Risk It All

IX

Matt and Alissa arrived at the office, and the morning was starting off like no other. Shane had laid out his tactical gear and was prepping for a mission, and he had pulled out the Kevlar vest that Alissa would wear. Little did either of them know that Alissa would be tagging along with Shane on this important mission, which was a surprise when Shane announced it. 

"Shane, want to share with us what's going on?" Matt asked, knowing that something was big, but not what that something was. 

"Come on over, I'll explain in a minute." He answered, gesturing to their computers and whiteboard thinking area they huddled around to solve cases. Alissa and Matt shrugged to each other before walking over to the table, waiting for Shane's explanation.

"Okay, guys, here's what's up. There is a drug operation with its roots on this uninhabited island in the Caribbean. This island is their main integrations center, if it's an opiate, it's gone through here. We're going to the island to shut the distributions down."

"Who's we?" Alissa wondered. 

"You and me, Alissa, the operation has to be small since we're going to need to be moving through the jungle pretty fast. We have to get in and out before the operation is toast, this is a highly sensitive mission. We'll have air support, backup and these guys on the line at all times, but it's just you and me on the ground. With your experience in the field with operations like these, I know we'll be able to do this." The Commander explained, pulling up maps of the island and satellite images of the distribution center. Alissa was shocked that she was going on this huge mission alone with Shane, how he trusted her and her skills that much to be his partner in a drug bust in the jungle. 

"When do we fly out?" She asked, still trying to wrap her head around the assignment. 

"As soon as the chopper is ready and we're geared up. I'm flying us to a nearby island, then we take the raft the rest of the way to sneak on."

"You're flying us?" Alissa questioned, trying to put all the pieces together. 

"He doesn't like it when other people fly the plane or the helicopter. The control freak also  just wants to use his pilot's license any opportunity he can." Matt answered, knowing Shane well. Shane nodded to confirm Matt's answer. 

"I'm so glad the two people I happen to love most are going to a deserted island in the Caribbean, alone, to face a major drug exporting operation that might get them killed. I should call my therapist and my cardiologist in advance." Matt continued, extremely worried about the risky operation.

"We'll be okay, Matty. We're both trained in combat and I won't let anything bad happen to her. She'll do the same for me. We've got each other's backs, Matty." Shame reassured.

"I still don't like this." He protested.

"I know, babe. But we've gotta do this, you know we do." Shane answered, beginning to get his gear together. Matt nodded, knowing Shane was right. They had to go. The phone was already ringing with Matt's Doctor. Matt always told Shane that he would die from a heart attack that was stress-induced, and that Shane would be the sole cause of it. With each day, that seemed to be a growing reality.

Shane was filling his pack with an entire survival kit and plenty of ammo. His vest was loaded with every type of grenade imaginable, and Alissa wondered why on earth he would need to pack that many. Shane was a walking battalion by the time he was completely loaded up. 

He wore the closest thing to battle fatigues, which were his cargo pants and a tee shirt laying underneath his button down shirt and a bandana. Shane was loaded in every possible way, he carried knives in their holsters around his ankle and had his standard two holsters for his thighs. He was carrying so much metal one would think he was Magneto. Alissa felt confident that they wouldn't be caught off guard with their amount of prep.