Chapter 21
Glad everyone seems to be sticking around to read. Hopefully I continue to deliver. I've gotten into a lot of country music lately which are giving all sorts of feels lol. Enjoy this chapter!
Lisa walked down the hall to the interrogation room. When she reached the door she paused to take a deep breath and pull herself together. She wondered if Mandy felt the same emotions she was feeling after betrayal. On one had Lisa was angry at Reiss and on the other she was mad at herself. She questioned how blinded she was to everything happen. She felt guilty that she had started to have some feelings for Reiss and she wondered if he saw it and took advantage of it. There was so much inner turmoil going through Lisa's mind and just as Mandy advised, she would use it against Reiss.
Lisa turned the door knob and walked into the room. Reiss' head looked up and he was surprised to see Lisa instead of Mandy.
"What?" Reiss said in confusion seeing Lisa walk to the other side of the table.
Lisa pulled out the chair and her face was a mask of cool calmness. She held herself in a way that showed indifference and sat down quietly. She got as comfortable as she could get and just looked at Reiss.
"Lisa, what's going on?" Reiss asked.
A rush of anger came over Lisa at the way he said her name as if they were still friends. How could he sit there and act like nothing had happened?
"I think you've been an agent long enough to know what's happening here," Lisa stated coolly. "Or at least you were an agent."
"Listen, I can explain," Reiss started.
"Explain?" Lisa snapped sitting up and leaning forward. "What's there to explain? If you ask me it's pretty self-explanatory. You attacked me, you helped the enemy get away, and last but not least you were ready to kill my friend in cold blood."
"I never meant to hurt you," Reiss replied.
"I trusted you!" Lisa exclaimed. "I put the team right in harm's way by trusting you. What was I? The easy target? The new gullible girl you took advantage of?"
"You want the truth? Yes, I just wanted the intel. You were new and had this vision and drive. Somewhere along the lines though I thought we became friends," Reiss said.
"Friends my ass," Sonny muttered looking into the interrogation room. "Knew something was off about him from the beginning."
"I don't think any of us saw this coming through," Ray replied.
"Friends don't stab each other in the back," Lisa replied. "You never answered why? Why betray everyone here and the United States of America?"
With a bittersweet smile, Reiss scoffed, "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me," Lisa challenged.
"Do you have any idea the things you do as an agent to get the job done? We all pretend to be the good guys but are we really? Lying and manipulating people just to serve some higher ups back in D.C. who don't care about any of lives or the sacrifices we made to get the job done," Reiss replied. "You're new to intelligence. You think you're doing the right thing. You think you're saving the world. You haven't seen or experienced the horrors of this job. Why don't you ask your dear friend Mandy?" Reiss mocked.
Jason's gripped the frame of the window looking into the interrogation the moment Mandy's name came out of Reiss' mouth. Jason wanted nothing better than to walk in there and punch the smirk of his face. Instead, he felt Mandy's hand on his. He glanced at her and saw the silent message telling him to calm down.
"When did you meet Roman Riley?" Lisa asked.
"I met him once. A couple years back I had an op go sideways and lost a friend. The agency wouldn't even go back to retrieve his body. It was as if he never existed to the agency. I was at a bar back home and I was so angry. He approached me and we got to talking. I was angry and he made sense. It didn't help that the money was good too," Reiss said.
"Where do I find Al-Hazred? Will Riley be with him?" Lisa continued.
"He was right about her," Reiss said ignoring Lisa's question. "She doesn't know when to let go."
"It's what makes her Mandy and an outstanding agent. She's gotten us out of a lot of tough situations, some them costing her quite a bit," Lisa said glancing at the mirror briefly.
"I don't know how she does it. She really must be as cold hearted as they say," Reiss mused. "She's so good at lying and manipulating people. What makes you think you know her?" Reiss said trying to turn the interrogation around on her.
"You're right. For a living she lies and develops sources. You know what I also know, I know with every loss she takes it personally. I know that with her in our corner our chances of winning the fight are higher than ever. I know that with every decision she has to make in her line of work she sacrifices a little part of herself. She may work for the CIA but she's one of us through and through. We're family and at the end of the day we're there for each other no matter what," Lisa said passionately.
"Damn straight," Trent said putting a hand on Mandy's shoulder in support as the rest of the team looked on in pride at what Lisa said.
"You want to make up for the sins you've committed? Now's your chance, tell me where we can find Al-Hazred and Riley," Lisa pushed. "It's the least you owe me as a friend."
