contact we gave her showed up and moved her here.”
“Can we land close by? We’re underway now.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll have someone waiting when you land, and I’m looking forward to working with you and Captain Levine. We all owe you a debt for what you’ve been able to do, but from the looks of it, we still have plenty on our plate.”
“Thank you, sir, and I’ll be there soon.”
“What now?” Devin asked as he entered. “I’m getting tired of all these cryptic messages.”
“You have the conn, Devin. I have a hot date I need to get to.” He shook his head and took her seat. “Captain Levine,” she said into her cell. “Prepare to take off. We have to report to Secretary Orr’s office.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The plane was ready, but she met Berkley in her room as she packed a bag for when they landed. “Harvey’s going to drive your car back and drop it off at your place. Any more of this and he’s going to get jealous I found a new backseat.”
“Junior’s got no worries there, Cletus, but any more of this, and I might as well retire. They keep pulling us to shore like they don’t really want us on this boat any longer.” She glanced down at her hands, surprised no one had mentioned the ring Berkley had placed there since she’d decided to put it back on after Berkley had gotten back with the NCIS agent.
“They’ll have to let us pull out eventually, and once we lose sight of the shoreline, we should be free of all this political intrigue.” Berkley kissed her before walking her outside.
The crew buckled her in as the ship started to pick up speed. Once the hatch was shut she took a few deep breaths since now she knew what was coming. Takeoffs from the deck were like a memorable roller-coaster ride in order to get to top speed immediately.
“You okay back there?” Berkley asked as the engines roared to life.
“I’m okay.” The last syllable of the word stretched out in her throat as Berkley punched it and took off, banking to the right to get them over open water. “I swear you’re like twelve sometimes.”
“True, but I think it’s best if you don’t overthink it. Junior would be upset if you threw up in his office.”
“Give me more credit than that, Cletus.” She tried to sound miffed but couldn’t help laughing.
“So I can have a little fun?”
“Not now. If you flip this thing over, I’m going to have my father court-martial you.”
Berkley laughed too as she climbed and leveled off. “Sit back and relax. This won’t take long.”
“Let’s hope that’s true when it comes to these meetings.”
* * *
Wiley studied the area and glanced every so often at the report General Greenwald had provided. The shot wasn’t impossible, but it also wasn’t a gimme. The intelligence agencies were right in that not many marksmen could’ve pulled the trigger with such deadly accuracy. Unfortunately for her, she was on that short list, but being in New Orleans gave her a rock-solid alibi.
“Are you ready, or do you need more time?” Don asked.
“Did you arrange for Aubrey and Tanith’s transport?” She entered the elevator of the hotel she’d saved for last and handed him back the file of Peter Khalid’s investigation so far.
“They’re waiting at the White House, and if you don’t need to reschedule, we have twenty minutes to get there.” Don followed her out and into the government vehicle that had driven them from place to place with an escort in order to skirt traffic.
“I’m ready, and I’ll try not to embarrass you,” she said. Soldiers became snipers because they lacked diplomacy skills, her father had always said. He’d become the family’s diplomat, while she preferred t
he solitude of the nest and her canvases when she wasn’t with her own family. Today, though, merited a change in that philosophy, and she’d give President Michaels whatever she needed to succeed.
Aubrey had told her a meeting with the president rated taking the dress uniform out of mothballs and pinning all the shiny tidbits to it, which made the security check easier at the White House. She heard her code name whispered between the two guys and smiled when the younger one shook his head as if not believing the much-older one. A lot of soldiers knew about the Black Dragon, but they all imagined a Rambo-type guy who walked around with the big hunting knife between his teeth and bulging muscles. That was okay with her since she wasn’t a glory hound.
“Major Gremillion,” Olivia Michaels said, standing with her hand out. “Thank you for coming, and for allowing me to meet your family.” Aubrey and Tanith were both sitting in the Oval Office as if they were there for a friendly visit. “How about one family photo before we talk?”
Wiley was sure Olivia had a million more important things to do, but the small things got people elected to public office. “Thank you, ma’am, and it’s an honor to meet you.”
“I went with Wiley to vote for you and President Khalid, ma’am,” Tanith said, then slapped her hand over her mouth as she glanced up at Wiley. “Sorry, Mom.”
“I’m sure President Michaels would still like us if we’d voted for the other guy,” she said, and Olivia laughed.
The photographer took a few shots before the room was cleared and Jonas Chapman joined them with two of his most reliable FBI agents. “Major, please tell us your opinion,” Olivia said.
“I believe Agent Mosley was correct in her assessment,” Wiley said as she pointed to the large aerial view Jonas had brought with him. “The shooter was on the roof of this hotel.” She tapped the spot. “During the day it’s not a hard shot, but when you take it in the dark, into a crowd, and make such an effective kill shot, that narrows your pool of suspects if you believe this came from someone in uniform.”
“Who are your top three guesses?” Jonas asked.
“Beside me, Booker Roman, code name Justice, and Kevin Skinner, code-named Dagger. Since you won’t find me on any security tapes the hotel has, I’d start looking for any sighting of Skinner or Roman.”
“Do you know them both?” Agent Erin Mosley asked.
“I worked with Booker Roman in South and Central America right before my retirement. He seemed like a decent-enough guy and was a great shot. I know Kevin Skinner only because I was told he was set on breaking my records in both training and in the field. He’d set those goals when he found out the Black Dragon was of the female persuasion and that simply wouldn’t do.” She sat down and accepted a cup of coffee from Don. “I’m not interested in working with anyone who goes into General Greenwald’s service with that motive. It’s what solidified my decision to retire.”
“Erin, go ahead and check, please,” Jonas said. “It can’t be that easy, but you never know.”
“What can’t be that easy?” Wiley asked. “If you can share, I mean.”
