“You know it will never happen,” Shane smiled, hoping that her superior wouldn’t ask how she came to know such a colorful character. “What have you got?”

“Guess who came out of Rothberg’s private office earlier this morning, still wearing yesterday’s clothes?”

“Who?”

“That senator lady that has been on TV a lot lately…Kate Arden. I asked around and my cousin, who works in one of the restaurants here, mentioned that Ms. Rothberg and the senator used to have a lot of late dinners together in Rothberg’s private chambers that extended into early breakfasts…and you know what that means, vanilla?”

“Yes, I can guess…thanks, Papi, I owe you one.”

“Yes, you do…maybe we can settle it Sunday on the basketball court,” Papi laughed and hanged up the phone.

Shane looked at the expectant faces and said to Partridge, “I think we just got our connection, sir. It appears that Catherine Rothberg and Kate Arden are lovers.”

Tim whistled quietly and Partridge sighed, “Well, I guess we have a change of plans then. Make all the necessary arrangements, agent and then see me to discuss all the details. Agent Porter, coordinate the details with Agent McCutcheon first. We can’t afford any failures in this investigation.”

“Roger that, sir,” both Bette and Shane replied simultaneously and smiled at each other. Shane was happy to know that she could do something for the investigation other than boring protection detail. Bette understood how much Shane wanted to prove herself and was glad that Partridge went along with her plan.

“What do we have on Tina Kennard?” Partridge asked, glancing at Bette’s report and then looking directly at her.

“So far…nothing incriminating. It was confirmed that on Friday nights she goes to a local lesbian bar when Senator Grisham is working in DC. Ms. Kennard mainly dates brunettes and she doesn’t date anyone twice,” Bette continued to bringing everyone up to date on their surveillance of Tina. After she finished, Bette looked at Max and nodded.

Max turned on his computer screen, “While we were watching the motel, we went through all the personal information that we knew about Ms. Kennard to create a plausible legend for the undercover agent. As we know, Ms. Kennard is currently single. She graduated in English and American literature from UCLA and before she joined Senator Grisham’s staff, Ms. Kennard was teaching at the local community college in Los Angeles. She was approached by the senator while she was touring different colleges and universities with a series of lectures on politics and feminism. Among Ms. Kennard’s hobbies are writing, painting and recently she’s been studying photography.”

“Thank you, Agent Sweeney,” Bette said when Max finished. “The undercover agent will go to the Halo club next Friday night and will have an ‘accidental’ meeting with Tina…”

“I would like to volunteer for the undercover work. I have some writing experience and I can go as a journalist or a writer to play on the common interest,” Schecter suddenly raised her hand, interrupting Bette. She smiled smugly at the look of surprise on the commander’s face, “Besides, how hard could it be to get closer to the subject? I’m cute and funny, as I say so myself, and I’m a brunette. It’s pretty obvious that this is Ms. Kennard main preference in women or should I say…her weakness?”

“Are you even gay, Agent Schecter?” Tim asked her, getting tired of Jenny’s constant snide remarks and innuendos. “We’re not talking about a walk in the park holding hands…this is serious undercover work and you have to be believable to pull it off.”

“Not that it’s anybody’s business but I had a few…um…experiences in college,” Jenny said defensively. “And anyway…how hard it is to pretend being interested in women? It’s the same as pretending being interested in men.” She looked back at Tim and smirked, letting him know that last night was all a game to her.

Partridge suddenly stood up and commanded, “Let’s take a break, everybody. Agent Porter, come to my office…now.” Everybody stayed where they were while Bette followed her superior to his office.

“Bette…we haven’t talk about the undercover assignment in depth yet. Your team has only three female agents, including you…all brunettes. We already established that Agent McCutcheon is going to pursue the Morales-Rothberg connection and it leaves just you and Agent Schecter. How do you feel about her doing this assignment?”

