Angel of the Night (10 page)

Colonel Bishop answered, “All investigations ultimately lead in surprise directions. But this one has been a particularly circuitous route. I can tell you that in all honesty. Just one more question”

“Frank Boehmer, Reuters. Colonel Bishop you predicted an arrest in 24 to 72 hours. That’s a pretty wide range. Can you tell us what would happen to make it closer to 24 hours? And conversely, what would happen to make it closer to 72 hours?” Terry Bishop gave Boehmer a small smile, but answered, “No I can’t,” and walked off the stage, followed by the rest of his team.

Someone turned the sound down on the television monitors when the press conference concluded. Wendy heard the discussion in the medical center begin anew, but she had no interest in participating. She turned to go outside, and almost ran face first into Henry Washoe. He caught her by the shoulders just before she would have face-planted into his chest.

“Hey! You’re just the nurse I was looking for!” Henry said with a laugh. “When will you be able to have lunch? We can’t go back to The Little Orange, but I can afford a greasy burger and fries.”

Wendy was glad to see Henry. If anyone could take her mind off of her problems he could.

“I can go to lunch right now. I have to be back in an hour, though. Surgery calls.”

Henry turned and offered Wendy his arm. They left the medical center and turned west toward Frisko Freeze, the camp’s favorite burger house.

“Please don’t talk about the McKillop thing. Please don’t,”
Wendy thought. But luck was not walking with her on this day.

“Did you see the press conference? It sounds like something big is going down. I hope they catch whoever did it, and string him up,” Henry said after they had placed their orders.

Wendy’s head began to hurt. “I wonder if he would say that if he knew. I hope not. I’m sure he wouldn’t say it if he knew the whole story.”

Suddenly Wendy had an overwhelming desire to unburden herself to Henry. She knew that she couldn’t, but oh did she ever wish to. As she looked at Henry, she saw someone who would be able to fill the lonely place that had been in her heart for so long. The secret that she was carrying right now was bigger than any other secret she had ever borne. But it felt to Wendy as if she had been holding on to secrets all her life. The CIA training that she did in concert with her medical training.

That had been something that she hadn’t been able to share with friends and family. The panic attacks that she used to have. Those she had to keep secret in case the military found out and blew her cover. There had been so many secrets in Miss Shafer's life that she had found it easier to hold herself away from any kind of intimacy. Wendy had few close friends. She realized now that she had never been in love. But all of that could change…if she wasn’t hung by the neck, per Henry’s stated desire, as a traitor to her country.

Wendy quickly finished her quarter pound “Beefburger” and made a decision. “Henry I don’t have time to talk much right now, but I would really like to see you later tonight? My shift ends at 1845, assuming that the surgery goes well. Can I see you again then?”

Henry could hardly believe his good luck. So far he had been the instigator whenever he and Wendy had seen each other away from the Glynnis Unit. He had been hoping that she would put forth some initiative to see him.

“That would be great Wendy! I’ll look forward to it.”

“Me, too. But now I have to get back. Pick me up at my CHU.” Wendy went around the table and gave Henry a quick peck on the cheek before leaving him to finish his triple burger and large order of seasoned curly fries.

The surgical patient was a 41-year old career soldier named Ben Holland. He was a sergeant serving his third deployment in Afghanistan after doing two in Iraq. While he hoped that this was his last rodeo in this particular part of the world, he was resigned to go where he was needed the most. His superiors found him to be the consummate soldier. Those under him said other, less positive things, about Sgt. Holland.

Those under him would have taken some secret glee if they could have seen him two hours before surgery. He was in a great deal of pain from the kidney stone, and was waiting, doubled over, for the pain to pass so he could get back into bed. While he normally tried to hide his fear of hospitals behind a gruff exterior, he was actually looking forward to being anesthetized so the doc could take that damn stone out of him. Sgt. Holland actually had much more colorful language to use about his kidney stone but for public consumption “damn stone” would do.