"Moment of truth," Mandy murmured watching Reiss.
The rest of the team held their breath as they waited to see what Reiss' next move was. They hoped he'd give up Al-Hazred junior.
Reiss regarded Lisa and glanced at the mirror, "I'll give you the location on one condition."
"You really think you're in a position to bargain," Lisa said with a bittersweet chuckle.
Instantly Mandy knew his condition was. She back away from the window and turned to walk out the door into the hallway.
"Mandy," Jason called following her out into the hall as the rest of the team looked on in concern.
"Let me talk to Ellis and I'll give you everything," Reiss replied.
Just as Reiss finished talking Mandy opened the door forcefully. She walked in grabbed Reiss from the chair and pinned him up against the wall of the room.
"Tell me where they are," Mandy demanded.
"You know you won't find him around here," Reiss said smirking.
"Then tell me where Al-Hazred is," Mandy said pushing her arm up against Reiss' neck causing him to gasp for air.
Needing air to breath he started talking, "Just north east of here is a small town where Al-Hazred is probably holed up."
Jason and Lisa stood by watching it go down until Reiss shoved back at Mandy who bumped into the table. Jason jumped into action and roughly pinned him down to the ground while Lisa went over to check on Mandy. The rest of Bravo came in to make sure the situation was contained.
Mandy grabbed her side only to bring her hand away and see blood on it. She must have popped a stitch out.
"Damn it," Mandy hissed in pain and Trent rushed over to take a look at the damage.
Jason looked up seeing Mandy in pain and blood staining her shirt and shoved Reiss harder into the ground.
"Jason, we got him," Ray said trying to get Jason off of Reiss before he killed him. "You take care of Mandy and we'll take him back to holding."
Jason let go of Reiss as Ray and Sonny stepped in to take over holding Reiss. Sonny man handled him a little as they started walking Reiss out of the room.
"Let's take you back to medical and fix your stitches," Trent said starting to lead Mandy out the door as well. Jason came on her other side to steady her.
Once they got to medical, Jason helped Mandy on to a bed and a nurse came by to take a look at her wound. She only popped a couple stitches so they quickly got a doctor to fix it. All the while Jason hovered around Mandy. He hated seeing her hurt and hated that he didn't protect her from getting hurt.
Almost like she heard his thoughts, "This is not your fault."
"Damn it Mandy," Jason said frustrated.
"I'm sorry," Mandy said pleadingly. "You're not the only loose cannon around here you know. Now you know what all us go through around here," Mandy said trying to bring some humor to the moment.
He looked at her at brought a hand to the back of her neck and put their foreheads together, "Don't do that again. If anything worse had happened, I would've killed him."
"I've just been doing this alone for so long I let my emotions get the best of me," Mandy admitted.
"Well you're not alone anymore," Jason said looking her in the eyes. "You got the team and most importantly, you got me. We're going to get both of them one way or another and you're not going to do it alone. Doesn't matter how long it takes."
"Okay," Mandy said taking a breath.
After a little while, Director Thomson came in to check on Mandy.
"Rest and take it easy, words that don't exist in your dictionary as usual," Thomson said.
Mandy gave him a sheepish look and Jason replied, "Well that's gonna change starting now."
Director Thomson shook his head and murmured in Mandy's ear while giving her a hug, "I like him." He left the two of them alone in the room.
"Have you called the kids? I'm sure they're worried sick about you," Mandy asked while trying to get comfortable on the bed.
"No, Ray said he talked to Naima though and Emma is worried," Jason replied.
"You should call them and let them know you're okay," Mandy said.
"She's worried about you too. Said she couldn't get a hold of you and you always call back apparently. Exactly how many times does Emma talk to you?" Jason smiled as he asked her.
"Sorry, us girls gotta stick to together. Girl code and all," Mandy teased as Jason chuckled.
Jason got us to give her a kiss, "Thanks for being there for her. How about I go get my computer and we both check in together?"
"I wouldn't want to intrude," Mandy began. She didn't want to force herself into the kids' lives. She didn't want them to think she was trying to take Alana's place.
"You're family now, so you won't be intruding," Jason said softly. "You're stuck with us."
"Stuck with you huh? Could be worse," Mandy said with a smirk and Jason laughed as well.
"I'll be back. Until then, behave and actually follow the doctor's orders," Jason said kissing her one more time before he left.
"You should really listen to your own advice once in a while," Mandy smiled as Jason walked backwards towards the door. He just shook his head and smiled one more time before leaving.