Chapter Eleven

Cassidy

“Were all the parts you guarded in working order when we left?” Donna asks.

I smile dropping my briefcase on the desk and sit looking out the window. “He had a plan. It was the perfect end to an awesome day.”

She laughs. “I can hear it in your voice. You are so gone.”

“I am. Tell me what’s going on with Dallas? That’s a cool name, by the way.”

She sighs and I smile bigger. Maybe this one will work for her. Dallas is respected by everyone, he’s smart and has integrity. That’s already better than her usual. “It’s been good. I’ve seen him every day since the dinner.”

Holy shit! I make the motion of stomping my feet. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She groans. “I wanted to try what you do, if I screwed it up, I didn’t need an audience. I didn’t think it would work, but he stops at my house every night that we don’t go out. He brings dinner and just sits and talks. Or we make out.” She giggles.

My feet are air stomping again. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you! Dallas is great. He was doing everything for you last night.” I bite my tongue. I almost said, like Rafael.

I hear her chair make a noise. “He does, he’s always like that too. He’s so sweet. I’m excited and scared to death. What if the sex doesn’t work? My way, I knew who was worth keeping around.”

I roll my eyes. “With nothing to go along with great sex, the sex isn’t enough. If it were, you wouldn’t be so happy with Dallas.” This is what growing up without a dad explaining shit does. My dad talked about how we should be treated as much as the no sex until were twenty-five thing .

“Yes, and his sexy hard body had me stopping for more batteries.” She squeals, then I do thinking we are truly deranged.

Spinning my chair around I’m air stomping again. I’m not breaking a heel even for Donna. May moves into the doorway and I stop squealing. Sitting up, I stop my chair from spinning and try to look professional. I see the muscles in her jaw working overtime to hold her smile in. “Donna, I have to go.”

“I’ll be thinking about Dallas while you deal with the briefs.” Her and the jokes.

“Ha!” I swipe her off and sit straighter with my professional face on. “She’s happy.” I’m not even smiling when she cracks up.

“I love your family. Adopt me.”

That surprises me. “We did.” She’s always at the house. She was at the dinner and I know she went shopping with Harper.

That gets a smile. “So you did. Thanks.” She moves out of the doorway.

I’m smiling while I empty my briefcase. People are funny.

* * *

May is a maniac behind the wheel. “Slow down!” I yell and she laughs.

“You said you can’t be late. Hold on.” She makes a u-turn without putting the damn brakes on. While we’re spinning, in the middle of the damn street, with tires squealing and people everywhere, I’m screaming. She finally puts the brakes on, I scream louder and close my eyes as we slide toward a parked car. “Relax. We’re here.”

The car stops and I hold my chest trying to breathe and keep my heart from pounding right out of my body. When I open my eyes, I’m surprised we’re still alive. Alive is good. I hear her opening the door but turn the other way. We’re alive and parked. People are looking at me, so I let my chest go. I’m at the courthouse.

May opens my door. “You have five minutes to spare. It’s a good thing your doctor isn’t far.” She takes my briefcase. I watch it move but can’t get my brain past we’re alive. “We need to move, Ms. Warner. You’re going to be late and this judge is a dick.”

Right, the maniac thinks I need to move. Legs appear on the side of her. “Nice parking, Nelson.”

I know that voice. He’s not a maniac. I unbuckle and turn. His hand is out and I grab it. “We’re alive, Miguel. She parked.”

He pulls me up and hugs me, but I feel him laughing. “You’re fine, bella.” The words themselves calm me.

“Yeah.” I step back and take his arm looking at the car. It’s in the space perfect, a good foot away from the other cars, she didn’t even hit the curb. “I always hated parallel parking. Never again. I’ll pay in the back lot from now on.”

He laughs and I don’t know why. Parking can get you killed. I start walking to the stairs. At the security check, Miguel holds us all up. He has weapons in every damn pocket. “Go. I’ll catch up,”he says pulling bullets from his lower pocket. What did he think he’d need all those for?

“Trial room three,” May tells him putting her gun, two clips, badge and phone down. I step over and put my briefcase, keys and phone down with Hale right behind me.

The shot scares the hell out of me. The next has me turning. This isn’t where shots are supposed to be heard.

“Cover her!”

I don’t even have time to bend before I’m on the floor with a body over me.

May yells, “Get down!”

I’m trying to push the weight off me thinking I can’t get any more down. I also can’t freakin’ breathe. I push on the only body part that’s movable right now feeling the pull on my arm. Another shot has me frozen in place. Shallow breath works fine. I do that. People are talking and I’m picturing blue air. My life has turned into a three-ring circus. I’ve hit two rings today and wonder what the third will be. The judge humiliating me in open court crosses my mind, but they’ll delay him in chambers until the building is cleared.

