****
Donovan was not a happy man. Things had been going wrong left and right. The person on the inside of the organization that they had thought would turn easily was proving to be difficult. Now Jake's ambition and off the cuff style had gotten him in deep waters. This turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back. First Alex got nabbed and wound up with a twisted knee and some bruised ribs, then the turncoat turned out not to turn to help them, now this. If he were any other man, he'd have taken up drinking by now.
As he sat in the command center watching the surveillance cameras, he was steadily getting more unhappy. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Why hadn't he pulled Jake and Alex out earlier? What was taking so damned long with the Recovery team? Things had deteriorated beyond his scope of abilities. He was a talker and a thinker - The Negotiator. In instances like this, The Recovery Team stepped in. They cleaned up the situations that he couldn't resolve. He hated to use them... mainly because he hated to lose.
Callahan of the Recovery Team swept in with his air of arrogant superiority. It was no secret that he didn't like the Negotiators. It took a special type of person to go in and extract hostages without getting them killed once the talkers were unable to get where they wanted. Lewis Callahan was one of those cowboys. Donovan was half-listening when something on-camera caught his eye. He left the discussion to take a better look.
"What did you see Boss?" Alex asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. For a moment, I thought I saw a woman's hair barrette." ANYTHING to take his attention away from that smug boor Callahan.
"A barrette?" Alex was confused.
"Yes, silver, odd I know, but the woman wearing it looked familiar... "
"Ogling women again, Donovan? Maybe if you'd paid attention to your agent on the inside instead of making small talk with her..."
Before Callahan could finish, Donovan had him up against the wall, eyes blazing.
"The HER you refer to is one of my agents, and she happens to be a hell of a lot better than you are. Tread lightly Callahan or I'll figure out a way to make you're life hell."
"No thanks Donovan." He smirked as he was let go and smoothed out his clothing. "I'm already married."
Alex rolled her eyes, Cody yawned and Monica tried not to barf up her bagel. They'd all been on pins and needles since Jake got caught in the middle.
"Callahan - if you were even HALF the Recovery Specialist that Litha was..."
"If I were half the specialis Litha was, I'd still be dead. Quit chasing a ghost Donovan. She wasn't that good, and neither are you, YOU are the one who got her killed." With that, he left Donovan to stew and his team to raise their eyebrows in speculation.
Donovan snarled, smacked a half-full coffee cup across the room and stalked outside to watch as the Recovery Team went in and did their job.
****
"Welcome back Jake. Word of warning, Donovan's been on the warpath for days." Cody half-smiled. He was sugar coating it a bit - Donovan had in fact been a complete ass the last few days.
"uhm, thanks... I think." Jake's expression was puzzled. "Is he...?"
"Over you?" Monica walked back from the kitchenette with a bottle of water in hand. "Yes and no. Yes, he was concerned for your safety. But that Specialist who headed up the team that got you and the other hostages out... he sort of pricked Donovan's hide. He's been an ogre ever since." She sat down and eyed the file she had.
"Cody, dig anything up on this Lita yet?"
"Not one damned thing. I tried hacking into his files again in the central database and keep getting shut down. I tried to hack into the Hostage Recovery files and got nowhere with a name search for Lita. There isn't even anything about an accidental death of a female agent within the last five years."
"Maybe it wasn't accidental." Alex sat down with a sigh. "Guys, if Donovan finds out that you've been snooping around, he'll..."
"I'll what, Alex?"
Donovan had snuck up on them as they were talking. Cody tried to shut down the info search he had going for "Lita", Monica jumped and accidentally knocked her water over, and Alex closed her eyes with a groan.
"You won't be too amused. Boss, I know you have your secrets and all... but it's obvious that whatever happened in the past between you, Callahan and this Lita person is grinding you. Can't you just tell us what this is and get it over with?
"No."
Jake sort of stood back and listened. He was clueless as to what was what and who was where, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew deep down that Donovan was probably pissed at him getting into the predicament that he did. Truth be told, he really didn't have any control over it at all. Things just sort of mushroomed out of control.
"There is a reason those files are not for your eyes, Cody. Monica, quit trying to profile me and my past. Alex, try and keep everyone else in line about that. If I want you to know something, I'll tell you. In the mean time, we have a new assignment. Alex, I know you're still recovering from your injuries, but Jake is too fresh off of this past assignment. Cody and Monica, quit chasing your tails with the Ghost of Christmas past."
After he left, everyone let out the breath they'd been holding. Then Monica piped up and said, "Hey, Cody... I've been thinking. This Lita... Callahan had to be involved too. I doubt his files are as red-flagged and restricted. Try searching Callahan for references to a Lita."
