For the Director of the CIA, the meeting with Summers, Donovan and San Marco was the most important of his tenure. Failure to convince the three to work for his agency was not acceptable.
He had his whitepapers on all three ready. The most damning of the three is the fact that Julia Summers' oldest daughter was not fathered by her late husband, yet Ryan Summers raised her as his own. Who the fifteen year old was fathered by, the Director could only guess. Shortly after her incarceration at the former Great Lakes Prison had to be the time Summers conceived her child. Whether is was a consentual act or an act of rape, the fact was that Mirielle Grace Summers was not her father's child.
Nikolai San Marco's seventeen year old daughter was being followed by the pro-Occupational group calling themselves the American Republic Movement. What the group's plans for Sandrina San Marco were was unknown. Apparently someone from the group had been caught trailing Sandrina's older brother, Matthias. Then there was the matter of Peter San Marco, the fifteen year old brother of Sandrina and Matthias. He was injured in a deliberate accident in February, and was currently undergoing intense physical therapy.
The most difficult information to obtain was for Jeremiah Donovan. He was a respected journalist, had no negatives about him such as libel suits, not was controversial. He wrote and reported the facts. His personal life was just as rigid as his professional life. He was married and had four children-- three daughters and a son. His wife was a resident at Loyola University Hospital. The only thing that the Director's staff could find on him was that his maternal aunt was a Regional Director working with the former Occupational government. She was long since deceased, killed by a sniper known as "The SpineSplitter". He and his brother, Joseph, who lived in Maine, were not close to this particular aunt.
The Director knew that all three of them; Summers, San Marco and Donovan, would initially say no to his proposal. Summers might be the most difficult to convince. San Marco had previously stated he would not entertain being recalled to active duty with the Army. Donovan would say no because of his journalism career and his family.
This is where the additional information about each would come in. It's hard to say no if someone's threatening your family, your friends, and your livelihood.
At least, the Director hoped so.
It was one of the rare days that Dr. Jasmine Donovan got to sleep in, at home, in her own bed. Her children knew this and with their father's permission, decided to go out for the day.
Adriana got her brother and sisters up early. They were going to go to the zoo, the Science Museum, and have lunch at Navy Pier.
"Come on, Arielle," Adriana fussed at her sister; "you're dragging your ass!"
Arielle, who was twelve, was trying to find something to wear. When she found something and put it on, her older sister said,
"Oh, no you don't Arie...Dad'll never let you out of the house looking like that!"
"I want boys to notice me, Adriana," Arielle whined;
"That outfit will get you nothing but trouble," Adriana said; "The rest of us aren't dressed like hoochie mamas. Now go change and don't make me get Dad. He's on deadline, then he's going out of town Sunday."
"Oh, okay..." and Arielle stalked off to her room to change.
When she returned, she looked like a normal twelve year old girl.
"That's better," Adriana said. "You look presentable and you won't embarrass Mom and Dad."
"Whatever," Arielle said.
Once everyone was in their parents SUV, Aaliyah asked,
"Why can't we bring Rachel, Adriana?"
"Because we don't spend enough time with each other," Adriana said. "Rachel can come next time, okay?"
"Okay," Aaliyah said, and buckled herself into her seat.
As the siblings drove towards the first of their destinations, they had no idea that they were being followed. They had just parked at the zoo when Adam noticed the same burgandy car that had been on the highway with them.
"That car I swear has been following us," Adam said. "It's weird."
"What car?" Adriana said, and saw her brother point in the general direction of the car he saw.
"Maybe they're just coming here as well, Adam," Arielle said; "No crime in that."
"It's just weird, Arie, that's all."
"I want to go see the animals!" said Aaliyah excitedly.
So off to see the animals they did; them and the two men tailing them.
Adriana brought her sisters and brother to the place at Navy Pier where they were going to have lunch, and she just couldn't shake the idea that they were being followed. Maybe Adam was right, she thought.
What she did see were the same two rough looking men popping up everywhere they went. The zoo; the Science Museum; and now at Navy Pier. Adriana thought it was much more than a coincidence. It was, to use her brother's word, "weird".
Adriana had gotten permission from her parents when she was fifteen to carry a small caliber handgun in her purse or bag. She never went anywhere, except to school, without it. So far, she never had to use it in self defense. But if these weird guys meant to harm her or the others, she'd have no problem using it. Her father, Uncle Nik, and Aunt Julia trained her, her siblings, and their cousins well. The only ones who didn't have the training were her sister Aaliyah and their cousin Rachel, because they were still too young.
