Lee glanced at the clock at the corner of the computer screen. It was nearly two in the morning, but he'd finally finished up the last of the paperwork. He stretched his long arms upwards as he rolled the chair away from the large desk in the middle of the study. As he stood, he heard the gravel crunch under car tires. Looking out the window, he noticed Beth's BMW. Lee's stomach dropped as he watched Jamie get out of the car and sit down on the front porch.
Jamie's stomach was in no better shape. His mind was a jumbled mess of confusion, pain and worry. The words wouldn't come. He didn't know what to say to Lee. He wanted to scream, blame him for this. But Lee didn't know he was dating Beth, and Beth didn't know Lee was his stepfather. Before his thoughts could torment him further, the front door opened.
"Jamie, it's awfully late," Lee sighed. "And it's cold out here. Come on in the house."
The young man said nothing but rose to his full height, just an inch shorter than his stepfather, and followed Lee into the house. Before Lee could speak again, Jamie handed him the ID tag.
"Uh, Jamie ... where did you get this?"
"It was in my girlfriend's purse. My girlfriend dropped her purse as a large man forced her into the back of a car and drove away," he said, barely above a whisper.
Lee immediately made a move for the phone. Jamie reached into his pocket and handed Lee the license plate number. Lee smiled and nodded, then said a few words into the phone before hanging up.
"I need you to come into the agency with me, Jamie," Lee said quietly, laying a hand on his stepson's shoulder. "You're going to have to look at mug shots and see if you recognize the guy."
"I've seen him before. He's the one that was chasing her the morning I met her at the train station," Jamie replied.
"You're the one she met at the train station?"
Jamie nodded. Lee smiled and clapped him on the back.
"We'll get her back," he said.
"I want to help," Jamie said coldly. Lee felt his stomach drop again as Jamie finally voiced what Lee had been suspecting for months. "I want to help you."
"Absolutely not," Amanda's voice came from the dark corridor.
"Amanda," Lee sighed, opening his arms for her.
"Mom," Jamie started. "Lee. What if these guys are Russian? My Russian is ten times better than Lee's ... no offense."
"None taken," Lee replied. "There's more to this than speaking another language, Jamie. You know that." Lee rolled up his t-shirt to show Jamie a bullet wound scar. "There's a lot more."
Jamie hung his head and shrugged. Amanda and Lee quickly made their way upstairs to change, and Jamie gave in to exhaustion and sank into an armchair. Why would she lie to him? Why would she lead him on all this time? Something didn't make sense, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"How could this happen to him again, Lee?" Amanda sobbed, sitting on the edge of their bed. Her husband wrapped his arms around her. "The Agency once again turns her cold shoulder to Jamie."
"Amanda, there's nothing you could have done. He's a grown man, and he has to make his own decisions," he said into her hair. He felt his wife nod into his chest. "Amanda, I've been suspecting Jamie has been anxious about working for the Agency."
"I guess I have too, I just didn't want to admit it to myself," she sighed. "And the thing is, I think he wants to do it as much as he feels it's his duty."
"He's so smart, Amanda. And he's worked so hard-"
"In a Foreign Services major, Lee," she cut him off. "We've been kidding ourselves to think he'd end up in politics. Just look at his parents! He knows more about the Middle East than you and I put together. He's been to every major city we work in, and his expertise on Russia-"
"Is unhealthy," he cut her off.
"It was unhealthy when he was fourteen, Lee. He's twenty years old, he's brilliant, and he's our son."
"That's right. He's our son. And he deserves a normal life," Lee said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. "FBI would have been fine. CIA would have been worrisome, but better than this. Agency work could get him killed for being a mere courier, Amanda. And we both know if he was to go through training-"
"He'd be just like his parents," she finished. They both heaved a sigh and finished dressing in silence. The matter would stay unresolved for now.
Jamie sat at Lee's desk at the Agency, staring at picture after picture. Amanda was asleep on the couch across the room, and Lee had stepped out for coffee. No one in the mug book looked familiar, not even slightly. Jamie glanced up and noticed Lee talking to an odd little man out in the 'bullpen,' as his parents referred to it. Jamie could barely keep his eyes open and felt his head starting to sag.
Lee hung up the phone and rubbed his throbbing temples. It was a quarter to six, and he'd just been on the phone with Dr. Smyth, who was currently in Paris. It was bad news in every corner. He found out from TP what information Beth had carried on her adventure at the train station; coded information about war crimes in Serbia.
