Chapter 14
Lee sat on the edge of Amanda's desk, staring at her. He was unsure what more he could say to get her to calm down. After Francine and Dr. Smyth left, he spent ten minutes explaining the meeting with Billy, trying to assure Amanda he wasn't going to be sent to the Middle East, but she kept insisting it was going to happen. Once the tears started flowing, Lee was at a total loss. Amanda's tears frightened him more than anything else. "Amanda, please, believe me. I'm not going. Billy is not going to send me. I've done all I can do right here," Lee tried once more.
Amanda lifted her head, with her tear-stained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, and whispered, "You're sure?"
Lee dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling, exasperated. "Yes, I'm sure. I've been telling you this for the last ten minutes. I'm not going. I gave Billy all the intel my contact gave me and he's sending that information to our troops over there."
Amanda sniffled, brushed the tears off her cheeks and took a deep breath. She looked up at him and smiled weakly, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I just panicked at the idea that Billy was sending you over there."
Lee shook his head, "That doctor in the ER did say you may experience some issues with your mood or behavior so maybe this is another side effect."
"I don't know. I made an appointment with Doctor Goodman for tomorrow morning. It's been a while since I've had a check-up…well, since I got back from California," Amanda explained. "I'll tell him what's going on, how I've been feeling."
Lee looked at her, confused, "What do you mean how you've been feeling? Amanda, is there something you aren't telling me?"
Amanda wiped her eyes once more, exhaled and said, "I've just felt…off. And I know it's probably from the concussion, but something's not right. I just can't put my finger on what it is."
"Why didn't you say anything to Doc Kelford last week?" Lee questioned her.
"Because… because… Oh, I don't know why!" Amanda exclaimed. "Maybe because of the same reason you don't like being down there with him. I didn't want to be there for hours on end, getting poked and prodded all afternoon."
"A-man-da!" Lee groaned. "If something's wrong, then you should have told him. Or in the very least, told me! You know how worried I've been about you."
Amanda pursed her lips, her temper beginning to rise, "Well stop worrying! I didn't say anything was wrong. I just said I feel like something's not right. I'm off, plain and simple."
"Okay, okay," Lee held his hands up. "Now, I have to run back down to finish this meeting with Billy and Dr. Smyth. From the sounds of things, I think you have a lunch date with Francine?"
"I guess I do!" Amanda snapped. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily before she said, "I'm sorry. Yes, Francine asked if I wanted to head out to get something to eat. Maybe something to eat will help."
Lee smiled weakly, took her hands in his, and said, "Amanda, if you're not up to it, I'll take you home and come back. Billy and Dr. Smyth and Djibouti will just have to wait."
Amanda shook her head and patted his hands. "No, I'll go down with you. You finish your meeting. It sounds like they may need your help getting to the bottom of things."
"Are you sure? I can take you home or I can have Francine drive you home…" Lee let the suggestion hang in the air.
Amanda stood, placed her purse over her shoulder and stated, "Maybe I'll ask Francine to take me home after lunch. If she doesn't mind."
Lee stepped aside and opened the office door to find Leatherneck standing there, hand poised, ready to knock. "Hey, Ace! I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I came up to tell you I just got word on a car auction this Thursday if you're interested," Leatherneck smiled at Lee.
Lee glanced over at Amanda, now staring at him with one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, about that. Can I get back to you on that one? I'll give you a call, say Wednesday…to confirm," he stuttered as he turned back to Leatherneck.
"Um, sure. I just thought after our conversation yesterday about buying a car for Mrs. West, you'd be pretty excited an auction came up so quick," Leatherneck replied, confused.
Lee gently pushed Leatherneck back and began closing the door as he muttered, "I am. I'll let you know." He turned back and looked at Amanda, now standing with her arms folded. "I was going to tell you about that," he said sheepishly.
"I'll catch you later, Ace," Lee heard Leatherneck mutter through the now closed door.
"Lee! I thought we already said buying a car for Mother was going to wait?" Amanda questioned him.
"We did, well, you did. But I was talking to Leatherneck yesterday and-" Lee stammered.
"And what?!" Amanda snapped loudly. "You thought you could just run right out and buy her a car without telling me?"
"No, no it's not like that!" Lee insisted. He immediately felt like one of the boys getting scolded by Amanda for doing something wrong.
Amanda stepped toward the door angrily. "Well, don't let me ruin all your fun! I'll have Francine drive me home, thank you very much!"
Lee put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "Amanda! Stop! Just stop!" he commanded loudly. She stood still, glaring at him, her eyes flashing angrily. "Listen, Leatherneck told me about these car auctions that they have. He said you can get a good car for a decent price, much less than if we got it from a dealer. I wasn't going to buy anything. I was just going to check it out. That's all," he explained calmly.
"That's all?" Amanda squeaked. "You were just going to check it out?"
