Modem Operandi - Conclusion
By Fiona Robinson
(see part 1 for disclaimer)
"Look, it wasn't ideal that they saw you, but now at least we know she isn't everything she says she is," Amanda said as she and Alexi sat with Lee and Billy at a picnic table in Rock Creek Park. They had decided it wasn't safe for Alexi to go back to the Agency.
"We don't know anything," Alexi said, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. "Just that Pete likes Camembert."
"That's not true. Think about how Anne reacted. It wasn't normal, by any stretch of the imagination. She isn't usually like that." Amanda leaned back in her chair. "She's hiding something."
Lee nodded. "I agree."
"But you can't pin anything on her," Billy said, sipping his coffee.
"No." Amanda nodded. "Nothing that'll stick. Not yet." She stirred her coffee, sipped it, and added another cream. "I'm going to go talk to Sheila again. She might know a few other things about Anne."
Billy nodded. "Alexi, why don't you hang out with me for the rest of the day? We can steer clear of the Agency for a while." He grinned. "You can show me how to surf the Net."
Amanda was in the copier room, struggling with Tray Two of the copier, which the copier said wanted legal sized paper but was only equipped to handle letter, when Anne Hendrickson appeared beside her.
"You have to jiggle it a little," Anne said, "then shut it off and start it up again. Kind of a drag, I know, but it's hard to get these things serviced around here."
Amanda nodded, jiggling the tray as Anne instructed. "I'm used to the one upstairs," she confessed. "It never gives me any trouble - but it hardly ever gets used." She expected Anne to nod, laugh, and move on, but instead found the other woman standing expectantly beside her, waiting to speak.
"Amanda," she began, then laughed nervously. "You're going to think this is funny, but I need to apologize for the way we reacted when we met…Alex…."
"Alexi."
"Alexi…earlier." Anne wet her lips, shifting on her feet, and leaned against the photocopier. "It's just that Pete and I have both seen him before."
Amanda raised an eyebrow. "You have?"
Anne nodded, then blushed furiously. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but…Pete and I are seeing each other. We have been for a while."
Amanda nodded once. "Oh."
"And…well…Pete's married, you know. He says he's leaving his wife, he just can't find the right moment, and…so we've been trying to keep it a secret, from everyone." Anne crossed her arms over her chest. "When we were out in the park on Sunday, we saw Alexi, and he seemed to be acting a little strangely. Watching us. We thought he was a private investigator." She laughed. "It's funny, you'd think two highly-trained intelligence agents would be able to hide from a PI, wouldn't you?"
Amanda smiled indulgently. "You'd think," she agreed. "I don't think you have to worry," she told Anne. "He was probably watching you because he thought you were someone else."
Anne nodded. "Maybe." She took a deep breath. "Please don't tell anyone about me and Pete. I know you won't, I just…."
"Your secret's safe with me," Amanda said, holding up her right hand as if she was swearing an oath.
Anne didn't look terribly reassured. "Thanks," she said, patting the photocopier. "I'd better get back. See you later."
Amanda watched her go, Anne's perfume wafting around her and mixing with the smell of toner and warm paper. It took her a moment to realize what it was. Lilies of the valley.
Lee stood in the doorway to the Q Bureau for a moment, watching Amanda work. She was bent over the desk, deep in concentration, her hair falling from her shoulder, obscuring part of her face. He thought of all the times he'd stood and watched her work like this - especially before he'd even realized he loved her - and his mouth turned up in a little smile.
"Hey," he said, and she jumped.
"Oh…Lee. You startled me!" she gasped, sitting back in her chair. "I didn't hear you come in…."
He grinned at her. "I've got to practice somehow," he said, "and watching you seems to be the perfect way."
"Watching me?" She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow in question. "Did you like what you saw?"
"I always like what I see," he told her, holding out a hand to draw her to her feet. She slid her arms about him, settling in. "Where's Alexi?"
"Where's Alexi? It's after nine, we're still at work, you haven't seen me all day, and all you can ask is "where's Alexi"? I'm expecting a little better than that, Stetson."
