Whiskey
R eina settled back into her seat, now that the jet had leveled off. She adjusted her arm, which held Lilly, who was asleep. Her gaze rose, focusing on Jimmy, who sat across from her, watching her. The last time she’d been on this plane, he sat beside her. She remembered how kind he’d been to her that day. She would never have guessed how important to her he’d become.
“Kids, I envy how they can sleep anywhere, anytime,” she said.
“Sleep’s the best thing for her right now,” Jackson said. He sat beside Wilson. “They’re also very resilient. She’s going to be fine. You know that, don’t you?”
Reina shrugged. “I hope you’re right.”
“I have two kids. Another of our teammates has a daughter around the same age as Lilly. She’ll have kids to play with until your new identities come through and you can get her back into a preschool,” Jackson said. “Getting her back into a normal routine will help her a lot.”
Reina nodded. “Yeah, that and reassuring her that she’s safe and will be cared for. I don’t know what I should tell her about her mom.”
“I still want you to talk to our team shrink. He’ll be able to help with what we should tell Lilly,” Wilson said. “He could probably give us a referral to a good child trauma counselor.”
“Angel, Madison, Elizabeth, and Sienna will be helpful too,” Jackson said, his gaze on Wilson. “It was the four of them who got Hahna settled so well.” His gaze shifted to Rae. “She’s a normal and very happy five-year-old now. You’d never guess she went through something so horrific.”
Wilson saw the uncomfortable expression on Rae’s face. “They’re the wives of several of our teammates. Well, Angel is Jackson’s wife and our office manager at work. And Madison and Cooper are the team members who are married that I told you about. They’re the ones who adopted Hahna. You’ll meet them all.”
“That’s good to hear that the little girl is doing well,” Reina said. “It’s encouraging that Lilly will, too.”
“All the wives will give you support,” Jackson said. “That’s one thing that’s a definite. The ladies help each other. We’re all an extended family.”
Reina never had family in her life, let alone an extended family. She never even had too many girlfriends, not real ones anyway.
Wilson could see the discomfort wash over Rae’s face as her thoughts obviously occupied her mind. He leaned forward and took her hand in his. “There’s this incredible new life ahead for you. You and Lilly are going to be blown away by the family you’re about to become a part of.”
“Become a part of, just like that?”
“Yes, just like that,” Jackson answered. “We’ve seen it happen every time one of the men meets someone and they become a couple and introduce a new woman into our group. The wives instantly befriend them. Because of the job we do, no one outside of our group can understand what it’s like when we’re away for work. You know about the danger that comes with the job we do. Our wives know too. It’s not easy for them when we head off on a mission. They support each other. They’re a family.”
Reina’s gaze went to Jackson. “I look forward to meeting your wife and the others.”
“You will shortly. After we land, we’re headed to the office for a debrief and to unpack our gear. And I’m sure Shepherd, our boss, will want a private meeting with Wilson.”
“Don’t let Jackson fool you. He and Garcia share the number three spot at the agency. He’s already had a conversation or two with Shepherd about you and me.”
Jackson laughed. “I’ve let Lambchop have that honor being team lead for this mission.” His gaze went back to Reina. “Angel makes a great cup of tea, always has time to listen, and is good at keeping people company who are waiting for meetings to be over. She even keeps toys at the office to keep kids occupied.”
“She sounds wonderful,” Reina said.
“She is,” Jackson agreed. “And she has the proper security clearance to hear anything and everything.”
Reina recognized the airfield they had landed at. It was the same one they flew into last year from Norfolk. This time, though, the Marshals wouldn’t be waiting for her at the hangar. From what Lambchop said, they’d approved her request to be Lilly’s guardian, and they would assign identities for her and Lilly to remain there in the Chicago area. Jimmy’s boss, a man she’d just learned was named Shepherd, would arrange it all.
