"Mrs. Cassidy?"
Amanda's head shot up from the book of Australian history she was reading – it had been one of a stack of books Francine had brought by for Lee's research, although the only one intended as a joke. If you're going to pretend to be an Aussie, you should know the basics, she'd teased. It's not all just sheep and convicts, you know – although maybe the convict parts might be good research for this case.
Amanda shoved the incriminating book under a cushion as she took in the formal tone in the fake butler's voice. This wasn't Freddy the joking agent with the thick Bronx accent she'd had coffee with that morning, helping him with his picks from the racing pages – this was definitely Frederick the Butler. She'd heard the doorbell, but it hadn't occurred to her that it was anything but a delivery. After all, no one would be visiting who didn't know who she really was.
Frederick's next words reminded her that she couldn't be more wrong. "Mr. James Delano is here to see you." The tone remained formal but the steady gaze he was giving her told Amanda he knew exactly who their visitor was.
"Well, how lovely," she managed to say. "Show him in."
Frederick turned impassively and gestured for Delano to step into the room.
"Jim," she cooed, dragging herself to her feet and walking toward him with her hands outstretched. "How unexpected. Delightful, of course, but you should have let me know. I would have worn something more… feminine."
She glanced down at the casual clothes she was in with a mental wince. This is not how Sunny Cassidy should look.
"You look lovely no matter what you wear," said Delano smoothly. "But whatever have you done to yourself?" he asked, looking down at her feet. "Why are you limping?"
"Oh I twisted my ankle, falling off a high heel." Nice that the truth fits the cover. "And I've just been spending the day icing it, and the ice pack clashed with my regular clothes," she trilled with fake laughter.
"Oh dear, that sounds terribly, terribly painful," he replied with a sympathetic look. "Not that I should complain."
"No?"
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. "I can't complain about anything that's going to keep you from running away from me."
"Oh Jimmy, you're such a flirt!" Amanda's eyes flicked to Freddy's over his shoulder. "Frederick, perhaps you could bring us some coffee? Unless you'd like something harder?" she asked Delano.
"Only if you do, lovely Sunny," he answered smoothly. "But harder is better, don't you think?" he went on with a lascivious wink.
Amanda barely managed to cover the shudder she wanted to give that she'd walked right into that one. "Well then Frederick, could you please bring up the drinks cart? And make sure that good Scotch is on it – I have a hankering for a nice Glenfiddich."
"Of course Madame. I'll bring it as quickly as possible." The nod he gave along at the mention of Lee's favorite drink sent a wave of relief through Amanda. The call for reinforcements would be made within the next few minutes.
"So what brings you by, Jim?" Amanda turned back to Delano with what she hoped was a simpering smile as Frederick backed out of the room. "Lee isn't here – I thought he was meeting you tomorrow to meet those other backers he was so interested in." She began to ramble as Delano moved closer. "I do get so bored with all his talk about finding investors and trying to keep the Board happy. I mean, who cares if his Board is happy if his wife isn't?" She pouted and limped back toward the sofa before remembering that book was still shoved under the cushion and wandered to look out the window instead. Part of her was hoping she'd see Lee already outside, but that was impossible – she knew he was at least a mile and a half away and eight stories underground to boot – no way for him to pick up on her vibes this time.
"I couldn't agree more, Sunny," answered Delano, following her closely. "I think Lee's a fool if he's not keeping you happy."
"You do?" she turned to him and answered in a breathless childlike voice. "I think so too! I mean, why does he need more money? I hear him complaining all the time to those boring men he meets with about they need to find him more cash flow, but how does a millionaire run out of money?"
"Or even a billionaire," said Delano meaningfully.
"Is that a real word?" asked Amanda still in that breathy voice. "I always thought that was a joke people made about rich men named Bill. So does a billionaire have more or less money than a millionaire?"
Delano's eyes widened fractionally at the apparent stupidity of the question. "More money, Sunny Dear, much more."
"More than a million? Wowee," Amanda drew out the sound of the exclamation and then pouted again. "Well then I don't see why he has to worry about that Freddie Mackenzie – or is it MacDonald? Anyway, that guy who he says has been bothering him. I mean, if we're so rich, how come that Mr. Mackenzie guy can just take our house in Vale the way he did?"
"Your husband is having problems with Freddie Mac?" asked Delano in a strangled voice.
"Yes! That guy! I think he's married to that lady who makes chocolates. Do you know them?" Amanda was really getting into the swing of playing the part now.
"Intimately," answered Delano with a wince. "But you shouldn't worry your pretty little head about him – if Leland can't support you in the manner you deserve, I'm sure we can find another big strong man to take care of you. Like me, for instance"
"You'd do that?" sighed Amanda. "Why, you're just like a Prince Charming."
"Of course, I would," said Delano stepping closer. "Every beauty deserves to be rescued from the beast. And like you said, I feel like we're destined to be together from a past life."
Amanda realized her error in judgement at standing too close to the window the moment Delano maneuvered her gently up against it and lowered his lips to hers. A million thoughts ran through her head in the next second.
