S7: Chapter 02: The President's Men

“What does this mean for the team?” Dustin asked after Brett and Yvette finished going over everything they learned at Sycom. “If you’re going to work for your father then…”

“I’m not going anywhere Dusty don’t worry about that. The team will continue business as usual. This thing with Ethan is a side thing and I won’t let it interfere with our work; nothing changes.”

“You probably don’t want to hear me tell you how much of a bad idea I think this is,” Victor started as he stepped closer, gauging Yvette’s reaction, “But I’m going to anyway. How can you be sure you can trust Ethan? I mean after everything that’s happened, how do you know this isn’t just some new way he’s come up with to fuck with you?”

“Because we’re not doing anything until we’ve checked it out completely ourselves,” Brett stepped in to answer. “You know me, I’ve never been a huge supporter of Ethan but after the other night, even I was convinced. There are too many unanswered questions and new concerns with this super weapon being found in our own backyard. We need answers and if having a relationship with Sycom is the only way to get them then it’s something we all must do. With that said, I feel it’s important we get to work right away. Dustin, Ethan mentioned that Sycom was created as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency, there’s gotta be a way to verify that right?”

“You mean you want me to hack the Department of Justice’s systems in order to find even a sliver of information about a Black Ops agency that technically doesn’t exist? Can I tell you how incredibly dangerous that is? Not only is there a risk of me being detected within…mere seconds of even touching the DOJ’s firewalls but you have no idea if there is any information on file once I’m in. And to be honest, something like this has GOT to be off book. You’d have a better chance of finding a name mentioned in passing on a file hidden in the DCS’ sock drawer.”

“Not that he’s giving you the idea to break into the Director’s home to snoop around,” Ryan added to be sure Brett didn’t begin to formulate a plan. “But he’s right. This kind of stuff isn’t kept on a server that’s easily accessible by some zit-faced, high school geek with a conspiracy complex and too much time on his hands; no offense Dustin.” Dustin frowned in Ryan’s direction and he laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“The only way you’re gonna get any kind of information about Sycom is to hack into THEIR systems; see who they’re talking to and where they’re getting their walking commands. That’s an easier hit for me and I’m sure I can get that without being detected.” He smiled as his fingers began moving over the keys and different screens popped up on the monitors. “And for the record, I never had zits!”

“Sounds good. Now again this won’t affect our ongoing investigations especially the hunt for Chris Landry and getting to the bottom of the threat against Dustin,” Brett announced and watched as Dustin’s expression dropped and he sank a little behind his desk. “Where are we on the Kkangpae?”

“Yoshi Yamamoto,” Ryan replied and selected a few folders from the stand on the edge of his desk, “founder and current known ranking commander of the Geondal in South Korea. Yamamoto was a Japanese businessman who moved to Seoul in 1997. And as South Korea fell victim to the East Asian Financial Crisis, Yamamoto saw an opportunity to make himself useful to the Kkangpae by handling their income which at the time came from protection fees. The gangs would take over certain neighborhoods and demand that every business owner pay them a monthly fee in exchange for not damaging their businesses or scaring customers away.”

“Later on it was Yamamoto who expanded the group’s activities to: arms, drugs and human trafficking, counterfeiting, identity document forgery and illegal immigration. Most members that are known within the gang have wrap-sheets a mile long with everything from assault, extortion, fraud and arson to murder, prostitution, racketeering, and bribery. Anyway Yamamoto was recently cited for a speeding ticket here in town; a Black Cadillac Escalade is registered in his name.”

“And what was the make and model of the car that shot at us at the prison?” Brett asked and tossed the pages back to the table.

“A Black Cadillac Escalade,” Victor responded casually scratching his chin as he listened.

“Looks like the connection we were looking for. They got an address listed on his file?”

“Hold on I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Yvette asked, turning to look at her husband. “Someone shot at you?” Brett’s eyes widened in shock as he suddenly realized that was a detail he’d omitted from their visit to the Greensville Correctional Unit.

“It wasn’t serious Yve, otherwise I’d have told you and…”

“Save it! You get shot at and it’s nothing serious? You’re joking with me right now right? Why am I just now hearing about this?”

“Yve, it happened quickly and was over just as fast. No one was hurt so I didn’t see the need in bringing it up and making you worry over nothing; that’s all. It’s the job, you know that. We get shot at all the time.”

Yvette realized there was no point in arguing over something that happened a while ago and quietly shook her head as she started back towards her desk. “Says here they extorted an entire nursing home of people out of their life savings to fund a gun run from Seoul to the States; nice people,” she joked as she went through one of the folders Ryan sat on the coffee table.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Dustin replied and pulled away from his computer. He started towards the wall monitor and pulled up a profile of Chin Ho Kun-Hee, a South Korean businessman with suspected ties to the Kkangpae. “Chin Ho is the man responsible for the threat against me and my family. He’s the reason why we went into hiding though I can’t place all blame on him; I had a hand in the Kkangpae targeting the Kelly’s.”

