Chapter 25 - Getting to Know Paul

Lee pulled along the curb of Maplewood Drive at 8:30am and shut off the VW Bug to wait for Amanda to come out. During his sleepless night, he had decided that their first stop today would be back to Burrito World. He wanted to try to talk to the manager there this time to see if he could get any new information. He planned to have Amanda ask some of the customers if they recognized Rostov too.

At exactly 9am, Amanda emerged from her house and began looking around for the Porsche. Lee walked got out and walked over to her.

"Lee, what are you doing in that car?" She asked.

"Remember I told you about my car accident? Well my Porsche is in the shop. This was the loaner car that Leatherneck decided to give me. It's his idea of a joke. Can we take your car?"

"Sure, do you want to drive?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

Lee helped her into the car and then got into the driver's side. He glanced over and noticed that she seemed upset.

"What's wrong Are you okay with this?" He asked.

"What? Oh yes, using my car is fine. That's not my problem. The problem is my Mother."

"She wouldn't want us using your car?" Lee asked trying to lighten the mood.

Amanda ignored him and said "She had that date last night and she didn't come home. Now I knew there was a chance she wouldn't come home but since I'm in the middle of this case, I don't know if she didn't come home because she didn't mean to come home or if she didn't come home because she couldn't come home. Now, she told me not to wait up for her but I really don't know if I should be worried or not. Should I be?"

"Wait here." Lee said as he went over to the van to talk to the agents there. In no time, they were able to contact the agent who had tailed Dotty and found out that she had indeed gone home with her date and they had not yet left his house.

Lee went back to the car and got in. He couldn't help smiling as he told Amanda that she didn't need to worry about her Mother because he was sure she was smiling this morning.

Amanda shielded her blush with her hand and said "Can we please get out of here."

Lee started the car and headed to Burrito World. Along the way, he explained his plan to her.

When they arrived at Burrito World, they went inside and found the same kid at the counter. He was doodling on paper and totally ignored them. Lee cleared his throat and the kid looked up.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"My friend and I would like a breakfast burrito please."

The kid sighed and put his paper away and then typed the order into the cash register.

"That will be $5.79." He told Lee. Lee gave him a $10.00 bill and waited for his change.

"Any chance the manager is around this morning?" Lee asked.

The kid immediately got defensive and said "Mister, what's your problem? Your burrito will be out in a just a few minutes."

Amanda jumped in and said "Oh, we aren't complaining. In fact, we wanted to talk to him about what a star employee you are."

"Really? Well Jerry should be back shortly. He just stepped out to get himself a cup of coffee. He hates the stuff that we serve."

"Great, well we'll wait for him then." Lee said.

They took a booth off to the side and waited for their Burrito. As soon as it was ready, the kid rushed it right over to them. He was all smiles now and even told Lee that his tie matched his suit perfectly.

"Thanks son. I appreciate the compliment." Lee said.

"Maybe someday I'll work in a better place so that I have to wear a tie but Dad got me this job so for now I have to stay here."

"Does you father own this place?" Amanda asked.

"Nah, he just likes using it as a meeting place for his friends."

"Meeting place? So he's part of a group?"

"Not really a group. He says that these are people he deals with in his job."

Lee wanted to stop the conversation but Amanda kept it going.

"So why does he need you here? Couldn't he meet them here anyway?"

"Yeah, I guess he could but he meets them here after hours and I am allowed to let them have access. Otherwise, Jerry would have to make a special point of staying here for them"

"So they meet here for dinner after hours?"

"No, they meet here to discuss things."

Lee couldn't help but listen into the conversation but he let Amanda continue the questioning since the kid seemed to trust her.

"What kind of things?" Amanda asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Dad always tells me to leave them alone but I hear them talking sometimes. It's all secret stuff. The other night they were here and they were discussing some sort of computer program."

Lee couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Computer program? What kind of computer program?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that apparently other countries would like to get their hands on it. Dad was telling Mr. Smith that they would both be rich if this mission was a success."

"Mr. Smith? Who's that?"

"You know him; he is in the picture you asked me about a couple of days ago."

Lee looked at Amanda and then back at the kid "So you remember us?"

"Sure, I only pretend to be stupid so people leave me alone."

Amanda said gently "Why didn't you tell us that you knew the man?"

"Dad always tells me to stay quiet about Mr. Smith. They have been business associates for a long time and I guess in his line of work, he could get killed if the wrong people found him. Dad says that Mr. Smith has the more dangerous job."

Amanda decided to continue to push it and asked "What does your Dad do for work?"

"He's some big shot in the Government."

"Do you know what his job title is? Lee asked.

"Nah, he doesn't talk much about what he does. It's all a big secret."

At that moment a tall dark haired man entered the restaurant carrying a cup of coffee. "What's going on Paul?" he asked as he saw the kid talking to Lee and Amanda.

Amanda jumped in and said "Oh this young man was just making sure we were happy with the service here. Are you the manager; Jerry?"

"I sure am." Jerry responded.

"Great" Lee said. "Can we have a word with you in your office?"

"I guess so. Come with me."

Lee and Amanda followed Jerry into a small but cozy corner office and closed the door.

"What can I do for you?"

Lee showed Jerry his badge. Jerry studied it for a minute and then said "You must work with Dirk. Is he okay?"

"Dirk? You know Dirk?" Lee asked.

"Of course, that's his son Paul that you were just talking to."

Lee and Amanda looked at each other and Amanda mouthed the words "Dirk". It was starting to make a little sense now.

TBC