Chapter 8

TUESDAY NIGHT

Awkward. The whole night was going to be awkward as hell but there was no getting around it.

A full forty-five minutes early, Lee parked his Vette around the corner of Amanda's house and stared through his windshield to the front door of 4247 Maplewood Drive, observing Joe King approaching it with a bouquet of flowers behind his back.

What a chump, Lee thought sullenly. His hands tightened on the wheel when Dotty answered the door. The older woman was not gifted the flowers; however, she didn't even smile at her ex-son-in-law as Lee would have expected.

Interesting.

There wasn't time to dwell on that tidbit for long because Amanda's two boys were soon running across the threshold and hugging Joe's torso, causing the man to lose his balance and step back to steady himself. Then Amanda herself came to the door and Joe thrust the roses toward her.

She took the proffered flowers with a smile and Joe leaned down to first kiss her cheek and then her lips. Lee looked down and took a deep breath, wishing fervently that he wasn't witnessing, once again, the sweet family moment. It just was reaffirmation that Lee would never have that—he'd never be the one to be greeted with such love and affection at the end of a hard day's work.

***BREAK***

Amanda pulled a vase out to arrange the bland red-roses, only half-listening to Philip and Jamie's excited chatter. It hadn't taken long for her boys to warm up to their father's return. Very quickly, they'd both begun to talk in terms of him being in Arlington to stay—even though no such promise had been made.

She worried that when the time came it for Joe to leave it would destroy them—and that she would be left to pick up the pieces. It would have been better, she knew, to have denied Joe the opportunity to see them—better for her, in the present, here and now. But in the future, when the boys were grown, she wanted—needed—them to know that she had never actively discouraged the relationship with their father. She wanted—hoped—they would see Joe's decisions for what they were.

"Mom!" Jamie came bounding in the kitchen with his brother close behind him. "Dad said we could go see Star Wars tonight!"

Amanda looked past the boys to Joe, who was trailing after them.

"They're re-playing it at the old movie house at seven-thirty. If we hurry, we can grab some burgers and make it," Joe supplied with a guilty smile.

"I don't know Joe, it's a school night," she said, wishing he would have talked to her about it before getting the boys' hopes up. "By the time you get through watching it and home it will be at least ten, ten-thirty…"

"Aww, please Mom!" both boys begged in unison.

"We've never seen it at a movie theatre before!" Jamie begged, tugging at her sweater. "Luke Skywalker! Chewy! Han Solo!"

"Yeah, mom! Please! Please!" Phillip added, hopping for effect.

"Well, all right, just this one time," Amanda finally relented reluctantly. Though it would make a late evening for the boys it would make the necessity for her to be out at a music club less noticeable. With a smile, she said, "But you have to promise to get up for school in the morning without any complaints!"

"Absolutely!"

Both boys ran off making lightsaber noises while Joe called after them, "Grab your coats and meet me at the door!"

She checked the time and was alarmed to see that Lee would be arriving in less than twenty minutes. Sighing, she took the vase of roses and moved them to the living room—away from the kitchen where Lee would be sure to see them. The less reminders of Joe's return the better. She was eternally grateful that the boys would be long gone before Lee made his appearance outside of her kitchen window.

***BREAK***

He must really be a masochist, Lee decided. It was really the only thing he could come up with for why he sat in his car waiting to see what would transpire between his early arrival to when he was supposed to pick Amanda up.

It had been a day of stake-outs. Billy had assigned him to follow Jeffrey Wolcott home from his return trip from Sweden that afternoon—which Lee had gladly done. He'd been able to confirm that the Wolcott's were actively in contact with Uglov Salnikov Anotovich, Jeffrey's brother-in-law.

And now he was literally staking out Amanda's house. If she knew she'd be royally and rightfully pissed off.

It was a good twenty minutes after Joe entered the King residence that he and the boys finally emerged. Phillip and Jamie ran ahead of him and Amanda appeared at the doorway, waving a good-bye. Lee was glad there was no good-bye kiss this time.

It was supremely relieving when she shut the front door and Joe's car drove off. Lee checked the time once again, deciding to give Amanda the full forty-five minutes before appearing at her back door.

***BREAK***

Neither one of them said much on the way to Club Orchid.

She didn't say anything about Joe taking the boys out and Lee didn't acknowledge it. There was no need. Lee already knew.