But by the time Wendy first saw Sgt. Holland he was at peace. A full load of Versed in one’s I.V. will have that effect. The sergeant smiled at Wendy just before the anesthetist hit him with the Diproval that was going to put out his lights for the next several hours.

The surgery itself lasted just over an hour and went off without a hitch. There turned out to be two stones stuck in Sgt. Holland’s ureter. One of them he probably would have been able to pass through urine flow. Unfortunately for the sergeant it was stuck behind a stone that couldn’t have been passed by a water buffalo.

A ureteral stent was inserted at the end of the procedure. This stent would aid in post-operative urine flow. It would be removed about a week later.

Right on time, Wendy was able to change back into her everyday uniform and leave the unit. She checked her watch and realized that she had just enough time to shower before meeting Henry. Just as Wendy was about to cross the road and walk into her CHU, there was the sound of a commotion to her left. Wendy stopped to try to ascertain what was going on. At first she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but shortly she saw three military insignia bearing cars come around the corner at a high rate of speed. They went by too quickly for Wendy to tell who was in any of them.

“Something tells me that may have something to do with me,”
she thought as she finished her short trip to her CHU. Her concern would have been even greater if she could have seen into the back of the third vehicle. Lt. Major William Hudspeth was behind the tinted windows.

Wendy barely had enough time to towel off and dry her hair before Henry arrived at the door. Already she found herself anticipating his big open smile even when he wasn’t around. It was certainly a welcome sight now.

“Hi, Henry. I’m so glad you’re here,” Wendy said, wrapping the big man in a hug. Henry returned the hug and gently stroked Wendy’s hair as she clung to him.

“I know I may be a little early, but I couldn’t wait to see you,” Henry said into Wendy’s hair as they rocked back and forth in the doorway. While Henry was truthful in how glad he was to see Wendy, he sensed a tension in her body as he held her.

“Wendy, did everything go okay at work? Did the surgery go as expected?”

Wendy pulled away from the hug and looked up into Henry’s concerned eyes. She knew that this was not the time to unburden herself to Henry but she had never felt like unburdening to anyone any more than she did right now. That part of her life had been cordoned off by both the circumstances of her youth, and her CIA training. But Henry Washoe had tapped an underground reservoir of connection inside Wendy. The particulars of how it happened were beyond the scope of human understanding. But it was there, nevertheless. Wendy was vulnerable, and she found it both scary and exhilarating.

“This is no time to fall in love. Actually this is the worst of times to fall in love,”
Wendy thought as she and Henry left the CHU and walked arm in arm down the sidewalk.
“What’s the matter with me?”

“Would you like to see a movie? We haven’t even talked about the kinds of movies that you like, but if you tell me I’ll bet I can find something good,” Henry said. “It’s not late enough for dinner yet, but I'm sure I could eat a tub of popcorn, and maybe some Milk Duds.”

Wendy laughed. Henry was so much fun! He was kind and generous, and at the same time always looking for an excuse to eat. She thought about what she would like to see. Really anything that wasn’t James Bond would be okay. Maybe they could see something that would take her mind off of…

“How about
The Hunger Games
, Henry? Let’s go see
The Hunger Games
!” Henry readily agreed. He was willing to see anything as long as he had Wendy by his side, but he was secretly pleased that she hadn’t chosen a sappy romantic comedy of some sort. Only a
big
tub of popcorn could make him sit through one of those.

Henry and Wendy settled into the cushy soft reclining seats in The Showplace Theater. Recent renovations had changed the seating in the theater from the old style theater seats to these new leatherette recliners. Henry pushed the button to lift his footrest into place. Wendy pulled the armrest that was between her and Henry up and out of the way. The newest couple at Kabul Air Base settled in to watch the movie.

Later, Wendy would tell people at The Afghan Canteen that the movie had been a good one. And the part to which she paid attention was good. Jennifer Lawrence was Wendy’s favorite young actor, and she played the part of Katniss Everdeen to a tee. But there were two distractions that pulled Wendy’s attention from the screen.

