Page 11 of Operation: Silent Angel
“We’ll get those answers when we apprehend him and interrogate him at the Silo.”
A brick settled in the pit of Yvette’s stomach. Shepherd was going to do this, the consequences be damned.
“I’ll clear time on my calendar tomorrow morning for a meeting with Mac. I’ll let you both know what time. You can bring him in through the sub-basement entrance.”
Yvette stood, knowing she’d just been dismissed, even though it was an informal meeting. “Thank you, Shep.”
“I also expect you to schedule some time with Lassiter to discuss why pulling out your tracker and going behind my back was your plan.”
A sudden wave of nausea hit Yvette. “Yes, sir,” she said before slipping out of the room. Thankfully, she didn’t run into Diana on her way out of the penthouse. She took the stairs. The exercise would do her good plus, running down twelve flights of stairs was a form of a self-ordered punishment. She hated the thought that she had disappointed Shepherd.
Delta
Yvette rolled over towards her nightstand upon being woken by the chime on her phone indicating there was a new text message. Her hand groped over her gun and landed on her cell phone. Pulling it into view, she viewed the display. It was just past zero six thirty, and the text had come from Shepherd.
*0800 my office
*We’ll be there
Arms circled her from behind, and she was pulled backwards and into Mac’s solid chest. The heat radiated from him. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” she replied. She turned in his arms to face him, and he pressed a kiss to her lips.
The night before, they’d met back at her house as planned. The pizza Mac brought was his favorite, Chicago deep dish with pepperoni. She’d told him about her meeting with Michaela and the subsequent meeting with Shepherd. Even though Yvette was concerned about Shepherd and the team’s involvement, some of her did feel better knowing Mac would have competent backup.
They’d gone to bed and made love after eating their dinner and enjoying a couple of drinks. And then drifting off to sleep in his arms brought her the peace she needed, knowing that Shepherd was about to potentially commit career suicide.
***
Mac motioned for Yvette to enter Shepherd’s office in front of him. He allowed his gaze to take in her rear end, remembering how much he liked seeing it bare this morning.
Shepherd stood as they entered. He’d been seated behind his desk. He stepped to meet them halfway as they entered. “Yvette,” he acknowledged and then extended his right hand to Mac as he greeted him, “Mac.”
“Shep,” Mac replied. “Thank you for this meeting.”
“I would have granted it had you come to me first,” Shepherd said.
“I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to put you in a bad position with any official agency without feeling it out through Yvette,” he confessed.
“You’ve been operating in the gray zone for too long,” Shepherd said, motioning to his conference table. “I will always entertain a request for assistance from you. I owe you for the favor you did for me last year in Mykonos.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t want you to think you owe me anything. You don’t. If anything, helping last year was a repayment for multiple favors you’ve done for me over the years.”
Yvette walked ahead of them both with a grunt and an eye roll. She sat at the table as Cooper came into the room, closing the door behind himself.
“Mac,” he greeted with an outstretched hand.
“Cooper,” Mac acknowledged. “Nice to see you.”
They all sat around the conference table. Shepherd’s gaze was on Mac.
“I’m sure Yvette told you that Interpol has declined my pursuit of Eduardo Ruiz. I’ve found him. He’s on the Red List. My request for backup to apprehend him should have instantly been green-lit. Not only wasn’t it, but I was also ordered to stand-down. Someone is protecting him. I need to find out who and why. And regardless, I plan to take him off the street.”
“And you need to know if they are protecting anyone else on the Red List,” Shepherd added.
“Yes, that’s my fear,” Mac said. “Shep, I’ve never seen anything like it. From the reaction I got, you’d think I was suggesting taking the Pope into custody.”
“Where is Ruiz now?” Shepherd asked.
