Chapter 21

Watching Abby eat a Marvin's burger with fries was really a lot of fun, Jamie thought. So many college women were so worried about calories that they lived on yogurt and lettuce leaves, but Abby wasn't one of them. "I know I'll have to run these calories off for the next week," she said, " but it's worth it, especially after the day I've had. I am so glad to get out of that place, Jamie, and your parents are just incredible."

"Yes, they are," Jamie agreed.

Jamie had only ordered a diet cola, explaining that he'd had a full dinner only a few hours before and didn't want to overeat; when she protested that she felt bad eating in front of him, he assured her that it really was fine. She'd almost finished her meal when the cellular phone at his belt vibrated.

"Excuse me," he said, as he checked the number, and then, "I just need to step outside for a few minutes."

"I'm ready to go. Go ahead; I'll throw the trash away and be right out."

"Thanks."

When she came out of the restaurant, Jamie was leaning against his car and the phone was back on his belt.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"That was Lee; he called to tell me that the brownies tested positive for THC, and that APD called to let him know that they stopped your former roommates on a routine traffic violation – they ran a stop sign and almost caused an accident – and found several joints in plain sight in the car. They're in the county jail right now."

"How can people be so stupid? They'll be thrown out of the program and sent home in disgrace, and for what?"

"That, Miss Kozal, is the question those of us in law enforcement have been asking ourselves for centuries. We'll have to see how this plays out, but you may be able to go back to that apartment once they clear out of it if you want to. On the other hand, if you want to stay with my parents for the rest of the summer, that's fine too."

"I really like your mom and Lee."

"Then stay. Ready to go back?"

"Sure."

On the way back, he said, "I have to leave early tomorrow morning so I can beat the rush hour traffic on the beltway. Our studio has a major photo shoot set for three o'clock in Central Park, and even though my boss is the photographer of record, it's all hands on deck. I'll be leaving about six, but I usually get up and run for half an hour at five. If you're up at that hour, you're welcome to join me."

"I could do that? Oh, that would be great! I used to get up and run at that hour all the time when I was in high school."

"What sports did you play?"

"Volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter, softball in the spring. I played clarinet in the marching band and in the school orchestra, and I was in a bunch of clubs and on the student council."

"Valedictorian?"

"Well, yes, but only because I beat out my best friend, Daniel Running Hawk, by a half a percentage point. He's Oglala Sioux. We were on student council together, we went to homecoming together, prom… you get the picture."

"And where did he go to college?"

"Oh, the Air Force Academy. We're still good friends, but we both understand that his family expects him to marry within the tribe when the time comes."

Jamie pulled into the empty parking space in his parents' driveway and said, "I can only park here because Lee won't be getting the Corvette out tonight; otherwise, nobody blocks the Scarecrow in."

"The Scarecrow?"

"Old code name from his earliest days at the Agency. Nobody uses it now except the old-timers."

"What year is the Corvette?"

"It's a '85, the first and only one he's ever owned. He doesn't drive it much, but he refuses to part with it; he says he and Mom did a lot of their courting in that car."

"Happy memories."

"Yeah. Remind me to tell you about the time my bonehead brother buzzed up the fuel injector without Lee's permission. Oh, man…"

"And Phillip still has all his body parts? Wow."

"I can see you understand the relationship between a man and his car."

"Well, of course I do; my daddy's the best auto mechanic in a three-county radius, and I was his grease monkey from the time I was about five."

"Ever driven something like this?"

"No; we don't get that many imports out where we live."

"We'll have to fix that next time I come down here."

"Does that happen often?"

"Fairly often. Ready to go in?"

"Yeah, I guess so. We do have an early start tomorrow."

As Abby passed through the kitchen, she saw a note on the family message board addressed to her. "Abby: Phillip called. Foundation offices closed tomorrow. See you in the morning. Amanda."

"Do you think this has anything to do with what happened tonight?" Abby asked.

"I can guarantee it. I know that if I were on the Foundation Board of Governors, I'd want to know how two interns who have been consistently using marijuana – and you can bet that what happened tonight was not an isolated incident - made it through the drug screening process."

"Is Lee on the board?"

"No, but his former boss at the Agency, William Melrose, is, along with several former Agency directors. In fact, everyone on that board has some sort of Agency connection; Harry planned it that way. Harry's eighty-seven and he lives on his own island in the Florida Keys now, but if there's a board meeting tomorrow, you can bet he'll be there."

"I would love to meet him."

"I think that can be arranged."

"Oh, my gosh, I just thought of something – my parents have no idea that I've moved. I should have called them as soon as we got over here the first time, but I was in such a fog that I completely forgot."

"Do it now; it's only nine o'clock in Nebraska, isn't it?"

"Eight; we're in the Mountain Time Zone because we're so far west. They'll be home from my youngest brother's Little League game by now, too. I have a telephone calling card, so this won't go on your parents' phone bill."

