Chapter 8
Yvonne sat back on her heels and looked around at the mess in her apartment, and sighed heavily.
She made it to her feet, then made her way over to the table where she’d left her glass of wine earlier.
She finished the little bit that was left, took it to the kitchen sink, rinsed it, and set it aside.
She leaned her hips against the counter and sighed heavily.
She hadn’t realized that after living in this place for over twenty years, she really hadn’t accumulated as much as she had thought.
A thought came to her, and she pulled her phone to dial quickly, but not before looking at the clock on the microwave to make sure it wasn’t too late.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Riceman? This is Yvonne Wilson. I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I had a couple of questions for you.”
“Oh, hey, Yvonne, what do you need to know? Do you know when you’ll be here?”
“I have one more week at work. My last day is next week, Friday. I’m packing up a little bit every night after work, and I was wondering if I needed to purchase any appliances?”
“No, the cabins come fully furnished, even with beds, dressers, sheets, appliances. The only thing you need to bring is your clothes, and anything that you can’t live without.
” Erin laughed. “I’m saying that, because someone, I can’t remember, brought their own coffee pot.
The one that takes those pod things, so it makes one cup at a time.
To each their own, but I like a full pot. ”
Yvonne laughed. “Yeah, me too. Okay, thanks, Erin. As I said, my last day is Friday, and I’ll probably head out of here around nine Saturday morning, since I’m only three hours away from you.”
“Great, come to Erin’s Way first. Then I’ll take you over to New Double, after I give you a tour. The other security officer that you’ll be working with arrived earlier today. They’ll be starting tomorrow. I’ll fill you in when you get here.”
“Okay, Erin. Thanks.” They rang off, and Yvonne looked around at her packing, and felt relieved that she didn’t have to rent a larger vehicle than her SUV.
She walked around to verify what she still needed to pack, and actually jerked when her phone gave a notification of an incoming text message.
She opened it, read it, and nodded. That message had her going back into her kitchen to see what she had in her cupboards.
Erin had sent her the text saying that she would need to stop into Fool’s Gold for groceries before she came to the ranch.
She started pulling items from the cabinets, organizing them, tossing the expired items, and started a list. By the time she went to bed that night, she was happy with what she’d accomplished, and what lay ahead of her.
Around three o’clock Friday afternoon, Yvonne looked up from her work, and jerked at her visitor.
“Director Anderson, what can I do for you?”
Before he could answer, the man from HR, Yvonne could never remember his name, entered. She had no clue as to why, but his seemed to be the only name she could never remember.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m here for your exit interview,” the HR guy said.
“I’m here to sit in on it,” Anderson said. He only shook his head when her eyebrows disappeared to her hairline.
For the next hour and a half, they talked, and when they were done, the HR guy left, and Anderson stood, he looked at her intently.
“Was there anything else?”
“I know I never said this at the time, but thank you.”
“For?”
“For doing your job as well as you do, and exposing how badly I was taken in by Arroy. I’ve been kept abreast of the situation.
He’s being detained by the military until he faces trial.
I believe he will be Court Martialed. I’m not in the know about that, since it’s military.
” He studied her and shook his head. “I’m sorry I let my old age blind me to my stupidity. ”
“Director.”
“Please, call me Tom.”
“Tom, it’s not your fault. I hadn’t interacted with him before I blew him out of the water, but I knew if he was real, I never would have been able to work for him.
Besides, you’re not much older than I am, we both know the Bureau kicks us out by the age of fifty-seven.
I could have ten years left, but I’m getting out on my terms.”
“May I ask where you’re going?”
“Have a seat,” Yvonne said as she pointed to the chair he had just vacated. She leaned back in her chair and studied him. “I can’t tell you where I’m going, because I don’t have the owner’s permission. However, I can tell you what I will be doing. It won’t be glamourous.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What will you be doing?”
“Basically, what I’m doing now. Heavy on the background checks, and working with another person, and it is my understanding that we will work side by side until another ranch is up and running.
Yes, I’ll be working at a ranch. From my understanding there are some extremely expensive horses on these ranches.
