The Sleeper cell - A.R.Hutton (epub ebook reader .TXT) 📗

can’t control that can ya?” Simon quipped.
“Coming from one who hasn’t had a date in how long?” Rachel demanded.
Simon glared at her, but didn’t retort.
Mr. Parker smiled, “Well I’m not partial to badmouthing the people I replace-.”
“Well don’t say anything,” interrupted Thomas wisely. “Not every circumstance is the same.”
Mr. Parker nodded, “Uh-Thank you…so our meeting is scheduled in three days. By then I will probably have your assignments. It was nice to meet you all.” He shook Lissie’s hand again, and nodding to the rest of the team, left the room.
Lissie clapped her hands, “All right, time to get back to work…mush!” She brandished an imaginary whip.
Simon yelped.


Chapter two


“So tell me, what were Miss Elliot’s last words were before the reigns of power were wrenched from her hands.” Asked Rachel dramatically, sipping a glass of chardonnay across from Lissie at Olive Garden.
She laughed, “Now that is an excellent way of putting it.”
Rachel shrugged grandly, “What can I say, I’m a star.”
“Of how many plays in that small town…Oh what was its name?” Lissie asked feigning confusion. “Oh right” she snapped her fingers. “Manvel?”
Rachel snickered. “I swear if any of the political people from there heard you, you little hypocrite.” She shook her head sadly.
Lissie snorted. “No they’d be to busy climbing up the food chain to care about me A little minnow.” She mimicked, in a high pitched voice. Rachel covered her mouth to keep from laughing to loudly, her body shaking with it.
Grinning, Lissie served herself some salad. “She didn’t have much to say, just the usual crap and lies.” She said with annoyance, her eyes snapping with anger.
Having composed herself, Rachel helped herself to a bread stick. “Yea. But I have one question.” She took a bite. “The rest of us had grievances of course afterward. But you had bad feelings for her starting day one.” She swallowed. “Why?”
Lissie was silent for a few seconds; then sighed. “Well I suppose I can tell you, though you must promise to never tell Simon. He’d be furious.” She added in a firm almost pleading voice.
Rachel waved her bread stick lazily. “You’re the first and only best friend I have. Of course I won’t.”
“You mean the only friend who will stick and deal with your obnoxious behavior.” Lissie added teasingly.
Rachel shrugged, “Again, what can I say, so go on with your story.”
Lissie rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. Several years ago I lived in a small town in Texas while Simon went abroad, during that time I met and got engaged to someone. We waited three months so that Simon would be able to come.then I received a phone call from Miss Elliot informing me that unless I wanted to let my brother die. I had to go help him get a bio-weapon out of Switzerland.because of our DNA Structure it allowed the Bio-weapon to be undetected, so they needed to it inject into the both of us, there was was too much for Simon's body to handle alone."
Rachel gasped, “Oh my goodness, did they tell you what it was exactly?”
Lassie shrugged, “I never found out, but it felt like hell. Then to top it off, my fiancée finding out I’m leaving, breaks the whole thing off.”
Their waiter arrived with the food. “So that’s how the small feud started.” Rachel muttered; as the waiter sprinkled cheese over her Raviolis. Lissie nodded as she took a bite of her Shrimp Alfredo, “Yeah, after that I had nothing to go back too, so I let Simon convince me to join up. And here I am now.”
“Well it hasn’t been so bad has it?”
Lissie smiled “No, but I’m not a career oriented gal. I just wanted to start a family, but it seems God had other plans.”
She twirled her fork around the sauce covered plate, absent mindedly.
Rachel gave her another sympathetic pat. “You never know what will happen next sweetie.” She murmured.
Lissie shrugged “yea you’re right…let’s talk about something else.”
Rachel grinned, “Like how totally hot our new C.E.O is?”
Lissie gasped in surprise, “Oh, you sly thing. You better watch yourself.” She couldn’t help but giggle.
Rachel raised her eyebrows mischievously. “Oh I don’t know sweetie, I may have a ball getting to know him.”
Lissie snickered, “uhuh, hope you don’t mean that another way.”
Rachel squealed and slapped her. “You little pervert!”
Lissie grabbed her hand, still giggling. “I’m sorry; you’re the one who taught me.”
“I did not teach you that!”
“Okay…maybe a little, but geez louize!”
Lissie laughed harder, “okay, okay.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s try to act like nice ladies having a nice dinner. Okay?” Rachel nodded “Yes lets”
Lissie went to take a bite of her food and made the mistake of looking up at Rachel, whose lips were twitching. That did it. They both collapsed in a fit of giggles.
“We are a mess.” Lissie sputtered.
Rachel giggled some more, “Oh yea, and it doesn’t help when you have an audience.”
Lissie glanced around, and to her embarrassment seeing people stare back, some with amusement, others annoyance.
She waved apologetically, and turned back to face Rachel.
“How about we get a to-go box, run get some movies and you spend the night at my house.”
Rachel grinned, “Rodger that sweetie.”


