Danny returned to the work area.
"Hey guys, we have a new case."
"Who is it?"
"Her name is Annie Riley. She is a DEA Agent. She's been working undercover for the last year investigating a Colombian drug lord name Pedro Escobar."
Jack walked in as Danny was relaying the information. He went to the white board and put up a picture of Annie Riley, blonde, blue eyes, 27 years old.
Jack gave more details, "Agent Riley's cover name is Laura Carmichael. She infiltrated Escobar's network by working for him as a secretary. She got close to him, and eventually moved in to his house with him."
"Geeze, she must be really committed," Samantha stated. "I've heard of female agents going that far, but I just can't imagine."
Jack continued, "The way I see we need to investigate this on two fronts. The first is her undercover identity. The second is her real identity. Danny, I want you to focus on her undercover life. You probably have the best insight into that. You and I will go visit Escobar. Vivian – go to her apartment and look around. See what you can find. Then contact her family in Chicago. Be very careful what you say. We need to protect her cover. We just want to find out if she has talked to them. Martin and Samantha – I want you to question Agent Kevin Allen, he was her handler."
"I knew I recognized him." Martin interjected.
"You know him?" Danny asked skeptically.
"Yes, my father was somewhat of a mentor to him. I've met him on a few occasions. There shouldn't be any conflict."
"That's fine. Danny actually knows our victim. He worked with her for a year while he was undercover with the DEA. This is why it's important that you stay on her cover Danny," Jack said.
"I got it," Danny replied.
"Martin and Samantha – besides Escobar, Allen is one of the last people to have seen her alive. He has to be treated as a suspect here. Danny, do you anything to add about him since you worked with him?"
"Uh...I never really trusted him. He wasn't very reliable."
Danny noticed that Martin looked up about to respond, but Danny continued, "But that was a long time ago. And we were both fairly new to the whole process. I do know that Annie felt uncomfortable around him. She told me that recently."
Jack then asked, "Uncomfortable, how?"
"It's a strange relationship you develop with a handler. They have to know just about everything you are thinking. It can be uncomfortable. Sometimes they make you do things you don't want to do. But you have to do it because the handler is your lifeline. She never specifically said anything. I just get the feeling that he gave her a hard time."
Samantha asked, "You saw her recently?"
Danny replied, "A month ago. She was here in the city. Uh...we didn't really talk about what she was working on."
"Do you see her often?" Vivian asked.
Danny looked down not sure how much he should tell them, "No. Prior to a month ago, I hadn't seen her for almost two years. It was just a coincidence that she called me a month ago."
"Were you close?" Vivian continued.
Jack intervened, "Listen, let's hold off on the questions for Danny. After we question Escobar, if we need to get more into her history, we will deal with that then."
Vivian looked up skeptically. She thought they should get as much information up front as possible, but she didn't say anything. She sensed that this was uncomfortable for Danny.
Jack concluded their meeting, "Okay, let's get started. Keep me posted." Jack and Danny left the area together to go question Escobar.
Vivian took a copy of Annie Riley's file, and left for her apartment.
"So Danny was with the DEA?" asked Martin.
"Actually, he was still technically FBI, but he fit a certain profile, so the DEA recruited him. He had just finished with training at Quantico. I think he was 23 or 24," Sam replied.
"Profile?"
"Yeah, you know, young, Latino, speaks fluent Spanish. He could fit right in with the cartels they investigated in Colombia, and other South American countries."
"Right. That must have been rough. No wonder he thought so little of me in the beginning. Chasing down stolen computer chips doesn't quite compare with giving up your identity for three years."
Samantha smiled, "He hardly ever talks about it. I think he really hated it."
"Let's go check out Kevin Allen."
Annie Riley's loft
Vivian walked into the spacious loft. It was simply decorated, and very comfortable. Vivian went to the bedroom area. She noticed the drawers and closets were full. There were suitcases in the back of the closet. If Annie did take off, she didn't pack anything.
She started to go through her desk, but didn't find anything useful. Then she looked through the nightstand. She found a locked box in the bottom drawer of the nightstand. She pried open the box and found 4 journals that were filled with writing. Vivian knew there must be a current journal somewhere. On a whim, she checked under the mattress. Sure enough she found a half-filled journal. Hopefully, this would give her some insight into what happened. She then found Annie's address book with her parent's telephone number.
Vivian had a short conversation with Annie's mother. Her mother said that she hadn't heard from her in a month. But she didn't expect to hear from her. Annie usually only called home at birthdays and holidays. So she really wasn't due to call for another month. Her mother didn't seem concerned so Vivian didn't alarm her. Annie's mother had no idea what her daughter did for a living. It would be more dangerous for Annie's family if she blew her cover.
After the conversation, Vivian decided to read from the journals. As she opened the most current journal, a photo fell out that Annie must have used as a placeholder. Vivian looked at the picture with surprise. It was a picture of Annie and Danny. Danny looked younger. It was one of those silly pictures where Danny was holding the camera with an outstretched arm taking a picture of both of them. Danny was looking at the camera, and Annie was looking at him with an adoring smile. Vivian could tell just by the picture that they more than just worked together.
