“She’s here” Angeliqua heard the whispered words as she moved slowly towards the door that the secretary had indicated was Chris Larabee’s office. She had spoken briefly with the teams receptionist before she entered the main office, knowing that she had found a friend in Beth. Knocking sharply on the door she waited for the summons from within before she turned the handle and entered the room. Six pairs of curious eyes on her back.
“Agent Larabee,” she started her melodic voice slightly lower than normal, her nerves strung as tight as a bowstring, “I’m Lieutenant Detective Angeliqua Miller,” she paused watching as he sank back in his chair listening to her voice “I believe you’ve been expecting me.”
“You’re early.” he spoke his voice impassive as he looked her up and down. She knew that he would be able to find no fault with her appearance. Her voluminous hair swept up under a Garth Brooks emblazoned baseball cap, a few wispy stray hairs peaking out. Tight but comfortable black jeans, topped with a pink tee shirt and her faithful brown leather jacket, finished with her favourite cowboy boots to give herself an extra couple of inches of precious height. She had dressed comfortably, casual enough to fit in but not too casual knowing that to survive her first day she needed to be comfortable within herself.
Angeliqua was not sure what she found more disconcerting, the fact that he was appraising her slowly with ice green eyes that seemed to be able to see into her very soul or the fact that he appeared to be laughing at her, his humour reflected in those very eyes. She had decided to push ahead her schedule, nothing was keeping her in Australia and she was eager to commence the next part of her life, and push the sadness behind her. She wasn’t, however, aware that this enigmatic man would know of the change in her plans.
“Eager to meet the legends Sir” she spoke, trying to throw him a little off balance with her words as he had her.
“There are no legends here Ms Miller” he spoke as he stood to walk around the table towards her “Just a team that works well together” he stood at his full height and looked down on the petite woman in front of him.
“I’m just glad to be able to learn from such an experienced team sir” Angeliqua tilted her head back a little to look into his face.
A broad smile crossed his face as he realised that he had failed to intimidate the feisty young woman in front of him. “You’re gonna fit in well here” he spoke as he extended a hand for her to shake, waiting until she took his hand to speak again. “And the name's Chris,” he smiled at her “not Sir.”
“Well sir,” she paused with a small smile “Chris.” she amended “Mine's Angel.” she shook his hand firmly despite the fact that her hand was swallowed by his.
“Wanna meet the rest of the team?” Chris jerked his head toward the door. They had all studied the reputation of the young lady who would become part of their team for a year, and were impressed with what they had read, however, they were expecting a larger, older woman not the tiny beauty that stood before him.
“Sure” she swallowed nervously her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Chris watched her closely a guarded smile crossing his face.
“They’re harmless really” he spoke his affection for his team evident in his voice “They won’t bite” he paused and choked back a chuckle “Well Buck might if you encourage him” he pulled the door open for her to pass him.
Stepping into the outer office she was stunned to find six men watching her closely. Standing a little apart, two women watched the confrontation with interest. One she knew as the team receptionist. The other she could only guess was another agent. Dear Lord, she thought to herself, what had she gotten herself into here. Whilst there was none of the hostility that she usually saw in the faces of her colleagues, more a quiet acceptance.
She met each of the men’s eyes briefly refusing to be intimidated by any of them, not backing down, she knew if she didn’t start their relationships as she meant to continue she would find it damn near impossible to gain the trust and respect she needed these men to have in her if she was going to work alongside them.
“Boys” Chris spoke from behind her, “and ladies” he added allowing them all to size each other up momentarily before speaking “Conference Room please” he pointed the way for those who seemed to have had a momentary lapse of memory.Placing a hand on the small of Angeliqua’s back he suppressed a smile as his hand rested on a holstered gun resting in the small of her delicate but well muscled back.
He had already seen the tell tale bulge of an ankle holster beneath the cuff of her jeans and knew that she favoured a shoulder holster from the profile that had been sent with her application. Somehow he knew she was going to fit in with the rest of the team perhaps a little too well.
He followed her into the room and watched as she took a seat next to Ezra at the end of the table, smiling as rose and pulled the chair out for her as she approached. Chris walked around the table and watched the subdued expressions on the faces of his men, knowing that the silence would not last long. He waited until he had everyone’s attention and then spoke.
“Gentlemen I would like you to meet Angeliqua Miller” he smiled as they all turned toward her “Our study exchange officer from Australia” he looked towards the small woman who seemed to be swallowed up by the large leather chair she sat in.
