Part Seven
A nearly empty pot of coffee rested on top of the stove, while the fire dwindled in the fireplace. They sat at the small kitchen table, their chairs close together. Lee had his computer plugged into the phone line, using the internet to decipher the who’s who on NCF’s client list.
Rubbing his tired eyes, Lee commented. “An interesting mix of clients wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah, but the majority of the investors are women. That’s kind of odd, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Not all of them are women - a few of the diplomats on the list are men.”
“But look at the list, Congressional aides – all women, a couple of Congressmen’s wives, a few female lobbyists,” Amanda commented, checking off the names with a pencil. “A sex scandal; blackmail…”
“Probably both,” Lee deduced. “The question remains, who is behind it all? We have Ryan Conrad, possibly related to Casper, but we don’t know how. It’s definitely Casper’s picture on his desk. And then we have Thomas James, the CFO…”
“No, it’s James Thomas,” Amanda corrected.
“Are you sure, I thought it was Thomas James?”
“I’m pretty sure, but all these first names as last names keeps me confused,” Amanda replied, sorting through the paperwork they had on the company’s officers. “Yeah, here it is, James Thomas is the CFO. You know, for the first week Casper was in class, I kept calling him, Conrad. I thought his last name was Casper, not his first.”
“Who names their kid, Casper?” Lee questioned.
“Maybe it was a family name?” she suggested. Then, they each got a funny look on their faces – staring at one another and shaking their heads.
“You don’t think that we’re overlooking the obvious? Do you?” he asked, suddenly feeling more awake than he was a minute ago.
Amanda nodded her head. “Can it be that simple? It’s been in front of us the whole time; common first names as last names. Oh my gosh, it’s the perfect ruse! If they switched their first names with their last names, it would throw everyone off!”
“Maybe that’s why nobody knows Ryan Conrad. We should be looking for Conrad Ryan!” he said slapping the table at how simple the deception was. “It still doesn’t explain how Casper ties into this mess. Casper passed an Agency screen; what I pulled up on him at my New York office corroborates it.”
“Did you run his mother’s side of the family?” she pressed. “Maybe her maiden name or her mother’s maiden name was Casper, or Ryan. Or even from a previous marriage.”
“We concentrated on the father’s side of the family because we assumed the link was the surname, Conrad. Damn it, I should have thought of this sooner! I’ll call my office and get them started on it.”
Amanda grabbed Lee by the arm as he started to get up. “Lee, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
Chuckling, she answered. “It’s two in the morning! Saturday morning.”
“I guess that explains why I’m so tired, huh? I’ll call Carly later and ask her to go into the office.”
“Carly?” Amanda asked; her eyes flew open wide with concern.
Lee noticed the look of jealousy flash across Amanda’s face. “My office manager/assistant, she’s a sharp kid. She graduated from NYU last year, top of her class with a degree in Criminal Justice, a minor in Law.”
“Sounds very… dedicated,” she remarked, edgily.
“Amanda, she’s 24 years old. She’s not interested in me… romantically. I’m her boss. It’s strictly a business relationship,” then he shook his head and laughed. “Hell, she’s even mentioned to me that I’m older than her father!”
Amanda seemed more relaxed after his explanation. “You’ve done very well up in New York.”
“I worked night and day when I arrived up there,” he admitted, thinking back to the first months. “I barely slept…”
“Starting a new business is hard work.”
“It is…” he began, but there was more to it. He knew it, and from the look on Amanda’s face, she knew it too.
“You always did use work to hide from your emotions,” she commented knowingly.
“Something you learned from me as well,” he observed sadly.
“It doesn’t do much for the lonesome nights,” Amanda divulged, a far off look in her eyes.
“Amanda, there’s one thing that’s bothered me for a while now. The day they caught the bastard who shot you, you didn’t even call me. I got the news from Francine a couple days later. Why didn’t you call?” he asked, watching her reaction closely.
Amanda leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, massaging her brow with her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she sat back and shook her head. “That was quite an emotional day for me. To see that monster again, this time without a gun,” she admitted. For a fleeting second, a look of relief crossed her faced, but as suddenly as it appeared, a sad, almost pained appearance settled in her dark eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to do that alone…”
“I didn’t. Francine went with me downtown when I identified him,” she confessed. “Afterwards, she wanted to go out for a drink to celebrate. Despite the relief I felt knowing he was behind bars, I didn’t feel much like celebrating.”
