Chapter Three – Come Without Question

The cabin lit up as the train began going through a city that Lee couldn't identify. He rarely ever traveled by train since it took so long. This trip would be 26 long hours before they reached their destination. This one time, he didn't have a choice though. His hands grasped the creased card in his pocket. He pulled it out to look at it again for what seemed like to be the millionth time.

"Take the train to Wisconsin Dells. When you get off the train, you will see a phone booth. The phone will ring in two days at 9am. Further instructions will be in the phone call. Tell no one where you are going except Amanda. She must come with you.

Zulu Blue"

The note had been typed on an index card and wasn't signed. Lee had no idea who would have sent it. He was thankful that whoever it was, had told him to bring Amanda. He hated having her face this new unknown danger, but he would do everything in his power to protect her. As that thought entered his mind, he put his arm a little tighter around her shoulder.

The days following Billy's murder had been a whirlwind. Lee had rushed to the scene that night only to be met by Washington's finest telling him to go home. He showed them his badge, but they told him that he had no jurisdiction for the case. They forced him into his car and waited for him to leave. He raced to the agency where the word was just reaching the agents there. He dialed Francine's number and woke her up. As the realization hit, she began to cry. "That's not possible Lee. You must be mistaken. I mean how could that cameraman possibly have gotten a good view of his face?" Francine begged Lee to say he might be wrong.

"I'm sorry Francine. It was definitely him," Lee said as he fought back the tears.

"I'll be there soon," Francine said as she hung up the phone.

Lee thought about calling Amanda, but he knew it would be hard for her to explain to her family why she was leaving in the middle of the night. It was nearly 11pm, and her whole family would be in bed. He was thankful that she would get some sleep before she heard the news. Billy had been the one who had seen such promise in Amanda when the rest of them saw a housewife who wanted to live out her spy fantasies at the agency. Billy had enjoyed teasing Lee every chance he got when he first paired the two of them together. Lee fought him every step of the way too. Billy put up with Lee's foul attitude towards Amanda while cheering her on for not giving up on him.

Lee might have continued trying to push Amanda away, but everything changed the day some bad guys kidnapped her. In attempting to escape, she crashed a stolen car which caused her to suffer a head trauma. When she awoke in the hospital, it was discovered that she had partial amnesia. She didn't remember the agency or any of the people she had been working with during the past few months. She didn't even remember Lee. Lee was determined to help her remember. He had grown accustomed to having her by his side. He found to his amazement that he did enjoy her there most times. Oh sure, she frustrated him, and she was still very inexperienced in those days. Somehow though, she always seemed to do the right thing. Many times she had saved his life. Actually more times than he was willing to acknowledge back then. When Billy saw Amanda after the accident, he realized that she had lost the spark that had first caught his eye. Billy had suggested that they might have to terminate her employment with the agency. Lee didn't hesitate in suggesting that maybe they could retrain her. He heard Billy chuckle as Lee explained that he could adapt to anything. Even he knew that it sounded like a lame excuse since he had spent weeks trying to convince Billy that she was never going to be a suitable partner. Billy Melrose had known exactly what he was doing when he teamed them up.

Since Lee didn't have a father of his own, Billy had filled those shoes for many years. He had always been someone Lee could go to in order to get advice and he had always been supportive. How could he be dead? Why would anyone kill Billy? What had he been involved in that led him to that bad section of town when he should have been home with his family?

"Damn it!" Lee exclaimed as he hit the desk in front of him in frustration as questions and no answers kept swirling in his head. Several heads popped up to see what was going on but quickly went back to work when they realized that it was just Scarecrow letting off steam.

Francine hurried into the Bullpen. Lee came around from the desk as she dived into his arms. She was dressed uncharacteristically in just a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she must have quickly thrown on as she raced out of her apartment. She hadn't even bothered to put on makeup but it was obvious that she had been crying. Lee found himself being hugged tightly as if she would just crumble to the floor if she let go. Lee had seen many sides of Francine but feeling her trembling in his arms as she cried against his shoulder was heartbreaking. He tried to his best to comfort her.

"Why Lee? Why? He wasn't on a case. Why was he even out there?" Francine pleaded for answers.

"I don't know. I intend to find out though," Lee said as he tried to swallow the lump that had developed in his throat.

"So what happens now?" Francine asked like it was the first time an agent had been killed.

"The police wouldn't tell me anything. So I guess the first thing is to go pay them a visit and see if I can change their minds," Lee suggested.

"I'll go with you," Francine said quickly. Lee nodded as he knew that it would be useless to try to stop her. Billy had been like a father to her too. He demanded a lot from her because he knew she needed to prove herself in this man's world. He had been honing her for awhile to take his place eventually. No one expected it to be this soon though.

Lee heard Amanda moan in her sleep next to him. It brought him back to the present. He looked at her beautiful face and saw the toll that Billy's death had taken on her. Thankfully the lulling movement of the train seemed to help her as she snuggled a little closer to him and resumed sleep.