Maybe I'm being paranoid, Adriana thought; but what if this is this "sixth sense" that Dad talks about all the time? If I ignore it, we all could be in a lot of trouble.
It would be in the parking lot back at the zoo that Adriana would get her answer.
"Shit, she's noticed us!"
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Well, fuck!" the older of the two men trailing the Donovan siblings said when he realized that his partner was right. "Stupid bitch! Being nosy's gonna get her in trouble."
"What do we do?"
"Let's head back to the car," the older man said; "They have to go back to the zoo to get their vehicle. We'll make ourselves known to them there."
As the two men made their way back to the zoo parking lot, Adriana Donovan was reminding her siblings that they needed to be home before it got dark.
"Let's head back to the car," said Adriana; she looked at her youngest sister, and she was about ready to fall asleep. "Aaliyah, you going to make it back to the car?"
"Yeah, Adriana," Aaliyah yawned. "Can I sleep in the car?"
"Sure, sis," Adriana said. "Just stay awake long enough to get there, okay?"
They hopped on the next shuttle headed back to the zoo.
"Adam, keep Aaliyah awake," Arielle said;
"I'm awake!" Aaliyah said.
Soon they arrived at the zoo and walked the short distance to the parking lot, where they found that their parents SUV was among a handful of cars remaining.
Including the one that Adam had seen on the way to the zoo earlier in the day.
"Let me do the safety check, then we can get in," Adriana said.
While her siblings waited, Adriana checked every inch of the vehicle for either unexpected passengers, or devices that could cause the car to have problems that were placed by other people.
Finding nothing, Adriana opened the car doors and her siblings got inside and buckled into their seats. Just as she was going to get into the driver's seat, a man approached her asking for help with his car.
"I'm sorry, sir," Adriana said politely; "I'm not allowed to help without my parents being here. You can call a tow truck for help."
"That's quite all right," the man said; "I understand. You're just trying to be careful. But I can convince you otherwise, Miss Donovan."
Before Adriana could ask how he knew her name, he pulled a gun. "Get in the car!" he ordered.
Adam was sitting in the front passengers seat watching all this happen. He knew his sister kept a gun in her bag, and got it out and slid it across the driver's seat to her as she tried to get inside the car.
She grabbed it and aimed it at the man holding a gun on her and he just laughed.
"You think that little old gun makes you big and bad ass?" he asked her. "You probably don't even know how to take the safety off."
Adriana took the safety off, cocked the gun, and said, "Wanna bet I don't?"
She then fired.
She hit the man in the shoulder and he staggered backwards. He looked as though he didn't believe a teenage girl just shot him.
"I don't know why you've been following us all day, Mister," Adriana said; "But the police will be here shortly to arrest you."
"I was asked to follow you," the man said, wincing in pain. "Your father is an enemy of our organization."
"What organization is that?" asked Adriana; "the American Association of Dumbfucks?"
"What a mouth you have on you, Miss Donovan!" he said.
"How do you know who I am?"
"We have ways of finding out shit about our enemies, Aaliyah."
Adriana laughed. "You jerks can't even get our names right. I'm not Aaliyah."
"Aaliyah's asleep," Arielle whispered to Adam.
The police drove up at that point and took the man away in an ambulance. An officer asked Adriana, Adam and Arielle questions. Aaliyah still slept.
"We'll have to call your folks," the officer told Adriana; "but there will be no charges brought against you, Miss Donovan. You were protecting your younger siblings."
Dad's going to be pissed, Adriana thought.
II
Pissed didn't even begin to cover the range of emotions that Jeremiah Donovan was experiencing after being called by the Chicago Police Department to say that all four of his children were at the station.
"Your oldest daughter had to shoot someone in self-defense, but other than that, they're not in trouble," the officer who called Jeremiah said.
"Do I have to come up there, or can they come home on their own?" Jeremiah asked the officer.
"After I hang up with you, Mr. Donovan, your kids will be free to go," the officer said; "One of your daughters had the foresight to take a picture of the man who accosted them, and he is known to us as a member of..."
Jeremiah interrupted; "Don't tell me, let me guess. The 'American Republic Movement'?"
"Yes, Mr. Donovan," the officer said; "Apparently he and another man, who got away, had been following your kids all over the city all day."
