Rising Tide: CATU Book 3 Ch. 01

She let the question slip from her mind and slips through the park. Roger placed the envelope behind the John Rawlins statue, which is easy enough for her to find. Not wasting any time, she tears the envelope open. Inside is a lone piece of paper. On it is the name Skye Lounge.

The Skye Lounge is a nice little bar just a few blocks north. Spencer had taken her there a few times. She doesn't know what awaits her there, but she has a job to do. Without a contact in CATU, Sam is unsure the extent of the FBI's search. So she decides to go on foot.

The trip there takes her almost twenty minutes. The bar is packed, which is a relief. The more people, the less likely she would be spotted by anyone looking for her. Sam walks into the bar and maneuvers her way to the darkest corner she can find and takes a seat with her back to the wall.

After two minutes the waitress comes by. "Can I get you something hun?"

"Not right now, thank you," Sam replies, even though she'd like to have something after the trip there.

"Okay, just wave me down when you need something," the waitress says before heading to the next table.

Sam sat there studying the crowd, looking for anyone that didn't fit there. After fifteen minutes, no one stood out and she is about to do a walkthrough when a shadow falls over her. "Good evening Sam," the man says. He stands nearly six feet tall with short cropped hair. His skin is a light brown, very subtle and attractive for a black man. He is wearing jeans and a t-shirt but has a military atmosphere about him.

"Do I know you?" Sam asks. She is on guard now as she stands up, ready for a fight if need be.

"My name is Major Duncan Graves and no we've never met. I'm here to help you, so if you'd like to sit, I can explain what's going on," he says, gesturing to the seat.

She takes her seat, keeping her eyes on Graves as he takes his. "So who do you work for?" Sam asks, her voice stern.

"Army Intelligence."

"There's an oxymoron," she says with a smirk.

"I happen to take my job seriously," he says smiling back at her.

"Sorry, I've never met anyone from Intelligence that..."

"Hey, it's no problem. I'm here because you need our help as much as we need yours."

"Besides the obvious, you know," she shrugs and gestures at him, "being Intel, why me?"

"Because of higher powers, favors were called and we really didn't need your help at the time, but it does present us with needing it now," he explains.

"Okay, I'm confused. The FBI has my agency under arrest, I came here because of a piece of paper in an envelope and now here I am being visited by Army Intelligence. What the fuck is going on?"

"Sam, the members of CATU are being arrested and if the investigation turns up anything, they will be charges with anything from treason and espionage to murder and whatever else they can find.

"Technically you are a fugitive at the moment and being an agent for the government, I'd have to arrest you. But like higher powers, we believe you and the rest of CATU are innocent."

Sam slams her hand on the table and unintentionally draws a few looks in the process. "Who are these higher powers and why is this investigation happening and why the hell are we beating around the bush here!" Sam practically yells.

"Classified on the first, the second we have no control over. Senator Rustlin cause so much fuss that the Senate had no other choice but to allow the investigation, which coincidently no one has control over.

"Now on to why I'm here. We will get you transported into South Africa to bring Special Agent Reeds out and in return provide us with Intel we need, but cannot get."

"What? How do you know about Spence?"

"Like I said, I take my job seriously. Now, we will provide you with the information you will need to get both tasks done. After that we deny ever helping you or knowing about any involvement between us and you or you and the Coalition." Graves sits back, relaxed without a showing a hint to anything he may have been thinking.

"I guess I have no other choice. When do we start?"

——

Mike Grines sits perched on the edge of the building overlooking Rawlins Park and the CATU building. He was notified by Roger of the impending assault earlier on. Grines was given orders to stay out of sight and wait. Roger had a feeling more than Senator Rustlin causing a fuss was going to happen and he wanted someone he could trust and someone with skills.

Grines had no problem accepting the assignment, but questioned why Doug Wiltkins, who was more qualified, wasn't taking the task. Roger's reply was simple. The FBI would expect CATU knew of the raid if Wiltkins happened to be gone when the raid took place. However, with Grines gone, it just happens he was gone at the time of the raid.

Grines was young for an Assistant Director, but he was more than qualified for the task. He spent ten years as a Green Beret before moving to the CIA. On an invite from Roger, he moved to CATU as an agent. After showing exceptional skills as a leader, Roger offered the Assistant Director position, which he gladly took.

Grines watched until every member was taken under arrest and the building completely searched and sealed. A few members unaware of what was taking place showed up to work and taken under arrest by agents lying in wait for any stragglers.

Eventually after several hours with no one showing up, the agents packed up and left. Or at least made it appear that way.

The black van that sat half a block away contained three agents. Grines was always amazed how different and obvious FBI agents were compared to CIA agents. Of course what made CATU not liked by other agencies was they were truly better than the rest. Being a mixture of people with different backgrounds in training, each person brought in new knowledge which provided new training programs for both new and old agents.

It was time to sneak in, not a hard task for Grines or for anyone trying hard enough to sneak past the FBI. The FBI had already frozen any and all assets of those in CATU the moment the raid took place. This was a high priority investigation and there couldn't be any errors. So Roger being paranoid or prepared had planned. All Grines had to do was break in and grab the instructions off Roger's desk.