The weight crushing me moves and I take in a full breath coughing it out. I’m lifted from under my arms and stood up like a toddler. Rafael is looking at me. I bend trying to breathe. It’s not Rafael, can’t be Rafael, nope. He’s got a goatee and I didn’t jump on him burying my face in his chest hoping the insane scene around me is a dream. He’d make it a dream for me. Then he’d kick all their asses in his GI Joe superhero mode.

My purse is floating in front of me, but I’m breathing without coughing. I push it away and straighten up with a little cough. “I was being crushed under a mountain. The mountain moved, so I’m fine.” I don’t really feel fine.

He’s talking in Spanish, but I tune him out and look around. People are against the walls and by the door. Everyone looks nervous as police are moving around. Four agents walk in and right toward us. I’m so happy to see them. I try to see around them, but they’re all big, so I move to take a step.

“No, Cassidy. Harper will come to you. We need to get you to a room so she can check you and Miguel’s arms,” May says sounding normal.

I don’t see Harper until she pushes the men aside. “That was cute, now get the fuck out of my way.”

I smile at the only normal I’ve seen in a while.

She hugs me and I hold on. “What the hell happened?”

I shrug, “Shots and I was under a mountain. No one has said.” She touches my forehead then turns me around fast.I’m walked into the courtroom I’m supposed to be in.

“It’s better than the bathroom floor,” Hale says.

Harper gives him a look. “Using the courtroom will delay proceedings. Get Miguel in here. He’s bleeding like a stuck pig out there.” She’s just not nice to work with. Hale walks away and she puts a mask on me then opens her case getting scissors. “Haddad was disguised as Security. When the guns were dropped to be scanned, he pulled his and started shooting. Miguel got hit but stuck him with his knife. May hit him in the shoulder running out the door.”

Holy shit. Miguel was shot. “I’m fine, help Miguel.”

She looks around the empty room dramatically.

I roll my eyes at her. “Why did you ask me if you knew what happened?”

She looks up from my arm. “I just got it from my earpiece. Miguel was speaking Spanish, Perez told us in English.”

I get it. “Not everyone speaks Spanish.” I nod. He was talking fast and I tuned him out.

She cleans my arm with alcohol, but it’s not as bad as last time. “All the military do but not all the Agents. Military speak a shit load of languages, some just enough to get by, some fluently.”

I smile, Rafael speaks German and he was stationed in Kuwait for a while. I bet he knows a bunch of languages. My GI Joe is a smart man. I get a shiver thinking about him talking to me in German while we made love. He’s sexy in any language.

“Sorry. You only need three. I’ll tape the rest.” Her voice has me looking down.

This is definitely not normal. I didn’t even know she was stitching me. It’s still burning, I guess, enough cover stitches.

Miguel comes in with a shirt bunched up high on his arm. “You doing okay, Cassidy?”

“Yep. Only three this time. How about you?” I take the mask off, so I’m not talking through it.

He waves it away as if bleeding like a stuck pig is normal for him.

A bailiff comes in and I watch his surprised face turn ugly. “We have court starting. You need to move to another room.”

Harper stops putting clear tape things across my cut and looks at him. “Did you miss the shots fired in the building memo?”Egad, she’s rude. He shakes his head no. “Tell the judge I’m putting the prosecutor back together and dealing with the shot her security took to keep you and every other person in the fucking building safe. You’re welcome.” She turns like he’s dismissed. He stands with a shocked look on his face before spinning around.

I calmly put the mask back on, then start laughing. She is just not nice. I love my sister.

* * *

Rafael

The red flag at the bottom of the scrolling hologram screen keeps drawing my eye. It was there when Cassidy was attacked.

I focus on Ford getting the gear back onboard. We had no time to plan for this one, so being his eyes while they jumped into action had me riveted to the screens. That flag hasn’t left my thoughts. I know Wheeler would step in if it was bad but it’s still there. As soon as the men are in the chopper, I turn to Waite. “What’s going on?”

He smiles. “I knew you’d remember it. Your memory is fucking cool to watch.”

I give him an impatient look.

“Haddad posed as Security at the courthouse. Shots were fired, Miguel got hit but is fine. He sunk his knife into Haddad’s leg. Nelson shot him in the shoulder running out the door. Perez has a manhunt underway.”

My heart is going to beat right the fuck out of my chest. “Cassidy?” I growl.

“Sorry, Commander. She was covered by Hale.”

I bend and breathe. Jesus fucking Christ. “Next time start with that.” I’m still growling. Standing I see Springer on with Ford. She must be working on the report,

“Commander, Lecompte put a mask on Ms. Warner and re-stitched her. She’s working on Miguel right now,” Waite says.

Sonofabitch. “Get his bodycam up.”