That fateful morning, when she had arrived for work, Mrs. Marsten had handed her a message to wait for him in the Q Bureau. Lee waited until he was sure she had arrived before he called her. She began asking him what was wrong before he could say anything. He suggested that she sit down and then tried to tell her as gently as he could. Amanda was such a strong person, but even she couldn't handle losing her friends well. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew that she had crumbled into her chair as the news sunk in. Her silence told him that she was trying to choke back the tears for his sake. He told her that he would be back shortly and to stay in the Q Bureau with the door locked. This was one time that he was certain that she would listen to him.

Francine and Lee had spent an hour at the police station trying to get information out of them. They refused to budge. They wouldn't even let them see the body. They were told that it had been pretty mutilated in the attack but that they had already obtained a positive id. The person, who came in, declared it to be Billy Melrose. Lee and Francine begged them for more information. Who was this mysterious person who identified Billy's body? Did the police have any leads on who might have done this? Did they have any theories on why it happened? The more they begged to be included in what had the police knew, the more the police seemed to be determined to keep them out of the investigation. They finally had no choice but to admit defeat and head back to the agency

Lee walked into the Q Bureau and found a very distraught Amanda. She was sitting at her desk while staring out into the room. Her eyes showed signs that she had been crying. She seemed to be lost in thought, so she didn't hear him come in.

"You okay?" Lee asked softly while trying not to startle her.

Amanda's whole body jerked at the sound of his voice. She lurched herself from her desk into his arms and let the tears flow. It took all his resolve not to start crying with her. He knew he needed to be strong for her sake. She had to gasp for air a few times in between her sobs, but Lee understood that she needed to let it out. He gently rubbed her back while trying to comfort her, the best he could. Several minutes later, she was able to gather herself back under control and asked Lee for more details. He guided her to the couch and sat down with her. He told her everything that he had learned from the time she had left the night before. They spent the morning puzzling over what it all meant. Had Billy been set up by someone? Like any good agent, he had his share of enemies. His behavior from the days prior to the shooting suggested that something more was going on that none of them knew about. The whole thing gnawed at Lee.

The train lurched as it went over a rough patch of track and brought Lee back into the present once again. Thankfully Amanda had managed to stay asleep. She had told him that since the shooting, she seemed to have a lot of nightmares, and found it hard to sleep for more than an hour at a time. He hoped that the security of being in his arms was allowing her to finally get some much needed rest. No one had done much sleeping since that awful night. Lee was determined to figure out who had killed Billy and why. There were not many clues though so it had been difficult to know where to start. The police continued to refuse to cooperate with the agency. Lee had tried to talk to Jeannie but she had been too distraught and asked Lee to come back another day.

Billy Melrose had been admired by many. He had been a strong and compassionate leader who led by example. Since he pushed himself in perfection, it motivated those who worked for him to do the same. He had always been a fair boss and never shied away from complimenting a job well done. His popularity showed the day of his funeral since the church quickly filled to capacity. Some of the more fortunate ones found space to stand inside. Many others were not so lucky, but waited patiently outside for their chance to say their final goodbyes to a man they considered to be a good friend and colleague.

Lee, Amanda and Francine along with many of the other agents had taken over the front few rows. Lee had suffered the loss of friends through his life but nothing prepared him for the heartache of losing Billy. He sat between Francine and Amanda and could feel both of them needing his support. He had to continue to stay strong for both their sakes. Many people stood up to share memories of Billy and to share their feelings of loss. Lee barely heard any of them. His body was there, but he had allowed his mind to go elsewhere so that he didn't lose his sanity. When it was over, he walked over to the urn that held Billy's ashes and said quietly, "I will find who did this Billy. They will pay." He cut it short because others were impatient for their turn.

Lee fully intended to keep his promise, but as the weeks went on, he found himself in more dead ends then leads. Amanda tried to get him to slow down, but he found himself not even listening to her. He spent time hanging out in bars while hoping to hear someone bragging about killing the agency man. Sleep no longer mattered, and it took all of Amanda's persistence to even get him to eat food. He began forgetting to shower and often came in unshaven. It had been allowed for the first month to give him space and some time to grieve. However, his superiors soon became annoyed with his continued behavior and lack of self care. It was not only affecting the others around him but it had become a hindrance in him performing his job. Eventually there was no choice but to put him on desk duty and not allow her to do any field assignments. He didn't care though because he didn't have time for any of that. Amanda took care of each item that he was assigned so that he wouldn't get into trouble. Her eyes began to have a hollow look and she withdrew from the rest of the agency. In his own sorrow, Lee barely noticed though.

Then one day, a letter came addressed to Mr. Lee Stetson. Mrs. Marsten gave it to him when he came back from chasing another dead end lead. He opened it when he got upstairs. Who would write this? He was sure it wasn't Harry because he would have just called Lee. Could it have anything to do with Billy's death? He felt like it did. The term "Zulu Blue" meant to come without question. Whoever wrote the note was familiar with this code. When he showed the note to Amanda, she didn't hesitate about going with him. They both asked for a week of vacation to begin immediately and were granted the time off. It was hoped that having some time off would allow Lee to settle down and come back to work like his old self. Not even Lee or Amanda knew what lay ahead. They could only hope they would find the answers that they were so desperately looking for. Who killed Billy Melrose and why?

TBC