By the time the team had transferred all their gear and the carrier containing her cat, Teddy, to the two waiting SUVs, it had started to flurry out. Lilly had woken up during the bumpiness of the landing. She now sat in the middle of the backseat between her and Jimmy. Jackson drove and Sloan sat beside him. The others were in the second black SUV. Jimmy had told her the cars were owned by the agency, as was the plane. And they were now heading to the team’s headquarters. She had to admit, she was a little intimidated by it all.
Her gaze focused on Jimmy. The three of them were going to stay at his condo tonight. A short-term resolution to their housing problem. She couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of being with him tonight. After the kisses they shared, she was sure tonight would be incredible.
She also knew the team was planning to go after Stella Adams and Blake Henning as soon as they found them. The thought of being left alone with Lilly in an unfamiliar place was a bit unnerving, even if she would suddenly become a member of this big close family, as Jimmy and Jackson had said. She wouldn’t vocalize that feeling, though. She didn’t want to give Jimmy any doubts that she could handle the job he did and this new life. She wanted this new life to work so badly.
Jimmy told her where they went as they drove. Schaumburg, Illinois, was where their headquarters was located. And soon, they drove into the parking garage beside the ten-story building. They drove deep into two sub-basement levels. Jimmy explained the security behind the gate and the two garage doors that required codes to be entered into keypads to open. Then they pulled up in front of an elevator that didn’t look like it belonged in what Reina had completely forgotten was a parking garage.
“I just messaged Angel to come meet you and bring you to the kitchen near her office while we unpack the cars,” Jackson said. “It’ll be more comfortable for you than waiting around.”
“Thanks,” Wilson said. “You’re going to like Angel.”
“I’m sure I will,” Reina said. She was surprised that the garage was warm when she got out of the car. She held Lilly’s hand, and they waited off to the side of the elevator door and out of the way of the guys as they unloaded the vehicles, carrying their gear through a door near the elevator.
The chime sounded and the elevator door opened. Whatever Reina had imagined Jackson’s wife to look like, the beautiful black-haired woman with the infant on her hip wasn’t it. She had a warm smile that focused on Jackson. “Welcome home,” she said softly after he’d rushed to her and wrapped her in his arms. After he kissed her, he took the baby from her and kissed her too, before holding her close. “Daddy missed you, baby girl,” he said.
“We all missed you,” Angel said.
“Angel, this is Rae or Reina and Lilly,” Jackson introduced. He handed the baby back to her.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Angel said with a genuine smile. “Let’s go back up to my office. I can take a break and make us some tea.” She crouched down to Lilly’s height. “And I keep some toys by my desk too, for visitors like you. And some snacks if you’re hungry.” She stood back up and hit the elevator button.
“I’ll bring Teddy to my office and set him up with his food and some water out of the carrier. We’ll probably be here for an hour or more,” Wilson told her.
“Thank you,” she said.
The elevator door reopened. They stepped in. “I get to have my kids at the office with me a few days a week, so I’m sure we’ll find something to keep her busy.”
“How old is she?” Reina asked.
“This is Johanna. She’s nearly eight months. And our son Sammy is three. He’s at preschool today.” She glanced at Lilly. “Jackson said she’s four. The place Sammy goes has a great four-year-old program. A good friend’s daughter was in it last year. This year they have her there in the pre-K program. I’ll make sure I get you the name of the preschool.”
“Thank you, that’d be great. I worked as a teacher’s aide at Lilly’s preschool. I liked it.”
Reina watched the lights count the floors as the elevator ascended. It stopped on the fifth floor, and they got off. They were in the hallway of an ordinary-looking place. She followed Angel past a few closed doors and one open one that showed an empty conference room inside. She wondered if that was where Jimmy and the others would meet with their boss. Angel directed her to the next door on the right. It was a large kitchen with windows that ran the entire wall in front of them and looked over the big Woodfield Mall.
“Can Lilly have a J-U-I-C-E-B-O-X?” Angel asked, spelling the word out.
“Are you thirsty, Lilly?” Reina asked her. “Would you like a juice box?”
