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“I hope so. And my mom is going to really like you, too. I cannot tell you how often she asks me if I’m seeing anyone and doesn’t understand why I’m not. She knows what I do and how hard it is to have a relationship when you can’t tell the person exactly what you do, but she still always asks.”
“She just wants you to be happy.”
“I am. Laura. I’m really happy that you’re here with me.”
The rest of the day was just as comfortable as the afternoon had been. They enjoyed a leisurely dinner that he cooked. They listened to his favorite jazz, and they talked about favorite childhood memories, bad childhood memories, college experiences, and their commonality in losing their fathers. They talked about the future, what each of them wanted out of life, including children, without acknowledging that as they’d had unprotected sex, they possibly could have created a child. It was as though they both were confident in the other that if it had been the case, they’d figure it out and rise to the occasion.
The next morning when the alarm went off at zero six hundred, they made love again, promising each other it would be the last unprotected sex they had. They’d stop at a pharmacy after work to get another birth control method. Then they showered, ate a quick breakfast and left the condo in his car to drive to the office. He was happy that he’d be on a day shift for the next week. He’d have to do something to keep that schedule for the entire month.
“You’ll notify Angel that you’re clearing out of the apartment today?” he asked her as he pulled into the sub-basement parking lot.
“Just as long as you’re sure you want me at your place.”
“Baby, I am sure,” he said.
“Yes, I’ll tell Angel. I have a few things up in the apartment still. I’ll move them into your car throughout the day.”
“It has to be hell living out of a couple of bags. I’ll assume the majority of your stuff is at your mom’s house?”
“Yeah. My old room is a dumping ground of boxes representing different phases of my life. My childhood treasures are still collecting dust all over the room. In one corner of the room, there are the boxed-up contents of my college years that I always meant to get to. And in another are the contents from my Army barracks. There are mementos of places visited and clothes that I abandoned there. There are actually a few outfits I really love, but I have no use for them now and I surely can’t lug them all over the U.S. with me.”
Dupont put his car in park. “If we go over Thanksgiving, you could pack up a suitcase with some of those things to bring back with us and you can keep them at my place.”
She smiled an appreciative grin. “Maybe. Let’s play it by ear.” She did like the idea of having a few more of her belongings accessible, and she really liked the idea of keeping some of her things at his place. She’d never planned to be a minimalist, but that was exactly what she’d become.
They took the elevator to the eighth floor. Dupont reported to Ops as Laura Lee checked in with Garcia, whose office was across the hall. As expected, he was already in. It was zero seven twenty. He had all the confiscated laptops and phones on his desk.
Madison also sat in his office. She rose as Laura Lee entered. “Hi, great job on your Op.”
“Thanks,” Laura Lee replied. “I know it’s being counted as a success, but given that the three suspects were killed, I’m not sure how successful it was.”
“That’s not on us,” Garcia said. “I’m blaming the FBI for the intel leak that got those guys killed.”
“And I was complimenting your performance on the Op,” Madison clarified. “I also hear Whiting approved your creds. Congrats.”
“Thank you,” Laura Lee said.
“But we still have work to do,” Garcia said. “We may not be on the ground, but we have intel to go over. There’s still a network most likely there to support the Chinese mafia and the Chinese military that we have agreed to remotely look into.”
“Do they know which Triad this is linked to?” Madison asked.
“Not yet,” Garcia said. His gaze went to Laura Lee. “Madison is going to help the Digital Team today while she’s in Ops. We’ll pull Dupont in as well. Today should be quiet as it’s a travel day for both the PGP Team and the team assigned to the next CIA Referral Case. No DEA Partner Mission this week, as we have so many helping the Digital Team.”
Laura Lee nodded. “I’d like to continue looking at Xi Laing. I really think he could be the weak link of the group. From what I saw on his computer, there is no way he ever wants to go back to China.”
“Why’s that?” Madison asked.
“He’s gay. He has a boyfriend at the campus. He had a paper he wrote on his laptop talking about living free and being able to love whoever he wanted,” Laura Lee replied. “I’d like to write up an entire profile for whoever at the FBI or State Department interviews him.”
Garcia handed her the laptop from the stack of them on the desk that she’d worked on the day before. “He’s yours. You can use Lambchop’s office, so you’re on this floor with the rest of us. Get to work. Once I figure out which phone is his, I’ll get it to you as well. I still have two phones to unlock. They have some fierce encryption on them, which tells me they belong to someone high in the organization.” He held the two phones up.
“Then I’ll get out of here and let you get to work,” Madison said. Madison and Laura Lee stepped into the hall together. “I’m pretty sure that Doc wanted to see you before they deploy this morning. They’re in with Shepherd now. You may want to shoot him a text and let him know you’re in and will be working from Lambchop’s office so he can easily find you.”
“Will do. Thanks for letting me know,” she said.
When she got to Lambchop’s office, she found his coat, backpack, and other belongings he took with him when the team deployed. She felt uncomfortable with the idea of working in his office while he was in the building. She decided to go down to the seventh floor where her office was. She’d move back up after Lambchop vacated.
As she stepped into the hallway to leave, Michaela came around the corner. “Hi, Laura. How are you feeling?” she greeted.
