Chapter 21
Lee and Amanda raced to the Vette to try to intercept Francine and Edwards. Dialing the switchboard number, Lee ticked off his Agent code and call numbers for an emergency patch to Francine's handheld. The operator informed them, "Francine Desmond is not responding to the page."
"Damn!" Lee swore as he hung up the phone. Looking over at the worried look on Amanda's face, he knew the only option they had was to drive over to the hotel and hope they could intercept Francine and Edwards. Without explanation, he said, "Come on."
The Willard Hotel was only a few blocks away but with the lunch time traffic it took them almost 20 minutes to travel the relatively short distance. Amanda cringed as Lee slammed his hand on the steering wheel multiple times as he cursed every driver in the city. They pulled into the underground parking garage where Lee luckily found a parking spot on the first level. Once out of the car, Lee instinctively reached for Amanda's hand as they moved toward the staircase.
Stopping, Lee shook his head and said, "Amanda, hold up for second. We need to think about this. We know Edwards should be in place by now but I'm not sure where Francine is going to be. Now Veronica still thinks you are part of Senator Michaels' security team so she might not think anything of it if she sees you in there. I'll try to cut through the kitchen, see how well I can stay hidden. She's going to know me immediately and we can't spook her."
Amanda nodded, "Okay, do you want me to make contact with Edwards or just watch?"
Running his hand through his hair, Lee thought for a moment before saying, "I can't believe I'm going to suggest this, but see if you can get Edwards to buy you a drink. That way you can be close to him."
Amanda nodded in affirmation, "Okay, and what are you going to do?"
"First I'm going to try to find Francine without Veronica seeing me. Then we need to keep an eye on Shchavesky without him seeing us," Lee stated.
"What do we tell Shchavesky if he does see us?" Amanda questioned, going over the possibility in her head.
"Pretend you don't know him. He's smart, he may take the hint," Lee suggested.
"And Veronica?" Amanda asked hesitantly.
"You don't worry about Veronica. I'll watch your back on this one. I don't think she'll do anything here. Too many witnesses," Lee pursed his lips.
'All right then, let's go," Amanda said as she took his hand.
Outside the bar entrance, Amanda scanned the area looking for Francine and Edwards. She found him sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a drink but couldn't find Francine anywhere. Lee pointed toward a hall marked employees only. Nodding in response, they separated, Amanda slowly opening the door as Lee quickly moved down the hall. Taking a deep breath, she wove her way through the tables and sat a few seats away from Edwards at the bar. There were only a few other patrons sitting at the bar, most of them at the tables.
Looking up, she made eye contact with him and with a slight shake of her head, barely noticeable by anyone around them, hoping Edwards saw it. Smiling at him, she said, "What kind of a drink is that? I've never seen one with… is that mint?"
Edwards looked down at his glass then lifting it, tipped it toward her in a friendly gesture, said politely, "It's a mojito. You've never had one?"
"No, I'm a wine girl, I would have to say," Amanda answered as she made an attempt to get the bartender's attention.
"Here, I've got this. Bartender, a glass of…" Edwards called loudly to the gentleman tending bar.
"White wine, please," Amanda smiled.
"A glass of white wine for the beautiful lady," Edwards finished.
Blushing, Amanda thanked him. Moving over two seats to cover the distance between them, Edwards pulled the bar stool close to her. The bartender slid the glass in front of her, which she picked up and sipped. "Are you staying at the hotel here?" Edwards asked, keeping in character.
Looking around the room, Amanda still didn't see Francine, Lee or Veronica so she continued the conversation. "No, just stopping in. A friend of mine mentioned he has lunch here almost every day. I was hoping to catch him. He's a scientist," she said, hoping Edwards understood.
"A scientist? Really? That's fascinating," he replied, as he moved closer, dropping his hand on her arm.
Amanda became uncomfortable with his close presence but knew she had to stay in cover. "Are you here alone?" she asked. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Veronica stepping behind the opposite end of the bar. Turning her body, she faced Edwards completely, her back to Veronica. Leaning her head to the side, she bounced it twice before straightening it up again, trying to indicate she had spotted Veronica. What she didn't expect was Edwards to lean very close to her ear, so close she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
"Francine's using the phone around the corner, near the kitchen door," he whispered. As he leaned back, Amanda laughed, hoping anyone watching would think nothing of their exchange.
Now that her back was to the door, Amanda didn't see Dr. Shchavesky enter and sit a table near the front windows so he could watch the foot traffic. Edwards leaned close again and whispered, "Dr. Shchavesky, is he a small older man? If so, he just entered and is sitting near the windows. Veronica is watching him."
Laughing again, Amanda glanced to her left and confirmed it was the scientist. "Oh really, yes, that's the one," she said lightly, nodding.
"Can I get you another drink?" Veronica asked Edwards as she made her way down the patrons sitting at the bar. Realizing Veronica must not have seen her face yet, Amanda pretended to sneeze, covering her face, letting her hair block Veronica's view.
"Bless you. No, thank you, I'm fine for now," Edwards said, addressing both women. As Veronica moved away, Edwards reached for a napkin for Amanda. "Better now?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you. I think I need to make a trip to the powder room," Amanda stood, trying to stay hidden from both Veronica and Dr. Shchavesky. She crossed the room quickly, hoping Lee had found his way through the kitchen. She found Francine in the hall, hanging up the phone.
"Amanda? What are you doing here?" Francine asked sounding very confused.
"Dr. Shchavesky is here. He's been having lunch here quite a bit he said. Lee's hiding somewhere in the kitchen I think and Edwards is at the bar. Veronica just got here. I don't think she noticed me but I can't be sure," Amanda explained quickly. She walked over to the kitchen door to peer through the circular window, looking for Lee. She could see him in an animated conversation with one of the chef's, waving his badge out for the chef to see. "I think Lee's got trouble," she said.
Francine looked in the window beside her, pursed her lips then said, "I'll take care of getting Lee out of here and you see what you can do with Edwards."
"Meet you at Lee's car in the parking garage?" Amanda asked.
Francine nodded as she pushed open the kitchen door and began yelling, "Gentlemen, we have a situation and we need your cooperation."
Amanda walked back toward the bar, glancing over at Dr. Shchavesky who was now happily eating his sandwich, watching out the window. As she rounded the corner, she could see Edwards talking to Veronica and almost cringed when Veronica lifted her head and made full eye contact. Edwards was close enough to hear Veronica curse under her breath and knew at that moment, Veronica knew she was from the Agency. Trying to keep her distracted, Edwards said, "So is being a bartender all it's cracked up to be or do you have to deal with annoying customers too much?"
Veronica couldn't help but snap, "You mean like you? Excuse me." Quickly she moved around the bar toward the kitchen door as Amanda crossed toward the bar. As Amanda turned back to follow her, she bumped into a waiter carrying a large tray, knocking everything down.
Inside the kitchen, Lee spotted Veronica immediately when the door opened. "Francine!" he yelled, trying to move around the chef that was still arguing with him over why he couldn't be there.
Francine turned to see Veronica quickly weaving her way down the line of prep cooks and sous-chefs. "Scarecrow!" she yelled back, raising her hand to indicate which direction Veronica had gone.
Pulling out his gun, Lee began running down the line to follow her, colliding with a prep cook carrying a pot of marinara, effectively coating Lee's shirt with the red sauce and stopping his ability to follow Veronica. "Damn!" he cursed as he watched her slip out the back door.
Not giving up, Francine kept running, trying to catch up with the woman but by the time she reached the door, Veronica was nowhere to be seen.