Jeremiah sighed; What the fuck is going on here? he thought; first Julia's daughter Miri is threatened; then Nik's daughter might be being tailed, and someone arrested near his son's apartment complex; now it's his kids turn to be harrassed by this fringe group of whackjobs?
"Send them home," Jeremiah said; "I'll talk to them when they get here."
"Very good," the officer said. He then ended the call.
Jeremiah needed a few moments to calm down. Jasmine had been up since two that afternoon, and she was doing other things in the house. She's not going to like this one bit, Jeremiah thought. I just might tell the fucking CIA yes to whatever offer they have because this is getting ridiculous. My kids, my family shouldn't have to be put in danger because of my past.
He then got on the phone to his researchers. "Find out everything you can about this group called the American Republic Movement. Websites, membership rolls, any media, arrests, lawsuits," Jeremiah said; "And if you can get it all together and in my email by Saturday evening, I'd be much obliged."
"We'll get right on it, Jere," the young woman on the other end of the line said; "Big exclusive?"
"Just might be, Haleigh," Jeremiah said; "Just might be."
Jeremiah's research team, a group of young reporters, not only found everything there was on the American Republic Movement, but had it emailed to him by Saturday morning. What Jeremiah read about the group further pissed him off, scared him, and got him on the phone to Nik and Julia.
"We need to talk about this group who has targeted us and our families," Jeremiah said; "These people are rabid about their cause to the point of fanaticism. They honestly believe wholeheartedly that getting us out of their way will make taking over the government easier."
"Jere," Nik said; "send me a copy of that. I'd like to read it and see what kind of shitstorm we're getting into."
"I think I know what kind of shitstorm we're getting into," Julia said, "if my experiences with them so far are any barometer."
"I'll send both of you copies of this," Jeremiah said. "These people are insane. That's the only word that comes to mind reading this stuff."
"We have that meeting with CIA on Monday," Nik said; "I makes me feel like I'm going to see the fucking executioner."
"I'm certainly not looking forward to it, that's for damn sure," Jeremiah said.
Julia said nothing, and both Nik and Jeremiah wondered what happened.
"Jules, you okay, sis?" asked Nik.
"Yeah," Julia said; "Just thinking about all the stuff we've been through in the last couple of weeks and wonder if the rest of our lives will be like that. Looking over our shoulders, protecting our families, having to keep a loaded weapon within reach even when we're sleeping. I thought we were done with this shit when the Occupation ended."
"You have a lot more to lose, Jules," Jeremiah said; "You're raising your kids on your own. I wouldn't blame you one bit if you told CIA to shove it up their ass."
"Oh, trust me, Jere," Julia said; "I'm going to tell them a lot more than that."
Go, little sister, both Nik and Jeremiah thought at the same time.
Oh, shit, the Director thought when he saw the printout of Jeremiah Donovan's email activity; he's got our number.
Donovan's emails read like he was angry about something. He got emails from his job about the American Republic Movement, and sent out copies of those emails to both San Marco and Summers.
More emails to other people asking for information regarding the Holdouts, about "The Triad", and about keeping his family safe.
The Director pulled a police report from Chicago that stated that a middle aged man approached Donovan's seventeen year old daughter, threatened her and her siblings, and when he tried to carjack her, she shot him. No charges were filed against the girl. The man was taken into custody and transported to the hospital's jail ward.
"This is why we need their expertise," the Director said aloud. "If this fringe group has no problem stalking teenagers, then stalking adults will be next. Not just anyone, but people this group sees as their enemies or traitors to the cause."
New information came to his desk about one of the three people he was going to meet with the following afternoon. This will shut them up, the Director thought. This is information that someone will want to keep under wraps.
The Director had his upper hand, so even if the three said no, he now had something on all of them.
He could threaten San Marco with a mandatory re-enlistment at his former rank.
He could impress upon Donovan that working for the agency would be in his family's best interest.
And Julia Summers? That was the coupe de gras. The Director now knew what her big secret was. It was something that not just anyone knew. Maybe three people besides the Director knew now. Her brothers, sisters, parents and closest friends didn't even know.
The Director sat back in his chair; It's good to have some pull, he thought.
Kimber had arrived at the house on Friday evening to watch over her nieces and nephew while Julia was out of town. She had been afraid to ask her boss at the Times-Tribune for a couple of days off, but once the situation was explained, her boss allowed her to take the time to help out her sister.
