Modem Operandi - Part 3

By Fiona Robinson

(see part 1 for disclaimer)

"How long do you think Alexi Kalnikov has been involved in this?" Billy wondered as they stood waiting for the elevator. They had decided to pull the files the Agency had on Alexi. Amanda wanted to know what he'd been up to for the past fifteen years.

Amanda shrugged, settling her bag on her shoulder. "Who knows? We haven't seen him since he was a kid…Do you think there's still a record on him downstairs?"

"Probably. Most likely." Billy shook his head, sighing. "Let's go check it out."

"You know, this whole thing is weird," she said, as they rode down five levels. Her ears popped, as they always did, and she swallowed a couple of times before she continued. "This whole…web thing. Cyber terrorism."

"What's weird about it? Give someone a new medium and they'll figure out a way to exploit it for criminal purposes. That's just the way it works."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know…I guess I can always hope humanity is above some of that."

"Amanda, if it were above some of that you'd be out of a job."

She laughed as the doors slid open. Billy was right.

"Maybe the Agency should put up a web site," Billy said. "At least then we'd get hits that didn't involve body bags."

In the file room, Billy waited while Amanda dug out what the Agency had on Alexi. Files older than ten years were still on paper, but Amanda had a feeling that over half of the surveillance the Agency had done on Alexi was on the system somewhere. Still, she dropped two hefty manila folders on the table in front of Billy, and the two of them began to read.

Billy immediately flipped to the back of the second folder. "It only goes up to 1990."

"I figured as much," Amanda said, digging out a pen. "I'll sign them out and we can take them upstairs. Then we can at least take a look at what we have on him on the computer."

In Lee's office, Amanda booted up his computer and settled behind what had once been Billy's desk. Billy chuckled a little at the sight, and felt a little pang as he always did when he stood in this office now.

"Okay," she said, typing in her passwords, her user names, and her security clearance. "Here we go…." Billy watched her watch the computer screen, intent on the little hourglass that meant it was searching. "Bingo," she said, after a moment, then sat back in her chair. "Oh, Alexi," she muttered, prompting Billy to scoot around the desk and read over her shoulder.

"Impressive," Billy said, leaning forward. "He's been busy. B and E's…he's been arrested for hacking before…. And he's been cleaning people out over the net. Nice boy we have here."

Amanda shook her head. "I hoped he'd get away from all that." But at the same time, she wondered how her few days with him at the age of twelve could ever have made a difference. Alexi had been set on a path long before he'd met her, and she hadn't been in his life long enough to steer him in any clear direction.

Billy knew what she was thinking. He sat on the edge of Lee's desk. "You can't help everyone, Amanda."

"I know. I just…He had so much potential." She sighed. "It's frustrating." She sat back in Lee's chair, staring at the computer screen. "I wonder if there's any way he can turn his life around."

"He has to want to do that before it'll happen," Billy reminded her. He looked around the room, stroking his chin. "Come on, let's get out of here. Maybe we can figure out what he's up to, without having to worry about someone looking over our shoulder."

Amanda sat in her living room, fiddling with a pen, her sweater, her wedding rings. She hated waiting for Lee to come home - it had been years since she'd had to, and she suddenly had a taste of what things must be like for him when she walked out the door to meet an informant.

It seemed strange to her that this informant could have been someone they'd known as a child. Amanda had felt a little comfort from that, but Lee had dismissed it - "We don't know why he's trying to contact us," he'd said. "It could be a trap." And Amanda had seen what he meant, and what Billy had told her earlier - that one week out of a child's life wasn't going to change his everything, that they still had to be careful.

Lee had only stayed in Section 25 for three years before Billy and Amanda coaxed him back to the field. Amanda had never thought she'd feel that way - she had never once thought she'd want Lee or herself in the line of duty for very long. But she had seen how unhappy he'd been, how bureaucratic and bogged down his section and projects had become, and she wanted to work with him again.

And Billy had wanted to groom him.

Amanda had never told Lee about the meeting she'd had with Billy, just before Lee had left Section 25, when Billy had told her he was thinking about retiring in a few years and wanted Lee to take his position as Section Chief. It wasn't that he could decide who would take his job - and when Dr. Smyth had been around Lee wouldn't even have been a candidate - but he did know that with Scarecrow back in the field he could begin swaying the higher-ups.

"I want to make sure you're all right with it," Billy said. "That you're not making any other plans…before I suggest it to him."

Amanda shook her head. "What other plans would we make?"

"Well…for a family, I suppose."

