"Auggie, could you step in here for a minute?" Joan asked as she caught Auggie walking down the hallway, cup of coffee in hand.

"What's up?" he asked as he followed the sound of her footsteps into her office.

"Door…"

Auggie closed the door behind him and took a few steps toward Joan's desk.

"Just got a report from a walk-in, I think it might be actionable, but I want you to look into it. Quietly."

"Okay," Auggie said slowly while taking the file folder that Joan brushed against his left hand. Setting his coffee on the desk, he opened it and examined the Braille documents inside for a moment, before closing it again.

"Helen Rentmeester of Oakton sent her grandson in to see us. She thinks there's something strange going on in her neighborhood. New neighbors, lots of deliveries, lots of traffic at all hours."

"Drug house?"

"Maybe, if so we'll give it to the DEA, but she says the new neighbors are of Middle Eastern descent."

"I'm on it," Auggie tucked the folder under his left arm and turned toward the door.

"Quietly," Joan reminded him, "If this is actionable, I don't want our bad karma ruining it."

Arthur Campbell had been the Director of Clandestine Services for nearly two years, but he still got a pit in his stomach every time he got called to the office of the Director of National Intelligence. He paced the reception area, going over what he was sure the conversation was going to be in his head. Steve Baylor was going to want to know why so many operations had gone sour and what he was doing to get in front of the situation. At this point Arthur didn't have an explanation and he wished he did.

"Arthur, come on in," Steve Baylor greeted the DCS from the door to his office. "Got a fresh pot of coffee if you want some," Steve motioned to the small table by the door as Arthur walked inside.

"I know what you're going to ask me," Arthur said, "What the hell is going on?"

"About sums it up," Steve said as he joined Arthur at the expansive conference table.

"I really wish I knew," Arthur began the speech he'd rehearsed in his head in the shower that morning, "It seems like everything we touch is going to hell right now. It's almost like someone is one step ahead of us."

"How can it be, the leak is on trial as we speak."

"I know; that's what makes this so damn frustrating."

"You've got a security problem, Arthur," the tone of Steve's voice told Arthur that he was fed up with the bullshit that was happening at the CIA. "You need to get in front of this. Now."

"Understood."

"I don't care what methods you use. You're the damned CIA, be sneaky, but figure it out."

Jai took a deep breath as he pulled open the doors to the Langley headquarters; somehow his entrance into the building each morning seemed like a weird combination of a perp walk and a freak show. Everyone seemed to be staring at him and whispering about him. He hated it. He hated coming to work each day and most of all he hated his father for creating this mess.

"Jai…" Annie said as she walked faster to catch up to him.

"Be careful," Jai tried to unsuccessfully to hide his sarcasm.

"Of what?" Annie asked falling into step with him.

"Me. You might catch what I've got."

"You're sick?"

The two of them rounded the corner of the main hallway and continued to the entrance of the DPD. "No, but I might as well have the plague."

"You're just being sensitive."

"Am I?" Jai asked. "It's amazing how easy it is to fall from grace around here. With one fell swoop of my father's ego, I went from CIA royalty to an ogre in no time flat."

"They'll get over it," Annie said as Jai opened the DPD office door for her. "Or you could always change your name."

"I'm sure I have a NOC identity I could pull out," Jai smiled at her, she always managed to lighten his mood.

"Coffee?" Stu asked Auggie as he stood up from his desk.

"Yeah, sure, thanks." Auggie was distracted when he answered.

"Hi Joan," Stu greeted his director as he passed her in the doorway.

"Anything?" Joan asked as she slid the door to Tech Ops office closed behind her.

"Maybe…" Auggie answered sliding his headphones down and turning toward Joan.

"435 Pine Street was in foreclosure two months ago. Purchased at a sheriff's auction by someone named Gerald Baker. On the surface it doesn't seem so bad, until you get to the utility bills. The name on the power and water bill is Ali Mohammed."

"You think they're the same person?"

"Could be," Auggie continued, "I hacked into the UPS system."

"Auggie…."

"I carefully hacked into the UPS system. Lots of the packages arriving at that address are coming out of south Florida."

"The Port of Miami is notoriously porous," Joan surmised.

"My thought exactly."

