CHAPTER 1

July 17th, 8:06 AM
Spring Glen Apartments, Room 4E

John Porter opened his eyes to the plain white ceiling. The room was quiet. He had discarded his alarm clock long ago, as his biological clock had taken over his sleeping patterns. For a moment he smiled, expecting to look to the side and see his lover next to him, but the smile faded as he remembered going to bed alone. She was half way around the world.
***
His coffee was bitter, as usual. He dumped the last half of his mug in the sink and headed for the door. He paused at the mirror to look himself over. His suit fit his muscular build well, his short dark hair gelled just enough to keep it in place. He stared into his own dark eyes for a moment and took a breath- but he didn’t want to be late for work again. The hierarchs at the Bureau had seemed to be watching him more closely lately.
***
July 17th, 9:14 AM
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Office Block B

The sensors had gone off again. And again, the security center had to search him. Of course they did…he was late again. They should be over it by now, but they insisted on using that hand-held metal detector that he hated. The worst part about it was that every time the sensor alarms went off, it did nothing but remind him of why they went off in the first place.

Three years ago, John and his partner, Rebecca Mitchell, went on their first assignment together. It was part of a routine background check at a civilian woman’s house that should have taken no more than ten minutes- ask a few questions, get some information, and perhaps fill out some paperwork when they got back. It had gone along fine at first, until the woman’s son freaked out at the presence of the FBI. Having recently been involved in the theft of a few televisions from a local electronics store, he assumed John and Rebecca had come to arrest him, and subsequently ran out of the house yelling. John had chased the child, caught up with him, and brought him to the ground, but the boy got hold of a rock and made contact with John’s head.

The thief was arrested and placed in a work program for underage criminals, and John spent the next three weeks in a hospital getting a 2” metal plate put in his head to bandage his cracked skull. The Bureau knew this of course, but orders were to check anyone and everyone who set off an alarm. And John set it off every day.

He was soon past the checkpoint and nearing his and Rebecca’s office. Maybe Howell hadn’t seen him come in late. Maybe he could edit his timesheet. Maybe he-

John stopped. In the far corner of the office area was a glass-walled soundproof briefing room where all the high-importance meetings were held. Normally this room was empty. But today, John counted no less than six people in it. One of them, in front of the others, was Victor Howell, Director of Counterintelligence for the Bureau. His boss. He also recognized Rebecca even though she faced away from him- her shiny brown hair neatly cropped around her neck- and a few other fellow Agents. They turned their heads. Howell was looking at him.

John turned and jogged into his office. How had he missed a meeting? The others never got called to a conference without him, especially his own partner- he outranked every Agent in that room. It must have just been called this morning. He cursed to himself, pacing his office. Why did he always have to be late? And what was so important that they called an emergency conference, without even waiting for him?

“Hey John.”

He didn’t have to turn to know who was standing in the doorway, but he did so eagerly.

“Rebecca, what’s going on?” He asked quickly, then added as an afterthought, “Am I in trouble?”

Her tone was unnaturally calm. John knew she usually had no problem taking control of a situation or giving orders in her regular commanding way, but she seemed different suddenly. “No, you’re not in trouble,” she replied, “but Victor wants to talk to you. He just wants to give you the details, like he did for the rest of us, but he wanted you to hear it from me first.”

He was suddenly more scared than nervous. “Hear what?” He stared back at her, but she didn’t respond. “Hear what?”

“Agents 39 and 40 didn’t report back to their scheduled pick-up this morning.”

John was silent for a moment. Then he whispered, “Jade.”

“Howell ordered an exact GPS recon, but no signals came back. They…must have turned their trackers off.”

There was more silence. John had a hundred questions, but he knew Rebecca had already told him everything she knew. They never kept anything from each other.

“Howell’s waiting for you in the briefing room.”

John took one last look at her, nodded, and slowly moved forward. “Thank you.” Turned them off? No Agent turned off their locaters, even in the hands of the enemy. They simply discarded them, or placed them somewhere to help the Bureau find them. There was no need worry. Not yet. Jade was the best Agent alive. She had never failed a mission, not even in training. Her record was perfect. She was the most intelligent person he knew. Sure something went wrong, but nothing she couldn’t get out of…he hoped. He arrived at the briefing room.

