Chapter NINE - Rambles come in handy

Amanda Stetson stood outside the interrogation room as she waited for Efrim Beamon. Lee wasn't happy about her talking to Beamon but she wanted to. She needed to get him talking and maybe he would reveal who his silent partner was. Amanda knew that if she could get Beamon to relax and trust her then maybe he would talk.

She heard her husband and Francine talking as they walked down the hallway. She turned around and caught Lee's eyes. He smiled at her and nodded. Francine took Amanda's hand and said "Amanda, are you sure you want to do this?"

Amanda nodded. She stood up straighter and batted away any tears that tried to fall from her eyes. "Absolutely Francine. I need to find out where my children are. You know that I can confuse people just by talking, you have seen me do it more often than not. I need to get him talking….I just need to reach the Beamon we all know. I can do this."

Francine gave Amanda a quick hug. She told Lee that she would be in the other room listening. Lee nodded and he walked over to Amanda. He put his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Honey, are you going to be okay?"

Amanda nodded against Lee. "I will Sweetheart. I am a professional…remember." She looked up at him with her eyes twinkling. He chuckled and kissed her softly. "Go get 'em, Mrs. Stetson. I am right out here if you need me. I can be the bad guy in this interrogation. You can be the buffer."

Amanda laughed, "As long as I don't buffer every two minutes, right?"

Lee hugged her again as they laughed. He kissed her once more. Amanda let go of Lee and walked into the interrogation room.

Efrim Beamon looked up and saw that it was Amanda Stetson that walked into the room and not Scarecrow. He smirked at her. "So, the infamous Scarecrow, too big to come talk to me. I thought that's what Desmond said. That Scarecrow was going to be the one dealing with me?"

Amanda smiled at Beamon. Come on Amanda….make him think you are his friend. Don't let your anger get the better of you. Talk to him. You can do this. Amanda thought to herself. She sat down across from him and said "Now Efrim, right now Lee is doing something else and I am the one that wanted to come talk to you first. I mean if you want, I can certainly go get Lee. But you have to understand…he is very angry with you and to be honest I wouldn't want to be around him. Have you ever really seen Lee when he gets mad? I mean come on, my husband has a temper on him. You have done some horrible things to us, Efrim, in the past year and I just don't know how much more Lee can take from you. It's one thing to come after us…but you have our children. Lee wont stop until he gets them back. You know this. So I suggest you and I have a little chat otherwise I will go get Lee. He's already destroyed Jennifer and Jamie's office from an anger filled rage…he was pacing in Sam Foster's office when I left him. So would you rather talk to me or him?"

Amanda looked at him with her brown eyes wide and her eyebrow raised. Beamon squirmed in his chair. He looked at her and waved his hands. Amanda smiled. She continued "Well, I think that you made a wise decision in talking to me. Now, I need to ask you some questions and I really would like you to be honest with me. Can you please? It's not going to change anything regarding your sentence. I need to know who you are working with. Please Efrim. I need my children back safe."

Efrim looked at Amanda and said "What makes you think that I will tell you anything? I told you that I was going to destroy you. You never believed me."

"But why Efrim? What did Lee and I do to you that was so horrible? We were friends. Why couldn't you be happy for us?"

Efrim sat up in his seat. He glared at Amanda "Are you serious? Be happy for you! You were handed everything Amanda! You were given so many prime opportunities to work with Stetson! And then what happened? Damn it! You were good! You were nothing but a housewife and you were so damn good! I had never seen or heard of any agent candidate as well as you! Not only did you get to work with the best…you fell in love with one another! How was anyone else ever going to compete with that!"

Amanda put her hands on the table. She sighed "Efrim, it wasn't a competition. Come on. Meeting Lee was a once in a lifetime chance for me. We didn't fall in love right away. You have to know that. Billy Melrose put us together time after time because he knew we would make a great team. And we do. Falling in love with one another was just an added bonus because of our partnership. We weren't trying to compete with anyone. I am sorry that you feel that we were. It was never our intention. I am sorry that you felt that way. If you had just come to us and talked to us. None of this would have happened."

Efrim stared at Amanda. He knew that he wasn't going to leave the Agency alive if Scarecrow got a hold of him. He had to come up with something to pacify the Stetsons. Maybe send them on a wild goose chase. He really didn't know his partner very well. He just supplied him with checks and resources. But there was that one thing that stood out in Beamon's mind….maybe Lee Stetson would know what it meant.

Efrim looked at Amanda and said "The only thing I can tell you Amanda, is that this guy said it was very personal. His vendetta against you. I guess that you may know what that means."

Amanda looked at Beamon and raised her eyebrow. "It's very personal. What does that even mean, Efrim. He never gave you his name? I mean Efrim, Lee and I have made a few enemies over the years…it could be anyone."

