The Plan

Chapter 21

Squires chuckled over the phone when Lee had immediately recognized his voice.

"So you know it's me, eh, Stetson? I guess you're really as smart an agent as everyone says you are," he said.

"Yeah, but you, on the other hand, were always a lousy thief and now a lousy murderer," Lee told him.

Squires didn't even seem bothered by the insult. In fact, he seemed to take pleasure in being an annoyance to Lee.

"Name-call me all you want," Squires told him, "but you have to admit, I AM a great escape artist! You've already witnessed how great I was in breaking through a government secured area, so me breaking out of high-security prison was a breeze!"

"Stop your boasting Squires and tell me what you want!" Lee disdainfully told him.

"Oh myyyy, Stetson," Squires sounded unfazed, "Amanda's right about one thing when she talked about you; you DO have quite a temper, don't you?"

Lee hated that Squires seemed to have control of the conversation and not the other way around, yet his anger still got the better of him.

"SHE NEVER SAID THAT ABOUT ME AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT!" Lee yelled back.

A smattering of workers were still in the office and a couple of them lifted their heads at Lee's shouting. He had to take a deep breath in and out to calm himself down.

"What did I tell you?" Squires smugly stated, "Quite a temper indeed! In fact, with an outburst like that, I can only conclude that you have actual feelings bubbling inside of you towards our Amanda."

Lee gritted his teeth, hating that Squires had stated 'our' Amanda.

"Look, you demented dirtbag,"Lee's voice had a threatening tone, "I don't know why you've called me, but from now on, you leave Amanda out of your sick mind games, or you'll have ME to answer to!"

"She's really got under your skin, hasn't she?" Squires egged him on, "although I can see why. She had me completely charmed, too! Well, maybe not completely, but close!... Anyhooooo...you want to know why I called?" he seemed to be toying with Lee now, "frankly, Stetson, Amanda and you and the rest of America offer no challenge to me. So I plan to leave America. And I need your help."

"The only way I'm going to help you is to escort you back to jail!" Lee responded back.

"Tsk, tsk that temper of yours is getting quite annoying now!" Squires commented and then continued, "So as I was saying, I plan to permanently leave America, preferably to a place that has no extradition treaty, and that's where you come in, Stetson. Simply put, in order to get out of the country, I'll need a fake passport. And oh, some money, too. And you'll need to put a rush order on that as I'm anxious to leave, as you can well imagine."

"Like I would ever help YOU!" Lee sounded incredulous.

"I would think you would be GLAD I'm leaving, Stetson. Then I'll be out of yours and pretty Amanda's life forever. Think about the advantages."

Lee paused to consider Squires' business proposal and an idea began to form in his head.

If he pretended to go along with Squires' plan, he could arrange a meet up with Squires, and then re-capture him again. Then Lee could personally make sure Squires gets locked away permanently in a maximum secured prison with no opportunity for parole so that he would never bother Amanda again.

"Well?" Squires asked, breaking into Lee's thoughts.

"So that's all you want?" Lee asked, trying not to sound too complying, "A passport and a few dollars to get out of the country, never to bother Amanda again?"

"I swear to you on my honor as a con man and a thief that both of you will never hear from me again," Squires pledged.

"Don't forget two-time murderer."

Squires snorted, "I don't think those unworthy victims will be missed much, especially by Amanda. In fact, I actually did her a favor," he stated nonchalantly before asking, "so what do you think, Stetson? Can you get me a fake passport and some cash?"

"I have my connections," Lee stated confidently.

"I'll need $20,000," Squires told him.

Lee almost choked as he played the part of unwilling accomplice, "I'll need at least a day for that amount of money."

"You'll have an hour," Squires bargained.

Lee sounded doubtful, "In that short of time, the best I can probably come up with is $10,000...tops."

There was a pause as Squires reconsidered the offer.

"Fine, Ten thousand, but I want them in small, non-sequential bills."

"Deal. And oh, I'll need a picture of your ugly self for the picture in the passport," Lee stated.

"You have my permission to use one of my mug shots from my file."

"Should I leave the prison ID number on the bottom of that picture when I paste it on the passport?" Lee taunted him.

"Not funny, Stetson, and you're wasting time...you now have 50 minutes to get me what I had requested," Squires stated, no longer in a joking mood.

Lee pretended to relent, "Alright, I'll do it."

"Good. And let's keep this 'business' between you and me. No Agency involvement."

