Discoveries


4247 Maplewood Dr.

Saturday, August 10, 2002

11:50 AM

Jenna peeked out the window again. Her dad and the other man-Augie –
they were still there. She kept very still, not even daring to breathe
as she listened. Their voices were low but she could still hear if she
really concentrated...

"What does later mean?" Augie was saying . "Lee this is urgent-I
don't think it can wait much longer, you know?"

"Fine," Dad said with an audible sigh. "Meet me over at the Abingdon
Elementary playground in about a half-hour. All right?"

"I'll be there," Augie said. "And I'm telling you-this is big."
Jenna watched as the other man sprinted over the fence and
disappeared. She let the curtain fall and sank down onto the floor,
still shaking.

Investigate. That's what she'd written in her notebook and that's what
she was going to do. Jenna had no idea what her dad was doing, but she
was definitely going to try and find out. Taking the gel pen she
wrote a little bit more:

Step One: Follow Dad.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs startled her. Hastily
Jenna closed the notebook so the only thing now showing was the cover
with the Washington Monument. There was a light tap on the door.

"Come in," Jenna called out.

Dad opened the door. "Hey there," he said.

"Hey," Jenna said, trying hard to sound casual. "Did you have fun in
Boston?"

"No mostly I was bored," Dad said, sitting on the bed. "Work stuff,
you know."

But she didn't know, Jenna thought as she sat beside her dad, looking
at his profile. She was just beginning to realize how much she really
didn't know at all. Out loud she said. "I know."

"Bought you a new t-shirt, though," Dad said. "I thought maybe soon we
could all go up to Boston for the weekend-you'd love it. They have a
really nice aquarium there."

"That would be fun," Jenna said.

"Your mom told me you had a little scare Friday night, " Dad said,
looking at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jenna said. "I mean it sounds silly now but for one minute
I thought it was Gary-that he'd come back and-" her voice faltered
slightly and Dad squeezed her hand.
"-but once I found out who it was I was okay."

"You sure?" Dad said. "No nightmares?"

"No nightmares," Jenna said. "I just thought it was a little strange,
that's all."

"Well he's more than a little strange, Jenna," Dad said. "I'm sorry he
frightened you." He squeezed her hand again and gave her a kiss on
the forehead before standing. "I've got an errand to run but I'll be
back soon-try not to get too bored cleaning your room, okay?"

"I'll try," Jenna said.

"Oh and shut your window," Dad said. "Your mom has the AC running-we
don't want to air-condition the entire neighborhood. I'll see you
later, munchkin."

"See you later," Jenna said. Once Dad was gone she closed her eyes
briefly, taking a deep breath. He hadn't suspected anything-at least
she didn't think that he had. Now the next step was to follow him.
Abingdon Elementary was only one street over but with her Mom here
sneaking out of the house wasn't going to be so easy.

The Agency

11:58 AM

"Anything more on Red February?" Billy said.

"Nothing yet," Francine said. "All that we've been able to find out
so far is they're planning something big."

"That's a bit of an anti-climax, isn't it?" Billy said. "The fact that
they're planning something big is a given, Francine. What we need to
know are details. How about Lee? He's working on the case-did he find
out anything in Boston?"

"Boston was a dead end," Francine said, "But Lee just called-he has a
meeting set up with Augie Swann. He's not certain, but it could have
something to do with Red February-they are the hottest ticket in town
at the moment."

"Let's hope he's right," Billy said, wiping his hand on his forehead
and popping another antacid pill. He wasn't sure what was getting to
him more, the heat and humidity or the tension. "After 9-11 we cannot
afford to take any more chances. We need to know something and we need
to know it soon."

Abingdon Elementary School

12:10 PM

Jenna's muscles were beginning to cramp from staying in this crouching
position so long. She was hot and sweaty, her red t-shirt sticking to her skin.

Her tennis shoe was sopping wet-she'd stepped in the ditch while cutting across.

Despite the summer heat, the water had been freezing cold.

Something tickled as it crawled up her leg. Jenna looked down at it and

had to bite her lip to stifle a shriek.

Some investigator I'd make, she thought dryly. I get afraid of a
little ladybug. Impatiently she brushed it away. Picking up the
binoculars that Jamie had given her two Christmases ago Jenna watched
as her dad stood in the playground next to the swings, checking his
watch every couple of minutes. Just then Augie came running up-he had
something rolled up under his arm- it looked like a paper of some
sort. Dad and Augie were talking, but Jenna was too far way to hear
any actual words.

What could they be up to? She wondered.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

"I'm sorry if I'm a little late," Augie said, breathing hard as he
spoke. "But I needed to get the merchandise from my apartment-sort of
a token of goodwill, you know."

"The merchandise?" Lee said. "Just tell me what all this is about,
Augie-I haven't got all day-and stop turning around like that. You're
making me dizzy just looking at you."

"Just trying to make sure they're not following me," Augie said. "I
wouldn't put it past `em."

"Who?" Lee said.

"Red February," Augie said. "They contracted me to procure something
for them at a very good price. Only I started thinking that they
might not honor their end of the bargain."

"Really?" Lee said, letting sarcasm creep into his voice. "Whatever
gave you that idea?"

"They just seem a little unstable," Augie said, apparently oblivious
to Lee's mockery. "So anyway I thought maybe I should offer it to you."

"I'm not paying for it," Lee said. "I've told you that already."

"Come on Lee," Augie said. "I went through a lot of trouble to get
this, you know-this is huge."

"Let me see them first," Lee held out his hand. "I want to make sure
what I'm paying for."

Augie handed him the papers and Lee carefully unrolled them. He
studied the documents silently for a moment.

"These are plans for the Metro," he said, looking up at Augie.
"They're a matter of public record."

"Not these plans, Lee." Augie said. "These plans show the secret
entrances for workers and government individuals in case of
evacuation. And this other paper here shows a detailed map of all the
ventilation systems."

Despite the August heat Lee felt a chill go through him as he looked
down at the blueprints. He could think of several reasons why Red
February would need this information and none of them were good.
Taking a bill out of his wallet he handed it to Augie.

"One hundred dollars?" Augie said. "My information is worth more than
that, Lee-I'm a man with expenses."

"Here," Lee said, taking another hundred out. "That's it, Augie."

"Bye Lee," Augie said. "Take care."

SMK SMK SMK SMK

Jenna's mouth felt dry, the cramp in her legs forgotten as she watched
the scene below. She wasn't sure what she had seen, but it gave her a
sort of trembling and sick feeling in her stomach. What exactly could
dad have been doing? A dozen different ideas were racing through
Jenna's head, each one worse than the last. Numbly she watched
through the binoculars as Augie left. Dad rolled up the paper under
his arm and after a moment he left too.

A sharp sound, like a branch breaking, made Jenna jump slightly and
shook her out of her thoughts. She had to get home and fast, too,
before she was caught or missed.