Sylvie

Morning after the airport

When it became apparent that her phone wouldn’t stop pinging her awake, Ellie flipped over and touched the screen.  Noting that the time had just clicked beyond 7am, Ellie sat up and looked down and saw the twenty notifications from her boss as well as another six voicemails.  

-I am not dealing with this right now. I need coffee.-

Having heard the magic word in her head, Ellie sleepily stumbled her way into her kitchen and found the big red bag of ‘Cherrybean Pickers’ one hundred percent Kona.  Once the pot had started brewing, Ellie went back into her room and picked out the best blue suit she could find and placed it on her bed.  Given the volume of messages that she’d chosen to ignore, Ellie skipped a shower and quickly brushed her teeth, shook out her short brown hair then put on the skirt-suit she’d laid out.

Once she had strapped on her service pistol and affixed her badge to her skirt, Ellie went and poured herself a cup of coffee then pressed the button to listen to the oldest voicemail.

‘Agent Miller, this is Miss Moss from Deputy Director Richard Mums office, please contact him when you get this message.’

Quickly deleting the message, Ellie scanned the others and picked the first one that was more than six seconds.

‘Miller, Why am I awake at 1 am listening to Tatum Blackwell of all people screaming into my ear?  She’s telling me you have pictures of her farm…and did you kidnap a woman from a plane?  Jesus Christ…what a … Call me.’

Ellie poured a second and third cup while she finished listening to different rants her boss had given her as well as the myriad of texts he’d also sent in his rampage.

-You knew that was a bad idea.-

Quickly pushing the doubt of the encounter with Casey to the back of her mind, Ellie tossed a breakfast sandwich into her microwave and shook her head while looking at a picture on the countertop. 

-I had to see the reactions, I even saw a bit of worry in her eyes.  I’ll take the heat.- 

Given the response from the attorney’s, Ellie wondered how much ‘heat’ she would have to take as she walked up to the three-story building she worked in.  Tapping her badge to the door, Agent Miller heard a little buzz and the light turn yellow.  Grateful that she still had access, she made her way through the metal detector checkpoint and to the main desk to badge in a second time.  When the little pad again popped up a yellow light, Ellie looked at the secretary. “What’s going on?  I was told that Deputy Director Mums wanted to see me.”  She pointed at the light, “This means something else.”

Clicking a few buttons on her computer, the man behind the desk nodded a couple of times and called over a guard. “Agent Miller.  There is a bit of a complication with your access right now.  I see here that your meeting is now with Deputy Director Sarah Powell.”  He spoke to the guard, “Please escort Agent Miller to the third floor, office 340-A.”  He looked back at Ellie. “Please surrender your firearm to the guard.”

Groaning out of frustration, Ellie slowly reached for her sidearm and offered it after ensuring the safety was in place. “Here.”  Slightly confused when the guard pointed to the magazine, Ellie perked one of her eyebrows, “You want me to clear it here?”  When she got the affirmation, she shrugged. “Not procedure, but since it appears I have no choice...”  She cleared and left the slide back. “There, all safe.”

She stuck the magazine back into its slot on her shoulder holster and diligently followed her escort to the elevator.  Content to stand in silence, Ellie began coming up with different sounding answers to possible questions that the Deputy Director might have for her concerning Casey.

-I certainly did not kidnap anyone.  I put a hold on her passport.  She could have left anytime she wanted.-

So lost in her possible answers, Ellie didn’t initially register the ding of the elevator until the guard cleared his throat.  “Oh, sorry.”  Ellie blinked herself into the present and followed the large man to the office she’d been summoned to.

Knocking on the door hard enough to shake it in the frame, the guard stepped back when a businesslike female voice answered. “Enter.”  When the guard made no effort to move, Ellie knew that she had to open the door and once again be followed.  “Agent Miller, as requested.”  Ellie stepped into the middle of the office and stood patiently as the guard placed her service pistol on the director’s desk and left, locking the door behind him.  

Briefly looking over the large space, Ellie took in all of the adornments around her new surroundings.  Various framed certificates and degrees for Criminal Law, Forensics and Psychology hung in sturdy frames of oak with the name ‘Sarah Powell’ scrawled out in beautiful calligraphy.  Opposite of that wall, another had almost a library of text dealing with case law, criminal law and Supreme Court rulings.  Lower shelves along that same wall had small manila folders that were organized by open and closed cases.  Turning to face the woman pacing behind a large desk made of cherry wood, Ellie took note that the woman had three computers spaced out, with two of them being laptops.  Behind the screens held an old landline phone, a mountain of files and a couple pictures that Ellie couldn’t see.

“Agent Miller.”  Sarah’s voice was stern as she pressed a button on her earpiece killing whatever conversation she was having.

“Ma’am?”  Ellie answered humbly.

“Skipping over the fact you didn’t respond to your immediate supervisor to the point where I intervened to save your ass, I have to pose this question.”  She pulled the earbud free from her and tossed it onto her desk, “Have you any idea what happened overnight?” 

Shaking her head and raising her eyebrow, Ellie responded. “No clue, Director Powell.  I left the interview and went home, ate dinner then passed out.”

Clasping her hands together, Deputy Director Powell laughed. “Interview?  You call that an interview?  Let me show you something, Agent Miller.”  She picked up a remote and pressed the button to power up the television behind Ellie. “Turn around Agent Miller.”

Slowly turning to face the screen she’d not noticed before, Ellie saw what looked to be an older woman holding up a set of pictures and half screaming into a microphone. “Ma’am, I can’t hear what she’s saying.”

Powell froze the image on the screen, “You don’t need to.  That is an estate, civil and criminal attorney named Tatum Blackwell.”  Sarah slammed the remote on her desk. “You might recall her being one of the attorneys involved with that mess in Petersburg earlier in the year, along with..I might add, Douglas Dunbar.”  She paused as Agent Miller turned back to face her. “Ah, the look on your face says it all.  I take it you recall him from the conversation you had last night, after you absconded with Miss Casey Rivers.”

“Absconded or kidnapped is a …”  Ellie started to speak then was interrupted when Director Powell pounded her desk once.

Pointing a well manicured finger at Agent Miller, Sarah shook her head. “No.  You don’t get to talk just yet, Agent.”  She paused, “I use the term agent loosely, because you are on very thin ice.  There’s even talk about removing your qualified immunity.”  Sarah stood up again and paced behind her desk. “Best case, that means you go to an American prison.  Or it could be a lifetime of fun in Cuba, how’d that be?”  Sarah waited for the color to return to Ellie’s face. “Good, you get the gravity of the situation.”  She pointed to the screen once more, “Tatum Blackwell.  You apparently used FBI resources to take pictures of a private dwelling that has a twenty-five foot security wall around it.”

Clearing her throat, Ellie managed to say one word. “Drone.”