Some things will be happening on one of them where me and the other guy, or gal, I’m not sure who it is, will need to run the background checks on them.
We’ll be working together until the other ranch they are building is open for operation. ”
“I never pictured you as the outdoorsy type.”
Yvonne grinned and laughed. “I’m not, but I like challenges.”
Tom chuckled as he stood again, “Well, I wish you luck,” he said as he held out his hand to her, and gave her a small salute as he turned to leave. At her door, he turned back. “Oh, I know it’s almost five, and I shouldn’t tell you this.”
“What?” Yvonne leaned back and gave him the side eye.
“Do you still hate surprises?”
“Absolutely.” She actually shuddered at the thought and wrinkled her nose.
“Well, your colleagues are having a going away party for you in the cafeteria at five thirty. I trust you’ll be surprised?”
Yvonne laughed and nodded. “I will be, oh, and Tom, I have the information for my current cases here.” She had laid her hand on a stack of about four or five folders. “There’s nothing urgent or pressing. I’m sure my replacement will find everything in order.”
“About that,” Tom turned to her. “I took your recommendation into consideration and we’re going to offer Special Agent Benjamin your position.”
“Thank you,” Yvonne said with a grin. “I’m sure he’ll be grateful for the pay raise, and to stay in the office more. I don’t know how much you know about our personal lives, but his wife is pregnant with their first, and he’s shitting bricks.”
“Why?”
“They’ll know next week, but they’re thinking twins.”
“Ah,” Tom said with a grin as he lifted his chin toward her.
“I remember those days. My late wife and I had two sets of them. One boys, and one girls. They’re in their early thirties now, working their careers and getting ready to take the next chapter in their lives.
At least I hope so, they’re currently all living in different states, and not one of them is Colorado.
They’ve been with their significant others since college. ”
“I guess there’s no rushing things.”
“Yeah, but I’m not getting any younger, and I’m looking forward to becoming a grandfather soon.”
Yvonne studied him, and shook her head at her thoughts. “Sir, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“When I get settled at my new job, and after I talk to my new boss, how would you like to come out for the weekend to look around?”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because I’ll be working with horses. Studs, racehorses, and some that have been rescued and rehabilitated.
I’m sure you can come out and look around, maybe ride one of the rehabilitated horses, or just sit around and talk to the other workers.
” She grinned as she held up her hand. “Have you ever heard of Navy SEALs turned cowboys?”
“No, I can’t even picture that.”
“That’s some of the people I’ll be working with. It’s like an entire family of mix- matched people, but Erin’s making it work.”
“Sure, let me know.”
Almost an hour later, Lela showed up at her office and when Yvonne gave her a look over a pair of non-existent glasses. “Yes,” she said in a drawl, fucking with her. She knew why she was here.
“Um, ah,” Lela stuttered, then sighed heavily. “You know, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t ask who told you, but can you at least act surprised?”
Yvonne laughed as she cleaned up her desk, packed her last personal item into her purse, her favorite pen was all that was left, because she’d slowly taken things home during the last two weeks, and rose to her feet.
Since she had already turned in her gun and badge, she didn’t have to come back to her office.
In the doorway, she turned and looked into the room, and was surprised that she didn’t feel sad that she was leaving.
With a quick nod, she turned on her heel and looked at Lela.
“We ready?”
“Yes, but you have to act surprised.”
“I will.” Yvonne laughed.
They rode down in the elevator together, but Yvonne held back, saying that Lela should go first. Lela started to walk away, then whipped back around and glared at her.
“You’re not going to leave, are you?”
Yvonne laughed. “No, I’m not going to leave. I thought you should go first to let them know I’m on my way. You know how much I hate surprises.”
“Yeah,” Lela said with a grin and hurried away.
Ten minutes later, she received a text from Lela that it was okay to come in now, and Yvonne couldn’t help but grin when it read to act surprised.
She walked toward the cafeteria, and saw all the lights were off, and as soon as she entered, they came on, and the entire room exploded in yelling ‘Surprise!’.
