Angels Carry Guns Ch 02

As always my tech friends have my deepest thanks for their advice and patience, I'm always in awe of your knowledge my friends. To my Beta reader, dustybin63 his support and ability to always point and laugh has always kept me on point with my stories. To my editor, thank you so much, for everything my friend. You all take time out of your lives to help me, which I really appreciate. To those of you about to read this, please enjoy. We did our best.

(Spoiler alert) I've left this story open ended, I very much doubt I will add to it, but we all know life has a way of choosing it's own path.

*******

As I woke this morning, I also knew I wasn't alone. Tessa's warm body was close to mine. I knew my husband would be at the gym and I could almost hang my head in shame since it was such an off-handed comment that sent him there. I told him I love his dad bod, wow. Such a wrong thing to say. I've tried talking to him and it sort of failed. I've even tried being more realistic and reminding him I was once part of an elite unit so the extra curves I carry the ones he's all over when we go to bed and most definitely get naked are there because of hours in a gym, plus hours of instruction from some of the best in the business, hence the extra muscle tone.

Martin even got us both membership at the gym in town and we would use it when Tessa was at school or visiting relatives. I thought he was doing well and offered bags of encouragement. During one of our more intimate conversations, he told me that when he see's me naked, he sees Wonder Woman. So, in retaliation, I ordered the suit she wears. My God! I left the bed and hid in the bathroom for a while that husband of mine has absolutely no worries in the bedroom he pounded my pussy while I was wearing the Wonder Woman costume for him, until I couldn't walk in a straight line.

So, husband of mine is at the cruise ship's gym working on his muscle tone and I get our daughter as a sleeping partner. Sounds like a fair swap, she's always warm as hell. We're on day 6 and loving the relaxation of the cruise. Tessa and I even headed off to the restaurant for breakfast while her father, my husband, was getting all sweaty.

The gossip around the ship quickly started when the President's sister and some of her security team had come on board on day four, seconds before we left port and headed out to sea. The President's sister is what's called the "black 'sheep" of the family: good for photo-calls but for God's sake don't ask her any questions, let alone put her in front of a camera or microphone that is streaming live to a world-wide audience. The awkward part is that she recognized me as we passed each other in a corridor as she and her people were first coming aboard. She smiled but at least had the presence of mind not to say anything to me. It would have been as difficult as hell explaining to Tessa how I knew the President's sister.

*******

Today was all at sea, so that usually meant this family unit hit the pool deck and spent a hefty amount of time in the pool with Tessa that girl just loved to swim, not to mention the water slides. After an hour, Tessa said she was off to the bathroom. She had on a toweling wrap and flip-flops as she wandered off. I could actually see the door to the ladies bathroom from where I was sitting. Martin could also adjust his seated position to keep an eye on the same bathroom entrance if I needed to wander over to the bar, so it was fine for me to let her go on her own.

When Tessa came back, it was plain to see her whole demeanor had changed. When she sat, she looked at me; I used that as my queue and got up to sit next to her. "Are you okay, baby?"

Tessa looked out at the pool for a moment and then looked at me before taking one heck of a deep breath. "Momma, are you an angel?"

Martin winced and looked away. I was more stone-faced; it took all of my years of training, but I hoped I got there. Going into safety mode, I used a comment that I've only ever used three times in all the years I was an Angel. As the politicians always seem to say. 'I can neither confirm nor deny'. So pulling a deep breath into my lungs, I said, "No, baby, you have to be dead to be an angel, and as you can tell, I'm very much alive."

This time Tessa not only looked but leaned into me; this time it was a whisper. "The President's sister said you would say that. She gave me a note to give to you. She said she has had it in her pocket, hoping to see you. She said I was to put it in my pocket so her security people didn't see it when I left the bathroom. I'm putting my wrap on the chair, and Daddy and I are going swimming. Don't forget the note, momma."

Tessa stood and held out her hand for her father. They both walked over to the big pool and both set off at a leisurely swim from length to length. With Tessa's love of water and her swimming ability increasing over the last few months, it was difficult to see who was trying to keep up with the other.

