Page 76 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“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 herchair 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.

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