Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.
~ Jamais Cascio
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They crowded around a computer as one of the techs typed away, "While you guys went to investigate the doctor, I managed to get the videotapes from a Seven-Eleven a block over from Rooney's," he said.
"How does that help us?" Slater asked.
"Watch," the tech pulled up black and white video footage, looking down the street from where the explosion of Rooney's went off. They saw Lex and Jake run around the corner, just as the explosion went off, and the footage went fuzzy. Jake instinctively rubbed the bandage over his head.
"I remember that, wish I didn't have to," Lex said.
"Show them what you found before," Vicki said. The tech rewound the footage, just ten minutes before the explosion went off. In the middle of the street, they saw a man walking idly down the street. He was looking around and over his shoulder, then he went inside the store.
"I doubt he's going to get his allergy meds," Jake mumbled. Fast forward thirty seconds later, the same man came back out, then walked directly down the street and out of the camera's view.
"Did we run him through facial rec?" Slater asked.
"Yes. And we got a hit," a DMV photo suddenly popped up, "Edward Estherman. Thirty-two, no job, no family," he said.
"I bet a fifty Edward Estherman is a fake name too," Vicki said.
"What does he have to do with anything?" Jenna asked.
"Interpol has been looking into him for the past six months, suspect him of having relations with these guys," a few more clicks later, a website pops up with big, fat red letters spelling out the word Mbretëria e Pavlefshme.
"Mem... membr... what?" Jake asked.
"It's Albanian, directly translates to the English phrase 'Void Kingdom'," Vicki said, "And Mr. Kralj? Kralj is the Bosnian translation for 'king',"
Slater grumbled under his breath, "So, King Kralj is building his Kingdom,"
"And recruiting fighter rebels in Europe. People who have no country, no means, no values," Lex added.
"Can anybody see this?" Slater asked.
"The website is heavily guarded under the dark net. Apparently, to get access, you need an invite from a recruiter," the tech said.
"So how did you find it?" Jake asked.
"FBI keeps a record of all expletive websites on the dark net," Vicki replied.
"And you can't shut this down?" Lex asked.
"It's like a game of whack-a-mole with these guys. You take down one website, ten minutes later, they have another one up and running,"
"So, how about we go find Estherman and get him to tell us who Mr. Kingdom is and what they plan to do next?" Jake said.
"Once we drag Estherman in here, he's going to clam up tighter than a stuck zipper," Vicki said.
Jenna then had an idea, "I can help," she said. Everybody then turned to her.
"How can you help?" Slater asked. Jake felt the instinct to slam his hand across his forehead.
"Get me close enough to him, I can lift any information you want. Literally," she said.
"What do you mean?" Lex asked.
Jake cleared his throat, "Could I have a word with you guys? Over there," he nodded off to the side. Lex glowered at him, but followed anyway, as did Vicki and the lieutenant.
"Jake, what the hell is she talking about?" Vicki asked.
Jake scratched the back of his neck, "Look, there's really no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out: Jenna's a pickpocket,"
Slater glared back at him, "You want to repeat that, Officer Riley?"
"She's a thief," Lex said.
"Petty thief,"
"Same difference,"
Jake huffed, "Sure, but she's not a bad person,"
"She's a criminal!" Vicki hissed, "And you allowed us to bring her in here?"
"Would you like me to slap her on the wrist, then?"
"This is not a joke!" Lex exclaimed, "She could compromise our entire investigation. How do we know she's not working with the Void Cult?"
"Because when I found her yesterday, she was being chased by two guys with big nasty guns. I seriously think she has nothing to do with this. If anything, she's an asset to us," he replied.
Slater pinched the bridge of his nose, "You expect me to just send her out there with no back up? We don't even know who this Estherman guy is or if he's even involved!" he said.
"I didn't see him at the shelter. And if interpol has him on their radar, it's better that we act than just stand here and argue about one girl," he said.