He tells Miguel he’s pulling his cam and it pops on my center screen dropping the team in transport lower. We hear Lecompte tell him to stay still .

“Commander, she’s fine. Got stitched without complaint,” Miguel says turning. I hear pride in his voice, but I need to see her.

I see Lecompte’s gloves, the fingers full of blood, then Cassidy standing by her with gloves on holding a medic pack.

“Bella, the Commander needs to see that you’re okay. My body cam is here.” His hand moves in the way blocking our view then I see her smile.

“I’m fine, my favorite GI Joe Commander.”

Starting from the top, I scan down. “Her head has a bruise, what happened?”

“Hale covered her, literally. He didn’t move until I called clear, sir.”

Her breathing looks fine. Her arm has a new bandage. Going back to her face I smile. She’s got a serious mask on trying to hide the disgust of watching Lecompte work on Miguel. I see it and remember her word from the day we met. Gory.

“Commander, did it go through?” I ask. Now that I see Cassidy is okay my brain starts running through the other information.

“I turned throwing my knife. It’s just a graze. She’s just putting the bands on me.” I hear his smile. Clear bands are used when it’s not deep. This is good.

“It’s close to twelve inches long!” Cassidy yells showing that disgust. “It’s all icky too.”

Waite, Hank and Springer laugh along with Miguel. “It’s just a graze, Commander.”

“Roger, are you headed here once Lecompte is finished?” The need to see her is messing with what I know I need to do to finish my day.

“No, Commander. The bailiff is just waiting until Lecompte is done patching me up. Cassidy has court in this room. Lecompte was stalling them to give her time to catch her breath.” He turns and I can’t see Cassidy. “I’m done here. Perez had Hale move, so I’m physical with Nelson.”

“Roger, Commander. I’ll get an update from Perez. Thanks, Miguel.” I see him walking to the door. He didn’t answer, so I wait.

Once he steps out, he stops. I see people everywhere in the hall. “She won’t leave, Commander. She’s got a thing about the job. She’s breathing better and Lecompte says she’s fine, but she just stitched her with nothing. Cassidy didn’t say a word the whole time. She’s got to be in pain.” He’s talking low and I hear concern.

Waite smiles shaking his head. “She doesn’t quit, Commander Saber. Cool as shit.”

“Agent?” I ask and he sits down. “It’s okay, Miguel. She got clothes to change for court the day she was attacked. Waite’s right, she won’t quit.”

“Don’t fucking lose her, hermano.”

I smile. “I don’t plan on it. Stay close. I’m out.”Waite shuts the video and I look at Springer. “The report?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t quit either, Commander. You’re a good match.” Handing me the tablet she smiles. “Ford approved.”

I read it, put my thumb on it and turn to Waite. “Make sure Aramis gets in okay. I’m in with Perez.”

“Roger, Commander. Hopefully, we can get a half hour in between this time.”

Fuck. I was forming a plan to run by the courthouse.

* * *

The chopper lands and I check my people. The dots at the courthouse tell me she’s still there. It’s after five. Jesus. Stopping at the Investigators, I see a few agents still working and Perez watching body cams.

“Anything? ”

He shakes his head no. “The car he jumped in was left at Riverside Park. He must have had another car close. We need better cameras up. Too many blind spots or no cameras at all lost us that vehicle change. We were there too soon for him to have walked out.”

I saw the video from the courthouse door. Miguel’s knife was sunk to the hilt in his leg and Nelson hit him three inches into his shoulder. She was aiming for the heart, but he shifted to the side going down the stairs. I hope the bastard is in more pain with the knife out or the bullet hit something major. None of them left Cassidy until Miguel called it clear.

“What did Lecompte say?” I had her watch the video.

“Not life threatening, the bullet went through. The leg will be painful, but she gives him three days to be on the hunt again. She said anger will fuel his next kill.” He turns toward me.

He’s got something to say. “What do you think?” I ask.

His body gets tense. “She’s right, but he’s going to come out fighting. We can expect more bodies quickly, then he’ll come for Ms. Warner again. He plans on winning. He’s gotten into the courthouse twice now. Got his hands on dynamite. Killed a guard. Followed her while she’s been guarded. He’s a smart man. He’ll keep coming at her until he finally gets her. Now it’s personal to him. He wants his hands on her when he kills her.” His eyes don’t leave mine almost challenging me to disagree.

I nod. “That’s what I think too. We’ve got three days. If she’s up for it, we’ll plan some Ops with her out in public. When I say up for it, I mean breathing and able to move without the limp.”

He relaxes. “Lecompte says she’s a sure shot and can defend herself.”

I nod. “She was attacked and reacted by running. I’m not counting on her using what she learned as a first reaction. That means she’s out there and we’re her protection.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll keep that in mind. ”

I need them all to keep that in mind. She’s not trained for this shit.I look at the boards. “Is there anything I need right now?”