“Yes,” Lilly answered with a smile.
“And how about a little S-N-A-C-K? Is that okay?” Angel asked Reina. “I was just about to get Jo one.”
“Of course, thank you. Anything is fine. She has no food allergies,” Reina answered, appreciating that Angel was asking her permission first before offering anything to Lilly. This would take some getting used to, being consulted and acknowledged as Lilly’s mom. But that was the role she was taking on.
Angel got the kids set up with their snacks and then popped two mugs filled with water into the microwave. She offered Reina a chocolate chip cookie, what had been given to Lilly as her snack.
“Thank you. This is good, home baked, isn’t it?” Reina asked after taking a bite.
“Yes, with a lot less sugar,” Angel said. “I try to feed healthy food or at least healthier alternatives.”
“We had to take a nutrition class to work at the preschool. If you ate only like the experts recommended, you’d be starving,” Reina said.
Angel laughed. “I like more of a common-sense approach. And I like to eat.”
“Jimmy said we’ll have to stop by the grocery store on the way to his place. We’re staying there,” she said, not knowing if Angel knew or not.
“Jimmy Wilson’s a good guy,” Angel said. “Jackson told me that the team will be on standby to go after those they need to,” she said to not say too much in front of Lilly. “When they do, if you need anything, let me know.”
“Thanks,” Reina said. “I’ll have to get your phone number.”
“You’ll be issued an agency phone. Shepherd has already approved it. My phone number will already be programmed into it.”
Reina’s eyes flickered to the phone she had set on the table beside her. She recognized it as the same model Jimmy and all the others carried. The microwave dinged and Angel retrieved their steaming mugs. She set a tin with a selection of tea bags in front of Reina before she sat.
Angel’s eyes took in everything about Reina. She, of course, knew who she was and what she’d been through. “Do you prefer Rae or Reina?” Angel asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Reina replied. “It’s the same. Jackson said you knew about me and my past.”
Angel saw the emotions wash over her face as she said it. This woman had a raw edge to her that Angel recognized. “Some, yes, and I understand going through something traumatic. I’ve been there, met Jackson and the team when they R-E-S-C-U-E-D me from something horrific. It gets better. I won’t tell you it completely goes away because it doesn’t, but it fades over time and with the proper trauma counseling. I’m sure they’ve already mentioned our Doctor Joe Lassiter to you. Take them up on that appointment. You won’t be sorry you did.”
Reina sat shocked, just staring at this woman. Then her eyes went to both Angel’s baby and then to Lilly. A lump formed in her throat, preventing her from speaking.
Angel’s heart broke, seeing the desperate expression that formed on Rae’s face. She reached over and took hold of her hand. “And you can talk to me anytime you’d like to. But seriously, don’t wait too long for that appointment with Joe. He helped me. He’s helped a lot of people.”
***
Inside Shepherd’s office, the six team members sat with Shepherd, Cooper, Doc, and Garcia at his conference table. “Good job on the recovery of Reina Ellis and Lilly Carona, team. But we’re not done yet.”
“The Digital Team is still combing through all the camera footage in a five-mile radius of that house to identify the vehicle Stella Adams and Blake Henning were in after they gave you the slip. The early hour of the morning will help with that. They’re also reviewing all the security camera footage from the two closest airports. From there, hopefully we can pick up their trail. We’ll find them,” Garcia guaranteed.
“Because our perps can identify all of Delta Team, we’re pulling you from the next part of the mission and inserting Alpha Team minus Miller,” Shepherd said. “Tommy Flores from Bravo will be your sixth. He’s currently asleep as he was on in Ops all night. He knows he’s slated for this mission and will respond when alerted. You can fill him in after you’re scrambled.”
Wilson was surprised by the inclusion of Flores. He wasn’t surprised Shepherd was rotating Delta Team out. Both Adams and Henning could identify them. From what they’d reported after getting Lilly, neither got a look at Jackson.