"I just wanted to know if we were alone or not."
"He went out with Billy to get something to eat," she told him, snuggling even closer. "So we're as alone as we ever are in this place."
Lee sighed. "So Francine's going to come trooping in any second, is what you're saying,"
Amanda shook her head, laughing. "She left at six."
"Oh? Well, then…." He leaned in closer, and Amanda closed her eyes as his mouth touched hers. She was just starting to enjoy the kiss when the shrill ring of the telephone jerked them apart. She let out a frustrated groan and drew away from him, picking up the receiver.
"Amanda speaking….Yes…." Lee watched her eyes go wide, she turned to face him. "Where are you?….We'll be right there." She put down the phone and grabbed his hand. "That was Billy. Someone just grabbed Alexi."
Billy followed Alexi's attackers across town, to a house in the neighborhood that seemed strangely familiar. He parked down the block and watched a man and a woman haul Alexi out of the car and up the front walk.
"So you were telling the truth the whole time," he muttered, looking at the street. "You really don't know DC that well, do you?"
He reached into his pocket for his cell phone, dialing Lee's number. He and Amanda were in the car, on their way. Billy gave them the address and waited.
It wasn't long before he saw Amanda's car coming down the street slowly, headlights off. Billy slid out of the driver's seat and met the two agents by their car.
"They went inside," Billy said.
"So this is the house he couldn't find," Lee muttered.
"We were a few blocks off," Amanda said. "But he had all the landmarks right."
Lee nodded, pushing the guilt he felt to the back of his mind. "Let's get him out of there."
"You and Billy go around the back," Amanda said. "I'll cover the front." She waited a beat. "Well?"
"What?" Lee asked.
"Aren't you going to tell me to stay in the car?"
Lee grinned. "Uh uh. You sound too sure of yourself." He drew his pistol and reached into the car to retrieve one for Billy. "Let's go."
The two men left Amanda hiding in the bushes at the front of the house and made their way around the block, through the alley to the backyard. They were almost at the door to the house when Billy tripped over something in the grass.
"You all right?" Lee asked, reaching out a steadying hand.
"What the hell," Billy muttered, looking down at the man on the ground. "He's out cold."
"It's Pete," Lee whispered. "I guess the honeymoon's over." He shook his head. "She really had him going."
Carefully, the two men made their way to the back door of the house. Lee slowly opened the door, his gun at the ready, and he and Billy went into the house. No sooner had they stepped into the kitchen than a man came through the door. Lee moved quickly and within seconds had the burly man pinned on the kitchen floor.
"Don't struggle," he said, "and be quiet."
The man swore and tried to turn his head, and Lee recognized an old, rather unsavory contact. "Stetson. Damn you."
"Well, well," Lee said, digging his knee into the large man's back. "If it isn't Charlie Marvin. Look, Billy, it's our old friend Chuck."
Billy tilted his head and peered at the man upside-down. "So it is. How are things down there, Charlie?"
"Let me up," Charlie, muttered, scowling at Lee. "Dammit, Stetson, you can't just barge in here."
"Can't I?" Lee shifted his weight, digging his knee deeper into Charlie's ribs. The large man let out a grunt. "Where's Alexi?"
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"Where's Anne? Where's your girlfriend?"
With that, the men heard a door bang open near the front of the house.
"If she's on the street, Amanda'll get her," Lee said, and Charlie laughed.
"I'd like to see that," he muttered. "She'll be long gone before Amanda knows what hit her."
Lee and Billy exchanged glances. "I'm going to check out the basement," Billy said.
Amanda chased Anne half a block before the other woman disappeared into the darkness. Angry with herself for losing the other agent, Amanda turned back toward the house to regroup, her cheek stinging and her nose throbbing. She didn't think Anne would get far, and she was worried about Alexi. Charlie had been right - for a moment she hadn't known what had hit her. A moment later she had been sure it was Anne, but the seconds she lost cost her.