"Oh." Amanda had drawn in a deep breath. Billy was a close friend, but she knew Lee hadn't talked about this with him. "That doesn't seem to be an option."

Billy was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Amanda. I shouldn't have brought it up."

But she shook her head. "Oh, no. No. Don't worry about it. There's nothing wrong. It just…doesn't seem to be happening." She shrugged.

Billy cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's okay. And I think you should approach Lee with your offer," she said. "He isn't happy where he is, and…and I'd like to work with him again."

So Billy had made his offer to Lee, and Lee had agonized over it for three months before finally accepting. Becoming Section Chief had never even crossed his mind until Billy had laid the opportunity before him. And Amanda knew, without a doubt, that Lee loved being back in the field, even though the first couple of assignments they took together could have ended their marriage if Billy hadn't reminded them how to work together again.

The sound of a key in the lock sent Amanda springing up from the couch, and when Lee came through the door he saw the tension in her expression and half-expected her to levitate.

"Well?" she said.

"He didn't show up. And I didn't think he would," Lee said, hanging up his coat. He turned and looked at her, carefully. "Were you worried?"

"I always worry," she said, crossing the room in two steps to kiss him firmly. "Always."

"Did you think I was going to get myself killed?"

"You bought those plane tickets," she said, kissing him again, "so I wouldn't put it past you."

"If I remember correctly, you were the reason we couldn't go last time," he said, sliding his arms around her waist. "Something about faulty eardrums…."

"Pardon me?" she asked, sinking her fingers into his hair. "I don't seem to be able to hear you." Amanda nibbled at his earlobe, then drew away to smile at him. "Billy only left about an hour ago."

Lee laughed. "They're going to call in his pension if he isn't careful," he said, reluctantly drawing away from her. He looked at the paperwork, scattered all over the coffee table. "You haven't just been worrying," he said, picking up a folder. "What did you and Billy find out?"

"Billy has a few theories…they're all pretty tentative right now, though. Do you really think Sheila's involved?"

"I don't know. I don't want to, but after talking about it with Anne yesterday I don't see how she couldn't be."

"Wait a minute," Amanda shook her head. "How do you know you can trust Anne and not Sheila?"

Lee sighed. He'd been struggling with that all afternoon. "I don't. I don't know I can trust anyone except Francine and Billy and…" he grinned, "maybe you."

She laughed and swatted him. "Wouldn't count on it, pal." She turned serious again, studying him closely. "You're taking a huge leap of faith here, aren't you?"

Lee nodded. "I have nothing else to go on. Anne's giving me information, and I feel like I have to check it out."

"And Sheila probably isn't doing it alone, is she?"

Lee shook his head, slowly sitting down on the couch. "Damn," he muttered.

"This is a tough one, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Amanda, if we don't crack this case…whoever it is could bring the Agency to its knees."

Lee and Amanda both awoke at the same time, their hearts beating wildly. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, sitting up in bed.

"Yeah…was that the back window?"

"I think so." She looked at him, smiling a little. "It's the one we fixed last week," she said, wryly.

Lee rolled his eyes, kicking his legs free of the blankets, and reached for his pistol, concealed in the bedside drawer. Amanda cast him a disapproving look.

"Is that really necessary?" she asked, gesturing to the weapon.

"Well, whoever it is is going to get to the frying pan before we are," he shot back, and she nodded reluctantly, reaching for her own gun.

They crept down the stairs together, Amanda in back. She stood behind Lee and thought how funny it was that the tag was sticking out of the tee-shirt he'd been sleeping in. And then she thought that the tag was the least of her worries - whoever was in their kitchen could have a gun, too.

Lee pushed the kitchen door open, his gun ready, and Amanda flicked on the light. Their intruder, a lanky man in dirty denim, squinted his eyes shut and held up his hands.

"Don't shoot!" he pleaded, standing in the middle of the room.

"Alexi?" Amanda asked, relaxing. Lee didn't move.

"Alexi?" Lee repeated, slightly confused. He watched his wife step toward the intruder. "Amanda, be careful, he –"

"It's all right, Lee…It is you, isn't it?"

Alexi nodded, relaxing a little. "I don't have a gun. You can put yours away."

Lee slowly lowered his gun, still a little confused.

"How did you find us?" he demanded. "We haven't seen you since you were a kid."

"I was actually looking for Mrs. King," Alexi said, sitting stiffly on a barstool at the breakfast nook. "I mean…Mrs. Stetson, I guess."

"Amanda," she said.