I could see one of those talks looming with my daughter, going into slightly more detail about my past well, as much as a young Lady her age could understand and not have sleepless nights afterwards, that is. Even Martin told me I should have had it sooner with her, but oh no, I knew better. I was trying to insulate her and kept saying that we would deal with that conversation when she's a little older. Now the President's sister beat me to it.

Palming the note, I went to the bathroom, shut myself in, and sat down.

'Angel 257,

I need your help. I'm accustomed to being babysat by these people, but these don't feel like the right people. Am I being kidnapped, or is my brother keeping me out of the way for some other reason? These people are good, but they just don't feel right? I don't know. Please, Angel, find out, even if you have to go as far as my brother. I'm living up to my brother's agreement and keeping my mouth shut in public. But to wake up one morning and have my old team removed and replaced with these people isn't making any sense at all.'

"Oh fuck." Left my lips before I had the chance to stop it.

I'm just impressed I had the forethought to sit down and read this... this what? None of this made any sense, and yet I would never call Bethany Thomson a liar. First off, I'm not that stupid, and secondly, with my time with Beth Thomson when I was a member of the Angels, she learned quickly never to lie or piss any of us off. Oh, she tried from the very beginning. But after a few harsh words and the odd face-to-face with one of us, she learned real quick that we didn't have the patience that the Secret Service people have.

Our point was proven when one of the girls attempted to push her down the stairs and claim it was an accident. It was all rigged on our side, of course, but she quickly realized that we didn't have a public face, so piss us off, and you ended up paying for it. Surprisingly enough, she turned into a normal person around us after that staged incident, and most of the team were sad to have to end our relationship with her. But all that was just before I retired from the Angel's. Just what the hell was going on?

I left the bathroom. Both my husband and Tessa had already packed up the towels, and the usual miscellaneous stuff was bagged in hand and waiting for me when I came back out. They led and I followed, my head still not understanding any of this. Martin opened the door to our cabin, went to the wall safe, and opened it. He took out his satphone and handed it to me. I had raised an eyebrow when he had originally packed it. He just said it was just in case we needed it, and up to this point it had sat in the safe being ignored. My husband could have gone all "I told you so" fortunately, my husband was more worried, judging by the look in his eyes to do that, I think.

I smiled. I just couldn't help myself around this man. "Have I mentioned that I love you today?"

He had that thoughtful look about him, before saying, "Four times so far, but it's only ten in the morning, so there is room for a few more admissions on the subject if you wish."

Oh, I hugged that man of mine to within an inch of his life, and Tessa got her fair share as well.

I looked at them both sitting on our bed. "I have to call this in Martin too many questions and not enough answers. I may have to get involved because of my past history with Bethany Thomson; she's just not stupid enough to try to lie to me, so I have to take what she's saying as the truth. As far-fetched as all this sounds."

I asked Martin the name of his satphone company, which he told me, and then mentioned that he's been with them since he started at Brandon and Associates. I nodded and thanked him as my mind sought out what I needed, and I dialed six numbers. The billing service would recognize the number coding as government issued and place the call on a confidential line. The usual ten-second pause took place before I followed it with the rest of the numbers. A soft whine was sent along the line and then stopped. I almost counted the next fifteen seconds.

A click followed, and then the female voice. "Identify yourself."

"Angel 257 dash 41."

"Wait."

The line once again fell silent. It was remembering to breathe as the seconds ticked over that kept me busy.

"Savannah? Is everything all right?" The voice was familiar to me, but the voice carried a questioning tone to it. That, I could understand.

All this was crazy enough, and I was just about to add to it when I said, "Confirm the strength of security of this call." The pause was more the shock that I had asked.

"Wait out." Came back over the line, from a man I had come to trust with my life over my years as an Angel.

Once again, a soft whine was sent along the line and then stopped. Barely a second later, another soft whine followed the first.

A woman's voice came over the line. "Please recite the alphabet."