She moved cautiously through the front door of the house, faintly hearing Lee's voice in the kitchen. She pushed open the door and found her husband handcuffing a large man to the refrigerator.
"Are you all right?" Lee asked her.
"I lost Anne," she said, frustrated.
He fished out his handkerchief. "Your nose is bleeding."
Amanda touched her upper lip and saw blood on her fingers. "She hit me." She shook her head. "I'm going to check out things upstairs."
Lee nodded, and Amanda headed upstairs, her gun ready, calling out for Alexi. She heard a muffled sound coming from behind a door in the hallway. Her gun ready, she drew open the door and found Alexi, bound and gagged, at the bottom of a linen closet.
"Oh, are you all right?" she asked, kneeling on the floor, trying to untie the knots around his ankles. Alexi nodded, his eyes wide, and Amanda heard a step behind her.
"He's fine," Anne said, and Amanda turned around to discover the other woman was holding a gun. "But I think you can put down your weapon now, Mrs. Stetson."
Amanda stayed completely still for a moment, as if weighing her options, before slowly placing her gun on the floor.
"You've been a thorn in my side from the beginning. All your theories… " Anne let out a short, clipped laugh. "I should have known better."
"I didn't have any theories about you," Amanda said. "I thought it was Sheila. We all thought it was Sheila. You did a good job."
Anne shook her head. "Not quite good enough, though, or you wouldn't be standing in my hallway." Her thumb flicked the safety off her pistol. "I have a plane to catch, so if you don't mind, I'll close this account right now."
Amanda felt a chill start in the pit of her stomach. Fear closed her throat. The most she could hope to do was dive out of the way - a moving target was hard to hit - but that wouldn't save Alexi. She felt the tension in her legs and as she moved, heard a gun go off. She came up with her own gun in her hands, expecting to feel a bullet tear through her body. Instead, she saw Anne sprawled on the hallway floor, beside Alexi, and Lee Stetson standing on the landing, lowering his gun.
Amanda let out a long breath, smiling shakily at her husband, who leaned over and pressed two fingers to Anne's throat, feeling for a pulse. He saw a red flower of blood appear on Anne's shoulder and felt her heartbeat under his fingertips.
"Are you okay?" he asked, picking up Anne's gun.
"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine." Amanda laughed a little. "That was close."
"Too close," he said, stepping over Anne to kiss Amanda, firmly. A muffled sound from Alexi made him draw away from his wife. He leaned forward and loosened the gag around Alexi's mouth. "You okay?"
Alexi nodded, licking his lips.
Lee shook his head. "What is it with us and closets, anyway?"
Amanda stood on the front lawn of the house, watching as the paramedics loaded Anne's stretcher into their vehicle. The agents who had freed Charlie from the refrigerator escorted him toward a car, his hands behind his back. Billy was in the basement with another set of agents, dismantling Anne's computers and collecting evidence.
She folded her arms over her chest, chilly, and watched Alexi speak to more agents on the front porch. He finished and headed toward her, looking more hopeful than she'd ever seen him.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
Alexi nodded. "I have to go with them, I guess?"
Amanda nodded. "They have a few questions for you. Don't worry - they have questions for me and Lee, too."
Alexi was quiet for a moment. "Amanda…thanks for everything. You know - the place to stay. The clothes. For checking your email."
Amanda laughed, reaching out to give Alexi a warm hug. "No problem. Just see if you can stay out of trouble from now on, okay?"
Alexi laughed, too. "I'm sure as hell going to try. I've had enough of you Feds." He looks around, suddenly. "Where's Lee?"
"Sorting out a few things inside, I think. I'll tell him to catch up with you at the Agency."
"Okay. And Billy, too. I need to talk to him about a couple of things." Alexi sighed. "See you around."
"See you." Amanda watched Alexi nod toward the other agents - she thought it might be Palmer and Tyson, but it was hard to tell in the dark - and move toward their car. She felt a little lump in her throat, but she swallowed it and turned toward the house to find her husband.
Hours later, a weary Amanda stumbled into the Lee's office to find her husband and Billy talking to Pete Williams, who was sitting on the sofa with an ice pack against his forehead.
