Chapter Four: Outside Friends

Two days after the rescue mission, Sergeant Liz McCall slowly walked down a quiet hall. She was heading towards her father General Abraham McCall's office to show her the discovery she had found in her mission. She held the fabricated golden symbol in her right hand. She looked down at it again.

The golden skull with wings.

'What exactly does this mean?' she thought. She had never seen a symbol like this before. Perhaps it was a new organization, one that the Government is not aware of. 'If this group could do such a horrible thing like kidnapping an innocent child,' she thought again. 'Then this group could be capable of doing more horrible things, one that the government may not be able to control.'

When she first showed the symbol she had ripped off the soldier's uniform, she had noticed the horrified look on both Wagner's and Cammy's face. She had asked them if something was wrong, but Wagner only shook his head and said, "Nothing."

She had the feeling that the both of them knew something about this group, but for some reason, they didn't want to tell her anything.

When she reached the end of the hall and stood next to a dark wooden door, she shook the confusing thoughts out of her head. 'Hopefully it's all nothing.'

Liz reached her hand to the door and knocked on it three times. Immediately after, she heard her father say, "Come in!"

She reached the golden doorknob, turned it, opened the door, and walked in. Liz looked around the office. It was twice the size of other offices with large windows covered by white blinds and pictures of her father's days in the Air Force against the white wall. There were a few wooden shelves against the wall, some filled with books, some were filled with medals and awards her father had received over the years in the Air Force. Over to the left were two leather couches and a glass coffee table in between them, which were used for small meetings. In the back middle part of the room stood a black desk with a computer and tons of paper on top.

General McCall sat in his leather chair, looking up at his only daughter with his blue eyes. His auburn hair had a few strands of gray at the side.

"Hello, pumpkin," McCall said. "What brings you here?"

Liz smiled. "Hello, Dad." She sat down in one of the two cushioned chairs in front of McCall's desk. "Well, on that mission I was on two days ago, I ended up in combat one-on-one with an enemy, no weapons. I managed to knock him out, but later I discovered this on my pin."

She opened her palm revealing the fabric with the gold design on it. McCall put his reading glasses on, which were around his neck, and looked at the fabric. Liz didn't see any reaction on her father's face. 'Maybe it's not such a big deal,' she thought.

After a minute, McCall took his glasses off and looked at his daughter. "You went on the mission two days ago. How come you didn't come to me about this right away?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal at first," Liz replied. "But every time I looked at it, I got this bad feeling inside and I wasn't sure whether or not it meant something."

McCall nodded slowly. "Well, I've never seen this type of design before. We may be dealing with a new criminal organization, but I'm not sure. It could be a symbol or just a design for their uniforms. Most likely it's the group's symbol. I'll look more into it and if I find out anything, I'll let you know."

Liz nodded. "Thank you." She got up from her seat and walked towards the door.

"Liz!" McCall called out. Liz turned back around to face her father again. "Tell Wagner that he's on stand-by tonight."

Liz smirked. "I will." She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

McCall stared at the fabric again. 'Shadaloo,' he thought.

Of course he knew about this criminal organization. They ran a drug operation and would do anything to get money, even if it means ruin the lives of millions. He did not tell Liz the truth because he wanted to protect her, protocols be damned. If he had known that this was Shadaloo she dealt with two days ago, she would've been taken out from the mission.

His eyes shifted to the small picture on his desk. It was of him at a young age, Liz as a child, and a young, red-haired woman next to both of them. The young woman was his wife Ann, who had died when Liz was ten years old from cancer. Just before Ann died in his arms, he has promised her that he would protect her however he can.

Nighttime

Wagner looked around the base outside, making sure that no one was around. His hopes were right and he made his way towards the green jeep in front of him. He started up the car and made his way out of the driveway. He was even ready when he reached the base's exit where a guard was standing. He stopped the vehicle and the guard walked over to him. It was a young man, no older than eighteen.

"Name?" the man asked.

Wagner reached into his pocket and took out a 100 dollar bill. "It's Wagner, but if you don't say a word about it, I'll give you this."

The guard nodded with delight. Then, he looked at the jeep. "But you know I have to write down that this vehicle is off the base."

"Tell them something's wrong with the muffler and I took it down to the car shop this afternoon and it should be back in tonight."

The guard nodded in agreement. Wagner gave him the money. Then, the guard lifted the block handle and Wagner was now on his way into the city of Los Angeles.

Of course, he was supposed to be on stand-by today. Incase anything happened, he was to be called down by the General and receive his duty. But every time he was on stand-by, he never got called down.

This morning, he had made plans with a few outside friends since he hasn't seen them in a while. When Liz reported to him that he was going to be on stand-by tonight, he wasn't about to change his plans whatsoever.

After a five minute drive, he reached the place where he was to meet his friends at. They were going to be in front of Alexander's, a bar.

After parking his car, he headed towards the front of the bar. Four friends were waiting for him, three guys and a girl. One of the guys had his arm around the girl.

Wagner smirked at his friends. "Hey, what's up?" he said putting out his hand.

The guy with his arm around the girl, put his free hand out and they both high-fived. "Hey Wagner."

"Hey, Chris." Wagner looked at the girl and smirked more. "Hey Taylor."

Taylor smiled at him. "Hey."

The other two guys walked over to him. "Ron and Paul, what's up?" Wagner said to them as he high-fived the both of them at the same time.

"Now that we're all here," said Chris. "Let's go in!"

The five of them walked into the bar and sat themselves on stools around a green table. A waitress came up to them right away, all ordering margaritas. Throughout his entire time at the bar, Wagner's mind drifted off. Most of his thoughts were about his past, and all the things he went through. After his family's death, he went to countless foster homes. Sometimes, he had thought he found a loving home, only to be taken away and put into another home. Sometimes, he was put in a broken home and spent most of his times on the streets just to stay away from the pain of living there.

Wagner then noticed that every time he was with Chris, Taylor, Ron, and Paul, he would get depressed and the bad things in his life come to him. But these people were his friends.

Right?

Then, Wagner noticed the waitress come by. "Excuse me?" he said.

The waitress looked at him with a fake smile. "Yes, sir?"

"Could I have a double shot of whiskey as well?"