“I always thought once they caught him, you’d leave the Agency and join me,” Lee remarked dejectedly. “Why didn’t you?”
For a few moments, he didn’t think she was going to answer him. It was so quiet in the cabin; Lee could hear the hum of the refrigerator. Then finally, an unsteady voice broke the silence.
“You were actually the first person I called when I got back to the Agency that afternoon. It was late in the day,” she replied, sounding distant.
“Really?” he gasped, astonished by her announcement. “I never got a message on the answering machine.”
“I didn’t get an answering machine,” she whispered.
“Are you sure you called the right number?” he persisted.
She nodded. Hesitantly, she admitted. “A woman answered the phone…”
“It was probably Carly. I’m surprised she didn’t give me the message; she’s usually very reliable,” Lee replied a little perturbed.
Again, there was a short pause before she answered him. “I didn’t leave a message.”
He looked at her with uncertainty. ”Why didn’t you call me later, at my apartment?”
She shook her head, and in a voice, barely above a whisper, she disclosed. “I didn’t think I could have handled it if a woman answered the phone there, too.”
“Amanda…” he started to say something, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.
“Lee, what was I supposed to think?” she countered, a mixture of hurt and anger on her face. “I’m not a fool. We’d been drifting further apart with each passing month. Hell, we were barely talking to each other!”
“I was busy with the new business. I thought you understood that?”
Blinking back tears, she replied. “I realized when I called that afternoon, it was too late. You didn’t… need me. You’d moved on.”
Raking his hand through his hair in frustration he countered, “That’s far from the truth.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” he answered decisively.
“I’m not so sure,” she replied, her voice trembling. “I hear you’re doing very well… Your success has certainly been the talk around the water cooler the last few months.”
“Hopefully not at your expense?” he commented, but the look on her face told the story. He shook his head. “My choices always seem to make your life harder. First it was our mystery marriage, now this…”
“I don’t care about the gossip mongers,” she answered, but she wouldn’t look at him, instead she glanced out the window into the darkness of the night.
“The business took off last summer,” he admitted as he stared at the fading fire, regretting more and more the time they’d spent apart. “It left me no alternative but to hire a staff. I’ve been lucky; I’ve found exceptional people. My staff has helped make it a success. That didn’t mean you weren’t welcome.”
“You surprised a lot of people with how successful you’ve been in New York,” she noted.
“I surprised myself, too. Fortunately, the private sector realizes the need for top-notch security this day and age. They’re willing to pay for it. What about you, did you think I’d succeed in New York?” he probed curiously, now looking directly at his wife.
Staring back at him, she whispered, “I knew when you left that morning, you wouldn’t be back.”
“I’m back now,” he reminded her.
She nodded wordlessly. They both knew he wouldn’t stay much longer. “I notice you don’t wear your wedding band anymore…”
He clenched his jaw in frustration. First, Francine observed he wasn’t wearing it, then his employees mentioned it, and now Amanda. He’d noticed the first day at the Inn that she still wore her engagement ring and wedding band. He should have realized that was bothering her. “Amanda, I can explain…”
Her voice was muted, and filled with sorrow. “It’s all right, Lee. You don’t have to explain.”
“Yes I do,” he rebutted. ”We didn’t always wear our rings when we were married. Certain cases it was safer not to. I’ll be honest. I don’t wear it at work. I came right from the office that day when you sent the Fed-Ex. What matters is I’ve never broken our marriage vows, Amanda – never!”
A relieved expression crossed her face at his disclosure.
Rubbing his eyes, he was too tired to continue their conversation, afraid of where it might lead. Standing up, he reached out his hand to help her up. “It’s late. How about we get some sleep?”
Amanda nodded. “You’re right. It’s way past my bedtime.”
Standing only inches from each other, in the cabin’s small kitchen, he could see the strain on her face, and he knew it all wasn’t from the charges hanging over her head. The past weighed heavily on them both. “Amanda, I’m really glad you were with me tonight.”
“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t have noticed the picture on the desk.”
“True, but it’s more than that,” he said, tugging gently on her hand, he laced his fingers with hers, and led them into the bedroom. “Despite what you believe, being up in New York, without you, has been difficult. I miss your input, working with you, and most of all, being with you.”
“I’ve missed spending time with you, too,” she whispered sincerely, staring up into his eyes.
Standing next to the bed, Lee’s hands slipped around her waist. With his heart beating rapidly, he craned his neck down until their lips melted together. This time it wasn’t a peck on the cheek or on the forehead, but a slow, deliberate, and intense kiss. When they parted, he stroked her face tenderly and murmured, “I love you, Amanda.”