He inwardly cursed himself for sending her. It was such a rare occasion when things went wrong on a drop. Lee had just assumed everything would be fine. But obviously, things were not fine right now. His son was sitting at his desk trying to pick out the man who had taken his girlfriend right out from under his nose.
Lee crossed the room and peered into the window. Jamie and Amanda had obviously had a conversation, because Jamie was now across the room on the couch, his mother asleep on his shoulder. Jamie was asleep too, or at least he appeared to be. Lee quietly opened the door and smiled as Jamie's eyes opened and peered up at him.
"It's not good news, son," Lee said quietly.
"Apparently Beth was carrying coded information that is valued in a very tumultuous part of the world right now."
"And I suppose you're not allowed to tell me what part of the world that is, are you?"
"I can't, Jamie," Lee sighed, collapsing into the chair behind his desk. The phone rang.
"Stetson," he answered. Lee's eyebrows furrowed in concentration and he scribbled something down on a stray envelope. "Amanda," he said as he hung up the phone. She nodded, not wanting to open her eyes.
"I need you to come with me, I just got a call from one of my contacts," he continued. Amanda stretched and sat up.
"Jamie, why don't you go back up to the house and check on your grandmother," she said. "Matthew and Jenny will be up in about half an hour, and she could probably use some help getting them ready for school."
"Okay," Jamie said quietly. The three of them walked out to the parking lot together, Jamie getting into Beth's car, and his parents into theirs.
"We'll call you when we get back to the Agency, sweetheart," Amanda said as she ducked into the car.
Jamie said nothing and got into the car. He pulled out, turned around in a parking lot across the street, waited until three cars were between his parents and Beth's car, and then followed them into the city. They drove for about twenty minutes, Jamie all the while staying behind his parents.
He didn't know where he was exactly, but he could see the Capitol above the roofs of the dingy buildings he was driving beneath. He pulled into an alley a block behind where Lee had parked, and watched as his stepfather drew his gun and stalked around the side of a building. Jamie could see his mother, waiting in the car anxiously, and he smirked at the thought that she probably had a gun drawn too.
Jamie was startled to see a black van pull up just in front of where he was parked. The man who had taken Beth got out of the passenger side and was slowly making his way to where Lee had parked. Jamie panicked. He reached around in the space behind the seats of the BMW and wrapped his hands around a tire iron. Instinctively, he exited the vehicle silently and followed the man.
Lee's contact hadn't shown, and it was ten minutes past meeting time. He got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and knew someone in his family had been compromised. Trying not to panic, he made his way back to the street. Lee noticed the tall man first; creeping up slowly behind the car Amanda was sitting in. He raised his gun to fire when he noticed Jamie creeping in the same manner, four or five feet behind the assailant. Keeping his finger on the trigger, he watched his stepson carefully.
The man rose to full height and drew a knife before yanking the passenger side door open. It took Jamie two strides to get behind him and strike him once with the tire iron. The man crumpled into a heap in front of him. Lee was instantly at his side, handcuffing the man before looking up at Jamie.
"Are you out of your mind?" he shouted.
"I'm not out of my mind. I was worried about you two, so I followed you. Good thing I did," he said. Just then shots rang out from the van, and Lee tackled Jamie, pulling him out of the line of fire. Lee sat up and fired a couple shots as the van squealed out of the alley and out of range.
"We appreciate your concern, Jamie, but this is dangerous. If you got hurt I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Lee said, taking the tire iron out of Jamie's trembling hands.
"That's the guy that took Beth," he said, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "What are we going to do now? Did I kill him?"
"No, sweetheart, you just knocked some sense into him," Amanda said, holding out her hands to her son. He took them and knelt next to his mother outside the car.
"Well, let me call for some backup to take this guy in. Did you get those plates, Amanda?"
"Yes," she said, smoothing Jamie's hair. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, mom. Really," he said, trying to sound convincing. He hadn't been this scared in six years.
Amanda and Lee forced Jamie to go home after they returned to the Agency.
"Do not tell your grandmother you've been here, Jamie," Amanda said. "She'll have both our hides. Just get showered and try to relax. You can go pick Matthew up from school and take him to lunch if you want. Take the cell phone with you; we'll call if anything comes up."
Jamie was too tired to argue at this point, so he followed Lee out of the building and into the parking lot.
