OM2: Not Quite Ordinary
by Paul Diaz
by Paul Diaz
Chapter 7: Team Frank
“Police over the city have been busy since late last night in what seems to be a chain of gang related violence. Two new gangs that have never been heard of suddenly surfaced and immediately made their presence felt”
“All over the city reports of robberies, mugging and vandalism have been reported at almost simultaneous times. Authorities say that it seemed that the two gangs were having a contest of sorts and at the end of the night they ended it with a gun battle where six men, three from each side were killed”
“It seemed that the two gangs were trying to impress each other so they even took videos of their exploits. This network was able to obtain exclusively those videos and we are going to show them to you” Sarah Kelly said as the videos were shown on the television.
Jennifer, Yehleen and John had their eyes glued on the television at the employees’ lounge. All three were shaking their heads as several videos were shown on the screen.
“This final video may be a simple case of vandalism but I am sure this will cause a major uproar. See for yourself what this vicious and mindless gang members did” Sarah Kelly added and the video of gang members defacing the statue of Frank was shown.
Jennifer quickly stood up and had her fists clenched. John hammered on his wheelchair and Yehleen tried to console them both. “I want to go after them!” Jennifer shouted and Yehleen tried to calm her down. “That is not our area, the police are the ones who handles those” the doctor clarified. “It has to be a really sensation crime or something nationwide” John added and Jennifer pouted and changed the channel.
Videos similar to what they have just watched were shown but they noticed that it was on a different city. “What the hell is going on?” Jennifer asked as she turned to another channel. It was a report on another city but the same gang related violence were shown, Jennifer dropped the remote control and quickly ran to her supervisor’s office. Jeremy just got off the phone and signaled Jennifer to come in. “Yes what is it?” he asked.
“I want to go and investigate the current gang violence reports” Jennifer told him. Jeremy shook his head and moved a pile of folders forward. “The cops are on it so here make yourself busy” her supervisor told her. Jennifer looked at the pile of folders and brought out her service pistol and badge. She placed the two on top of Jeremy’s desk and stared at him.
“If you plan to pin me down on deskwork for the rest of my career then I quit. I will give you the whole day to think about it. I am going to finish these paperwork, if you change your mind you return these to me. If I don’t hear anything from you then keep it, i don’t want to remain caged” Jennifer said as she grabbed the folders and stormed out of the office.
Jeremy shook his head and took out his phone and dialed, “Sir, we have a problem” he said.
Frank was busy doing push-ups, there was a knock on the door so he stopped and looked at Arnold. “Is my dad back?” he asked and the other man shrugged his shoulder and walked towards the door. Frank nodded his head and quickly hid at the back of the couch.
“David, what brings you here?” Arnold asked as Frank stood up and looked towards the door. “Great you are here, we need to talk” the senator said and quickly entered the room. “Frank, I have to run some errands. I will be back later” Arnold said as he exited the suite.
Frank sat down and David sat across him, “Its about Jennifer” David said and Frank shook his head. “She wants to be on the field” he said and the senator nodded. “She threatened Jeremy that she would resign if she would not be given field work. I am sorry Frank, she is a really good agent and pinning her on a desk job would be a waste” David told him.
“I know, its just that she would be safer at the office. If she goes on field work then I must be there always to watch over her” Frank said. “That would be a big risk since you could be spotted” David told him. Frank stood up and walked towards the window, he bowed his head and took a deep breath.
“If I keep watch and something happens to her I would be forced to show myself. My secret would be out and there would be much expectations from me” he uttered and the senator walked towards him. “How do they do it?” Frank added and David looked at him. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“The superheroes, how do they put others above themselves? How do they find love? I am sure they love someone, I am sure they would like to keep that someone of theirs always protected. How come they can still find time for others?” Frank elaborated and David sighed.
“I know it is hard hiding in the shadows, I do understand what you are feeling” David told him. “I want to protect Jennifer only, I am sure they would call me selfish. Cant I choose to just protect the ones I love? My friends, my family and Jennifer. Would the people understand that?” Frank asked.
“Cant I just have a normal life?” he added and the senator patted him on the back. “You are not a fictional character Frank. You have all the right to be selfish. You do have abilities but you are still ordinary. I am sure if you explain to the whole world your side they would understand” the senator told him.
“Yeah maybe, but for now all I can do is keep an eye on her and I must make sure I am always hidden” Frank whispered. “Well I have to go since I have an important meeting. By the way here is the passport and ticket that you requested” David said as he handed the documents to Frank. “Thank you very much” Frank said. “Tell me what are you going to do in the middle east?” David asked and Frank grinned.
