by Alton Reich
Jordan Stern sat back in his chair tapping his cheek with the end of a pen and looking out over the streets of Washington. Spring had come early and the day was sunny and warm. The white cherry blossoms stood out against the green background of young leaves on the cherry trees planted along the streets.
His morning had been spent dealing with mundane administrative tasks, and now that he noticed what a nice day it had been, he was thinking of taking the afternoon off. He thought about what he would spend the afternoon doing and nothing came to mind. Somehow that made it more appealing.
The phone rang and Jordan started. It rang again before he tossed the pen on his desk and picked it up. "Stern."
[Agent Stern, I have something that might interest you,] a man said from the other end of the line.
"I have a wide variety of interests," Jordan replied.
[That's very good. It shows that you are a well rounded person. Meet me at the reflecting pool on the north side in 30 minutes.]
"I'll be there."
The phone went dead and Jordan pulled the reciever away from his ear. He looked at it for a few seconds before hanging it up. He stood and grabbed his jacket. He shrugged it on as he headed toward the office door.
On the way past he turned to Jenny, "I'm going out for a little while. I'll call in for messages if I'm going to be out long."
Jenny nodded and watched him head for the bank of elevators. She watched him get in and waited for the doors to close, then she picked up the phone.
***
Jordan walked briskly down 12th street and turned on to Madison Avenue. Half an hour would normally be ample time to get to the reflecting pool, but he didn't want to seem like he was in a hurry. He walked along the back side of the Museum of Natural History and paused to look at a poster hanging on the wall announcing the opening of a new wooly mamoth exhibit. He let several people pass by before continuing.
He reflected briefly on the level of paranoia generated by a simple phone call.
He crossed 14th Street and skirted around the short line of tourists waiting to get into the Washington Monument. The Monument was beautifuly reflected in the long, rectangular pool that lay on the far side, framed by the blue sky above.
He looked around and saw several people standing along the long, north side of the pool. Jordan noted their appearance and began to walk along the south side of the pool toward the Lincoln Memorial. When he reached the far side, he turned back. The people he had seen during his slow walk along the pool had been replaced by new faces, except for one.
Jordan walked back toward him and stopped next to him, looking into the refecting pool.
"You're a few minutes early, Agent Stern."
"My mother considered punctuality a virtue."
"I admire her," the man replied. He reached into his jacket pocket, causing Jordan to tense up, and pulled out a small envelope. He handed it to Jordan.
Jordan took it, opened it and pulled out several 3x5 photographs. He looked at the top one. It was a picture of the inside of an apartment, taken from a distance. He recognized one face immediately, Vanessa. It took a moment longer to recognize the man standing next to her, Christopher Starling.
The look of surprise must have registered because the man said, "We were surprised, too. We didn't expect him to be returned."
"I though he was dead."
"Some of us knew better from the beginning. His return should be considered a gift."
"And one should not look a gifthorse in the mouth?" Jordan asked.
"Normally, no, but I'm sure you're curious where he was?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't be?"
The man nodded.
Jordan looked back down at the photo. He heard the man walking off as he shuffled through them. He put them in his jacket pocket and walked back toward the office.
***
He returned to the team's office and dropped into the guest chair next to Martin's desk. He pulled the envelope from his pocket and Leo asked, "What'cha got?"
Jordan handed the pictures out, a few to each of them.
"That's Vanessa!" Martin exclaimed.
"And that's Chris," Zenya added.
"Interesting, huh?" Jordan replied.
NRPG:
Thanks once again to Sau Woon for jump starting another mission. I was struggling with what to do next when I finally read her last post.
So, the questions are: Where was Chris? and What was the purpose of having him vanish?
Chances are the answers won't be easy to find.