The envelope was burning a hole in the side of jacket but he didn't stop to look at it once on his way to his apartment. Ressler still wasn't sure who, if anyone, at the Task Force was working on the other side. He checked his office every other day for bugs under the desk, on top of the bookshelves, in the air vents. He still had yet to find anything, but he didn't trust it.
Whoever was working in the Cabal knew that he and Liz were ex-partners. And with partnership comes a bond that isn't broken so easily. That's one of the reasons why he did most of his work on her whereabouts late at night while he was home. He had installed a state of the art security system right after Liz had shot Connolly and disapperred. He didn't know what or who his enemies were and he definitely wasn't taking any chances.
When he got in his door, he threw his coat off and immediately ripped open the sealed envelope. Inside were pictures. Pictures of the President with his kids and wife. Pictures that had to be taken at least 2 years ago when they were still in his life.
Ressler remembered where he was when he heard that the former Senator of Connecticut had suffered the great tragedy of his family being killed in a boating accident. He remembered the outpouring of media coverage of the event. The well-liked, well-respected politician who loved his family… now had to bury them.
His popularity sky-rocketed after their deaths. A fact that the politician made clear he was uneasy about. He had always been known in the Northeast, but now he was a national figure of pain and bravery in the aftermath of losing his family.
Ressler stared at the pictures for almost an hour. Wondering what he was supposed to be seeing. He was interrupted by a phone call from Aram.
"Ressler, good to hear your voice. Samar and I were worried. You said you may need our help and then disappeared. Everything ok?"
Ressler put the pictures down on this table and sighed.
"Yeah, everything is fine. That information I was discussing came a bit sooner than I had planned. Are you guys able to meet me here in my apartment, say around 8pm?"
"Yeah, no problem, Ressler."
He hung up the phone and picked up one of the photos again wondering what exactly he was supposed to be seeing.
…..
The agents were right on time. Ressler looked down at the time stamp on his video surveillance monitor and saw the two agents waiting patiently at his door at 8:01.
When he originally had purchased his security system, he thought he might have been paranoid. It was extremely complex. A system designed most likely for homes ten times the size of his small apartment. But the safety he felt every day when he looked over the digital film to make sure there hadn't been any intruders, made his paranoia disappear.
He opened the door to see Samar and Aram both carrying bags and he smelled the aroma as soon as they walked into his apartment.
"We couldn't come over your apartment for the first time ever without food." Aram said, looking around Ressler's apartment, almost in awe.
"And beer." Samar said smiling, placing two six packs on his kitchen counter.
"Yeah… I guess I should've had you both over sooner. Don't know what stopped me….", Ressler said as he started getting some glasses and plates from his kitchen.
He was thankful for the two agents in that moment. His mind wanted to interrupt the friendly party and go straight over to the photos for their help in deciphering whatever message he was meant to receive. But he realized he hadn't eaten all day since leaving the lunch café before his food arrived. And he knew they had all night to go over the information. He was starving.
"So what is the information that you've received, Ressler?" Samar said as she sat down on one of his kitchen stools, stuffing a wing in her mouth.
Ressler finished chewing and looked over at the two of them, hoping they wouldn't run away when he said his next statement.
"The President is part of the Cabal."
He watched as Aram's face dropped, looking at him and then over at Samar for the punchline.
"The President…..", Aram said questioningly. "Of the United States?", he asked, still waiting for Ressler to tell him he was mistaken.
"Yes.", Ressler nodded. "I'm afraid so. Which is why I said this investigation just got 100x more complex. And dangerous."
Samar took a swig of her beer and set it down carefully, her poker face still not flinching from the news.
"Ressler, this changes nothing. We've known that we would have to go across some high officials to get Liz's name cleared. The President is no exception."
"But the President…", Aram said standing up and walking towards Ressler. "Where did you get this intel? How do you know this is certain?"
Ressler hesitated for a few seconds before answering.
"Red. I got a phone call from Red."
Both agents weren't expecting that answer. And Ressler hoped they wouldn't dig further in the storyline to ask him how and why Red now considered Ressler an ally.
He started filling in the agents on Red's phone call and how he mentioned that people would be in contact with him to provide information that was crucial to clearing Liz's name and exposing the Cabal organization for what they were. He recalled his encounter at the café earlier during lunch and walked over to show the two agents the pictures that were left for him to see.
"What are these pictures supposed to mean?" Samar asked as she looked through them.
"The President's family has been dead for over 2 years. Do these photos mean the President had something to do with their deaths? They were killed in a boating accident with other friends and family as witnesses. The President wasn't even driving the boat when it hit another one in the lake."
"I've been beating my head against the wall since lunchtime trying to understand", Ressler said with anger in his voice. "I don't get it…. which is why I called you guys over."
They continued to look through the photos, so engrossed in their ideas and theories that Ressler almost didn't hear his cell phone ringing.
His head shot up and he searched panickedly for the direction that he had left his phone in. Knowing that by missing the call, he wouldn't have the chance to call back.
He finally saw the phone laying on his kitchen counter and sprinted over to retrieve it.
He barely looked at the number before pressing the talk button.
"Hello.", he said quickly, his voice out of breath as he spoke.
He heard someone sigh on the other end and finally speak into the other end.
"Ressler", she said softly.
"Liz….", he said reassuringly, failing to remember the inquisitive eyes and ears from Samar and Aram in the next room.
