Page 43 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Del was scowling, and his wonky eyebrow was dancing. Not a good sign.

“You want to tell me why you need next week off?” he barked, tapping her written request that lay on the desk under his fingers. “You justtooktwo weeks, Mizzay. One when Rory was sick, and one when we closed the office over Christmas. Not that I’d begrudge you time, but we’re slammed here. Youknowthat.”

“Can I sit down?” Mizzay asked calmly. Not that she was feeling tranquil, but she needed to keep a rein on her nervousness lest she break down altogether. Which would probably freak Del right the hell out considering the take-charge attitude she usually espoused.

“Of course,” he replied, his face screwing up in consternation.

Yeah.This was unusual behavior for her. She was normally the one who had all her shit,andeverybody else’s, completely together.

She took a chair opposite him.

“You want to know whatz up. Right?” Her Brooklyn accent generally came into play more acutely in two instances. One, when she was completely comfortable, and two, when she was nervous. This was definitely a nervous situation.

Early on in her career, she’d learned to cover up her accent completely, but because of her phenomenal comfort levels with her fellow SOS operatives, she never had a problem allowing it to seep out these days. Still, she’d refocus and clean things up right now. This was serious business.

“That would be nice.” Del sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.Geeze.Was he as nervous as she wasabout what she was about to tell him? Maybe so. And he had a point.

Mizzay started. “Do you remember just over four years ago, right after you hired me, I requested an emergency week of vacation? Then two years after that I needed another?”

“I do,” he responded. “Because other than when Rory is sick, you rarely asked for any personal days.”

“That’s right. But it was imperative I havethoseparticular times, and you never questioned why.”

Now that Mizzay had made up her mind to talk, she felt a little more settled.

Del shrugged. “It wasn’t any of my business. You do your work here better than anyone I could possibly have hired, so I’m always glad to accommodate…whenI can,” he emphasized, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I know that. And I’m grateful,” she acknowledged.

Indeed, Del was the best boss she’d ever had, and that was saying a lot.

“But there are things about me you don’t know. And I need to fill you in because I have a feeling I’m going to need help from you and the team soon.”

She had Del’s undivided attention now. He moved from his self-protective stance, to lean his elbows contemplatively on his desk.

“First of all,” Mizzay started, “thank you for hiring me when so many of my past records had to stay redacted,” she started. “You had to be curious, but you never pried.”

“The references you supplied were more than enough, so I took a chance.” He shrugged.

“I appreciate that. But still, you took a huge leap of faith, not knowing everything about me.” She sucked in a huge breath. “It’s time, however, for that to be remedied.”

“Mizzay. I’ve always known you’re doing…more than just working for us. You don’t have to—”

“Yes. I do. At least to the extent that I can. There are still a few things I’m not at liberty to divulge, but I think you’ll get the gist of my…position.”

Del studied her face for a moment and must have seen what he was looking for, because he gave her a nod.

“I’ll begin with my younger years.” She nodded to herself for courage. “I was what most people call a ‘child prodigy’.” Mizzay could see that she’d already sparked Del’s imagination. “I graduated from high school at fifteen, finished my undergrad degree with a double major in political science and mathematics at nineteen, then enlisted in the Army where I went through officer training and became a second lieutenant.”

Del couldn’t hold his tongue. “That seems damned ambitious, and also like a pretty specific path to have taken. But…you didn’t continue with the military. What happened?”

“This is where things get a little complicated. And classified,” she revealed, “but I’ll give you as much detail as I’m allowed.”

He raised a brow and she continued.

“For my first assignment, I was put in charge of a platoon stationed in South Sudan.”

Del groaned. “Right. I know how foreign deployments go, even if they’re not in a hot spot like Iraq or Afghanistan. I did my time in South America.”

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