They focused only on the case and what needed to happen. If they chanced upon either Jeffrey Wolcott or his wife, Tina, they would do their best to find out if anything untoward was going on. Billy had confirmed that Anotovich owned the club under an assumed name; it was up to them to find out if there really was a link between the Wolcott's and Anotovich.

The Club was buzzing—loud synthesized music thrummed through the doorway as they approached. A bouncer stood at the entrance—large, with bulging muscles. They showed their IDs and Lee paid the cover to be let in before leading Amanda in with his hand at the small of her back.

Though Amanda was a consummate professional and always had been, Lee was still reassured that she didn't shrink away or shrug his hand off of her.

It was only because he wanted to goad her that he threaded his fingers in hers and tugged her toward a table in the back, saying loudly over the din, "Why don't we sit somewhere more private, Honey."

No one paid them any attention as they picked their way through the crowd. He ended up being glad that he was holding her hand as they would have most assuredly become separated if he hadn't but didn't miss that once they reached the table Amanda pulled her hand from out of his grasp and slid quickly into her side of the booth.

A bored-looking waiter in bright neon with a questionable haircut approached the table to take their order. Lee took initiative and ordered a martini for both of them before Amanda had time to respond.

As soon as the waiter shuffled off, Amanda hissed, "We stick out like sore thumbs. This is stupid."

"Nah, we look fine. You're imagining things."

She looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Really? We're at least ten years older than everyone else in here." She leaned over the table with big, beseeching eyes. "Now, I don't usually argue with Mr. Melrose's ideas but this one is just plain idiotic. I thought this was a respectable jazz club, Lee, not some techno-punk dance club. Surely people here will notice that we're not the typical crowd."

"We don't need to worry about what anyone in here thinks. Just," he inspected her for the first time since they'd walked in. She might have had a point. "Just…I don't know, unbutton your shirt."

"I most certainly will not!" Her already large eyes widened as her hands flew to the neck of her shirt.

He gave her a look. "Not unbuttoned unbuttoned, just the top two buttons or so." He paused and looked around. "And do you have some lipstick or something? Maybe fluff your hair out—looks like they like big hair."

"Honestly!" she huffed. After a few minutes of looking around the room, she finally fumbled with the top button of her shirt. "One. That's as far as I'll go."

He leaned back in the booth with victory when she pulled a tube of lipstick out along with a compact and primped herself some more. She closed the compact with a snap and threw it back into her purse. "Sometimes these assignments—"

"Wait." Lee sat up and reached over to place a hand on her wrist to quieten her. He nodded toward the bar. "That's Wolcott. Is that the wife with him?"

Amanda took her time to not look overly obvious but turned back with a nod. "That's her."

"Well, she's headed to the back. Maybe you should go make a phone call."

"Good idea." Amanda slid out of the booth and disappeared through the throng.

***BREAK***

The bathroom was dingy and needed a serious deep cleaning. Amanda stared at her reflection in the mirror, waiting for Tina Wolcott to emerge from the stall behind her. She leaned closer to inspect the way she looked. There were lines of worry that she hoped only she could see forming at her eyes. The past few days had been wearing on her, and this place only made her feel even more old and haggard than she actually was. She hadn't been kidding when she told Lee they stuck out like sore thumbs. Even dressed for a carefree night out, the two of them were both glaringly out of place.

A toilet flushed and soon Tina emerged from behind her. The younger blond moved to wash her hands and Amanda made herself busy by fussing with her hair.

Neither said a word to the other, but Amanda covertly watched Tina through the mirror. The woman was younger than her by five or so years, medium height, and very slender. With cat-like eyes, a not-too-long nose, and long, permed and obviously dyed blond hair, Tina Wolcott was a very beautiful woman.

Amanda took a last look at herself in the mirror and then moved to the door, reaching in her purse to pull out change for the payphone she had spied in the hallway when she'd entered the restroom.

She'd just put the receiver to her ear when Tina exited behind her. Instead of heading back to the dance floor, Tina turned and went down the long hallway and disappeared behind a curtain.

It took Amanda only a moment of debate to decide what to do. She hung the phone back up, looked up and down the hallway to ensure she was alone and then stealthily followed where Tina had led. At the curtain, Amanda gave one last look behind her and quietly slipped through it.

There was shuffling and before she knew it a hand clasped over her mouth and she felt warm breath at her neck.

A/N: I'm super embarrassed that it has taken so long to post again. Thank you for reading. I hope you are enjoying, and if so, you'll take the time to review.