It didn't come across as an order, more a warning that I wouldn't be asked again. I had expected this so I started with "A" and was onto "N" when another soft whine was sent down the line. By the time I had gotten to "Z," the authoritative but polite Lady came back on again.

"Station One, all confirmed. Voice 257 dash 41 is the caller, and Station Officer Andrew Martinez is the recipient. Other than myself and Angel 257, there is no interruption on this call. Please advise?"

I listened to Andy thank the woman, and a click on the line was the indication that she had heard him and had now left.

*******

The pause that followed felt like everybody was trying to take a collective breath. "Well, this has got to be interesting you've never asked for one of those before. Now while I enjoy our chats, I have you down here as your location being in the middle of the Pacific. I'm at this moment fending off the vision of you in a dinghy floating around in the ocean, but somehow I wouldn't put it past you."

"Andy, something very weird is going on here."

The silence was but a second before Andy said, "Okay, since you're leading with that comment, you most definitely have my attention."

I took a breath. "Yesterday and minutes before we left port, the Purple Lady and the Secret Service people came aboard the cruise ship I'm on with my husband and daughter. Is there a specific reason why she is here?"

This time I listened as Andy typed into his own system, then he paused before saying. "I think this is where I'm expected to tell you you're wrong, because my system has her in her holiday home in Hawaii."

"Andy, look at my location again. Do I look like I'm in fucking Hawaii?"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, sweet cheeks. I'm on your side, remember."

I pulled back, reminding myself he was one of the good guys. I took a breath and recounted yesterday to him how we docked for half a day but didn't feel like going shore-side for less than a couple of hours. So, as a family, we relaxed on board with forty or so others that chose to stay aboard and sit around the pool or take advantage of the ship's amenities.

Just then I heard his desk phone telling him he had another call. Suddenly I was put on hold. I swear there is nothing that helps your blood pressure more than your friend telling you we're good and you're building up to the reason for your call and then dumped the second another call appears on his desk phone. AND YOU'RE PUT ON HOLD.

It was childish, and I shouldn't have done it, but the bitch in me made me do it. I terminated the call while my husband and daughter stared open-mouthed at me. After all, I had just been told that the President's sister is in Hawaii. Shrugging my shoulders only got me one good answer as to what just happened that I could tell my family. "All good."

I got up and handed my husband the satphone and watched as he placed it back into the safe, my husband had one hand and my daughter had the other by the time we reached the elevator, before heading back outside to try to remove what had just happened from our thoughts and get on with enjoying ourselves. All through the next twenty or so minutes, both the loves in my life kept giving me sideways glances, as my own mind went into a loop of the last hour, and for the life of me, I just couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was coming over the hill and the paranoid part of me that has kept me alive all these years thought it was all aimed directly at me.

*******

Sure enough, less than an hour after I terminated the call to Andy, one of the crew staff found us sitting down having a light lunch. Trust me to be the only one of us three he looked at directly when he got there.

He leaned down and almost whispered in my ear, "Excuse me, Mrs. Holdsworth. The ship has had communication from the company head office. They received a message from a family member of yours that they needed to talk to you urgently."

Both Martin and Tessa watched us, although the member of the crew had whispered, although I suspected they both had an inkling of what the theme of that conversation was. By now, of course, I was way beyond pissed. They had sent a fucking bridge officer down to whisper in my ear, and everybody around us at the restaurant watched it all happen.

We left as quickly as we could, and thank fuck, no one had a camera in their hands. When we got back to our cabin, Martin walked straight to the safe.

Tessa wrapped her arms around me. "Momma, stop, calm down. Please breathe."

I held onto this darling little girl like my life literally depended on it. It was only when Tessa had decided that I was calm enough that she climbed off my lap and Martin handed me his satphone.

"We love you and promise to visit you in jail when this is all over," Martin quipped.

Tessa howled with laughter, her hands over her mouth but doing little to stifle her laughter. I slapped my husband across his arm.

"Just remember, in divorce cases, the wife always gets the children."

