Chapter 2 Charles & Deborah Kluge Charles & Deborah Kluge 2 5 2001-11-05T01:47:00Z 2001-11-05T01:47:00Z 6 2436 13890 115 27 17057 9.2720

Chapter 2

Amanda was just handing Phillip and Jamie their lunches the next morning when the phone rang.  She heard her mother pick it up in the living room and after a brief moment, Dottie appeared in the doorway and said, "It's for you, Amanda."

"Thank you, Mother.  Can you see that the boys have everything they need for school?"

"Certainly, darling.  What are we forgetting, fellas?"

With a smile, Amanda left the kitchen and picked up the phone.  "Hello?"

"Good morning, Amanda."

"Oh, good morning!"  Glancing over her shoulder, she carefully lowered her voice.  "Is there anything wrong, sir?"

Billy Melrose sounded decidedly cheerful as he replied, "Nothing at all.  I was just wondering if you'd be available to work for a while on a more or less full time basis.  I've got an assignment that you'd be particularly well suited for and I'm hoping you'll be willing to take it."

"Oh," she said, not quite sure what else to say.  After a moment, she added, "Well, of course I'd be happy to help out any way I can."

"Good.  Good.  Why don't you plan on being in here about 11:00 and we'll go through what's needed."

"Yes, sir.  I'll be there."  She hesitated briefly.  "Do you know if it will run late?  If so, I probably should warn my mother . . ."

"No, it shouldn't.  This one is very much of a daytime enterprise."

"Oh.  Well, I'll be there, sir."

"Good.  I'll see you at 11:00."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Amanda crossed the bullpen heading for Billy Melrose's office a little before 11:00, Francine Desmond intercepted her.

"Not there.  Everybody's down in the conference room.  Come on."

Amanda gave her a sidelong look as she dropped into step with the other woman.  "So what's up, Francine?  Something big?"

Francine shrugged noncommittally.  "I'm not really sure.  It could be something, or it could be a whole bunch of nothing.  But in the interests of international good will, I guess we're going to get involved in it.  Frankly, I think it will probably be a colossal bore."

"Right up my alley, is that what you mean?" Amanda replied dryly.

"Well, Billy seems to think so."  With that, she pushed the conference room door open and went in with Amanda close on her heels.

Melrose glanced up at the two of them and then nodded.  "That's everybody, so let's get started.  Turning, he picked up a remote and pushed a button.  The lights dimmed and a picture of the U.N. building in New York flashed up on the screen.  "Over the last six to nine months, rumors have been circulating about a new group of black-market information peddlers.  The rumors were spotty and largely unsubstantiated so no one pursued them actively.  Then, about three months ago, this group supposedly sold the details of a proposed United Nations nuclear disarmament package."  Melrose shrugged.  "This isn't as dire as it might sound.  It did no real damage because there had been a lot of people involved in crafting the terms and there wasn't anything particularly secret about it.  But it is disturbing because it would seem that this group has begun to be much more active than was first thought."

He triggered the remote and the picture changed again.  This time, the scene depicted was that of Buckingham Palace in London.  "A few days after the U.N. incident, an extremely valuable portrait that was housed in Buckingham Palace disappeared in what could only have been a daring daylight robbery.  The thief couldn't be identified, but again, the rumors credited this black-market information group with providing the thieves with the necessary floor plans and security information to accomplish the robbery.  Again, there's been no way to substantiate the rumors, but they can't be reliably discredited, either."

In rapid succession, Billy flicked through a series of slides, each showing recognizable scenes from various European cities.  "The pattern keeps repeating itself . . . in Paris, Bonn, Athens . . ."  Billy shook his head.  "There's no apparent rhyme or reason to what's been leaked.  Sometimes it's national security info, sometimes it's corporate big-business stuff, and sometimes it's personal dirt on important people.  It's more like someone is anticipating what there's going to be a market for and then generating the interest."

"Tough one to chase," Peter Selensky commented, rubbing his neck.

"You've got that right, Magician.  But we may have gotten a break."  Melrose gestured to the tall, dark haired man sitting at the end of the table.  "Some of you have already met our new guest.  For those of you who haven't, this is William Windsor, on loan from MI6 in Britain.  Commander Windsor brings with him a piece of information that may be the break we need.  Commander?"

William rose effortlessly and looked down the table at the waiting agents.  His eyes warmed slightly when he spotted Amanda King sitting at the far end.  "We've had every agency in Britain looking into the Buckingham Palace robbery.  Needless to say, the apparent ease of the burglary leaves us extremely uncomfortable about the security of the Queen and the rest of the royal family.  While going over all of the background checks of people who had been in the area immediately preceding the burglary, we discovered an interesting point.  For two weeks prior to the burglary, one of the men who had been working as part of the household staff at the palace had been visiting a rather prominent auction house in London.  The man made no effort to disguise the visits and when questioned about it, he appeared to have a perfectly plausible reason for being there.  Normally, we wouldn't have given the matter any further thought, but . . ." The man shrugged slightly.  "Let's just say that we were all uneasy enough to pursue it further than we normally would have.  Also, keep in mind that this man was not the only one we were investigating.  We followed him for some weeks, but nothing turned up.

