Lee picked the lock on Charlie's back door as Barney kept a look out.
When they let themselves in, it triggered the alarm system.
"Shit" said Lee as he rushed towards the front of the house to the main alarm system keypad and opened it. He took a pair of cutting pliers and cut one of the wires. He then looked at his watch.
"Under fifteen seconds", he said, "it shouldn't have triggered off the call to the company or the cops".
Barney nodded but remained quiet as he looked around the living room. It was a small 4 façade house with a little backyard. Knowing the kind of money an agent like that made, it was obvious that she wasn't flaunting it and had decided to live simply. There were a lot of pictures on furniture or the walls and he took the time to look at them. In some of them, Charlie was alone and the others she was with friends or Joanna. He picked up one of Joanna and Charlie and looked at it. The years had passed but Joanna hadn't changed. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her to be.
Lee looked around as well but whereas Barney had stopped at a picture of Charlie and her mother, he had stopped on a picture of Charlie on a beach at sunset. She looked amazing. She was wearing a long white maxi dress that was blowing in the wind, her long brown hair as well. Her face was lit by the setting sun in a mix of red and orange and she looked pensive. There were no words to describe the beauty of the photograph or the model on it and it kind of took his breath away.
Feeling Barney's stare on him, Lee put the frame down and continued into the dining room and living room. Seeing nothing interesting there, they headed upstairs. They had a look in the room she used as an office but there was no computer, no filing cabinet, just a few books and more pictures. Barney looked at a few books and took one in his hand, "The Art of War by Sun Tzu".
As he removed it, it triggered a panel in the wall and both Lee and Barney walked over to it. Lee blinked a couple of times before he could utter anything.
In the hidden partition of the wall was an arsenal worthy of an expendable. A Glock 22 and 23, an assault rifle, an RPD Light Machine Gun, a Heckler & Koch MSG 90 Sniper Rifle, M67 Fragmentation Grenades, Flash Grenades, two combat knives, two Bowie knives and three throwing knives.
"Damn! Maybe she is your daughter after all".
'And my kind of woman' he thought as he kept that to himself.
"What's the range of the MSG 90"? asked Barney.
"Over 3000 feet. Delta Force use that kind of stuff, you don't have that in a hidden compartment of your house unless you're good".
Barney closed the panel and put the book back on the shelf. They did a quick tour of the bedroom and left empty handed. Lee knew it would have been a long shot, undercover CIA Agents were very careful.
As they arrived back at the hangar, Barney's phone rang, and he stepped aside to take the call while Lee joined the others.
"And"? asked Gunner.
"Nothing really to work with but we got an insight as to how good she is at her job".
"What do you mean"?
Lee took out his phone and showed them the picture he had taken of the hidden compartment.
Toll Road and Cesar whistled at the same time.
"That's badass"! said Toll Road.
"And sexy", added Cesar.
"Cut if out", said Lee as he looked at Cesar.
Cesar shrugged. "What? You're going to tell me you didn't think the same thing? Especially since she has a bowie knife that happens to be your favorite".
Lee eyed him. "I'm offended that you would think I'm that kind of man".
Before Cesar could respond, Barney walked in with a distant look in his eyes.
"Everything alright"? asked Yang.
"It was Drummer. The paternity test results came in".
Even if all of them wanted to say 'and'? no one dared to.
"We've got to find her", continued Barney in a firm and determined tone of voice.
It was all it took for the others to understand that Charlie was indeed his daughter and even if they would have taken the job, it was now personal and even more important!