Lex huffed and turned to Vicki, "Do we have any alternative way to get at Estherman?" he asked. Vicki thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Not without giving us away," she said.
"So if Jenna passes him, she can lift say -- his wallet -- and get it back to us," he said.
"And we can figure out what we're really dealing with," Jake said.
"It's your call, Lieutenant," Vicki said.
Slater was stuck, he reminisced for the days when he we still just a foot cop and doing patrols, only dangers he ever had to worry about what a bank robbery. Alas, things were always so much easier back then than today. So, there was a good chance that if the entire investigation went South, he'd be forced to resign. So, what did he really have to lose?
"Get me a form!"
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Minutes later, Jenna was sitting across from the lieutenant as he signed the bottom of a sheet of paper. Jenna's heels kept knocking together nervously, and Slater barely looked up at her while he wrote. Then he suddenly turned the paper around and put it before her.
"Sign on the dotted line," he handed her the pen, and Jenna wrote out her name, "And again here,"
When she was finished, he then slide the paper to Lex, "Witness' signature,"
Lex signed, and then gave it back to Slater. Slater took a stamp and pressed it down onto the top right corner, reading in big bold letters APPROVED.
"Alright. Jenna Desmond, you are now an official Atlanta PD informant. Congratulations," he didn't sound too thrilled with it.
"Yippee," she forced a smile, "Do I get a badge now?" she asked. Slater folded the letter and set it off to the side, not looking amused.
"Alright, Officer Riley, step forward please,"
Jake gave Jenna a small, but nervous smile as he stepped towards the desk, "Officer Riley, starting now, you are solely responsible for Ms. Desmond's actions. If anything goes wrong, I'm holding you accountable," Jake didn't respond, as if that didn't put on the pressure.
"Right. I understand, sir," he said.
Slater didn't say another word as he stood up and left the room. Lex didn't say a word either, he just bit back his own smirk as Slater brushed passed Jake.
"Well... he's a happy camper," Jenna said.
"He's just stressed out. But he's right about one thing, you screw up, you're out and get a ticket one-way to that shelter," Jake said.
Jenna saluted him, "Yes sir!"
"Alright, now that we have that out of the way, you two better get started," Lex said.
"Start what?" Jenna asked.
"Training," Jake said, "You're going after Estherman? You're going to need to know a thing or two so you don't get yourself killed,"
Jenna's eyes lit up, "Sweet! So, what do we learn first? Karate? Ju jitsu?"
They boys laughed, "We're not that advanced, sweetheart," Lex said.
Jake took her by the shoulder, "Come on, upstairs. I think apartment 6F has a punching bag,"
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The punching bag only served as Jenna's practice dummy, but decided to fight back the several times it swung back around and clocked her into her gut. Jake wasn't helping; how could he? He sent the bag flying back.
"Awh!" she stumbled back, holding her stomach tightly as the beaten red bag swung back and forth annoyingly.
"Better," Jake said. Jenna huffed and stood up straight.
"I'm sorry, but I think I missed the point where this 'exercise' is supposed to help me pickpocket Estherman. I've been doing this for about two years now," she said. Jake scowled.
"The less I know about your lifting days, the better," he said, steadying the bag for her, "Try again,"
Jenna glared at the tear in the leather netting and jabbed at the bag with her cloth-wrapped knuckles, feeling like someone had just given her the strap.
"This is pointless," she said, "I don't need my knuckles, I got my knees. Why do you think God blessed women with knees and cursed you men with dicks?"
Jake laughed out, "Uh, the first to allow women the right to defend themselves. And the second:" he took a swing at the bag and sent it right towards Jenna. Luckily, she stopped it with her hands, "I have a penis to help you, the woman, procreate,"
"Not the answer I was going for," she replied. Jake took the bag and steadied it again for her.
"Come on, again. Harder this time," he said. Jenna took a breath and jabbed with all her might, but Jake hardly moved an inch, "Better,"
"You're a crap liar," she spat back. Jake bit back his smile as he came up behind Jenna and fixed her position.