TBC
"Hey guys, we have a new case."
"Who is it?"
"Her name is Annie Riley. She is a DEA Agent. She's been working undercover for the last year investigating a Colombian drug lord name Pedro Escobar."
Jack walked in as Danny was relaying the information. He went to the white board and put up a picture of Annie Riley, blonde, blue eyes, 27 years old.
Jack gave more details, "Agent Riley's cover name is Laura Carmichael. She infiltrated Escobar's network by working for him as a secretary. She got close to him, and eventually moved in to his house with him."
"Geeze, she must be really committed," Samantha stated. "I've heard of female agents going that far, but I just can't imagine."
Jack continued, "The way I see we need to investigate this on two fronts. The first is her undercover identity. The second is her real identity. Danny, I want you to focus on her undercover life. You probably have the best insight into that. You and I will go visit Escobar. Vivian – go to her apartment and look around. See what you can find. Then contact her family in Chicago. Be very careful what you say. We need to protect her cover. We just want to find out if she has talked to them. Martin and Samantha – I want you to question Agent Kevin Allen, he was her handler."
"I knew I recognized him." Martin interjected.
"You know him?" Danny asked skeptically.
"Yes, my father was somewhat of a mentor to him. I've met him on a few occasions. There shouldn't be any conflict."
"That's fine. Danny actually knows our victim. He worked with her for a year while he was undercover with the DEA. This is why it's important that you stay on her cover Danny," Jack said.
"I got it," Danny replied.
"Martin and Samantha – besides Escobar, Allen is one of the last people to have seen her alive. He has to be treated as a suspect here. Danny, do you anything to add about him since you worked with him?"
"Uh...I never really trusted him. He wasn't very reliable."
Danny noticed that Martin looked up about to respond, but Danny continued, "But that was a long time ago. And we were both fairly new to the whole process. I do know that Annie felt uncomfortable around him. She told me that recently."
Jack then asked, "Uncomfortable, how?"
"It's a strange relationship you develop with a handler. They have to know just about everything you are thinking. It can be uncomfortable. Sometimes they make you do things you don't want to do. But you have to do it because the handler is your lifeline. She never specifically said anything. I just get the feeling that he gave her a hard time."
Samantha asked, "You saw her recently?"
Danny replied, "A month ago. She was here in the city. Uh...we didn't really talk about what she was working on."
"Do you see her often?" Vivian asked.
Danny looked down not sure how much he should tell them, "No. Prior to a month ago, I hadn't seen her for almost two years. It was just a coincidence that she called me a month ago."
"Were you close?" Vivian continued.
Jack intervened, "Listen, let's hold off on the questions for Danny. After we question Escobar, if we need to get more into her history, we will deal with that then."
Vivian looked up skeptically. She thought they should get as much information up front as possible, but she didn't say anything. She sensed that this was uncomfortable for Danny.
Jack concluded their meeting, "Okay, let's get started. Keep me posted." Jack and Danny left the area together to go question Escobar.
Vivian took a copy of Annie Riley's file, and left for her apartment.
"So Danny was with the DEA?" asked Martin.
"Actually, he was still technically FBI, but he fit a certain profile, so the DEA recruited him. He had just finished with training at Quantico. I think he was 23 or 24," Sam replied.
"Profile?"
"Yeah, you know, young, Latino, speaks fluent Spanish. He could fit right in with the cartels they investigated in Colombia, and other South American countries."
"Right. That must have been rough. No wonder he thought so little of me in the beginning. Chasing down stolen computer chips doesn't quite compare with giving up your identity for three years."
Samantha smiled, "He hardly ever talks about it. I think he really hated it."
"Let's go check out Kevin Allen."
Annie Riley's loft
Vivian walked into the spacious loft. It was simply decorated, and very comfortable. Vivian went to the bedroom area. She noticed the drawers and closets were full. There were suitcases in the back of the closet. If Annie did take off, she didn't pack anything.
She started to go through her desk, but didn't find anything useful. Then she looked through the nightstand. She found a locked box in the bottom drawer of the nightstand. She pried open the box and found 4 journals that were filled with writing. Vivian knew there must be a current journal somewhere. On a whim, she checked under the mattress. Sure enough she found a half-filled journal. Hopefully, this would give her some insight into what happened. She then found Annie's address book with her parent's telephone number.
Vivian had a short conversation with Annie's mother. Her mother said that she hadn't heard from her in a month. But she didn't expect to hear from her. Annie usually only called home at birthdays and holidays. So she really wasn't due to call for another month. Her mother didn't seem concerned so Vivian didn't alarm her. Annie's mother had no idea what her daughter did for a living. It would be more dangerous for Annie's family if she blew her cover.
After the conversation, Vivian decided to read from the journals. As she opened the most current journal, a photo fell out that Annie must have used as a placeholder. Vivian looked at the picture with surprise. It was a picture of Annie and Danny. Danny looked younger. It was one of those silly pictures where Danny was holding the camera with an outstretched arm taking a picture of both of them. Danny was looking at the camera, and Annie was looking at him with an adoring smile. Vivian could tell just by the picture that they more than just worked together.
TBC
