Gabe Ugliano had disappeared, never to be seen again. Well, that's not completely true. He was seen again, but not as a living, breathing human being.
He was a statue. An ugly one, but the secret government department that no one was supposed to know about bought it anyway.
"Interesting," the high-ranking official said as he examined the stone. Gabe's mouth was frozen in a scream and his eyes were horrified, as if whatever he'd seen had been terrifying enough to turn him into stone.
"What did his last report say?"
The flunkie tapped on his computer screen, pulling up the last report for Agent 5938, formerly known as Gabe Ugliano.
"Regarding the disappearance of targets Sally and Percy Jackson, suspects supernatural elements, causes unknown."
"Nothing about potential danger?"
"No, sir."
"Hmm." The commander stepped back from the statue, joining the flunkie at the computer.
Agent 5938, assigned to the Jackson case, investigating potential supernatural elements regarding the Jackson boy's father.
"The mother never showed any signs?"
"No, sir, just the boy."
"But that doesn't mean it wasn't her."
"No, sir."
The high-ranking officer looked at Gabe Ugliano, the former Agent 5938. The stone had been analyzed and cores of the rock had been taken all the way through, revealing that the inside of the statue was as detailed and anatomically correct as the outside. There was no avoiding the fact: Agent 5938 had actually been turned into stone, and the Jacksons were the culprits.
"Assign more agents to the Jacksons," he finally said. "An entire squad for each."
"Yes, sir," the flunkie said. The high-ranking officer turned to leave, but the flunkie called him back.
"What do we do with Agent 5938?"
The officer waved a dismissive hand. "List him as missing-in-action. And give the statue back to the museum. They can figure out what to do with it."
"Yes, sir."