September 9th, 2017

8 pm, Smith Household, Key West, Florida

“Dinner is ready!” Yuki Smith shouts from the kitchen.

“I will be there soon.” Max Smith responds from the living room.

Max’s attention is on the living room TV. On it are two local reporters discussing the day's news.

“FBI Director, Don Bridges, said quote No matter where those terrorists are hiding, the FBI will bring them to justice!” The male reporter says.

“It’s good to hear the FBI is on the case but it would have been better if they were aware of the threat before it happened.” The female reporter says.

“The terrorist group, True Justice, claiming credit for the attack is apparently less than 3 months old, according to our sources. So it would be hard for any intelligence organizations to have known about them.” The male reporter says, “Afterall, they aren’t omnipresent.”

“Then what are they using our tax dollars for?” The female reporter retorts with a snort, “Still, we are lucky the death count was only one.”

“Yes, Alena Smith.” The male reporter says, “I attended her funeral. Quite moving.”

Max Smith tunes out the rest of the broadcast at the mention of Alena’s name. His mind retreats into a reel of memories of his only child, Alena, who is now deceased. Max remembers all the things parents remember that kids forget. First steps. First words. First day at school. First graduation. So many firsts have now been reduced to only one last for she is gone forever.

“Our food’s getting cold.” Yuki says as she wraps her arms around Max from behind.

“Oh.” Max says as he wakes from his reverie.

“Come on, I won’t eat without you.” Yuki says as she reaches for the TV remote, turning it off.

“Yes, dear.” Max says, rising from his chair, “First the toilet, I will only be a minute.”

“It’d better be.” Yuki says, releasing Max from her grasp, “Or I will come in after you.”

Max finally cracks a smile as he heads to the toilet. Once through, he locks the door behind him then turns on the tap thus filling the air with sounds of running water. He pulls the first drawer under the sink, clears away the miscellaneous items then lifts up a corner of the floor of the drawer in a smooth manner. Lying inside is a ziplock bag with a disassembled Nokia 3310.

Max pulls out the cell phone, simply puts in the battery then powers on the phone. Max quickly squishes the phone against his pants, muffling its wake up sound. Once that’s done, Max checks the phone. Seeing the black signal bars fill up the left side of the phone’s tiny rectangular green screen, Max navigates the rubbery arrow keys to the Menu then goes to Messages. He opens up a blank message, types in a phone number that starts with +7 in the To field. In the message space, he types in an email address and then presses send.

Max sees the message sent confirmation screen then proceeds to remove the battery from the phone and returns the disassembled phone back into the ziplock bag. The ziplock is restored in the false space beneath the drawer floor, which gets covered then hidden with random items. Max closes the drawer, washes his hands then shuts off the tap. Max looks at himself in the mirror, noticing his face had been neutral the entire time. He slaps his cheeks, forcing a more relaxed expression before drying his hands with a towel and exiting the bathroom.

Yuki’s forces a resting smile upon her depressed face when she hears the toilet door open up.

***

“Really, Bridges?” President Gertrude Pond says with air quotes, “You'll bring em to justice.”

“That quote sounds too brash out of context, ma’am.” FBI Director, Don Bridges, says.

“I think it captures you perfectly.” CIA Director, Nick Jones, says with a clear smile.

President Gertrude Pond, Director Don Bridges, and Director Nick Jones are on a 3-way video conference call from 3 different locations in the same time zone.

“This old woman needs her beauty rest so make your reports quick.” President Pond says.

“Well, I finally completed the debrief from the HRT.” Bridges says, “Their Team Leader, Iglesias, expressed his belief in the connection between Team Six and the terrorist attack on Key West.”

“FBI, you do train your agents well.” POTUS says, “Jones, fill him in. It’s his investigation now.”

“Ma’am.” Jones says, “Director Bridges, I can confirm the rumors that Team Six was indeed on Naval Air Station Key West during the attacks. I can also confirm that… Team Six were killed during the attack. Furthermore, I speculate that the elimination of Team Six was the goal of the terrorists and their backers all along with the President’s granddaughters merely bait.”

“Team Six was the goal… That aligns with what Iglesias speculated.” Bridges says then he pauses and asks, “But Team Six, dead? Really? But the death count mentioned only one.”

“The president authorized the death count.” Jones says with a sigh, “I saw their bodies myself. Rather, the pieces that could even be found. I escorted their corpses to the crematorium.”

“My agents have heard rumors of you leaving the base in a van containing contractor corpses.” Bridges says, “I can’t believe they are really gone… That he is actually gone.”

“Despite our clashes, he was a good man.” President Pond says, “And he kept his promise.”

“They all did.” Jones adds, “We can’t even hold funerals for them.”

Silence falls for a minute until Bridges says, “My team has been unable to access the evidence.”

“That’s probably because the evidence was lost.” Jones says, “All the evidence was destroyed.”

“What!? How?” Bridges exclaims.

“By the terrorists, or their backers.” Jones says, “I don’t know how they bypassed our measures. They even rescued their only captured operative from my custody while we were in flight.”

“And you couldn’t stop them?” Bridges asks.

“They kindly knocked out my team and I.” Jones says, “One moment I was suddenly drowsy, the next I woke up to find the prisoner gone and the evidence destroyed. They even bypassed our military escort. Satellites showed no activity in the area so it remains a mysterious case.”

“You’ll also be investigating that, Bridges.” President Pond says, “Figure out whatever gizmo the terrorists used to bypass our top security apparatus. You’re authorized to liaison with any Military Intelligence agency to solve that investigation.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bridges says, “True Justice is sounding less like a small-time terrorist group and more like a sophisticated organization that has somehow evaded our radar.”

“Until now.” Jones says, “And their first strike decapitated our most effective Spec Ops team.”

“Well, I’m getting sleepy here gents.” President Pond then proceeds to ask, “What’s the preliminary analysis on this Avenger? How come this is the first I’m hearing about him?”

“I hate to say it but it’s like he appeared from thin air, ma’am.” Bridges responds.

“I concur with Bridges.” Jones adds in, “He and his group are just too new.”

“When the media knows more about a new threat than the world’s best intelligence and investigative agencies…” President Pond ponders.

“We will get right on it, ma’am.” Both men say in unison.

“Well what can you currently tell me about his message, Jones?” President Pond asks.

“His knife in the shadows part probably refers to Team Six.” Jones answers as he rubs his chin, “As for his future plans, we aren’t sure yet.”

“Hmm. Bridges?” President Pond asks.

“His M.O seems… flashy.” Bridges says, “His announcement was almost like the last one.”

“And Fire got the last one but he isn’t here to stop this one.” President Pond says with a sigh.

“We’ll root him out eventually, ma’am.” Jones says, “We always do.”

“Good.” President Pond says, “With Team Six down, even I can see the oncoming storm. So you two better buckle up pronto. Our enemy has struck first and we must strike back.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Both men say.

“If that is all, I’m off to bed.” President Pond says.

“Good night, Madam President.” Both men say. The President’s image goes dark.

“Oh, Jones.” Bridges quickly says just as Jones is about to click off.

“Yeah?” Jones asks.

“My agents report that you had an asset active during the terrorist attack…” Bridges says.

“I did.” Jones affirms.

“Details?” Bridges asks.

“Compartmentalization.” Jones says, “Good night, Bridges.”