“I love you, too,” she sighed, flushed from the kiss.
His lips captured hers in a second kiss, but then he broke it off. He let out a long slow breath, and reluctantly loosened his grip on her. “We probably shouldn’t do this... not right now.”
She nodded half-heartedly.
Even in the dimly lit room, Lee could clearly see disappointment on her face. With a feather-light touch, he gently caressed her cheek, lingering for more than a few seconds. He wanted to make love to her. They’d become much closer over the last few days, but he resisted the temptation. They still had some issues to resolve.
“We’re in the home stretch now,” he reassured her. “Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow might turn out to be an interesting day.”
End Part Seven
Second Chances
Part Eight
Saturday March 28th
“Thanks, Carly, I appreciate you helping me out on the weekend. I owe you a day off,” Lee Stetson replied before ending the phone call as they continued their drive towards DC.
“Well?” Amanda pressed, interested in hearing what Lee’s staff had pieced together.
“She ran a check on Casper’s mother, Louise Conrad. Her mother’s maiden name was Casper, thus his name, I guess,” Lee explained with a shrug.
“What’s the tie in with Ryan Conrad?” she asked.
Lee grinned. “We were right on target. Casper Conrad has an older stepbrother - Conrad Ryan. He was born out of wedlock, when Louise was only a teenager, but was given his father’s last name ‘Ryan’ despite his parents never being married. The coincidence that Louise later married a man with the last name of Conrad, only added to the confusion.”
“So when did he change his name to Ryan Conrad?” she questioned. “Was he adopted by Casper’s father?”
“No. Legally, he hasn’t changed his name to date. His legal name still is, Conrad Ryan. Sometime after being expelled from Ohio State University several years ago, he started using the name Ryan Conrad,” he explained.
“All this time, he’s been running under everyone’s radar by simply switching his first name with his last name - ingenious! Why was he expelled from Ohio State?”
“Don’t know yet, Carly’s still working on that. At least we know the relationship between him and Casper. Now it’s time for a chat with someone on the list until we can convince one of them to help us.”
Amanda held the list in her hand. “Candice Burke’s first on the list, married to a Congressman from Texas.”
“Let’s hope she can fill in the blanks,” Lee remarked, looking less than confident about their impending visit.
“You think she’ll even talk to us?”
“I have a feeling if we name drop ‘NCF’ she will. I’m hoping after we talk to her, we can figure out exactly what kind of scam those two are running,” Lee explained.
Later that morning, Lee parked his car in front of the Congressman’s residence. Turning towards Amanda, he said, “I know you won’t stay in the car, but stay quiet – after all, you are a wanted woman. We don’t want to cause any problems where she calls the police.”
“Gotcha!” she nodded, getting out of the car. Together, they walked up a half dozen brick steps to the door of a rather impressive townhouse, and Lee rang the doorbell.
“Can I help you?” a woman asked when she answered the door.
“Lee Stetson here to see Candace Burke,” he answered with a most disarming grin.
“Do you have an appointment, sir?”
“No, but it’s extremely important.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but Mrs. Burke doesn’t meet anyone without an appointment,” the woman explained and was about to close the door when Lee put his foot inside.
“Tell her this is about National Capital Financial,” Lee urged.
A moment later, he heard a voice from inside. “It’s all right, Juanita, I’ll handle this.” The door opened fully and Candice Burke, an attractive woman in her late 40’s stood before them. She turned to see where her maid was, and then, with a low voice, she gritted out, “I told your cohort never to come here. Now, leave me alone!”
“Mrs. Burke, you don’t understand,” Lee tried to explain.
With her face red with rage, she seethed at them. “I understand perfectly well… Mr…”
“Stetson, Lee Stetson,” he replied, handing her his business card. Assuming from her behavior, they were right on track, he proceeded, “This is my partner, Amanda King. Can we come in, please? We’re here to help you.”
The woman stared at Lee’s business card, “Oz Security?” she mumbled. Her look of confusion was slowly replaced by a glimmer of hope. Ultimately, she nodded for them to come in. Leading them into a nearby sitting room, she closed the door for privacy. “Have a seat.”
Lee and Amanda sat down on the sofa and Lee started his soft interrogation. “Mrs. Burke, we understand the strain you’re currently under. We want to help you, but we need some honest answers.”
