Cabe and the Ghost a Scorpion Love Story by Kate Simon
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Cabe and The Ghost A Scorpion Love Story By Kate Simon 1 Chapter One Cabe looked around the Scorpion garage and marveled at how his life had changed in the last two years. Wrangling a team of geniuses was akin to herding cats. They were four of the smartest people on the planet but they had problems working and playing well with others. He'd known Walter the longest, having arrested him when he was eleven. It had taken some time but he'd gotten to know Sylvester, Happy and Toby. As much of a pain in the ass they could be, they were good kids. Paige had walked into their lives the same day Cabe had returned to Walter's life. As a single mom, she was used to handling tough situations. She was their project manager and office mom, acting as a buffer between the team and the world. The work he did with Scorpion had been the most rewarding of his life. He topped off his coffee while he waited for Assistant Homeland Director Katherine Cooper to arrive for a briefing. "You'll take a lickin’ from my rubber chicken," "Toby, I told you to stop playing with my Super Fun Guy statuette," said Sylvester as he grabbed it from Toby. "It's a toy. It's supposed to be played with," said Toby "Alright, listen up," Cabe shouted. "You people need to settle down. Director Cooper will be here any minute and she said it's a high priority assignment." "That it is." Katherine Cooper stood at the entrance of the garage but she wasn't alone. As they approached the team Cabe made a quick appraisal. The woman was in her late forties or early fifties and looked as squared away as any Marine. She wore a plain black jacket and skirt with a crisp white blouse. Her Irish heritage was evident in her bright green eyes and a long mane of dark red hair she'd restricted into a tight ponytail. He found himself wondering how her hair would look, loose and spread out over his pillows. Cabe tried to push the thought from his head, but it was fighting eviction. "Alright everyone, this is Special Agent Kate Riley." Cooper began introducing the team. "Kate this is Walter O'Brien, Happy Quinn, Toby Curtis, Sylvester Dodd, Paige Dineen." Kate gave everyone a quick acknowledgement. "And this is Agent Cabe Gallo." 2 Kate smiled and nodded at him and his heart skipped. He thought, "Oh, this is gonna be trouble." Cooper handed a flash drive to Walter and he pulled up a slide showing a well dressed man in his early forties. His hair was jet black and his skin was dark, tanned brown. "Kate has been investigating Alessandro Cavello, a trade official with diplomatic immunity. She's been undercover at the Italian embassy for two months." "I hate to point out the obvious, but doesn't diplomatic immunity make any investigation moot?" asked Toby. "We aren't as interested in prosecuting him as we are stopping him. We know he is using his diplomatic status to move weapons through the Port of Los Angeles." "I've been working as an administrative assistant for two months, looking for files, money trails, anything we can use but Cavello is smart. I've been all over that embassy and the files aren't there," said Kate. "How do you investigate in a foreign embassy for two months without anyone noticing?" asked Sly. Kate smiled. "I blend into the wallpaper. No one ever notices me." Cabe looked at her in amazement. "Impossible," he murmured. He saw her a slight blush color her cheeks. She took a breath and continued. "Cavello comes from a very powerful family, old money and he likes the high life. A lot more than his salary or any family assets should allow. He is throwing a gala celebrating the Festival of the Republic at his home tomorrow night. Everyone from the embassy has been invited, including me. Cavello has an air gapped system in his home I need to get to." Walter flipped through more of the presentation, looking at pictures of Cavello's home. "What do you need from Scorpion?" he asked. Kate looked at Cooper. "Honestly I always work alone but Director Cooper is insisting." "Cavello has a ruthless reputation. He wouldn't be able to touch her in the embassy, too many witnesses he can't control but in his own home it's another story. I don't want her going in to this particular lion's den without backup. Kate's invitation includes a guest." Cooper looked at Kate and smiled. "Agent Riley needs a date." 