Chapter 7
Friday June 21, 1987 Q-Bureau
"The Prime Minister arrives Sunday night and Duffy will meet him at the airport to take him to his hotel," Amanda was double checking the security schedule with Lee.
"Right. Monday morning Fielder, will pick him up at nine o'clock to bring him to the Smithsonian's Botanical Gardens where we will be waiting for him." Lee added with boredom.
"We will be his shadows for the day. We also have a seven o'clock meeting that morning with Dr. Smyth and Mr. Melrose."
"Amanda, we have been through this a hundred times," He said as he threw the file on his desk and moved his chair back to stand. As he made his way over to her desk he continued, "Come on let's get out of here. Next week is going to be even crazier and we have been working overtime on this security schedule all week."
"It's not going to hurt to go through this one more time; we can never be too careful," she practically said.
Lee let out a sigh, ran his left hand through his hair as he made his way back to his desk. He had no sooner sat down when the phone on his desk rang. Picking it up he barked, "Stetson!" Really. That's great. We sure will. July 1st at one. Okay we'll see you then."
Lee looked over to find his wife looking at him. "That was the Credit Union. The closing is set for July 1st at one in the afternoon. We get immediate possession; since the Agency is using the same lender we can close on your house immediately following."
She just sat there looking at her husband, stunned. After what seemed like ten minutes he said, "Amanda, say something!"
She blinked her eyes a couple of times, looked at her desk calendar, and said in disbelief, "July 1st, but Lee that's only a little over a week!"
"It's perfect Amanda! We get you, the boys, and your mother settled in before the wedding. Your mother's apartment can be started and we could have our wedding out back." He replied as he made his way back to his wife's desk.
"Have the wedding at our new house?"
"Yeah, it would be simple, nice, and easy." He explained with a grin.
"Speaking of the wedding we need to make the invitation list and order the invitations, plus order the cake. On top of that add moving, and oh let's not forget our work schedule," Amanda replied, feeling overwhelmed.
"We'll get it figured out; besides the wedding can be small for all I care!" He said as he leaned in close to kiss Amanda on the lips; but before their lips met there was a knock, and as they pulled apart Billy came through the door.
"Francine called, and she's finally been able to track down Bob Yoder. They are on their way to the airport now, and they should be here sometime late tonight she figured.
"Good. Maybe we can get some answers on the where about of Von Eiger, or was he with this character."
"No, Francine didn't see any sign of Von Eiger and Bob's not talking. He said he won't talk unless his lawyer is present."
"I'll get him to talk!"
"No Scarecrow, you are to stay away! His lawyer will get here sometime tomorrow. Francine will conduct the debriefing then."
Lee scowled, but didn't respond to Billy's command.
"Is everything arranged for the Prime Minister's visit?
"Yes, sir. Lee and I were just going through the schedule for a final time to make sure we haven't missed anything."
"Good, Amanda. Finish that up and then you two get out of here. I expect you here by seven Monday morning. Now I'm actually going to dinner with Jeannie."
"Okay, sir, have a good weekend," she was saying as Billy left the Q-Bureau.
"You heard Billy, Amanda, let's get out of here," Lee eagerly said.
"No, he said to get out of here after we review the security schedule," she practically pointed out. She continued with, "Now sit, Stetson, we have only gotten through Monday."
Lee sighed, went back to his desk, and picked up the schedule. Looking at it he said in monotone, "Okay Monday night, Anderson is the night watch…"
Same day 4247 Maplewood Ave.
While the boys had walked to the park to play basketball with their friends, the three adults sat at the picnic table talking after a supper of hamburgers, salad, and potato wedges. "I made some chocolate mousse if either of you would like some," Dotty offered.
"Oh no thanks, Mother. I couldn't eat another bite."
"Sounds great Dotty," Lee said enthusiastically.
"I'll go get it then."
Lee poured himself and Dotty some more wine, but Amanda only covered the top of her glass and shook her head. He shrugged knowing that she only drank small amounts.
Dotty came back outside with some mousse for herself and Lee. After eating in companionable silence, Dotty broke it by asking, "The closing is on July 1st. Are we starting to move that day?"
"We could probably take some of the things over that we don't really need at the moment. Maybe we should start doing some packing…sorting through…throwing things away."
"It will be the perfect time to get rid of what is not needed," Dotty agreed.
"Lee you should bring some of your stuff too so we can decide together what we want in the house," Amanda lovingly addressed her husband.
"I only have a few items that I really want. My record collection, ram's horn, and the roll top desk."
"Would you like those things in the office or the den?"
"Hummm… the office would be fine. Maybe we could make the office off limits and we could bring files from work home."
"That would be a great idea…we could be home earlier!"
"We should start packing tomorrow," an eager Dotty suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea, Mother!"
"I'll bring some boxes and donuts," Lee grinned.
"And some of that fabulous coffee?" Dotty asked hopefully.
Lee laughed as he shook his head and smiled at his mother in law.
Saturday June 22, 1987 The Agency debriefing room
Francine walked into the debriefing room to see Bob Yoder and his lawyer, Mr. Cramer, sitting at the table deep in conversation.
Francine began, "Mr. Yoder, were you hired by a Baron Von Eiger to kidnap Federal Doctor Kelford or Federal Agent Amanda King?"
"No this is the first, I've heard of either of those names."
"Do you know where Von Eiger is now?"
"No, he climbed through the upstairs window and left in his car."
Francine let out a sigh. All this trouble of tracking this guy down and he wasn't giving them anything.
"Do you have any idea of where he might head?" Francine asked sounding very sweet, when she really felt like pounding the guy.
"My fishing buddy was going to let us use his cabin up in the U.P., maybe he went there." Bob offered.
"What or where is this place that you're talking about?"
Bob snorted in disgust and said with a chuckle, "You've got to be kidding me! You don't know where the U.P. is?"
"Listen buddy, I'm getting very close to knocking your nose off your face. Mostly you have given me no useful information; now you had better tell me where this U.P. is!" Francine explained getting right into Bob's face and grabbing him by his shirt front.
"Listen you can't treat my client this way!"
Francine turned on Mr. Cramer and said menacingly, "No! You listen! This isn't some small time police station you're dealing with here. This is the Federal Government and we are talking about an international terrorist, who by the way kidnapped one of our doctors to aid in the torture of one of our agents, plus kidnapped her civilian mother. The Federal Government does things a bit different."
This scared Bob, a lot, and he quickly explained everything from how he was hired to his role in the kidnappings, their getaway and he finished with, "the U.P. is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is like a wilderness, he could hide up there real easily." After the lengthy monologue he sat back in his chair and let out a huge sigh.
Francine looked at him long and hard, rolled her eyes, and turned to walk through the door slamming it behind her. Outside of the room she picked up the phone and dialed Billy at home. She explained the information she had gotten, and he told her to contact the nearest agency to see what they could find out. He told her to put Bob in a holding cell because there was nothing else to do until the Detroit Agency got back in touch. He then told her to go home for the day.
