Friday morning 11AM Kiev time
 
 

The flight to Kiev was long.  Lee Stetson tried to sleep on the plane, but was unsuccessful. His anxiety about his wife’s whereabouts and safety was paramount and gnawing on his mind. He kept second guessing why he didn’t insist she not take this assignment.  What if he was too late?  Was his wife dead in Kiev?  He stared out the window, wondering if he’d once again lost his family.
 

Finally, the plane arrived at the gate; he waited in line as the passengers trudged through the corridors leading to Customs.  The line was barely moving; his patience was wearing thin. Lee wanted answers about his wife.  Instead, he answered the sole Customs agent’s monotonous questions with succinct answers not wanting to draw any attention to his true reason for traveling to Kiev.  When his passport was eventually stamped, Lee raced for a phone to call his supervisor.
 

“Billy, tell me you have heard from Amanda?” Lee asked his boss when he answered the phone.
 

“No, I haven’t heard from her yet.  Where are you?”
 

“Damn it!” Scarecrow swore in frustration, pounding his fist against the wall.  “I just cleared Customs.  I’m heading for her hotel now.  Has anyone else been able to contact her?”
 

“No, there’s an agent from Moscow en route, but his flight was delayed and he won’t arrive until this afternoon local time.  If the two of you can’t locate her, I’ll arrange for additional assets to head your way.  I’d rather keep it quiet for now.”
 

“Yes, let’s not give the Soviet’s any ammunition if they already have her in custody.”
 

“Scarecrow, I want updates from you every six hours, more often if anything breaks.  If you have any problems, I want to hear about them pronto!  Understood?” Billy Melrose ordered.  "I have one agent missing, I don't want another."
 

“Got it, Billy.  I’ll keep you in the loop.”
 

“Find her, Scarecrow,” Billy encouraged his agent.
 

“I will,” Lee answered determinedly before he hung up.  Then he hurried through the small airport, and soon was in a taxi, crossing the old city of Kiev. It was only a few miles from the airport to Amanda’s hotel.  If Amanda had been with him, they’d probably be travelling through this part of the city. Its old world charm was exactly what his wife enjoyed.
 

On both sides of the cab were museums, cathedrals, and historic buildings.  Traffic was thick and at times the taxi was sitting still in the city.  As the vehicle crept through the center square in Kiev, he wished his wife was wandering around the town. Lee studied the people around the Independence Column, the waterfall and the fountains, unfortunately there were too many people and the faces blurred as the taxi again began to move through the heart of the city. Eventually, the taxi stopped in front of Amanda’s hotel.  He paid the driver and disappeared into the hotel.
 

Avoiding the front desk, Lee took the elevator to the third floor and walked down to her room, number 322. A ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was hanging from the door knob as Galina Popova had described.  He knocked softly on the door at first, but there was no answer. Not knowing if she was unconscious, asleep, or worse, he knocked again, but louder. Still, there was no answer.  He tried the door, but it was locked.  Subtly, he glanced down the hallway in each direction.  There wasn’t anybody else on the floor, so he took out his lock pick and eventually the lock gave way.
 

With a gentle push, the door opened and Lee ducked into the room.  It only took a second for Lee to realize that not only was Amanda not in the room, but someone had ransacked it.
 

“Damn it!” Lee swore out loud.  He began to examine the room more closely.  The mattress had been lifted off the bed, the sheets were on the floor, the pillows removed from their cases, and all the drawers had been opened. The pictures on the wall had been taken down, and even the safe in the wall was open and empty.  None of Amanda’s belongings were anywhere to be found.  Even her toiletries were missing from the bathroom.  Lee studied the carpeting and the tile in the bathroom.  Thankfully there was no blood splatter anywhere.
 

“Where are you, Amanda?  Are you safe, or do the Soviets have you?” he wondered aloud.
 

Running a hand through his hair, he wasn’t sure how long ago her room had been searched.  It could have been over 24 hours ago, or just a couple of hours.  Putting his hand on the television set, he noticed it was cold.  Obviously, it hadn’t been viewed recently.  Regardless of the time frame, he needed to track her down, or find out if the Soviet’s had her in custody.
 

First stop, Dr. Galina Popova’s house.  Although Lee knew where Galina was, he doubted the Soviet’s did and most likely they’d be looking for her.  He took another taxi to the neighborhood that she lived in, and then walked down the block.  Immediately, he noticed two men across the street watching her flat.  Lee walked around the block to see if he could get into her apartment from the back, but they had an agent on each end of the street and they were not even attempting to hide their presence.
 

If the Russians had Amanda in custody she wasn’t talking.  She obviously hadn’t told them of the plan to get Dr. Popova out of the country.  “Hang in there, Amanda,” he smiled, feeling slightly more confident about things.
 

Next stop was the police station to see if there was any unusual activity.  If they picked up Amanda, they might have taken her there for questioning.  If that was the case, there would probably be KGB presence.  With much trepidation, Lee made his way to the police station.
 

Without bringing attention to himself, he mulled about, looking and listening.  There was a man in handcuffs apparently caught pick-pocketing a tourist.  Another man clearly intoxicated being processed.  Much to his relief, there didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary going on.
 

As he was about to leave he noticed a woman exiting the building.  From her clothing and makeup Lee surmised she was a prostitute.  He followed the woman out of the building and down the street making sure they were away from the police station before calling out to her. “Excuse me,” but she continued on her way.  "Excuse me," he called louder.
 

“What?” she snapped crossly as she turned around, but didn’t stop.
 

