Books by Angelic Simone

Return for Mission Launch

Preview

Mashed potatoes, and purred peas and chicken. Young mother, Amber manages to gather tiny portions of all three foods into a tiny plastic spoon and places it near her baby girl’s mouth. The child pulls its head back but focuses her eyes on her mom unsure of what’s in front of her.

“Open wide, Joy.” Amber says and separates her top lip from her bottom. “Aaah.”

The child repeats the actions of her mother and receives the food with a sour expression after swishing it around in her mouth. Amber laughs and uses the tip of her index finger to wipe away smeared peas at the corner of the baby girl’s mouth.

“Look.” She licks away the food from her finger. “It’s not so bad.”

Amber gathers another soup of food onto the spoon and hears the doorbell ring just before pressing the helping up to her baby’s lips. She calls out for her husband who is sitting in the living room watching the nighttime news broadcast and severs Joy the final helping of her meal.

“Honey.”

Amber snaps her head towards the voice of her husband, Clayton. He stands at the kitchen entry way with one eyebrow raised high on his forehead. His eyes are wide, and his peachy complexion has gone pale.

Feeling a wave of anxiety Amber asks, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s for you.” Clayton says and uses this thumb to point towards the front entrance. “Three men in uniforms. They said it’s urgent that they speak to you.”

“Me?” Amber stands from the kitchen table and walks over to the sink. Her hands are trembling as she prepares a warm bottle for baby Joy and utilizes the time to allow her mind to run with frenzy on bad scenarios for the cause of the late-night visit. Men in uniforms could only mean two things. Someone has died, and they needed her to identity their body or her husband possibly committed a crime and the men, presuming to be investigators have come to ask her questions about his whereabouts on a certain day. As crazy at it may seem, it is the only reason for the suited visit. At least the only thing Amber’s mind could drum up.

She examines her husband face as she hands him a warm bottle. His looks uneasy as he keeps his eyes away from her, downward towards the floor and takes the bottle. The doorbell rings again and snaps Amber from her observation.

“After she’s done with the bottle, put her to bed.” Amber orders and leaves the kitchen. She quickly takes long strides through the living room. Joy’s toys scattered across the carpeted floor. Amber steps on a Lego and swears under her breath. The doorbell rings again indicating the visitors are in a haste.

“I’m coming!” She growls, twist the brass doorknob, and swings the entrance open to find exactly what her husband said. Two men stand in camouflage uniforms and one in a black suit in front of them. He steps forward, closer to the screen door and holds up a badge unfamiliar to Amber.

“Amber Wilson?” He says. She tightens her lips together and nods her head.

“I’m Ryan Gibbs. OGI agent for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. My apologies for the intrusion this evening, but we are here on important affairs and need to speak to you immediately on a classified subject. May we come in?”

Hesitant for a moment, Amber sighs and reaches for the screen door to remove the lock. She thinks of what was said to her as the three men let themselves into her tiny apartment. National Aeronautics and Space Administration? She ponders for the acronym. The men stop in front of the television. Their eyes scan the clutter in the crunched space. Toys are everywhere on every surface; a basket of folded clothing are on a sofa and there’s a bag of garbage near the entrance that’s causing a rotting smell to fill the condensed air.

“Please.” Amber moves that laundry and gestures the gentleman towards a worn out floral pattered sofa. “Have a seat. Sorry for the mess. I was just about to put my daughter to bed and clean up.”

She makes a mental note to scold Clayton about the trash she told him to take out an hour ago.

“No need for an apology, ma’am.” Gibbs says and remains standing.

Amber picks up one single large Lego from the ground feeling a sharp pain at the side of her abdomen. She rests her hand on the top of her protruding stomach when a realization suddenly hits her from her mind and travels down to her mouth. “You work for NASA.”

Gibbs nods. “Correct. Is there anyone else here besides the male who answered the door?”

“No.”

“To keep this information under confidentiality, I ask that he must exist this establishment until our meeting is over.”