“Sir, Agent Schecter was assigned to my team only recently and I don’t know her well enough to trust her with this kind of assignment. Besides, she has no experience in the field or the undercover work. She certainly looks the part but I’m in no position to ascertain if she can do the part. If the situation is as serious as you keep telling us, it will require an experienced female agent who is familiar with investigative and undercover work. With all due respect, sir, I don’t think you have much of a choice.”

“Yes, this is what I thought and I wanted to be sure that we were on the same page,” Angus Partridge nodded and smiled, “Let’s hope she will take it like an adult. Agent Schecter is very eager and ambitious, which is very commendable in a young agent but she needs to work on her manners and her priorities. Let’s finish this meeting so we can concentrate on the security details and shifts for the rest of the team.”

When Partridge and Bette came back into the room they could sense the tension among the members of the team. Everybody knew that they were about to begin their new assignments and in-depth investigation and it added to their excitement and anxiety.

“Commander Porter and I discussed the matter of the undercover work and we both feel that it would be in everybody’s interest and beneficial for this case if Agent Porter will assume the role of ‘another brunette’ in Ms. Kennard’s life. The commander will work on details and we will have a briefing before next Friday.”

“Roger that, sir,” Bette nodded, feeling as anxious as the rest of her team.

“Before we proceed with other issues, there’s one more thing regarding the undercover work. Commander Porter will not make any physical contact with the team. Agent Haspel will assume the commander’s position in her absence and he will be the only one to contact her through a secure email. Agent Porter, you and Agent Haspel will establish contact every 24 hours unless something urgent will come up…choose your code names…”

“I already thought of mine,” Tim smiled shyly. “I always wanted to be a swim coach when I was growing up and I was studying at the Athletic Department at the Ohio University for a semester before I was recruited for the Secret Service. I would like to use Swim Coach for my code name.”

“Agent Porter…” Partridge looked at Bette.

“Well, when I was in collage I was called a lot of names and one of them was the Ice Queen, so I guess I can go with that,” Bette grinned.

“Good…we’ll go with IceQueen for Agent Porter and SwimCoach for Agent Haspel,” Partridge approved the code names. “Now we need to discuss…”

Before he could continue, his secretary, Hazel, knocked on the door and entered the room, “Sorry to interrupt but there is a package for you, Assistant Director…just arrived from the FBI office.” She placed the package on the table and left.

Partridge opened the thick manila envelope, scanned the contents and said on the intercom, “Hazel, take the package and make copies for everyone.”

Hazel did what she was told and Partridge took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly, “Seems like we have another development in this case. FBI got information from one of their informants that the Peabody Foundation is the largest silent supporter of the new republican presidential candidate. It complicates the case even further in the light of the information that agents Haspel and Schecter discovered last night in regards to the relationship between Alice Pieszecki and Dana Fairbanks. In the last few years, the Foundation also contributed enormous amounts of money to Senator Arden’s campaign. FBI’s conclusion is that the Peabody Foundation has money, resources and substantial influence in the political scene to orchestrate something as elaborate as the senator’s removal, if necessary.”

“I know Peggy Peabody fairly well and she didn’t strike me as a person who would engage her beloved Foundation in a political war, let along a bloody one,” Bette said with conviction.

“How do you know her, agent Porter? The rumor has been that she’s a ‘hasbian’…” agent Schecter made quotation marks with her fingers and smiled sweetly, fuming inside that she wasn’t chosen for the undercover mission.

“What the hell is a hasbian?” Mark looked at Jenny with annoyance.

“It means that she’s a woman who says she’s straight but has been with other women before.”

“And you know this…how?” Mark smiled back icily, rolling his eyes. “Surely, during your…um…experiences in college you didn’t cross paths with Peggy Peabody.”

“I just did my homework. During my previous assignment I had to do a cross-reference with the Peabody Foundation and Peggy’s affair in 1974 was something that came to light,” Jenny shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Bette with another smile, waiting for her response.