"Amanda." Alexi hesitated. "If you're Scarecrow," he said to Lee, "you're in big trouble. And if you're Mrs. Scarecrow, then you're in trouble, too."

Lee eyed Alexi suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the security breaches at the Agency. And I'm talking about the messages you've been getting. I've been trying to warn you, but…"

Lee held up a hand. "Whoa! Back up the bus a little, here. What do you mean we're in trouble?"

"Exactly what I said. These guys know you're on to them, and they're going to be ready to stop you," Alexi told him.

Lee frowned. On to who? "We're not "on to" anyone," he said.

Alexi crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not what they think, let me tell you. They think you're hot on their trail."

"Who are they?" Lee demanded.

"I don't know their names."

Lee looked at Amanda. "Of course you don't. What makes you think we're going to believe anything you tell us?"

"Because I know why the breaches are happening. I know why Agency files are being accessed at random. I can't tell you who's behind it, but I can tell you what they're planning to do."

Lee drew a barstool toward himself and sat down, his pistol still in a firm grip in his left hand. "All right," he said to Alexi, leveling the other man with a look that meant business. "Talk."

Amanda placed a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of Alexi, and he stopped devouring the chicken sandwich she'd given him two minutes earlier to nod his thanks. Lee, leaning against the counter, suddenly thought that she was the only agent he'd ever known who could flip an internal switch and mother an intruder in their home, the pistol in her pocket dragging the sweater of his she was wearing to one side on her slim frame.

So Alexi thought it was an inside job. No, Alexi knew it was an inside job. He'd said as much. Lee chewed on this thought for a minute, and was disturbed by his complete lack of surprise.

Alexi swore up and down that he didn't know why he'd been forced to hack into the system. "It wasn't even a real security breach, in the sense that I cracked the code," he'd told Lee. "They gave me the code, every single time it changed."

"Who did?"

"That's just it, I wouldn't know them if they were sitting across from me right now. I don't know who they were. I do remember that the woman smelled like…flowers. Lilies or something."

"A woman wearing perfume. That narrows it down." Lee let out a long breath. "Why did they pick you?"

"They found my record at the Agency - they told me that - that they'd seen my Agency record and knew I'd been involved in some computer crime. The man, whoever he is, came to my door last week. Said he was a probation officer and he was checking up on me. I let him in, he hit me with something, and I woke up in that house."

"What about the files you accessed - why did you go after files on Senator Birdsell? Did they ask you to?"

"No." Alexi had shaken his head, adamantly this time. "I did that myself. They wanted to keep you guys scrambling - I know that. I thought putting a pattern to them might make you guys clue in to the fact that it was all a distraction."

"And we did," Amanda had interjected, resting her elbows on the island.

"You mean you did," Lee had said, considering what Alexi had just told him. It didn't amount to much. They still didn't know who was behind everything. "Why did you send me two messages to meet if you knew you couldn't be there to meet me?"

"The first time was their idea. They wanted to scare you with the phone call. The second time…earlier tonight…." Alexi sighed. "I thought I'd be out by then. I took a chance."

Now, Lee wondered for what felt like the fiftieth time in five minutes if Alexi was lying to them, if his coming to their house was all a trap, a way of extracting information from them. He didn't want to believe it was - he wanted to believe that Alexi had been looking for Amanda because he thought she could help him - but the part of him that had been burned before refused to entertain that thought for long.

"Amanda," he said, after a moment, "can I talk to you out here for a second?" He gestured to the living room, and Amanda shrugged, following him.

"What?"

"We can't have him staying here," Lee said, his voice low, and Amanda raised her eyebrows in surprise. "This isn't a safe house."

"It's as good as a safe house," she said. "Lee Stetson, I can't believe you want to throw him to the wolves."

"He isn't twelve years old anymore, Amanda. He's an adult, and he could bring us a lot of trouble."

"I think he can help us catch them," she said. "And I think we're going to be in trouble anyway."

"I seem to recall he got us tied up in a closet and nearly killed the last time we tried to help him," Lee whispered.

"We didn't get killed, and we ended up catching those guys," she retorted, her hands on her hips. "And he's staying for the rest of the night - at least until we can find him a safe house."

A noise in the doorway made both of them turn, and Alexi was leaning against the frame, a hand to his ribs. "I wouldn't let me stay either, Lee. I get what you're saying, and it's okay."

Lee rolled his eyes heavenward. "You can stay, Alexi. It's fine." He looked at the young man more closely. "You look pretty banged up. How did that happen?"

