To: "Evangeline A. Lattimer, Agent"

From: "Peterson A. Lattimer, Agent"

Subject: How I Am. . .

Sent: 8/21/09

Sis,

Thanks for the cds that you sent in your last package. Though, when I said that I wanted to broaden my musical knowledge, I didn't mean Rihanna's "Disturbia". Thank you anyway, I always appreciate everything you send. The cookies were awesome, did you make them yourself? What were they anyway? Chocolate Chip? I had them with a glass of chocolate milk. That made my day a lot better.

Sorry that my emails have been so short and just letting you know I'm still alive. I've had a hard time here lately. I have a new assignment (yeah, I'm still a Secret Service Agent) and a partner. I know what you're thinking "Pete doesn't like partners because they usually clash with his personality". This one is different though. Her name is Myka, Myka Bering. She's pretty, intelligent, and I like her. You should remember her since you met her that time you came to D.C. We work together on a classified project (you know how that goes) and at first she didn't want to be here with me. Especially with me. We aren't coming back to D.C. anytime soon, it seems as if our assignment is permanent.

I like my new job and I can tell that Myka enjoys it also (on the good days). Sometimes we have good missions, most of the time it's bad. Somebody is always in trouble or getting hurt or killed. It can be depressing once you think about it. I try not to most of the time, it gets so overwhelming that I don't want to do it anymore. I convince myself at those times that what we do helps people and it really does! There's countless lives that we've saved already and it makes me feel like I have a noble calling (so to speak) in life. I wish I could tell you all about what I do, but I can't. I'd hate for you to get in trouble with anybody up in charge. Including my creepy boss.

I've also been thinking about how my life has been going and when my boss showed up, she said that I had no life in D.C. no friends or family there. I wondered for a few days on end whether leaving you and the rest of the family was a mistake or not. I could've stayed and made a life in our hometown. I guess we'll never see that could've been scenario in real life. Anyway, that's just what was going through my mind.

I'm in the middle of nowhere practically, but I hope you can still visit. It's South Dakota, so it's not too difficult to get to. If you do decide to visit out here, just look for a place called "Leena's Bed & Breakfast". Just say that you're Pete's sister, okay?

Love you,

Pete

Pete Lattimer, Secret Service Agent and Warehouse maintainer, sent the email and stood up from his desk and stretched. His eyes swept the room and he saw nothing substantial to be working on. No books to read, no puzzles to figure out, nothing. Everything was quiet. No activity at the moment. No mission. The air in Leena's Bed and Breakfast was still and silent. For a moment, Pete was creeped out. He was so used to their being movement or commotion that peace was out of the ordinary.

Breaking through his thoughts was the voice of Leena floating up from downstairs calling for lunch. Pete sighed in relief and pulled on his Dartmouth jacket before going downstairs. Leena smiled at him in that "I know what you've been up to" manner that she always possessed that didn't quite freak him out anymore as he entered the enclosed patio. She set down a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of chips on the table along with a pitcher of lemonade and several glasses.

"So what have you been up to all day, Pete?" she asked in her characteristic soft voice, "You've been shut up in your room for hours."

As if you don't know what I was doing, Pete thought to himself with a small mental roll of the eyes, you know everything that happens here.

"Been thinking, emailing my sister too," Pete answered aloud.

"Your sister? What's her name?"

"Evangeline, but she goes by Evan."

"Just like you go by Pete? Right, Peterson?" Leena replied, sitting down across from him with a look that Pete would constitute as a smirk if Leena had been anybody else. However, Leena was one of a kind.

"Just like me," he admitted before taking a sip of lemonade.

"What does she do?" Leena asked curiously, "Is she in the Secret Service like you are?"

Pete nodded, "She works in Dallas as an attachment to the FBI along with being a Service Agent."

"Must be exciting," Leena paused for a moment, "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Oh, I don't know," Pete thought back, "A few months at least."

At that moment, Myka Bering came into the room and sat down at the table which broke off Leena's nonchalant interrogation. The partner looked between the two that had previously been speaking and asked, "Am I interrupting?"

"No," Leena shook her head, "Pete was just telling me about his sister."

"Sister?" Myka turned a questioning gaze toward Pete, one that had undertones that Pete couldn't decipher. Myka was an emotional enigma which Pete was fairly certain that it would take him a while to fully interpret. This time, he could see a bit of hurt under her curiosity. He mentally sighed, had he never mentioned Evan to her? She was probably thinking that Leena was more special than her since she hadn't heard anything about his sibling.

"My twin," Pete shrugged, "She's a Service Agent in Dallas working with the FBI."

"Oh. How come you haven't mentioned her before?"

Yeah, definitely a bit of hurt under that calmly-composed question.

"It just never came up," Pete shrugged again, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Myka responded quickly.

And there is the fast answer that says "oh it's okay that you didn't tell me. Bitch."

Pete was silent as he ate his sandwich, peanut butter and jelly thankfully since he wasn't in the mood for much of anything else. Sensing that Pete wasn't in the best spirits, Leena came back with a sugar cookie and set it near Pete's plate with a napkin underneath it. Then she retreated to the back of the house.

"So, Pete," Myka began after the silence fell once more. The stillness was starting to get to him and he lifted his head up abruptly to look at her, "You doing okay?"

Pete stared at her for a moment before replying, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You seemed so adamant about Artie's innocence and when we found out that he wasn't being honest with us. . ." Myka trailed off. Pete maintained his gaze with an obvious "what are you getting at?" demeanor. Myka seemed awkward asking him and usually she was pretty much as straightforward as a stick.

"What I'm meaning to say is that I wanted to know if you're okay since Artie. . .betrayed our trust. I'm just asking since you haven't said anything after putting away the sword. . ."

Pete sighed aloud, resting his head on his hand. So many secrets, so many things unsaid. . .why couldn't they all just be honest? He couldn't tell his sister what he did, he hadn't told Myka about his sister, and Artie had a billion secrets up his sleeves.

"I guess I'm a little hurt," Pete answered finally after a long moment of quiet, "I trusted him to be upfront with us and he wasn't. Hell, he didn't even tell us his real name. I don't know what to think."

"I know what you mean," Myka nodded, speaking softly.

Pete shook his head once and then followed up with, "I'm beginning to think you're right. Why should we put our lives on the line when we aren't being told all the facts? We could have avoided the whole thing with the sword if Artie had just told us. Dammit, Myka, why are we always left in the dark?"

Myka, taken aback momentarily, watched him with a raised eyebrow, "I don't know, Pete. I really don't know."

Pete rubbed his face gingerly, "I hate thinking," he grumbled, "I hate reflecting on things that I shouldn't be reflecting about. It puts me in a bad mood."

"Eat your cookie," Myka suggested, "You'll feel better."

Pete eyed her for a moment before taking a bite out of the sugar cookie. She was right, it did make him feel better. If only for a mere second.