Chapter 2

Monday morning was as welcoming as one could expect the first day of the work week to be. The sun was scorching, the dust in the air was almost suffocating and the two steaming cups of coffee I carried only added to the sweat forming on my brow. I was late…as I usually was on a Monday morning, and no one batted an eye as I entered the building and made a beeline for my paper-filled desk.

I sat carefully in my chair, shifted the papers to one side and stretched across the aisle to deposit a cup on Simon’s desk. He grunted in response and I glanced miserably down at my stack of paperwork while taking a sip of the drink.

Put me out in the field, hand me a gun, drop me in the middle of a shoot-out and send me chasing after the bad guy— I could do that, all day, every day, but set me down in front of a stack of papers and I felt defeated.

I took another sip of the hot liquid, flipped open the first folder and groaned. This is what happened when your partner threw your empty service weapon at an escaping suspect—paperwork for days. I looked at Simon and shook my head. He didn’t belong in the field. Generally I respected the chief’s decisions, but taking Simon off desk duty wasn’t one of his better choices, I knew it and Sy knew it.

“You going to sit there glaring at me all day or are you gonna actually get some work done?” the bastard spoke up, his eyes still glued to his own papers as he wrote his report.

I shrugged. “The former I think.”

He smirked. “The important thing is we caught the guy, the ‘how’ is irrelevant.”

“If it’s so irrelevant then you should be the one doing this shit.” I grumbled and when he only grinned, my eyes narrowed.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” I questioned and while his grin widened, he only shrugged, and for a minute I watched as he focused on the work before him.

“I’m guessing your Friday night pickup rolled over into Sunday then.” I surmised and for the first time since I entered the building he looked at me.

“Twins.” He grinned and I shook my head.

Twins…of course.

“Don’t you ever get tired of the multitude flocking your bed every week?” I asked in annoyance and he raised a brow.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Reynolds, my office!” we both glanced up at the sound of my name and I stood with a sigh, straightened my wrinkled shirt and made my way to my boss’s office.

“Close the door behind you.” The chief ordered when I entered his space and I knew immediately what this was about as I took in the sight before me.

Excluding the chief, five men sat in the small room, their expressions serious and eyes hard. None of them looked at me and I imagined they were all caught up in their own thoughts as they prepared to hear the news.

Two years of my life I had spent with these men, holed up in some prison for an undercover operation that provided us with nothing but a name after everything we’d been through. Two years wasted and regretted which left us with injuries and far less men than when we had started out, all because of one man; Emmanuel.

I took a seat beside Peter who nodded in greeting and we both focused our attention on the chief when he cleared his throat.

“By now you should know why I’ve called you here.” The chief began. “We have a potential lead on our elusive resident drug lord Emmanuel.” He announced somewhat bitterly and I sat up and took notice. A lead on the asshole was far more progress than we’d had in years.

Peter and I shared a look, then I watched as the chief dug around in his drawer and pulled out a small stack of files, which he then dropped onto the table before him.

“I have an assignment for any man here who cares to take it.” He said. “We have an informant who knows a guy who works for Emmanuel’s right-hand-man.” He explained and my heart fell.

He knew a guy, who knew a guy… I should have known not to expect much where Emmanuel was concerned. The closest lead we’d had in a while, yet a very weak one.

“What exactly does this assignment entail?” David— the dark-haired, dark-eyed Italian by birth agent—questioned the chief.

“Simple. I need you to confirm the lead and that requires an undercover operation.” He explained. “Each file contains a new identity for each of you and the roles you’ll be expected to play. You’ll start off by gathering Intel, find out what people know, while assimilating yourselves into the lifestyle…you know the drill.”

I shook my head and Peter’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s take a breath here chief…what you’re saying is you want us to take on a high risk operation to confirm a lead? We can’t put ourselves in danger just to pull at straws, give us something concrete here.” He finished and I was in full agreement.

“This is as concrete as it gets.” He chief began seriously. “We’ve been on this case for four years, two of which you all spent incarcerated. We’ve used more resources and man power on finding this one mastermind than we have on most other cases we’ve dealt with and after all this time, this is what we’ve come up with; a potential lead." he continued. "It may not seem like much to you, but given the circumstances, it’s a big deal and giving up an opportunity like this is out of the question.” The chief’s eyes passed to each of us in turn. They were hard with determination.