“I notice you left the police station,” Lee explained.
 

“Yeah, so…” the woman rolled her eyes and continued to walk away.
 

“I’m looking for a friend,” he explained, pulling out a picture of Amanda and walking faster to catch up to her.  “Did you see her anywhere in the building?”
 

The woman kept walking away without even looking at the picture.
 

“It’s important.  Please…” Lee pleaded in what must have been a pitiful voice because the woman finally stopped.
 

She glanced at the picture, studying it carefully before she shook her head.  “No, I didn’t see her.”
 

“You’re sure?” Lee asked again.
 

“Yes, I’m sure.”
 

“Thank you,” he answered, relieved by her reply as the woman hurried down the street and out of sight before Lee’s pace slowed down.
 

There was still one more place Lee needed to check, but he was afraid of the answer.  Despite his anxiety, he took a cab to the local morgue.  For a while, he stood on the sidewalk and paced nervously in front of the building, not wanting to go inside.  What if Amanda was here?  Eventually, his need to know won out over his anxiety and he entered the building.
 

The room was stark, white walls, and a small window, where a clerk sat on the other side.
 

Lee went up to the window and waited for the woman to hang up the phone.
 

“Can I help you?” she asked.
 

“My wife is missing,” Lee explained to the clerk.  He took out the picture he had of Amanda once more and showed it to her.  Swallowing hard, he forced out the question. “Is there any chance… she’s here?”
 

The woman carefully studied the picture and furrowed her brow.  With a nod of her head, she stood up, went to the door nearby and let Lee inside.  “Come with me.”
 

Lee’s heart sank.  He was too late…  The drug that Doctor Popova gave her must have killed her.  He swallowed hard and followed her silently down the hall.  He never expected things to end this way.  How could he explain this to Dotty and the boys?  Losing his partner, his wife…
 

“This way,” the woman instructed, holding the door open waiting for Lee to follow her.  He walked numbly down the hallway, and went into a room with a dozen metal doors.   The clerk looked through a file and then pulled open one of the large drawers where the bodies were kept.  The woman glanced up at Lee and he nodded for her to pull back the sheet.
 

Lee stared at the dead woman on the table.  He blinked a couple of times, trying to focus his eyes on the woman.  The brunette hair tumbled over the body’s shoulder.  It was the exact shade of Amanda’s hair.  The skin color was that of his wife’s, and the body was definitely the same size, shape and age as Amanda.  The facial features however, were quite different from his wife.
 

“No, that’s not her,” Lee let out a long relieved breath.  Thankfully, the woman on the table was a stranger and not Amanda King Stetson.  That didn’t solve the problem; his wife was still missing, but thankfully, most likely still alive.
 

The woman smiled, observing his relief.
 

“Thank you, thank you so much.”
 

The clues were starting to add up in Amanda’s favor.  Although her hotel room had been searched, her belongings were gone.  It would suggest that Amanda had left under her own free will.  If the prostitute had been truthful, Amanda hadn’t been in the local jail, and there wasn’t any KGB presence at the police station.
 

When he staked out Dr. Popova’s home, the KGB was clearly watching her house, so they didn’t know where she was.  If they had Amanda in custody, the KGB presence would be minimal at Doctor Popova’s residence.  Where his wife was still remained a mystery, but Lee was confident that she wasn’t under arrest.
 

Taking a deep breath, he headed towards a café.  He needed something to eat and some time to think.  His wife would be the first one to remind him a good meal is an important necessity.  After he ate, Lee did indeed feel better.  He looked around for a telephone.  Once he found one, he reported to Billy Melrose to update him.
 

“Melrose,” Billy answered the phone.
 

“It’s Scarecrow.  Tell me you have good news,” he asked.
 

“I haven’t heard from her yet,” Billy admitted ruefully.  “What have you found?”
 

“Good news and bad,” he sighed and went on to explain.  “I’ve been to the hotel. The room was ransacked, but her suitcases were gone.  I went by Gail’s place; she had company so I didn’t go in.  I’ve been to the police station and the morgue – no sign of her either place.”
 

“That’s a relief.  What’s your plan now?”
 

“Head south, following her itinerary,” Lee answered.
 

“I’ll have someone reserve you a flight and a room tonight in Odesa.  You need to get a good night’s sleep,” Billy reminded his agent.
 

“Thanks, Billy; you’re right, with a good night’s sleep I can think straight.  I’m on my way back to the airport next.  I’ll talk to you after I land.”
 

“There is one thing,” Billy added before he hung up the phone.  “Our man from Moscow arrived in town this afternoon.  He found an unattended suitcase at the train station on the platform – it’s Amanda’s.”
 

“Is he sure it was her bag?”
 

“It was a blue Samsonite bag and the tag has her name and address in Arlington.  Inside were women’s clothes.”
 

“She’s being followed,” Lee surmised.  “At least it confirms that she’s still alive.”
 

“That would be my take on the situation.  They must have been getting close for her to dump it; either that or it was stolen.”
 

“And then left at the train station?” Lee wondered aloud.  “No, I don’t believe that.  My bet is she was being followed and couldn’t carry it.  The only question is where did she go from there?”
 

“Don’t know for sure.  Like you already said, follow her itinerary.  Just remember to be careful,” Billy Melrose warned.
 

“I always am,” Lee answered before hanging up the phone, and flagging down a cab to take back to the airport.
 
 

End Part Three
 
 

Back to:  Robin's stories
 
 

Go to:  Part Four