Mr. Carlson didn't like the reference Jerome used to describe his operation. He referred it to a ship that he was running like a captain. A better metaphor would have been to compare it to a house of cards. It's a house that he's been balancing for quite some time, and if one of those cards was removed, chaos was the result. It was something he had to forget for now as he got more details concerning what was going on. He paged his superiors with a code red less than a half hour ago and was waiting for their arrival. The last and only other time he made this alert was when one of the prisoners tried to escape and then contacted someone he knew in the press. He had already predicted that move and paid off the reporter to get his co-operation. So when the escapee attempted to make the call to report his situation, it was traced and he was apprehended that same day. It took less than forty-eight hours to bring him back in, but he wasn't so sure this time out. Edgar was no dummy and he was going to do what ever it took to avoid his men and get what he wanted.

Carlson was sure about one thing: as long as he had Jessica and Jerome in his custody, Edgar wasn't going to risk taking Mrs. Johnson to the press at the moment. He was going to have to find a way to contact Mr. Willis and try to work something out. Not only did Mrs. Johnson know a lot about the operation, the two agents watching the house knew even more. He had to get all three back to contain the situation. Carlson walked into a command center that was buzzing like a bee hive with agents on the phones, talking to contacts and trying to obtain as much information as possible. Carlson walked up to the front of the room and stationed himself in front of the main information screen.

"I need your attention, please." The people in the room slowly stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Carlson who had the floor.

"As of right now, we are on full alert." He reminded everyone, "It's one thing to have a resident disappear or attempt to run away, but as of right now this is our first kidnapping. Someone has stolen one of our residents with the sole intention of exposing our operation. Not only is the resident in their custody, eye witness accounts from the neighbors also indicate that two of our men watching the house have been taken as well. That's three of our people in someone else's custody. This is unacceptable! I want them found within the day and apprehended within forty-eight hours. Now let's make this happen!"

After addressing the room, he walked back into his office as the chatter and work seemed to intensify and buzz louder than before. The people were working the problem and were going to keep working 24/7 to appease him and his superiors. After taking a seat in his office, Mr. Smith followed him in, eager to share something with them.

"I need to pass something by you." Smith quickly spit out.

"What did you have on your mind?" Carlson said, trying to relax.

"Well, what gets to me is the kind of manpower Willis used to apprehend our men." Smith said, as he seemed to be on a roll. "The neighbors all state there were at least a dozen men, fully armed to the teeth and wearing full body gear. There's only one way he could have done that. Mercenaries. Not just any kind either. People he knows and has likely done business with before. He wouldn't trust this operation to just anyone."

"I agree." Carlson concurred, "Look into Willis' records again and search for someone that he's worked with that has both the manpower and the balls to pull something like this off. That should narrow the field for us."

"I'll get right to it." Smith responded as he closed his book pad and left the room.

Carlson took a few chill pills and tried his best to relax, until his phone buzzed. He picked it up, "Hello? Yes, of course. I'll be right there."

Carlson stood up, buttoned his jacket and then strolled through the door at the back of his office. It led to a secret chamber where three men were sitting and waiting for him to arrive. It had been less than forty five minutes since the page went out to all three of Mr. Carlson's superiors. As he entered the room for their briefing, he was unsure how they would react to the news. They didn't seem impressed being called away from whatever they were doing, but seemed concerned since Carlson rarely if ever set off this alarm.

The three men were sitting there, waiting for Carlson to get things rolling, "Report." one of them spit out just to make sure the meeting would start sooner than later.

"Around two this afternoon, someone disguised as a currier delivery man arrived to one of the homes of our residents." Carlson started, seeing if anyone would catch on, "As you are all well aware, we screen all incoming and outgoing mail. So anyone showing up at their door would be an imposter since we hand deliver all mail ourselves."

"Who was this person?" one of his superiors quickly asked.

"We are not sure, but highly suspect he was working for a private investigator that was hired to locate this particular resident. You received the report I filed about Edgar Willis last week. We suspect this man was working for him." Carlson waited for a few moments to let his bosses digest the information they were receiving.

"What happened next?" One of the other men asked, not even looking up from the report he was reading.

"The two agents assigned to watch the house attempted to apprehend the man, aware that his disguise was a hoax. The delivery boy was a decoy. According to witnesses who lived in the neighborhood, there was a group of heavily armed men inside the back of the delivery truck, waiting for our agents to attempt their apprehension." Carlson paused for a moment to take a sip from a glass of water, "It was an ambush."

"So their intent was to kidnap our people?"

"I don't think it was their prime objective." Carlson denied fairly confidently, "Obtaining our resident was their goal, so getting our men in the process was likely a bonus. I believe they suspected there was surveillance and prepared for it. There's the possibility they took our men merely to prevent them from calling in for backup too quickly. There's a chance we may find them dropped off somewhere soon if they are no longer needed."

"I highly doubt that." One of his superiors concluded.

Carlson looked over to the corner at the person who made that statement, "What makes you say that?"

The old man didn't look back up but shared his thoughts, "If this Willis fellow did take our people and the resident, do you think he'll let them go when he finds out that his own people have been taken?"

Carlson thought about it, "If he finds out before he disposes of them, then I doubt it. He'll keep them and use them for a trade, which brings us to what I think is the quickest way to get this situation under control. If this abduction was indeed conducted by Edgar Willis, who is our top suspect at this point, the two people we apprehended earlier today can be used as trade bait. I have a feeling that as long as we have his people here, he will not take what he has to the press and attempt to use the people he has to negotiate the release of his own people."

"A trade?" one of them said, now looking back up in utter shock, "Your idea to get our people back is a trade?"

"Prisoner exchanges have always been a good, quick and covert way to get people back that we don't want in enemy hands." Carlson explained, "It's worked for the military for decades, so it's a strategy that I think will work for us as well. Willis might have more chips than we do right now, but we still have something to bargain with. In my opinion, it's the best way to get our people and the resident back with the lowest risk to the organization."

The men didn't seem too keen on the idea but didn't protest.

"Proceed for now." one of the men said as he closed his briefing folder, "Open a negotiation with Willis and try to track him at the same time. If you are successful in organizing a trade, go with it and try to use that to apprehend everyone. But above all else, get this fixed. We'll take our recommendations to our superiors. We'll inform you of any changes should they be passed down from above. Understood?"

"Perfectly." Carlson acknowledged as he watched the three men stand up and file out of the room. This was as close as he would get to the people who were in charge of the operation. Sometimes he got curious about who really was at the top but gave in to the logic that it was best he never find out. Deniability is a beautiful thing...