Looking skeptical, she glanced nervously around the room. In a little more than a whisper, she asked, “What exactly do you want to know?”
Confident that they were heading down the right path, he proceeded. “We know that NCF is blackmailing you.”
The color drained from the woman’s face. “How did you find out?”
“That really doesn’t matter, right now.” Lee handed Mrs. Burke a picture of Casper. “Do you know him?”
“I wish I didn’t,” she glared loathsomely at the picture. “Yes, he’s the one. The bastard calls himself ‘Casper, the Ghost’, although he’s far from friendly.”
“How much have you paid him?” Lee questioned, relieved that she could finger him.
“The first time I gave him $25,000. I thought it was the last of him, but I was a fool. A week ago, he called again, demanding another $25,000! Like I have that kind of money!” her body shaking with rage. “I couldn’t come up with all of it at once, so he settled for $10,000, but he said he’d be back.”
“He’ll keep working you until he bleeds you dry,” Lee agreed. “You’re not the only one he’s been blackmailing.”
Swallowing hard, her eyes filled with tears. “If my husband wasn’t up for re-election this year, I wouldn’t have paid him a dime. You probably won’t believe it, but I’ve never cheated on my husband before. We were at an embassy party and my husband went off with his constituents. I bumped into this very charming young gentleman. He asked me to dance; told me I was beautiful. I was lonely. We had a few drinks, and then one thing led to another. The next thing I knew, Ryan and I…”
“Ryan?” Amanda gasped, glancing at Lee.
Lee took out the picture they had of Ryan and Casper together and handed it to Candice Burke. “Mrs. Burke, is this the man you had the affair with?”
Nodding, her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. “They… know each other?”
“Yes,” Amanda nodded. “Our research shows that they’re step-brothers.”
“Those bastards!” she swore irately. “They set me up!”
“I’m afraid so. If you help us, I can assure you, we can put a stop to the blackmail,” Lee reassured her very quietly. “Do you know how to contact Casper?”
“He’ll be calling here later today, tomorrow at the latest,” she told them. “He’s very persistent. He’s still looking for another $15,000.”
“Do you meet him here?”
“Oh, heaven’s no!” she said loudly, then, glancing around cagily, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I met him at a friend’s house. She’s been in Park City, skiing for the last few weeks. Unfortunately, she’s back as of today.”
Lee grinned. “Next time he calls, tell him you’ll have the money for him on Monday. There’s a house in Arlington we can use.”
Amanda’s eyes flew open, but Lee smiled at her and nodded reassuringly. He had a plan…
“Mrs. Burke, give me a call as soon as you hear from him. Try to stall him about the meeting place until the last minute. If he presses, tell him it’s a friend’s house, in Arlington.”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“We’ll talk to you soon,” Lee said, standing up and walking towards the door.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Burke,” Amanda said, reaching for her hand as they were leaving. “I promise you, Casper will leave you alone.”
“Thank you, both,” Candice answered, as they left her house and hurried to their car.
“Are you going to share your plan with me?” Amanda inquired as they drove away from Candice Burke’s Washington, DC residence.
“It’s safe to say you never invited Casper to your house, did you?”
“Oh my gosh, no! He’s never been there,” she corroborated.
“We can be rather certain the Agency has your house bugged in case you go back there, right?” Lee suggested with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah.”
“You tell me he’s tends to cut corners, so if we set the meet up at the house, I doubt he’d check to see who actually owns it, right?”
“That’s true,” she answered with a grin.
”It’s the perfect place then; saves me the time and effort of wiring the meet. Familiar territory for us, we have Casper meet Candice at your house, and get his confession on tape. It exonerates you, puts an end to the blackmail scheme, and Casper and Ryan, are Francine’s problem,” he explained happily.
“It might work.”
“It’ll work. Have a little faith, huh?” he said with a wink.
“Where are we going now?” she questioned, glancing around. “You’re heading back into town.”
“It’s too far of a ride back to the cabin right now. I need to stash you somewhere safe for a few hours while I meet with Francine. I’m going to use her as backup for the meet with Casper and Candice. That way, she’ll get credit for bringing down NCF, a little payback for helping us out this week. I need to fill Francine in on what’s really been going on. Get the dogs off your back.”
“I hate this. Do we have to stash me away, again?” she complained. “Why don’t you let me take a walk on the Mall? It’s a beautiful day, and the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom.”
Lee eyed her up cautiously. “Are you serious?”