The seven of them watched in amazement as she lifted the cap from her head, realizing belatedly that she still wore it. Masses of thick ebony ringlets tumbled down her back, drawing a quickly strangled moan from at least 2 of the seven. A hastily suppressed giggle from the two women present.
“Gentlemen” she spoke softly suddenly nervous in front of these bold strong men “I hope that I can share information with you about how the force works in my country as well as learn as much about your techniques as I can.” her clear violet eyes scanned the faces of the men surrounding her, stopping as she reached a pair of cheeky cobalt eyes belonging to the man who sat to the left of her new team leader. The humour and blatant interest in showing her his techniques in those eyes didn’t seem to disturb her the same way masculine interest usually did.
Stunned at their unusual silence she continued “and please call me Angel. I think you will find that I am competent in most areas of police work, I am a relatively good shot, not bad at hand to hand, enjoy working the crime scenes and until recently I was told that I am good at deep cover. I am really looking forward to working with you ” she stopped afraid that she had begun to ramble.
Ezra was the first to recover his voice “Well Angel since we have had the pleasure of your name and you are still in the dark so to speak about us, let me introduce you to our little group” he gestured around the table.
“I’m Ezra Standish” he extended a hand to her which she shook firmly “Of course you’ve already met Liz and Seren. That’s JD Dunne, Vin Tanner, Nathan Jackson, Josiah Sanchez, and finally Buck Wilmington” each man leaned over and shook her hand as they were introduced. Buck’s fingers lingering on her palm as he withdrew his hand. She smiled to herself at his obvious attempts to gain her attention.
She looked around the table at the men she had just been introduced to, the quiet long haired young man who was obviously to her anyway older in experience then actual years, the mop topped young man full of energy and youthful enthusiasm, his eyes filled with the wonder and the innocence of the young, the older, larger man with the salt and pepper hair and the calm demeanour that she just knew would be a rock for the rest of the team to cling to in times of trouble.
The tall dark man who sat beside him, brown eyes full of knowledge and a sense of belonging that she hadn’t seen in another’s eyes for a long time.
Chris who sat at the head of the table watching his agents interactions carefully.
The polite southerner who sat beside her, seeing everything with those piercing green eyes yet giving so little away.
The final man was the one who intrigued her, however, his interest was so obvious yet she knew that he would not be like every other man who had made a pass at her in the workplace.
Somehow he was different, she wasn’t sure how, but she knew that he was. He reminded her of a big clumsy old knock kneed cowboy and she had to smile at the analogy her mind had drawn.
“Have you found somewhere to live?” Chris drew her out of her reverie.
“Ahh no” she started “Not technically I am looking at several houses in the highlands Ranch area, I need a stable for my horse when he comes out of quarantine, and some land to run him on, but until then I am staying at the Sheraton”
“How about a getting acquainted night at the saloon tonight?” Vin asked quietly not sure if it was the newcomer or the rest of the team he was testing with this thoughts.
“That would be lovely Mr Tanner” she spoke softly then turned back to Chris who was ready to start a briefing, waiting to see where he was going to employ her skills.
“Angel, I realise that you will need some time to settle in here, so I won’t try to explain everything to you today” he paused and waited for everyone’s attention before he spoke again “I would like you to shadow Buck please” he watched Ezra’s eyebrow arch in amusement and the stunned looks from some of the others. He had seen Buck’s interest in their new member and he had no doubt in his mind that Angel would put Buck in his place, up front so they could get his womanising out of the way first.
By the time they arrived at the Saloon that evening Angel’s head was awash with facts, directions, rules and new regulations that had been waved at her during the day, but she knew that she would be happy here, the office seemed to fit her like a glove, and the men, well these men were different to all she had known before. The minute she walked in with Buck and saw the other men around a table that appeared to be their regular table she also knew that possibly for the first time in her working life she was going to be happy both personally and professionally on all levels of her life. She also wondered with a sly grin if tonight would be the night that they would discover her one talent that was not listed on her official police resume. She had told Elizabeth about her talent during the day and the receptionist had tagged along to watch the men of her little family’s reaction to the new woman. Angel smiled at her over her glass and they exchanged a conspiratorial wink, much to the consternation of the men that witnessed it.
She smiled and laughed along with them through their banter as they sat at the table, drinking quietly and getting to know the new girl. Yes she knew that whatever happened she was going to enjoy working with this team.
links
main page
The Ladies' Profiles
The Beginning Page of the story
Round One: Seren
Round One: Elizabeth (Next In line)
