[New York]
Zenya studied the map of the cemetery that Leo had somehow obtained and frowned.
"Problem?" Leo asked, grinning at her as he eased the rental car into the heavy mid-town traffic headed east toward Long Island.
Zenya shook her head. "The Starling plot is far enough from the road, I don't think we should have a problem with that end." She hesitated. "We aren't going to do this by ourselves, are we?"
"Don't think we can handle it?"
"Actually, I was about to ask if you've ever made love in a cemetery and wondering how much of an audience we'd have," she teased, "but now that you mention it.. The digging we can handle, but I don't know how much help I'd be hoisting a casket out of the ground."
Leo looked at her for a moment, discovered that she was only half joking, and raised his eyebrows. "I've got that covered," he said. "Of course, I could always call the crew and tell 'em to show up a little later than planned."
The ringing of Leo's cell phone cut off whatever reply Zenya would have made.
"Jones here," Leo answered.
[The Crosses are wrapped up in this somehow,] Jordan said over the line.
"No big surprise there, Chief," Leo said.
[No, but now we've got some confirmation of it.]
"Anything happen yet?"
[Not yet, but watch your backs anyway. If we know they're involved..]
"Then they know we're involved. Got it."
[Stay in touch,] Jordan added, then broke the connection.
"The Crosses," Leo said as he started to put the phone away. Zenya took it out of his hand before he had a chance. Leo shrugged and asked his question wordlessly while Zenya dialed the phone.
"Emily," she said. "She's here in New York. And a warning from us would probably go over better than one from Martin."
[Hanson.]
"It's Agent Gorky. Where are you right now?"
[Halfway between the New York office and an address in Queens.]
"Right on our way, then. We're working on something involving the Crosses again." Zenya heard a sound over the line that was something between a sigh and a curse. "Leo and I are in New York following up on something. Meet us for coffee and we'll fill you in on it."
[Best to keep informed when it comes to the Crosses,] Emily said.
"That's how I see it."
*****
[a coffee shop in Queens]
Leo and Zenya were waiting when Emily and Agent Edwards arrived. Emily made a quick round of introductions and they settled into the booth.
"So what's going on," Emily asked.
"Remember Christopher Starling?" Leo began.
Emily nodded. "Vanessa's fiancee. Martin mentioned him. Starling was killed a while back."
"That's what we all thought," Zenya said. "But he's back. We only found out a few hours ago, and the Crosses have already turned up in the investigation."
"Details?"
"That's all we know for now," Leo said. "But where there's Crosses, there's trouble. Just be careful and watch your back, Emily."
*****
[on the street]
Across the street and half a block away from the coffee shop, a man sat in his parked car, headphones covering his ears and a high power microphone trained in the direction of the four agents inside. The equipment had set him back a small fortune, but it was paying off now. He dialed a number on his car phone, still listening to the conversation inside with one ear. When he told the secretary who answered the phone that John was calling, Thaddeus Cross came on the line almost immediately.
[News?] Cross asked.
"Information. Hanson is meeting with two other agents. You are the topic of the meeting."
[Who are they?]
"Jones and Gorky. For an additional fee, I could.."
[No. I've got something else in mind for them.]
*****
[Long Island Memorial Cemetary - Christopher Starling's plot]
When Zenya and Leo finally got to the Cemetary, they could see a flurry of activity centered around the section where Starling was supposed to be buried. As they got closer, they saw the familiar yellow tape of a police crime scene. Showing their credentials to one of the officers at the perimeter, they made their way to Christopher's grave. When they got there, they saw that the gravestone was smashed to bits and the grave already excavated. Looking in, they saw a smashed coffin and a mummified corpse in a sitting position near one side of the grave.
"Aren't corpses supposed to decompose?" Leo said absentmindedly to the air. "This one seems to have been mummified quite some time ago."
Zenya nodded and said, "And I don't think that his parents would bury him in military gear. I think that Vanessa would've told us about that."
Leo knelt closer to the edge of the pit that used to be Starling's grave and looked at the mummified corpse again. "Hmmm... that's odd. If I'm not wrong, that patch is the insignia of......"
*****
[Station X - Classroom F]
"The lost squadron, but that's almost impossible." Agent Jim Reaper said from behind his desk as he twirled the patch that Lisa Anders brought him to see.
"Why is that, Agent Reaper?" Lisa prompted, as she watched the former Zulu member examine the patch.
"Well, first of all, that would mean that the lost squadron... or rather squadrons were no longer lost." Jim said with a smile. "Secondly, the person you'd have taken this from would have had to be well into his 50's, not 20's or 30's as you mentioned. If I recall correctly, and Leo would probably remember more of this than I would, there were 2 squadrons bearing the same number, I forget what that was though. Anyways, the first "Lost Squadron" fought in the Civil War. When Sherman made his famous march to the South, he sent out a battalion to scout out the area ahead, but they were never heard from again. There wasn't a trace from them and the Confederacy denied ever running into them. The second "Lost Squadron" infiltrated Cuba prior to the Bay Of Pigs, but they weren't heard from ever again either. No one knows whatever became of those squads and their designation was never used again. Soooo... I'd say that whoever you got this patch off of was either a military patch nut or a zombie."
With that Jim gave off a chuckle and handed the patch back to Lisa. "Thanks for the history lesson, Jim." she said as she turned to make her way out of the classroom.
"My pleasure, Agent Anders." Jim said with a wave. As soon as she left, Jim turned back to his computer and checked his schedule for any upcoming classes.
As she strode down the halls of Station X, she noticed Agent Corrigan making his way around with a group of children who were hanging on his every word. "Funny." she thought as she noticed all of the children were wearing similar blue backpacks. With a shrug, she left Station X to head back to JEH and to let the team know of what she learned.
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