No Need to Talk Pt. 03: Olivia

"Thanks," I said as he left the seat. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of happier times, mostly of my bio dad pushing me on a swing.

I woke up when the plane began its descent to Fort Moore. After we landed, the women and children were escorted off the plane and into busses that would take them to the base hospital. The rest of us gathered our gear and said our goodbyes. Ryan walked me to the private jet that would take me to Washington.

"It's been a real pleasure working with you, Olivia," he said as he shook my hand. "I'm sure we'll see each other again."

"Same here, Ryan," I said.

"You'd better get going. The boss doesn't like to be kept waiting," he added with a smile. I got onto the plane as Ryan returned to the transport. An orderly escorted me to a seat and I saw my gear had been placed in the seat across from me.

My blue Army Service Uniform had been neatly pressed and hung on plastic hangers, ready to wear. I looked at the orderly, who informed me I could shower and change in the lavatory once the aircraft reached cruising altitude. Of course, I thought. The boss probably would not want to meet me in a dirty field uniform.

A few minutes after we took off, the orderly gave me the signal and left the cabin, giving me the privacy I needed. I took a quick shower, then changed. The flight was darn smooth after the wild sprint out of... whatever country we had been in. After applying minimal makeup and brushing my hair, I inspected myself in the mirror. I liked what I saw, then entered the cabin.

The orderly saw I had changed and motioned for me to come forward. I followed and listened as he knocked on a cabin door. A female voice called out, and the orderly opened the door.

"Specialist Coleman is ready to see you now, Ms. Coles," the man said.

"Send her in," the woman inside commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," the orderly replied.

"Ms. Coles will see you now, Specialist Coleman," he said.

"Thank you," I said. The orderly stepped aside and I entered the small cabin. For a moment, I was stunned into silence. The woman sitting at a small desk was an older version of my birth mother. There was no question in my mind who she was - I had lived with her for eight years, and her picture had been on my bedroom wall ever since.

There was some gray in her hair and a few lines on her face, but I knew it was her. I honestly didn't know whether to hug her or slap her. My military training kicked in and I stood at attention.

"Specialist Coleman, reporting as ordered, ma'am," I said with a snappy salute, though my teeth were gritted.

"After all these years, it's a pleasure to meet you again, Olivia," she said with a smile. "Please, have a seat. We have much to discuss, and I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"Yes, ma'am, I sure do," I said.

"Let me just say right off, Olivia, I think the Army has done well with you. You look quite good in that uniform. And I'm very proud of all you have accomplished."

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"I wish I could have been there for you. I wanted to be, but..."

"Why?" I asked, interrupting her.

"Why? Why, what?" Anita/Anne asked.

"Why did you leave my father when you knew he was dying? Why did you keep me from telling him goodbye?" I asked.

"Fair questions. Let me tell you a little story before you judge me too harshly. I admit I made some very serious mistakes. Mistakes that led me to where I am now. I was a stupid, selfish, narcissistic bitch who fell under the spell of a man I thought would be better for the both of us. He was rich, and powerful, and had an incredible network that spanned the globe.

"Though I didn't know what it was really involved with. I also had no idea that your father was even richer than Michael was. All the bills were paid on time, and we lived modestly, at least in my mind.

Michael had me convinced he was just a 'computer repair man.' And, looking back, I'm pretty certain what he really wanted was half of your father's money, and us in his trafficking network.

"He constantly talked down your father. And after a while, he made me believe the same as him. When your father started having headaches, it ended our love life. He couldn't perform with the constant headaches and the sickness that followed.

"I was too selfish to be concerned about my husband's health. I was young and beautiful and deserved the attention and the... pleasure, and Michael Simpson stepped up his game.

"He convinced me to divorce your father and even filed the paperwork. He said it would be best if all ties between you and your father were cut. The day I took you to my mother's was the day I told him we were leaving.

"Your father told me he was dying, but I dismissed him, thinking he was just being melodramatic. I didn't find out otherwise until we returned. I swear to you I didn't know he was really dying. I bitterly regret what I did, Olivia. To Andy and to you. I was charged with taking you out of the state without his permission or prior knowledge. I was also charged with... other things... because I was seen as Michael's accomplice.

"The investigators learned that Michael was involved with some very nasty people - people who were involved with drugs and human trafficking. One of those people was the man you shot earlier today - Julio Cabrera.

