Overlap

Overlap

“Is my family safe?” Captain Josephina Carrillo sits upright in the hospital bed, a light blanket over her bare thighs and cut-off army sweats—the only thing she can get over the damn scaffolding holding her left ankle and shin in place. And fucked if she was gonna be debriefed by the higher-ups in a hospital gown.

She’d been at Landstuhl for four days now. The time between Operation Sky-Hawk and yesterday was largely a blur—a nightmarish sequence of being jostled from vehicle to bed, then back to a vehicle again, repeatedly woken in agony, her vitals checked by a rotating roster of strangers. She’d been kept sedated after surgery to limit her movement and manage the pain, but yesterday they’d begun weaning her off, dragging her back to consciousness. It was doing nothing for her anxiety levels.  Her head was swimming with questions about the mission, the team. In her dream state, she must’ve imagined Cruz in the chair next to her. There was no trace of her now.

“Good morning, Captain. Nice to see you too,” drawled Joe, already frustrated by Josie’s impatience. “Before we start, let me introduce you to Kaitlyn Meade, COO of Special Ops.”

Joe motioned to the woman beside her. She was tall, beautiful, and undeniably in charge. Her suit and silk blouse were effortlessly feminine and sophisticated in a way Josie wouldn’t have expected from CIA top brass. She stepped forward to shake Josie’s hand.

“Captain Carrillo, first let me express my gratitude. These missions are always challenging—”

“Ma’am, please. My family?” Josie interrupts.

“They’re better than safe, Captain. They’re currently enjoying a level of freedom they haven’t experienced in a long time.” Kaitlyn’s voice was low, her words deliberate. “The goalposts kept moving during this operation, and everyone had to adapt quickly—including your father. As the situation unfolded, it became necessary to eliminate your uncle and install your father as the new leader of Los Tigres—”

“Wait, what? You killed my uncle only to move my father into his position? How is that keeping my family safe or free?” Josie was flabbergasted.

Kaitlyn remained cool. “It was his idea.”

She let that sink in, taking the wind out of the Captain’s sails. “And to be completely transparent with you, we didn’t kill your uncle. Your father did.”

Josie was hit by a wave of nausea. She felt the blood drain from her face, a cold sweat rising on her neck. She slumped back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling—her eyes everywhere but on these women who had come here to tear apart what was left of her life.

Cruz’s words reverberated inside her head. He is half the man you made him out to be… stone evil.

The image of his fist hanging over her face—how had she ever imagined he was the hero she thought he was? Her father. Her murderous, hate-filled, evil father. It was almost too much to bear.

She felt like crying, like screaming, like she might be sick. Where the hell was Cruz? This was her asset’s debriefing—why wasn’t she here?

Joe stepped forward and took a seat on the edge of Josie’s bed, the action far too familiar, pulling Josie back immediately.

“This is not some courtesy call to update you on your family drama,” Joe said. “We’re here to prepare you for what comes next. Your mission isn’t over, Captain.”

She leaned toward Josie, her voice purring in that manipulative, patronizing way that made Josie want to put the rods of her external fixation straight through her face.

“I hate to be Captain Fucking Obvious here, but I don’t think I’m in any position to continue the mission.” She gestured toward her left leg, then back at Joe. “What could you possibly want from me?”

Joe and Kaitlyn exchanged a glance before Kaitlyn pressed her elbows onto the over-bed table at the foot of Josie’s bed, weaving her fingers together.

“Your father has entered into a… partnership… with the CIA. In return for intelligence, we will provide him and the cartel with protection. This will allow him to live freely in the U.S. He and your mother can travel. Your sisters can live their lives undisturbed.”

She paused.

“But you—you belong to us. You’re a decorated Captain of the U.S. Army with TS clearance, and your father is the head of an international criminal organisation. We can’t let you go.”

Josie looked from one woman to the other, taking it in, feeling the blood return to her face—but with it, that familiar simmer of anger.

“So what do we do with you?” Kaitlyn continued. “Your doctors say you won’t be on your feet for at least six weeks, and then it’s PT for God knows how long. Months away from flying—if everything goes to plan. We’d like to use this time to train you properly. Teach you everything we didn’t have time for when we recruited you.”