“Van Sloot decided to shut his mouth once he was in the custody of the authorities who Mirandized him,” Lambchop said with a laugh. “He wasn’t sure who the fuck we were, but was sure Wilson would kill him if he didn’t give us the info he did.”
“Good for you,” Garcia said to Wilson. “Now that he’s holding back, I want a piece of this asshole. He’s as responsible for Rae being thrown into that hole and left to die as Henning was.”
“Save it for Henning and Adams,” Shepherd said. “Obviously, Adams was holding back when she made the deal to turn evidence against the network.”
“I have to wonder how long they’ve been in communication,” Wilson said.
“You’ll find out as soon as we find them,” Shepherd said. “Get some answers for the Attorney General of New Jersey before you turn them over to the authorities when you do find them. You can let them think you’re whoever you want. Just get them and get that info.”
The team all smiled and nodded. They liked operating without their hands tied.
“Be ready to deploy as soon as the digital team picks up their trail,” Shepherd said. “Wilson stay. Everyone else, you’re on a thirty-minute alert. The Lear will be on standby at Chicago Executive,” Shepherd said, ending the meeting.
Wilson watched the others file out of the room.
“I’m going to grab Rae and get her phone issued,” Garcia said from the door before he left, closing it after himself.
Shepherd pulled a form from the folder in his pile. He handed it to Wilson. “I’m assuming, which is something I normally do not do, that you’ll want to add Reina and Lilly to your medical insurance.” He pointed to the dollar amount outlined on the form. “That’s what it’ll cost you to cover them each pay period through payroll deductions.”
“Um, yes, that would be the responsible thing to do, to ensure they’re both covered, not knowing when she’ll get a job and what type of coverage, if any, will be offered.” The amount, of course, didn’t matter to him. Adding her and Lilly as dependents made this shit real.
“Did you or did you not inform Lambchop that she and the little girl would be staying with you, that you planned to live with them?”
Wilson felt the scrutiny of Shepherd’s gaze on him just like he was in his first days at bootcamp with his drill instructor standing over him during an inspection. “It’s complicated, Shep, but yes, we’re together.”
“Okay,” Shepherd said gruffly. “Garcia’s issuing her phone, having her sign the NDA, and will tell her about calling Ops. It’s up to you to decide on the tracker for her and the ankle bracelet for the little girl. Notify me if you want them and I’ll approve them. It’s up to you to have that conversation with her.”
“Okay, thank you. I’ll let you know.” Shepherd still stared at him expectantly. He signed the form officially adding them as dependents. He handed it back. “Thank you for everything, the insurance, authorizing the mission to go to Iowa and find her, all of it.”
“It was also a Marshals case, so even if it wasn’t personal for you, we would have looked into it. St. Vincent asked me what last name she and the little girl should be given? In the past, with the other wives, we put it in the names they’d take, anyway. Why is it I have a feeling that in this case that may not be the best idea?”
“As I said it’s complicated,” Wilson replied.
“You have an appointment with Lassiter in five minutes. Talk with him, uncomplicate it, and let me know.”
“Yes, sir,” Wilson said. He came to his feet, knowing he’d just been dismissed.
***
Garcia poked his head into the kitchen and saw Rae sitting at the table with Angel. The little girl who must have been Lilly played on the floor with Johanna. “Hey, Angel, Wilson’s still in with Shepherd. Can I borrow Rae? I want to issue her phone. And can you keep Lilly for a few minutes?”
“Sure,” Angel said. Her gaze went to Reina. “She’ll be fine with me.”
Rae’s eyes shifted to Garcia. She still had a hard time reconciling who he really was versus the person she knew him as before. “Hi,” she greeted him with a small smile as she stood. She followed him into the hallway.
In the hallway he gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. “Glad they found you.” He nodded down the hallway. “Come on.”
She walked beside him, hurrying to catch up. He walked fast. They went all the way down the hallway the same way she’d come with Angel, and she took a second look at the rooms as they passed them.