"Good work. We're going to keep this one quiet. I'll read Arthur in, but it's me, you Annie and Jai. That's it for now. Give me twenty minutes and meet me in my office."

Julie could tell by the posture of her boss that the meeting at the DNI's office was not a friendly breakfast; yes, Arthur was on the warpath. Again.

Arthur stopped in front of Julie's desk and picked up the hand written messages on pink paper. He glanced at them and then turned his gaze to his assistant. "I want to meet with Bill, Ken, David and Joan. Individually this morning. Don't let them give you any 'I'm busy' bullshit."

"Got it, but I don't have to call Joan. She's in your office," Julie told him as he swung open the door to his office.

"Morning," Arthur greeted his wife as he tossed his suit jacket on a conference table chair.

"I take it the meeting with Steve went the way you thought it would," Joan said from her seat at the conference table.

"He's pissed, and rightfully so. I'm pissed. I can't believe that I've had to deal with this twice in the last year. It's almost like I wasn't supposed to take this job," Arthur answered as he sank into a chair across from his wife.

"I don't think that's it."

"He wants me to get to the bottom of this. Hell, I want to get to the bottom of this!"

"We will get to the bottom of this." Joan reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Arthur looked at his wife; she always knew what to say to him. "So, why were you waiting for me?"

"We got some intel from a walk-in this morning, I had Auggie check it out, and I think it's actionable."

"Good."

"But I don't want to let everyone in on it, it could be a serious issue and I don't want it to end up like the last few ops," Joan explained.

"Do what you need to do." Arthur sighed; he didn't have time to micro-mange this or anything else right now. "I trust you. And right now, you're the only one I trust."

"Joan back?" Auggie asked as he approached the sound of Annie and Jai's voices in the bullpen.

"Just came back, she's in her office," Annie answered from behind her computer monitor.

"Good, we have a meeting with her." Auggie replied, "Now."

"Now? What's up?" Jai asked as he stood up from his desk.

"Can't say out here," Auggie said mysteriously as he took Annie's elbow after she brushed the back of his hand and the three of them ascended the stairs toward their boss's office. A moment later they were all seated in the office with the door closed behind them.

"Arthur agrees with us Auggie," Joan told him as she closed the blinds on the windows. There would be no visual clues to this operation from anyone passing by.

"Good," Auggie said as he held out a few file folders in Annie and Jai's direction.

Annie and Jai took the files and began to flip through them, looking up at Joan and Auggie for clarification of the information in front of them.

"Helen Rentmeester is a sweet little old lady in Oakton. She's also quite nosey like many little old ladies. She's been watching her new neighbors across the street for a few weeks and she's convinced something is going on there. Lots of deliveries and lots of activity," Joan began, "Auggie pulled the ownership of the home in question and it's a recent foreclosure sale."

"And the utility bills don't match the homeowner. No big deal there, but the bills are in the name of Ali Mohammed. Clue one. Clue two: many of the deliveries are from south Florida," Auggie finished for his boss.

"You're not sending me to Miami again?" Jai sighed.

"Not yet," Joan said with a smile, she knew how much Jai hated Miami. "I want you watching the house, I want to know who is coming and going and when the deliveries are arriving and from what delivery company."

"Easy enough. At least I don't have to go to Miami." Jai thought out loud.

"Annie, you're Amy Jorgensen, the grandson Jason Rentmeester's girlfriend. You're here to look for a job and you're crashing in her guest room. You work with Auggie to set up surveillance from Helen's house." Joan continued.

"Helen's okay with this?" Jai asked.

"She is. She wants her neighborhood back. Finally, this stays in this room. Don't tell anyone what we're doing. If this is something I don't want our operation compromised. Understood?" Joan got up from her desk and opened the blinds, letting the light from the bullpen back into the room.

"Understood," Annie said standing up, "When is Helen expecting me?"

"Tonight. You and Auggie get together and get your equipment set. Jai hit the road. We may still catch some deliveries yet today."

The three operatives nodded their heads and left the office to begin their assignment.

Note: A thank you to PatriciaLouise for catching a great big snafu in this chapter. She's good at catching my boo boos, but that's not her only talent- Check out "Happily Ever After".

Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated.

-M