An Anniversary to Remember
by matahari2
Summary: Just in time for the Stetsons' 15th wedding anniversary, a family member is in danger.
Timeframe: February, 2002
Disclaimer/ Notes: See Chapter 1
Chapter Five – Jenny Makes a Plan
February 13, 2002
At 5:45 a.m., Jenny Stetson lay awake in the hard hotel bed. She'd finally figured out a way to transmit a message to her parents. If only Ms. Holden would get up and go into the bathroom or something. 'For goodness sake', Jenny thought, 'even people like her have to use the bathroom sometime, don't they?'
Rita Holden rolled over and punched the button to turn off the alarm clock's buzzer. She scowled at the offending instrument and fumbled with the zipper to one of the suitcases, and fished out a bag containing the toiletries and a bottle of aspirin that she'd bought at the drugstore in the mall. She took them and a set of clean clothes into the bathroom. She walked right past Jenny's bed, apparently assuming that the girl was still sleeping.
Jenny waited until after she heard the bathroom door close, and what sounded like the shower water running, before she started to execute her plan. She didn't know exactly where her parents were, but she was almost positive they would have come to St. Louis already, and they might even be in this hotel. Her plan depended on it.
She carefully padded out to the living room, and found the one telephone that hadn't been disconnected. With her wrists tied together, it was a little tricky, but she picked up the receiver and put it up to her ear, then wedged the receiver between her ear and her left shoulder, while she dialed her Mom's pager number once more. This time, when prompted to either leave a voice message or punch in a phone number, she'd just punched in the numbers 8-0-5. Okay, that was plan A, part 1.
For part 2, she needed paper and pen, which just about all hotels provided for their guests somewhere in the room. There was a small writing desk right there in the living room. Jenny hooked a finger into the drawer pull, and opened it far enough to see a notepad, stationery and envelopes, as well as 2 pens, all with the hotel's name and phone number printed on them. She reached in with both hands and took out a sheet of the paper, an envelope and one of the pens. On the stationery, she wrote:
'Mom & Dad: leaving here – 10:00 a.m. – Muny, lower entrance - Forest Park - highway 40 west to Hampton Avenue - JS'.
Then she folded the paper and stuffed it into the envelope. She sealed the envelope and wrote on the outside of it: 'for Mr. & Mrs. Lee Stetson'. She stuffed the small envelope and the pen back into the desk drawer and hurried back to bed as quietly as possible, just as she heard the water shut off.
Rita towel-dried her hair and dressed in the slacks and sweater she'd pulled out of the suitcase. Then she called to Jenny, "All right, Ms. Stetson, time to rise and shine! We've got places to go and people to see. You go ahead and start getting cleaned up, and I'll bring you some fresh clothes to wear."
Jenny looked at her own tied hands and feet, and looked up at Rita, as if to say, 'how am I going to do that, tied up like this?'
"Oh, yeah...right, I guess it will be necessary at that," Rita said, untying Jenny's hands and feet.
********
At 6:15 a.m, Lee stepped into the shower, unaware of the slight green glow and nearly silent vibrations emanating from Amanda's pager that lay hidden between a couple of hand towels on the vanity's countertop.
At the same time, Amanda was on the telephone in the bedroom, checking in with Francine Desmond-Stone. Amanda's former thorn-in-the-side, now good friend, was the head of the re-vamped Q Bureau, which now consisted of ten field agents and a research staff of twenty, all working on the Agency's most puzzling cases. She was also Lee's deputy, whenever he was out of the office.
"I'm sorry, Amanda, I don't have much to report, except that there were two people going by the name of Holden on American flight 595 on Thursday" Francine said. "The names they had given were Marian, the alleged mother, and Kimberly, the daughter."
"Don't feel bad, Francine," Amanda replied. "I mean, we're here in St. Louis, probably in the same hotel with them, but we don't have any information yet. We're going to try talking to one of the day-shift desk clerks this morning to see if she remembers the 'Holdens' checking in. If we get any leads, we'll probably be out of the hotel room most of the day, but you can call either Lee's cell phone or my pager number if you need to contact us."
Amanda was just hanging up the phone when Lee came back into the bedroom. "Any news?" He asked hopefully.
"Afraid not," Amanda answered. "All they know is that the airline tickets for their flight were purchased in the names of Marian and Kimberly Holden. Francine promised she'd contact us as soon as she knew anything more."
"Okay, then," Lee said, "Let me finish getting ready, and we'll go down to the lobby and talk to that desk clerk."
********
Rita called Room Service and ordered coffee, milk, and two sweet rolls for herself and Jenny. Just then, Jenny came out of the bathroom, dressed in her new red sweater and black jeans. "Ma'am? Is it all right if I watch television for a little while?"
"Yeah, but just until breakfast gets here," Rita replied. "We have to be down in the lobby by 8:00. Wait a minute. We need to fix your hair again. Come here, and bring me that wig!"
Jenny did as she was told. She hoped that somehow, her parents would find her note and follow them to the park. She'd just have to be a 'good girl' for Ms. Holden until then.
********
When Lee and Amanda entered the lobby, he looked at his watch and groaned. "Damn it! We're early. The girl we need to talk to won't be here for another twenty minutes. I hate this."