"I was given the option of working with the feds to help bring Michael's network down. It was either that or face years in prison. They needed me because of my knowledge of the network and my ability to read Michael's shorthand and codes. I accepted the offer, but it would mean that Anne Coleman had to disappear - for good. That meant I could never see you again. That was my punishment. You have no idea how much I missed you these last 15 years."

"And you have no idea how it felt being told you were an orphan," I shot back with venom, anger threatening to overwhelm my military discipline. "A child with no parents. I even contemplated suicide just so I could be with you and Dad. Fortunately, Mom and Dad got me the help I needed just in time. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bill adopted me, you know."

"Yes, I know," a stunned Anita said quietly. Her eyes had gotten wide, and her hands clenched each other at my suicide revelation. "And I'm glad they did. I followed your career, from the time of your last high school competition on. Yes, I was there, in the stands. And I'm the one who asked the Sgt. Major to speak with you."

"So, I'm a sniper because of you?" I asked with an edge to my voice.

"No, you're a sniper because you worked your ass off to earn the title. The most any of us could do was open the door. But you earned it all on your own. I followed your Army career, and I'm very impressed.

"When the opportunity arose, I had you assigned to Jackson's team. I felt that after everything I had done, the least I could do was give you a chance to get some measure of justice for your father."

"Oh? And why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because unknown to me at the time, Michael had agreed to let Cabrera have you as payment for leveraging your father in my divorce action."

For the second time, I was stunned into silence. Sickness raged in my stomach. After a few moments, I finally responded managed to respond. "You mean, your boyfriend was going to let that sleaze take me away?" The acid in my tone could have dissolved a tank's turret.

"Yes. When I learned that, I knew what I had to do. I came close to killing Michael myself, but Julio beat me to it. He had some of his men take care of him in prison to cover his tracks. And I figured that as far as he was concerned, I was destined to be trafficked, too, as he had to know I wouldn't go along with your disappearance. But there's more."

"More?" The revelations were overwhelming.

"Yes. Julio tried to abduct you more than once after he dispatched Michael, but we were able to thwart his efforts. That was part of my 'deal.' And the Feds thought it might get him to make a mistake and fall into a trap. He was not known to give up easily. That didn't happen.

"Bill and Lisa kept a close eye on you, and they had a lot of unknown help. After his fourth failure, he gave up. But I never forgot, and swore I would take him down - with my bare hands, if necessary," Anita/Anne spit, her face turning red.

"They said I could never contact you, but they never said I couldn't protect you. And that's what I did, as much as I could.

"Then you became an accomplished sniper, capable of taking care of yourself, though I nearly sweated blood every time you deployed to the field. I chose you for this mission because I knew you would do what I would not be able to do on my own. Tell me the truth, Olivia. How did it feel to take... him... out?"

"It felt... good," I admitted. Then I looked closely at her and saw the anguish in her face. Thirteen years had gone by, but she still looked after me. I couldn't begin to imagine the pain she must've felt when she realized that she had been taken for a fool and lost her only child in the process. Then my heart melted, and tears began to flow.

"Olivia..."

"Mom," I cried as she wrapped her arms around me. We both cried for some time.

"I've missed you so much," she cried. "I've never stopped loving you. I'm so sorry for what I did. For what I put you through. Can you ever forgive me?"

An image of my father, dying in pain and alone, flashed through my mind. Then one of her cheating on him as he grappled with the illness and struggled to keep the business going... for us.

"Permission to speak freely."

She looked confused. "Of course."

I hauled off and slapped her... hard. She nearly flew backward. I wasn't a star at hand-to-hand combat, and I had never struck another person outside of practice or in the field, but I let her have it. My father deserved some revenge.

She clapped a hand to her cheek and stared at me as I said, "That's for cheating on my dad, for plotting against him and leaving him to die alone." I slapped her hard again with my other hand. "And that's for leaving me and making me think I was an orphan!" My anger abated, and I hugged her again, hard.

"You want to know if I can forgive you all of that. It won't be easy, but I think so, in time. But don't you EVER do anything like that to me again."

"I... won't," Anita/Anne said as she rubbed her cheeks. "I guess I deserved that, and probably a lot more. You pack quite a wallop."

"I had a good teacher," I told her. She chuckled through her pain.

"That's my girl," she said, shaking her head, my handprints glowing on her cheeks, and wiping the tears from my face the same way she did when I was a child. We finally settled down and cleaned ourselves up with most of the box of tissues on her desk. "So. What do you plan to do when your time in the Army is up?"

