Billionaire’s Achilles’ Heel

Sidelined

Unit 4 SEALs met in Jessica’s house for their weekly get together. Jessica tossed cold beers to her four friends. They always looked forward to meeting and relaxing after their always challenging work.

“Hey Jess, I hear you are one of the feds now” Commander Lane known as Tornado teased, amused.

Laughter filled the room, none of them able to comprehend how their supervisors decided to send Jessica to the collaboration with the state department. Out of all the seals units, Jessica was the worse at diplomacy, leading them to conclude that the intentions was to aggravate the state department than collaborate with them.

“f**k you!” Jessica swore at them, not impressed. She found the idea of spending six months with the feds repulsive at most.

More laughter followed, each one already imagining how her day might have gone. One thing they were certain about was it would be memorable for everyone involved.

“Come on Jess, I just want to know how many prisoners you allowed to escape today” Tornado pressed on, suppressing his laughter.

“She didn’t, she got their lead detective arrested instead” Spark, the unit’s geek responded.

“Whaaat? on your first day!” Lavanya, otherwise known as Lava exclaimed dramatically, suppressing her laughter. The truth was they were were not surprised at all. Jessica was the extreme one in the group, excessively competitive, always ready for the dangerous and challenging missions. Her bravery in the military was unmatched. Right behind her was Tornado who was a pure adrenaline junkie. The more dangerous the mission, the calmer he seemed to get. He and Jessica were the daredevils of the group and got on very well. Spark was the most intelligent and loved gadgets. He was responsible for the team’s strange training and fitness schedules. Lava was the almost normal one in the unit and brought calmness and order. She had the ability to talk her way out of any situation and extremely useful in negotiation situations. With her unit’s personalities, her skills came handy even when they interacted with other seals.

“What did I say about keeping tabs on me, Spark?” Jessica asked sharply.

“It’s my job” Spark responded, amused. There was a time when Jessica scared the crap out of him but he has learned to adapt to her madness.

“Only when we are on a mission, i***t!” Jessica snapped, tossing another cold beer at him.

“Technically, you were on a mission. A collaboration mission” Spark responded with a serious face.

“You are a stalker” Jessica accused.

“The military pays me to stalk on all of you but I enjoy stalking you the most” Spark confessed. There truly was never a dull day with Jessica.

“Yet you don’t know how Mr ST sustained his injuries, Lieutenant” Tornado said with a straight face, imitating General Black during Jessica’s enquiry.

Laughter filled the room again as they all recalled their defiance with the enquiry.

Popcorn anyone, I’m about to play you a juicy movie” Spark suggested, passing the bowl around before playing the audio on his phone.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Please don’t let him get me, please”

Jessica’s eyes widened hearing her voice and that of Sergeant Luther. “You intercepted the police officer’s webcam?”she exclaimed. Spark was really good with IT stuff, he could get information on anyone and anything. He was one of the reasons they excelled in all their missions. With the information he was able to gather, they always walked into any mission prepared.

“Shhhh Jess, you are spoiling the movie” Spark warned putting his finger on his lips.

“Damm girl, you should be an actress. I can’t get over the ‘My baby’ part” Lava said, laughing.

“Shut up!” Jessica snapped, irritated with all of them. They were all having fun on her behalf while she had to spend six months at the state department.

“I feel sorry for the Detective” Tornado responded. He knew too well that not everyone could deal with Jessica.

“He started it. Anyway, if you are all done laughing at my pain, do you mind telling me how things are at base”

“We miss you Inferno. Unit 10 has taken all the exciting missions while we got the crappy ones” Spark complained.

Jessica laughed, Spark used her seal name when worried or trying to emphasise his point “That’s easy, kick Luke’s butt, that will shut them up” she advised, glad that she was not the only one having a crappy time.

“You are right, will make it epic too, they will never forget it” Tornado responded excited.