"Jamie, I'm proud of you," Lee said, making a point of looking his son in the eyes. "You've done so many brave things in the past twenty-four hours. Your mother is proud of you, too. We're just scared for you. Just try to get a little rest and we'll be in touch soon."
His son nodded and looked up at him, with respect shining in his eyes.
"Thank you, Lee," he said, and reached for the door handle. Lee placed his hand on his shoulder and then pulled him in for a hug.
"I love you, son," he said.
"I love you too, Lee," Jamie answered, and stepped into the convertible.
Beth woke up in an impeccably furnished room. From her conclusions, it looked like a study. She was alone in the room, and her shoulder was stiff from sleeping wrong again. As she stood up, she realized what had happened. The man from the train station had grabbed her as she was trying to enter her apartment building and forced her into the back of a car. And Jamie was there.
Jamie. At least he knew what was happening now. Beth was almost positive he would go to Lee for help. And Amanda and Lee wouldn't let her die, not like this. Beth looked down at the ring on her finger. Jamie told her he was falling in love with her in that stupid jazz club. Why was he falling in love with her? She didn't deserve him, not for a second.
Before Beth could think anymore, the door opened and a small, graying woman entered. Beth recognized her as the woman that had been following her at the train station.
"Good morning, Elizabeth. I trust you slept well," the woman said as she sat down in an overstuffed chair. Beth did not reply.
"You will need to speak to me if you want to return to your job and your uncle," the woman said. Beth cringed. She realized when she took the job that she was an easy target to get to her uncle, she just didn't think she'd be dealing with it so soon.
"I would have slept better in my own bed, thank you." Beth replied.
"Very true. How is your shoulder?"
"It's sore, but I'll live," the young agent sighed.
"I assume you are wondering who I am. Have a seat and I will explain everything to you," the older woman said as she rose from her seat. As she returned from the other room, a house servant followed with a breakfast tray and set it in between the two women.
"My name is Emilija Karic. I have been sent here by my superiors to cut a deal with the American government. My brother, Simeon, is a high-ranking official in the Serbian government. After the recent upheaval in my country, my brother was accused of war crimes and we believe he is being held here in America," the woman said, buttering a piece of toast. "My brother is an important part of the government in my country. Things have been worse since he has been in custody."
"What does that have to do with me?" Beth asked.
"We're going to make a trade. You for my brother," Emilija said. "As long as your uncle cooperates, no one will get hurt."
"My uncle is in Paris," Beth spat, unable to maintain a polite façade.
"We're aware of that fact, Beth. Your uncle will be notified in the airport of our conditions, and I'm sure he won't let his only niece die in the place of a Serbian war criminal," the older woman said softly.
Beth wasn't so sure. As much as she liked to think Austin Smyth was her guardian angel, he was a public servant and a patriot. Patriots did not negotiate with terrorists or anyone else, for that matter. No, she couldn't count on Uncle Austin for anything right now. His hands were tied. She attempted to eat a little breakfast in silence, hoping Jamie had the sense to talk to his parents.
Jamie smiled as Matty ran out of the school building as kindergarten was released. As much as Jamie hated to admit it, Matthew was turning into Philip, the sequel. He was the star of his little league tee-ball team, and even kindergarten wasn't appealing to him. He was tall for his age, taking after his father already. The sandy brown hair and big hazel eyes matched his father, too. The only bit of him that was Amanda was his gift of gab. Philip had dubbed him the 'little old man' when he was three, because he spoke in complete sentences and a perfect manner, just like a little old man.
"Jamie! Did you finally buy a car?" Matty squealed as he saw his brother standing next to the sports car.
"No, I'm borrowing it. Mom said I could come pick you up for lunch, so I had to get here somehow, huh?"
"You borrowed the car just for me?" Matty smiled.
"Of course! You are my favorite brother, after all," Jamie said as he tossed Matty over his shoulder. Matthew laughed hysterically. "What do you want for lunch, bud?"
"Ice cream!"
"You got it! Let's go!" Jamie said, setting Matthew on the hood of the car as he opened the door for him. The little Stetson jumped off and climbed into the car. Jamie flipped on the radio and made sure Matty was buckled before squealing out of the parking lot, much to his little brother's delight. The love song playing was the last thing he wanted to hear.