" I do know that he was… Agency. At least he said he was…just like me. I think that's why he trusted me. You aren't going to let Lee come in here, are you? I gave you something. Doesn't that count for something?"

Amanda sighed at Beamon and said "I can't stop my husband or partner from coming in here. If he wants to talk to you. He will. But I do thank you for being honest with me and telling me something. Now we just have to figure out where my children are."

"I do know that he has houses and apartments all over DC. He's loaded so I am sure they aren't cheap places."

Amanda stood up and headed towards the door. She turned around and thanked Beamon. She told him to get comfortable. He sighed and nodded that he understood. Amanda walked out of the room and into Lee's arms. She tried her hardest not to break down in front of him.

"Hey…Manda. You did amazing! You still have it Mrs. Stetson! He actually talked to you! I still don't know how you talk that fast without breathing! Now…this guy is former Agency?"

Amanda wiped her tears and nodded. "Lee, that could be anybody. Come on now…how many former agents did you send to prison for the crimes they did?"

Lee hugged her again. "Yeah but now we can narrow the search down. And this guy is rich…that again narrows the search down. It will be okay. I promise. We will find the kids."

Lee led Amanda upstairs to Jennifer and Jamie's office and they found Matthew Smyth sitting on the couch. He stood up and said "Did that bastard tell you where my wife is? I want to see him. I want him to tell me where she is!"

Amanda walked over to Matthew and took his hands. They sat back down on the couch and she began her ramble regarding her chat with Beamon. Matthew just sat there in silence staring at the floor. When Amanda was done, she looked over at Lee who was intently watching Matthew.

"Amanda honey, I think he may be in shock. We may need to get him downstairs to one of the docs."

Amanda immediately stood up and took Matthew's hands. She and Lee helped him up and they headed towards the infirmary. They got him settled in with the doctors and were standing outside the examining room. Amanda put her arms around Lee and sighed.

"Oh Lee, what are we going to do?"

Lee kissed her head and said "We are going to find our kids. That's what. Come on, they are gonna keep Matty down here for a while. I will have them give us a call up in Jenny's office. I had Jefferson pull all of our old cases that included agents. Let's get to work Mrs. Stetson."

****************** In the hotel suite not even ten miles away from the Bureau, Jennifer Smyth and her brothers Jamie and Phillip King, sat in the living area discussing their plan. They hadn't seen anyone since waking up in the suite. The kitchen was fully stocked and all of the windows were sealed shut. The door to the suite was also locked…from the outside and Jennifer noticed there was an alarm on it. Jennifer and Jamie were bickering on what their plan should be and how to escape.

"Jennifer, I am sorry. I am not allowing you to put yourself at risk for anything. You have to be careful Princess. Come on. Understand what I am saying."

Jennifer huffed "I am going to be careful, Jamie. But I don't see why you need to take all of the risk. What if we can't get out of here? What if you don't get away?"

Phillip listened to them argue back and forth and finally had enough. He whistled really loud and told them both to chill out. They all looked at one another and started laughing. Jamie ran his fingers through his hair and said "Okay, I have an idea. I think we may need to use your…condition. Princess, are you game?"

Jennifer looked at Jamie and then Phillip. Her older brother just shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I am nothing but a civilian, you guys are the big fancy federal agents. I will go along with whatever you want."

Jamie walked over to his brother and slapped him on his back. "Well, I am glad you said that brother….cause you are going to be our escapee. Think you can handle it?"

Phillip opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He looked at his sister and knew that he had to do whatever he could to protect her. He nodded to Jamie and said "Okay, Wormbrain, what's your plan?"

A few minutes later Jamie went over to the telephone that was sitting on the desk. He picked it up and immediately a voice came on the other end.

"Hello. How may I help you?"

"Um…this is Jamie King as I am sure you know that. We have a situation up here and we need to get someone here for my sister or get her to a doctor immediately."

"I don't think that is possible sir."

"Well you better make it possible. My sister is pregnant with twins and I promise you…if she loses these babies then you will have a lot of people coming for you!"

"Oh! We were not told of Mrs. Smyth's condition. I will have someone come up immediately."

Jamie hung up the phone and smiled at his sister. "Okay Princess, it's all on you now. You have to make it seem like you are really in pain. Can you do this?"

Jennifer sighed and nodded. "Let's get Phillip out of here. Now Phillip, if you find a moment…get out and run for the doors. I mean it. Find a way out and GO. Do you hear me? Head straight for the Bureau. Don't stop and think about Jamie and I. We can handle ourselves. Promise me?"

Phillip walked over to his little sister. He put his arms around her and hugged her. "I promise Princess. I have only one condition."

Jennifer looked up at her brother. She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "What's that Phillip?"

"When all of this is said and done...when we are safe and sound. How about when you have those kiddos….you name one of them after me? I am your favorite brother after all!"

The siblings laughed and hugged one another each thinking about their plan. They got things ready and waited for someone to come to the suite.