“If you heard anything about our mission in North Korea, plenty of details were left out of what we shared with the media.”
“That’s reasonable. I doubt anything I’ve done has appeared in the news, and if it was, I wasn’t given the credit.”
Erin nodded, and Jonas waved her on. “While Captain Levine was trying to carry her partner out of that place, Captain Sullivan was dealing with a group aboard her ship working to undermine her success. One of the people who tried to sabotage the mission was Ensign Hattie Skinner.” Erin flipped through the file until she found Hattie’s mug shot. “She denied everything—still does, but her actions are what landed her at Gitmo.”
“Is she Kevin’s relative?” Wiley asked.
“I’ll have to go to the Pentagon for that information. It’s not in her file,” Erin said.
“It wouldn’t be. Once you commit to General Greenwald, your information is a little more difficult to access, but since Hattie was working against Captain Sullivan, let’s assume they’re related.”
“And if we do?” Olivia asked.
“A family with more than one enlisted member is committed, but in this case misguided. We need to find Kevin Skinner and ask him to turn himself in, either voluntarily or otherwise.” Wiley locked eyes with Olivia to see if she understood what she was saying. “If he doesn’t go with the voluntary option, then he should be released from his commission before he hurts anyone else.”
“We don’t know he’s the one,” Jonas said.
“We don’t, but do you want to take a chance of leaving him out there to practice his trade? One he’s really good at.”
“Major Gremillion, I realize you’ve given more than your share, but—” Olivia said.
“Ma’am, I don’t mean to be rude and interrupt you, but this is no time for any of us to sit on the sidelines. We do everything by the book, because if we don’t, we’re no better than the people working against us, but we need to start taking care of our business.” Wiley glanced at Jonas. “We all have to realize that whoever this is won’t be playing by the rules, and they intend to start eliminating the people working hard to wipe out their revolution, or whatever they’re calling it. If threatened, I’m going to do my job without hesitation, and I’m pretty good at it.”
“Thank you, Major,” Jonas said.
“Yes, thank you,” Olivia repeated. “Captains Levine and Sullivan are reporting to Defense Secretary Drew Orr’s office, and I’d like you to join them if you can get there in time. This damn thing has so many moving parts it’s hard to keep track, but I’m confident we have a good team in place.”
“Thank you, President Michaels, and until we’re done, keep your head down.”
* * *
Speaker of the House Chase Bonner sat in the waiting area, finally having gotten an appointment with Michaels. That the bitch was actually sitting in the Oval Office was driving him crazy, but he had to stay calm and bide his time. It was an exercise in patience, though, since the fucking country was falling apart after Khalid’s death, and she’d done nothing remotely presidential. America needed a strong leader, and in no fucking way was that Olivia Michaels.
“Sir,” his assistant Ron Bollinger said softly in his ear. “We need to talk before you go in there.”
“Speaker Bonner,” a woman said. “Please come with me. President Michaels will see you now.”
He stood and held his hand up to silence Ron. “Thank you,” he said to the woman, “and whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll keep.”
Olivia didn’t stand when he entered, and Director Jonas Chapman was sitting in one of the chairs across from her desk. “Chase, thanks for stopping by,” Olivia said, waving him to a seat. “Sit, and let’s talk about the next few weeks.”
“The country won’t stop just because you wish it, Madam President.” He choked on the title, which made her smile widen. “We need to get back to work.”
“We’ll do that, but Peter Khalid deserves our respect. You might not have given it to him in life, but you might dredge some up now. At least while the cameras are rolling.”
He feigned shock. “That’s not fair.”
“You didn’t believe he was born in the United States, but his death certificate will certainly be issued here. Go back to the Hill and start working out your response to your buddy Chandler. Tomorrow, though, we’ll start the process of laying to rest one of our greatest patriots. One who gave his life in front of his family because his only crime was being a forward thinker who believed in equality for all people. That he was assassinated in the presence of his children and wife inflicted a wound that will not heal in their lifetimes, and I’ll blame and prosecute every single person responsible for that family’s pain.”
“Don’t question my love of country.” He curled his fingers into fists. “You may not like me, but you have to work with me.”
“Why wouldn’t I question your
patriotism since you spend most of your days questioning mine? I plan to move the country forward and to find every single person responsible for President Khalid’s murder. Like I said, when they are found, they’ll face the harshest punishment we can give them under the law. If they come forward before then, they might have a chance for some leniency.” Olivia’s hands curled into fists as well, and her tone had grown icy. “Think about that as well, but for now, get back to work.”
He stood and walked out. Something was different, since he wasn’t expecting this level of hostility from Olivia. Her people might have found something. “What?” he asked Ron as they headed out.
“You got a call, and the guy wasn’t about to take no to being put off.”
“Where did the call come from?” He finally lowered his voice.
“Virginia,” Ron said. “He got word about what’s happened to his family and wasn’t happy with the outcome. Now he wants what you promised him, and he said all of it.”
“If I were president, I’d be able to give him whatever he wanted, but I’m not. He’s going to have to be patient, since no one but Olivia has the power to grant his wish list.”
“His parents and two younger brothers were just picked up for questioning. I don’t think patience is what’s on his mind, sir. He accepts that his sister might be out of his reach, but the rest of the clan wasn’t an option.” Ron handed him a slip of paper and pointed to the car. “I got you a burner, so the call can’t be traced.”
Chase stared at the numbers and suddenly wanted all this crap to be over. “Not yet. Let’s see exactly why this happened first.”
“Please think about this, sir. Ignoring this one has the potential to open us up for more than jail time.”
“Stop worrying about that.” He placed the paper in his pocket and got in the backseat. “If anything, we need to speed up the process. This might be the thing that forces everyone’s hand, and if it doesn’t, there’s no paper trail back to us.”