Alexi shrugged. "They worked me over pretty good, I guess. Kept me in line."

Lee caught the shock on Amanda's face before she managed to hide it. "Let me run you a hot bath," she said, moving toward the stairs. "And Lee, can you find him some of Philip's clothes to wear? I think there are some in the guest room."

Lee nodded and headed upstairs. "I'll make up the bed in there, while I'm at it," he muttered.

When he finally crawled into bed beside Amanda, the clock read four a.m.. She turned to face him in the darkness, her hair a dark pool on her pillow. "Did he tell you anything?"

"No, not really," Lee answered. "I bet he'll tell you, though."

"You think so?"

"He came looking for you, didn't he? Not for me. He thought you'd help him out."

"Yeah." Amanda sighed. "I haven't seen him for fifteen years. I wonder why he thought that."

Lee stared at the ceiling for a minute. "Well, whoever he's running from knows he's connected to you…to us. He tried to warn us, and there has to be a reason for that."

"He sent you the email," she said, her voice full of sleep.

"He said he only did that because he thought I'd know where you were. When he found out where you were, he stopped sending them to me."

Amanda sighed. "I still don't get it."

Lee smiled a little, in the dark. "What's to get? The Amanda King tattoo doesn't wash off so easily, I guess. Just another in a long line of people who completely trust you."

"I may not have told you this before, but that's a lot of pressure to put on a person. Trusting them completely." She was nearly asleep, and Lee shifted closer to her in the bed, sliding his arms around her and burying his nose in her hair.

"You can handle it."

Amanda clipped a visitor's pass to Alexi's jacket and led him past two guards, through a door and toward an elevator. She had taken him through the "back way" of the Agency, knowing that to parade him through the main entrance could be potentially dangerous. A small part of her recognized that having Alexi anywhere in the building was probably a mistake, and yet at the same time she didn't see any other option.

"Huh," he said, looking around, his dark eyes resting on the security camera in the corner. "This is interesting."

Amanda smiled a little, shrugging. "You don't remember this from last time?"

"No. You'd think I would, wouldn't you?" He studied Amanda, carefully. "Do you like working here? Being a Fed?"

She nodded.

"You weren't a Fed when I stayed with you, though."

"No," she answered, slowly. "I was still a civilian back then."

"So how come you joined up?"

Amanda shrugged. "It seemed like the right thing to do," she said. She'd asked herself that question a million times over the years, especially when the Agency interfered with her personal life. She'd asked that question on her honeymoon in California, when she was recovering from a gunshot wound, and years later when she and Lee had decided to stop trying to have kids. The best she'd ever come up with was that she was making the world better for Philip and Jamie, that she was good at what she did and that every once in a while there was one less "bad guy" for the world to worry about.

"And besides," she said after a minute, "I seem to be good at it."

The doors opened and she and Alexi stepped out of the elevator and into the bullpen, which was, as always, buzzing with activity.

"This," Alexi said, surveying the scene, "I remember."

Amanda led him through the maze of desks and cubicles, past ringing phones and printing printers, to Lee's office.

Lee and Billy were waiting for them, a plate of muffins sitting to one side on Lee's desk, two crumpled napkins and coffee cups beside it. Billy nodded at Alexi, and Alexi nodded back, trying to remember the man. For some reason, all he could think of were lollipops.

"Alexi, this is Billy Melrose," Lee said. "He was my boss the last time you met him."

"Uh…oh, yeah. Hi."

"Hello."

Amanda gestured for Alexi to sit down. She perched on the edge of Lee's desk, swinging one long, slender leg in a way that often drove her husband wild. "Anything new?" she asked, picking up a muffin.

"Nah. Pete's team is still working on it."

"I was thinking that Alexi and I could look for the house," Amanda said. "Unless there's something else that you think would help more."

Lee shook his head. "No, that's probably a good idea."

"All right."

"It's probably a good idea to get him out of here as soon as possible," Billy said, suddenly. "I mean, this isn't the best place to hang out if it's an inside job."

"No," Amanda agreed. "I knew that. But I also knew we couldn't avoid coming here. Even a safe house wouldn't really be safe, if we don't know who's involved."

"I'm in the room," Alexi said, suddenly. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here."

Amanda smiled a little. "Sorry. You're right. Do you think you'd know the house if you saw it?"

"I'm not sure. I'll try."