"Where do we meet?" Lee asked.

Before I tell you let me make myself very clear, Stetson," Squires warned, " If I see anyone, and I mean anyone, nearby who looks like they could be agents at our little rendezvous point, I swear I'll disappear only to re-emerge and REALLY wreck havoc on you and Amanda's lives! You've already seen what I am capable of, so just imagine that and enlarge that damage to include family and friends!"

Lee couldn't wait to punch the evil smugness off of Squires' face.

"Yeah, yeah, I get your point."

"See that you do!"

Lee listened as Squires gave the location of their meeting spot.

"And oh, I just thought of one more thing, " Squires added, "You might consider bringing the lovely Amanda with you to our meeting place. I would so enjoy her company, since as you know, she and I had once dated. We could both catch up on old times."

Lee would never let Amanda near that murderous psychopath.

"You really are the worst kind of pond scum, you know that, Squires?" Lee told him, "I wouldn't have Amanda meet up with you if my life depended on it!"

"That can be arranged," he glibly remarked, "in the meantime, just send my very best love to her. She'd like that."

"Go to hell, Squires!" Lee growled through gritted teeth.

"I don't plan on going there for another 50 years," he assuredly stated.

Lee slammed the phone down.

It took a moment for his anger to abate. When it did, he figured he'd better call Amanda to tell her he would be late. Of course, he would not be telling her the reason why or she would want to come to try and reason with Squires. That would not do. He picked up the receiver again and dialed her number.

She picked up immediately, "Hello?"

Lee immediately sounded apologetic, "Amanda...I hope you won't be too upset but...I'm stuck in the office and running late. Looks like I won't be getting there for another hour or so. It can't be help. Sorry."

"Lee, what's wrong? There's something wrong, isn't there?"

Damn! She knew him so well! Come on, Stetson, you're a master spy! You've spent your whole life masquerading as other people! Play your part, man!

He tried to sound surprise, "Wrong? No, nothing's wrong, Amanda. I just got caught up with all these files is all, and I don't want to stop in the middle of researching them, especially since I think I may have a lead."

"Oh? And what lead is that?"

"I don't want to say now, just in case my theory falls through," Lee stated, trying to keep his tone even, " but I'll tell you all about it when I see you. I promise."

She still sounded skeptical, "You want me come down and help you? it might make the work go faster..."

That was the last thing Lee wanted, "No need for you to waste your time here, Amanda. Besides, you might be a distraction, wanting to reminiscence about all your successful old cases! No, let me work this on my own and afterwards, I'll head right over to your place, alright?"

He heard a sigh coming from her end of the phone.

"Al-right, as long as nothing's wrong..." she stated, still sounding concern.

"Believe me, nothing's wrong!" he assured her, but he sounded like a trained parrot.

They exchanged farewells and Lee hung up. God he hated to lying to Amanda! He'll definitely make it up when he sees her. But right now he had a murderer to catch.

Now focused on the mission, Lee bent down to empty out his briefcase in order to put in the 'cash' for Squires.

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Meanwhile, back at Maplewood Drive, Amanda was pacing up and down the floor of her tiny kitchen.

Something was terribly wrong with Lee and she was wondering if she should do something about it. Amanda looked at the clock on the kitchen wall again. It had been twenty minutes since they last talked.

Going over to the wall phone, she dialed Lee's number at work. It rang and rang and rang.

Didn't he say he would be at his desk going over files?

Where was he?

Getting no answer, she dialed Francine's direct number.

"Francine Desmond," Francine greeted in a very brusque manner.

"Francine, this is Amanda," she said.

"Yes, and how's the happy homemaker?" Francine asked in a light tone.

"Listen, Francine, I don't have time for pleasantries," she told her, "I'm trying to locate Lee. Have you seen him?"

"Lee? Hmmm..." Francine tried to recall, "I saw him at his desk earlier. He was on the phone with a couple of people and then left without telling anyone. Typical."

"He was talking with two people?" Amanda asked.

"That's what I'm guessing," Francine stated, "the first one, he sounded angry or frustrated with because he slammed the phone down. I just figured he was talking with you."

Amanda thinned her lips, "No, Francine, he didn't slam the phone on me."

"Oh, okay...anyway, he talked to whoever they were, and then he shot out of here like a clown shot out of a cannon...which, if you don't mind me saying, is quite an appropriate image for him!"

Amanda momentarily shut her eyes in frustration, "Francine, could you stop with the sarcasm, please? I'm worried about him!"