Recruited, Josie thought bitterly. Is that what they’re calling it now?

“To what end?” she asked, cocking her head. Move this the fuck on.

“We want you to be your father’s handler,” Kaitlyn said. “It’s a natural fit. You already have an established relationship, and having you meet with him regularly wouldn’t raise any red flags.”

Josie scoffed. “I’ve spent my entire adult life staying as far away from my father’s work as possible, and now you want to make it my goddamn job?” She shook her head, laughing bitterly. “You fucking people. You think it’ll be that simple? He killed his own brother, and you think he won’t do it to me? And what makes you think I can even pull this off? I was a fucking wreck in Texas.”

“You were unprepared in Texas,” Kaitlyn admitted. “We set you up to fail, and that’s on us. We won’t do that to you again. Now we have time. And we know you can do this. You’ll always have protection, if you think it’s necessary.”

That admission disarmed Josie.

“Captain,” Kaitlyn pressed, “we know you prefer to operate in the field, and that’s where we need you. Once you’re back on your feet, you can fly for the QRF. But until then—and if you ever want to see your family again—this is your mission.”

Josie exhaled sharply, pursing her lips as she stared at her feet.

“Okay then,” she huffed. “How do we do this? When do I get to go home?”

Joe stood. “You can’t go home.”

She continued, “You’ll be here for a few more days. Bobby’s going to drop by with some things for you to get started on, and then we’ll move you somewhere safe. Your apartment in Killeen is under surveillance, so you can’t go back there. Now that your father is the head of the cartel—and you were given a very public dismissal—we think you’ll become a target for rival cartels, or worse. We need to monitor that until we know what we’re dealing with.  Your apartment is being stripped of anything we deem classified or may lead to your whereabouts, anything pertaining to your identity, old bills, passports, things like that, anything that could be used to exploit you.’”

Josie felt like she might explode. “Someone’s in my apartment going through my stuff?”

Joe nodded. “Cruz is there with Randy and Tex. She thought you’d be more comfortable with her handling it.”

Relief flickered across Josie’s face. Cruz.

Joe pulled out a box from her satchel and set it on the bedside table. “I need your phone.”

Josie handed it over. It was dead.

“This is your new phone,” Joe said. “It’s not a secure line. By no means are you to contact your family. Not until we’ve completed our risk assessment. Passcode, please.”

Josie scribbled it onto a notepad without breaking her death stare.

“Rest up, Carrillo,” Joe said, taking the notepad. “Bobby will be by soon.”

Kaitlyn checked her watch. “It may not seem like it, Captain, but we’re all on the same side. We’ll see you stateside.”

Josie waited until they left. Then, she fell back against the pillows, unclenching her jaw—finally releasing the sob that had been trapped in her throat.

How had her life come to this in only a month? One furious, hurricane-like month. And here she was, alone, in the middle of fucking Europe with nothing and no one.

A week ago, she still had Cruz—the only person in the last month to treat her gently, to treat her like a human being. The only person to treat her with the respect that she had earned. If you had asked her four days ago where Cruz would be right now, she might’ve said her apartment, but not for the reasons she was given today.

Josie was entranced by the Marine—long, lean, and goddamned gorgeous. How could Cruz be so proud, so cocky and capable, yet so broken and vulnerable at the same time? It was intoxicating.

Here she was, leg positively mangled, family life turned upside down, career now completely out of her control, and her mind automatically took her down the X-rated path of what she’d like to be doing to Cruz in her apartment.

Josie blinked as she remembered the bottom drawer of her bedside table in Killeen, and a soft groan escaped her, imagining the possibilities her toy box could present. Cruz had surely rifled through it by now.

But all the momentum of their—what did they even have? A connection? It seemed to have disappeared along with everything else.

Fuck fucking fuck, she thought to herself. Things were supposed to be so different.

She reached for the phone on the bedside table and powered it up. She scrolled through the contacts, mostly DoD service lines and veteran’s affairs, until she found what she was looking for.

Manuelos.

She took a deep breath and fired off a text.