That sent Tessa off once again. Tessa was used to us by now, as this was how Martin and I talked to each other we had found our "married to each other" language and were extremely comfortable with it. She also still rolled her eyes when we sometimes looked at each other; words were not always needed. Martin of course had a head start on me with this marriage thing. It was with him that I realized what I was missing the banter between us just seemed to be a humorous add-on to our lives, and our love grew on a daily basis because of it.

Tessa did have to pull it all back in when she saw me dialing. A soft whine was sent along the line and then stopped. I counted the next ten seconds this time.

A click followed, and then the female voice. "Identify yourself."

"Angel 257 dash 41."

"Wait."

The line once again fell silent. I really wanted to pounce on the first person that came to the phone.

Then something weird happened when the automated voice announced. "Angel 257 dash 41 has priority override. Redirecting call. An automatic shutdown of all recording equipment has begun."

Dropping the satphone on the bed as I went to get up and quickly scooping it back into my hand once I had, I held Tessa by the hips, and she moved with me. Tessa slid off me and automatically stood in confusion as to what was going on. I ran to the door of our cabin and yanked it open; the corridor was clear both ways. I then closed it and locked the door. Both the people that I love so dearly in this cabin must have been wondering if I had lost my mind.

The phone had been silent throughout all this, then clicked a couple of times and then started to ring. It rang twice before a very familiar voice answered.

"Angel 257, do you recognize my voice?"

I had to sit down. I was also looking at my husband when I said. "With all due respect, Sir, your voice is so easy to copy that the comedians on the strip are making a good living out of you."

At least he had the patience with me to chuckle.

"The people with my sister are not Secret Service, Angel. In fact, the REAL Secret Service didn't even know she had left the house until you told your associate. They sent a backup team to her house, and the duty team were all dead. Angel I sense you're with your family; please put us on speaker."

A cold chill ran down my spine. "Sir. Please don't ask me to do this."

The "President tone" was well rehearsed-even I could tell he was barely holding back anger that could send everyone within a hundred-yard radius of him, ducking for cover. "They have my sister Angel, the one weakness other than my immediate family, and they took her. We know why they have her because they left a note aimed at me on one of the dead Secret Service people. At the moment they are leaving me to sweat, thinking I didn't know where she was, and it was only you calling your office that gave us any inkling how far away and how insulated they have her. The note told me looking for her would end in her death. I have little doubt that the death toll will be higher with so many passengers acting as unknown human shields."

Pain flooded the area behind my eyes. I understood what he was trying so hard not to say. I switched the phone's speaker system on and held my finger to my lips, both to my husband and daughter it was only when they nodded their heads that I took it away from my lips.

"Sir, I assume we are both on speaker. Please tell me who is in your room."

In this case, two were from the Angels: Station Chief Andrew Martinez and the Director of Operations herself, Eleanor Ferguson, as well as two of the President's own staff. Something inside my head seemed to click just then, and I couldn't suppress her any longer. With Eleanor Ferguson in that room, I had no choice.

"Andy, I need you to run point on this; leave there now and go back to the office. They wouldn't come to this ship blind they have someone on pay either at the cruise ship head office or here. Find them, Andy, or I can't get any more Angels on here. You have until six tomorrow night."

We heard a rustle from the phone. "I'm on it. Give me two hours, and then I'll Satphone you. I will update you on what I have and what I can do for you until I get it done."

Then I heard the door slam, and he knew he didn't need me to acknowledge him.

"Sir, this ship is scheduled to be seabound for four days. My old team practiced a scenario to get onto a cruise ship at sea and in motion, but what you're asking is certain death for those who don't make it." I drew a breath or two and continued, "Sir, I'm not privy to what's going on out there that would warrant them taking the Purple Lady, but can you at least give me a time scale that you believe they will publicly reveal they have your sister?"

"They can't dock Angel; at the moment you're on your own."

That alone shocked me. He completely ignored what I had just said to him. "If they get my sister onto Terra-firma, then the search pattern expands by three-sixty degrees. Not to mention the potential hostage situation that can come of this if it all goes wrong. You have four days, Angel, the moment the ship reaches that country's edge of international waters. Then all bets are off."