3

Jeffrey Harvey, drove his car through the gates of the immense mansion. He never got to live in a house like this, he lived in a small apartment in Washington. Of his five friends,he was the only one who was still in the US army. Five years earlier he was serving in Iraq when he got seriously injured,So he was rushed home, he thought his career was over, but when they were barely recovering, he was offered to lead the Pentagon Investigation and Intelligence Team.

Two weeks earlier, he has been confused when he received the envelope with the Black Rose, but then he received a call from John telling him that he and Rob had received the same envelope. He immediately called Fred McCarthy who now lived in Texas with his family, and George Layton who lived in Canada. They were all worried, no one understood what the "13/07" message meant even though they all knew the Black Rose and what it was capable of.

Judging by the cars parked in the driveway Jeff deduced that he was the last to arrive. They had all agreed to meet in San Francisco at John's house. Five years had passed since their last meeting. They didn't speak to each other regularly, but they had all been generous when he had been injured, they had all come to see him in Washington.

He parked his car well and took the files that were placed on the passenger seat and got out of his car.

Approaching the entrance, he could hear their laughter, they were the only one capable joking at a time like this.

He didn't bother knocking, the door burst open when he came up to he it. John stood before him, beer in hand. They greeted each other warmly, then Jeff greeted everyone else.

"Frankly guys, it's good to see you again no matter the circumstances." He said picking up a beer.

The five friends took some time to chat and tell their lives. Fred told them that he had bought a ranch in Texas and that he liked it so much, his youngest son was going to go to college, so he was happy to be able to enjoy his retirement with his wife. George was much more different from Fred, he was a single man who lived alone and women were his hobby. He had a daughter he rarely saw. "I think she hates me, she calls her stepfather 'dad'" he said with a bitter smile. Jeff was the only one without children, he had never wanted any.

They all laughed at Rob who was in the middle of the election campaign, it was their way of saying that they were proud of him. John told them of the hard time they had spent with Jenna who was in a terrible depression.

"She will get through it, that little girl has always been very strong" said Fred.

After a long time of talking, it was time to talk about what had brought them together. "I have here the files of the operations that we did, before John quited, whoever holds a grudge against us must have something to do with our missions so we should remember everything, review detail by detail maybe we'll come to understand what 13/07 means."

****

John called his daughter when he went to sleep but she didn't respond,he assumed she was already sleeping. He was relieved that she wasn't home. He was afraid he couldn't protect her from what was to come, he just hoped that when she got back the threat would be gone. They hadn't received any other messages but John had a feeling it was the calm before the storm.

With his friends they had peeled each file and had listed potential enemies of their unit. They had promised to meet the next day to continue their investigation. Jeff had promised to make a few phone calls to get more information on the Black Rose and how they worked.

Before falling asleep, John checked that his gun was still in place. Even if he didn't need it every day, he always made sure to have a weapon at hand. Then when he laid his head on the pillow he couldn't help saying a prayer

"My God, whatever happens protect Jenna." He was not not that much a believer but he had no other recourse.

He was scared of what was to come and he wasn't the only one.

He was awakened by the ringing of his phone, it was Fred who was calling, he didn't need to pick up to know that something serious had happened. He checked what time it was as he picked up. It was 3:15am

"I'm sorry to wake you up mate, George's ex just called, Cassy can't be found, she left her dorm room hours ago, she was supposed to be going home but she's not come." Cassy was George's daughter.

John got out of bed.

"Where are you?"

"Handlery Union Square Hotel"

"I'm on my way."

When John arrived in the hotel lobby, all Fred and Jeff were with George, he was on the phone with his ex, she had called the police and no one wanted to help her, Cassy was an adult and the police believed that she had the right to do what she wants without informing her mother. George tried to reassure her by telling her that Cassy had perhaps gone to see a friend that there was no reason to be alarmed. But he didn't believe it either.

"You think it's them" John asked.

"Without a doubt, this can't be a coincidence" replied Fred.

They all felt helpless they didn't know what to do.

George's ex-wife lived in Sacramento, which was almost two hours by car from San Francisco. They all decided that if at dawn they didn't hear from Cassy they would all go there.

***

Jenna had woken up very early, she went jogging with Lucas and Connor. When she got back she checked her phone and noticed that her father had called her so she decided to call him back once she was done getting ready. She spun in the shower, got ready and took the phone to call him but he didn't answer. She tried again three times still without answer. So she decided to call home. Martha answered her right away.

"Hello"

"It's me Nanny, how are you?!"

"Good sweetheart, And you?"

"I'm fine Nanny, is dad around? I've been calling him on his phone but he is not picking up"

It was 7:30 am and she knew that her father didn't leave for the office until 8.

"No sweetie he's not here!"

Jenna noticed that Martha's voice had just changed.

"Why? Where is he?"

Martha remained silent for a moment. "Nanny what's going on?"

"It's nothing sweetheart, I'm sure I'm making up my mind."

"What? Tell me what's going on."

"Well I don't know, your dad's been weird lately, it seems like he's been worried about something. He looks very tired too. I've been hearing him working in the office late at night. And it's not all, his army friends were all here last night, they all seemed very concerned they spent the evening going through some files."

Jenna got curious when she heard that his army friend came, they all had different lives now that they didn't see each other frequently.

"And where is he?!"

"I don't know, I heard his car leaving late at night, it must have been between three and four in the morning."