He hit the call button on the elevator. “Sloan said you still need to take it easy. Make sure you do over the next few days.”
The chime sounded, and the doors opened. They stepped in. He pressed eight. He also had to enter a code on a keypad before the doors would close.
“My office and workroom is on eight,” he said. “I’m sure Wilson already told you that you cannot ever tell anyone about us, our office, our missions. Everything we do is classified top secret. I’ll be giving you a nondisclosure agreement to sign regarding everything about us. If you ever violate it, it’s federal prison.”
“Yes, and I’d never tell anyone.” She was surprised by the harshness of his voice.
“Rae,” Garcia said in a gentler voice. “What we do is really important. But this agency has made a lot of enemies with a lot of really bad people. That has the potential to bring danger to all of us and the people we care about. We have procedures in place to help keep everyone safe, procedures you’ll need to follow.”
The elevator arrived on the eighth floor and the doors opened. He led her down the hallway to a room loaded with computer equipment and various electronics. She sat on the edge of her chair facing him over a work table. She was more than a little intimidated.
He handed a piece of paper to her. “Our standard nondisclosure. Read the whole thing word for word if you want but what it says is that for as long as you live, if you ever tell anyone anything related to us, you’ll go before a judge, evidence will be provided how you broke the agreement, and you’ll go right to federal prison.”
His words were unnecessary. Even without the agreement, she’d never have told anyone about them. She knew firsthand the importance of the job they did. She felt numb at this point. “What name do I sign?” she asked him.
His lips tipped into a grin. She wasn’t being a smart ass in how she asked. “There’s room below the line, maybe both? Hell, maybe even Reina Wilson, huh?”
His smile, as he suggested using the name Wilson, held questions. “Let’s not get ahead of things.” She signed both names and handed the form back across the table.
“No hesitation on signing it,” Garcia noted aloud.
“Nope. I told you I’d never tell anyone.”
“And I believe you,” he said. He picked up the phone he’d programmed for her. He explained the phone and about adding her current phone line to it. She handed her phone over without question. After he’d created the instance for her private phone on the agency phone, he handed her now dead phone back to her. Then he explained about the phonebook. “There’s one number I want to explain to you, our Operations Center.” He pointed it out.
She noticed that Ops was the first name and number in the phonebook before the rest were listed alphabetically beginning with Angel.
“Ops is manned twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They’re there for all dependents in case of an emergency. A while ago, one of the wives was alone, her husband was deployed, and she had a medical emergency one night. She called Ops and Ops dispatched one of the team medics even though 9-1-1 was called. He tended to her medically until the paramedics arrived and then he stayed with her at the hospital and notified her husband of the situation. If you ever suspect you’re being followed or something feels wrong, you call them. Don’t worry about it being a false alarm.”
“Okay,” she said. “That’s nice to know there’s help available.”
“It’s one of the ways we take care of our team members’ dependents. No one can do the job we do if they’re worried about their family while they’re gone. They have to know someone is looking out for them in their absence. And they have to know their significant other has everything handled.”
“This is the part where you tell me not to be a burden on him, right? Well don’t worry about that. I won’t be.”
“Easy, Rae,” Garcia said. “I didn’t mean it that way. All of the wives will tell you the same thing. It’s what they all live by, taking care of everything at home, relying on Ops or the other wives for any issues, and then telling their unit member about it after the fact, including the successful resolution of the situation.”
She took a deep breath and nodded.
“So, one time while I was on a mission, my son who was three months old at the time, spiked a high fever my wife couldn’t get down. One of the other wives went with her to the hospital so she wasn’t there alone, which I appreciate. It wasn’t until after she was back home and his fever was down, and I called that she told me about it. Now imagine I knew about it and was worried when we were out in that alley in Norfolk. Do you think I wouldn’t have been distracted, knowing my kid had a high fever and was at the hospital? Do you think I wouldn’t have been distracted, knowing my wife was going through that without me there to support her?”