He pushed in a jazz disc and avoided the radio. Matty eyed him curiously, but decided not to say anything. Instead, he pulled a baseball out of his bookbag and tossed it gently up in the air. Jamie shook his head. Definitely a Stetson, he thought, and drove off down the road.
When they arrived at the ice cream place downtown, Jamie was startled to see the stange little man from the bullpen, sitting under an umbrella stuffing his face. A laptop and scattered papers littered his table. The little man recognized him and nodded his head knowingly.
"Ah, James. Is this the littlest Stetson you have with you?" TP asked.
"Yes, sir. This is Matty. Say hello Matty, this is-"
"T. Percival Aquinas, my boy. Your dad has told me an awful lot about you, Matthew. It's nice to finally meet you," TP said, offering his hand to the little boy. "As it is to meet you, Jamie. I would recommend you get your cones to go, I'm expecting a visit from a Scarecrow shortly."
"Yes, sir," Jamie said politely.
"Jamie, don't worry. Lee won't keep you in the dark on this," TP said. "Matty!" he called to the little boy, who was already eyeing the flavors of the week. "The tutti frutti is delicious!"
"It's his favorite, Mr. Aquinas," Jamie said, and turned to join his brother.
When they got back to Rockville, Dotty sent Matthew upstairs to wash his hands and face.
"What did you feed him for lunch, Jamie? Ice cream?" Dotty asked.
Jamie shrugged and kissed his grandmother on the cheek as he passed her on the way to Lee's study. The man that owned the house before the Stetsons bought it was an antiquarian, and he had divided his study into two floors. Lee didn't have any need for the second floor, so it became Jamie's 'nest' when they moved in his senior year of high school.
The reason Jamie had picked this room wasn't the reason he'd given his mother. He told his mom that he wanted privacy, and he wasn't going to get it with a room next to his grandmother. In actuality, Jamie knew Lee worked very late hours in the study, and he liked to go sit with Lee and talk or read while his stepfather worked his way through mountains of paperwork. He'd spent many late nights talking with Lee over the years, and he valued the times greatly.
After his shower, Jamie opted to wear his glasses instead of his contacts, pulled on a pair of jeans and buttoned up an oxford shirt, and padded back down the stairs in bare feet. He found Matthew watching cartoons in the den, and snuck past him to the living room where the piano sat, gathering dust since the last time Jamie had been home to play it. Just as he began to play, Jenny came in the front door.
"Jamie!" Jenny smiled, and rushed over to hug her older brother. "What are you doing home? You've been here an awful lot lately," she said, sitting next to him on the piano bench.
"Well, I have a friend's car so I just thought I'd come home and visit. How was school?"
"It was fine," she smiled, and got up. "I'll let you play."
Jamie smiled as Jenny walked out of the room. Although she'd inherited Amanda's dark hair and eyes, she'd also inherited Lee's quiet and serious demeanor. Jenny had friends at school but she was a serious student and stuck close to her family, especially Daddy. Jamie played a few things from memory, mostly to let his frustration out. He was reaching for a book under the bench when he realized his grandmother was standing behind him.
"Hi, Grandma," Jamie said, turning to face her on the bench.
"What's bothering you, sweetheart? I know school has been rough, but this isn't like you! Are you homesick or is there something else going on? I know for a fact you have a class right now," Dotty said, rubbing Jamie's back as she sat down. "And I know you don't miss classes."
"I just have a friend that's in a lot of trouble right now, and I don't really know how I can help her, Grandma," he sighed. Dotty opened her mouth to say something when the phone rang. "I'll get it," he said, and hopped off the bench. As he rounded the corner to the den, he heard Matthew giggling into the phone.
"Jamie let me have ice cream for lunch!" he said. Jamie glanced at the caller ID as Matty proceeded to snitch on him. It was Lee at work. "Okay, I'll see you later, Daddy!" Matty handed the phone to Jamie and hurried to get out of arm's reach.
"Traitor!" Jamie muttered at Matty, who grinned at him triumphantly. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jamie. We just got some news, and Dr. Smyth wants you to be here when he arrives from Paris. His flight comes in in about an hour, so I guess you better come on down," Lee said, exhaustion evident in his voice.
"What news?"
"Dr. Smyth was contacted in the Paris airport. It seems that Beth is being held and they want to exchange her for someone else," Lee said. "I can't really tell you much more than that, Jamie."
