Whistler had set up all the mock scenarios with cameras that would cover the progress of the training teams as they moved from the first location to another. I was grouped with the rest of the team leaders and Whistler agents in a room where we could monitor all cameras. These exercises were also taped so they could be reviewed later or sent to team leaders that couldn’t be here. I watched one such tape of Oliver’s first team as they moved to take out their opposing team. I had observed Payton and Amir work in silent synchronization to take out all five members of the other team. It was beyond impressive, but I disagreed with Dwight’s assertion that their success was solely because of Amir. I thought Payton had taken the lead in their deadly dance. I was intrigued enough to stay after Oliver’s new team had run through the kidnapping scenes to watch how Payton would perform.
I had watched as the two SUVs pulled away from location one, leaving Payton and the client behind. It was a classic bait and switch. I approved of their plan but was a little disappointed because if everything went to plan Payton wouldn’t see any action. However, the SUVs got to the location without getting hit by the opposing team. That’s when I looked at the other screen and saw Payton move the wagon into an easily defendable location. She then turned to shoot a guy twice in the chest with red paint. The guy didn’t fall to the ground like they were supposed to but continued to advance on Payton with two other guys.
I didn’t have a good feeling about this. This didn’t feel like a training exercise.
That feeling was confirmed when perp one pulled a four-inch knife from an ankle sheath. I heard Ford let out a low “Fuck” before he bolted from the room. I realized we were watching a real attack and ran after my old friend. As we ran the six blocks to reach Payton, Oliver’s voice warning me that he thought Payton was in trouble kept playing in my head. I had told Oliver I would look in it. I hadn’t. And now she was being jumped by three guys in an alley. I pushed to run a little faster.
We finally reached the alley to find two of the men out cold, another wheezing in a crumpled heap, and Payton drenched in blood still protecting that stupid doll in the wagon. It was clear she thought we were more attackers and I decided to let Ford talk her down. He had more experience with her. I moved to check that everyone was still breathing and heard the rest of the team leaders hurrying into the alley.
Derik, the seal team guy that the team leaders were all raving about, started cursing and demanding to know what happened. I wanted to know the same thing. How had a training exercise turned into an attempted murder? And how did a small woman like Payton Taylor take out three guys, one armed with a knife. I would definitely be watching the recording of the camera feeds. I turned his attention back to Payton and watched as she lost consciousness in Ford’s arms. The knife was lodged in her back. The sight of that knife caused me to literally start seeing red. What kind of man stabbed an unarmed woman in the back?
Two ambulances arrived, and Payton was rushed off in the first one with Ford while the EMTs from the second one worked to bring around the two unconscious guys. Word must have gotten out about what happened because Oliver came running into the alley demanding to know what happened. Oliver’s eyes met mine and I was rocked with the depth of emotion that I saw in him.
“Where the fuck is Payton? Is she okay? What the fuck happened here?” Oliver demanded of me. Well, Oliver cusses a lot when he is angry, I thought to myself.
“Calm down Oliver. Ford took Payton to the hospital. She fainted from blood loss, but I am confident that she will be fine.”
“Blood loss? What happened?” Oliver asked after he took a deep breath.
“She was jumped by some recruits. One of them had a knife. She was stabbed in the back.” I told him in a calm voice.
My words seemed to shock Oliver into silence because he just stared back at me and then whispered “Stabbed?” The EMTs were having luck and one of the men that had attacked Payton was starting to wake up. The movement caught Oliver’s eye and he looked over the beaten man.
“If Vincent was one of the men that jumped Payton then Brett is also involved.” Oliver told me in a subdued voice. “This is all because she stopped them from beating me up the first night.” I thought that was a leap, but I was determined to get to the bottom of how this happened.
“She was taken to Grace Memorial. Ford is with her. Why don’t you go to the hospital and get an update for me.” Oliver nodded and walked off. I recognized the town car that was pulling up to the alley and moved to brief Cole on what I knew.
