Catching Phoenix: Renegades MC Story

48

Whoever said that having downtime was a good thing, obviously didn't have a house full of bikers. At least now I had the room (since all the agents left) and they were no longer sleeping in the theater.

The guys were still trying to help me uncover any details or trails that would help us with the case. So far we were coming up with a big fat zero. Nada. Nothing.

And it sucked.

Bikers continued to come and go (not Axel, as he has been noticeably absent) and Agent Timmons was so busy tying up loose ends he didn't really have anything to send our way.

But the boredom had settled in and that did not make for happy bikers.

There were only so many target shooting contests (which I always won), knife throwing contests (which Harley always won) and drinking contests (which Tank mostly won) that you could have until those to became monotonous.

So when Agent Timmons showed up out of the blue, the guys perked way the fuck up. It was kind of funny how quickly the Renegades took to being mercenaries, not to mention how good they were becoming. Again I hated to admit it but the Agent was right and the fit was almost perfect. They had the training and the discipline (once they stopped partying all the time) and even the brains to approach every situation with the expertise needed to pull it off without any casualties.

And like any good soldier, the urge to get back out into action was always dominant.

I hated to admit but even I was becoming antsy (even though I was enjoying my Mac time). But hey, a girl needed her action, what can I say. (Not that kind of action, I was getting that kind, I meant the other kind.)

From the look on Agent T's face I knew whatever brought him back was not going to be good.

After several greetings, the Agent moved around the desk before stopping and giving me his full attention.

"Major...I receive a package addressed to you."

Now normally getting a package wouldn't be a big deal right? Except, how do you mail something to someone who is dead? (Hence where the problem arose).  Shit I couldn't remember the last time I even got a piece of mail.   All my bills were on automatic withdraw linked to my untraceable company account, hell I didn't even have a mailbox.  

"The box was sent to Fort Benning a few weeks ago." Ah...Fort Benning...it held a special place in my heart since it was where I did basic training at.  But how did it end up with Agent T?

"Since you were not in the system, an alert was sent out once your name was typed in for a more detail search. I finally received the box a few days ago."  He responding unknowingly answering my question.  

Setting the box down on the desk, he paused to pull off the lid then he handed me a flash drive.

"This was on top. It is coded so we couldn't open it. Hopefully Albert can do better and can detect any viruses." He said handing it over to me.

Flipping the gadget in my hand, I leaned over to take a look in the box. I wasn't prepared for what was in there. In fact it was the last thing I could have ever guessed to see again.

My wedding albums.

It was white camo, easily recognizable since Tracy, one of the Colonel's daughter had it made for me. Sort of as a joke but also because she knew I would never take the time to do it myself. And she was right. Ian and I moved around so much that we never acquired that many personal belongings, but these albums...well they traveled the world with us. There were a total of four, but judging by the size of the box, not all were accounted for.

I still remember the day she gave them to us.   It was during a family BBQ at the Dawson Family home, Ian and I just returned from our brief honeymoon and were visiting.   Tracy brought out the most obnoxious wrapped present I have ever seen (it was pink with ribbons and bows taped all over it).  Ian spit out his beer he laughed so hard when she sent to box down in front of me.   Even Dawson through his head back and laughed as he said it wasn't a bomb so no need to look terrified.   Once I cut through all the tape (with my knife from my boot)  the four albums laid tucked under the pink and teal tissue paper.   excited I tore the paper and tossed it over my shoulder as I took out the books and laid them down.   Two for Ian and two for me, that way no matter where we where we would always have a part of each other with us.   It was the best present I had ever received and struggled to hold back the tears.  I could still hear Dawson's voice saying " You did good Tracy.."

Shaking out of the memory I glance up at Agent T ,"How?...where?...." I asked confused.  

"No idea Major. Hopefully whatever is on that drive will shed some light."

Leaving the albums in the box, I pulled out one of my secure laptops that were not wired directly into my mainframe. If the drive had a virus on it, I could minimize the damage. In a daze, with my movements almost automatic, I stared at the screen booting up, completely oblivious to the bikers quietly filling the room.

Pulling the lid off, inserting the flash drive and then I moved the arrow to hover over the only file labeled with my full name, Juliette Marie Barnes Anderson.

I did not have a good feeling about this. My gut instinct was screaming at me to abort as it would under a hail of incoming fire. Yeah that was not a good feeling.

As I wanted for the files to be verified I started at the box lost remembering.   I could remember the exact day I last looked through these.   It became sort of a ritual that I did.   Each time I headed out on a mission, no matter how big or small, I took a few minutes to look through these books, glancing down at the family I loved, all smiling back at me on one of the happiest days of my life.   Those pictures gave me the hope and courage I needed to go out there and do my job.   I just never realized that the last time I saw all those smiling faces...would be the same day that two of those faces tried to kill me. 

Lost in thought, I jumped at the sound of Albert's computerized voice.

Major...file has been scanned...no virus detected.

Transferring the USB to the mainframe, taking a deep breath, I clicked the button.