I can do this. Real agents have to do this stuff all the time. It's just like when I had to kiss Ralph in the play in sophomore year. It's just kissing. Lee can't be too far away right? Oh my gosh, what do I do with my hands?
She gave a mental shrug and lifted her arms around Delano's neck, kissing him back and trying to think about anything other than the feel of his lips on hers.
Did I make enough cookies? I probably have time to make another batch on Sunday if I have to, because it can't hurt to have extra… Ugh, watch those hands, Buster. Warren Davenport could tell you a thing or two about what I can do to a guy's instep.
Back at the Agency, Lee was working at the table he'd commandeered in one of the meeting rooms for all the research they'd been doing on Delano and Hollander. This case was getting more complicated by the hour and the news that Harry Singer had just been found dead, run down in Rock Creek Park, was not making his agent sense of trouble tingle any less. If they were willing to kill a mensch like Singer, what else would they be willing to do? If he'd had any idea Singer's request for a meet at that party was going to lead to this, he would never have gotten Amanda involved, and now she was dead center in the path of trouble, right along with him. He groaned and rubbed his hand across his eyes in frustration.
"Scarecrow? You're Scarecrow, right?"
It was one of the new rookies, a guy named Standish or Summers or something, he thought. "Yeah, that's me. What do you need?"
"Uh, I gotta message for you from Agent Marino?"
"Is that a question or a statement?" sighed Lee. God, the rookies get younger every year, I swear.
"Oh! A statement! But I wasn't sure if it was about a case or a girlfriend because you know, you have this reputation." Standish/Summers/Something jumped at the annoyed sound Lee made and fumbled with the piece of paper in his hand. "He said to find you and tell you James Delano just showed up at the house and Amanda is keeping him entertained."
"Oh my God!" Lee shot to his feet and tore out of the room.
"Lee! Where's the fire?" yelled Billy as he ran across the bullpen toward the exit.
"Amanda!" Lee shouted back and ran out the doors and down the hallway out of sight.
"Amanda," repeated Billy, sighing. "Why did I even need to ask?"
The drive to N Street had never seemed so long. Lee swore he could have run faster as he hit every red light and at one point seriously considered it when traffic slowed to a crawl about two blocks away. The only thing that kept him in the car was knowing Hollander had the place under watch and they'd definitely notice if he showed up without his flashy car.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he growled at the cars in front of him, blowing out a groan of relief when it all began moving again, letting him zip along the last quarter mile to N Street.
Still hyper aware of Hollander's watchers, he slowed and pulled in front of the house, stepping out and swaggering up to the door like a man who had all the time in the world. Letting himself in with his key, he arrived just as Freddy wheeled a drink cart through the foyer, greeting him with a grimace and a silent finger pointing toward the sitting room.
In response, Lee pointed at the cart and motioned for him to go in first. Freddy put his butler face back on and pushed the cart forward again. Behind him, out of sight, Lee loosened his tie and top button and ran his hands through his hair to muss it up.
"Oh there you are, Frederick!" he heard Amanda say in a voice much higher than her normal one. "I'd begun to wonder if you'd forgotten us."
"Of course not, Madame. It just took me longer than expected to find the Glenfiddich you requested."
"Well, that's fine. You can just leave the cart and we'll look after ourselves." Delano sounded miffed at having been interrupted.
"Hey Sunny-Honey, I'm home!" Lee strolled into the room, purposely knocking against an end table as if he wasn't in complete control of his gangly limbs. "Oops-a-daisy!" he added, catching the table as it began to topple and putting it back into place with the much too careful motions of a man who'd been imbibing.
He straightened up and moved to allow Freddy back out of the room and let his gaze sweep the room. He stopped to look at Delano who was stepping away from Amanda, flushing guiltily – I bet you are Buddy – and not looking at him, busy straightening his jacket cuffs and clearing his throat.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Amanda, noting the color in her face and the look of relief in her eyes that reminded him just a little too much of that day at Honeycutt Typewriters. She gave him a tremulous smile that suggested she knew exactly what he was thinking and a small nod as if to say "I'm fine".
"Oh hey there, Jimmy," Lee slurred his words slightly and swayed in place. "I didn't realize you'd be here, Mate." He'd adjusted his voice to have just a bit of an Australian nasal twang to it as if Cassidy had reverted to his natural accent in a less than sober state. He hiccuped and went on, "Were we meeting here today?" He looked around as if confused. "Wasn't I supposed to meet some other people too? I thought that was tomorrow."
"No, no," said Delano quickly. "I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in to see how Sunny was settling in."
"Oh." Lee paused, frowning as if he was thinking about that. "Ooohh," he drawled out as if understanding had just hit him. "You're here to see Sunny!" He wandered over to Amanda and slung an arm around her hips, yanking her up against him and kissing her soundly on the cheek. "You shoulda told me, Honey! I didn't mean to interrupt one of your little rendez-vous!"
"Oh that's alright, Darling," she giggled even as she sagged slightly against him and clutched his shirt as if he was a life raft. "I didn't know Jim was coming by, but now that you're here, we can all have a little drinky together."