"Then, with no warning, he quit his position in the palace and disappeared."  He watched the people at the table closely as he added flatly, "Totally."  He nodded at the sudden sharp looks of interest.  Regardless of what most people thought, it wasn't that easy to totally disappear with no trace.  "About the same time, Lord Barrington-Smythe hired a new stable boy for his Newcastle racing stable.  It was pure coincidence that one of the boys from research in MI6 was also a close friend of the Lord and happened to be there one day. He realized that he had seen the new stable boy before . . . in the same auction house that the man from the palace's household staff had frequented.  Less than a week after that, Lord Barrington-Smythe suddenly announced that he had sold his entire racing organization and retired permanently from the sport.  With a great deal of effort, we discovered that the Lord was being blackmailed and was forced to sell.  By the time we realized what was going on, the stable boy had also disappeared."

William Windsor stepped back, looking at Melrose, who nodded and rose.  "Thank you, Commander.  That gave us a starting point," Billy resumed, "and we began coordinating with other intelligence agencies on the prior cases.  The pattern held.  It wasn't always an auction house . . . sometimes it was a gallery, a theater, a library, or a museum . . . but in every case, it was a public place frequented by wealthy patrons and people of influence.  We can only assume that they find their targets there or that it's some sort of drop."  Billy's eyes made the rounds of the people at the table once more. "So that brings us to today.  There's no way to get a handle on this, people.  We have no clue who their next target may be here in the States, and we also have no idea where their drop locale is.  So we've got to start looking.  Magician, I'm teaming you up with Beaman.  We're going to use his freshman agent candidates to start searching for potential targets.  We'll want to see if we can't find a pattern.  Something is tipping these people off on what's liable to be hot on the market.  I want to know what it is."  The two men nodded.

"Patterson, you and Nighthawk are to work on the money angle.  Lord Barrington-Smythe admitted that the blackmail price he was forced to pay was the total amount of the sale of his racing organization, which was in excess of three million pounds.  And the portrait stolen from Buckingham Palace was worth at least that much.  That's a lot of money.  It has to be going somewhere.  If we can figure out where, maybe we can follow the trail back to the people who control it.  Use every accountant in your department, Patterson, if that's what it takes.  Just find and trace that money.

"Leatherneck, I know that you don't usually work actively in the field any more, but I'm going to ask you to on this one.  You've got a dual assignment.  I'm going to need surveillance gear and a monitoring team.  You're to get that all set up and then work with Francine on delving into the weak points in the government.  That's where we're likely to be the most vulnerable.  Who on the Hill has a secret that could be used as leverage to turn a profit for someone else."

Francine snorted derisively.  "Who doesn't,"  she asked rhetorically.

Billy grinned sympathetically and then turned to the remaining two people at the table.  "Amanda, you'll be working with Commander Windsor."  Billy saw the speculative looks that were passed between the various other agents at the table, but chose to ignore them.  "The two of you have the job of searching for the drop point.  Through your work with various charities, you've come into contact with many of the people that run the most likely locations.  It's also an easy cover to establish.  Commander Windsor will be a guest director who's here to work on a BBC documentary on the Revolutionary War.  Your various trips can easily be explained as background research."

Amanda nodded and then glanced at the Brit.  "You said you thought the auction house in London may have been a drop.  Do we know if this was a dead drop or was the contact made in person?"

Windsor shook his head.  "We have no idea.  The contact itself was never witnessed."  Amanda nodded again and looked back at Billy.

Melrose glanced around the assembled agents quickly.  "This operation will be code named Rimrunner.  Reports will route directly to me.  Francine will second if I'm not available. Any other questions?  No?  Then let's get to it."   Everyone nodded and rose, moving to file out of the room.  Amanda hung back, waiting to talk to Billy, and was startled to suddenly find Windsor at her elbow.

"Well, I said I hoped we would have the chance to work together," he said with a smile.  "I'm delighted it's going to be so soon."

She smiled at him tentatively.  "I'm glad you're pleased.  Remember, I'm not a full agent.  I'm just a civilian aide who helps out on occasion."

He laughed softly.  "I'll take a talented amateur to a sloppy professional any day.  Your reputation precedes you, Mrs. King."

Flustered, she blushed and dropped her eyes.  Then she smiled at him again.  "Could you wait for me outside for a minute?  I just need to speak with Mr. Melrose and then I'll be ready to go."

"Certainly.  Why don't you tell me where I can find your coat and I'll get it for you."

"Just ask Francine and she'll show you where it is."