“Wow, wow, we are all SEALs, remember? Technically we are all in the same team and besides with Jess in state department we are one man down, we can’t compete for the high profile missions” Lava responded, cooling the fire.

“You are so irritating, you should be the one joining the feds!” Tornado snapped, knowing that she had a valid point but that meant they will be no excitement for him until Jessica returned.

“She’s right, three is too few. You don’t have enough cover” Jessica responded in agreement with Lava.

“Fine, we will take the stupid missions. On a serious note Jess, we have your back, always” Tornado declared with his hand over his heart. The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

“Respect” Jessica saluted not doubting him for a moment. These three people were closer to her than family.

The following day at the states department, Detective Lucas More was in a good mood and ready to get rid of Jessica. He did not care that she intentionally parked on his spot again. ‘She was not worth the trouble and besides she will not be around long’ he thought with a grin.

“Good morning, Commander Miles” he greeted her.

“Morning Detective” Jessica responded sternly with a straight face.

“Why the serious face, it’s a beautiful day” he asked.

“If you say so” she responded with the same tone.

“Are SEALs always this serious?” he asked curious.

“Are Detectives always this annoying?” She hit back.

“Your blue eye is completely healed, how did you do it?”

“Are you concerned, fiancé?” Jessica asked, intentionally aggravating him.

Lucas’ expression changed recalling yesterday’s events but immediately reverted to his happy mood when he remembered that he had a plan to get rid of her.

“There is a package for Commander Miles” someone shouted.

“It’s good to know that you have settled in here, you are even getting packages” Lucas commented looking at meticulously wrapped package.

“s**t! stay down!” Jessica exclaimed.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Lucas snapped. He was doing his best to be nice but Jessica was just simply rude.

“Stay down unless you want your face blown off!” Jessica warned, putting the package down as grenades shot out of the package.

“What the….” Lucas did not finish his sentence, he dropped to the floor and covered his head. The other detectives followed suit.

“Holly crap!” Captain Sway who had come out of his office to investigate the commotion exclaimed, dropping to the floor as well.

Jessica sprung up cashing the first ball, intentionally stepped over Lucas’ back as she ran across the room to cash the second. “s**t!” she cursed sliding on the floor to cash the third just before it hit the floor.

“Grenades disarmed in 0.6milliseconds, well done Inferno. See you next time” the voice from a speaker said.

“Oh, thank you Spark, can’t wait” Jessica responded, breathless. This was a close call, she had not expected that the military would still require her to do the assessments while in the state department.

“You are Inferno?” Detective Peter asked, impressed. He knew a lot about the women who had enough guts to break a warlord’s jaw.

“What the hell was that, Commander?” Captain Sway asked flabbergasted, getting off the floor and not giving her the chance to respond to Peter.

“Reflex assessment, Sir” Jessica responded with her formal robotic tone.

“Those were grenades, Commander?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir”

“Active grenades?” Captain Sway clarified.

“Yes, Sir”

“Why on earth would anyone send you grenades, Commander?” he asked unable to comprehend what just happened.

“It’s part of our weekly assessment, Sir” Jessica explained maintaining her expressionless face and tone.

Captain Sway and his detectives could not believe that their military personnel went through such a dangerous assessment on weekly basis. “What happens when you don’t cash it, Commander?”

“It has never happened, Sir” Jessica responded not getting why the captain was so worked out when the assessment was already done.

“That was not my question, Commander” Captain Sway was getting frustrated with her.

“Its a grenade, it goes off if not disarmed, Sir”

“It would have gone off right here if you didn’t cash it, right Commander?” Captain Sway asked a rhetorical question.

“That’s an impossible hypothetical statement, Sir. I can never not cash it” Jessica responded proudly. She was the best seal the country had after all.

“What if it went off when you were not here?” Captain Sway asked.

“The package can only be activated by the presence of a seal, Sir”

Captain Sway did not even bother finding out what that meant, Jessica’s casual attitude to this whole bizarre training was just appalling. “So you don’t see anything wrong with flying grenades that get delivered in an office full of people, Commander?” he asked, unable to mask his annoyance.

