Her team began arriving, and it soon became apparent to Blue as she questioned the others that they had been moving and had not seen the direction the shots were fired from. As she waited for Michael, the scene of the carnage playing repeatedly through her mind; she wondered how he could ever hope to justify his actions, and vowed to do her best to destroy his career.
Michael presented some convincing arguments during the investigation, stating that one of the guards had turned his weapon on their target and he had acted to ensure the Iranian's safety. What total bullshit. But in the end, it was her word against his, and all her testimony only resulted in him being taken out of the field and reassigned. She had since harbored a suspicion that he had been protected, but couldn't substantiate it.
She was leaving headquarters following the conclusion of the hearing when he approached her in the parking lot. "You won't get away with this. I'll destroy your career just like you destroyed mine." She just laughed. "If you think you're good enough, go ahead and try." His face reddened in anger, but he turned and walked away.
That was the last time she'd seen him, until today.
As Kris entered the office, Shelby smiled and accepted the coffee. "Thanks."
"My pleasure. How many names have we got left?"
"Nine, but I might be able to eliminate one more today."
"Good." Kris sat down, uncapped her coffee and took a sip. Turning her attention to the monitor, she called up the file on Michael only to find she didn't have access. Cursing silently, she swung her chair around and faced Shelby.
Sensing she was being watched, Shelby looked up. "What?"
"How about pulling up Michael Benton's file?"
Surprised by the request, but pleased to be included, Shelby quickly thought it over. She was still curious about Kris' reaction to the man, but needed some sort of justification in her own mind to access his record and decided to be direct. "Who is Michael, Kris?"
The operative hesitated only briefly. "I worked with him once a couple of years ago. He blew our operation by using poor judgment and disregarding orders. Because of him, a lot of people died that day, many of them innocent bystanders. It was my word against his before the Oversight Committee because no one else saw what happened. I took it to the top, but since there were no other witnesses, he was retained and just transferred to advisor status instead of being terminated. Always felt like a cover up to me."
"But he's history, right? What's he got to do with here and now?"
"Last time I saw him, he threatened me. I'd like to know what he's doing here."
That was all the justification Shelby needed after the events of the past week. Maybe Michael was here because he knew Kris was. Maybe someone wasn't shooting at her at all, but was shooting at the operative instead. She scooted her chair over making room for Kris and grinned. "Ready?"
Pushing her own chair across the room, Kris settled behind the desk next to Shelby and watched her work the keyboard until Michael's mug shot appeared on the screen.
Shelby advanced to Michael's history and scanned the information, knowing Kris was doing the same. "Did you know he's Jeb's brother?"
"No. But Jeb's a nobody. Whoever protected him before had a lot more power."
Snickering, Shelby said, "Jeb'd have a fit if he ever heard you say that. Doesn't matter that it's true."
Kris winked. "Just calling it the way I see it."
Shelby finished reading and looked at the screen in front of her. "He's currently assigned to Israel. He must be on leave or something. I'm surprised he didn't show up on the list. No wait! I know why. The search only included regular field agents, not advisors. Maybe we should add him."
Kris nodded. "Good idea." She quickly wrote down his home of record in Maryland, but as a precaution asked Shelby pull up Jeb's file to get his address, too. It didn't hurt to cover all the bases. It was disturbing enough, given the events of the past week that he was in town right now.
Shelby laughed as she won the battle for the remote. "Uh uh. We are not watching Cops again."
"Why not?"
"Come on! It's been on for an hour already. Let's watch Miracle Pets."
Kris grinned and raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Sure. Whatever you want."
"Oh ye of little faith. I think you'll like it. It features stories about pets that saved their owners. Some of the stories are really incredible. It makes you stop and think." Shelby reached over to Kris' lap and stroked Stormy. "Our little furry friends are pretty special."
So are you. Kris nodded, watching as Shelby raised her shoulders, rolling her neck, before relaxing again. Sympathetically, she asked, "Neck stiff?"
"Kinda. Sitting hunched over the monitor all day takes a toll sometimes."
"I hear you. I don't know how you do that all the time."
"You sorta get used to it."
Kris had her doubts about that. "If you say so."
Shelby chuckled when Stormy scampered off of her partner's lap to chase a shadow across the room. "It's not like I have much choice."
Casually, Kris suggested, "How about scooting over her and letting me see what I can do?"
The analyst barely hesitated before sliding across the couch and turning her back to Kris. Shelby sighed deeply and let her head drop forward as her partner's strong fingers began manipulating the tight muscles.
After a few moments, Kris took a pillow and dropped it on the floor between her feet. "Why don't you move down there? It'll be more comfortable." Once Shelby was sitting between her legs, she picked up where she'd left off, letting her fingers expertly probe and stroke her companion's neck and shoulders.
Shelby was in her own personal paradise, enjoying the feel of Kris' long legs bracketing and supporting her body almost as much as the fingers working their magic. She was much too content to move when the hands slowed, instead leaning back and settling herself comfortably against the operative.
Unable to resist, Kris began to lightly stroke the golden hair that was resting on her thigh, entranced by the silky feel as she drew her fingers lightly through the blonde locks.
Time ceased to have meaning as they sat there in silence, enjoying the closeness. When she could no longer delay a visit to the bathroom, Shelby sighed inwardly wishing she hadn't had two glasses of iced tea earlier. She regretfully stood up and smiled. "Be right back."
Watching the analyst walk out of the room, Kris sighed contentedly. The evening had been perfect. Everything felt so right with the smaller woman at her side. She found herself more and more often finding a reason to touch Shelby and her overtures were always met with a smile. I could get used to this.
She started thinking about the things she liked about Shelby and suddenly realized that it wasn't one thing, it was everything. Her laugh, her way of expressing herself, the sweet sound of her voice, the way she walked, her intelligence, her consideration and warmth, the way her eyes flashed when she was angry and danced when she was happy. Everything.
Kris had spent a considerable amount of time that day debating the wisdom of filling Shelby in and asking for her help. She entertained every possible scenario she could envision, from the younger woman hating her to the one she hoped for, in which Shelby agreed to help her. Logically, Kris knew she had to be demented to even consider revealing her secrets, but the idea of returning to the only adult life she'd known had become intolerable because one thing was becoming increasingly apparent to her – before Shelby, she hadn't been living, she'd merely been existing.