"I fear Leland may already have had a few drinkies," said Delano in a dry voice.
"Just a few," Lee grinned. "I had a pretty liquid lunch with a Congressman that I'm hoping is going to help me out with a few problems. But no worries, the sun is well over the yardarm and there's always room for another, right Mate? And I'm not drunk, just chipper."
"I hope you'll be less chipper tomorrow night," suggested Delano. "My East German backers do tend to be quite boring with their views of a debauched Western lifestyle."
"It'll be fine," said Lee, letting a trace of drunken belligerence into his voice, and rubbing his hand under his nose ostentatiously. "I'll just have a little powdered pick-me-up before I meet them and it'll be fine. God, you sound just like my father."
"Now don't get mad at Jimmy, Darling. He's just trying to help. Why are you in such a bad mood anyway? Didn't your meeting with the book people go well?" asked Amanda.
Lee turned his head slowly and stared down at her. "Book people?"
"The ones you said were going to help you with that Chapter 11 problem?" she went on, eyes wide. "Aren't you writing a book or something?"
Lee knew he was going to laugh and covered it by pulling her in and burying his face in her hair for a moment before pushing her away again and saying in a stern tone, "Oh Sunny, you know I told you not to talk about that in front of people."
"Did you?" she sighed. "You tell me so many things." She looked suitably downcast for a moment before suddenly appearing to cheer up. "Oh! James says he knows that Freddie Mac guy you've been complaining about – maybe he has some ideas about how to get him off your back!"
Delano made a choking sound at Amanda's apparently artless comment, while Lee continued to struggle to maintain his agent face and not laugh out loud. What on earth was she doing before I got here? The desire to laugh vanished as he remembered exactly what Delano had been up to before he got there.
"Good to know," he managed to get out, "But that was another thing you weren't supposed to tell people, Sunny-honey."
"I'm sorry, Darling," said Amanda with a convincing trembling lip. "I forgot."
"It's fine. We'll all just have a little drink and forget all about it. What's your poison, Jimmy?" Lee asked as he dropped his arm from Amanda's shoulders and moved to the drink cart.
"Oh that's fine, I was just going anyway," answered Delano quickly. "As I said, I was just passing by as I said and wanted to make sure Sunny knew she was invited to our little celebration tomorrow night." He walked over to Amanda and lifted her hand to kiss. "It just wouldn't be a party without you."
"You are just so sweet!" she gushed. "I can't wait!"
Lee closed his eyes and sighed silently, glad Delano still had his back to him and couldn't see him. Amanda was not supposed to go to that party. She was supposed to be safely back in Arlington by then as they sprang the trap on Hollander and whoever he'd gotten to betray those missile secrets. Amanda caught his irritated look and her smile dimmed.
In response Lee broadened his and said loudly, "It's true – Sunny does bring a real something extra to a party! Here, I'll walk you out Jimmy and you can remind me who I'm going to meet. What time was it again?"
Amanda watched Lee steer Delano out of the room and stood for a moment, listening to their jovial goodbyes before letting herself sag back down onto the settee and drop her face into her hands with exhaustion from the effort of the last thirty minutes.
"Are you okay?" Lee had re-entered the sitting room and crossed over to her in a few long strides, dropping down to crouch in front of her and pull her hands down to hold them in his. "He didn't do anything, did he? I got here as fast as I could."
"I'm fine," she said, leaning back with a soft smile, racing on when it looked like he was about to disagree. "No, really, I am! It's just surprisingly tiring to pretend to be dumb."
Lee pulled himself up to sit beside her on the settee and looked her over. Amanda watched warily as his lips thinned and his eyes grew stormy as he took in the details of the way her shirt was hanging half out of her waistband and that it was no longer buttoned up as high as she usually had it.
"Lee," she said pre-emptively, putting a hand out on his arm. "I'm fine. You know Freddy would have interrupted him if you hadn't. And I would have thought of something - even if I'd had to pretend to be sick or something."
"You're fine," he repeated in that flat voice that meant he was still angry.
"I'm fine," she smiled at him and felt some of the tension ebb away from under her fingers. "Come on, Mary and I made those cookies I promised this morning. You can have some with your lunch, forget all about this for a few minutes."
Lee gazed at her thoughtfully. She really did seem okay and she was giving him that worried smile that probably meant he was overreacting – as usual. "Fine," he sighed. "I will let you distract me with cookies while you explain what on earth you told Delano about Cassidy's financial situation. And then we'll start working on a way to get you out of having to go to that damned party tomorrow!"
"Oh Lee," Amanda protested even as she got to her feet and began to limp toward the door. "Don't be silly – if I need to be there, I can go."
"Amanda!"
"Lee, there's going to be a hundred people at that party and I just need to sit in the middle of it and do nothing!"
"That's what got us in this mess in the first place, Kid!" Lee muttered as he followed her out of the room.
It was a relief to hear that note of amused exasperation back in his voice that meant the worst was over for now, Amanda thought with relief, as they made their way to the kitchen, squabbling.