Page 90 of Jep

“You okay?” Jep said.

“I don’t know what I was expecting. Growing up, she had posters of her favorite bands all over the walls. Now there are newspaper articles.”

She walked over and tilted her head as she read several of the headlines. “I don’t recognize any of these stories.”

“That’s because they’re likely all cover-ups. Like this.” He pointed at an article on the edge of the clutter. “Explosion from gas leak.”

“I know that one.” She looked through the dates. “Most of these were from before my time on the task force. Were you a part of the team during any of these events?”

“Some of them. But we were successful. As we get more current, the agency fell farther and farther behind.”

“Then they knew. All of them.” She gestured across the wall. “They knew what all of these were. Whoever is behind this recent stuff has a connection to the past.”

“They’ve been studying us for a long time.”

Jep leaned over to lift a notebook he spotted poking out from underneath the mattress on the floor. “Do you know if this is your sister’s handwriting?” He handed it to her.

She flipped through a few pages. “I don’t think so. Her letters are more loopy. But we’ve got the postcards, so a handwriting expert can look at it.” She read a couple of lines. “It’s really hard to read.” She flipped through to the last page and deciphered what she could. “There’s a lot of not very nice things said about all of us.”

Jep walked beside her so he could read it. “I’m sure none of that is about you.”

“Every law enforcement type in here, including me.”

“From what I can make out, whoever this belongs to, they’ve been chronicling their plan. This could be exactly what we need to bust this thing wide open.”

“I sure hope so.” She handed him the notebook and went to the table. “But I think we have a greater concern right now.”

“What’s that?”

She pointed at the kitchen table. “This is all for making bombs. But not the vest Jade was wearing.”

Jep scanned the paraphernalia that littered the table and the empty bottles on the floor. “You know about bombs?”

“I know enough. I read a lot of reports. Whatever they were making, it looks like a lot, and none of it is here anymore.”

“We need to call the team in,” Jep said. “We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

“Not even five minutes? I’m almost done.” Em moved to the fridge and opened it. “I’ll make sure I’m out of the way before—hang on.”

“What is it?”

She pulled out a container. “Hot dogs.”

“So, not Muslims then.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Someone must have been, look at the literature around the place. But if you haven’t given yourself fully over to it, why risk your life?”

“If there are multiple players, that could make things complicated. Different motives. There are plenty of people who would get involved if the price is right. Or if they have something against law enforcement. Hey, you haven’t told me about your lock picking prowess,” Jep said as he picked up a pamphlet off the couch.

“Oh that. It’s not very interesting. It was one of the courses I took.”

“Were you planning on doing fieldwork?”

“No, I thought it would be fun. Also, if I ever locked myself out of the house, I wouldn’t have to call the locksmith. I was good too.”

“I bet you were.” He read through the pamphlet and tossed it aside. “Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?” he mumbled.

“What?”

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