Donovan was not a happy man. Things had been going wrong left and right. The person on the inside of the organization that they had thought would turn easily was proving to be difficult. Now Jake's ambition and off the cuff style had gotten him in deep waters. This turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back. First Alex got nabbed and wound up with a twisted knee and some bruised ribs, then the turncoat turned out not to turn to help them, now this. If he were any other man, he'd have taken up drinking by now.
As he sat in the command center watching the surveillance cameras, he was steadily getting more unhappy. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Why hadn't he pulled Jake and Alex out earlier? What was taking so damned long with the Recovery team? Things had deteriorated beyond his scope of abilities. He was a talker and a thinker - The Negotiator. In instances like this, The Recovery Team stepped in. They cleaned up the situations that he couldn't resolve. He hated to use them... mainly because he hated to lose.
Callahan of the Recovery Team swept in with his air of arrogant superiority. It was no secret that he didn't like the Negotiators. It took a special type of person to go in and extract hostages without getting them killed once the talkers were unable to get where they wanted. Lewis Callahan was one of those cowboys. Donovan was half-listening when something on-camera caught his eye. He left the discussion to take a better look.
"What did you see Boss?" Alex asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. For a moment, I thought I saw a woman's hair barrette." ANYTHING to take his attention away from that smug boor Callahan.
"A barrette?" Alex was confused.
"Yes, silver, odd I know, but the woman wearing it looked familiar... "
"Ogling women again, Donovan? Maybe if you'd paid attention to your agent on the inside instead of making small talk with her..."
Before Callahan could finish, Donovan had him up against the wall, eyes blazing.
"The HER you refer to is one of my agents, and she happens to be a hell of a lot better than you are. Tread lightly Callahan or I'll figure out a way to make you're life hell."
"No thanks Donovan." He smirked as he was let go and smoothed out his clothing. "I'm already married."
Alex rolled her eyes, Cody yawned and Monica tried not to barf up her bagel. They'd all been on pins and needles since Jake got caught in the middle.
"Callahan - if you were even HALF the Recovery Specialist that Litha was..."
"If I were half the specialis Litha was, I'd still be dead. Quit chasing a ghost Donovan. She wasn't that good, and neither are you, YOU are the one who got her killed." With that, he left Donovan to stew and his team to raise their eyebrows in speculation.
Donovan snarled, smacked a half-full coffee cup across the room and stalked outside to watch as the Recovery Team went in and did their job.
****
"Welcome back Jake. Word of warning, Donovan's been on the warpath for days." Cody half-smiled. He was sugar coating it a bit - Donovan had in fact been a complete ass the last few days.
"uhm, thanks... I think." Jake's expression was puzzled. "Is he...?"
"Over you?" Monica walked back from the kitchenette with a bottle of water in hand. "Yes and no. Yes, he was concerned for your safety. But that Specialist who headed up the team that got you and the other hostages out... he sort of pricked Donovan's hide. He's been an ogre ever since." She sat down and eyed the file she had.
"Cody, dig anything up on this Lita yet?"
"Not one damned thing. I tried hacking into his files again in the central database and keep getting shut down. I tried to hack into the Hostage Recovery files and got nowhere with a name search for Lita. There isn't even anything about an accidental death of a female agent within the last five years."
"Maybe it wasn't accidental." Alex sat down with a sigh. "Guys, if Donovan finds out that you've been snooping around, he'll..."
"I'll what, Alex?"
Donovan had snuck up on them as they were talking. Cody tried to shut down the info search he had going for "Lita", Monica jumped and accidentally knocked her water over, and Alex closed her eyes with a groan.
"You won't be too amused. Boss, I know you have your secrets and all... but it's obvious that whatever happened in the past between you, Callahan and this Lita person is grinding you. Can't you just tell us what this is and get it over with?
"No."
Jake sort of stood back and listened. He was clueless as to what was what and who was where, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew deep down that Donovan was probably pissed at him getting into the predicament that he did. Truth be told, he really didn't have any control over it at all. Things just sort of mushroomed out of control.
"There is a reason those files are not for your eyes, Cody. Monica, quit trying to profile me and my past. Alex, try and keep everyone else in line about that. If I want you to know something, I'll tell you. In the mean time, we have a new assignment. Alex, I know you're still recovering from your injuries, but Jake is too fresh off of this past assignment. Cody and Monica, quit chasing your tails with the Ghost of Christmas past."
After he left, everyone let out the breath they'd been holding. Then Monica piped up and said, "Hey, Cody... I've been thinking. This Lita... Callahan had to be involved too. I doubt his files are as red-flagged and restricted. Try searching Callahan for references to a Lita."