Four hours later I sat in a Cole’s office with Cole, Ford, Griffin, and Dwight. Griffin laid out everything we had discovered. “First let me say that Ms. Taylor has been out of surgery for over an hour now. She has two cracked ribs and the knife cut through some of the muscle layers in her back when she spun away from Vincent. That’s why the injury bled so much. But her shoulder blade protected her from any internal damage. She has received a blood transfusion and they stitched up her back. She is expected to make a full recovery.” I had already heard a far more emotional version of this report from Oliver.
“Brett orchestrated the whole thing,” Griffin continued. “Derik told us that the idea of the bait and switch was really Brett’s idea. When Derik approved it as their plan for today, Brett started talking with Vincent’s team. All three guys in the alley talked about how Brett convinced them that Payton was a joke and shouldn’t be in the program. They were convinced that allowing a woman to get this far in the training program was belittling their experience and hurting Whistler as a whole.” Griffin paused in his explanation to give a pointed look at Dwight.
“What?” I demanded. “What was that look for. Do you know something about this, Dwight?”
Dwight shifted in his seat and refused to meet my eyes. It was Cole that eventually spoke up and filled in the gaps for me. “Dwight here, is of the same viewpoint as those boys. He has been vocal that he does not believe that women should be allowed to become Whistler agents.”
“Don’t group me in with them. That’s not fair, Cole. I would never try to knife a woman in an alley.” Dwight stated in an angry voice. “But come on, every year we let in one or two women and every year they get passed around from recruit to recruit with the occasional team leader thrown in there. It is disruptive and does belittle this program.”
Cole asked, “Has there been any indication of that type of behavior from Ms. Taylor?”
“No” Ford interjected with force. Ford had lost his team in a similar way that I had lost mine. Becoming overprotective is a consequence of losing people that you consider family. I knew that Ford had a liking for the girl before. But today Payton had been attacked and hurt while under his supervision. It was personal for Ford now.
“That girl has done nothing but work hard and help the computer nerd through training. She was more than half the reason her first team did so well. She works well in a team, does a great job reading people, and has the ability to lead when she has the confidence. God, today she took out three men twice her size with her bare hands.” Ford paused and turned to stare out the window. “She has clear trust issues with men, but after what happened today can you really blame her?”
I was sure that was the most I had ever heard Ford say at one time. And what he was saying was that Payton was one of the best recruits here and her teammates had just thrown her to the wolves. Oliver had known, or at least suspected, how bad it was for her. And he had taken action to protect Payton. Oliver had come to me, trusted me to know how to handle the situation and keep something like this from happening. And I had done nothing and now Payton was in the hospital.
“What happens now?” asked Dwight. “How do we handle a situation like this? She might have grounds to sue us for this.”
Cole took off his glasses to rub his eyes as he responded. “Obviously the three from the alley along with Brett will be removed from this program. We will need to talk to Payton in the morning to see if she wants to get the police involved and press charges. It was assault with a deadly weapon and we have the whole damn thing on tape.”
“Something like that will ruin our reputation,” Dwight countered angrily. “The media will get ahold of this and broadcast that we are a security firm that can’t even protect our own recruits during a training exercise.”
“Right now, that is exactly what we are, Dwight.” Cole said in a tired and defeated voice. I didn’t like seeing Cole like this. He could have retired decades ago but after his wife and child died, Whistler was the only thing the man had in his life that he really cared about. I needed to figure out a way to make this situation better.
“Let me talk with Oliver,” I volunteered. “He has bonded with Payton and might know how she will want to proceed. Then I will talk to her. I am guessing that she won’t want to stay here for the remainder of the training program, and she will need time to heal. Maybe she would want to work with my team for a while until we find the right place for her. If she lets us, we can show her that we are worthy of her trust.”
The room remained quiet as they considered my words. After a while Cole dismissed them for the night. “Let’s start with that. It is late boys. Go home. Ethan, keep me updated with any news regarding Ms. Taylor.” I nodded in response and shared a look with Ford. I was headed over to the hospital to check on Payton with my own eyes and knew that Ford would want to join me.
The car ride over to Grace Memorial was tense and filled with guilt turned inward. We both felt we should have done more to prevent the events of the day. Our feelings of inadequacy only grew when we arrived at the hospital to find that Payton was no longer there. She had checked herself out.
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