"Don't remind me," he retorted. Jamie's mind was going in a million different directions.
"Come on in, Jamie. Everything is going to be all right," Lee said.
"Yeah," he answered, and hung up the phone. Jamie wasn't so sure.
TBC
Jamie's stomach was in no better shape. His mind was a jumbled mess of confusion, pain and worry. The words wouldn't come. He didn't know what to say to Lee. He wanted to scream, blame him for this. But Lee didn't know he was dating Beth, and Beth didn't know Lee was his stepfather. Before his thoughts could torment him further, the front door opened.
"Jamie, it's awfully late," Lee sighed. "And it's cold out here. Come on in the house."
The young man said nothing but rose to his full height, just an inch shorter than his stepfather, and followed Lee into the house. Before Lee could speak again, Jamie handed him the ID tag.
"Uh, Jamie ... where did you get this?"
"It was in my girlfriend's purse. My girlfriend dropped her purse as a large man forced her into the back of a car and drove away," he said, barely above a whisper.
Lee immediately made a move for the phone. Jamie reached into his pocket and handed Lee the license plate number. Lee smiled and nodded, then said a few words into the phone before hanging up.
"I need you to come into the agency with me, Jamie," Lee said quietly, laying a hand on his stepson's shoulder. "You're going to have to look at mug shots and see if you recognize the guy."
"I've seen him before. He's the one that was chasing her the morning I met her at the train station," Jamie replied.
"You're the one she met at the train station?"
Jamie nodded. Lee smiled and clapped him on the back.
"We'll get her back," he said.
"I want to help," Jamie said coldly. Lee felt his stomach drop again as Jamie finally voiced what Lee had been suspecting for months. "I want to help you."
"Absolutely not," Amanda's voice came from the dark corridor.
"Amanda," Lee sighed, opening his arms for her.
"Mom," Jamie started. "Lee. What if these guys are Russian? My Russian is ten times better than Lee's ... no offense."
"None taken," Lee replied. "There's more to this than speaking another language, Jamie. You know that." Lee rolled up his t-shirt to show Jamie a bullet wound scar. "There's a lot more."
Jamie hung his head and shrugged. Amanda and Lee quickly made their way upstairs to change, and Jamie gave in to exhaustion and sank into an armchair. Why would she lie to him? Why would she lead him on all this time? Something didn't make sense, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"How could this happen to him again, Lee?" Amanda sobbed, sitting on the edge of their bed. Her husband wrapped his arms around her. "The Agency once again turns her cold shoulder to Jamie."
"Amanda, there's nothing you could have done. He's a grown man, and he has to make his own decisions," he said into her hair. He felt his wife nod into his chest. "Amanda, I've been suspecting Jamie has been anxious about working for the Agency."
"I guess I have too, I just didn't want to admit it to myself," she sighed. "And the thing is, I think he wants to do it as much as he feels it's his duty."
"He's so smart, Amanda. And he's worked so hard-"
"In a Foreign Services major, Lee," she cut him off. "We've been kidding ourselves to think he'd end up in politics. Just look at his parents! He knows more about the Middle East than you and I put together. He's been to every major city we work in, and his expertise on Russia-"
"Is unhealthy," he cut her off.
"It was unhealthy when he was fourteen, Lee. He's twenty years old, he's brilliant, and he's our son."
"That's right. He's our son. And he deserves a normal life," Lee said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. "FBI would have been fine. CIA would have been worrisome, but better than this. Agency work could get him killed for being a mere courier, Amanda. And we both know if he was to go through training-"
"He'd be just like his parents," she finished. They both heaved a sigh and finished dressing in silence. The matter would stay unresolved for now.
Jamie sat at Lee's desk at the Agency, staring at picture after picture. Amanda was asleep on the couch across the room, and Lee had stepped out for coffee. No one in the mug book looked familiar, not even slightly. Jamie glanced up and noticed Lee talking to an odd little man out in the 'bullpen,' as his parents referred to it. Jamie could barely keep his eyes open and felt his head starting to sag.
Lee hung up the phone and rubbed his throbbing temples. It was a quarter to six, and he'd just been on the phone with Dr. Smyth, who was currently in Paris. It was bad news in every corner. He found out from TP what information Beth had carried on her adventure at the train station; coded information about war crimes in Serbia.