After all the kids were in bed Saturday evening, Julia was telling Kimber why she was going out of town.
"You're going to talk to the Director of the CIA, Jules?" asked Kimber, surprised. "I thought you were going to tell them to forget it."
"I have a bunch of questions I need to have answered, Kimber," Julia said; "So I decided I better go get some answers."
"Is this about the threats against Miri?"
"Partly," Julia said; "Without saying too much, there's a group of whackos who think that they want to stage a second Occupation. Apparently, they believe that Jere, Nik and I are in the way. To get our attention, they're targeting our families."
"Would Mom, Dad, Sam and John be at risk, too?" asked Kimber.
"It doesn't seem that they are, but that doesn't mean this group hasn't thought about harrassing the man who led to largest Resistance group during the Occupation," Julia said; "Perhaps you can call down to Austin while I'm gone and ask. Maybe call the American-Statesman while you're at it."
"That's a thought," said Kimber. "I just might do that, just to see what they know."
"I'll call Jacob when I'm back there, and see if he's heard anything," Julia said. "He still monitors that stuff. He did it for Christine while she was the Interim President."
"How's he doing, Jules?" asked Kimber. "I know he took Christine's death really hard."
"He has good days and bad days, just like I do," Julia said. "His health is iffy, but with all he's been through, I think he thinks he's lucky to still be alive."
"That's true," Kimber said. "He's still a pretty tough guy."
"That he is," Julia said.
Sunday finally arrived and three people were filled with dread. None of them wanted to hear that their assassin skills were being required by the government they spent their teenage and early adult lives trying to put back into power and ending the Occupation.
Julia, Nik, and Jeremiah all said goodbye to their families and headed to O'Hare to catch a flight to Washington, D.C.; Natasha would meet them at the airport and put them up at her home near Georgetown.
They were the only passengers in first class. Julia wondered what made them so damn special. She just wanted to do her job, raise her family and live as normal a life as possible, given who she was. Her immediate need was sleep. She had slept poorly the night before, tossing and turning, unable to turn her thoughts off long enough to fall asleep.
Nik was writing a report for work about the need for better employee productivity. Soon, he'd put his tablet computer away and read the four magazines he'd bought before going through security at the gate.
Jeremiah was dashing off one final email to Jasmine before the plane took off. Jasmine asked him to "please be careful".
It was explaining to his editor why he needed to take three days off that was the hard part. They had discussed it at length, and Jeremiah thought he could get a story about this fringe group, without explaining his inadvertant involvement with them.
"You know what I did as a young man," Jeremiah had explained; "and I don't think this is a belated thank you for my services to the Cause. All I know is that when the Director of the CIA asks you to visit, you can hardly turn them down."
His editor, a surly older man named Rogers, agreed. "Do I smell a third Pulitzer for you, Jeremiah?"
"Hardly," Jeremiah said; "that smell is the bullshit that Washington pumps out on a regular basis. I just go clean up their messes."
"The pen is mightier than the sword, Jeremiah," Rogers reminded him.
"Yeah, maybe," Jeremiah said; "I hope I don't have to test that saying any time soon."
However, on the plane, all three were deep in thought; and not necessarily about their impending meeting with the CIA.
Julia had fallen asleep. Nik was reading something in Time; and Jeremiah was looking out the window, wondering what he and his brother and sister were about to get into.
III
The plane touched down at Reagan National with little fanfare. Julia had managed to sleep the entire ninety minutes and finally felt refreshed. She was ready to give the CIA holy hell.
All three grabbed their carry-ons and deplaned.
Once in the terminal, it was still a bit of a walk to the waiting area where Natasha would be to pick them up, then pick up their luggage.
Natasha wasn't hard to spot. She had shoulder length white-blonde hair (during the Occupation, she had died it black), stood six-two, and wore jeans and a loose t-shirt.
Nik saw her and as soon as he was within arms length, he picked her up, swung her around and said, "Tash! It's so good to see you!"
"Whoa little brother, take it easy!" Natasha said, laughing, as Nik put her down. "It's good to see you, too!"
Natasha then hugged Jeremiah, then Julia.
"Aunt Runt is here," Julia joked. Of the four of them, she was the only one who wasn't over six feet tall. She was barely five-foot-three.
"You look good Julia," Natasha said; "Love the new hair, by the way. It suits you better than that short shag or whatever it was you wore until recently."
