The room was silent for a split second as they looked at Barney.
"How is that possible"? asked Cesar.
Barney looked at Charlie's picture and said nothing.
"I don't think he needs to draw you a picture Cesar. You're smart, you should figure it out on your own", retorted Lee.
Cesar shot him a mean look. "Obviously. That's not what I meant. What I meant, was how come Barney only finds out about this now"?
Barney looked at Charlie's face in detail. He could see the resemblance with him.
"Joanna Michaels" said Barney as he turned his attention back to the guys.
He rubbed his chin as he remembered her.
"We met a long time ago. I met her just before being deployed. It was nothing serious. When I came back a year later, I found out she had left a couple of months after I had left. I moved on".
"It's obvious why she disappeared", said Toll Road. "Was she military"?
Barney nodded. "She worked for the Post Commander. When I heard she left, I thought she had been transferred to another base".
"From what Joanna Michaels' file says, she left the army at that time and went back to civilian life", said Drummer. "She passed away two years ago".
Barney nodded.
"She looks a lot like her mother. She has her smile".
"Look, I don't mean to be the one to say this but are you even sure she's your daughter"? asked Lee skeptical. "I mean where's the proof other than the fact that your name is on her birth certificate".
"I agree with Lee. Wouldn't be the first time this kind of thing happens. And obviously, if she's disappeared it might be hard to do a paternity test".
Barney sat down on the edge of the table. "I know what you're thinking but Joanna wasn't that time of girl".
"Still", said Cesar, "don't you want to be sure"?
Drummer coughed. "There is a way to do the paternity test".
Barney raised an eyebrow.
"We take a sample of DNA of all our agents, in case we need to identify them for reasons you can imagine. If you give me a mouth swab, we can check".
"Do it", said Barney. "But it doesn't change the fact that we have a missing agent that we need to find".
"Where do we start"? asked Lee.
"Well, we first need to dig into her file and cross reference all of the missions she's been on and rule out potential suspects".
All of them stood and started to walk out to start working.
"Lee"? said Barney.
Lee stopped and turned around as the others left the room.
"Yeah"?
"If she is indeed my daughter and this is personal, we need to put a list together of anyone who would want to get back at me".
Lee blinked a couple of times.
"Barney, you do realize that list is going to be long".
"I know. But I'm not taking any chances".
Lee nodded and walked away leaving Barney with Drummer.
Drummer went into his pocket and pulled out a cotton swab.
"You carry that kind of stuff on you"? asked Barney.
Drummer smiled at him a bit uncomfortable. "I know you Barney, I figured you'd want to be sure. I know I would".
"Why would you do it"? asked Barney.
"Because it would change everything".
Barney nodded. He knew what Drummer meant. If Charlie was indeed his daughter, it changed things. He had, younger, often imagined having a family of his own, but life had decided otherwise, and he had often regretted it.
He let Drummer swab the inside of his mouth.
"How long before we know"?
"I'll have the guys treat it with the highest priority and discretion. Let's say 48 hours. I'll let you know".
"I appreciate it Drummer. Thanks for coming out here, I know you didn't have to do it face to face".
Later that evening, Barney sat outside smoking his cigar. They had been going through all of Charlie's missions and there were a lot. It was obvious that she was hell of an agent. Barney had to admit, that she had everything to be an expendable.
"You wanna talk about it"? asked Lee as he joined Barney outside with a beer in hand.
"Not much to talk about is there"? replied Barney.
"Why do I find that hard to believe? You may have just found out that you have a daughter you didn't know about for about forty years, and you're going to tell me you're cool with that"?
"It is what it is, Lee. I can't change the past".
"I get that. But what about the future"?
Barney shrugged. "Unless we find her and alive, there won't be much future to think about".
"There's something I don't understand. Why didn't she come forward? I mean your name is on her birth certificate, you'd think she'd have come looking for you".
"I can't answer that Lee, but I too would be interested in knowing why".
"On a side note", said Lee, "I didn't mean to disrespect when I said she was good-looking earlier. Just in case she's your daughter".
Barney smiled. "Don't lose any sleep over it".
Lee laughed. "Good. Cause I still think she's good-looking"!
With that Lee walked away and went back inside.
Two days had gone by and they had been working numerous hours on potential suspects on Charlie's professional side of things as well as looking into personal suspects on her side.
Toll Road sat back in the chair.
"We've got nothing! All of the criminals she helped put behind bars are either still there or dead and that goes the same with affiliated associates. When that girl did her job, she did it damn good".
Barney rubbed his forehead. "Personal life? Anything"?
Lee looked at him and shook his head. "Aside from a few close friends, there's nothing. This girl spends more time working than be at home".
"You got an address"? asked Barney.
"Yeah and you're not going to believe it! She lives thirty minutes away from here".
Barney shook his head in disbelief. It was too unreal. He turned to Gunner.
"What about our list of potential suspects"?
"It is so long you wouldn't be able to tattoo it on your arm".
Barney closed his eyes briefly. It was no surprise. They had made a lot of enemies over the years and luckily some were dead, otherwise the list would have been even longer.
"Any one of these guys could be a potential suspect", continued Gunner.
"Yeah but it would need to be someone with resources and ways of getting this kind of information. Also, someone with time on their hands to go digging" replied Barney.
He looked at Lee then the others. "Ok. Lee and I are going to check out her place, the rest of you try to narrow down the list as much as you can. The longer we wait, the more chances she ends up dead".
"If she's still…", Cesar's voice trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.
Barney walked away without saying a thing. Lee looked at Cesar with a mean look. "Nice going, asshole"!