Chapter 24
Lee strolled into the bullpen with an intense look on his face. He scanned the room until he saw Francine and Tom sitting in the corner intently reading a computer printout. He purposefully crossed the room and asked, "Francine, have you seen Amanda?"
Francine jumped and raised her chin to look at Lee. "No, not yet. I thought Dotty said she was going to work on her baby registry this morning," she informed him.
Lee jammed his hand in his pocket, "Yeah, this morning, it's almost one. She should have been here an hour ago."
Francine shrugged her shoulders, "Well, maybe she got caught up making that list. After all, things have changed a bit since her boys were babies." She turned her attention back to the printout.
"No! Something's not right. Amanda… Amanda would have called if she was going to be late. She said she would be here by noon and-" Lee insisted.
"And what? Lee, I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about. Amanda probably stopped to pick up lunch and ran into an old PTA friend or something," Francine dismissed him.
Lee blinked several times before he exhaled, "You're right. I'm probably overreacting."
Francine looked at her friend and laughed, "Good, now if you're done being dramatic, maybe you can help Edwards and me."
Lee leaned on the edge of the desk, folded his arms and asked, "Maybe. What did you find?"
Tom held up one section of the printout, "Well, it seems Dr. Schuster has multiple properties in DC and the surrounding area. Not one of them is listed as his primary address."
Lee leaned forward to read the top address, "What about his drivers' license?"
"Well, he has two. One for Virginia and the other for Maryland. Each one with a different address. His mail is all sent to a PO Box… in DC. So, that doesn't help us," Francine groaned.
Lee sat back and folded his arms again. He scanned the bullpen once more, then shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What are you trying to find?"
Francine tapped the printout and explained, "Well, if Schuster is involved, he's going to need someplace to keep these girls until they… well… until he…" Francine hesitated before she finished, "until he kills them and takes the babies." She watched the muscle in Lee's cheek tighten slightly before she continued. "So, Edwards and I figured he must use one of these locations. The question is which one. There are seventeen of them on this list, not counting an apartment in DC, but I think we can rule that one out, simply because of its location."
"Why's that?" Edwards frowned.
"Because an apartment might draw too much attention if he's coming and going with different women all the time," Lee suggested.
"Exactly what I thought," Francine concurred.
Lee nodded sharply, "Well, you asked for my help, what can I do?"
Before Francine could reply, a freshman agent named Kate Anderson stepped up to Lee. "Mr. Stetson? Have you seen Mrs. Stetson this morning? I thought Mr. Melrose said she was going to meet us at noon but…"
She was cut off by another baby-faced agent named Mike Lynch who corrected her, "No, Kate, he said she would meet us at one-thirty and we were supposed to be in the conference room at noon. You missed the meeting."
Kate inhaled sharply, "Oh no. I had it backward. Oh no."
Tom reached out and touched Kate's hand, "It's okay. It happens. Just make sure you find Mr. Melrose and explain it to him. I'm sure he'll understand."
Kate looked down at his hand then back up at his face. She gave him a weak smile and said, "Thanks. I'll find him now." She turned back to Mike and asked, "Do you know where Mr. Melrose went?"
Mike rolled his eyes, "Yeah, follow me." Kate fell in step behind Mike and the two disappeared around the corner.
"See, Amanda's not really late," Francine assured Lee. "If she said she was going to be here at one-thirty then she'll be here. In the meantime, maybe I can recruit you to help us check out some of these locations?"
Lee checked his watch and sighed, "I guess you're right. And, sure. I have nothing else on my agenda for now. I turned in my study on the current terrorist cell we've been watching in Holhol. I'm just waiting for an update from my contact but I'm not expecting that until tomorrow."
Francine grabbed a notepad and a pencil and began dividing up the list of addresses. She glanced up several times at the map on the wall before she finished writing. She pulled off the top sheet and handed it to Lee. "If you take this half, Tom and I can take the other. Potomac marks the center," she stated.
Lee scanned the list carefully, "This isn't too bad. Four in the city, four in the suburbs." He looked at Francine and grinned, "You sure you can handle the family neighborhoods?"
Francine glared at Lee before she retorted, "I'll be just fine. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."
Lee chuckled as he stood up, "I'm sure Tom here will make sure you don't get ambushed by anything under four feet tall. Won't you, Tom?" Tom laughed loudly at Lee's teasing but as soon as he turned to Francine he immediately clammed up. Lee folded the notepaper, tucked it into his suit pocket and announced, "I'm just going to leave a message with Mrs. Marston to have Amanda call me as soon as she gets in."
"Oh yeah, Marston's going to love that," Francine shook her head. "She keeps telling you she's not your secretary."
"I know that," Lee responded, "But I also know a certain bakery that she likes to visit right around teatime. I'll be sure she has a treat all paid and waiting for her this afternoon." His dimples deepened as he grinned like the Cheshire cat.
Francine turned to Tom and stated, "Whatever you do, do not get any ideas. Do not learn from his example."
Tom laughed loudly and shook his head, "Mrs. Marston and I are on a love-hate relationship right now, I think. She loves to hate me and I'm doing my best to avoid her."
Francine looked from one smiling face to another and groaned, "Hopeless. The two of you are hopeless. But hopeless or not, we have a kidnapped victim to find."
Lee sobered up quickly and asked, "Dr. Schuster is your only suspect? There's no one else?"
"All my money is on Schuster. He has the means, he has the opportunity," Francine stated.
"But what about motive? What does he gain from all of this?" Lee questioned.
"Money… and lots of it," Tom inserted. "We went through his financial statements and he could use the extra bonus he seemed to get each time one of those girls went missing."
"Okay, I can buy that," Lee agreed. He checked his watch once more and stated, "If we head out now, and say... we check back in three hours? We should be able to cover at least half of these within that time."
Francine stood up and announced, "Let's go." She walked across the bullpen to Billy's door and knocked twice.
"Enter!" Billy bellowed from inside.
Francine opened the door and leaned inside, "Hey, Edwards and I are heading out to check out Dr. Schuster's addresses. We've recruited Lee to take half the list, so we can get through all this in one shot."
Billy looked up from the report he was reading, "Good. Get Lee out of here, maybe he won't hover over every little move Amanda makes."
"Well, she's not here yet, so, hopefully, she'll get some breathing room when she does. Have you noticed how much more protective he is now?" Francine asked softly.
Billy folded his forearms on the desk and leaned forward, "I do, but I think it's just his way. He's protective of every female agent around here, you included Francine. Do you remember what happened last year when Sergei tried to set you up? Lee was ready to give up everything for you, just walk away from his career to prove you were set up."
"You're right, Billy. I wasn't thinking like that," Francine admitted. She glanced behind her where Lee and Tom were waiting. "We'll be back in a few hours, check-in in three."
"Go find this monster, Francine. Get him off the street. If Dr. Schuster is the one, get him," Billy commanded with a sharp nod.
