Page 59 of Operation: Silent Angel
“My wife, onsite? That’s not going to happen.”
“Shep, it has to be a couple onsite.”
“I’ll send Cooper and Madison,” he said.
“That’s a negative. It has to be you and your wife. And Shep, until you’re onsite and I make contact with you, you can’t tell anyone, including your wife, that I contacted you today.”
Shepherd knew it must be a really important mission with the conditions Mac was putting on it. “I understand,” he said. “I’ll think about it. I can’t commit without more info.”
“Only you and I are trusted for this mission. As I said, it’s important, and you will surely agree when you get the details. That’s the only info I can give at this time. It’s critical that it’s handled this way. Your wife is inexperienced. Her reactions cannot be anything but genuine.”
Shepherd breathed out heavily. He really hated this. He hated that he’d be lying to Diana, which he didn’t do. She was completely trustworthy. But Mac was right. She was not experienced, and if perceptions were vital to the success of themission, she may not be able to respond organically as she would if she didn’t know the truth.
“Is this in the interests of the U.S. government?”
“Yes, very much so. As I said, this mission has the backing of the State Department. Your involvement is critical to its success.”
“Understood. Have the invitation presented to my wife.”
“Thank you, Shepherd.”
“One more thing, Mac. You need to contact Yvette.”
“I will when this is over,” he promised. “No one can know I am coming to the area.”
Quebec
Mac waited in the lobby, reading the local paper. He watched Shepherd and the woman he assumed to be Diana enter. He made eye contact with Shepherd and then rose from his chair. He went into the Green Street Tavern, which was at the front of the lobby, near the door to exit the hotel, and took a seat at the bar. He knew Shepherd saw where he went. He also knew that Shepherd would join him as soon as he checked into his room, and more than likely got his wife settled behind the locked room door.
***
Dr. Diana Palmer-Shepherd sat on the sofa facing the glowing gas fireplace that radiated much-needed warmth. The day was blustery, a typical late fall day in northwest Illinois. She’d caught a chill when they’d entered the hotel. They were booked into a junior suite, one of fifty-five guest rooms at the historicDeSoto House Hotel in Galena, Illinois. The room was decorated beautifully in a Victorian style, which she loved. Their bags sat on the king bed across the room. As they’d only be there for the weekend, she wouldn’t unpack.
She had, however, hung up the beautiful gold dress she’d wear for the charity masquerade ball that evening, which was the reason for their visit. She’d received the last-minute invitation from an acquaintance to stand in for her and her husband because of an illness. She had even given Diana the dress she’d planned to wear. It took little convincing on Diana’s part to get her husband to agree to attend as she’d been begging him for months to plan a weekend away.
At least, it was the reason they were there until they checked in, when the sight of one person changed everything.
Diana’s life was something out of a fairy tale, a dark fairy tale at times, but a wonderful and happy life the majority of the time. It was just over a year since she’d married a man that she’d met only five months prior. He’d been one of her patients. Yes, that was something she briefly struggled with, falling in love with a patient. And to marry him after only knowing him for such a short time, impulsive? Maybe.
But she knew everything she needed to know about Colonel Sam Shepherd and the agency he ran when she said, ‘I do’. He’d saved her life when twice she was threatened by a man who thought she’d seen something that would link him to a murder he’d committed. Sam gave her a safe place to recover from the trauma, loved her, and supported her unconditionally. He was a good man, a strong man, an honest man, a man dedicated todoing the right thing, a man who defended those who could not defend themselves, a leader by example. He was a West Point graduate and had spent his entire life in the special warfare and intelligence community. And now, his private organization took on missions no one else could, or would.
It was his organization, Shepherd Security, and the danger that came with it that colored her world as dark at times. But the job was who Sam was, not what he did.
When they got behind the closed hotel room door, Sam told her that he had seen an intelligence contact, Seth ‘Mac’ Makris, loitering in the lobby of the hotel and that he had to make contact with him. He also said that the man was there for a reason, a reason that either involved Shepherd Security or one that Sam could help with.
Then he admitted to her that Mac had called him a few days before to ask for a favor and that the last-minute gift of the tickets for this sold-out affair was cover for a mission Mac needed his help with. He promised to tell her everything when he returned to his room after he spoke with Mac.
Shepherd found Mac seated at the far end of the bar in the Green Street Tavern. Shepherd sat on the barstool beside him. “Well, we’re here,” Shepherd whispered. “I do not like to keep things from my wife, but I didn’t tell her as you requested.”
Mac’s lips tipped into a smile. “I’m sorry she couldn’t know. It’s important.” His voice still had a slight hint of a Greek accent.
“It better be,” Shepherd said. “We get away infrequently. She’s going to be pissed if this interferes with our weekend.”
“Surely she’s used to your work interfering,” Mac said.
“It’s the norm. This weekend was to be the exception.”
“Sorry,” Mac said. “Congratulations on your wedding, by the way. I don’t think I voiced that sentiment when I saw you a few months ago. Let me buy you a drink while I tell you what I need, now that you’re here.”