Hey. New phone. I know it’s not your strong suit, but call me if you want to chat. J

She let the phone drop to her lap and ran her hands through her hair. She wasn’t sure what was more exhausting—summoning the courage to text Cruz or the prospect of handling her father as an informant.

Pulling the light blanket up and over her chest, she let her eyes close.

Sleep came so quickly for Josie, she didn’t even stir as her new phone began to buzz in her lap.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josie looked over her right shoulder.  Joe stared straight ahead, blood trickling from the bullet wound in the center of her forehead.  She was dead.  Josie’s gasp was drowned out by the endless percussion of gunfire and rockets. To her left was Cruz, seemingly leaning around the rocky outcrop to get a better view of the enemy rapidly approaching them. Josie shook Cruz’s thigh to get her attention, but she didn’t turn around. Instead, she slumped forward and to the side, exposing a bullet wound on the back of her head, sticky and glistening with blood that had soaked her hair all the way down to her shoulders.  Josie reached to pull Cruz’s limp body back toward her, and it was then that she noticed the service pistol in her own right hand… and the spent casings in her lap. Panic began to engulf her, like heat traveling from her gut up to her neck. Her vision clouded as her eyelids fluttered, and she could hear a familiar voice close by.

Josie woke up suddenly, out of breath, her mouth dry, her skin clammy. Confused and alone, she looked around the room groggily, her eyes struggling to adjust to the glare of the fluorescent overhead lights in her hospital room.

“Hey there, Captain Comatose—you’re awake!”

Bobby stepped out of the en-suite bathroom, drying her hands with a paper towel, which she tossed into the trash can beside the bedside table.

“How ya feelin’?”

Bobby was all upbeat and smiles, sitting down where Josie had hoped to see Cruz. Josie’s face almost certainly betrayed her disappointment.

“I—um, tired. These meds are wild. I was dreaming… Have you been here long?” She cleared her throat, and Bobby poured her a cup of water from the bedside table.

“Half an hour? Made three trips to the truck and back, lugging all this crap.” She gestured to the over-bed table, now covered in electronic equipment and binders.

“Joe sent you a VR headset and simulator panel. And some ‘light reading material,’” Bobby added, making air quotes. “Looks boring as fuck, but it’ll keep you busy till we can head back home.  Have you seen your Doc today?”

“Yeah, this morning - why?”

“Uhh, no reason.” Bobby blushed and fluffed at her fringe.

“Oh my God, Bobby are you having a thing with my Doctor?”

“Hey, she’s my doctor too. I’ll be back in five.” Bobby winked and pushed the over-bed table towards Josie before heading into the hallway.

Josie was glad that things were easier between them- they hadn’t exactly hit it off when they first met.  She really liked Bobby and knew there was a lot she could learn from her, hopefully she’d get the chance to show her that. She put down her glass of water and found the phone that had slipped beneath her blanket.

Two missed calls from Manuelos.

Josie could feel a smile wash over her face at just seeing Cruz’s name. There was a fluttering in her chest as she returned the call.

“Heyyyyy, where y’at Thunder?!”

Josie was taken aback by an unmistakably New Orleanian drawl. 

“Ohh hey Randy! Am I on speaker?”

“What’s up, Captain,” It was Tex, “we’ve been drinking! Hey, don’t-“

She could hear bickering between the boys, the phone being dropped and that they were in a car, but no Cruz.

“Hey Jos, I’m driving and these jerks are annoying the shit outta me, can I call you back?”

There she was. Cruz. Josie’s eyes closed softly, like an addict getting her fix.

“Of course! No rush, just uh- just saying, hi.” 

Why was she so damn nervous?

“Ok then, talk later,” said Cruz.  Josie chewed her lip, disappointed.

“-hey wait Jos, you good?”

The smile returned to Josie’s lips. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Bye, you guys.”

She ended the call to hollered farewells from the crew, her whole body buzzing simply from hearing Cruz’s voice.  Maybe that momentum hadn’t disappeared after all, she thought. Of course she didn’t want to burden Cruz with how lousy her day was, but hearing the concern in her voice was enough to reassure Josie that there was still a connection.