“The people here are trained detectives, Sir. Technically, they should not flinch at a tiny grenade” she responded, emphasising the tiny part.

“How many of these ’assessments’ do you do, Commander?”

Jessica shrugged her shoulders “It depends on Spark, Sir. Roughly four or five a week”

The detectives in the room looked worriedly at each other, then at their captain. Dodging bullets from criminals was dangerous enough for them, they did not need to dodge grenades inside their office too.

“I am going to speak to your supervisors, no packages shall be delivered here. You can continue with your assessments when you leave my department. In case you have not noticed, our budget is not even close to the military one, we can’t afford to have our headquarters blown off!” Captain Sway yelled, storming to his office only to emerge few minutes later looking worse than he did when he left.

“What did the pompous bastards say?” Lucas asked, noticing his dejected expression.

“They don’t understand I quote ‘why I am bitching about a minor reflex assessment with no casualties’. I am starting to believe that everyone in the military is c***k!” Captain Sway explained, frustrated.

“You are only seeing that now? I know that they protect our borders and interest and I am grateful for that but who volunteers to spend months in a desert and fight a war they know nothing about with a thousand percent probability of being killed?” Lucas asked a rhetorical question. “c***k people, that’s who” he added, answering himself.

“Just stay away from her ‘packages’ until I get this sorted out” Captain Sway instructed his team, hating feeling helpless in protecting them.

“There is a way around all this, Sir” Lucas suggested. This was a perfect moment to present his plan.

“I’m listening” Captain Sway responded curious.

“They can’t send her grenades if she was on an undercover mission” Lucas suggested capturing the captain’s attention.

“What do you have in mind?”

“SUM” he responded.

“No!” Captain Sway responded quickly. He needed a way to control Jessica while in his department but that mission was so dangerous that he needed the police minister to approve it even when he sends his own agents.

“Hear me out Sir” Lucas pleaded.

“Absolutely not!” Captain Sway exclaimed. He buried enough agents from that mission alone, the thought of it gave him nightmares.

“Who is better equipped to help us take these guys out than a seal?” Lucas asked, not ready to give up.

“Do you know how much trouble I will get into if anything happened to the collaboration candidate?” he asked. “As is the military thinks we are all incompetent because that bastard escaped on our watch” he added.

“This is basically what they do on daily basis. I am pretty sure that her c***k bosses won’t even oppose this. I am telling you Cap, if we have any chance of ever shutting the syndicate down, this is it” Lucas explained with so much conviction, Captain Sway was won over.

“Let me think about this”

Two hours later, Captain Sway came out of his office with mixed feelings. He was aware that Lucas may have suggested the SUM mission to get rid of Jessica but the results if successful would be huge for his department. Just like Lucas predicted, the military had no problems with their personnel going undercover provided she was willing, went on her own terms and the state department provided all the support. He nodded when his eyes met Lucas’ who was thrilled by the decision and gathered the whole team together to present the mission and brainstorm.

“What do you say, Commander?” Lucas asked after his hour presentation of the syndicate network and the syndicate undercover mission known as SUM.

“You spent over sixty million of taxpayers on failed missions?” Jessica asked, shaking her head unimpressed.

“I was asking your opinion on going undercover, Commander not the money spent on previous missions” Lucas responded, doing his best to remain calm.

“Neither Ay nor Nay, will speak to my team” Jessica responded, dismissively.

“We are your team now” Lucas reminded her.

“Like hell you are!” Jessica exclaimed, the idea horrifying.

“The military won’t give you back up on this, they want us to provide the support for you” Captain Sway explained, also suppressing his irritation. They were actually a very competent department, second best in the country but the military wrote them off because one high profile criminal escaped on their watch.

