Chapter One
Special Agent Sophia Dunne stalked past two girls in the outer office and glared at them, saying without words that she found Maisie filing her nails an irritation; and Heather, who was giggling like a teenager on a personal phone call, an affront to what they should be doing in the FBI office.
When Suzi, one of the desk agents, followed, she found the two with their heads together, talking smack about the one person she wouldn’t allow anyone to put down.
“What’s up with you guys? Haven’t you got any work to do?”
“Shit, you’re as bad as the ballbreaker.” Maisie threw a folder back into her desk drawer and slammed it with some heat. “Jesus! Can’t a person file a cracked nail without getting the nasty eyeball around here?”
“Who had the guts to give you a nasty look?”
“Who else but your BFF.”
“And me, I wasn’t on the phone longer than a few minutes, just organizing dinner plans with a new admirer on eHarmony. So, sue me! Sophia’s got such a stick up her ass, I bet she hasn’t had a man take her out in years.”
Suzi didn’t want to let them talk crap about her friend. Not today, not after what she just found out. It wasn’t in her to listen to this garbage without feeling the rub. If they only knew Sophia for the person she was, they’d shut their yaps. But she knew when to keep her own council and would have walked out if they’d have stopped there.
The two, giggling like bad girls in a high school cluster, kept up the bullshit – mean and full of self-righteous justification – and it cracked her resolve.
“You guys are so full of shit you make fools of yourself every time you open your mouths. Sophia has more heart in her body than both of you doubled. Remember last week when Lisa in IT was staring at an eviction notice because she hadn’t made the rent for two months. It goes without question when a mom worries about paying for her kid’s asthma medication or paying rent, it’s a no brainer. Then she found out some anonymous donor had paid her back payments and even covered this month’s rent. Well, it sure as shit wasn’t one of you hyenas who stepped up, was it?”
“Seriously? Sophia did that? How did she know Lisa needed help?”
“She overheard the landlord on the phone reaming Lisa out and threatening her with eviction.”
“How did you find out?”
“I was there. A few minutes after the call, Sophia left. A little while later, I had to call her out for that shooting on Main Street, and I heard the man in the background saying it was a good thing Lisa had friends because he didn’t really want to make her leave. But he had bills to pay too. I knew where she was then.”
Heather slapped her hands on the desk as if frustrated, her expression full of self-recrimination. “That convinces me.”
“She’d kill me if she ever found out I’d let the cat out, but it burns my butt listening to you two go on about her when I know she puts her goodness and her money where your mouth is. So stop with the bellyaching and help her when she asks. Otherwise, mind your own fucking business.”
“Son of a bitch!” Maisie piped up, shaking her head. “She’s the last person I suspected; figured it was the boss, Bruner.” The heavyset bleached blonde leaned back in her chair. “Look, Suzi, we’d be happy to friend her but it’s impossible to get past the shield she hides behind. And even harder after they sent her to that training program in Texas, what’s it called again?”
“You mean the ALERRT – the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program?”
“Yeah, that’s the one. It’s like she struts around with a superior chip on her shoulder all the time. And her hair freaks me out. How can someone so young have pure silver hair? Bloody stuff is natural too. I don’t get it.”
“You’re crazy, you know that? Her hair’s gorgeous and… she’s fucking shy. If you talked to her once in a while rather than ignore the woman, you’d see that. And if your career meant that you were called out to every incident involving a hopped-up crazy with a gun, maybe you’d have your head in the job too. It can’t be easy knowing your skills are used to kill someone.”
Maisie added, “Yeah, but just remember, they’re the bad guys who need to be stopped before they kill civilians. It’s understandable who has to die. Plus, I’ve heard she opts to wound them almost every time. Come on… she’s doing a necessary job.”
“Okay, but you try going out there and put yourself on the line. See if you don’t get a serious side.”
Heather added, “And don’t forget, she’s one of the best we have in this state. Last week, she shot that asshole, Sopher, when he tried to hide behind a kid for heaven’s sake. Who does that?”
Suzi began breathing easier knowing she’d turned the tide of their condemnation. Now they viewed her friend the way she’d always known Sophia to be. After all, if her silver-haired friend hadn’t been on the spot when Suzi’s own mom had shot up with the fentanyl-laced heroin, they’d have lost her. It was Sophia’s grasp on the situation that saved the older woman. It was the night she’d come for dinner after numerous invitations. Then she’d excused herself right after Suzi’s mom had gone out to meet up with a friend. She’d been the one who’d trailed her to a dark alley where she bought her drugs. And, she’d been there after her mom shot up.
If she’d have walked away, the injection would have killed her. But she’d called an ambulance and then hung around, making sure her mother stayed upright and conscious. When the ambulance showed up, she was able to tell them exactly what happened so they could administer the Naloxone that saved her life. They’d brought her mother back from the brink and Suzi felt a debt she’d never be able to repay.
How Sophia knew her mom was using, and she herself had missed it, still irked her, made her question her own abilities as an investigator. Sure, because of her injured leg, she worked mainly from the office, but she’d still been trained in Quantico like the rest of the agents.
The car accident that had her pinned in the driver’s side for an hour before they’d found her caused not only her problems, but it was what led to her mom’s later downfall. The opioids they’d given Suzi for her pain had sat in the medicine cabinet unused. Knowing how addictive they were had pretty-much stopped her from taking them. She’d lived with the agony until it became unbearable. She’d broken her resolve twice and resorted to the pills cut in half, welcoming the relief, and then pissed at herself for giving in.
It was her mother’s back pain that led the older woman to go searching for some respite when she’d stumbled on the medication and had begun using it unknown to Suzi. That’s the moment the devil had stared her mom in the face, and she’d succumbed. Suzi often wondered if she’d known how addictive they were. Nervous to know the answer, Suzi never asked.
Thanks to Sophia, today she was comfortable in a rehab facility that had convinced her to stay on in the position of a live-in therapist. Being a psychologist before she’d retired, her counseling skills were desperately needed for the folks who lived the same sickness she’d just overcome. Once she’d totally kicked her own habit, she could speak with the voice of one having gone through hell herself. After her back operation, it had all worked out.
It was one of those nightmares that eventually turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. And a year later, both Suzi and her mom thanked God for her friend’s quick thinking and kindness.