"That's all we ask," Lee said, suddenly, strangely charitable. He wasn't sure whether to be suspicious of this man or not. He saw Billy raise an eyebrow, and he knew that the former Section Chief was thinking that this was the ultimate test - Alexi recognizing and leading them to the house would clear him more than anything else so far.

Alexi nodded. Amanda stood up from the desk, putting the muffin back down on the plate.

"All right," she said, turning into brisk Agent King before their very eyes. "We'll check in in an hour or so. See you later."

"What you're telling me is that he couldn't identify the house," Lee said as he and Amanda walked down the hall to the Q-Bureau. "He drew a blank on a place he says he escaped from thirty-six hours ago."

"I didn't say he drew a blank," Amanda said. "I said he was confused."

Lee stopped and looked at Amanda. "He doesn't recognize the area."

She looked uncomfortable for a moment. "No." As Lee started to walk again, she kept in step beside him. "But how do we even know that was the area?" She unlocked the door to the Q-Bureau and went inside, Lee close behind her.

"We have a good idea that he came from that direction, don't we? He described landmarks…shopping centers, all of that."

"You don't believe him, do you?" Amanda said, her hands on her hips. "You don't believe that he doesn't know where that house is."

Lee let out a long, frustrated breath. "Amanda, he says he escaped from that place. He'd have to have some idea."

"He didn't grow up in DC, Lee. He might not have any idea at all."

"He found our house." Lee raised his eyebrows, tossing the allegation at her as if it were a gauntlet. She stood firm, shaking her head.

"It wouldn't be that hard. A bus or two - he'd be a block away."

"He found us," Lee insisted. "It isn't like we advertise our address and phone number."

"He had access to Agency files. All he'd have to do is look up my personnel record to know where I lived and that you're my husband. That's probably a piece of cake for him."

Lee was silent.

"Do you want me to look at the list of files he accessed? Do you want me to see if my file was in there?"

Lee nodded. "Yes."

"Will you believe him then?"

"Maybe."

Amanda shook her head in disbelief, turning to the stack of files on her desk. Lee waited while she leafed through them, her brows knitted, looking for the human resources directory. He saw a change in her posture; she sat up straight and bit on her lip, and he knew she'd found something.

"Well?" he prompted. "Is it there?"

"No," she said, quiet.

"I knew it."

"Yours is."

Lee dropped his keys in the bowl by the back door and set his briefcase on a kitchen chair, letting out a long sigh. Some Saturday. He and Amanda had spent the entire day at work, trying to fill in the holes in Alexi's story.

"Amanda?" he called out. "Are you here?"

The kitchen door swung open and he was faced with Alexi. "She went for groceries," he said. "And since I'm not twelve anymore, she let me stay behind."

Lee shrugged, absorbing Alexi's sarcasm. He didn't have the energy to be disturbed or defensive about the other man's attitude. "She say when she'd be back?"

"No. But I'm pretty sure she'll be back soon. She's been gone for an hour."

Lee nodded, glancing around the kitchen, shrugging off his jacket. "Want a drink?" he asked, opening the refrigerator.

Alexi nodded as Lee waved a bottle of beer in his direction. "Sure. Thanks."

The two stood in silence for a minute, sipping their beer. Lee set his glass down on the countertop, running his fingers along the wood grain of the butcher block. "Amanda tells me you didn't find the house today."

"No." Lee looked up at Alexi, who was busy studying his running shoes. Alexi shrugged. "I guess I don't really know the city as well as I thought I did."

"Are you sure that was the problem?"

"Of course that was the problem."

"Why did you look up my personnel record?" Lee waned to know, leveling Alexi with a cool green gaze.

"You and Amanda were the only people I remembered from…the last time. I thought you could help me."

"You thought I could help you."

Alexi's eyebrows shot up in disbelief as he sensed that Lee didn't believe a word he said. "Yes. Why else would I try to find you?"

"Look, Alexi, this isn't a nice business. I've made a lot of enemies over the years, and I wouldn't put it past any of them to use you as some kind of bait. Amanda trusts you because she's that type of person. I'm reserving judgment."

The sound of the back door opening and Amanda entering the room stopped Alexi from making a reply. Lee turned to his wife and took a bag from her arms.

"Hey," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Hi. Hi, Alexi." Amanda put a bag down on the counter and looked at the two men. She immediately sensed that she'd interrupted something, and it wasn't good. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing," Alexi said, shrugging his shoulders and turning to leave the room.

Amanda looked at her husband. "Lee?"

Lee hesitated, setting his beer on the counter. "I was asking him a few questions, is all."

"No Class C, huh? You just cut right to the chase and accused him of lying, didn't you?"

