[The day after the return from Boston - Morning after Zenya and Leo talk]
Jordan Stern turned his red Subaru into the parking lot at JEH. He'd bought the car while working in Boston. At the time, he needed to be able to drive in the snow. He recalled that the last time there had been significant snowfall in the Washington DC area, the Government had been shut down. The funny thing was that no one noticed.
He parked, got out of his car and began walking toward the building. A he walked past what seemed like rows of sport-utility vehicles. There's a Mercury Mountineer, he mused, I wonder when it was used for off-roading last.
Jordan entered the building and went through the usual maze of security, and took the elevator up to their office. Team ZULU had spent far more time out in the field than they had in the office between their mission in Santa Fe and their field trip to Boston. Jordan preferred to be busy, but all the time spent in the field made it hard to settle into any kind of routine. What he really needed was a little peace and quiet.
Jordan greeted Jenny as he walked past her desk. "Any messages?" he asked.
"Not even one," Jenny replied.
"I think that a person around here can gage their worth by how many people notice that they aren't around. Right now I feel fairly low in the pecking order."
Jenny laughed, "Don't feel bad, it's been a quiet few days."
Jordan smiled and walked into his office. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over the back of his "guest" chair. He fired up his computer and settled into his seat.
He began with a quick check of his e-mail. The second caught his attention. He stood and walked to the door of his office, "Jenny, did you get the mail about TD Peters?"
"I just read it."
Jordan frowned, "I'm going over to the hospital to see how he is."
"I'll let the rest of the team know where out are when they arrive."
***
[Saint Vincent's Hospital, Alexandria VA]
Jordan stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor and headed straight for the nurse's station, "Excuse me, I'm wondering where I can find a patient who was admitted recently."
"Name?" the nurse asked.
"Josh Peters."
"I'm afraid Mr Peters isn't being allowed visitors right now."
"Do you know what his condition is?" Jordan asked.
"I don't, but if you leave your name and number I can have the doctor call you later."
"That would be great," Jordan replied. He pulled out his card and handed it to the nurse. He turned to head back to the elevator when movement caught his eye.
A man of oriental descent was coming out a door down the corridor. He wore a grey pinstripe suit and looked familiar.
"Hey," Jordan called out.
The man looked at him and his face showed recognition. He turned and began to run down the corridor.
Jordan began to chase after him. He pulled out his ID and held it up, "I'm a Federal Agent and I order you to stop!"
They sprinted by a number of surprised looking patients, visitors and staff members. Jordan was slowly gaining on the fleeing man.
The man crashed through the fire door leading to the back staircase and began running down the stairs. He went down a flight before tripping and tumbling down half a flight of stairs. Jordan slowed in his pursuit and grabbed the fallen man by his lapels. As he hauled him to his feet, a gun suddenly appeared in Jordan's face.
"Now that I have your undivided attention Agent Stern," the man panted, "I'm want to impress something on you. In this line of work things are not always what they seem. The truth in like an onion with many layers between the outside and the center. The problem is that getting to the center often involves painful experience."
"I don't understand. The truth about what?"
"To put it simply, everything. You have just had an experience that you believe has put you very close to the truth, but I want you to think very hard about which layer of the onion you're at."
The man's fist rapidly approached Jordan's face, and the world went black.
NRPG:
Just a little interlude between missions. If anyone else has a mission idea (I've gotten then from Krister and Jeff) try to get it to me by Monday. Early next week I'll pick one and have the originato write up the mission briefing.
Jeff and Sydnie: Awesome postage.