“I chose to involve you on this because you have an intimate knowledge of the case and I think you’re the best men for the job, but I’m giving you a choice in the matter because like Peter said, it’s risky and you’ve already given this case so much of your lives.” The chief sat back in his chair. “Make a decision. Are we allowing this bastard to get away with it, or are we going to take him down once and for all?”

“I’m in.” David answered almost immediately and the chief nodded, then gestured to the stack of files before him.

“Take a file, read it and reacquaint yourself with the case. It’ll be weeks before this mission gets underway so you have time to prepare.” He said and I watched as David stood, picked up the file, and with the chief’s permission, he left the room.  

Minutes passed, where silence permeated the room and Jones stood, picked up another file and left and so it went until I sat there with Peter, until he too made a decision and I watched him leave with a file.

Now here was my predicament; I wouldn’t be taking a file. I didn’t need to think about it and as much as the chief’s words affected me, I wouldn’t be a part of the mission. He was right, I’d given enough of my life to the case and I wasn’t willing to give anymore. I knew it and the chief knew it, but I suppose he still had to try.

“I know you said you were through with undercover assignments, but if this wasn’t absolutely necessary I wouldn’t have asked you here.” The chief began. “You, more than anyone else have suffered because of this thing. You fought for your life and almost lost it, you lost your fiancé and you’ve lost team mates. I understand that.”

“Then you understand why I won’t be taking that file.”

The chief shook his head. “What I understand it that you more than anyone has reason to take this guy down. You joined the mission because, like every other agent, you want the streets clean and you want to save lives, well guess what? Because of this bastard people’s lives are still in danger and the streets are filthier than ever…help me take him down.”

“Even if we manage to bring him to his knees, there’ll still be others waiting to take his place, it’s the way of the world chief…there are plenty of other cases out there that could use my attention...I’m done with undercover OPs…it wasn’t an easy decision to make but it’s just the way it is.”

When he said nothing I cleared my throat and straightened in my seat. “Have you told John and Nate about this?”

“This is a Bureau investigation, they chose to become civilians so this no longer concerns them.”

I nodded, then watched as he fished in his drawer and pulled out two envelopes. “Your application for leave has been granted.” He explained and I stood to collect it.

“Here, give this to your partner.” He handed me the other envelope. My brows furrowed.

“Sy applied for leave?”

“No, but take him with you, he works so hard it’s making me tired.” He said and I chuckled. But when I turned to leave the chief stopped me. “Reynolds, take this with you.” He said, holding up the file and looked at him in confusion.

“Chief, I told you I’m–” He held up a hand and I fell silent.

“Just read through it anyway. Enjoy your vacation, but think about it while you’re away and when you get back you can tell me what you decide to do.” He said and I shook my head but took the offered file anyway.

“Thank you sir.”

“There’s just one thing you should know.” The chief spoke once more and I noted the seriousness of his expression. “If you don’t take this mission I’m handing it off to Simon…and we both know he’ll accept without question.”

I froze, the surprise clearly written across my face as I stared at the manipulative bastard sitting before me. “Simon can’t handle a UC OP, he barely has any field experience.”

The chief shrugged. “He’s better in the field than you give him credit for and I need another man on this.”

“Then send Parish or Cole, they’re better equipped for this, Sy can’t—”

“That’s my decision to make agent Reynolds, but whether or not your partner takes part in this OP is strictly up to you.”

So either I put myself at risk or I send my partner to do it. I shook my head. He knew he’d get his way today and he knew just how to make that happen. I gritted my teeth, then finally turned and left the room.

When I closed the door behind me I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was times like this that I wondered why I hadn’t taken John and Nate up on their offer…the more time passed the more the idea of getting out of this line of work appealed to me. I took another breath and made my way over to my desk.

I dropped the file into the drawer and locked it, then stretched across and dropped the envelope on Simon’s desk before running a hand through my hair in frustration.

Simon paused in his writing and picked it up and as expected, after reading the contents he glanced my way. “I didn’t apply for leave.” He said simply and I shrugged.

His eyes narrowed then. “What did you do?”