She didn’t want to think about her predicament in her undercover job, but the subject wouldn’t be kept at bay. What did that fast moving motorcade mean? Was she about to be hauled out of the movie theater like some kind of latter-day Lee Harvey Oswald? Was there any chance that the investigation would be closed without an arrest being made?

Indeed, that would have been distraction enough to take her attention from the movie but, about 30 minutes into the film, something else happened. Henry took her in his arms and kissed her. Really and truly kissed her! His first kiss was a little tentative, but when Wendy responded favorably, his second, tenth and thirtieth kisses were anything but hesitant.

“Wow!”
Wendy thought as Henry kissed her ardently and hungrily. Each of his kisses opened up a new avenue into the lonely heart that beat inside Wendy Shafer’s chest. Soon Wendy could feel Henry’s breathing go ragged, and sense as he began to shift uncomfortably in his seat.

Wendy pulled away and put her hand on Henry’s heaving chest. “Whoa, hon. Settle down. Let’s watch the rest of the movie. Okay?”

She needed time to think
. “Am I feeling this way because I’m sure of Henry? Or am I doing it because I’m scared? I need to figure it out. I really like Henry a lot, and I think he’s someone that I could love. But he’s also too special to fool around with just because I’m afraid that I might go to prison for the rest of my life. He’s not anybody’s last tango. He’s a really good man.”

Wendy held Henry’s hand for the rest of the movie and, except for lifting her hand and kissing it, he made no further attempts to build on what the two of them had started earlier.

As they walked out of the theater arm in arm, Henry broke the silence. “Wendy, I’m sorry if I am coming on too strong. You’re such a great lady, and you’re so pretty, and all, I just couldn’t…”That was as far as he got. Wendy put her right hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that would allay all of his fears that he had been too assertive in the theater. They were in the shadows cast by the corner of the theater building and the marquee above. They used the relative privacy to their full advantage. Wendy’s return kisses became increasingly passionate as she sensed, and felt, Henry’s desire begin to rise. She knew that, at one time or another, her neck had been kissed before, but when Henry did it all memory of previous encounters fled. She moaned softly as his lips explored her jaw, her neck, and toward the collar of her shirt.

Suddenly she found herself at least as hungry for Henry as he had ever been for a T-bone steak with all the trimmings. She kissed him with an abandon that surprised them both. He picked her up and steadied her against the wall to her back as he explored her mouth with his. Henry’s thumb rested against Wendy’s chest, and that tiny little connection alone caused her body to respond. She pressed her breast against him with all of her might!

“Henry stop, not here!” Wendy said urgently into his ear.

Henry almost dropped her on the ground. His face was flushed, and his eyes had a gleam in them that neither Wendy nor any other woman, had ever seen. Were Wendy and Henry in full light she would have seen that even his eyes had changed hue from a deep blue to a kind of greenish blue.

Henry looked at Wendy with an abashed expression. She knew that he was about to apologize again, but she was hearing none of it.

“Take me back to my CHU, Henry. I want to be alone with you and not worry that someone is going to straggle out of the theater and find us back here.”

Henry smiled at Wendy and gave her a kiss significantly more chaste than the ones that they had so recently shared. They walked arm in arm back to Wendy’s CHU.

When they got inside, Wendy barely had time to lock the door before Henry had picked her up and was carrying her across the living room and to the sleeping alcove. Her 123 pounds were as nothing to Henry, whose lust had given his already considerable strength a serious boost.

Henry placed Wendy gently on the bed and sat down beside her. He turned to her and said, “I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone. But it’s more than that. I can’t work, I can’t sleep, and I walk around with a silly grin on my face all day long. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

Wendy had never been much for cartoons, but suddenly she felt as if she knew how the Grinch that stole Christmas felt when his heart grew two sizes. She looked at Henry and knew that, whatever fate awaited her, this man was going to be an important part of her life going forward. That knowledge gave her a sense of hope deep in the shadows of her fear. And it caused her to say, “I love you, too.”

