June 1, 1999

May: What happened to Chase?

I wiped tears off my face as me, May, Forster and Director Berman talked in the Director's office. We were brought back to HQ at once and Director Forster demanded to know immediately what happened.

Forster: A chopper left the moment we arrived. Probably had Chase in it.

I sighed as I took my phone out.

Forster: Is there anything else we need to know about?

May: No... I think that's-

Harlan: Yes... yes there is.

I stood up to approach Director Berman.

Harlan: We got a mole in T.H.E.P.A.

Director Berman: Thena Montgomery, I'm aware. But she escaped.

Harlan: Yes but... Ms Montgomery mentioned... an inside man... and it got me thinking... who is our inside man.

I circled Director Berman.

Harlan: How was little Miss Thena Montgomery able to sneak in the most secure location on the planet... undetected... unnoticed? Now think about this... the night Thena broke in and tried to bomb the server room... how did she know where the server room was? How did she know the integrity of the pool? How did she gain my access code when only ONE person has access to it.

Forster: That's factually incorrect as also the Director-

Forster stopped. He then eyed Director Berman. May's phone pinged.

Forster: Harlan didn't kill the thug.

Director Berman: This is ABSURD! You are accusing me of working with the enemy?

May: Oh shit.

Director Berman turned to her daughter.

May: This is just... suspicious.

May showed her phone. It showed CCTV footage of Chase approaching the helicopter. Suddenly, Director Berman appeared. The two talked before Chase got in the chopper with Montgomery and Director Berman ran off.

Forster: You son of a bitch.

Director Berman smiled. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at me, but May and Forster got their guns and aimed it at him.

May: Drop the gun, Dad. There's no way out.

Director Berman sighed.

Director Berman: There is always a way out.

May: NO!

Director Berman put the gun in his mouth and with the pull of the trigger, blood splattered as Director Berman's traitorous body dropped dead to the floor.

_.-

News of the Director's death spreaded fast. Director Berman was in fact in cahoots with the Delveys. It was Director Berman who stole the bombs. It was Director Berman who snuck Thena Montgomery in. Director Berman helped plan the attempted bombing on T.H.E.P.A.

A few days later, Forster was appointed Director. We had a small celebration for him, but even May noticed I wasn't in the moment. Nothing that happened or we did could cheer me up. To me, the memory of Clair was still fresh and got more painful more and more each second... and it didn't help what happened next.

A few days after, I was informed that May was being transferred, being stationed in T.H.E.P.A. 's Philippines branch, and I was to be stationed in America.

I had one last goodbye to say.