“As much as I wouldn’t mind taking the credit for this one, that’s all on the chief.” I told him honestly and before I could blink, he was out of his chair and heading for the chief’s office. I shook my head, took up a pen and finally got started on my report.

Half an hour later Simon returned and slumped in his chair with a sigh. “This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do for three and a half weeks?”

I shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll find someone to occupy your time…or if you change your mind, Kyle’s still waiting for your answer.” I hedged but he only looked at me— arms folded at his chest and legs outstretched.

I turned back to my report but my mind was more on the chief’s words than on what I was writing and twice I had to cross out a sentence I’d messed up. I cursed under my breath.

“What’re you doing tonight?” Simon asked and I turned to see that he was still watching me.

“A cold beer, ESPN and my couch.” I told him, but if I was really going to be forced to do this mission then I’d be elbow deep in files all night.

I refocused on the report and tried to organize the facts in my head before I put it on paper.

“Invite me over tonight and I’ll do your paperwork for you.” He interrupted and I snorted.

“Didn’t you get enough action this weekend?”

“Maybe I’m in the mood for some dark meat.” He said in a low tone and I chuckled.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s the plan.”

My hand faltered and I looked up from my page. He raised a brow, a small smile playing about his lips and I swallowed hard.

“There’s a reason we stopped doing this.” I said seriously.

“It wasn’t a very good one.”

I looked around before lowering my voice. “It doesn’t need to be a good reason...I told you, I’m down with the fucking around…I’m in the market for something serious.”

His grin widened and something inside me stirred. “People have cheat days all the time.”

“We’re not talking about a diet here, we’re taking about my life.” I told him in a dry tone and he shook his head.

“Sometimes you g—”

He broke off when Ana passed between us and dropped another stack of papers on my desk before moving on and I groaned.

When he stretched across and picked them up I frowned. “I’m coming over tonight.” He said simply and confidently, and because I was only a man with needs I turned back to my unfinished report without a word.

…………………………………………

As a general rule I didn’t believe in fate…Fate to me was like a thing of fairytales—like Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny…it just didn’t exist. Bad shit happened and good shit happened. It was the way of the world, there was no ‘plan’ or ‘destiny,’ shit wasn’t just going to happen because it was preordained, it all came down to the decisions you made. Like if you decided to go surfing when you knew there was storm coming in, then odds were, you would die that day.

Or if you bought the lottery, chose the most random set of numbers and somehow you managed to win…it wasn’t fate…you simply got up off your ass, bought a ticket to your dreams and randomly won a couple million bucks.

Everything was just dependent on the decisions you made, which is why when I entered a particular deli at lunch with my partner in tow, it wasn’t fate that made me spot the drug exchange in progress, it was simply because I was hungry, chose to get up off my ass and made a conscious decision to enter the deli. Then because I was generally an observant guy—and not because mere luck— I was able to spot the exchange.

My buddies back at the Bureau would no doubt argue otherwise, but fate was a thing of fairytales and like the relationship I wished for, it belonged in a book. Either the guys were amateurs or they were pros who made the wrong decision when they chose to do the exchange right out in the open, in the middle of the day…my money was on the former.

The moment we spotted the suspicious activity, Simon made the first move and the second he calmly pulled out his badge and presented it to the perps was the moment our troubles began and I was faced with a deli filled with screaming occupants, while Simon kept his weapon trained on the guy who chose not to put up a fight.

I wasn’t as lucky as I struggled with my perp—knocking him to the ground with a fist to the face, but just as quickly as he went down, he was up again and I got an elbow to my eye for my troubles.

 I slammed the heel of my hand into his face and his nose broke with a sickening snap, but still, he continued fighting, holding his nose with one hand as the blood gushed and striking out with his other. I grabbed his arm, twisted hard and slammed my foot against his right ankle, he went down with a loud cry and while he lay there immobile and howling, I pulled his arms behind his back, cuffed his wrists and glanced over at Simon to see him doing the same with his guy.

 I grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and picked up one of the fallen medium-sized brown paper bags and surely enough there it was. A bag filled with the white stuff all the druggies craved. I tilted it so Simon could see and with a nod, he pulled out his cell phone and pulled the perp to his feet.