“No. We have it covered. Your house is covered and court is running late. They’re waiting for a verdict.”

“I’m heading there now.” I start moving, but his hand on my arm stops me.

“I sent Donna over. She said she’d wait with her.”

So, is my first thought. I shake my head. Even I recognize that as rude. “I need to see her.” I walk away thinking I’m turning into Lecompte with the smartass answers.

“I understand, Commander. I’ll keep you informed.”

Waite is standing by the door with his backpack on his shoulder. “I’m out,” I tell him walking by.

“Me too.” He follows me to my car and I wish I could go back to the peaceful days when I lived on base.

Getting in I smile. No, I don’t. I didn’t have mi sol there. Even with all the crazy shit happening, I wouldn’t trade for a day without Cassidy. She went to work again. The woman doesn’t know how to give up. I respect the fuck out of her for that. Starting the car, I laugh. Even when it’s all icky.

Waite looks at me smiling. “Icky?”

“Yeah.” I’m not in the mood to talk and he leaves me alone. I’ve checked on her all day using Miguel’s watch, but it wasn’t enough. I need to see mi vida.

Walking in I hold up my badge and go right through the metal detector setting it off. The guard tries to stop me. “Sir, freeze!”

My gun is trained on his head when I turn. “You saw my badge. If you’ve been here all day, you saw what happens when law enforcement lays their guns on that belt. It’s a mistake that won’t happen again. Are you done?” I am in no mood for their stupid ass procedures. Ours just changed .

He nods putting his hands down. I walk away to Waite’s laughing. “You should at least have your gun in your hands when you say freeze.” He lectures the moron.

Turning the corner, I see my Agents. They stand a little straighter and nod stepping away from the door. Miguel is standing just inside. I scan the room seeing an Agent at the side door. Cassidy, Donna, Lecompte and Nelson are sitting at a table with extra chairs around it.

Miguel steps closer.“She’s a good lawyer, Rafael. She nailed this guy.”

I hook his head and pull him closer, leaning my shoulder into him. “Thanks, mi hermano. Are you doing okay?”

He hits my back then pushes me away. “Yeah. Ops go okay?”

“Yeah, it’s Ford. Everything went right. There was just a lot of everything.” It was a non-stop kind of day. I’m glad it’s over and Ops was canceled for tonight. It wasn’t canceled but moved to earlier, so it’s done.

He nods and looks at the women. “Her breathing. What’s going on with that? She couldn’t breathe and didn’t use the inhaler.”

“She takes a pill to help control her breathing. If she can’t catch her breath by calming down, she’ll use the inhaler. Otherwise, she tries to just calm down. Too much medication can make it worse down the road.”

“Fuck, brother. Is this going to get worse?” Concern is all over his face.

I smile. “This is the worse. We were on the back stairs when the house exploded. She took in too much smoke and it triggered this. It’s better every day, but all this shit keeps happening. We haven’t had a normal day since we met.”

He laughs drawing the women’s attention. “Maybe she’d be better off with the boring brother.”

I punch his arm hard. “Ella es mi vida, hermano.” He’s lucky I hit the good arm .

He smiles. “I see that. I’m happy for you, Rafael.”

I motion for her to stay seated and walk to my beautiful girl with the shining blue eyes. “Mi sol, I love seeing you shine on me.” I bend and kiss her head.Nelson stands. “At ease, Agent. You were off an hour ago.”

She looks torn.

“You can stay. I’m just telling you to relax. It looks like you were enjoying yourself.” I bend to Cassidy. “I’m at the door, Bella. Do you want me to order some food?”

Her smile draws me closer and I kiss the side of her lips. “No, they won’t be long.”

I sit with Miguel and talk about the family. Twenty minutes later Cassidy stands putting her laptop away. They were looking at shoes, women are a little crazy. People start moving back into the room.

I stand at the back and see the intern from her office stand beside her as the judge comes in. While the jury is seated and the judge talks, I keep my eyes on Cassidy. She’s got her professional mask on. She’s got to be exhausted, but it doesn’t show. All I see is confidence. Her clothes, her movements, her attitude all show a respect and understanding for the job she’s been hired to do. She stands to accept the verdict and I watch the jurors. They’re happy with the outcome. I scan the people in the seats. Everyone is quiet and focused on Cassidy, then the judge.

When it’s over, the lawyer leaves without a word. He knew he lost and doesn’t answer questions, he just walks out. The intern is smiling as he congratulates her. Nelson and Donna stand beside her when everyone moves closer. I see Lecompte’s blond head and stay put.

“She’s amazing,” Miguel says.

“Yeah.”

She’s now my life.