“Lee, they’re not going to be looking for me out in the open. It’s almost noon, the place will be packed with tourists. I promise to blend into the crowd.”
“All right,” he conceded, turning his car in the direction of the Tidal Basin. “I’ll need about two hours. If I don’t pick up any company, I’ll meet you by the Jefferson Memorial at the top of the hour. Otherwise, keep looking for me every half hour.”
“Got it,” she nodded.
Lee drove down to Constitution Avenue and pulled over to the side. “Amanda, please be careful. Keep your eyes open.”
“I will,” she promised, “see you at two.”
***
Lee Stetson rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for an answer.
“Lee!” Francine gasped in surprise when she opened the door. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you, off the record. Is your place clean, or do we need to go for another drive?”
“Come on in,” she replied, waving him in. “I promise you the Agency hasn’t bugged my townhouse. What’s up?”
“Do they have Amanda’s place bugged?”
Furrowing her brow, she nodded, and then asked, “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m willing to bring Amanda in… under the right conditions,” he explained.
“Amanda’s agreed to turn herself in?”
“We’ve got the frame figured out. If you help us, you can take the credit for the bust.”
“What exactly do you have?” Francine asked before agreeing to anything.
”Plenty!” Lee promised, pulling out some paperwork from his pocket. Walking over to Francine’s dining room table, he spread it out for her to view. Francine looked and listened while Lee explained the scam that Casper and his brother were running, and who they were blackmailing.
“That creepy little bastard. I told you he liked the badge for the wrong reason!”
“So, you’ll help us,” he inquired with a raised eyebrow.
Nodding her head, she answered. “Yeah, when do you expect to hear from him?”
“The Congressman’s wife, Candice Burke, expects him to call either tonight or tomorrow. As soon as she hears from him, we’ll set up the sting, probably for Monday.”
“Amanda’s house is wired,” she confirmed. “It’s also being watched. We’ll have to let Wharton know, he’s the new section chief.”
“Will that be a problem?” Lee questioned.
Thumbing through the evidence Lee had scattered across her table, she shook her head. “Not with this proof. I doubt he wanted to sign her arrest warrant in the first place. He was pressured by Dr. Smyth. You know how he can get.”
Lee nodded, remembering all too clearly. “Yeah, I certainly don’t miss him. We need to keep this quiet until the last minute. We don’t want to spook Casper.”
Francine cringed at the bad pun. “Call me when you hear from Mrs. Burke. I won’t go to Wharton until then. Not that I’d expect Casper to show up at the Agency unannounced, he’s definitely not one to come in on the weekends or early morning. Conscientious is not the word that comes to mind when describing him.”
“Let’s hope that he stays true to his form then,” Lee replied, standing up and preparing to leave, but he hesitated.
“Something else bothering you, Scarecrow?” Francine asked, strumming her painted fingernails on her dining room table.
He nodded. “Yeah, something Amanda mentioned to me last night. She told me that you went with her that day, back in July, when she ID’ed the shooter.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Wharton told her that they had him in custody downtown and wanted her to pick him out of a lineup. She almost fainted at the idea. I’ve never seen her so nervous.”
“You’ve been a good friend to her, Francine. I can’t thank you enough for that.”
“She’s been a good friend to me, too, Lee.”
“Can I ask you a question?” he probed cautiously.
“Sure.”
“You called me after Amanda ID’ed the shooter,” he reminded her. “Did she ask you to do that?”
Francine cocked her head slightly and then shrugged. “I didn’t see Amanda around the Agency the day after they caught him. I assumed she went to visit you, in New York. When I saw her the following day, I asked if she’d spoken to you. She said, no. She claimed that she’d been ill.”
From the look on Francine’s face, Lee surmised it was a ruse. “You don’t think she was sick?”
“We both know Amanda’s not one to lie. The truth be told, she was kind of pale, but she looked more lost, than sick. You know, out of sorts. While we were talking, Amanda mentioned that she was behind in some reports that Wharton wanted ASAP. I’m still not sure how it happened, but at some point, I ended up volunteering to call you and tell you the news. Why do you ask?”
“Apparently, she did call me the day she identified the shooter. She wanted to tell me that they’d caught him,” Lee confessed, sighing heavily. “My new female office manager answered the phone…”
“Amanda thought…”
Lee nodded.
“You’re not…”
“NO!” Lee answered firmly and immediately, even before Francine could finish the question. “But evidently Amanda assumed I was.”
