Author's note, WolfWriter, if you're reading this, please visit the forums.
Dita smiled at Heather as she walked in the door, but here friend was notably non-committal.
"Hope you don't mind," Debra said ,"but we brought dinner, Chinese."
"We had it last night," Dita said.
"Probably from the cheap take out place your mother likes," Debra replied, "This is the good stuff." Debra held up a pair of shopping bags filled to the brim with white cardboard containers.
"You went to Lee Ho Fook's!" Dita exclaimed. "There the best!"
"I'd offer nothing less to my dearest friends," Debra gushed.
The group sat around the kitchen table feasting on the meal. Dita noticed the abundance of beef dishes in on the table. There was Beef with Broccoli, Mongolian Beef, Pepper Steak and Beef Chow Mein. In fact, there wasn't a single entree that didn't contain beef.
The conversation at dinner was light, but Dita noted that Heather was uncharacteristcally quiet during the meal. She volunteered to help clean up with Heather while their mothers retired to the living room for a glass of wine.
"Why so glum, chica?" Dita asked.
"It's nothing," Heather responded.
"Listen, lighten up," Dita whispered as she washed off the plates. "I found my mom's copy of that video you were talkin' about."
Heather's face turned ashen and she dropped the plate she was washing into the sink.
Lisa and Debra called into the room at the crash, "Is everything alright?"
"Sure," Dita called back. "Butterfingers here just broke a plate."
"Heather," Lisa teased, "That's my good china." It was obvious that the wine was getting to her. "What am I going to do with you. You're going to be in the doghouse all night.
Debra and Lisa fell into a fit of laughter while Dita and Heather scooped the broken plate into the garbage.
"Hey, it's cool," Dita continued as they finished up. "Our moms make some wild videos. To tell you the truth, from what I've seen, I can't wait to get into the studio myself. They must've got some kick ass editing equipment." "Dit, you have no idea," Heather said solomnly.
Dan,
The subject arrived today as usual at 0700. She taught her regular AM class and went out to lunch alone at 1230. She was out longer than most of the week and did not return until 1435. She had a meeting with ad execs until after the end of my day.
Of note, she offered me a promtion to instructor. Please advise if I am authorized to accept.
No signs of illegal activity.
-Wendy
'Nothing unusal,' Ramer thought. Later, as he read the report of Brit, Ranger Six for the same day, a paragraph jumped out at him.
At 1242, while engaged in surviellance of Subjet 4, Brenda McDonald, at her place of employment, I observed Subjets 8 and 9, Dita Singer and Heather Peters, leaving campus. Since I confirmed that primary target was engaged in class and unlikely to leave for the next several hour, I obtained authorization to alter targets and follow Subjects 8 and 9.
S8and S9 proceeded toward the nearby stipmall frequented by students during thier lunch hour. However, along the way at approximately 1253, they were stoped by the silver Jeep Cherokee, Lic # 7LS491, registered to Subject 1, Lisa Deeter Singer. It was occupied by Subject 1 and and an unknown female, 5' 4", 105 pounds, dark hair and dark complection of Indian decent. S8 and S9 entered vehicle and drove to Blimpies at the 1921 South Lube Way and had lunch for approximately 25 minutes, leaving at 1325. S8 and S9 were returned to school and I resumed original activities.
Ramer read the description of the unknown subject over and over. It matched Wendy to a tee. Since the members of the team were compartmentalized, there was no way Brit would have known Wendy's identity.
Ramer scanned Wendy's report from Thursday again, although he knew he would have remembered her taking lunch with the prime object of the investigation. 'Nothing,' he thought to himself.
His email chimed for a new message. It was a Wendy's report filed for her shift at that club that had just ended. He opened it and read with renewed interest. Although the report was typically mundane, his eyes bugged out when he read a postscript at the bottom.
BTW, I'll need to take off from 7 Oct 06 to 10 Oct 06. I have just been advised of a family commitment that I need to attend. According to the schedule, the subject will be out of town at a conference those dates. I will try to determine location so you can monitor there.
Ramer picked up the phone and dialed Blackhorn's private line. It answered after two rings.
"Blackhorn," was all the voice on the other end said.
"Ranger One," Ramer snapped back. "We may have an agent who's been compromised."