Chapter 3

Monday morning came too quickly after another night of passion filled bliss. They reluctantly rose and got ready for work in the quiet of the house, as they stole kisses and loving touches, distracting them from getting out the door by their usual time. They arrived at IFF with only a few minutes to stop by their office before heading down to the conference room for the morning staff meeting.

The meeting went as expected with nothing new or significant to report that concerned them. As it concluded, Billy asked Lee and Amanda to stay behind. While the other members of the team filed out, Lee and Amanda glanced at one another; both shrugged their shoulders to indicate they hadn't a clue what Billy wanted.

Once everyone else was gone, Billy said, "Lee, I need a recap of your New York trip; Amanda doesn't need to stay for that part, but I need to talk to the two of you, about your paperwork."

Lee looked from Billy to Amanda. "Amanda does an excellent job with the paperwork—" Lee began.

"Yes, Sir, I usually do the paperwork!" Amanda interjected.

"Yeah, I know, and I appreciate it; since you've been here, Lee's paperwork has been perfect." Billy almost smiled at the thought of Lee's paperwork in the past. "But, Amanda, there seems to be a problem. Some of the latest documents you've turned in have been, well…"

Lee was surprised, he'd never seen Billy hesitate, but then again there was rarely a reason to reprimand them for something so mundane, at least not since Amanda was his partner.

Billy continued. "To be honest, Amanda, the last reports handed in have several errors. Usually, your paperwork is flawless."

"Which ones exactly are we talking about, Sir?" Amanda asked.

"The things you handed in while Lee was away."

Maybe it was just because she was missing me! Lee thought to himself.

Amanda flushed with embarrassment and she momentarily looked away from Billy and Lee. "Sir, I'm sorry. If you return the files to me, I'll make the corrections right away."

"Thank you, Amanda!"

Billy handed her the file folder that was about an inch thick.

Amanda stood and took the files from Billy's hands. "Is there anything else, Sir?"

"No, that's all for now, Amanda!"

"Okay, Sir! See you later, Lee." Amanda headed towards the door. Lee stood up quickly and held the door for her and then sat down at the conference table next to Billy.

"Okay, Billy, now that Amanda has left, be honest with me, was there something else that you wanted to discuss with me," Lee paused, "besides my New York contact?"

"What makes you think I wanted to talk to you about something else?" Billy asked.

Lee shrugged his shoulders and looked at Billy expectantly.

"Okay, you know me well enough. I just wanted to know how things are going with you and Amanda."

"What do you mean?" Lee suddenly remembered that he and Amanda never did talk about what was going on with her while he was away. He'd been well, distracted and then after, spending time with her was more of a priority. Besides, she seemed fine now.

"I don't know, although, I can't put my finger on it, Amanda has been a bit off, a little distracted the past few days," Billy answered.

"Since when?" Lee wanted to know.

"Since you left."

"Hmm, I know what you mean, she was certainly distracted when I spoke to her over the phone. But when I got home the other night, she seemed fine, more herself."

"Perhaps, she missed you."

"Maybe…," Lee commented with uncertainty.

"Or maybe she misses Mrs. West and the boys," Billy stated as he tried to suppress a laugh. "The boys are with their father and Mrs. West is away, isn't that right?

"Thanks a lot, Billy!" Lee said indignantly but grinned in spite of himself. "They just left Thursday, but then again-"

"I'm sure she missed you and the rest of your family," Billy said after he let out another laugh before adding, "It's just so not like her to have so many errors in her paperwork. That's why I wanted to check in with you. You know I think of the two of you as my extended family."

"I know Billy! We feel the same. Thanks for your concern."

"Now, about your contact…"

Lee opened up his file folder and referring to his notes, spent the next thirty minutes running down the situation with Vincent T. Mitchell, his New York contact who also worked for Ralphmore Hotels which was one of the largest chains in the country. Vincent thought that something illegal like drug smuggling was going on in one of the main branch offices and he insisted on passing the information to Lee in person. After meeting with him, Lee felt reasonably certain that Vincent's instincts were correct and needed further investigation.

"Good work, Scarecrow! I'll get the approval for the New York safe house and let your contact know that we have his back, and we'll do everything we can to protect him."

"Thanks, Billy!"

"And, Lee, please do let me know how Amanda is doing. She has plenty of time banked if she needs to use it."

"I will. Thanks!" Lee said as he stood up and moved towards the door. He paused and turned back to Billy. "What about Amanda's cases, did she work on anything special Thursday and Friday?"

"No, she's been 'spring cleaning' since shortly after you left."

"Oh, no, Billy! You sent Amanda on those?" Lee asked.

"Well, Lee, I had to have her do something, and I wanted to be careful about who I paired her with while you were away. Besides, our caseload has been so busy; we were late doing them this year!"

"Francine would have been good for her to be partnered with —" Lee started.

Billy cut him off. "You know very well that Francine was on a deep undercover assignment and will be back tomorrow! Besides, Amanda is very good at spring cleaning. She seems to have a knack for getting extra information and helping us figure out the wacko organizations from the legitimate ones."

"Yeah, I would say that was true! But, ugh—" Lee scratched his head, "But, Billy. You know what? That's probably it. You know some of those places that are out there. And it's the holidays, too! Maybe something happened at one of them that spooked her a little bit," Lee said as they both headed out of the conference room towards the elevator.

"Really Lee, Amanda spooked? Amanda always loves to jump right in," Billy said with a chuckle. Lee could still hear the laughter as he waited for the elevator while Billy headed to his office.

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