“The Army created that whole story about their women in combat study as a cover for Missy’s assignment to our unit,” explained the major. “As you will learn during this briefing, she along with her witch and werewolf friends, have been helping our government deal with many terrorist threats and have now saved countless lives.” He then went on with his presentation which took more than an hour. He did manage to bring Sofia pretty much up to date with all the activities which supernaturals had done during the past three years.
When Major Grimes had finished, Sofia said, “I am honored to now know all of this. I am also honored to know each and every member of your team, major.” She smiled and looked around the room. Then she said, “Your loyalty and heroic actions are such a great blessing for our nation.” Looking at Mike, she added, “And, your commitment to your wife is also truly wonderful, Mike.”
When Sofia then looked at Major Grimes once again, it was obvious she had experienced something deep inside herself with regards to her feelings about him. Missy sensed this and her empathic ability enabled her to recognize that what had merely been admiration and attraction before would now be leading to a very great romance between the captain and themajor. Yeah, Cupid’s arrow had just struck home inside Sofia’s heart.
Sergeant Major Hernandez said, “Now that you have more background concerning Oliver Bessom and his wife Candace, ma’am, we know you can better appreciate the significance of them being assigned to the Embassy here in Turkey.”
Sofia nodded and said, “Yes, I can. Everyone was horrified when those WIJO terrorists were threatening to behead Candy on live TV.” She shuddered slightly. “When she was somehow rescued, we all rejoiced at that miracle. Now I understand just how close a call that was and why she must have some very strong feelings about Team Twenty-Two.”
“She will never forget the members of this team who conducted that rescue mission,” said Missy. “But it was Oliver, now her husband, who enabled us to find her in time. And let’s not forget how my friend Tracy created the diversion we needed by igniting fires all along the perimeter of that village.”
Major Grimes laughed and said, “It was after our guys saw what Tracy did to that village that the higher ups decided to brief everyone on the team about supernaturals. Up until then, I was the only one who knew about them.”
Looking at Missy, Sofia said, “I can certainly see why Candy’s uncle … that’s General Blake, the CENTCOM Commander, right? I can see why he reorganized this team and made it his quick reaction force. With you as his invisible soldier, that really was a game changer, wasn’t it?”
“And now you understand why General Hingham is so happy that this team is now his quick reaction force,” explained Missy. “We’ve shifted our focus from the mid-East to Russia.”
Sofia grinned and said, “Well your escapades in my native country have been beyond crazy. I’m sorry about that man you were blackmailing so you could be his fake mistress. His assassination over in Beijing was on the news, even here. Knowing it wasyouwho miraculously escaped when those three cars exploded … wow!”
Mike said, “Her friend Tracy told Missy’s brother John that his sister may be a cat with nine lives but that, at the rate she keeps getting blown up, those just might not be enough.” Once again, there was a lot of laughter all around the room.
Major Grimes now said, “This concludes the scheduled briefing, Captain. We would like to invite you now to join us down in our mess hall where we can enjoy some delicious steaks. We have those flown in special for whenever Lieutenant McCrea might be back from all her teleporting. She’s known to have quite the appetite and because of her dual nature, she seems to really favor lots of good meat.”
“Actually, she really loves good seafood as well,” commented Mike. “Although she can be a wild, predatory beast which devours a lot of meat out in the wild, she’s also a cat. Basically, she just likes to enjoy lots of good food.”
Missy stood up with a deep sigh and said, “Actions speak louder than words. All these comments about food are making me very hungry. Let’s get down to the mess hall before all that good food is gone.” She led the way and everyone else was quick to step aside, making room for her to do that.
In the mess hall, a special “officer” table had been set up for Major Grimes, Captain Petrova, Missy and Mike. While normally that wasn’t done since Missy and the major simply ate with the enlisted personnel, having VIP visitors was different.
While they were enjoying their meal, Major Grimes said, “Not only are Oliver and Candace Bessom coming to visit here tomorrow, but another old friend is coming here as well.”
Missy looked over at him and asked, “Really? Who might that be?”
“Sami Massallah,” answered the major. Looking at Sofia, he explained, “Sami is the CIA’s top operative in the Middle East. He has Turkish ancestry and speaks that language but he was born and raised in the U.S. He will no doubt be having Oliver and Candace go on a few secret missions for him.”
“Sami is one of my favorite people,” exclaimed Missy. Looking at Sofia, she explained, “He was the one who made the call for extracting Ghazi Ahmadi from Iran. We barely managed to do that in time but had Sami not recognized that was needed, Ghazi would be dead right now. Ghazi was Sami’s agent then but he’s now working as a translator at Hanscom Air Force Base for the SOD Group.”
“Will Sami also be paying a visit to my headquarters like Oliver and Candy will be?” asked Sofia. She knew Lieutenant Colonel Horvath was very excited about Candace coming to visit.
“No, he’ll keep his visit a secret, as usual. He likes being able to meet with Oliver and Candy here at my headquarters,” explained the major. “He maintains a pretty deep cover. When he visits the Embassy in Ankara, he does that using one of hisTurkish identities and doesn’t let anyone know that he’s a U.S. citizen. No one there knows he’s CIA.”
“Well, I have to say, this day has been quite an education for me,” said Sofia. “Colonel Horvath was surprised when he learned that I was being given special clearance.” Now she actually blushed a little bit. “He’s assuming it’s because the major and I have gone out on a few dates.”
Missy chuckled and said, “Well, he’s one hundred percent correct and don’t let the major try to convince you otherwise. He probably has a list of good reasons which he will provide to other folks, but those would not be completely accurate. On that note, Mike and I will leave you two alone. We’ll see you again tomorrow over at your headquarters.”
As Missy and Mike walked away, Major Grimes turned to Sofia and said, “I was supposed to present her with that Purple Heart award which came through on Friday while she was over in Russia. I’ll need to do that tomorrow morning. It’s for what happened to her over in Beijing. Her buddies Sergeant Jasinski and Sergeant Avalon have already added the second oak leaf cluster to the Purple Heart ribbon on her uniform.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Missy enjoyed waking up with Mike in her bed. She was entwined within his arms and legs, as usual. Her cat loved to cuddle and snuggling up close to Mike after their lovemaking was how she always wanted to sleep afterwards.
With a sigh, she untangled herself and managed to slip out of bed without waking him up. Then she put her running clothes on and went for a thirty minute run. There were a few team members who enjoyed running with her whenever she did that and Missy often found herself nostalgically recalling all those runs she had done back at West Point when some of her cadet classmates had run with her.
Upon returning, Missy quickly showered and went down to get some breakfast. Mike was already there, sitting with Major Grimes and several of the senior NCOs. They all welcomed her when she sat down. Staff Sergeant DeMarco came over and took her tray for her after she set out her platters of food, glass of orange juice and cup of coffee and she thanked him for that.
As the staff sergeant walked away, Mike said, “Wow, your team really spoils you, Lieutenant.”
