Photograph

'What is in the box?' asked Tim with caution. Slight more decibel from Tim's mouth, and the sensor would turn on to intimidate the security guard and the local PD. Tim was inside the vault with Sam to take back what belonged to them. 

'There is only one envelope. Otherwise the box is full of benjamins,' said Sam.

'Open the envelope,' ordered Tim while holding a rope that helped Sam stay above the vault floor to stay safe from the pressure sensor. A slight change in the weight and the guards and police officers will arrive in the vault within minutes. They entered the vault through the air conduit. It was the only weak point in that secure vault. 

'What is in it?' Tim asked again.

'Wait a minute. I am opening it.'

'Hurry Up. I am losing grip, Tango.'

'There is a photo of dad. He is standing in front of the statue of liberty with a small guy in a funky hat.'

'Raise it. I will click it,' said Tim

Sam raised the photo, and Tim captured it with a go-pro attached to his helmet. 

'Okay, place the envelope where it was. Signal me after that. I will raise you,' said Tim.

'Wait. There is something written behind the photo. It is gibberish. Take a look and tell me what you see.'

Sam raised the photo again, and Tim narrowed his eyes to focus on the gibberish written with a pencil. 

'Hop Hazard Dreams True.' 

'What the hell does that mean?' said Sam out loud. His voice touched the threshold and came back to normalcy.

'Say it do not shout it, Tango.'

'Sorry, Charlie.' said Sam

'But what the heck does that have to do with the disappearance of dad. Along with the CBI seizing all of the dad's belonging. I can not connect the dots.'

'Not with all the emotions after seeing dad's face. Let me capture it and we will figure it out at home. Tango.'

'Yeah, Yeah, Charlie. Roger that.'

'Quit the army slang and lift that a little bit.'

'Okay,' said Sam after lifting the photo as much high as he can.

'Little bit more,' said Tim.

'Little bit more, Charlie.' shouted Tim in low decibels.

Sam stretched his hand with a jerk. Tim lost his grip on the rope, and Sam fell flat on the ground. Tim realised the mistake and quickly got hold of the rope to pull up Sam to the conduit. 

'Wait, Charlie.' shouted Sam.

'We have no time, Tango. The guards will be here.' said Tim.

'Wait, let me handle it,' said Sam.

Sam took out a micro fuse-bomb from his left pocket while standing on the floor. He placed the bomb in the CPU cabinet. After that, he collected all the benjamins and placed them in the envelope. 

Tim began to pull up Sam with all the energy he could summon. Sam reached the conduit in just fifteen seconds, thanks to the adrenaline surge through the veins of Tim. Sam placed the grill of the conduit as it was and restored the sensors that protected the conduit passage. 

The guards were punching the security code outside the gate. Nine guards with enough firepower to take down fifty people entered that vault.

Sam saw the guards entering the room with all the guns ready to spit out bullets to any moving target. Sam triggered the bomb, and it let out a small muffled sound with enough spark to attract the attention of all the guards along with their guns. 

Sam had placed mice beside the Control Processing Unit of the vault where he also planted the bomb. The thread that tied the mouse was cut loose due to the minor explosion. The mice started jumping around due to sudden light and sound. It fell on the ground triggering the alarm once again. 

The guard saw a hole in the centre of the grill that could have easily allowed the mice to enter the room. The guard concluded the obvious leaving behind the reality that happened.

Sam had planned the escape pretty well, and it worked as all the guards, and the camera believed that it was mice that triggered the pressure sensor.

Sam and Tim escaped the building as they came, in the disguise of a janitor hired for a day. They finished the cleaning and transferred the data of the go pro to their cloud storage. After that, they flushed the go pro after crushing it to pieces. 

They reached home, and Tim immediately started the computer to access the files of the go pro from the cloud. They were shocked to see the photo of their dad holding a newspaper dated 18 September 1989. It was the date when their mother died in a tragic accident. They were unable to recover the body due to the severity of the accident. 

It all came rushing back to Sam and Tim, as they were only teenagers when their mom left them. It was never easy for them to come to terms with the loss. Their father did a good job raising them single-handedly. It was like their mother was raising them by attending to their every need.

Sam and Tim's dad seemed to cope up well with the loss. 

He would disappear for weeks after a gap of three to four months. He returned from the gap feeling rejuvenated. 

But tragedy struck again. The brothers lost their father. But they received a message conveying that their parents were alive and doing well. They are not far away, and they could be traced by a hint placed in the envelope that was now seized by the CIA. 

Tim and Sam's dad was a CIA agent. After the tragedy, the CIA took all the belongings of their dad and now they were able to recover that envelope which was placed in a high-security vault. 

The photo said: 'Hop Hazard Dreams True.' 

They tried to crack it and reached the statue of liberty. They found this same line beneath the torch, and the sentence was completed by 'Push...'

They pushed that button, and it activated the time machine. Both of them were greeted by their parents with welcoming hands.