“The Kelly’s?” Victor asked curiously and leaned against his desk.

“My family’s original name,” he responded and began pacing in front of the group. “I was just a baby when I had my first experience with the Kkangpae in Seoul; no older than five years old. Like ninjas swirling in the mist at night they came silently, left the town in ruins and were gone before the sun came up. They set fires to our houses, businesses, crops; burned everything. They wanted to expand their territory, take over property owned by some of the families for centuries to have a deeper hold within the community; a place to run their organization from.”

“They ‘convinced’ some home and shop owners to turn over their deeds to them, turning their properties into drug manufacturing sites, the ones they didn’t make pay them protection fees. Those who spoke against them were shot down in the streets like animals; their bodies hung from rafters as a warning to others who dared try. Worst of all they’d go after your family first; make you suffer through their deaths if you resisted them. I watched as my oldest sister and my best friend…I can’t close my eyes without seeing them.” Dustin responded as he dropped onto the couch near the door. He choked up as he thought about the events that shattered his family and Yvette rubbed his shoulders lightly, encouraging him to continue.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you Dusty. I didn’t know you had another sister,” Yvette responded as she listened to him pour his heart out. 

“What did the police do about them?” Brett asked.

“The police protected them and many city officials were on the payroll, there was nowhere to turn to for help. My father was one of many who fought back against the Kkangpae. He and several others took up arms against their foot soldiers to defend their homes, their families, their farms but it was no use. Countless men, women and children were murdered including members of my own family.”

“When I was ten my mother took me and Lien to our grandmother’s house to live. She stayed just outside of Seoul and our parents thought it would be a safer environment for us than living in the city. I didn’t see them again until I was 15 and my grandmother was taking steps to secure us safe passage to the states. She was afraid for me because without the presence of my father I’d become a little harder to handle. I was staying out late at night, running with a dangerous crowd and had gotten into trouble with the law a few times.” 

“I was rebellious and I didn’t mean to be. I was just so angry. I felt like our parents just threw us away after what happened to Mi Sun; I didn’t know any better then. I joined up with this crew who used to run jobs for the Kkangpae. At first I did it to get back at my parents for abandoning us when we needed them but pretty soon though it turned into me trying to ruin the Kkangpae from the inside.”

“I’d sabotage jobs by blowing up container ships, start fires at their drug making facilities and call the police to warn them about illegal activity in certain areas. I refined my hacking skills by siphoning their money into an account overseas and then filtering the funds into different accounts that belonged to random people. It was sort of a Robin Hood idea but it worked to keep them constantly grasping at straws.”

“But after a while they figured things out; figured me out and it was then that Grandma Hua tried to get us out of the country. They threatened to kill me and everyone I loved so she paid the captain of a cargo ship to transport us quietly. As a parting gift, I got to watch them murder my mother and father at the port the day we were leaving; it’s haunted me ever since. It’s the reason I got into law enforcement, to stop people like the gangsters who think they can step over anyone they want without consequence.”

“We entered the country illegally and once here, obtained documents to hide our identities and make a new start for ourselves. I tried everything to leave my past behind me, including changing my name. I was born Kelly Dae-Jung; I became Kimura Dustin when I touched down here in Bridgeport. Kimura was the last name of Grandma Hua’s first husband.”

“Wow Dustin, that’s some history. But how do you think these guys found you after all this time?” Yvette asked once Dustin finished his story.

“That’s the thing,” he replied popping up from the couch and starting his routine pacing again, “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure that out myself. I have no idea! I was very careful to keep past affiliations as far away from our new lives as possible. When we left Korea we cut ties with everyone. Lien even left Tao’s father behind. He refused to come with us and…” he paused and suddenly his face lit up with confusion and recognition as a thought crossed his mind.

“What? What’s that face for?” Brett pressed.

“Shin…Tao’s father. He had just gotten a promotion at work and he said that was the reason he couldn’t up and leave his life to follow us. Grandma thought he was doing the honorable thing; continuing to work to ensure his family would be provided for but…he was told he couldn’t contact us because of the risk involved. Working to provide for his family doesn’t really work.”

“What did he do for a living?” Ryan asked and hopped behind his computer.

“I don’t really know. It was something to do with construction I think. I never really liked the guy so I avoided him whenever possible. He never seemed all that honest to me and I hated the way he abandoned my sister when she needed him most.”

“Shin Choi, Civil Engineer at AMCO Construction; he also sits on the Board of Directors for the company. It says that he was part of the planning commission for the Namyang Design Center construction, the Jeju Haevichi Resort condominium construction and the Namyang Rolling Hills construction; that’s some resume,” Ryan read after bringing up the company’s employee records.

“You think it was Shin who told the Kkangpae where they could find you? Why would he do that? That places his own son at risk,” Yvette remarked as more information about Shin popped up on the screen.

“I don’t know. But he was the only one who knew about our plans to leave and he’s the only one who would have been able to tell the Kkangpae which pier we were leaving from; it makes sense.”