Francine watched him for a few moments, mindlessly picking at a thread on the back of her upholstered dining room chair. “Call me crazy, but I do believe you. I don’t know if I should tell you this or not…”
“Come on, Francine. I swear to you, I’ve never cheated on Amanda. I’m trying to work things out with her,” Lee pressed anxiously.
“All right,” Francine nodded and continued. “I think you have a need to know. Before Amanda ID’ed the shooter, she’d talked about leaving the Agency several times. She even mentioned selling her beloved house on Mapletree…”
“Maplewood.”
“Whatever!” Francine replied, rolling her eyes. “I really expected her to resign and join you up in New York once we caught him, but she didn’t. Then, I assumed she’d retire for sure after he entered a guilty plea, you know, once all the loose ends were tied up. Again, I was surprised she stayed on, even after failing her physical. Now, when I think about the timeline of things, I don’t think she ever mentioned moving again after she identified him in the lineup. Maybe she didn’t think she had anywhere to go…”
“What a disaster,” Lee grumbled in frustration, running his hand nervously through his hair. “Sometimes I think we’re getting closer together. For the first time in months, we’re actually talking, but we keep stumbling on the past.”
“At least you’re talking again. That’s important. Maybe some good can come out of this mess after all.”
“I hope so. We’re trying to let the pain from the past go, but it’s not easy,” he answered truthfully.
“For what it’s worth, I hope you two get back together.”
“Thanks, Francine. That means a lot,” Lee Stetson remarked and then took a deep breath. Glancing down at his watch, he noted the time. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll be in touch.”
End Part Eight
SECOND CHANCES
Part Nine
Sunday afternoon March 29th
Lee paced the small cabin anxiously while Amanda sat on the couch. “Lee, you need to relax. This was your idea to begin with; it’s going to work. It has to work,” Amanda reminded him. “Candace wants to get back at Casper almost as much as I want my name cleared.”
“She’s under a lot of pressure. If she screws up…”
Looking up at her husband, she tried to dispel his concerns. “All she has to do is follow the script we emailed her. Candace Burke is an intelligent woman. She’s on the board of several notable charities, and she has spoken at numerous fundraisers for her husband. She can pull this off.”
He glanced down at his wife and smiled, suddenly realizing he should be the one supporting her, not the other way around. “You’re right. It’s a good plan.”
In a reassuring voice, she added. “I’ll be upstairs the whole time; you and Francine will be nearby. Candace does her part, and then I’ll do mine. Everything will work as we planned. Francine gets the collar, and I get my name cleared.”
“I’m not totally sold on the idea of you being there. I don’t suppose I can talk you out of that?” Lee asked, tapping his hand on the windowsill.
“No,” she answered plainly.
“I didn’t think so,” he answered, clearly frustrated by the idea. Turning around and facing his wife, he thought about what could still go wrong. “What if Casper remembers your address, maybe from sending the wires?”
“We don’t know if it was Casper who sent the wires. Your office dug up the fact that Ryan worked for a bank. Ryan probably had them sent. Besides, I keep telling you, Casper is not the kind of agent to double check facts. He overlooks the obvious. Lee, I’ve been working with him for over six months. The one thing we can count on is that Casper will cut corners.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Have a little faith in my judgment,” she appealed. “Even if he’s seen my address on some paperwork, I sincerely doubt he’ll remember and put it together. He’s overconfident. It’ll be his downfall. Trust me?”
“I do trust you,” he nodded.
“Enough about the meet tomorrow,” she suggested, patting the couch next to her. “Why don’t you sit down? You’re making me nervous.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. I need to get out of here. I know it’s a little chilly outside, but the sun is finally out. How would you like to take a walk and get some fresh air?”
She grinned. “That’s a great idea, how about a picnic? There’s some leftover chicken from last night, and I’ll make some hot chocolate in case we get cold.”
“Sounds delicious, I’ll grab a blanket from the bedroom.”
Amanda went into the kitchen and started to pack up snacks for them. Lee went into the bedroom and found a thick blanket. After filling a thermos with hot chocolate, and a basket with chicken and biscuits, they were ready to leave.
They walked hand in hand on a well-worn path, away from the cabin. The thick gray clouds from the morning rain had begun to disperse. The sun was now shining bright, and the wind from the storm was starting to settle down. They walked until they came upon a clearing.
“How about we have our picnic here?” Lee suggested.
“Perfect,” Amanda nodded as she wandered near the edge of the ridge and took in the awesome view.
