Jenna West stared at the two people who had rescued her... or maybe it was kidnap her. She wasn't really sure. Her last clear memory was of Hank Carter, a virtual stranger. He had helped her. He had been nice to her. The gentle way he had accepted her into his world made her trust him.
"Where are you taking me," she asked the woman sitting in the passenger seat.
The woman had identified herself as Elizabeth. She tried to act friendly but there was something not genuine about her. The man, however, had a different vibe. He didn't speak as he drove, but she could tell there was something different about him.
"We're taking you home," Elizabeth said.
"Home?" Jenna choked. She could barely remember where that was.
"Don't give her false hope," the man bit out. "We're taking you back to the Facility."
"No! I won't go back there." She struggled against her bindings but they were too tight, too expertly knotted.
"I don't think you have a choice, sugar." Elizabeth's voice was a mix of Georgia socialite and New Orleans cajun.
The Facility loomed large in the windshield, getting larger the closer they came.
"Home sweet home," Elizabeth cooed.
†††
"Satellite tracking has the vehicle approaching the abandoned base at the edge of town," Candice Kent said. Her two colleagues watched the progress on the monitor.
"Have you run facial recognition on the girl?" Bailey Chase puffed on a small cigarette leaving a trail of smoke behind him.
Hank Carter poked his head over his monitor. "Running it now," he said. "There's no guarantee we'll match a name to her face."
"If she is as important to them as I think she is, we'll find her photo on some database."
Suddenly six photos of the same woman popped up on the screen. Hank stood back in shock.
"That's odd," he said. "I got six hits and it's still processing."
"You're kidding." Candice moved from her computer over to Carter's.
"Same first name, different last names. She has jobs all over the board. Pentagon, Homeland Security... There's even a hit on a reporter over in Park Ridge. But all others are involved in some area of the government," Candice said.
"Her job can't be too important if someone hasn't caught this anomaly already," Bailey said.
"All low level jobs but attached to high level government personnel," Candice offered.
"There's no way this can all be the same girl," Hank said. "Some of these jobs happen simultaneously."
"I'll have some of our operatives track these down," Bailey said. "Let's see how many Jenna's we find.
†††
A woman worked at her desk in an obscure government office. She hadn't been there long, only a few months. But in those few months she'd gained enough intel to weaken the government substantially. He cell buzzed and she picked it up immediately. Only one person knew the number... her handler.
"Yes, sir," she said, hoping to impress the seasoned veteran.
"You've been compromised," he said. "Use egress Plan E. Execute immediately."
"Right away, sir."
The Jenna look-alike packed up her desk, placing every seemingly personal item in a box. The office was understaffed so no one paid much attention to her as she carried the box down to the basement. The incinerator blazed hot. The man at the controls smiled at the Jenna look-alike.
"You got another one?" he asked?
She nodded and handed him the box.
"It's amazing how man state secrets we destroy this way," she said.
"You're right. It's a shame that paper files have become obsolete. Someday they'll wish this was all still packed away in some government basement."
The Jenna look-alike nodded and waved to the man. She'd never see him again now that her mission had been compromised.
She followed the basement to a little known tunnel entrance. She opened the door and stepped into the darkness.
