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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Audrik" data-source="post: 7329148" data-attributes="member: 73653">The Bedford Project - Session 1b"Heathcliff was the first. The second, Shelley Emmett, was a researcher with the Census Bureau, based in Kansas City. She visited Bedford four times between October of 2005 and March of 2006. On April 10, 2006, she failed a drug test, showing signs of cocaine and marijuana use; she was fired a week later. Unable to find a new job and suffering from clinical depression, she died of exposure aggravated by alcoholism on December 5, 2007."Third, Captain John Rush was a Marine recruiter stationed in Des Moines in 2011-2012. He visited Bedford several times during his tour; following a painful and expensive divorce, he committed suicide by jumping off his sailboat in Chesapeake Bay on February 17, 2013. The only common factors in the deaths of Heathcliff, Emmett, and Rush are their presence in Bedford, and a large number of late-night phone calls they received in the two months previous to their deaths. Tracing the numbers, where possible, turns up nothing -- a random scattering of business, cell phone, and personal phone numbers. Either the calls are coincidence, or someone is cleverly covering their tracks in the system."The latest victim is Neil Badagian who died in an automobile accident on the night of September 25 on the business highway just outside Bedford. Forty-five minutes before his fatal crash, he placed a call to his older brother, John Badagian, who works for the NSA. In that call, he said he’d uncovered something 'more in your line' than his; what he meant is unknown."Agent Gomez produced another sheet of paper from his briefcase and placed it on the table.“John Badagian claims not to know what, if anything, his brother meant. Your job is to find out. Seats have been booked for you on the noon flight to Des Moines. You should arrive by 4:30 PM local time. If you have any gear you don’t want going through the TSA checkpoint, I will ensure it’s waiting for you in the trunks of your rental cars at the Des Moines airport. If you have cover identities, I strongly suggest their use. For those of you who may be a little newer to the job, I can provide FBI or DHS consultant’s credentials. Any questions?”Of course, there were questions. What were the specifics of Captain Rush’s divorce? What was the name of his sailboat? Was he successful in recruiting anyone from Bedford? Speaking of which, what was a Captain doing handling his own recruitments? When, exactly, were each of the victims in Bedford, and where did they stay? What is John Badagian’s job at the NSA? Did the agents all have to be on the same flight? And if so, who got the window seat? Was there any special funding to be had … just in case, of course?John Badagian worked for Unit F6, the Special Collection Service which works closely with the CIA. This revelation caused both Porter and Dempsey to nod in apparent understanding, though this was probably for different levels of understanding. The agents were booked on the same flight, in the same row, and they could decide for themselves who sat where.As for special funding, SSA Gomez placed two credit cards on the conference table. There was no cardholder name on either, but they both displayed the logos of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. Dempsey was quick to snatch both cards in one fluid and well-practiced motion like a Las Vegas Blackjack dealer. Gomez informed them each card had a spending limit of only $3,000, and receipts would have to be provided for any purchases, but he would ensure accounting staff asked no questions. With the end of the federal fiscal year only a few days away, they had bigger things to deal with anyway. Even still, he cautioned, the money attached to those cards was disaster relief funding. Every dollar they spent was a dollar that couldn’t go to the victims of hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, or volcanoes. Dempsey just gave Gomez a sly wink and shot a finger gun at him like they were sharing some private joke.</blockquote>

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