The Directive

Prologue

Ever since Jacob Brandly's recruitment into the Strategic Homeland Division, his life hasn't seemed to be nearly the same. As a former Army Ranger and CIA agent, he was a top prospect for the classified organization unknown to the public. After retiring from government service, and after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Brandly decided that he would live a life of peace with his family which included his wife Laura and six year old daughter Zoe. He began working as a security guard for a local theme park which was nice, however, the longer he stayed home the more he felt like something was wrong.

"Jake, honey, why don't you go lay down?" Laura said to her husband as she hugged him from behind. He was sitting on a stool at the bar in their kitchen going over floor plans of the new park installation they were putting in. Jacob liked to be informed on what was new in order to more efficiently keep the area safe, even though issues rarely ever happened inside the park.

"I'll be there in a minute. I just want to have this in my head by tomorrow." He looked over his shoulder and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek, his facial hair prickling her skin. She, in turn, returned him a kiss to the lips and headed into the bedroom. It was late and his daughter had already been put to bed. He rubbed his eyes and felt the pressure in his sockets. He was stressed, but not like before. In a combat zone, Jacob always managed to keep himself and his team members calm, stressed only to the point of maximum efficiency. Now, with being retired, the sense of calm and security had him on edge. His phone rang its usual jingle and he quickly answered it to not wake his daughter, not looking at who had called. "Hello?"

"Brandly." The voice was deep and scratchy. Jacob recognized it immediately. It was an old army buddy of his named Ryan Mclellan. "We need to talk."

"Ryan, it's good to hear from you. What's up?" He put the floor plans down, making sure to speak softly.

"Not over the phone." He told him. "We need to meet in person, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I don't know, I have work tomorrow. Can we schedule for later?" Jacob asked.

"Take off, it's urgent. I have a proposal you'll want to hear. I'll text you the address." And the call was ended. Jacob looked at the phone screen to make sure he had hung up and mumbled to himself. "That was weird." The phone buzzed and he opened the text message. Indeed, Ryan had sent an address along with a time. 13:00.

The next day Jacob was shaken awake by his wife. She was dressed in a formal dress and looked down on him from beside the bed. "Jacob, are you not going to work today?" Jacob slowly opened his eyes squinting in the sunlight.

"I decided to take off today, I've been working too much." He said cracking a smile. His wife smiled back and kissed him gently.

"I agree, when I get back from the church we can grab some lunch." She told him. He sat up in bed letting the sheets fall to his waist revealing his muscular abdomen. "I'm actually meeting an old friend for lunch today. But other than that I have all day with you."

"Deal, I'll see you later. It shouldn't be too long after I drop Zoe off at school, I just need to take care of a few things at the church and then I'll be home." Her black hair almost glistened in the sunlight. She touched his shoulder and turned out of the room. Immediately his daughter came in and jumped on the bed hugging him. He got a face-full of similar black hair and he returned the hug.

"Have a good day at school baby girl." He told her.

"You too daddy. Mommy says you need an earlier bed time." Her smile was wide revealing two missing teeth.

"Did she now? Well maybe one day you're going to have to tuck me in kiddo." She giggled and hopped off the bed, running into the living room of their two bedroom apartment and walking out the door with Laura.