“So what shall I tell Jeremy?” David asked and Frank looked up at the sky. “Let her do field work, I will always be there to watch over her” he said with determination.
After lunch Jeremy entered the employees’ lounge and found Jennifer, Yehleen and John there. “Good, just the people I was looking for. You three follow me to the conference room” he said and the three looked at each other and immediately followed their superior.
Once seated inside the conference room Jeremy placed Jennifer’s badge and firearm in front of her. “I know you all heard and saw on the news what happened last night all over the country. It seems that what happened was coordinated but what is bothering is why they ended up shooting themselves” Jeremy said.
“So in line with the happenings I am forming a task force to investigate into this matter. Jennifer you shall take lead and I want you to start local. Yehleen you have to analyze the events and try and predict their behavior or next moves. John you will give support to the two, by the way you can take other agents with you” the supervisor told them.
“It seems that the two gangs had a contest, trying to put one over the other. In my opinion this is normal gang behavior, trying to show who is supreme. Then at the end of the contest one cannot accept that the other gang is better so they end up in a gun battle. The problem is that how come it happened all over the country, if it was just here then the case would be simple” Yehleen explained.
“Sir, you mean to say we the FBI will be taking over all investigations?” Jennifer asked. “No, the police investigators shall still take lead but they will be reporting to you all their findings. John issue out that order immediately, but keep it low profile. If we the FBI are seen on the field then people would get suspicious and worried” Jeremy explained.
“Yeah because we only show up when there is really something bad happening” John quipped and the supervisor looked at him. “I leave the rest to you three” Jeremy said as he stood up and left the room. “You two wait here” Jennifer said and she quickly stood up. “Where are you going?” John asked but the young lady already left the room.
Jennifer entered her supervisor’s office and shut the door behind her. “Why the sudden change of heart?” she asked and Jeremy looked at her. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I have known you for a long time Jeremy and I know you don’t bend down to mere threats, like the one I made this morning. So what gives?” she asked.
“Something big happened and you are one of the best agents we have” Jeremy said. “Oh spare me the bullshit Jeremy, if you think of me that way then you would not have made me do deskwork since I came back” Jennifer argued. “What are you trying to get at?” the supervisor asked.
“Once I left your office I saw you made a call, who is pulling your strings Jeremy?” she asked. “I don’t like your tone and your insinuation” Jeremy told her. “Tell me! Did someone ask me to be benched?” she asked. Jeremy looked away and took a deep breath, “Lets just say someone up there is looking after you” he told her. “Who? Tell me who it is?” she asked.
“You got what you wanted, you are back on field work so stop wasting time and get to work!” Jeremy fired back and Jennifer stared at him. “Just tell me who it is please” she pleaded. “Get to work before I change my mind” her supervisor told her so Jennifer shook her head and walked out of the office.
Back at the conference room Jennifer sat down and looked at Yehleen and John. “Tell me, among all places why were you two assigned here?” she asked and the two were surprised. “What are you talking about?” Yehleen asked. “Did you ask to be assigned here? Before Operation Salvation you two were at a different state after our last mission. You had the chance to choose where to be assigned so why did you choose here?” Jennifer asked.
Yehleen and John looked at each other, “They just told us that we were assigned here” Yehleen said. “The three of us?” Jennifer asked and John nodded. “Didn’t you find that odd? Weren’t we supposed to be returned to where we were before?” Jennifer said and the couple started to understand what she was getting at.
“Erick wasn’t assigned here” John said to break the ice. “Of course he isn’t an agent, but look he was assigned at the base in this city” Yehleen said and Jennifer nodded. “So whats your point?” John asked. “That someone wanted us all to remain here” Jennifer said and the three of them paused and looked at each other.
“Frank was from here” Jennifer told them and the two shook their heads. “Oh come on Jennifer, don’t say that it was Frank who requested us to remain here” Yehleen said. “Yeah he sent a fax message from heaven” John uttered and Jennifer stared at him.
“Hey look, maybe they just wanted us to be together. To look out for each other, because we were the ones closest to Frank. So come on let focus on the work at hand shall we?” Yehleen lectured. John focused on his laptop but Jennifer leaned back and smiled.
“He wanted us in one place so he could watch over us” she whispered. “What did you say?” John asked and Jennifer shook her head and smiled even more.
Back at the hotel suite Frank sat back and smiled, on his laptop screen was the surveillance footage of the conference room where the three were. “Exactly my love” he whispered and stood up and grabbed his passport and plane ticket.
“Where are you going to Frank?” Arnold asked.
“Going to check on Erick”