“Careful where you step,” Lee warned her. “It’s a long way down from up here.”
She smiled back at him appreciative of his concern. “It’s a beautiful view. Jamie would be on cloud nine up here with his camera.”
“I don’t think Jamie’s too pleased with me at the moment. I haven’t seen him since his graduation,” Lee commented.
“You know how protective he is of me. Always has been,” she reminded him.
“I know. I remember when we first met,” Lee shook his head, recalling the hard times Jamie had given him. “I didn’t think I’d ever win him over.”
“But you did.”
“And now I’ve lost his trust again.”
“He was upset you didn’t show up on Thanksgiving. I was hoping you would have called…” her voice trailed off.
“I told you I was working,” Lee explained.
“He didn’t buy that anymore than I did, Lee,” she glanced back at him where he was now spreading out the picnic blanket.
“I really was working.”
“Lee, please don’t lie to me. If you don’t want to tell me where you were for Thanksgiving, I won’t press the issue.”
“Amanda, I swear to you, I was working. I was digging up some dirt to prevent a good client of mine from getting entangled in an expensive divorce suit.”
Standing near the edge, she continued to take in the view. She called over her shoulder to him. “I didn’t think you handled stuff like that. I thought you only handled corporate security…”
“It was for a celebrity who was living in New York. She’d been receiving threats from a stalker. We designed a state of the art security system for her townhouse and kept her under 24-hour surveillance until we nabbed the stalker. She spared no expense and paid Oz Security a small fortune for it. Turns out, her husband was behind it all. He was the biggest horses’ ass I’d ever met. He was having an affair with some young bimbo, and was bleeding his wife dry.”
“I don’t remember reading anything in the newspapers recently about a messy celebrity divorce in New York,” she remarked.
“Oh, trust me, you won’t. The pictures I got of him on Thanksgiving night made me blush!” he commented, shaking his head in disgust. “I wouldn’t even let my client see them. I gave them to her attorney. The husband left quickly and quietly with little more than the shirt on his back.”
“Champion of women in distress,” she smiled, glancing back at him.
Getting up off the blanket, he walked over to where she was standing, and stroked her face tenderly. “Not all women. You’ve always been on the top of my list, Amanda. I don’t normally get involved with my client’s personal affairs. That has been the only exception.”
They stood there for a few minutes, so close they could feel each other’s warm breath on their faces. Lee was about to kiss her, when a large crow squawked overhead, startling them both.
“Oh my gosh!” Amanda gasped, almost stumbling before Lee grabbed her and stepped a few feet back from the edge.
“Maybe we better go back to the blanket, huh?” he suggested as his heart raced at the thought of what might have happened.
She nodded as he led the way and gallantly seated her on the blanket.
“The clouds are so close, it seems like I could reach out and touch them. All I can hear is the wind blowing through the trees. No traffic, no people, it’s quite peaceful here. I’m sure the Colonel will love it up here when he does retire.”
Sitting down next to her, he admitted. “I hope so, but he’s actually never been to the cabin.”
“I thought you bought it for him?”
“I did…he has seen pictures of the place,” he shrugged. “I think I told you, we had dinner one night when he was in the city. That’s when he talked about retiring in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I called a realtor and she came up with this place.”
“She found a great location for him; that’s for sure. Is this the first time you’ve spent time up here?” she probed curiously, while she set out the food for the two of them.
“No. I shut the office down for Christmas and spent a few days here.”
“It must have been beautiful, like a Currier and Ives Christmas card,” she remarked wistfully.
“It was picturesque… with all the snow,” he agreed, but his voice was full of regret. “It would have been perfect if you and the boys had been here with me.”
“Why didn’t you invite us?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Remember the flowers on your front porch Christmas Eve?”
A smile crossed her face, and she nodded. “Yes, they were absolutely beautiful, all my favorites!”
“I know. I drove the florist crazy. I picked out the flowers myself, and personally delivered them late in the afternoon. I thought you’d be home by then.”
“Oh, Lee, you were at the house!” Amanda croaked out in surprise. Her eyes glistened with tears. “You went through all that trouble and then left? Why didn’t you stay? You have a key, or for heaven’s sake, you know how to pick the lock!”
He shrugged self-consciously. “I wasn’t sure how welcome I’d be. If you’d asked me to leave…”
“You’ve always been welcome. It’s your home, too,” she answered resolutely, placing her hand on top of his. “I called and thanked you for the flowers as soon as I got home. I left a message on your answering machine.”