"I had no idea about any of this," Pete said, his shoulders drooping. "I thought Charlie was her brother."
"He wasn't," Lee said. "He's been involved in every type of scam in the book, though."
"I had no idea," Pete said again. "She just got really busy last week, and then today she broke it off. I came over tonight to talk to her."
"It's not your fault," Amanda said, sitting down beside Pete on the sofa. "She had a lot of people fooled."
"I just don't understand it," Pete said, shaking his head. "Why did she do it?"
"It started with her husband," Amanda said. "The rumors that were going around weren't just rumors - he really was stealing from his company. And he was doing it with Anne's help. When he died, she continued it - she was in the perfect position to set up false vendors all over the place. But things probably didn't get completely out of hand until she met Charlie."
"You mean with the bank," Lee said.
Amanda nodded. "Charlie saw the potential for Anne's operation to be much bigger. Until then, she'd just been squirreling money away, bit by bit. She had a substantial amount stashed away - but she was reliant on the Agency. I don't imagine it took much convincing for her to want to start up the bank."
"But then there was the audit at the Agency, and Sheila Marler took over Anne's position when you shuffled the staff," Billy said. "It's understandable that Anne would get a little antsy about it."
"Where do the security breaches fit in?"
"Charlie knew Alexi from fifteen years ago," Lee said. "The bust-up with ACM. When Anne told him there was going to be an audit, he figured they could get the "whiz kid" to help them cover it up. They were only supposed to distract us - Alexi was supposed to get in, delete Circuitech from our vendor files during one of the sweeps, and get out. But Alexi told them that deleting any file during the sweeps would send up an automatic flag to us, so he accessed random files instead." Lee shrugged. "He was afraid for his life. Luckily, Amanda picked up on the pattern and figured out what he was doing."
Pete nodded. "Anne played me like a violin," he muttered. "I was so…in love with her….I trusted her completely." He shook his head. "I even accused Sheila….God, I feel terrible."
"Don't," Lee said. "Let Amanda drive you home, and you can make up with your wife."
Pete's brow furrowed. "My wife? I'm not married."
"Have you got your toothbrush?" Amanda called to Lee, hearing him rummaging around upstairs.
"Yup. I bought a new one. Are you ready to go?"
"Pretty much." She smiled at him as he came down the stairs, her brown eyes twinkling, and he winked at her, setting a bag with the others near the front door. "I heard from Alexi this morning."
"Yeah?"
"He's starting his new job on Monday."
"That's great. So Billy came through for him, after all."
Amanda nodded. She sighed, suddenly, snapping hr purse closed. "I hope things work out for him. It'd be nice if he could just live a normal life for a while."
Lee smiled to himself, nodding a little. "A normal life," he mused. "Definitely underrated." He picked his car keys up from the table in the front hallway and turned to look at his wife, suddenly giving her the benefit of his smile. "Hey, you know what today is?" Lee asked, moving into the living room.
"What?" she asked, her eyebrows raised, double-checking that she had her passport. The look in his eye told her it was something special, she just couldn't be sure what.
"Fifteen years ago, you took Dan—"
"Dean."
Lee laughed. "Dean…to the train station."
"Really? Fifteen years ago…today?"
"Yeah."
"How did you know that?"
"When I was helping you and Billy look through all those files the other day, there was a report entry: Scarecrow loses package. Hands off to civilian, Amanda King."
"Really."
Lee nodded, sliding his arms around her. "But I like to think of it as the day that completely changed my life."
Amanda laughed. "Well, it certainly changed mine." She slid her arms about his waist. "All those red hats…"
"Whatever happened to Dean, anyway?"
Amanda shrugged. "He's probably still working for the weather bureau….For some reason," she planted a light kiss on Lee's mouth, "we completely lost touch with each other."
"Hmmm. Why do you suppose that is?"
She shook her head, her mouth still against Lee's, and smiled as he kissed her again. "Simple. There isn't enough adventure in cold fronts."