Lee slowly nodded, "Yes, nothing more. I just haven't had a chance to tell you about it. I didn't even know one was going to come up this fast."
Amanda sighed and dropped her eyes, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I should have known…"
"Yes, you should have known," Lee interjected.
"I should have known you wouldn't just go out and make an expensive purchase like that without talking to your wife about it first," Amanda finished.
Lee groaned, "Amanda, I told you I wasn't going to do anything you didn't want to do. That includes buying a car for your mother. Even though…" He paused when Amanda raised her head, her eyebrows raised high once again. "Even though we both agreed it would make things much easier for all of us, I still wouldn't do that without talking to you first."
"You're sure?" Amanda asked, lowering her eyebrows.
Lee leaned forward, kissed the tip of her nose and whispered, "Yes, I'm sure." He hugged her close before asking, "You ready to go down and meet up with Francine?" Amanda relaxed in his arms and nodded against his shoulder. She leaned back and kissed him lightly on the lips.
Before she released him, Amanda whispered against his shoulder, "I'm sorry. You know I trust you and I love you, right?"
Lee kissed the top of her head and replied, "I know you do. And I know you've had a lot going on too. And most of all, I love you too, Mrs. Stetson."
Amanda let her arms slide down as she released him. She smiled as she grasped his hand and together, they descended the stairs then rode the elevator down several floors. They walked into the bullpen and separated, Amanda heading straight to Francine's desk and Lee to Billy's office. "You ready to go?" Amanda asked as she watched Lee knock then open the door before disappearing inside.
"Yeah, let me get my purse," Francine reached into her bottom drawer before standing. "Where would you like to go?"
Amanda returned her attention to her friend, "Anywhere is fine. Would you mind bringing me home after? Lee's going to be here a while and we only took one car today."
Francine smiled, "That's fine. I think there's a new restaurant not too far from your house I'd like to try. I read a review for it in the paper this morning. A new take on Asian fusion they said, whatever that means!"
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it will be fine. Thank you, Francine," Amanda said quietly as they walked into the hall toward the elevator.
In Billy's office, Lee had a plan. "We've got to shake Djibouti up!" Lee exclaims.
"We've got to what!?" Billy's head snapped upward.
Lee shook his head enthusiastically, "You heard me! We need to shake Djibouti up a bit. Send in the troops, disrupt their transport lines."
Billy closed his eyes, "That's what I thought you said." He opened his eyes and stared at the map on the wall beside him.
"Scarecrow's right. We need to put a kink in their supply chain," Dr. Smyth agreed from his position on the couch. "If we can cause just a little bit of chaos now, it will have a ripple effect on the future."
Lee blinked several times, processing what he had just heard. "So, how do you supposed we go about this plan?" Billy voiced.
Lee pointed to a few locations on the map. "If we get a few men on the ground here and here, infiltrate the cell using Arvio's crew, we could get full intel on the shipments, and the current chain of command from the inside. No more guessing games," he stated firmly.
"Well, Scarecrow, it sounds like you have just secured yourself your first international covert op," Dr. Smyth announced.
"My first what?" Lee asked.
"You will be first in command for this operation," Dr. Smyth informed him.
Lee looked at Billy, confused. "First in…Billy, what is he talking about?"
Billy stood slowly, leaned forward and explained, "While you were getting things straightened out with Amanda upstairs, Dr. Smyth and I both agreed this should be your show. It's your contact over there, you have a better understanding as to what's happening than anyone else."
"But Billy, that's usually…I'm not…" Lee stammered, at a loss for words.
"Administrative One. No, but this is one step closer to it," Billy explained. "It keeps you here, without question, but you'd be in charge of a small crew for starters."
"I don't understand," Lee admitted.
Dr. Smyth stood, removed the cigarette holder from his mouth and said, "There's not much more to understand. You're too valuable an asset to this Agency now."
Lee narrowed his eyes, "Why now? Why all of a sudden am I so valuable?"
"Because I've been going over every case you've worked on for the last five years,
Scarecrow. You have more contacts, more knowledge and know more secrets than any other agent out there right now. Not to mention your close rate is now near perfect since you've paired up with Mrs. King…Mrs. Stetson. Next to Billy here, you're one of the best agents this Agency has ever had. We want to keep you around a little bit longer," Dr. Smyth stated smugly.
Lee clenched his jaw, the muscle twitched wildly for a moment before he said, "And a year ago Amanda and I were public enemy number one."
"And that was my mistake. I looked a gift horse in the mouth, not realizing it was more of a Trojan Horse," Dr. Smyth admitted.
Billy stood, offered his hand to Lee and said, "The position is all yours if you want it that is."
Lee took his hand slowly and shook it as he said, "If it's going to keep me close to home, I'll take it."
Billy held tight to Lee's hand as he looked him in the eye and asked, "And Amanda's going to be okay with this?"
Lee smiled at his friend, "She's going to be just fine."