He inwardly cursed himself for sending her. It was such a rare occasion when things went wrong on a drop. Lee had just assumed everything would be fine. But obviously, things were not fine right now. His son was sitting at his desk trying to pick out the man who had taken his girlfriend right out from under his nose.
Lee crossed the room and peered into the window. Jamie and Amanda had obviously had a conversation, because Jamie was now across the room on the couch, his mother asleep on his shoulder. Jamie was asleep too, or at least he appeared to be. Lee quietly opened the door and smiled as Jamie's eyes opened and peered up at him.
"It's not good news, son," Lee said quietly.
"Apparently Beth was carrying coded information that is valued in a very tumultuous part of the world right now."
"And I suppose you're not allowed to tell me what part of the world that is, are you?"
"I can't, Jamie," Lee sighed, collapsing into the chair behind his desk. The phone rang.
"Stetson," he answered. Lee's eyebrows furrowed in concentration and he scribbled something down on a stray envelope. "Amanda," he said as he hung up the phone. She nodded, not wanting to open her eyes.
"I need you to come with me, I just got a call from one of my contacts," he continued. Amanda stretched and sat up.
"Jamie, why don't you go back up to the house and check on your grandmother," she said. "Matthew and Jenny will be up in about half an hour, and she could probably use some help getting them ready for school."
"Okay," Jamie said quietly. The three of them walked out to the parking lot together, Jamie getting into Beth's car, and his parents into theirs.
"We'll call you when we get back to the Agency, sweetheart," Amanda said as she ducked into the car.
Jamie said nothing and got into the car. He pulled out, turned around in a parking lot across the street, waited until three cars were between his parents and Beth's car, and then followed them into the city. They drove for about twenty minutes, Jamie all the while staying behind his parents.
He didn't know where he was exactly, but he could see the Capitol above the roofs of the dingy buildings he was driving beneath. He pulled into an alley a block behind where Lee had parked, and watched as his stepfather drew his gun and stalked around the side of a building. Jamie could see his mother, waiting in the car anxiously, and he smirked at the thought that she probably had a gun drawn too.
Jamie was startled to see a black van pull up just in front of where he was parked. The man who had taken Beth got out of the passenger side and was slowly making his way to where Lee had parked. Jamie panicked. He reached around in the space behind the seats of the BMW and wrapped his hands around a tire iron. Instinctively, he exited the vehicle silently and followed the man.
Lee's contact hadn't shown, and it was ten minutes past meeting time. He got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach and knew someone in his family had been compromised. Trying not to panic, he made his way back to the street. Lee noticed the tall man first; creeping up slowly behind the car Amanda was sitting in. He raised his gun to fire when he noticed Jamie creeping in the same manner, four or five feet behind the assailant. Keeping his finger on the trigger, he watched his stepson carefully.
The man rose to full height and drew a knife before yanking the passenger side door open. It took Jamie two strides to get behind him and strike him once with the tire iron. The man crumpled into a heap in front of him. Lee was instantly at his side, handcuffing the man before looking up at Jamie.
"Are you out of your mind?" he shouted.
"I'm not out of my mind. I was worried about you two, so I followed you. Good thing I did," he said. Just then shots rang out from the van, and Lee tackled Jamie, pulling him out of the line of fire. Lee sat up and fired a couple shots as the van squealed out of the alley and out of range.
"We appreciate your concern, Jamie, but this is dangerous. If you got hurt I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Lee said, taking the tire iron out of Jamie's trembling hands.
"That's the guy that took Beth," he said, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "What are we going to do now? Did I kill him?"
"No, sweetheart, you just knocked some sense into him," Amanda said, holding out her hands to her son. He took them and knelt next to his mother outside the car.
"Well, let me call for some backup to take this guy in. Did you get those plates, Amanda?"
"Yes," she said, smoothing Jamie's hair. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, mom. Really," he said, trying to sound convincing. He hadn't been this scared in six years.
Amanda and Lee forced Jamie to go home after they returned to the Agency.
"Do not tell your grandmother you've been here, Jamie," Amanda said. "She'll have both our hides. Just get showered and try to relax. You can go pick Matthew up from school and take him to lunch if you want. Take the cell phone with you; we'll call if anything comes up."
Jamie was too tired to argue at this point, so he followed Lee out of the building and into the parking lot.
"Jamie, I'm proud of you," Lee said, making a point of looking his son in the eyes. "You've done so many brave things in the past twenty-four hours. Your mother is proud of you, too. We're just scared for you. Just try to get a little rest and we'll be in touch soon."