"Ryan liked it, that's why I kept it," Julia said. "But I like this. Not so pixie-ish."
"But you're still 'fun-sized'!" Jeremiah joked.
"Okay, okay," Nik said; "Let's not give Jules a hard time for something she can't help."
"Thanks, Nik, but it is what it is," Julia said; "I'll bet Tash's twins are taller than me!"
"They are, Julia," Natasha said; "Vixen is five-eight and Nikky is five-eleven."
"At twelve?" asked Nik. "Damn! More six footers. Sorry, Jules."
"I'm not worried about it," Julia said; "Let's go get our bags and get out of here!"
Once at Natasha's, the three visitors greeted Sandrina, Danica, and Natasha's twins.
"Danica, I didn't know you'd be here," Jeremiah said to his niece. "How's your mom and dad and Kendria?"
"Everyone's good, Uncle Jere," Danica said; "Kendria got a service dog right before I left to come here. His name is Boat."
"Why 'Boat'?" asked Julia.
"Because that's what the people who trained him called him," Danica said; "It's kind of a dumb name, but he helps Kendria out a lot."
"Why are you guys here?" asked Sandrina.
"We have a meeting with the Director of the CIA tomorrow afternoon," Nik told his daughter. "We have no idea why, but we've been doing a lot of speculation about it."
"Oh," said Nikky, "like having to see the principal but not knowing why."
"Something like that," Nik told his namesake nephew.
Natasha showed everyone to their rooms and left them to get settled. She stayed on in Julia's room because she had something to ask her.
"Julia, Sandrina thinks someone is following her," Natasha said; "I know she's not prone to making things up. I think it's that sixth sense that we all have because of our training."
"She could be right, Natasha," Julia said. "Someone was stalking the summer camp I sent Zach and Rachel to. And for some weird reason, Miri is getting death threats. She doesn't understand why, and I'm at a loss as to what to tell her."
"Could it because whoever's making the threats want to get your attention?" asked Natasha.
"That's what I think," said Julia. "But why be so chickenshit about it? If someone has a problem with me because of my past, why don't they contact me and not a fifteen year old girl?"
"Could that be part of the reason you guys were asked to come to Washington?" Natasha asked.
"I don't know, Tash," Julia said; "This meeting's been move up once and moved back once. I have no idea what they want from us. If it's what I think it is, I'm planning to say no."
"What might that be?"
"That they want us to work for them as assassins," Julia said.
"I'd tell them no," Natasha said; "They tried to get me to stay by throwing my past at me; I called them on it because they had all that shit in my personnel files. I had a security clearance, they had to do a background check. They found out all kinds of shit about me. Even stuff about mine and Nik's biological parents was fair game. So using the fact that I was a child prostitute and an assassin against me was stupid."
"They've probably already done something like that on all three of us," Julia said; "I have some pretty heavy secrets to hide. Stuff that not even my parents know. I'm almost prepared for that to happen tomorrow."
"You know that if there's anything you want to get off your chest, Julia," Natasha said, "I'm here to listen."
Julia considered that for a moment, then said, "Thanks, Tash, for the offer, but I'm good. If there is anything, you'll be the first person I call."
"Well, I have something I need to get off my chest, Julia," Natasha said; "Something that I've carried for almost thirteen years."
"Okay, Tash," Julia said; "What is it?"
Natasha took a deep breath and let it out slowly; "I know who the twins' sperm donor is."
"I thought that stuff was confidential, Natasha," Julia said. "How did you find out?"
"In this case, I knew in advance," Natasha said; "Remember the guy who dropped dead on me the day the Occupation ended?"
"Yeah," Julia said; "While you were having sex. I remember."
"His name was Doug Frey," Natasha said; "he was the 'special friend' of Lane Sizemore. While I was distracting him for you, we talked for a while before we went to his place to have sex. He had mentioned that he had donated sperm and gave me the card for the place. When I was sure that I wanted to have children, I went to this place, mentioned Doug's name, and handed them the card he'd given me. Within twenty-four hours, I was inseminated with his sperm. Six weeks later, I got a positive pregnancy test."
"Who did you put down as the father on their birth certificates?" asked Julia.
"Deceased," Natasha said; "Because he was. I saw no reason to put his name down."
Julia wasn't surprised that Natasha had kept this to herself for such a long time. Natasha, even when she was known as Vixen, was not one to unburden herself. "Why are you telling me this now, Natasha?" she asked.