"I don't know. I was thinking about going to school, becoming a computer specialist like Dad."

"You think you could really hang up your sniper rifle after everything you've done and become a mild-mannered IT guru?" she asked skeptically.

"I don't know. I could try," I said. Then I added, "I can afford it."

She winced slightly but nodded. "You're a lot like your father. A lot. Both your dads were in the army and had enviable reputations and a box of medals that I never knew about. I'm sure you could do anything you want. But I've got another idea."

"Oh? What?"

"I have a set of orders here for you. How would like to work with me in the Department of Homeland Security?"

"Doing what?" I asked.

"What you did with Ryan in Colombia. There are a lot of people in the world like Julio, and they need to be brought to justice. You can help me do that if you want. I admit, I have an ulterior motive - I'd love to get to know my only child, again. Of course, you can never tell anyone who you're really working with, or what you're doing. What do you say?"

What do I say? What can I say? She already has a set of orders. I'm only a specialist - not even an NCO. I can't exactly turn down a set of orders without expecting retaliation, and I'm sure I would end up assigned somewhere very uncomfortable for the rest of my time in the Army.

She saw my internal struggle and nodded as if I had passed some test. "In the interests of full disclosure, Olivia, the op you just completed is an example of what you would be doing. You will be 'off the books' with a Top-Secret personnel file in a secure archive. You will not wear insignia and you will often be in other countries without the permission of their governments.

"You would operate under the 'Clear and Present Danger' Executive Order, but if captured you could not embarrass the U.S. government and would have the cover story of a private mercenary. That could get you tortured or executed in many places around the world. A lot of pressure was exerted on the Army to get them to give up one of their best snipers and get these orders."

I didn't like what she had done to Dad, but I couldn't very well use that as an excuse to get out of a set of orders. A part of me wanted to reconnect with my birth mother, but another part of me wanted to run as far as I could from her. The nepotism left me feeling uncomfortable.

"What do I tell my family? Where will I stay?" I asked, admittedly stalling.

"You can tell them you're on assignment to the Department of Homeland Security working on special projects. You will never be able to mention the true nature of your work, and you can certainly never mention me. Anne Coleman is dead, and she must remain that way. I'm sure you understand the need for OpSec."

"I understand," I said quietly, trying not to show my annoyance. I was a combat-decorated soldier and here was a civilian, my estranged mother, rubbing my nose in OpSec. It grated more than a little.

"As for where you'll be staying... I've arranged a nice apartment for you in Alexandria, Virginia along with a car. Your orders include a promotion to Corporal, so you'll receive an allowance for civilian housing. But I should warn you that you'll be traveling a lot in this new assignment."

"Of course," I said. "How long will this assignment last?" I was a bit annoyed... and alarmed... at the control that was closing in. The Army provided barracks and meals. That was expected. Having my mother arrange apartments and cars and who knew what else could be a problem. And I wanted to be treated like an adult, not have her revert to viewing me as an eight-year-old child; skilled and dangerous, but a child, nonetheless.

"At least the next two years. When your time with the Army is up, we'll talk some more. If at that time, you want to move on to college, we'll let you go with the thanks of a grateful nation. If, however, you wish to stay and continue, we'll make other arrangements."

"I can live with that," I said.

"Good," Anne/Anita said. "Welcome to the team, Olivia. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you a little bit better."

"As do I," I replied. While I really wanted to get reacquainted with my birth mother, a part of me had reservations.

Anne/Anita stood and held her arms open. After a slight hesitation, I took her in my arms and returned her hug. I had to admit, it felt good to have her arms around me one more time. Still...

"Well, we'll be landing soon. Why don't you go on back and get some rest? After we touch down, I'll take you to your new apartment and explain the rules of the road, so to speak."

"All right," I said, leaving the cabin. I took my seat in the back part of the airplane and looked out the window. I had gone full circle, but I couldn't help but wonder what - and who -- I would face over the next two years.

I knew one thing for certain, though. The Julio Cabreras of the world had better watch out. I fell asleep and saw my dad's smiling face nodding in approval.

"Remember, Olivia. No matter where you go, or what you do, justice is riding with you," he said in my dream. I don't what he meant by that, but it sure sounded good.

...

The end? Or is it? Stay tuned for "Justice Ch. 07: From the Grave"

Note: As this part of the story is set 13 years into the future, I took some artistic license with the sniper qualifications and training and a few other things. Please remember this IS a work of fiction and not a docu-drama.