Heavenly scents of roasted coffee beans fill the cafe. Charlotte inhales, relishing in the pleasure it brought. Her night had been fitful, and full of bad dreams. She wanted the day to be productive and to bring answers. Not to dwell on the negatives in the current situation. At the counter, a new employee was beginning her shift. Charlotte watched as Josh squeezed the new girl's shoulder. He was done with work and had promised to sit with her as soon as he completed his hand off.

"Hey. You hungry?"

Charlotte shook her head, "not too much, but I do want coffee."

"Perfect."

Josh signals for the new girl and she nods, ready to make their order.

"You really like your job, don't you?" Charlotte asked.

"I like coffee, and it's a great place. I'm not the manager type but the pay balances it out I suppose."

"Not the manager type? I beg to differ. You run this place well!"

Their coffee came quickly and Josh settled back in his chair, hands wrapped around the paper cup. He studied Charlotte. She took a long sip and briefly closed her eyes. Tension radiated from her frame. Josh inhaled sharply then exhaled, reaching for Charlottes hand. She barely noticed his fingers as they lightly brushed against hers.

"You like creamer?" She asked, thinking he was reaching for the ceramic pitcher next to her.

"I do." He replied. "You feeling ok?"

Josh's right hand wrapped around the creamer as he lightly pressed his left hand on top of Charlotte's. A warmth filled her chest as his hand slowly left hers. She wasn't tired anymore, and the tension that was building in her body left, leaving behind a sensation of renewal. Like she could tackle the day.

"I feel, I feel good."

It surprised her, and she didn't know why or how the sudden shift had happened.

Josh smiled warmly, "I'm glad. So how is your investigation going?"

"Well, you were right the other day, in warning me I was being followed. I definitely am. I wrecked the other night."

Josh frowned. He knew.

"I noticed you were dirty when you came in the shop. Are you hurt still?"

"That's the thing, I don't think I ever was hurt. And I certainly should have been. But I wanted to ask you, do you know anything about the buses that drop people off at the airport? The company is called Trinity Bus Company."

Josh hesitated. "I only know there's buses that go there. And they have blacked out windows. They pick up passengers from the downtown bus terminal. It's all very odd."

Do the buses pick up people getting off of other buses?

It sounded beyond weird to Charlotte.

"Do you know who owns the company?" She asked. "I really want to get in touch with them."

"I.."

Charlotte's phone interrupted the conversation. Liam was calling. She held up a finger to Josh and mouthed 'sorry', before answering the call. Liam was there, at the hotel, waiting to pick her up.

"So sorry about that. My ride is waiting for me next door, and I really need to go on this tour. I'm hoping to learn some things."

"Say no more. Let's catch up later."

She stood and gave Josh a nod as she took her coffee cup in hand. He was a good guy, she still wondered though, who he worked for. Beyond his cover job, that is. As Charlotte stepped into the late morning air, a feeling of vitality swept over her again. Today would be the day she'd finally uncover a secret or two, she just knew it.

As promised, Liam stood next to a blacked-out sports car. Not foreign like Zach's, but more of an all-American flair. He owned a custom mustang.

"Morning." He quipped, opening Charlotte's door for her.

She rolled her eyes at his lack of words. He said as little as possible, but what he did say was loaded. Her eyes focused in on his physique as he rounded the front of the car.

He certainly doesn't skip working out.

"Ready?"

She laughed briefly at the second one word question.

"Yep. I'm ready."

Nodding, he fired up the engine and pulled out into traffic. Charlotte noticed he kept the interior clean. Very clean. She hadn't pegged him for someone with OCD, but a lot of veterans were meticulous.

"So, how long has this 'Conspiracy Theory Gallery' been at the airport? I couldn't find it online."

Liam chuckled, "oh yeah, it's not online. Part of the lore and all that."

She snorted, "DIA really takes conspiracy theory promotion seriously don't they?"

"Pretty much. It brings in tourists, which equates to money made," he said, taking the exit for the airport. "You know as well as I, follow the money."

Follow the money, how odd he'd say that.

She was working on doing just that. Her chest radiated again, and she held a hand over her shirt, warmth touching her fingers. The car snaked its way up the parking garage, coming to a stop in a top parking spot marked 'head of security'.

"You'll like it," Liam said, eyeing Charlotte. "You ok?"

He could see her clutching her chest.

"Yeah, I'm good."

Shrugging it off, he climbed out and opened the passenger door for her. Something was off but he didn't know what it was. The male barista had proven to be pesky so far. He tried to figure out the man's background to no avail. It wasn't too big of a worry though, as he was watching Charlotte 24/7.

"We can head straight there, unless you want to stop to see Zach."

"I don't need to see Zach."

Liam couldn't help himself. A tiny smirk turned up the corners of his mouth. He was secretly glad Charlotte wasn't growing an attachment to his colleague, like how Zach was to her. It made things much easier.

"DIA should just give special tours, geared for conspiracy theorists. It would bring in big bucks."

Liam scoffed as they weaved through people in the main terminals.

"That would be a huge production. Security wise, it would be a nightmare."

She perked up at the mention of security. Just the topic she wanted to learn more about.

"How so?"

"See how many thousands of people are in the airport right now?" he gestured around them as they walked.

"Yes," she replied.

"We have over fifty security personnel watching every single one. From multiple angles. As we speak. Adding tours in would detract from that, big time. Then things would slip up."

"Like their attentions would be stretched thin?"

"Yes and no. More like unwanted things getting into the airport. Drugs, firearms, suspected terrorism."

Charlotte's eyes grew big. Terrorism.

"You thought that sort of stuff was in NYC only?" he chuckled. "It's here too. We catch it before it happens though. Never makes the news."

She had no idea that was still going on in the states, at such a rate of frequency. Knowing her naivety was showing, she redirected the conversation.

"I'm glad your team is handling it. You have a lot of cameras you say? Are they obvious to the casual observer or hidden?"

They had finally reached their destination, a very nondescript set of glass doors next to a bank of restrooms at the end of a terminal. Not at all what Charlotte had pictured for a gallery. There wasn't even a sign outside of it. Nothing to identify what was inside.

The irony.

"We have an equal amount of both," he said, holding the door open for her to enter.

Her line of questioning petered off as she stood in the small space. There were glass encased objects in every direction. She saw a skull with dried blood on it, a scroll, a time capsule with various objects, a bronze set of gargoyles with blood red eyes. Her mind honed in on what was of most interest.

"Ah the maps. Thought you'd like these."

Liam stood next to Charlotte as she moved to study a set of maps, tacked up behind glass on the wall. She stared at the very same swastika shape that she had in her bag. These were the same maps she had. Aerial shots that showed the old Nazi symbol. They were missing from the most current blueprints that Zach had gifted to her.

"How old are these?" she asked absentmindedly.

"No idea,"  Liam replied.

There was a barely visible watermarking in the bottom left hand corner that Charlotte strained to see. She stepped closer, squinting. The splotch had a tiny symbol in the middle. It was faintly familiar.

"See something?"

"I'm trying to figure out what that could be.." she replied.

Suddenly, the symbol glowed a light blue. The multi pointed star. The very one from under the airport that she'd faintly seen from the tram tour with Zach. Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed and the coloring faded, no longer blue.

"Charlotte?" Liam asked, lightly touching her arm.

"I'm ok," she squeaked. "I just didn't have breakfast today. I probably need food."

"Say no more."

He ushered her out of the gallery and back into the terminal.

"Let's get you a taco."

As she followed Liam, she saw a familiar face pass by.

Ken, from Trinity Bus Company.