They both arrived at work the next morning still giggling about their night.
“What do wanna bet the topic of conversation was?” demanded Simon eagerly.
Charles rolled his eyes, as he tried to strike a deal with a shady contact of his. “You are just like those gossiping old sphincters.”
“What did you say?” Simon heard a voice scream from the phone.
Charles groaned, “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to my dumb ass partner.” He snapped, glaring at a grinning Simon.
“Now you better cooperate, or I’ll be knocking down your front door.” He listened for a few minuets his eyes narrowed.
Suddenly he grinned, “Okay thanks man,” Charles hung up.
“Well, apparently our Mr. Parker is known amongst the Bartoni’s, not a good reputation with them. Apparently he’s a hard core.”
“so he was a soldier once?” Simon asked. Leaning back in his chair, he snorted. “What’s hard core about that?”
Charles grinned, “He was a marine, black ops. Then he was discharged quietly because of some heavy shit He was involved in, top secret.”
Simon rolled his eyes, “you mean a guy who’s full of that Honor crap?”
Charles threw a pen at him, “It’s not crap.”

“I agree.” Added Thomas quietly not looking up from his computer, “the world does not have enough of those guys where they are needed.”
Simon shrugged, “whatever, saps.”
Just then Lissie walked in, “Who are you calling Saps?”
She asked with a smile of greeting, a large stack of folders in her hands. Charles jumped up to help her, “Whoa, you need to get one of those fancy cart things, the mail dudes have.”
He said.
Lissie laughed “Good idea.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “I called him a sappy because he believes in that honor crap.” He said doing the quote-unquote finger sign.
Lissie frowned thoughtfully as she handed some files to Charles. “Hmm, I disagree.” She murmured, walking to her study suddenly deep in thought.
The men watched her go, Thomas pointed and was about to say something but thought better of it when nothing came out. Charles rubbed a hand over his bald head, “uhhh, should we be worried?”
Simon shrugged, “Who knows, who cares.”


Unknown to the men, Lissie had heard their whole conversation. It reminded her of an old general they had arrested, who had planned an attack on congress because he believed they had lost their honor, and that the United States needed rid of them. Lissie had been undercover as his secretary and had enjoyed working for the old man.
“You’re a smart dearie.” He’d always say.
She had grown fond of him, and the arrest broke her heart. Miss Elliot arrested him personally, but an overreaction on her part ended the general’s life with a bullet.
But his last moments were in Lissie’s arms where he patted her hand and murmured his dying words, “Good girl, you did well”.
That incident fueled the already burning hatred she had for Miss Elliot.
A knock on her door jerked Lissie out of her thoughts,
“The boss says we are having a meeting in two hours.” Rachel said, licking chocolate pudding off a spoon.
Lissie grinned, “Any more of those?” she asked.
Rachel giggled, “Yea, but Simon doesn’t know I hid them.”
A shout from the kitchen, brought more giggles out of her, Lissie joining in.
Simon stomped into their office space, “Where are the puddings?” he demanded.
Charles and Thomas looked at him guiltily; each of them had an empty pudding cup.
Rachel snuck an unopened pudding to Lissie, and then sauntered out still licking her spoon. “Oh come on Simon, it’s not our fault you didn’t get there fast enough.” She said, grandly sitting on her desk.
Lissie tried to hide a smile, Rachel was in her realm, she lived to torture Simon.
“I bought those!”
“Your point?” Rachel grinned sweetly.
Simon glared at her, “I won’t waste my time explaining.” He snapped. Rachel laughed, “Oh, get off your high horse Simon. Their behind the ice cream in the freezer.” She daintily threw her trash away.
Still growling Simon stomped out.
Charles whooped, “Man! I am so not going out with you.”
Rachel laughed, “Aww your so sweet.” She purred.

Lissie shook her head as she grabbed some reports and her purse, “come on guys, my choice of lunch today. And we are going to McAllister’s.”
Simon groaned when he heard her, coming back in the room after just getting his pudding out of the deep freezer. He set it on his desk, “Nobody touch it” he warned, glaring at them all.
Thomas rolled his eyes, “Come on man its just fake stuff, like High fructose corn syrup, fake chocolate that’s actually got pig hoof in it. Or was that marshmallows?” he wondered.
“Dude! This isn’t health class.” Simon yelled, his face looking a little green.
Lissie threw her free hand in the air tiredly, “children, that’s all they are, children.”

They all rode together in Lissie’s Tahoe, into town where they went to McAllister’s for lunch; it was a tradition that each day someone got to pick where to eat.
After ordering, the five of them went to their favorite private corner.
“So where do you think Mr. Parker will put us?” asked Rachel twining her hair around a finger nervously.
They all shrugged.
Simon leaned back in his chair with a sigh, “I hope he sends me to the Bahamas or Hawaii. I could use some sun.” he said flexing his arm muscles. Charles grinned, “Hey, how about California? We could meet some celebrities. Like that time we met Liv Tyler and Bruce Willis.”
Thomas shook his head, “Give me Amy Adams any day” he murmured dreamily.
Rachel brightened, “How about Orlando Bloom, and Robert Pattenson?”
Lissie laughed, “Not for me,” she said, twirling her straw around her cup.
Simon straightened up his eyes glittering mischievously, “Oh, and who would you like to meet sister dear?” He asked.
Lissie smiled dreamily, “No one of importance.”
Rachel groaned, “Come on Lissie tell them, or I