Tom was standing by the edge of a cliff where he was assigned to investigate the whereabouts of his next target. As he stared at the water beating up against the rock wall he stood upon, like a boxer repeatedly punching a bag, he began to ponder, thinking carefully about his target. He was offered a retirable amount of money for this target, but his target was mostly unknown, no name, no place of residency, just one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals running rampant. The target had been responsible for many crimes, mainly robbing government agencies and leaking private files held by government officials. This criminal has been active for months on end, and it was Tom’s sole goal to catch him. Tom was an outstanding assassin, one who was very praised by those who hired him. People saw him as efficient and quick, which is why he was hired for this particular assignment. The FBI had been unsuccessful in catching the target for months, and was forced to resort to Tom, their last hope. He has had hundreds of jobs before this, but this, would be the most challenging. 

As he investigated the site, he saw flattened grass patches, but they were uncut. Tom observed and knew that they had been driven over. Having confirmation that his target was here, he investigated the site for any other evidence that could have been left behind. In the distance stood a lighthouse, old, worn down, and multiple holes crawling up the wall. He speculated that the target could be hiding in there and quickly investigated it. To his beliefs, it was very empty and in an unstable condition; cobwebs occupied corners, drywall was peeling in abstract patterns, and sunlight was shining through from multiple holes. He looked around, looking for any evidence before he left the area, but found nothing. If anything was there, it had been erased and removed. While walking out of the lighthouse, he noticed a yellow piece of grass sticking out from the ground. It was thinner and longer than the surrounding grass. Upon further examination, he noticed the grass was actually human hair, one that must have fallen off of his target. Having new evidence, he took it back to his lab to test it. 

While there, he heard a buzz on his desk. It was his mother, texting him about his family dinner scheduled for later. He told her that he might be late because of work. She replied no worries, and mentioned that his brother, John, would be there. While running more tests, none of the FBI’s current suspect's DNA matched the hair discovered at the site. Puzzled, he remembered something his mother said during their exchange of texts, mainly about his brother’s return. His brother was blonde and his vacation time was almost exact with the activity period of his unknown target. He couldn’t help but think how all those coincidences lined up perfectly. Consumed with doubt, however, he immediately brushed the theory under the rug, and headed out for dinner. 

At the dinner table, Tom and his family were catching up with each other on life. “It feels like forever since we have all seen each other as a family,” said Tom’s mother. “I agree, it has been a while since we have seen both of you boys,” added his father. As they entered through the large doors of the restaurant, a feeling of unease and suspicion took over Tom. What was supposed to be a family reunion quickly turned into an investigation. Tom didn’t want to list his brother as a suspect, but a time of disappearance lined up with the activity of his target was too much to ignore. 

While cutting through the steak he ordered, Tom couldn’t help but keep a close eye on his brother. He paid close attention to his mannerism, his words, and especially his phone. All he could hear was a ring coming from the other side of the table every second. “Why is your phone ringing so much?” questioned his mother, as she too noticed the constant ringing. “It is nothing, just a bunch of work messages about work I have to catch up on,” replied John. “Really? You work?” questioned Tom. “I am an office manager,” replied John pokerfaced. Tom had brushed it off, but noticed his brother cutting his steak very violently, so violent that it even cut his finger a little. 

The family was catching up with each other, telling everyone about what they have been doing since the last time they saw each other and what they have done recently. John was talking about his vacation, mostly, talking about all of the historic and remarkable places he visited. He even provided pictures of places he went to and things he thought looked picture worthy. Tom was very observant, scanning every picture like an x-ray machine. He couldn’t find anything, and it seemed that his brother was telling the truth about being in Europe. He was about to drop his suspicions when he was looking through the photos and noticed a familiar cliff, one that looked over the water like the one he was at earlier. He was about to call it a weird coincidence when he noticed the exact same light house from before. Was he really in Europe, or was it just a cover up for something else? Tom thought to himself. 

As they approached the end of their dinner, John pulled Tom aside, eager to show him his new car. “I just got it before I left,” explained John. Tom was curious, as this could potentially confirm his brother as his target. Once they got to the car, Tom immediately pulled his phone out and pulled up the picture of the tire marks from before. He immediately looked at the tire marks on his brother’s car, completely disregarding any other detail of it. Comparing the two tiremarks, Tom’s heart sank, as he began to feel nauseous. “Is everything alright?” questioned John. Tom’s brother, who he knew grew up with and did almost everything with, was who he was after all along. John grabbed his brother's arm, trying to pull him off the ground, but Tom pushed him away and left the scene. 

Back home, he couldn’t sleep. Everything pointed to his brother being his target. He still had hope and remembered something. He immediately ran to his lab with his suitcoat and began getting as much blood off the coat as he could. He ran tests using both the blood sample from his coat and the hair. When he got the results, his knees gave out, and his mind went blank. When he woke up, he kept denying that it could be his brother, but he knew that it was him. He didn’t want to accept the truth presented in front of him, and walked off to his lab, unsure of what would happen next.