“The military shall provide me with real live data about this mission, not this hogwash you just presented. Only then will you have my response, Detective” Jessica responded, intentionally aggravating them. She enjoyed pushing egocentric man’s buttons to test there limits.

“Take your time but keep in mind that you are only here for six months. It would be a shame not to put this collaboration to good use” Lucas suggested, hoping to manipulate her.

“Your mentality is concerning for a senior detective. Your assumption that my response will take longer than a day is a reason so much of tax payers money goes down the drain, Detective” Jessica sneered.

Lucas clenched his teeth, doing his best to remain calm. A confrontation with Jessica now might just undo everything he spent the whole night planning but she was really pushing his buttons.

An hour later, Jessica walked into the tea room to find Detective Lucas More, Peter and Captain Sway who were on their tea break.

“Gentlemen, you will pleased to know that I have made my decision”

“Okay?” Lucas could not hide his surprise. This was way faster that he anticipated which irritatingly proved her point.

“I will go undercover but on my own terms” she said decisively.

“What are those?” Lucas asked, already bracing himself.

“Detective Peter will be lead on this, I will only report to him”

“With all due respect Commander, I am more senior than everyone here and have experienced with this case” Lucas could not believe Jessica’s nerve.

“That’s debatable, Detective. From where I stand Detective Peter has as much experience if not more, he just does not get the high profile cases but if you look carefully at the stats, he is the only one here with a 100% conviction rate and all his agents return alive” Jessica responded, shutting Lucas up.

Peter looked at Jessica, surprised. He always did his best but hardly received any recognition for it. Lucas being the most vocal was the one getting all the praises. It was good to know that his skills and dedication showed on the department statistics.

“Both Detective More and Peter can be on the mission. I am sure they will bring valuable contributions ” Captain Sway suggested, avoiding the tantrum Lucas was likely to throw if removed from the case. He was aware of Peter’s achievements but never complemented him fearing upsetting Lucas who believed he was the best in the department.

“With all due respect Sir, I need to trust and have confidence in my backup. Detective Peter and Surgeon Luther will be my back up, they are the only ones I trust here. It’s them or nothing” Jessica responded decisively, giving them an ultimatum.

“Very well then” Captain Sway conceded, defeated. The SUM mission was flagged as high risk after five of their agents were murdered while undercover. No agent wanted to take that mission now which meant that Jessica no matter how impossible she became was their only hope.

Lucas shook his head, cursing Jessica inside. This was his idea, his mission he has worked for years on but now he was being sidelined just like that. The worst part was that for the first time he actually believed that the irritating seal was the answer to all his problems on this mission. The syndicate did not know Jessica at all and even the moles in the department did not know her. With her skills, she was undoubtedly the perfect candidate but with him out of the case he will not get any credit from whatever she achieves. That evening, he enviously watched Jessica brainstorm with Detective Peter and Sergeant Luther. Jessica was undoubtedly going undercover on her own terms. With the hi tech equipment she had from Spark the military geek and her impressive skills he researched, Lucas was certain that Jessica would bring down the syndicate one way or the other. It was truly a shame that he was not a part of it all. He spent most of the day handing over everything to Peter including his private notes and informers which he didn’t have to. In the end he really wanted the criminals off the street.

Just before Jessica left for her mission, she shocked Lucas one last time. “By the way Detective, I know you suggested the mission to get rid of me”

Lucas was speechless, caught off guard.

“It was a good move. You are conniving but a good detective, you better have my back or I will come back and beat the crap out of you” Jessica threatened.

“Are you saying what I think you are saying, Commander?” Lucas asked unable to hide his excitement.

“It depends what you think you heard Detective”

Lucas shook his head, Jessica was pulling his leg again.

“Well, you know this mission better than anyone here. You waisted a lot of money on it, you know what worked and what failed” she said. She never really intended on removing Lucas from the mission but enjoyed pulling his leg. Despite his childish attitude, Lucas was also a good detective and if she was to succeed on this mission she needed all the help she could get.