“Excuse me we’re looking for Agents B. and Y. Knight, Agent R. Sharpe, Agent D. Kimura and Agent V. Murphy. We were told they’d be here.” The team turned to find two men dressed in black suits, ties and matching shoes standing beside the door. The darker haired of the two had green eyes that shimmered with a serious expression and a mouth that pressed into a thin line, nearly hiding his lips completely. The blonde hid his eyes behind the sunglasses he wore indoors and Yvette shook her head at the absurdity. 

Both had clean cut hairstyles and toned physiques. And both were wearing guns beneath their coats that caused a slight bulging near their shoulders. The taller of the two, the one speaking, clutched his hands in front of him, flicking a small electronic object in his fingers. The other rested in a military stance and remained near the door as the taller one moved. “What do you want with us?” Brett asked, mimicking the man’s movements and stepping closer towards the door.

Instead of answering, the man pressed the electronic earpiece he wore and spoke something in a whisper and the door burst open with three more men stepping inside. “Could you please be so kind as to come with us?” Raven haired asked but the tone in his voice denoted that the question was obviously not a request. The team looked at each other before complying with the man’s request, following him out to the motor pool and each slipping into designated sitting. Yvette noticed that the SUVs had government plates and quickly ascertained that these men worked for either the CIA or Secret Service.

It wasn’t long before she got her answer and the four vehicles were pulling into the gates of the White House. “This way please,” raven-haired guided the group into a small waiting room and shut the door. 

“What are we doing here?” Ryan asked nervously looking around. It wasn’t often they were called to the White House; in fact it was the first time he could remember. Immediately he began thinking over their recent interactions with other agencies and past cases to try and discover a reason for being called into the presence of the President.

“I don’t know but whatever it is, it ain’t good,” Victor surmised and did a quick inventory of the room.

“How can you be so sure about that?” Yvette asked, amused by Victor’s caution and doing her best to contain a laugh. “I don’t think the President is in the business of calling on people when they’ve done wrong; that’s what the DOJ is for.”

“You mean like the men in black who didn’t bother to tell us their names or the reason we were being sequestered.”

“Relax Vic, We’ll find out soon enough what’s going on.”

And sure enough the doors opened again and raven-haired motioned towards the team. “We’re ready for you,” he remarked and took them down the hallway and into a door that lead to the Oval office. “Madame President, may I introduce Agents Knight, Sharpe, Murphy and Kimura.” He bowed once and took position near the door in a military stance before President Ajei Bahii excused him from the room.

She stood beside her desk, dressed in a lime green cotton suit. Her Native American Heritage was proudly displayed in several pictures and artifacts throughout the room and Yvette took note of the way the President carried herself. Since being elected to office, the first female in history as well as the first Navajo Indian, President Bahii made it clear she was out to make right the many injustices done not only to her people but those that had been overlooked by many of her predecessors. President Bahii seemed socially awkward standing before the team yet in all of her interviews she appeared bold and outspoken.

Yvette also noted the way she favored her left hand and the personal touch of Native American ancestry she tried tucking beneath her sleeve, a piece of finely woven string. Finally she focused on the way she stood as she began speaking to the team. “I understand you’re the Agents responsible for uncovering the super weapon being housed just off Capitol Hill, is that correct?”

Their eyes opened wide and the team searched one another’s faces before Brett cleared his throat to answer. “Yes Madame President, that’s correct.”

“Please, there’s no need for the formalities, relax Agents. I asked you here to extend my gratitude for discovering the threat against the government and to ask for your help.” Slowly she paced in front of her desk before moving towards the team and offering them seats on the sofas. “It has come to my attention that there’s a leak within my administration and I’ve become unsure of who I can and cannot trust.”

There was a long pause and moment of silence before Yvette leaned forward and in hushed tones began to speak. “Are you asking us to investigate your administration?”

President Bahii nodded and languidly rubbed her hands together. “That weapon was found no more than ten miles outside of Congress where some of the biggest and brightest minds work around the clock to prevent such incidences from occurring. And yet, someone was able to walk right into our backyard, set a nuclear weapon down and no one here took notice. I find that highly questionable. It’s been no secret that I have enemies who would rather see me in the ground than in office. A woman and a Navajo as President of the United States; it’s been a tough road to say the least.”

“I need someone I can trust to handle this investigation and not a team I inherited once I was sworn in. Now I’ve been watching you since the first nuclear threat against this country and I’ve seen how you handle yourselves in tight situations. I have no doubt that you’ll get the job done. You’re a group of highly motivated, loyal and determined Federal agents who just saved the lives of everyone in D.C. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this is completely confidential and your investigation needs to be handled quickly and quietly.” 

She handed Brett a folder with a compiled list of names, dates, pictures and other documentation that confirmed her suspicions of terrorist activity. Brett nodded towards the President as she stood and shook each of their hands, her left palm slipping against theirs. “Thank you for your dedication. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

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