Jenna felt worry wash over her. Thousands of thoughts jostle each other. What were her father and his friends up to? Maybe one of them was in trouble and they had all stepped up to help him, that was the kind of thing they could do. What if the person in trouble was his father. One thing Jenna knew was Martha knew John well and if she said he was weird then he was weird.

"We have to go if we don't want to be late." Freya had just finished getting ready and she didn't want to go without Jenna.

"Listen Nanny I have to go to training, if dad comes home tell him to call me back."

"Bye sweetie. I'm sorry to have you worried."

"It's nothing, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. I'll call you back tonight."then she hang up.

All day she was very concerned. Thousands of scenarios swirling around in his head.

In the evening she hadn't received any call from his father, she tried calling him but this time his phone was off. She called Martha and she told her he was not back. Jenna was now so worried, she asked Martha to go and check in his room, and his office if there were something that could indicate where he went. Then she called Debbie, her father's secretary, she told her that his dad had called to say he was not coming to work for the rest of the week. John was rarely absent at work,the only reasons that made him miss work was when they were on vacations or when Jenna was sick. Anything that was happening was serious for his father to not go to work.

She told her friends what was worrying her when they asked her why she seemed absent-minded. They all reassured her telling that his dad was a grown man, that she shouldn't worry that much about him. Maybe they were right, but she couldn't help having a bad feeling.

When she went to sleep an idea came to her, Nanny had said that all her father's friends were at home the night before, maybe they were still together Why hadn't she thought of it before? She had just remembered that she had Rob's phone number. She took out her phone and called him.

****

The five friends have been in Sacramento for hours but they hadn't had any news of Cassy. After a while they decided they should seek for help, so John proposed to make a call to some of his friends from Quantico who where still in the FBI. That's when he saw that his phone was down. He put it on charge and then used Jeff's. After making some calls, Dwight one of his friends who worked in the New York FBI bureau told him he would join him with a colleague in San Fransisco. Dwight sent him the number of the colleague fifteen minutes after. When John called, it was a woman on the other end who introduced herself as Kate Sawyer. She promised to be in Sacramento as soon as she could. She arrived three hours later, She had short blonde hair. She wore jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. She seemed to be in her late thirties. John introduced her to his friends and they told him everything that had happened and was afraid that Cassy's disappearance was the Black Rose's did. She listened carefully and took some notes.

"It's weird that they take so long to act, I've worked on a Black Rose case before but this is the first time they've gone after ex-government agents. I'm going to make few calls, we need to leave the matter of Cassy's disappearance in the hands of the local police. If they think it's the responsibility of the FBI then they will call them. As far as I'm concerned, I'll see if I can get everything the FBI has on the Black Rose and see if that helps."

Half an hour later George received a phone call from Lynn his ex, the local police came to take his statement. He and his friends were in a motel near her home. So George decided to drop by. Then an hour later Kate came back with a stack of files and a computer. They shared the files and plunged into them.

Two hours later it was already dark and they hadn't found anything concrete yet just some information. They realized that they hadn't eaten since morning, John offered to bring some snacks but as he was about to leave the room , Rob's phone rang.

"Wait John, it's Buttercup."

"Oh fuck, answer"

Rob spoke with her for a moment, then he passed the phone to John.

"Sweetheart, how are you?"

"How am I? Dad I've been trying to call you all day, I've called your office and home but you couldn't be found. How do you want me to be."

"Listen honey, I completely forgot to charge my phone it turned off, I've been really busy but I should have called you, I'm sorry."

"Where are you?"

John told his daughter that George's daughter Cassy had disappeared and that they had all gone to lend a hand to find her. He reassured his daughter that he was fine and that he would call her back at the end of the week.

Jenna didn't tell her father about Martha's concern, it would have just caused her more trouble. When she hung up she still wasn't reassured, Martha had told her he had been weird for a few days and Cassy had only disappeared the same day. But when she fell asleep, the advice her friends had given her came back to her. She then decided not to think about her father's story anymore, she just hoped it was nothing serious.

****

Cassy was found three days later. They had managed to find Cassy's car thanks to the surveillance video, the car in which her captors had taken her had been somehow located, when they arrived at the place where she had been kidnapped, she was the only one there. The police took her to identify her raptors but she hadn't saw them. Later that day John and his friends received another message that said "That was just a taste" and then weeks passed with no news.

The five friends all returned to their lives, Kate had told them that it was very likely that the person looking for them was just an amateur.

****

Isabella Manga was the kind of woman who never resigned on anything, but when her associates at the head of the black rose cut off all her income, she had no choice but to cut short her trip to San Fransisco.

Back in New York, she hadn't waited a minute to organize a meeting with her associates, she had to make them understand right away that they had no interest to piss her off. A smile escaped her as she thought about them when they saw the little envelope containing some compromising information. They both accepted against their will that her "operations" will be financed but only if nothing is done without their permission. "Madam, here we are." Her driver announced taking her from her thoughts.

Isabella glanced at the window, she hated being in the presence of many people but her presence in chinatown was essential.

"Wait for Me Here"

She got out of the car then crossed the Norfork Street .On the other side of the street to find an old apartment building, she entered the building. She passed two women coming out, they looked at her with an insisting look, they must have wondering what such an elegant woman could do in such a place. When she reached the elevator she was afraid she wouldn't get where she was going because it was in very poor condition. Luckily she was able to get to the seventh floor without incident. She looked for apartment 317 and found it with no problem, then she knocked. She heard "I'm coming" then the door opened.