"They wouldn't mind if it did, believe me. Don't worry about going downstairs to get it; just dial."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

She keyed the number into the phone on the kitchen wall; when he poured a glass of cold water and offered it to her, she nodded and mouthed, "Thanks." A few seconds later, she said, "Hi, Slugger. How did your game go? Oh, that's great! And you got two hits? Even better. Sammy, could you pass the phone to Mom, if she's close by? Thanks. Hi, Mom; how are you? Oh, I'm fine, but it's been a very unusual evening. Mom, I'm fine, I promise. I just called to tell you that I had to move out of the apartment, so I have a new phone number. Got a pencil? It's the same area code, but the number is 555 – 2147. Why? Well, I was out this evening when somebody tried to jump me in the woods, but I fought back and got away, and when I did, I met three very nice people, people my age or a bit older, and they helped me. One of them is a federal agent; he went after the bad guy but didn't catch him. Anyway, I recognized the other guy from the foundation office, he works there, and he and his girlfriend and the fed, whose name is James King, offered to drive me back to the apartment. When we got there, Jim's stepdad, who is a very senior federal agent – yeah, well, it's Washington, Mom, the town is crawling with them – noticed something was really wrong in the apartment, so they got me out of there and called the local cops. What was wrong? My roommates had made brownies laced with marijuana and left them out in the kitchen. Mr. Stetson and Jim took them into evidence and then they and Phillip, Jim's brother, and Kendra, who also works for the FCA – the Federal Counterintelligence Agency- helped me move over to the Stetsons' house. Mrs. Stetson is Agency too. They have a big house because when they bought it ten years ago Phillip, Jim and their sister Leeanne were all living at home, but now Leeanne's married, Jim lives in New York, and Phillip lives over at his grandma's so he can help her since she has really bad arthritis and she can't drive anymore. I've got the whole basement, just for myself – Mr. and Mrs. Stetson and their two youngest children live upstairs and I live downstairs. No, don't worry about room and board, Mom; I'm going to be helping Mrs. Stetson with the kids this summer. I haven't met them yet, but Bobby is nine and Emily is seven, and I have lots of experience with kids that age. Tell Daddy not to worry; I'm going to be just fine. No, I won't go jogging at that park again, and when I do go running, Kendra says she'll go with me. She's just started her training at the FCA – they just call it "The Agency" around here – but Jim was one of her trainers and he says she did really well. How old is Jim? Well, he's twenty-two, but he's already a fully qualified agent. Yes, he's here."

She handed the phone to Jamie and mouthed, "Sorry."

He smiled, and in his deepest 'Trust me, I'm a federal agent' voice, said, "Mrs. Kozal, my name is James King, and I want to congratulate you and Mr. Kozal on doing such a fine job of raising your daughter. When she was attacked earlier this evening, she fought back, screamed, and ran away, which was the perfect reaction. I assure you, ma'am, that short of disabling the assailant completely, something that we plan to teach her how to do before much longer, she could not have done any better. My parents are very happy to have her staying here, and not just because she's going to be helping with my very active younger brother and sister. Yes, ma'am, Phillip and I are the children of Mom's first marriage; it ended in amicable divorce fifteen years ago, when I was seven, but my mother and father are still on good terms; they just had different goals in life. Mom married Lee Stetson five years later. Oh, Leeanne is adopted; her mother Louise was widowed when she was just a baby, and because she and Lee were best friends, like brother and sister, when they were in high school, she asked Lee and Amanda to assume guardianship of Leeanne if something happened to her. When Louise was killed in a traffic accident ten years ago, Mom and Lee adopted her. Her mother's family had disowned Louise nearly twenty years before, but when Louise died, they showed up and tried to claim her- and the money her mother left, of course. Yes, I'm sorry to say there are people like that in the world, and blood isn't always thicker than water. Anyway, to protect Leeanne and her inheritance, Lee and Amanda adopted her legally. She lives with her husband not far from here and owns and operates a Montessori School. Yes, ma'am. Oh, I'm federal, but I work undercover for the most part; most people know me as a professional photographer named James Bishop. Yes, we still do that in some cases. It was nice talking to you, too. Have a good evening. Goodbye, now."

Abby, mortified at the grilling her mother put Jamie through, said, "Jamie, I'm so sorry!"

"Why? She's just being a mom, Abby. Believe me, if my mother were in her shoes, she'd have done the same thing. Don't apologize for someone who cares enough to make sure you're safe and among people who have your best interests in mind."

"Thank you. Oh, and you said that I did the right thing when that creep attacked me. Funny, that wasn't what you said at the time."

"How long is it going to take you to forget that little scene?"

"Oh, I don't know…. I'll have to think about it."

She smiled and he smiled back. "Down to the dungeons with you, Princess Abigail; five o'clock is going to come awfully early."

"See you tomorrow, SuperSpy."