His son nodded and looked up at him, with respect shining in his eyes.
"Thank you, Lee," he said, and reached for the door handle. Lee placed his hand on his shoulder and then pulled him in for a hug.
"I love you, son," he said.
"I love you too, Lee," Jamie answered, and stepped into the convertible.
Beth woke up in an impeccably furnished room. From her conclusions, it looked like a study. She was alone in the room, and her shoulder was stiff from sleeping wrong again. As she stood up, she realized what had happened. The man from the train station had grabbed her as she was trying to enter her apartment building and forced her into the back of a car. And Jamie was there.
Jamie. At least he knew what was happening now. Beth was almost positive he would go to Lee for help. And Amanda and Lee wouldn't let her die, not like this. Beth looked down at the ring on her finger. Jamie told her he was falling in love with her in that stupid jazz club. Why was he falling in love with her? She didn't deserve him, not for a second.
Before Beth could think anymore, the door opened and a small, graying woman entered. Beth recognized her as the woman that had been following her at the train station.
"Good morning, Elizabeth. I trust you slept well," the woman said as she sat down in an overstuffed chair. Beth did not reply.
"You will need to speak to me if you want to return to your job and your uncle," the woman said. Beth cringed. She realized when she took the job that she was an easy target to get to her uncle, she just didn't think she'd be dealing with it so soon.
"I would have slept better in my own bed, thank you." Beth replied.
"Very true. How is your shoulder?"
"It's sore, but I'll live," the young agent sighed.
"I assume you are wondering who I am. Have a seat and I will explain everything to you," the older woman said as she rose from her seat. As she returned from the other room, a house servant followed with a breakfast tray and set it in between the two women.
"My name is Emilija Karic. I have been sent here by my superiors to cut a deal with the American government. My brother, Simeon, is a high-ranking official in the Serbian government. After the recent upheaval in my country, my brother was accused of war crimes and we believe he is being held here in America," the woman said, buttering a piece of toast. "My brother is an important part of the government in my country. Things have been worse since he has been in custody."
"What does that have to do with me?" Beth asked.
"We're going to make a trade. You for my brother," Emilija said. "As long as your uncle cooperates, no one will get hurt."
"My uncle is in Paris," Beth spat, unable to maintain a polite façade.
"We're aware of that fact, Beth. Your uncle will be notified in the airport of our conditions, and I'm sure he won't let his only niece die in the place of a Serbian war criminal," the older woman said softly.
Beth wasn't so sure. As much as she liked to think Austin Smyth was her guardian angel, he was a public servant and a patriot. Patriots did not negotiate with terrorists or anyone else, for that matter. No, she couldn't count on Uncle Austin for anything right now. His hands were tied. She attempted to eat a little breakfast in silence, hoping Jamie had the sense to talk to his parents.
Jamie smiled as Matty ran out of the school building as kindergarten was released. As much as Jamie hated to admit it, Matthew was turning into Philip, the sequel. He was the star of his little league tee-ball team, and even kindergarten wasn't appealing to him. He was tall for his age, taking after his father already. The sandy brown hair and big hazel eyes matched his father, too. The only bit of him that was Amanda was his gift of gab. Philip had dubbed him the 'little old man' when he was three, because he spoke in complete sentences and a perfect manner, just like a little old man.
"Jamie! Did you finally buy a car?" Matty squealed as he saw his brother standing next to the sports car.
"No, I'm borrowing it. Mom said I could come pick you up for lunch, so I had to get here somehow, huh?"
"You borrowed the car just for me?" Matty smiled.
"Of course! You are my favorite brother, after all," Jamie said as he tossed Matty over his shoulder. Matthew laughed hysterically. "What do you want for lunch, bud?"
"Ice cream!"
"You got it! Let's go!" Jamie said, setting Matthew on the hood of the car as he opened the door for him. The little Stetson jumped off and climbed into the car. Jamie flipped on the radio and made sure Matty was buckled before squealing out of the parking lot, much to his little brother's delight. The love song playing was the last thing he wanted to hear.
He pushed in a jazz disc and avoided the radio. Matty eyed him curiously, but decided not to say anything. Instead, he pulled a baseball out of his bookbag and tossed it gently up in the air. Jamie shook his head. Definitely a Stetson, he thought, and drove off down the road.