"Amanda, I'm - " Lee let out a long breath, turning to face his wife. "I'm reserving judgment, and I told him that."

"You aren't reserving anything, Lee. You've made your judgment already." Amanda took a deep breath, glancing at the kitchen door, and moved for the back door, drawing Lee outside on to the porch. "You believe Anne, don't you? That Sheila's behind it all."

"I don't know what to believe."

"Then why don't you try listening to Alexi?" she demanded. "Why are you so ready to believe someone you hardly know?"

"I hardly know Alexi, Amanda," Lee said, his voice suddenly hard. "All I know of him is that he gets us into trouble. All I know of him is what he was when he was twelve - hard to deal with."

"He was a scared kid, Lee. You, of all people, should understand that." Knowing she'd just hurt him, she took a deep breath and softened her expression. "I'm sorry," Amanda said, facing him in the dark. "I know you don't really trust him yet, but all I know is what my gut instincts tell me….He needs us to help him get out of this."

Lee sighed. "I see what you're saying." But Amanda could sense that he hadn't bought into her theory just yet.

"You know what it's like to be under suspicion. You haven't forgotten."

"I haven't forgotten. It made me use the telephone in a whole different way."

Amanda laughed without meaning or wanting to, reminding herself as she did that she was angry with him, that he was being what Jamie would call "an ass". That Alexi deserved better, even if he had made a few mistakes.

"You have to start trusting him a little," she said, her voice firm. "Now I want you to go back in there and listen to what he's going to tell you. We need him to share everything he knows."

Lee nodded, taking a deep breath, and opened the door to the house. He stood in the kitchen doorway, watching Alexi sit on the couch. Part of him felt perfectly justified in his suspicion of the younger man; another part of him struggled with the judgments he'd been making and knew that Amanda was right - he had to give Alexi a chance.

"Alexi, I…."

Alexi looked up from the newspaper he was reading, one eyebrow raised in cynical anticipation of what Lee was about to say.

"I'm…Look, I said I was reserving judgment, but I'm…" Lee let out another breath, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "We need your help to solve this case. I - I don't know the first thing about all this computer stuff, and you at least understand what they've been doing…."

"What Lee wants to know is whether you'd…mind…working with us on this," Amanda said from behind him, her brown eyes twinkling a little.

Alexi nodded. "Yeah. I can do that."

"Okay," Lee said. "Good."

"My laptop's by the front door if you want to set it up," Amanda suggested. "We can use the desk in the den."

Alexi put his newspaper on the coffee table and stood up, slowly. "Sure."

Lee watched Alexi leave the room, slightly perplexed. Amanda patted his shoulder. "Nice work, Scarecrow," she said, and disappeared in to the kitchen too quickly to see the pointed look Lee shot in her direction.

The three sat around the desk in the den, their dinner plates carefully balanced around Amanda's laptop computer, which sat in front of Alexi. Lee was trying to understand what Alexi was telling them, that he had started the sweeps himself to call attention to the fact that someone from outside was in the Agency system.

"What I don't get is what they were getting you to do in the system," he said.

"I didn't really understand it at first either," Alexi admitted. "But they had a gun to my head and I decided it wasn't the time for questions." He leaned back in his chair and peeled the label from his bottle of beer in tiny shreds. "What I'm beginning to understand - or think I understand - is that they needed me to cover up something."

"You were a scapegoat," Amanda put in.

Alexi nodded and took a swig of beer.

"But what are you covering up?" she wondered.

"You know about online banking," Alexi said, leaning forward in his chair. "How you can set up a bank account, credit, everything, through the Internet." Amanda nodded. "Well, it's just as easy to set up a bank. It's been done before. All you really need is the server, a home page, and a place to put your deposits. Generally, a Swiss bank account."

"And people seriously do their banking this way?" Lee asked in astonishment. "Without seeing a face, going into a building?"

Alexi nodded. "After the Savings and Loan stuff, does it really make a difference if they can see the place? Your money's probably safer in a tree stump in your front yard….Regardless, people do their banking this way; the last time someone set up a scam like this they got away with twelve million dollars. Racked it all up, then turned off their computer, shut down the server, and disappeared."

Twelve million. From unsuspecting people, typing in their checking account information and sending off their money to a bank that said it met all the banking regulations of a small country that really had no regulations at all. People had done it once, and according to Alexi, people were doing it again.

"What does this have to do with the Agency?" Lee asked.

"Who do you think set up the bank in the first place?"