"First of all, you keep your knees together like that, you're going to get knocked over faster than a tower of cards," he put her left knee forward with a bend while he right knee supported her in the back. Jenna fought back the urge to squirm as he hands wrapped around her thighs and knees.
"That feel better?" he asked.
"Uh... y-yeah," she replied.
"Second of all, you have to keep your arms up. Wrists should be aligned with your shoulders," he then took her wrists and put them up for her, then he squeezed her hand down into a fist and patted at her knuckles, "Keep your fists tight, but don't let the rest of your arms seize up. They help you reach, your fists deliver the pain,"
Jenna's breath hitched in her throat, even more so as he stared down at her, "Got it?"
"Uh huh," she nodded. He then went back around the other side of the bag and held it steady.
"Try now. Remember, only move the right side of your body to jab, move your left to block,"
Jenna nodded, and she did exactly that. Jake still didn't move, but he looked pleased, "Very good, now try it harder. Try to knock me off balance," he said. Jenna scoffed.
"Yeah, good luck with that," she mumbled. But she tried anyway. Jake grinned with amusement as her struggle, now only appreciating how short she was. She was cute though; her short hair hung at her shoulders, her bright brown eyes were narrowed and focused, and her lips opening and closing with every jab. And she grunted, small and barely making a sound, but he could hear her heavy breathing. She was determined, that was for sure.
"Shouldn't I be practicing with a real person?" she asked, "Since I don't think Edward will just stand there as I punch his spleen out," she gave another hard punch for emphasis.
Jake stood back as she caught her breath, "You're right, he's going to pull out his gun and shoot you," he said. Jenna froze.
"How do you know he's carrying a gun?" she asked.
"What kind of terrorist doesn't carry a gun?"
"You made your point," she said, "But I'll be picking his pocket, not trying to put a hole in his head,"
Jake grinned, then he stepped forward, "Alright. You think you can do it?" he asked.
"I've been doing it for two years, now. I've never been caught," she replied. Jake pulled out his wallet from his pocket, and he showed her five ten dollar bills.
"You see that? Fifty bucks," he then put his wallet back into his front pocket, "You take it from me, you're ready," he said. Jenna smiled and nodded, excited for the challenge.
"Deal,"
They stood at opposite ends of the room, and Jake took out his phone, pretending to be preoccupied with something else. Jenna couldn't hide her smirk, she could see the faint outline of Jake's wallet sticking out from his pocket like a sore thumb. She stretched out her hand as they passed each other, and her fingers dipped into his pocket. But just as she pulled at the material, Jake grabbed her arm and pushed her away. Jenna's confidence was suddenly shattered; no one had ever been able to detect her movements!
"How'd you do that?" she asked with bewilderment.
"Cops and terrorists share something in common with pickpockets: we all have a sixth sense," he smirked victoriously. Jenna scowled, then her first clenched up. Then, she decided to try her luck, and she threw a punch at Jake. Jake was fast though; he blocked her blow with his forearm. And when she tried to kick him, he caught her by the ankle and pushed her foot back down. The tables had turned, because now Jenna was annoyed, and Jake had the biggest smirk on his face.
"You ready to give up?" he asked. Jenna wouldn't give up, she was a Desmond! And her father always told her that Desmonds never ran from a fight. So, she tried her throw again. This time, in a swift motion, Jake caught her fist and he twisted her arm behind her back, then pinned her against the wall. Jenna was now ready to give up.
"Okay. I give," she replied. Jake just smiled again and let her go, while Jenna rubbed her sore arm.
"That is what Estherman is going to do to you if he catches you," he said.
Jenna sighed and scratched her forehead, "Then, I guess I'll just have to make sure he doesn't catch me," she said.
She went right back to the punching bag, "You going to hold this stupid thing? Or am I going to be smacking down a wimpy sack of sand?"