The short conversation had left her feeling energised, so she pulled the over-bed table closer to see what Bobby had brought her. There was a virtual reality headset and simulator dashboard, a few boxes full of binders and what looked to be a brand new laptop. She began to unbox it as Bobby walked back in waving a small piece of paper and sliding it into her back pocket.

“Smooth Bobbo,” said Josie. “Pretty soon you’ll have a girl in every port”

“Who said I don’t?” Bobby replied, raising her eyebrows and inserting a fresh toothpick between her teeth.

“Let me fill you in on what you’ve got there. That’s an air-gapped computer, it’s never been connected to anything but Agency servers and networks and if you’re following protocol it never will.”

Bobby sat on the end of the bed where Joe had sat only hours ago and took her through the inventory piece by piece, each with an accompanying manual. There were inductions and online seminars that all needed signing off on before she commenced her actual training.

“So where will I be put through this ‘actual’ training?” Asked Josie as she flicked through a booklet entitled Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual.

“Given you’re only gonna be working your Dad, they’re not sendin’ you to The Farm, there’s no rehab services there anyway. Liberty has the best facilities onsite for your current condition and since Cruz will be sitting in on a lot of your training modules it makes sense that, um, you two should shack up at her place”. Bobby couldn’t contain her smirk, not that she was trying to. Josie threw a handful of packing peanuts in her direction and Bobby’s smirk became laughter.

“Hey, look, I don’t know what’s going on with you two-“

Bobby looked inquisitively at Josie who was resolved not to show her hand. The QRF and CIA knew absolutely every detail about her life, she could afford to keep this for herself for the time being.

“Buuuut, you had all 5’9” of cold, hard Marine folded into that chair there for almost 3 days while you were out so I gotta assume there’s somethin’.”

“Cruz was here?” So she didn’t just dream it.

“Sure.  Smelled worse than Two Cups by the time we got her outta here.”

Josie snorted but her heart was full.

“I don’t think you need to worry about being in her space, is all I’m sayin’.  And because it’s on base we won’t need to bug it high heaven, it’s literally the-“

“Safest street in America,” the women both said in unison.

“I’ll be there for the first few days to settle you in, make sure you got everything you need.”  Bobby patted her right leg and started stacking things from the bed onto the table.  She stood up and shoved her hands deep in her front pockets.

“Hey Josie, I like to bust your balls but you can talk to me, you know.”

“Thanks Bobby,” said Josie, scrunching her nose.  “But please don’t call me Josie again, it’s weird.”

“Yeah, you know I just heard it.” She chuckled and shook her head.

“Alright Thunder, I’m out. I got a hot date. If you need anything, call literally anybody else.” Bobby spun her keys on her finger and caught them like a Wild West gunslinger.  She raised her hand in a parting wave and left and once again, Josie was alone.

Plot twist, thought Josie.  Were she and Bobby going to become friends?  She hoped so.  With her unit a distant memory, her family a no go zone and Cruz just living rent free in her head, she needed all the friends she could get. 

Josie pulled the table closer towards her and powered up the laptop. Now was as good a time as any to start on the mind-numbing online inductions she had to get through before heading to North Carolina. She was a Captain in the Army for fucks sake, did she really need to watch a half hour long video on how to lift with her knees? She had barely managed to login with her new credentials when she felt her phone vibrate.

Sorry about before. I’m a little tied up now, hopefully chat tomorrow.

Oof, she thought, immediately indulging in the image of Cruz being a little tied up.  She didn’t know what she expected, it was unlikely that Cruz would have any time to herself to call Josie but she was disappointed nonetheless. But then, another buzz-

It was good to hear your voice.

Less disappointed, Josie mused.  And a minute later-

x

Well fuck, she could survive for days on a sign-off kiss!  Josie replied with her own,

xx

Josie felt equal parts elated and incredulous at the effect Cruz had on her, even after such a crazy, whirlwind of a day.  And even if it wasn’t ideal, even if she had no choice in the matter, at least she had a purpose again. The confidence of an elite team behind her. A way to remain in her family’s life.

And Cruz. And today, that was enough.