Chapter 31

Bobby and Emily wanted to monopolize Abby, their newest friend, and Jamie, their adored older brother, but Lee and Amanda wouldn't let them. In fact, Amanda all but ordered the young couple to go somewhere, get something to eat, and talk.

"As I told you before, Abby, you aren't the au pair or the maid; you're our friend, and as much as I love my children, they'll just be a distraction. Take her out for pizza or Marvelous Marvin's, Jamie."

"We had Marvin's last night," Abby said. "How about that salad bar place, "Lettuce Eat"? Terrible pun, but really good food."

"Yeah, if you're a rabbit," Jamie said with a grimace.

"They have baked potatoes, and you can load the thing up so high you won't even taste the potato for the bacon, sour cream and cheese."

"True. All right, but if my nose starts twitching in the middle of a photo shoot, I'm blaming you, Princess."

"Fine by me."

The restaurant was busy, but most of the patrons seemed to gravitate to the outdoor tables. Unfortunately, that was also the smoking section, so Abby and Jamie stayed inside. They found a table in a corner as far as possible from the service line and sat down. Abby had built a huge salad, but it was mostly greens and other raw vegetables, with a little bit of ham, cheese and chopped boiled egg to supply the protein. Jamie, who had, indeed, loaded his baked potato with every topping available, looked at it and said, "Seriously? You're skinny as a rail, you work out, and you're eating that?"

"Marvin's last night, salad tonight. It's how I roll, James."

"And that, as they say is that, right?"

"Pretty much."

He picked up his fork to start eating, noticed that she had bowed her head and closed her eyes, and stopped. "Right, prayer. She prays," he thought. She finished, crossed herself again, and said, "Thanks for waiting."

"We didn't go to church much at our house, although Mom usually made us go on Christmas, and sometimes Easter. Now my boss's wife in New York, Myrna Bukowski, never misses a Sunday."

"Does Mr. Bukowski?"

"No. This business tends to attract the cynical and world-weary, because we see so much of the evil in the world."

"I understand. Is that how you'd describe yourself? Cynical and world-weary?"

"You'd think that at my age I wouldn't be, that I wouldn't have had the life experiences that would make me like that, but, yeah, I guess I am."

"Or maybe you're just realistic, and yes, there is a difference. You're not naïve about the evil in the world, you can't be and do your job, but you also don't automatically expect the worst out of the people you meet, do you?"

"If I don't, it's because Mom raised me to hope and trust rather than doubt and mistrust. Lee would be the first to tell you that when they met back in '83, he was the poster boy for cynical and world-weary. Everyone he'd ever loved had either died or betrayed him, as he saw it, so he had good reason to be that way."

"And yet your mom got through to him."

"It took years, but yes."

"That is such a wonderful love story."

"Yes, it is."

Conversation flagged while they ate; it seemed that neither wanted to address what had happened between them that day in a noisy casual dining restaurant. They made short work of their meals, and since they'd already paid when they ordered, they were free to leave. Jamie dropped a few bills on the table for the waitstaff that would be cleaning up after them and they went back to the car.

"Where to?" he asked.

"You pick."

"Then since it's still early, I'm going to show you the man who gave me my Agency name – well, his grave, really. Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown is very historic, and it's very quiet. I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all."

He drove them across the river and into the cemetery, parked, and said, "We'll end up where he's buried, in the older section, but we can start here."

He helped her out of the car, locked it, and took her hand. After a few moments of silence, he said, "Lee offered to speak to the director about a transfer for me to the Kansas City office. He pointed out that it would put me only three hours from Lincoln."

"What did you say?"

"I said that it seemed pointless if you were coming back here to take a job at the foundation a year from now; I can't ask the Agency to keep moving me just for my own convenience."

"Is the Kansas City office another cover operation?"

"No, the one in New York is the last one left, and when Bob retires in about ten years, that will change too. It's like any other federal agency – they have an office in the federal building in Kansas City, Missouri, just like the FBI does."

"Were there Agency personnel killed in the Oklahoma City bombing a couple of years ago?"

"Yes. Sometimes, for all we try to counter international and domestic terrorism, we fail, and we pay the price."

"And yet you chose to do it when you could have been just a very good photographer."

"Mom asked Lee the same question one time; he said that somebody had to do the job, and he happens to do it and do it very well. Then he asked her why she was still taking the risks- this was about three years into their relationship – and she said it was her way of making the world safe for me and for Phillip. I guess you could say I'm doing it to make the world safer for my little brother and sister and for the family I hope to have someday."

"Thank you for being so honest with me."

"I never want to be anything else, Princess."

They fell silent again for several minutes, occasionally stopping to read a grave marker. "So many children that didn't even live to grow up," she said sadly. "I can't imagine the heartbreak of having to bury a child."

"Kendra told me that Matt had a little sister, but she died of leukemia when she was only three, in 1955."

"General and Mrs. Davis are so wonderful. I'm so glad he's going to be our interim director and that Matt will come on board as soon as he can. I don't imagine that will be before I have to go back to Nebraska, but it will be good for the foundation to have him in the job."

"Yes."

"You know, Jamie, the offer from the foundation was amazing, and I appreciate it, but I'm not sure I want to be what Phillip calls a 'policy wonk'. I applied for this internship because my poli sci prof at UNL recommended me for it and I wanted to see some of the world outside of the Midwest, see how things work in Washington."

"If you don't take the job here, what would you do?"

"Don't laugh."

"Princess, I would never laugh at anything you said seriously. Junior Trailblazers' honor," he said.

"You were a JT too? All of my brothers were in – or are in – JT. Our church in Allliance sponsors the troop. Oh, that is so cool."

"I'm glad to hear it, but what was it that I wasn't supposed to laugh about?"

"The Agency."

"The Agency?"

"Yes. Is that just totally off the wall crazy?"

"No, it's not crazy, it's very laudable," he said slowly.

"But?"

"It's going to take me some time to process this, Princess."

"I understand. I hit you with it out of the blue, after all, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that we've known each other for just over twenty-four hours. Twenty-four very eventful hours, but still just twenty-four hours."

"Yes."

They'd reached James Bishop's grave at that point. "He was barely in his forties. Do you think he was killed in the Civil War?"

"The date of death is the same as the first Battle of Bull Run, so I think it's almost certain. One of the things I want to do is research his life. If he was a West Point graduate, there will be a record of it.

"Matt's a West Pointer; so is General Davis. They might know how to find out more about him."

"So is Lee's uncle, Colonel Robert Clayton. Bobby's named for him. He married a former agent, Francine Desmond, and they live in Colorado Springs now."

"Former agent?"

"She chose to leave the agency when she married him. They sell real estate now, and they've made quite a reputation for being the agents you want on your team when you have to buy or sell a home. If she'd stayed at the Agency, she might have been the director by now; she's got the background and the qualifications."

"Do you think they'll ever promote Lee to director?"

"Hard to say, and even if they offered him the job, I'm not sure he'd take it. He's a field agent at heart, even though he's working in administration now. Another step up into the executive suite… I don't know."

"I understand. I have some big decisions to make in the next six months or so."

"So do I. But whatever happens, Princess, let's stay friends, even if our paths diverge."

"I definitely want to do that. It's been a long day; let's go home."

"One for the road?"

She put her arms around his neck; he put his hands at her waist and bent to kiss her, not just once but three times. "One for the road is good; three for the road is even better, and no hangover."

"Oh, yeah."