My howling assailant still lay on the ground, his face a mess and his hands cuffed securely behind his back. I could already feel my eye swelling and I shook my head and pulled the man from the floor.

Mondays...

………………………………………………………

I banged the palm of my hand on the desk and the perp glared up at me. Across the room Simon stood watching and waiting for his turn to question the guy. He had his arms folded before him and his mouth was set in a hard line

“This isn’t good cop, bad cop buddy. Personally, I’d like to think me and my partner here are pretty good guys, but you caught me on a Monday. I’ve missed my lunch, I’m sweating though my pants and because of you I’ve got a  black eye, so tell me what I need to know or whatever chance you think you have of getting out of this mess is gone.” I growled and still the asshole kept quiet. Not a peep, just like his friend in the other room.

“Who are you working for?” I tried again...nothing. Forty-five minutes of this and we were still trying to scale the brick wall.

I glanced down at the guy’s rap sheet again and gritted my teeth. “Roberto Garcia. Four years ago he was charged with B&E. When he was eighteen he was arrested for one DUI and only months later he secured one conviction for armed robbery—a gas station… clearly not very original.

“Do you realize just how much trouble you’re in right now? Assaulting a federal agent, possession of a controlled su—”

“I want my lawyer.” The guy interrupted and I gritted my teeth. When I glanced at Simon he shrugged and with one final look at the guy I closed the file and turned to go.

A break would do me well anyway. Simon followed suit.

“Any luck with his partner?” the chief asked as soon as I exited the room and I shook my head.

“Nothing…they’re not giving up their guy, they’re not interested in a deal, they just want to lawyer up.” I told him and he nodded.

“Let them have their lawyer...maybe we’ll have better luck when they’ve been advised…either way, they’re not getting off this one.”

The DEA guys came in just as I made my way out of the building and I nodded in greeting as they passed.

“Trouble just follows you huh?”

I glanced up to see Peter heading my way with a grin and I shrugged. “I’m beginning to think so, yeah.”

“I noticed you walked out with a file this morning…didn’t expect you to take on the assignment.” He said and I nodded.

“Yeah well...chief didn’t leave me with much of a choice.”

He grinned. “His little speech got to you huh?”

“Not quite.” I said seriously. “He’s threatening to hand off the assignment to Simon if I don’t take it.”

Peter’s brows furrowed. “Then what’s the problem? Give it to Sy, he can more than handle it.”

I shook my head. “Sy isn’t…” I trailed off and when he raised a brow, I shook my head. “Forget it...we’ll see.” I told him and with a shrug he let it go.

“Unlike you too heroes, I’ve got work to do. I’ll see you later.”

I nodded and watched him walk away, my mind a jumbled mess of unwanted thoughts. If I was being honest with myself I’d admit that Simon really was capable. He was a damn good agent, in and out of the field, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. I didn’t want him out there. I wanted him behind a desk, shuffling papers where it was safe and hell would have to freeze over before I allowed the chief to send him on the OP.

“A new place just opened up two blocks over...heard the food is pretty decent.” Simon announced when he finally joined me outside.

 I gestured to the street. “Lead the way.”

It was a silent trek up the block as it usually was with us, a comfortable sort of silence that typically came when in the company of someone you knew well and as we walked, I thought of the series of events that took place from the moment I’d entered the office this morning.

I’d say I was a happy person generally. I tried not to let little things faze me...you couldn’t really allow it to, not in this line of work and that was fine, but there was just something about Mondays that just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was because it signaled the beginning of the work week, or because it indicated the end of all weekend enjoyment…I couldn’t put my finger on it but Mondays…Mondays…Mondays.

“It’s that one, right there.” Simon pointed to the building up ahead and my brows furrowed when I heard the commotion coming from within. Simon sighed and I paused, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Maybe we should start ordering in.” He suggested and I gritted my teeth in frustration.

“Come on, let’s go see what’s going on.”

                                             AUTHOR'S NOTES

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER...THE NEW SEMESTER HAS BROUGHT WITH IT MORE WORK THAN I IMAGINED IT WOULD, BUT I'LL TRY MY BEST TO UPDATE REGULARLY.

THANKS FOR READING GUYS!

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.