Title by CobraDeathGrip,
Story by matahari2
Summary/Disclaimers, Etc.: See Part 1
Chapter 2
Monday Morning - 8:00 a.m.
Lee Stetson hurried down the corridor to the bullpen, heaving a sigh of relief when he realized the meeting hadn't already started. The conference room door stood open, and Francine Desmond was just coming out of Billy's office, carrying a stack of files. Lee turned toward the conference room and grimaced at the unwelcome sight of Herr Volkenauer smiling at Amanda and lifting her fingers to his lips in a Continental greeting. He narrowed his eyes, stuffing both of his hands into his pants pockets, as he noticed Amanda smiling back at the German detective. "What the--?" he grumbled between clenched teeth.
Francine brushed past him, giving him a teasing smile as she asked, "What's the matter, Scarecrow? Somebody beating time with your girl?"
Lee glared at her, gritting out, "Oh please, Francine!" He took a second to straighten his jacket and tug at his tie before following her into the conference room.
Seeing Amanda's sparkling eyes and friendly smile directed at him, Lee couldn't keep from smiling back as he took a seat directly across from her. He knew she'd probably caught his scowl, and he could expect some questions later. Frank Duffy passed Amanda the last two folders containing the information for the meeting, and she passed one across to Lee. Their eyes connected briefly as he accepted it with a whispered "Thanks", just as Billy Melrose closed the door and called the meeting to order.
"All right, people, as you know, our associates from Interpol have informed us that members of the 'Lightning Flash' group may have entered the United States. I'd like to introduce our guest, Mr. Dieter Volkenauer, of the West German BKA, who is on temporary assignment to Interpol with regard to tracking these terrorists. Mr. Volkenauer. . ."
"Danke schön, Herr Melrose. . .my fellow agents," Volkenauer greeted them. "Fräulein Desmond, bitte?" he prompted, as she acquiesced and doused the lights. Immediately, the screen at the front of the room was filled with the horrifying picture of the flaming remains of a jumbo jet. "I am sure you are all aware of the recent failed hostage crisis at the Frankfurt airport. The people we believe to be responsible for this incident call themselves 'der Blitzstrahl', auf Englisch, 'the Lightning Flash'. We have been following the movements of several members of this group for the last three months, but so far we have remained several steps behind them. We now have reason to believe that some of them may have entered your country. In the last two weeks, we have received two messages. The first was received in the BKA office."
He pressed the remote control for the slide projector, and an enlarged picture of a small tear-off from a yellow legal pad appeared on the screen. The words 'Ihr solltet in den Spiegel sehen' were scrawled across it in red ink. Volkenauer scanned their faces as the agents in the room fixed their eyes on the cryptic message. He pointed over his shoulder toward the screen and stated, "The basic translation of these words is: 'you should look in the mirror'." Seeing the disgusted frown on Lee Stetson's face, Dieter went on with an indulgent smile. "You are quite right, Herr Stetson. This simple statement tells us very little."
"Right," Lee interjected, impatiently drumming his fingers on the table. "You said something about a second message." He gestured with his hand to indicate their section chief as he went on. "Billy. . .Mr. Melrose, here, told me you'd had a message on your answering machine, correct?"
"Yes. . ." Volkenhauer replied, his voice tinged with irritation at Lee's impatience. He cast a sweeping glance around the room as he went on, "Yes, that is correct--one week ago today, in fact. Without troubling you to listen to the message, we have transcribed it in English, as you see here," he pointed out, as he clicked the remote to bring up the translation: "Do not think you can hold back the Lightning Flash, and neither can your friends, the Americans! Their golden idols and their greed are unmatched! We promise you. . .one of their capital city's great marble monstrosities will fall, before the stroke of midnight, 31 October! Do not think you can stop us!"
"So they've basically dared you--us--to try and stop them?" Lee put in.
"Quite right," Dieter replied with a rueful smile. He nodded to Francine to turn the lights back on, then continued, "And we have ten days. . .possibly less than that, to prevent a disaster here in your beautiful city."
Billy Melrose stood to take charge of the meeting once more. He shook their guest's hand and said, "Thank you, Mr. Volkenauer. Now, first off, the rest of you are to pair off and become tourists for the next three days. Visit all the best-known sites, and keep your eyes and ears open. Your assignments are listed on page two in your folder. We'll meet again, same time, Thursday morning. All right, people, let's get out there!"
As the rest of the agents dispersed, Lee motioned to Amanda to follow him out to the corridor. She framed a question with her eyes before she asked out loud, "Okay, Lee, what's this all about? And why were you so bent out of shape just now?"