Henry kissed Wendy then. Gone was the desperation of the kisses that they shared outside the theater. Instead, the two lovers kissed deeply and with the passion of two that know that they are going to be kissing for a good long time.

The passion that rose between Wendy and Henry was of shared need and intensity. They explored one another’s bodies fully and with mounting pleasure. The first time that Henry slid his hand over Wendy’s heavy breasts he was thrilled at their texture and pliant responsiveness. The first time that Wendy touched Henry’s throbbing manhood she gasped at his size. Henry was, indeed, a very big man.

“Oh baby, I want you so bad,” Henry said as they kissed on the bed.

“I want you too, Henry. I want to give myself to you like I haven’t given myself to anyone. I’m yours.”

Henry touched Wendy between her legs and found her to be moist and ready. He looked into her eyes as he entered her. She gasped with pleasure and began to move under him. This was Henry’s first time inside a woman. As he experienced Wendy’s moist velvetiness, Henry felt the volcano inside of him begin to rise to the surface.

“God, no. Not yet!”
Henry thought. He tried to remember what he had heard from other guys about how to keep the experience lasting for more than a few seconds. But it was hard to do with Wendy moaning his name over and over again.

“Oh Henry, yes! Oh, I love you, Henry! Yes! Oh, my love!”

Finally, and much too soon for Henry’s taste, the volcano overwhelmed him and Henry released inside the woman he loved so much.

Afterwards, Henry and Wendy lay in each other’s arms, spent but happy. Wendy ran her fingers through the hair on Henry’s chest and was nearly asleep when there was a knock on her door. First one soft knock and then three loud and insistent knocks. Wendy and Henry both threw some clothes on. Wendy went to the door and with trepidation, opened it. What she saw knocked the last vestige of post-coital glow out of the young nurse/CIA operative.

Outside her door stood two members of the Military Police. The older one, a man who looked to be in his late 50s, was the spokesperson.

“Good evening Miss. I’m Captain Jared McLean, and this is Captain Ryan Harcourt. We’re looking for 2nd. Lt. Wendy Shafer.”

“I’m Lt. Shafer.”

“Would you mind coming with us, Lieutenant Shafer? We have some questions that we would like to ask you.”

“Let me get my coat.”

The officers nodded in unison and Wendy closed the door. When she turned around, Henry was looking at her with real fear in his eyes.

“Is everything okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Wendy wanted to tell Henry everything about everything. She wanted to unburden herself of secrets and torments that she had held inside her for seemingly as long as she could remember. But this wasn’t the time. She hoped that there would be a time. For now, all she could do was give her newfound love whatever reassurance she could offer him.

“They want to ask me some questions. It’s the McKillop thing, I’m sure. I’m going to go with them.”

“Do you want me to come, too?”

Wendy kissed Henry lightly on the lips. “It’s okay. I’ll be back soon. Make yourself at home, but lock up if you go back to your CHU.”

Before Henry could ask any questions that she didn’t wish to answer, Wendy walked out of her door and accompanied the two MPs to their car. She was glad that they didn’t handcuff her as she was sure that Henry was watching out the window.

The younger of the two MPs opened the back door of the gray Chevy Impala that Wendy had seen come in the gate earlier. It had been the lead car of the three car convoy that had passed her just a few hours earlier. Wendy got in the back seat and remained quiet until the car arrived at MP Headquarters’ mid-base office building. Wendy’s door was opened, and the younger MP held out his hand to help her out. The three of them walked toward the front door, which was already propped open.

Inside, Captain Harcourt walked to the reception desk and spoke to a woman, but too quietly for Wendy to hear. But the upshot of the sotto voce conversation was that Wendy was ushered into an interrogation room toward the back of the office. “Please take a seat, Lt. Shafer,” McLean said indicating a plain metal folding chair. The two officers waited for Wendy to take her seat before sitting down across from her.