Amanda's desperate words caused Francine to sit up with alarm. .

"You sound serious," Francine was in professional mode now, "How can I be of help?"

Better, Amanda thought.

"Francine, the other day I had put a tracking device in Lee's toolbox while he was here pretending to be a plumber," Amanda told her, trying not to recall the wonderful time she and Lee had shared at their private picnic in her backyard. She couldn't afford to daydream about the good times just now, "...and I was wondering if you could track down his movements for me and tell me his location right now."

Francine was already typing.

"You think something bad happened to him?" she asked.

"I hope not, but I'm getting a bad feeling as to his whereabouts," Amanda worriedly stated.

"Hold on just a sec longer, Amanda," Francine said, still busily typing, "I almost have his coordinates narrowed down."

One good thing about Francine was that she was efficient. Over the telephone, Amanda could hear continual typing going on. When Francine got back on the phone, she did not sound happy.

"That's strange," Francine stated.

"What's strange?"

"It seems the new van we got for Lee is located at Potomac Regional Park," she told Amanda.

"He stopped at a park? Why would Lee be there?" Amanda wondered.

"Unfortunately, the tracking locator doesn't tell us that," Francine worriedly stated, "However, that particular spot in the park is used for wildlife biologists attempting to adapt wildlife for urban conditions, so it's a very secluded area. It's also a restricted area and not open to the public."

"Oh dear," Amanda said worriedly, "I need to go. And thanks, Francine."

"Amanda, wait!" Francine didn't want Amanda to hang up, "You think you might need some backup?"

Amanda wanted to tell Francine she could handle it on her own, but she really didn't know what she would be up against. And when it came to Lee's safety, she wasn't going to let her pride get in the way.

"Thank you, Francine, I would appreciate it."

"The park is closer to you, so you'll probably get there first," Francine told her, "and when you do, don't do anything; wait for me to get there."

Francine sounded so much like Lee during the times he'd order her to stay in the car. Back then Amanda never listened to him, so it shouldn't be any different with Francine.

"See you soon, Francine," she merely said before she hung up.

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It was late afternoon when Lee drove the van to a secluded area at Potomac Regional Park. His only thought was that he needed to keep Amanda safe. She didn't deserve this.

And he had to admit, he was feeling guilty about the whole Squires situation. During that time when Amanda was being duped by Squires the thief, Lee had treated her miserably. Especially after Squires had given her that 'concubine' ring. Yet Amanda had bravely and kindly allowed him to continually badger her about what he thought at the time was her poor judgment. Looking back on the episode, he cringed. He never realized it then, but he could see now that it was his jealousy showing through.

He would make it up to her this time.

Lee parked his vehicle in one of the public parking spaces and checked to make sure he had his gun and zip-tie safely hidden underneath his suit jacket but still within easy reach. As he got out of the van, he also took out his briefcase filled with newspaper clippings so that Squires would think it was the $10,000 he had in there.

The destination was just up ahead, behind the wired fence.

He got out of the van and then hiked a ways on his own, since the meeting area was in restricted area. Ignoring a big sign which read "Positively no admittance but park employees", he opened the gate and went inside the sanctuary.

All he saw were trees, shrubs and blue skies. In the trees he could hear birds chirping and he could feel the leaves crunching beneath his shoes. The air seemed humid as he continued deeper into the sanctuary.

There didn't seem to be another human being around.

Lee continued onward. His senses were on such high alert that he could smell the freshness of the air and feel the sun on his back. At last he saw up ahead the big white boulder in front of the set of four bushes that Squires had described. It was impossible to miss the rendezvous spot as he proceeded forward.

He paused when the thought he heard some noise coming from a nearby bush.

Instinctively turning his head while placing his hand to the back of his belt, he was ready to extract his gun. Suddenly he heard some kind of whacked sound coming from the bushes and Lee turned in the direction of that sound...in time to see a squirrel scurrying across the dirt to hide in the bushes located on the other side of the walkway.

Whew.

Breathing in deeply, Lee relaxed somewhat as he continued on his way.

The leaves were crunching beneath him once more and he hadn't taken more than eight steps when he heard the soft snap of a tree branch behind him. He froze and reached in the back for his back but...

BAM!

He felt something brutally heavy slam into the back of his head.

And he felt as though his entire brain had exploded.

The world around him instantly shifted to darkness as his legs collapse from underneath him.

And Lee crumbled to the ground.

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