“Thank you,” Lilly said with a big smile on her face. Wilson and Rae also thanked them and congratulated them.
Then Shepherd and Diana walked up behind Donna’s children, who leaned around Donna and Burke to watch as Lilly opened her gift.
“And Merry Christmas to you, Elijah,” Diana said, handing a gift to him. “Merry Christmas, Jayden and Jeriah,” she said, handing gifts to each of them, too. “We had to go on recommendations from your Aunt Laura Lee.”
Tears filled Donna’s eyes, touched so deeply that they’d gotten gifts for her children as well. They weren’t a part of the agency. She certainly didn’t expect there would be anything for her children when the gifts began to be given out. She made eye contact with Diana. “Thank you. This was so kind of you. And congratulations on your incredible news.”
“You’re welcome, and it’s nice to meet you and your children,” Diana said.
Burke stood and congratulated Shepherd and Diana, as did the others at the table.
Then Shepherd went around the room handing an envelope to each of the employees. Without even looking inside, each agency member thanked him and shook his hand. Rich opened the envelope and peered inside. It was a gift card for a generous amount to a local five-star restaurant, a steakhouse he loved.
By the time Shepherd had delivered all the envelopes, their meal arrived. The catering staff had it set up quickly and then were ushered out of the room and out of the building by the men of Bravo Team. Lambchop said a prayer and then invited first those with children to get their dinners.
The mood in the room was festive, with many conversations as they ate.
About twenty minutes after the last person had gotten their meal, Shepherd looked at his phone and got a deep frown on his face. Burke watched him confer with Cooper, who sat kitty-corner from him at the table. Then Shepherd rose and left the room, his legs carrying him with purpose. Out of the corner of his eye, Burke saw that Jimmy Wilson had also watched Shepherd’s attention to his phone, followed by his quick departure. Wilson sat beside him.
“This isn’t going to be good,” Burke said quietly to Wilson.
“No, my bet’s on a priority mission that’s going to totally fuck up someone’s Christmas,” he whispered.
Donna sat beside Burke. It was said just loud enough to get her attention. It also drew Rae’s gaze to Jimmy, and both Laura Lee and Dupont’s attention, who sat across the table. Donna’s mom and all the children at the table were oblivious.
“I thought you were all off for the next two days?” Donna asked.
“Unless something big goes down,” Burke answered, still keeping his voice very soft. He didn’t want the kids to hear the very adult conversation taking place. Thankfully, the children were laughing amongst themselves and hadn’t heard.
Glancing around the room, Burke saw that most of the other Operators had noticed Shepherd’s departure. His brothers andsisters all had looks on their faces that broadcast to all that they knew something was up and they were waiting for the details.
Shepherd re-entered the room and made a beeline for his table. But instead of retaking his seat, he went to Cooper, who stood as he approached. The two men conversed quietly for a moment. As expected, both men had very serious expressions on their faces when they turned to face the gathering.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting our holiday evening. Thankfully, it looks like most of you have finished your dinner. A situation has arisen, and we need to immediately staff two teams on a domestic priority one mission. Cooper volunteers to take the lead. We need two medics to volunteer.”
No sooner had the words left Shepherd’s mouth, and all five medics’ hands raised into the air.
Donna glanced around the room and saw how many men volunteered. Even the guy with the tiny twin babies had his hand raised. And what surprised her the most was that his wife didn’t look pissed.
“Powder and Crash, you’re up,” Shepherd said. “I need five more team volunteers; no specialty required.”
Every Shepherd Security Operator raised their hands, even the three medics who had not been selected in the first round.
Donna gave Burke an outraged stare, as his hand too was raised. “Rich?” she whispered. She noticed that even her sister’s hand was in the air.
Rich shook his head at her. “Sorry, Donna.”
“Mother, BT, Moe, Woods, and Razor. Conference room to brief now, deployment immediately thereafter. On a thirty-minute call to provide backup, if needed, is Bravo Team, who I’ll brief when our holiday evening is over. Thank you.”
Cooper kissed Madison and Hahna and then headed to the door. All around the room, Donna noticed that the men embraced and kissed their wives or girlfriends, if they weren’t single. Garcia embraced his wife and son, and then the eight people followed Shepherd from the room. Donna was surprised that one of the people chosen was Briana. Rich had told her there were three women who were considered Operators, and she’d just recently found out exactly what that meant.
Conversations sprang up all around the room, and the volume was soon loud. Trying to listen to some of what was being said, and watching the group, Donna was even more surprised that none of the wives seemed angry by the sudden departures, a little worried maybe, but not angry.
Rich watched Donna as her gaze scanned the room. Her face held a frown. He could tell that she was trying to make sense of what had just happened. This wasn’t her world, and that was exactly why he had kept her out of it for the last year. “You okay?” he whispered into her ear.
Donna leaned into Rich, her lips at his ear. “You would have gone away with us in town?”
Rich slipped an arm around her and answered quietly. “Donna, if Shepherd accepted a mission, someone’s life is at stake.”
