Jae's Assignment by Bernice Layton

Sweetie. But all of her efforts to reach Grainger or any of her teammates failed. It was as if they’d disappeared but that was just ridiculous, wasn’t it?
    It had been a shock to awaken several hours later, having slept most of the afternoon. Jae suspected it was due to the painkiller Grant insisted she take. Glancing around the room, she saw him slumped in a chair with the TV set on The Weather Channel. She smiled, recalling how she and Ronnie prayed for perfect April weather for the bridal shower and wedding. From what was predicted for Richmond, Ronnie would have beautiful weather for her wedding and, come hell or high water, Jae wasn’t going to miss her sister’s big day.
    “Grant, wake up and let’s bounce,” she barked, forcing him to jump up disoriented.
    After checking out of the hotel, she gave him directions to the location of the safe house. She was relieved she’d had the forethought to write down the address and tuck it beneath the cover of her prepaid phone.
    Driving along access roads and side streets, they replayed the incident in the lounge. Like her, he hadn’t seen the shooter before. Both came to the same conclusion that the man was “off”. Perhaps, the man was mentally unstable or in some sort of drug-induced mania.
    Jae asked Grant why he was in the witness protection program, and she did so without letting on that she knew anything about him. Once again, she was met with his noncommittal responses but he did tell her it was to protect his family.
    Coming up on a fairly new development, they found the safe house. The two-story, split-level house was located in a typical quiet suburban neighborhood of similar homes with manicured lawns and trimmed hedges. The landscaping of the house appeared freshly tended. The street was a cul-de-sac only allowing traffic one way, in and out of the development, which could be an asset or a hindrance.
    Driving past the entrance to the road leading to the house, Trevor made a U-turn and backed the car up a brush-covered incline. It gave them the best vantage to see the house and overlook the cul-de-sac. After Trevor parked the car, a feeling of unease hit Jae, but instead of commenting, she watched as Trevor reached behind his seat for a bag.
    Watching him adjust a pair of high-powered binoculars and scope out what lay before them, Jae wondered if she had somehow fallen into a trap because surely that’s how she felt. Then taking into consideration that nothing had gone according to plan on this assignment from the beginning, Jae decided to follow her gut instincts and be cautious.
    In the two hours Jae and Trevor watched the cul-de-sac, they observed a surprising amount of activity at what was supposedly an empty house.
    First, a pickup truck parked in the driveway. The driver got out dressed in overalls and started tending to the flowering bushes and shrubs to the front and side of the house.
    When he left, a telephone company truck with an authentic-looking emblem affixed to the door pulled up. The driver did something to the phone line connected to an enclosed box on the side of the house. He left minutes later. Now, a cable truck arrived and parked in front of the house. The technician, after nodding to a couple of neighbors, walked around to the rear of the house.
    “Now, why would he be installing cable in a vacant house?” Trevor mumbled, passing the binoculars to her.
    “I would guess the FBI wants you to be comfortable in your new digs, Doctor. A better question would be why they’re here and who sent them.”
    Trevor studied the neat row of houses on the block. One in particular had a basketball hoop attached to the garage door. A stirring of a childhood memory of his younger brother Greer brightened his mood. He recalled how he and Greer begged his dad to put one up on their house. Initially, his father gave all the reasons why he wouldn’t. But then, after a weekend spent at the beach, they arrived home to find not only a basketball hoop