Reina was shocked to hear his story. “You have a wife and a son?” Razor was married and was a dad? Wow, that blew her mind.
Garcia smiled a genuine smile that made his eyes sparkle. “Sienna is a saint to put up with me and this job and Little T is the necessity in my life I didn’t know I needed until he was here.”
Reina smiled, utterly amazed by his proclamation. She saw him in a very different way at that moment. “Wow, that’s really incredible. I’m glad you found happiness.”
He nodded. “It wasn’t then that it happened, but the point I’m making is, with what we do we have to be focused and not worrying about anything but the job and what could possibly go wrong. That’s what we need our families to do to support us. It’s that simple.”
She nodded as well. “I get it. I’d never want to put Jimmy in a situation where he was worrying about me or what was going on at home if he needed to concentrate on the job he was doing.”
“That’s exactly it,” Garcia said. “So, you and Wilson?”
Reina laughed. “I was wondering when you were going to get around to asking me that. Yeah, Jimmy and me. He’s the first guy I’ve ever been friends with, like real friends. And he’s probably the first guy whose ever just wanted friendship and didn’t expect something from me, you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Garcia said. “I’m glad for you.”
“Any advice?” she asked.
“Yeah, don’t fuck it up. Don’t bring any crap from your past into this relationship. And don’t let what happened over the past week hang over you. Put the demons where they belong, banish them to hell, and don’t let them stomp on your happiness. Wilson’s a good guy. He deserves you at your best giving this your all.”
“Wow, Razor the relationship guru. Who would have guessed?”
***
Wilson stopped at the kitchen after he left Shepherd’s office. Angel was there with Lilly and Jo. “Does Garcia still have Rae?”
“Yes, but it’s no problem. I can keep Lilly until she gets back. I know you have an appointment with Joe,” Angel said.
“Yeah,” he said shaking his head. “I’m headed there now. If I can get Rae an appointment with him after mine, can you keep her a while longer?”
“Sure, it’s no problem, though Jo will be going down for her nap in about an hour. If Lilly doesn’t nap, maybe you could bring her down to the gym to that corner where I have the kids play area set up.”
“That’s a good idea.” He shrugged. “I doubt she’ll take a nap. She slept on the plane.”
From there he took the stairs down to the fourth floor and Joe Lassiter’s suite.
Wilson settled into a chair at the table within Joe Lassiter’s kitchen. He wasn’t surprised Shepherd had ordered him to talk to Lassiter. What he had been surprised about was how cool Shepherd had been regarding his relationship with Rae.
“You made some major decisions in the last twenty-four hours, I’m told,” Lassiter began.
“You know, it just feels right. If you’d told me a couple of months ago that I’d be jumping into a relationship with her, with anyone, and taking on a four-year-old little girl, I’d have told you that you were high,” Wilson said.
Lassiter chuckled. “So, there’d been an ongoing relationship with her since the Norfolk Op?”
“Kind of, it’s not like that,” Wilson said.
“Now you sound like Burke,” Lassiter said.
Wilson laughed. “Yeah, I guess I do. I can’t explain it, Joe,” he said. His teammate, Rich ‘Handsome’ Burke had a relationship with team member Laura Lee ‘Lah-lee’ Saxton’s sister for months that he classified as, it’s not like that, when he was pressed on the relationship.
“Try,” Lassiter pushed.
“This thing with Rae wasn’t romantic. It never went there. It was friends, and even that, classifying it as friends’ kind of fucked with my head because I was hard-pressed to name what was going on. It was comfortable talking to her. It was a connection to someone outside of work that grounded me. I liked being there to support her, to be an ear because she couldn’t talk to anyone else in her new life about the challenges of starting over.”
“Was she having a hard time settling into the new life or fitting in with the people in it?”
“No, she wasn’t a victim. I found her to be a strong and capable woman that was still vulnerable and finding her way.” He paused and chuckled. “And she has a sense of humor I like. We just clicked.”