When they arrived at the ice cream place downtown, Jamie was startled to see the stange little man from the bullpen, sitting under an umbrella stuffing his face. A laptop and scattered papers littered his table. The little man recognized him and nodded his head knowingly.
"Ah, James. Is this the littlest Stetson you have with you?" TP asked.
"Yes, sir. This is Matty. Say hello Matty, this is-"
"T. Percival Aquinas, my boy. Your dad has told me an awful lot about you, Matthew. It's nice to finally meet you," TP said, offering his hand to the little boy. "As it is to meet you, Jamie. I would recommend you get your cones to go, I'm expecting a visit from a Scarecrow shortly."
"Yes, sir," Jamie said politely.
"Jamie, don't worry. Lee won't keep you in the dark on this," TP said. "Matty!" he called to the little boy, who was already eyeing the flavors of the week. "The tutti frutti is delicious!"
"It's his favorite, Mr. Aquinas," Jamie said, and turned to join his brother.
When they got back to Rockville, Dotty sent Matthew upstairs to wash his hands and face.
"What did you feed him for lunch, Jamie? Ice cream?" Dotty asked.
Jamie shrugged and kissed his grandmother on the cheek as he passed her on the way to Lee's study. The man that owned the house before the Stetsons bought it was an antiquarian, and he had divided his study into two floors. Lee didn't have any need for the second floor, so it became Jamie's 'nest' when they moved in his senior year of high school.
The reason Jamie had picked this room wasn't the reason he'd given his mother. He told his mom that he wanted privacy, and he wasn't going to get it with a room next to his grandmother. In actuality, Jamie knew Lee worked very late hours in the study, and he liked to go sit with Lee and talk or read while his stepfather worked his way through mountains of paperwork. He'd spent many late nights talking with Lee over the years, and he valued the times greatly.
After his shower, Jamie opted to wear his glasses instead of his contacts, pulled on a pair of jeans and buttoned up an oxford shirt, and padded back down the stairs in bare feet. He found Matthew watching cartoons in the den, and snuck past him to the living room where the piano sat, gathering dust since the last time Jamie had been home to play it. Just as he began to play, Jenny came in the front door.
"Jamie!" Jenny smiled, and rushed over to hug her older brother. "What are you doing home? You've been here an awful lot lately," she said, sitting next to him on the piano bench.
"Well, I have a friend's car so I just thought I'd come home and visit. How was school?"
"It was fine," she smiled, and got up. "I'll let you play."
Jamie smiled as Jenny walked out of the room. Although she'd inherited Amanda's dark hair and eyes, she'd also inherited Lee's quiet and serious demeanor. Jenny had friends at school but she was a serious student and stuck close to her family, especially Daddy. Jamie played a few things from memory, mostly to let his frustration out. He was reaching for a book under the bench when he realized his grandmother was standing behind him.
"Hi, Grandma," Jamie said, turning to face her on the bench.
"What's bothering you, sweetheart? I know school has been rough, but this isn't like you! Are you homesick or is there something else going on? I know for a fact you have a class right now," Dotty said, rubbing Jamie's back as she sat down. "And I know you don't miss classes."
"I just have a friend that's in a lot of trouble right now, and I don't really know how I can help her, Grandma," he sighed. Dotty opened her mouth to say something when the phone rang. "I'll get it," he said, and hopped off the bench. As he rounded the corner to the den, he heard Matthew giggling into the phone.
"Jamie let me have ice cream for lunch!" he said. Jamie glanced at the caller ID as Matty proceeded to snitch on him. It was Lee at work. "Okay, I'll see you later, Daddy!" Matty handed the phone to Jamie and hurried to get out of arm's reach.
"Traitor!" Jamie muttered at Matty, who grinned at him triumphantly. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jamie. We just got some news, and Dr. Smyth wants you to be here when he arrives from Paris. His flight comes in in about an hour, so I guess you better come on down," Lee said, exhaustion evident in his voice.
"What news?"
"Dr. Smyth was contacted in the Paris airport. It seems that Beth is being held and they want to exchange her for someone else," Lee said. "I can't really tell you much more than that, Jamie."
"Don't remind me," he retorted. Jamie's mind was going in a million different directions.
"Come on in, Jamie. Everything is going to be all right," Lee said.
"Yeah," he answered, and hung up the phone. Jamie wasn't so sure.
TBC