She didn’t have to act surprised, because the sheer volume of the yell made her jerk.
As soon as the lights came on, she swore that every single person that worked in the building was there.
For the next four hours, she talked, laughed, reminisced, and actually had a good time. The biggest surprise was that it was catered with hors d oeuvres, and a buffet meal. At one point she walked up to her team and shook her head.
“What?” Mark Griffin asked with a grin.
“How the hell did you pull this off? A month ago, everyone in the entire building had given me the cold shoulder.”
“Yeah, that’s why we told you what Arroy was doing.
However, back then, we didn’t know who he really was.
Once you exposed him, and the military police took him away, Robert, Lela, and I went to every employee in the entire building and said they needed to apologize to you for their treatment.
Someone, I don’t recall who, but someone suggested this party for you.
Once it was known that you put in your notice, things started happening fast.” He looked around the room with a grin.
“The catering is being done by one of the agents’ daughter or niece, I’m not sure which.
We only collected enough funds from everyone to pay for the food and drinks.
Since we already work in the building, Director Anderson said we could use the cafeteria. ”
Yvonne nodded, and held up her glass of wine. “And the alcohol?”
“Again, we all tipped in and had the caterer bring it with them. Some sort of package deal.” He shrugged and sipped his own drink.
When the party started to wind down, Yvonne thanked everyone for, not only the send-off party, but also for the years she had worked with them. She saved her three team members for last, and not only shook their hands, but she hugged them also. Lela handed her a gift bag and grinned.
“This is from the three of us, don’t open it until you get home.” They hugged again, and as Yvonne turned to leave, she stopped her to lean in, and whisper, “Tell Myrna and Pedro we said hi.”
“I will,” Yvonne said with a laugh and a nod. She made her way home, and once she arrived, she decided to shower and change into her pajamas before opening the gift.
“Holy shit,” she said as she opened the box from inside the bag, and found an assortment of products from one particular manufacturer.
She uncovered a watch, a laptop, an e-reader, along with a gift card with a significant amount.
She also found a card with everyone’s signatures on it.
She hadn’t realized how moved she had been by her co-workers’ thoughtfulness, until she felt the splash of tears on her hands.
She quickly wiped her eyes, jumped to her feet, and walked the entire apartment, making sure she had packed everything.
By the time she went to bed that night, it was almost midnight, and she only lay awake for about fifteen minutes before she fell into a fitful sleep.
The next morning, Yvonne had put the last box into her SUV, and went back up to her empty apartment, and again walked through the entire place.
Not that it was that big, but it had been hers for the last twenty years.
It was almost sad to let it go, but she didn’t want to travel almost four hours one way in order to get to work.
She turned at the knock on her open door and smiled as she looked at the landlord.
“Here are the keys,” Yvonne said as she held them out to her landlord.
“Thank you, are you sure you want to leave? You’ve been such a good tenant all these years. I know Mom and Dad had loved having you here.”
“Thank you,” Yvonne said with a gentle smile.
Her original landlords had been this one’s parents all those years ago.
“Yes, I’m moving onto bigger and better things.
I’m sorry I didn’t repaint the walls, but I did scrub them, and cleaned all the dust bunnies out from behind the appliances.
” She stepped back to allow her to walk around, and thirty minutes later, they signed the paperwork that she was leaving.
“I wish you luck, Yvonne.”
“Thank you. I’m hoping this new job will help me find peace in my life.
I know you know that I was an FBI agent, and I’ve seen some harrowing things in my career, this next journey should allow me to slow down, and experience life.
” She laughed. “Who knows, maybe I’ll find the love of my life there. ”
The two women shared a laugh, and Yvonne wiped only one tear as she walked away from her old life and headed toward her new destiny.
Once in her vehicle, she sent a text to Erin Riceman that she was leaving her home then, and received the thumbs up sign, and laughed when a reminder of stopping at the grocery store came through.
By the time she arrived at the store, hours later, she had a list of things from Erin to pick up.
She had no problem doing that, and trusted that Erin would be true to her word and pay her when she arrived.