When they were little, she and Ray liked to play in detectives. Their parents would create some scenario, such as who stole the cookies, and they would have to figure it out. Then, they went to academy together and after graduation, they worked a case together, which Ray had solved, thus opening the score of their rivalry.

The following morning, when Jen was drinking her coffee, her phone started ringing and a familiar face appeared at the display. 

“Hey you, did you get my message?” asked Ray his younger sister.

“Yes. Is Alice on it with you? Or was she just a messenger?” 

“Well, if you have to ask, maybe you are not ready for another round of the game.” She could hear how her brother grinned and that annoyed the heck out of her.

“You know what, Ray? I’ll prefer that my work will speak for my readiness. Have a good one” and with that she hung up on him, quickly finished her coffee and made sure the kids were ready to go to school.

---

Alice finally woke up in the late morning, something around 11 a.m., when her friend, Paul, made her coffee. 

“Your favorite. Enjoy.” he said. 

“Thanks. I just hope she took the bait. We can’t afford to have one more man down. And Ray believes that I know nothing and that I am still trying to find out if he has a lover. Jesus, I couldn’t care more if he had one. He’s just too good of an asset for me right now.”

“Al, how the heck did you manage to swap the documents? I know that the woman saw me and she did get a good look, so there’s no way that she didn’t mention the scar.”

“She is careless. That’s how. I mean, for the FBI agent she is, how the heck did she not see through that first meeting with her I had yesterday?”

“Well, maybe she is just a bit naive, you know. She can’t go around suspecting that everyone is a criminal. And certainly not her sister-in-law, who married another agent, right? Because that would be daring and maybe even stupid.” said Paul while grinning and sipping on his beer.

“That might be true, but, for now, we are successful and we will go on with the mission. Otherwise we can kiss goodbye to the money and new identities.”

“Sure, just let me know what you need from me.” With that Alice sighed. 

“Go to work and act normal. Nobody can’t know anything. I presume that Alice with her partner will stop by either today or tomorrow. And we can’t see each other till I call you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Paul downed the beer and left. 

---

As Jen arrived at her work, she was greeted by the welcoming committee that she hoped she will not see for a long long time, after that last year’s mess and accident. 

“Good morning, agent Nazarov,” said Jen’s boss, “could you please join me in my office?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be there in a few minutes, I just have to tell something to my partner.”

“Agent Black is already waiting for us in the office. You can tell him whatever you need after we’re done.” said the boss. Jenn agreed and followed her boss in his office, where Kevin was nervously pacing around.

“Good morning, agent Nazarov.”

“Same to you, agent Black.”

“It’s so good that you are polite to each other, but that’s not why I called you in here. Earlier today I got a call from agent Tarain, saying that there’s another agent coming over who would like to join you and investigate with you.”

“I’m sorry sir, but we do not need another agent coming here and helping us. We just got a lead yesterday, that’s fairly promising.”

“I understand, agent, but agent Tarain was rather adamant about it. The agent is a Raymond Romano.”

“Sir, isn’t there anything that you could do with him coming here?”

“Why, agent? Do you know him?” Jenny and Kev smiled at each other, although they both knew that this will just cause more and more troubles.

“Yes, he’s my brother.” Jen could see the confusion on her boss’s face. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize. Although I would like to help, the decision is not mine to make. He’s coming over here and then he’ll stay until the case’s solved.” said Jen’s boss. Just after he finished saying that, someone caught his eye outside his office and made him raise a hand and wave. 

“Agent Nazarov, please behave.”

“Yeah yeah.” 

“Good morning, agent Romano. We’re glad that you’ve decided to come here and help us.”

“Thank you, agent Frich. My pleasure. Hi, Jenny. Agent Black.” said Ray and greeted all of them in a polite manner.

“If you wouldn’t mind, Ray, agent Frich, I would like to get back to work.” said Jenny eager to talk to her partner about what happened after he left her place.

“Go ahead, Jenny. I’ll come over to your office in a while.” After Jen looked at her boss, she felt dismissed and walked out with her partner in tow. 

“What’s up? Did you know he’s coming here?” asked Kevin as they were walking towards their tables.

“Yeah. And he’s here to take over the case, take the credit and get promoted over me once again.” 

“How do you know?”

“Because it happened to me a couple years ago. When we were still detectives. So we’ve gotta solve the case before he does. I ain’t losing to him ever again.” said Jen and sat down on her chair all pumped up to go back to work. 

Thank You for reading.

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