Windsor nodded agreeably and strode out the door, pulling it shut softly behind him.  Tentatively, Amanda approached Melrose.  "Sir, what about Lee?  Will he be working this one, too?  He is my partner."

Billy smiled at her kindly.  "I know he's always been assigned to you in the past, Amanda, but I don't think I'm going to put him with you on this one.  The two of you do work well together, but you haven't been assigned to him on a permanent basis and I think it's time to see how well you do when assigned to work with another agent."  Billy lowered himself down onto the edge of the table and contemplated her thoughtfully.  "You know that I feel you have a real talent for this kind of work."  Amanda nodded hesitantly.  "The truth is, I'd like to see you as more than a civilian aide.  I think you'd make a fine agent . . . on a full time basis.  Do you think you would be interested in that?"  Billy watched as she stared blindly at the top of the table, considering the idea.

"Yes, sir," she replied finally, looking up to meet his eyes.  As their gazes locked, she straightened and replied with new confidence, "Yes, sir, I think I would be very interested."

Billy nodded, smiling privately to himself in satisfaction.  Yes, she would do very well.  Then he continued, "The fact that you've gotten into this kind of work in a somewhat unconventional manner is something of a strike against you, but not one that you can't overcome.  I've made arrangements for you to start working with some of our trainers on the aspects of the job that you've missed out on.  I know you've done a little work at the range, but we'll get you some more.  I also want to put you into hand-to-hand combat classes.  If you do well in those, we'll see about getting you into Beaman's agent training classes with the next wave of trainees.  But one of the pieces of ammunition I'd like to have available when I go to Dr. Smyth to get authorization to do this is your ability to work well with agents other than Scarecrow.  To do that, I need to assign you to work with others.  This seems to be the perfect opportunity."

Amanda nodded, carefully disguising her uneasiness at the thought of working with anyone other than Lee Stetson.  "Whatever you think is best, sir."

Billy sighed.  "After watching the two of you yesterday and then talking to Lee after you'd left, I'm beginning to think that maybe pairing you with him consistently may not be in your best interests anyway."

"Oh no, sir.  Lee is a wonderful partner!  A person couldn't ask for a better one.  I mean, he's . . ."

"Amanda," Billy said kindly, cutting her off.  "I'm not getting down on Lee.  To be honest, pairing the two of you has been the best thing in the world for him.  It's made him a better agent.  But I'd be a poor section chief if the only thing I did was take into account what Scarecrow needs.  I also have to consider what you need to become the best agent you can be.  And right now, I think that it's probably partnering you with someone else for a while.  You've earned a reputation for being creative and quick on your feet.  Let's let you work with someone who respects you and your reputation coming in the door and gives you the chance to spread your wings a little."

"Yes, sir," she replied in a small voice.

Billy patted her shoulder gently.  "You'll do fine, Amanda.  Windsor is a good man.  I've seen his work before and I know that I can trust him to be as good a mentor for you as Scarecrow has been.  And he doesn't come with the emotional baggage, so it will give you a bit more freedom."

"Emotional baggage?"

Billy grinned.  "Lee still feels guilty for dragging you into this kind of work, particularly when things start to turn dangerous.  Why do you think he's constantly trying to leave you in the car?"  Billy laughed outright at Amanda's grimace.  "Working with Windsor, you won't have to fight against Lee's innate biases.  It will be good for you."  Then the smile disappeared and his tone turned serious.  "Just be very careful.  Your end of this assignment is reconnaissance.  Search and identify, and then call in backup.  Don't pull a Scarecrow on me and try to go in on your own . . . even with Windsor as backup.  Are we clear?"  Amanda nodded wordlessly.  "Good.  Now, go on.  The two of you should get started."

Squaring her shoulders, she nodded.  "Yes, sir.  We'll get them, sir."

"I don't doubt it a bit."  A sudden thought stopped him.  "Wait . . . Amanda.  One other thing."

She turned back to him, her hand on the door.  "Sir?"

"Call it a rite of passage if you want, or maybe the fact that you've earned it, but I've been thinking that it's time you had a code name."  He saw her breath catch and her face lit up in excitement.  "From now on, you'll officially be known as Phoenix."

"Phoenix," she breathed softly, testing the sound of it.

Billy nodded.  "The beautiful bird who rose from the ashes of destruction to fly free once more.  A fitting code name, I think."

Her smile was brilliant as she replied, "Yes, sir, it's perfect.  Thank you so much."

Billy nodded and then gestured at her.  "Now go out there and find those people and let's put a stop to this nonsense."

"Yes, sir!"  The bounce in her step made Billy smile.  But it dimmed slightly as he watched Windsor holding her coat for her.  This had been the easy part.  Now he had to tell Scarecrow what he had done, and Billy Melrose knew in his heart that Lee Stetson wasn't going to like it one bit.