“So, you’re going to have someone who is just a friend, no romantic feelings for, live with you and you’re taking on a little girl in the deal too?” Lassiter asked.
“Well, the romantic part changed after she got taken. That’s when I realized I did have those feelings for her. And once we found her, we both either realized or admitted our feelings to each other,” he confessed.
“You just realized?” Lassiter asked. “Just like that? You do understand why I’m skeptical, don’t you?”
“Believe me, I know how it sounds,” Wilson said. “I wrote off even the remotest possibility that I’d have a relationship with a woman a long time ago. It just didn’t seem like it would fit into my life, doing this job. And I was fine with that.”
“But now you want it?” Joe pressed.
“It just feels right, Joe. It’s like it will fit with little thought required.”
“Do you love her?”
Wilson blew out a breath and glanced away. “Now there’s a word I’m not acquainted with. I’m not sure, but I’d sure like to find out if that’s what this is or what this can grow into.”
“That’s a good answer,” Lassiter said. “What happens if you figure out that isn’t what it is?”
“That’s one thing I love about you, Joe, your optimism.”
“Hear me out. There’s a child involved in this. It’s not like it’s just you and Rae, give it a go, and go your separate ways if it doesn’t work out. That little girl is going to get attached to you both. You’re going to present yourselves as a couple who are there to take care of her, a family.”
“I get that. I don’t want us to do anything that could hurt her if it doesn’t work out. But I also know that when I’m not working, I’m going to want to spend as much time with them as possible.”
“Them, not just Rae?” Lassiter asked.
“You know, it’s crazy. Seeing Rae with that little girl and knowing how much she cares about her; it makes me greatly respect her. She didn’t even hesitate when asking for guardianship. She was ready to take it on alone. And I knew I wanted to help her. I know Rae’s history. Her mom was a drug addict. Her father was never in the picture. She got bounced from shitty foster home to shitty foster home before she ran away when she was fifteen. She wants better for Lilly. It makes me want to be there and help.”
“Both Rae and Lilly are recovering from traumatic events.”
“That’s why they both need me there with them,” Wilson argued. “And can I ask you to meet with Rae, today? She won’t talk to me about what happened.”
“I can,” Lassiter answered. “I’d like to meet with you both together at some point too.”
“And a referral to a child trauma specialist would be appreciated too,” Wilson said.
Lassiter nodded. “I can get you that also.”
Wilson checked his watch. “What does your schedule look like after this?”
“Let me see if I can push Michaela out an hour. I’m supposed to see her in about ten minutes, but if she can come later, I can see Rae now.”
“Thanks, Joe, that would be great. I really don’t want to hang around here for another hour. We need to stop at the grocery store on the way to my place. Not knowing when we might reacquire Stella Adams and Blake Henning, I want to make sure I get Rae and Lilly settled as fast as I can.”
“One more question,” Joe said. “Why did you take Shepherd’s offer when he recruited you to this team in the first place? From what I understand you were killing it with Delta.”
Wilson had to laugh at that. Yeah, he had been killing it. He served with honor and distinction during a time when what they did mattered. He’d been a decorated sniper with Delta. He had more confirmed kills than most and he was proud of his record. Target after target was eliminated. “I know we’ve talked about this before.”
“Humor me,” Lassiter pressed.
“We’d defeated ISIS. Things were changing. I wasn’t sure what the mission was going to be. With the little red tape Shepherd’s team would be restrained by, it was appealing. No other team would get done what Shepherd’s team was going to get done, and I wanted to be a part of it. And it’s true, we’ve really accomplished a lot that no other team could have.”
“That’s true,” Lassiter agreed. “So, you had no hesitation when joining this unit?”
“None, it just felt right.”
“Much the same as this relationship with Rae and taking on the child?”
“Yes, exactly like that.”
“If you’re having any problems coping with your new role, I expect to see you,” Lassiter said.