Howell stood behind a podium, looking over some papers. Victor Howell was an older man, at least 70, though John had never asked him his age. Much of his hair was gone, but the ring that circled his head was nearly white. He was slightly overweight, but had the look of a man who was once strong and agile. He had served in his early FBI days as an Agent himself, designated Agent 25, and was one of the few agents to survive through his entire career and remain fit for work in the FBI. He looked up and removed his thin glasses as John entered.

John stood still, hands behind his back. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Porter, yes, have a seat.”

“I’d prefer to stand, sir.”

The director looked at him with worry in his eyes. Howell was the kind of man who believed relationships could be placed aside when other important matters were involved, but he also respected his Agents- he had, after all, hand-picked every one of them. “Very well. Mitchell told you what happened?”

“She told me we’ve lost contact with Agents 39 and 40, sir.” He kept his voice steady.

“That’s correct. That’s the bad news. The good news is, I’ve already submitted another mission order to the boys upstairs. They’re allowing a search and rescue. Agents will be shipping out at 1400 hours.”

“Very good, sir,” John said, anticipation creeping into his voice, “I’ll be ready.” He turned and started back to his office.

“Porter.”

Howell’s voice had hardened suddenly, causing John to jump slightly. He turned back to face his superior. “Sir?”

“I’m not finished.” He paused before giving the worst of the news. “You won’t be joining the others on this mission. Agents 42 through 46 will be executing it without you. You’re to remain in the office until further notice. Dismissed.”

John didn’t move. He was almost too overwhelmed simply because Jade was MIA, but for him to be denied the chance to look for her… “Sir-”

“I’m sorry, Porter. Dismissed.”

John took a quick breath, gave a curt nod, and started again toward his office. Rebecca was still there. She was sitting on his desk, looking relaxed, although for an Agent, “relaxed” still involved a straight back and tense muscles. John had grown used to seeing women “at attention,” since most of his life revolved around his work and his fellow Agents, but that look never seemed to fit his partner. Even with her impressive muscles and toned body, she still looked to John like she should be a stay-at-home mother. It must be, he assumed, the care he always saw in her eyes. She spoke first. “Anything I can do for you?”

John was still in shock. It didn’t make sense. He was one of the best Agents Howell had. Why wasn’t he allowed to go?

As if reading his thoughts, Rebecca continued, “He thinks your relationship with Jade will endanger your judgment, should anything go wrong.”

“You’re going?”

She was silent for a moment. “Yes.”

“I’m your partner. No Agent has ever gone on a mission without their partner.”

“I know you’re not going to like this, but…I agree with him.”
His eyes widened. “Becky-”

“You love her, Jonathan. And I know what that’s like. It can change the way someone thinks, regardless of whether or not they think it can. Jade is an amazing Agent, and a close friend. I don’t know many people like her. And Evan is lost out there too. We owe it to them to do everything we can to get them back. God knows how many times they’ve saved our lives. Yours and mine. I abhor the notion of leaving without you, but…”

“You know me better than this, Becky. Yes I’m scared to death that something’s happened to her, but you know as well as I do that you and I make a better team than Noah and Ben or Ethan and Faith. We could do this alone for God’s sake.”

“John. As your friend, I wish there was a way you could come. But as your second-in-command and a fellow officer, I have to agree with Howell. I won’t fight for this.” She was quiet for a moment before looking deep into his eyes and repeating, “I won’t fight for this.” Her fingers, which were spread out on the desk, twitched slightly. Over the years of working together, John and Rebecca had gotten to know each other better than any of the other teams. The slightest “unnatural” movement always meant something. And Rebecca wasn’t one to twitch.

She got off his desk and moved around to her own. She sat and opened a file Howell had given her. John looked back to his desk, where her fingers had been. There was a small folded piece of paper there. She didn’t look up at him for a while.