The Admission letter into NATs arrived a month after her registration. The apprehension of whether she would be accepted gave way to the excitement of preparations to enter the academy.
At the company, she had only mentioned it to Carol and Jules. The latter had been very disappointed because despite of their age difference, He and Jenna were a good team. Jenna had to make amends by helping him on a new unisex perfume he was working on.
Before leaving, she had promised herself one thing: get back to her old life and do all the things she hadn't done in months; like going to brunch with Carol, going to see Enzo at the hospital, hanging out with Matt, spending time with her dad, and more. And she had to admit that she had missed all those little things.
***
The day before she left, Matt prepared a "Good Luck" dinner with the people closest to Jenna. John still had his concerns and expressed them by giving Jenna lots of advices. Martha couldn't stop crying, and Jenna comforted her by telling her that she wasn't going to see how the five months would pass.
***
The flight to Quantico was the longest flight of her life, maybe because of the excitement she had. When she arrived there she felt like she was going back to high school. There were lots of people there from all over the country, some had formed groups and got to know each other. Barely a few minutes after her arrival, all the new agents were gathered in the great hall where they were informed of the rules of the academy. Then they made their oath, they were given their uniforms and then they were able to rich their rooms.
Her roommate was Freya Goldman, she was a pretty brunette with short hair, she was from Atlanta and she was very friendly which pleased Jenna. The boys in the next room were friendly too, they came to greet them and introduce themselves. They were Lucas Mae, a Korean who had grown up in Texas, as well as Connor Fletcher who had gone to law school and lived in Seattle. Jenna had a very good feeling about them, they talked about this and that until dinner time. The four new friends shared a table during this first evening, and this was also the case for the others who followed.
***
The training was as Jenna had imagined, they learned a lot of things about academics, case exercises, firearms training, and operation skills. Thanks to her father's advice Jenna was one of the best agents in her class, and had formed a friendship with Freya, Connor and Lucas.
***
They were in the 15th week of training, and their lesson for the day was: The organized crime. The course was presented by an expert in organized crime, he told them about one of the largest organized crime networks in the United States, it was called the Black-Rose.
"They are also called the Vigilantes, Their symbol is a black rose." said the expert "It was created about thirty years ago, who runs it? We never knew. What we do know is that they are powerful, and that they get help from government agents. They're specialized in making revenge for others,that's how they get rich, anybody that doesn't feel like getting their hands dirty, Black-Rose does it for them. This includes politicians, business leaders,in short all people who can afford their services. Their business also plunges into trafficking in human beings and arms. They are cautious and never leave a trace, they do not hesitate to eliminate their own soldier when their identity is compromised. How to know if it is them? Here are five cases." The expert took the remote control and started showing them pictures: "Kentucky March 15, 2004, Minneapolis February 20, 2007, Tennessee August 25, 2012, Oklahoma September 4, 2016, Chicago May 20, 2017. None of this cases were ever solved. Four of these cases were associated with the Black Rose. The fifth on the other hand has been classified as an amateur work." He took the pile of files and distributed them to the agents. "Your job today is to determine the resemblance between these five cases, you will determine which are works of the Black Rose and which one is an amateur work. You will work in teams of five, and submit your conclusion to me"
The new agents began to split into groups and began their work.
All five cases had a lot in common, but one in particular was that the victims received envelopes containing a dry black rose.
What Jenna didn't know was that two weeks before that, an identical envelope had arrived at her father's Office with a card that read "13/07" on it.
****
In San Francisco, just a few miles from the Herms Enterprise, a car pulled up outside the entrance of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, the valet hastened to open the back seat door, and took the keys from the driver who had just get out of the car. An elegant woman got out of the car, she was wearing a green suit and a matching hat, a velvet coat and high-end and above all very expensive jewelry.
She entered the hotel, a man was waiting for her in the lobby.
"Your suite is ready ma'am"
The lady just followed him to the elevator and then the elevator took them to the suite. The lady was the first to enter, she took off her coat and served herself a glass of champagne.
"Any news from New York?!" inquired the lady.
"Your associates have called Madame, your coming here worries them, they fear it will cost them so much."
"Make me happy,tell them I'm a big girl and I know how to take care of myself.". She took a sip of champagne and continued. "Tell me, did you do what I asked of you?"
"Yes ma'am, the houses have been under surveillance for three months" The man opened the holdall he was holding and took out an envelope and gave it to the lady. The latter opened it and emptied the contents; it contained photos and the lady went through them.
"And the messages?" asked the lady again.
"They have been sent, our men are just waiting for your orders."
"Let them wait."
"If I may allow myself madam, according to the investigation that we have done, this operation is not like any other, it is not only politicians, or business leaders, or even simple fathers ,those guys are well trained, aren't you afraid that if we take a long time to take action, we'll give them time to fight back they may have noticed they're watched?!"
The lady put down her empty glass, and approached the man in front of her.
"Sean, answer this question, do I pay you to give moral lessons, or do I pay you to execute orders I give you"
"To Execute Orders Ma'am"
"So just do that, and now you can go."
Sean left the suite and the lady took the photos and then inspected them again one by one. When finished she frowned, something was missing, or rather someone. She remained thoughtful for a moment then she took another glass, this time she poured out bourbon and drunk it in a one go.