“Yeah, I know. I checked my messages once I got settled in at the cabin that night. I called you back, but missed you again…”
“You called a few minutes after we left for Christmas Eve services at church. Why didn’t you leave your number?” she pressed.
“I don’t know,” he replied in a reflective voice, gazing off into the distance. “I guess spending the day alone, thinking you might have invited me to the house was better than speaking to you and NOT having you invite me. Does that make any sense?”
“You’re starting to think like me. It makes sense in an illogical sort of way,” she answered, resting her head on his shoulder. “I would have loved spending Christmas with you, either here or down at the house. I know the boys would have loved the snow. They were disappointed when it started raining on Christmas day. It was a cold, bone chilling rain.”
“I mentioned the cabin to Phillip when I saw him in January.”
“You saw Phillip?” she asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” Lee nodded. “He was in the city for the weekend with his girlfriend. He called, and we met for dinner. Nice young lady.”
“His fiancée now; he asked her to marry him on Valentine’s Day,” Amanda smiled. “Ashley is lovely.”
“He mentioned he was thinking about it. When’s the wedding?”
“They haven’t set a date yet. I’m glad you met her.”
“I was, too,” Lee nodded. “Phillip calls me now and then. Whenever he’s in the city, we try to get together.”
“I’m happy to hear that. You were there for them both when Joe died. I wish Jamie would be less judgmental of you.”
“Yeah, but I do understand,” Lee remarked, leaning back and staring at the sky, wishing his relationship with his youngest stepson was better.
“He could get some great sunset shots from up here.”
“He’s welcome anytime, and so are you. We’d talked about owning a cabin in the woods one day…” he began when they heard some twigs break in the woods. Their heads both snapped to the right, where the sound came from. Lee pulled out his gun, got up slowly, and grimaced. “What now?”
“Someone could have followed us. I have been enjoying the scenery and not paying much attention around us,” she whispered.
His jaw muscle twitched nervously. “I haven’t either. Stay here…”
Amanda’s eyes were open wide, and she nodded silently.
Lee skulked stealthily towards the dense strand of trees and bushes. When he finally reached the tree line, his posture relaxed and he re-holstered his weapon. Turning back towards Amanda, he put a finger to his lips and nodded for her to come. She quietly joined him at the edge of the woods. Resting in the thicket, they observed a newborn fawn with a doe.
“I hope she’ll be all right. Kind of early for a fawn, isn’t it?” Amanda asked.
“She’ll be all right. It’s been an early spring this year. Flowers and trees are already budding.”
They walked back to their picnic blanket again. A gust of wind kicked up and Amanda shuddered as a sudden chill cut through her coat. “I wasn’t that cold while we were walking, but sitting down; it’s colder than I thought.”
“It’s chilly up here on the ridge.” Lee rubbed her hands in his. “How about some of the hot chocolate you made?” he asked her, pulling out the thermos and pouring her a cup.
“Thanks,” she said, sipping at the hot beverage. Holding the cup out for him, she asked, “Would you like some?”
Lee took a sip and smiled before sipping some more. “Mmmm, that’s good.”
“Even without the marshmallows?” she teased with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t think to buy any the other day when I stopped at the store,” he answered, returning the cup to her.
“A gross oversight on your part,” she taunted as she tipped the cup up getting the last drops of the chocolate.
“Amanda,” Lee pointed to her lip.
She licked her upper lip, but Lee shook his head. She sucked on it again, and he laughed.
“What?!” she asked.
Leaning over, he captured her upper lip, enjoying the chocolate at first. Capturing both of her lips, he began to kiss his wife passionately. As his weight pressed against her, they fell back together, onto the blanket. Lee continued kissing her intimately and Amanda eagerly responded. Their desire for each other consumed them for a time, until they broke off the kiss, panting for breath.
Lee sat up. “I’m sorry, Amanda, we can’t do this…”
“You’re right, it’s freezing out here!” she replied, sitting up as well. “Let’s go back to the cabin.”
“Amanda, we can’t,” he shook his head, his voice filled with regret.
“Why not? You can’t tell me you don’t want to!” she argued hotly.
“Oh, I want to, all right,” he admitted clearly, letting out a long slow breath as he stared off at the mountains. “But I also want things between us to be right. You even said so yourself, you don’t want a charge of treason hanging over your head. A clean start…”
“No obstacles…” she mumbled grudgingly.
“One more day, Amanda…”
End Part Nine