3 Cabe thought Kate looked extremely uncomfortable at the idea. "I would prefer only handling the tech, but very well," said Walter. Kate smiled and Cabe was dazzled. How could anyone not notice her? She turned to Cooper. "You're right, he's adorable." Kate looked at Cabe. "I'm afraid that task will fall to Agent Gallo." Cabe nodded and smiled. She actually looked apologetic, as if she was giving him an assignment he would hate. "Ah, it's black tie," she said. "Not a problem," he replied. "Okay, that's settled," said Cooper. Pictures and all the blueprints for Cavello's home are on the drive." Walter displayed pictures of a large estate, with a long driveway circling an enormous fountain. Large statues bordered the front entrance. Views of the back showed an Olympic size pool and a large garden. The entire house was wrapped in terraces and balconies. "Subtle," said Happy. "A place this big is bound to have a security staff. How are you going to get past them? It's not like Cabe can go around taking out the taking out the guards," said Sly. Cabe shot him a look. "Allow me to rephrase. He could take them out, but it wouldn't be advisable." Cooper looked at Kate. "Agent Riley is an expert at infiltration and retrieval. She moves in and out of a location without anyone ever noticing. Like a ghost." Kate shot Cooper a startled look. Cabe looked back and forth between the two women. Then it clicked. "Like a ghost?" asked Cabe. "The Ghost?" Kate's slight blush told him he was correct. "Holy crap," he said. "What's going on?" asked Paige. "The Ghost is a legend in the business. An agent who infiltrates locations and gets intel no one else can. The Ghost has the highest closure rate in the department." Cabe looked at her as smiled. "There was always lots of speculation but The Ghost has never been identified." "Until now," said Toby. 4 "That information is highly classified. It absolutely doesn't leave this room. I need to get back to Homeland," said Cooper. "You have all the intel, Kate will fill in any of the blanks. I'll leave you to it." Cooper left leaving an uncomfortable looking Kate behind. "Walter, what do you think?" asked Cabe. "It's a fairly straight forward operation. The estate is protected by a private security firm," said Walter. "Meaning?" he asked. "Meaning I could hack this in my sleep." Walter made a huff of derision. "Ralph could hack it in his sleep." "Ralph?" Kate asked. Paige smiled. "My ten year old son. He's enabled like they are and he helps out from time to time." Kate nodded and smiled. "I'd love to meet him some time." "If I may continue?" said Walter "We can monitor the security from outside. That's not the problem. The problem is finding the files in such a short time frame." "It will probably be on his laptop. Most likely in his home office." Kate pointed to a location on the blueprints. "Which is most likely here." "Agreed," said Happy. "You have this under control, Walter?" asked Cabe. Walter gave him a look that said 'Seriously?'. He looked at Kate and smiled. "Scorpion has this covered. If you and I are going to look like a couple we should get familiar with each other. There's a cafe not far from here. Let's get a cup of coffee." He walked towards her. "They have terrific bear claws." "Sounds great." He'd taken her to a local shop without the pretentiousness of the chain shops. He got their order and picked a cafe table in the back. "Well, Agent Gallo, your file was very impressive." "Thank you, and call me Cabe." "Kate." She tucked her hands into her lap, the image of a proper teacher, a hot teacher. He mentally chastised himself and tried to focus on the matter at hand. 5 "You seem more of a Katie to me," So much for focus. She smiled. Oh, he could get used to that smile. "No one has called me that since I was a kid." He pressed forward, "I don't see a ring so I take it you're not married." She blushed. He didn't even know people their age could still blush. "No. Never married. You?" "Divorced." "Do you have any children?" He fortified himself with a sip of his coffee "I had a daughter, Amanda. She died when she was six. Cancer," "I'm sorry that happened." Cabe looked at Kate and saw sadness, but not pity. "Thank you," he said softly. "It was a long time ago." She covered his hand with hers. "No it wasn't. Something like that is never far away." He looked into her beautiful eyes and realized he was in big trouble.