"What? Me? I don't know what you're talking about, Amanda," he parried defensively. He touched her elbow and turned her to start toward the closet elevator as he went on, "I'm fine. . .really. Now, why don't we go on up to the Q Bureau and go over our assignment, hm?"
As they came to stand in front of the elevator, Amanda turned and looked up into his eyes. "Um. . .Lee? You haven't looked at page 2 yet, have you? See, it looks like Mr. Melrose partnered you with Francine on this one. He paired me with Dieter. . .Mr. Volkenauer."
"He did what?!? Why?" He took his vengeance out on the elevator's 'up' button, then pushed back his suit coat and stuffed a hand in his pocket as he kept on, his voice lower now. "I don't like it Amanda! I don't like it at all!"
"What d'you mean, Lee? You've worked with Francine before," Amanda inserted, pushing the coats aside as they entered the elevator. After they'd crossed under the bar and straightened up, she asked, "What's the big deal?"
"It's not so much my assignment as yours that bothers me," he admitted, wincing at the level of truth in what he'd said.
Amanda fisted her hands at her sides and looked up at him defiantly. "MY assignment?!? What about it? Look, I may not have the training that you or Francine have, Lee Stetson, but I'm perfectly capable of acting like a tourist! That much I can do!"
With a hurt look, he searched her eyes as he came back with, "Hey! You know very well I didn't mean it like that, Amanda King! I know better than anybody. . ." he hesitated, softening his tone, "how capable you are. I just don't like the idea of you partnering with. . .him," he finished, casting a fleeting glance at the ceiling.
When the elevator doors opened, Amanda did her best to contain her grin. Each of them nodded to Mrs. Marston, then ascended the stairs silently. As soon as she was fairly sure they were out of the receptionist's hearing range, Amanda asked, "Now, Lee. . .why should you be upset about that? I mean, Mr. Melrose is just being practical here. After all, Mr. Volkenauer and I have at least met before, and I know my way around the DC tourist sites as well as anybody, so. . ."
"I know, I know," he said softly, granting grudging acceptance to the hardwood floor. He lifted his eyes as he held the door open for her, saying seriously, "It's just that. . .Amanda, those terrorists called him at home. They most likely know him on sight, and who knows? They might've even followed him here." He paused, taking hold of her arms and turning her, so he could look directly into her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be extra careful, okay?" he asked plaintively.
"Always," Amanda answered with a warm smile.
Lee gestured for her to take a seat in the captain's chair that faced his desk, and the two of them leafed through the materials in their assignment folders. "Ah. Francine and I are going to the Capitol building. . .we'll have plenty of ground to cover there. So where are you and 'Dieter' supposed to go?"
She was slightly distracted, as she'd been reading through the captions on the photos of the suspected terrorists. She looked up from the folder as she responded, "Hm? Oh. . .we're going to the National Mall, gonna cover the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument today, and the Jefferson Memorial tomorrow or Wednesday."
"Mm," he nodded.
Amanda's eyes took on a faraway look, and for a fleeting moment, she seemed to be reliving an unpleasant memory. She returned her focus to the present as she heard Lee calling her name.
"Amanda? Are you all right?"
"What? Oh yeah, I'm. . .I'm fine," she answered with a slight wave of her hand. " I just remembered something that happened there once, at the Jefferson. . ." She stopped herself, affecting an air of nonchalance before continuing, "It's nothing, really."
Resting his elbows on the arms of his chair and leaning forward slightly, Lee connected with her eyes before asking, "So. . .have you and Herr Volkenauer made plans for your 'hot date'?"
"No, we--" she started to answer, then squinted her eyes at him and retorted with a touch of irritation, "so what's it to you if we have?"
"Nothing," he replied too quickly. In response to her determined glare, he back-pedaled, tilting his head to the side. "Well. . .you mentioned something Saturday about him wanting to take you out to dinner, and then this morning. . ."
At that, her mouth dropped open and she frowned at him in earnest. "What about this morning?!? He was just being nice and saying hello--okay, in his own way--but anyway, you know, it's really none of your business if I do go out with him while he's here. I mean, he's a very nice man, and you've got no right to act like a je--"
Lee's mouth dropped open and his eyebrows lifted in a silent question as he realized where she was headed with this. He cut in before she could finish, asking, "Like a--?"
"Never mind!" she ground out through gritted teeth, darts flying from her eyes as she grabbed her purse and folder and swept out of the Q Bureau. It was a wonder the glass didn't shatter, she slammed the door so hard.
Lee flinched at the sound, and thought about how close she'd come to calling him a 'jealous person'. . .again. She didn't know how right she was this time, he admitted to himself. He knew he was attracted to her, probably had been for a long while. . .so why hadn't he acted on it? He kicked himself mentally, knowing what she'd said was true. He had no right. . .no right at all.
TO BE CONTINUED