Page 3 of Bernadette
“You may. I called you on my personal cell, so you can reach me at that number.”
“Thank you. One question before I let you go.”
“What’s that?”
“Is that offer still on the table. The one you sent me in a letter months ago?”
“It is, that’s what I’m calling you about. It’s big, Bernie, bigger than what I described months ago. We need someone in the office to coordinate everything. I’ll deny this to anyone else, but it’s bigger than what I can oversee alone.”
“No way,” Bernie said with interest.
“Way, we really need you. I don’t know if this will bring you faster, or cause you to run away screaming, but what we’re doing is government sanctioned. Not the military, but all the different bowls of alphabet soup are involved.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“BCI, ATF, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security.”
“Holy shit, are they stepping on your toes?”
“No, we have complete control of this mission. Once it’s over, it’ll be huge, and international.”
“Why international?” Bernie frowned into the rearview mirror when she caught the driver staring at her. “Don’t answer that, can you give me a couple of hours to call you back? I’m in the middle of rush-hour traffic, and I can’t concentrate. I’m really intrigued by what you have to say.”
“Please, do call me back. I don’t know if this helps, but I don’t know where you are, I only have your phone number. I am in Mountain Standard Time.”
“That does help. Thanks, Stuart, I’ll get home and write out a list of questions for you before I call you back.”
“I look forward to hearing from you soon.” They hung up, and Bernie sat back and closed her eyes. That lasted for all of forty-five seconds before the questions started floating in her brain as to what could possibly be happening to have all those bowls of alphabet soup involved, without stepping on Stuart’s toes. She knew she had a lot of soul searching to do this weekend. Not only with the results from the doctor, but she also was just basically handed two jobs that afternoon, other than the military. She would have to make her lists of pros and cons to make sure she covered all her bases for all three positions. Her first goal would be to come to terms with the fact that she would never be able to do field work for the military ever again. She didn’t know if she could deal with that. Sure, she’s ridden a desk for several years now, but she still had the option of going out into the field. Once that option came off the table, it was like a whole different game to play. She wondered if it was time to finally say goodbye to the military, and get on with her life. She wasn’t getting any younger, and most of the men she encountered at work were younger, under her command, and terrified of her. With a smirk at that last thought, she shook her head and wondered if she would meet up with any eligible men if she went to work for either Hank Patterson or Morgan Stuart. She made a mental note, and a physical note in her planner to look up Morgan’s military record in order to see who she was dealing with. With that plan in mind, she nodded once, knowing she would be able to come to a decision on her career by Monday morning.
CHAPTER2
Morgan tossedher phone on the bed, and looked up when her fiancé, Wyatt entered from the bathroom.
“Who was that?” Wyatt closed his eyes, hung his head, and sighed. As he looked at her, he held up his hand. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that. I’m not that type of person that needs to know who you’re talking to every time you’re on the phone.”
“I know you’re not, and I have no problem telling you about the phone call. It was Bernie.” Morgan grinned at his confused look. “Commander Bernadette Cromwell.”
“Is she the woman you want to come work for you?”
“She is.” Morgan rose from the side of the bed, and looked over both her shoulders. “Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t know if I can continue leading the girls without help.”
“Will this Bernie person be able to help you?”
“Absolutely. While I was a leader of my EWM unit, Bernie was the leader of us all.” At his confused look, she continued, “All twenty-five EWMs. Not only did she know all our names, but she knew where we were, who we were assigned to, if we were in the field with a SEAL team, and what we were doing, or supposed to be doing. At any given time, if anyone of the higher ups asked about one of our teams, she knew the answer.”
“Isn’t that what you do now?”
“It is, but…” she sighed heavily, and turned in a circle. When she looked back at Wyatt, he sucked in his breath at the anguish he saw on her face.
Instead of waiting for her to answer, he said it for her, “But you want to be out there in the action. You don’t want to sit behind a desk and wait until one of the girls gets home, hurt or pissed off. You want to be out there in the thick of things.”
“Is that so wrong of me?”
“No, it’s not.” Wyatt smiled. “I’m surprised you lasted this long.”
“I’ve been waiting until after the wedding.” Morgan admitted with a grin. “I don’t want to look back at our wedding photos and have to explain a black eye or two to our children.”
Wyatt laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and brought her in for a hug. After he gently kissed her forehead, he stared into her eyes. “So, you do want children?”