"Because though the kids know the circumstances of how they came to be, they're asking questions I'm not comfortable answering," Natasha said.
"About sex?" asked Julia.
"Yes, about sex," Natasha said; "You know me, I don't shrink back from a challenge, but answering questions about sex is something I really know nothing about, given my history."
"Talk to their doctor, Tash," Julia said; "even I had a little trouble explaining sex. The talk with the pediatrician armed me with lots of information. There are some excellent books out for preteens about sex, love, committment, and stuff like that. I think it's called The Preteen's Guide to Sex, or something like that. I bought a copy for Miri when she was eleven, and she gave it to Jaime later. They both liked it."
"I'll look into that, Julia," Natasha said; "talk to the doctor and that book. And maybe the doctor has other suggestions."
"There you go!" Julia said; "But that Doug Frey thing... that caught me off guard."
"I kinda liked the guy in the short time I was with him," Natasha said; "I got a feeling that he and I were on the same wavelength. Maybe I could have learned more about him had he not up and died on me...literally!"
IV
After a decent night's sleep and breakfast with the household, Nik, Jeremiah and Julia had a pow wow in Julia's bedroom. They wanted to be a united force that could also stand on each person's merits. During her talk with Natasha the night before, Julia learned that the current Director liked to separate groups of people to get the members take on certain events.
"We need to be able to stand up to this guy alone, as well as a group," Julia said. "No doubt that he's going to test our loyalties to one another."
"He'll also have something about each of us that we don't know that he knows," Nik said; "Tash told me that months ago when he tried to get her to stay on with the Agency after she turned in her resignation."
"That's dirty pool," Jeremiah said; "I know there are things about each of us that the others don't know, and personally, I don't want to know now. If you've kept it to yourself this long, then it must not be that awful."
Julia looked at her brothers, thinking, oh I have a huge secret, and it dies with me.
"Natasha told me that, too," Julia said; "that the Director will have probably dug up some dirt on all of us. And Jere, you're right; I don't want to know, either, if you two have any deep, dark secrets. I have suspicions, but I keep those to myself. And not just about you guys, but about other people, too."
"So, we're prepared for this walk into the flames of hell?" Nik asked
"As ready as I'm ever going to be," Julia said; "Though I will admit I'm a bit nervous."
"Let's go and get this shit over with," Jeremiah said; "I have work to do."
"Remember," Natasha was saying as Nik, Jeremiah and Julia waited for the car that was being sent to bring them to the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia; "this guy plays hardball. Don't fuck with him. He's going to try and trip you up every which way. I know you guys can handle it." She paused, then said, "And tell the Director I say hello."
"Oh, were you two bosom buds?" Nik teased his sister.
"Only in his dreams, Nik," Natasha said; "I probably caused him more headaches than any woman alive!"
Julia had to laugh at that. She could see Natasha turning down a date with the guy.
The car arrived and the three of them got inside and drove off. Natasha stayed outside until the car rounded the corner onto the main road. As she turned to go back into the house, she thought, God, let this go well and they don't get caught in the Company's trap.
She then saw movement in the bushes leading into the back of the house where the dining room was. I hope that was just the meter reader and not someone intent on doing harm, she thought as she quickly ran back into the house.
Natasha grabbed one of the guns hidden around her house and went toward the backyard. She then saw who had disturbed the bushes out front.
A stray dog. Natasha just had to laugh and think to herself, paranoid much, Vixen?
The drive took about thirty minutes, and the car let them off at the main entrance to the CIA building. They just looked at each other, all of them clearly nervous.
"Well, gentlemen, this is it," Julia said as she got out her Homeland Security ID with her legal name on it; "Welcome to hell. It gets a tad warm."
Once inside, the walked over the Agency's logo embedded into the floor. They approached a reception desk, where Jeremiah identified the three of them as having an appointment with the Director at 2pm.
"Right this way," a man said who seemingly materialized from out of nowhere; "The Director is expecting you."
They followed the man to a waiting area and were told that the Director would be with them shortly.
Not ten minutes later, the Director himself came out of his office to greet them.
"Mrs. Summers, Mr. Donovan, Mr. San Marco. So glad you could make it. We have much to discuss. Please come with me."
Jeremiah's thought as he and the others walked into the Director's office was, I hope we aren't really walking into the bowels of hell.
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