Amanda touched his arm gently and offered a small smile, saying, "I know, Lee. I do too, but there's nothing we can do about it. Lee? There was a card in the room, on the little writing desk, that said they have a breakfast buffet every morning, in their atrium restaurant," Amanda pointed out.
"All right, we might as well go on in" Lee said, placing his hand at the small of her back, and guiding her into the restaurant. "We can't talk to that desk clerk for another twenty minutes anyway."
After breakfast, Amanda asked, "Lee? You have your cell phone with you, right? Because I told Francine she should either call your cell phone or my pager to let us know any news from DC." She felt for her pager, and couldn't find it on her waistband where she usually kept it. "Lee! My pager! Darn it! I must have left it in the room. Look, you go ahead and talk with the desk clerk, and I'll go back up to the room to pick up the pager," Amanda said in a panic, kissing Lee on the cheek and hurrying out of the restaurant.
"Yeah," Lee answered the empty table.
As he watched Amanda disappear into the elevator, Lee walked back toward the registration desk. "Pardon me," he said to the first young woman he saw, "is Jane Watkins on duty now?"
"Yes, Sir. I'm Jane Watkins."
Lee was careful to identify himself as a federal agent and flash his Agency id badge, before stating, "Ms. Watkins, this is about a federal kidnapping case. We'd really appreciate your help. Do you remember a woman and a young girl checking in yesterday afternoon, sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m.?"
"Yes. That was about 3:15 p.m., sir," Jane answered, after looking at the registration card.
"Did the woman register as Marian Holden, by chance?" Lee asked.
"No sir, the name she gave me was Holder, Rita Holder," Jane responded.
"Can you tell me what you remember about the two of them?" Lee inquired further.
"Well, sir, the woman looked to be about 5'9" tall, with short, dark hair. I'd guess she would be in her late forties or early fifties. The girl was maybe 12 or 13, and it looked to me like her auburn hair was really a wig," Jane volunteered.
Lee asked, "How could you tell, about the wig, that is?"
"It looked a little big for her head, sir. I could see the edges, and there were shadows. I didn't want to say anything about it, though. I guess I thought at the time that she might be a cancer patient or something, you know?"
"Excuse me? Cancer patient?" Lee asked, her meaning escaping him for the moment.
"Oh. Well, sir, sometimes the downtown hotels get parents and siblings staying here, families of children who have catastrophic illnesses, who are being treated at Children's Hospital, but normally they would stay someplace closer to the hospital, in the Central West End," Jane explained. "Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know. Sorry, sir."
"That's quite all right," Lee said. "Is there anything else you can tell me about these 'Holders'?"
"No sir," Jane stated, "but I suppose you'll want to know their room number. It's # 805, sir."
"Thank you very much, Ms. Watkins," Lee said, handing her his card. "We appreciate your help."
Lee turned and walked toward the elevators. Amanda was just stepping out as he pushed the 'up' button.
"Lee! I got another message from Jenny!" Amanda shouted, then remembered she probably shouldn't be shouting in a hotel lobby. In a quieter tone, she continued, "But Lee, all it says is 8-0-5. What can that mean?"
"That's their room number, Amanda, " Lee replied, turning her around and leading her back into the elevator. "What do you say we go check it out?"
"Sounds like a plan," Amanda said, nervously, as the elevator doors closed and they started their ascent.
********
Just as Lee and Amanda were going up in one elevator, Rita and Jennifer were going down in the other. Rita took care of checking them out of the hotel. This time, Jane Watkins was busy with another guest, and Sally Parker took their room key and gave her the receipt. Rita and Jenny rolled the suitcases outside and took the first available taxi to Low Rent Cars on 11th Street.
********
Lee Stetson knocked on the door of suite # 805. When there was no response, he raised his eyebrows, signaled Amanda with a sideways glance, and reached into his inside coat pocket. Amanda stood watch as Lee carefully picked the lock, and the two of them entered the suite as quietly as they could. Lee went to check the bedroom while Amanda stayed and scanned the living room. It didn't take long before Amanda found the envelope. "Lee!" she cried out, in a stage whisper.
"What is it?" he asked softly.
"An envelope, for Mr. & Mrs. Stetson," Amanda answered, as she tore the flap open. "Okay, it says:
'Mom & Dad: leaving here – 10:00 a.m. – Muny, lower entrance - Forest Park - highway 40 west to Hampton Avenue - JS'. "
Lee looked over her shoulder and commented, "Let's see. . .she's telling us that they're leaving, well, that's obvious," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe they're supposed to meet someone at 10:00 this morning, at the lower entrance to the Muny, whatever that is. I guess it must be located in Forest Park. And look, here. . .", he said, pointing at the last part of the note, "she's given us the basic directions to get there. That's our girl!"
"Yeah, you were right about our 'ace in the hole'," Amanda said with a little smile. "Lee! I remember something about the Muny. It's a huge outdoor theater" she said, spreading her hands in front of her, "it seats something like 12,000 people. I think it's only open in the summer time. At least that's what my friend Katie Callahan told me."
"So...if it's the off-season, then Rita and whoever she's meeting there expect the Muny to be pretty much deserted, right?"
"Yeah, that would make sense," Amanda nodded. "So what do we do now?"
Lee stated plainly, "First we phone this in to Francine, and have her make sure the FBI or the local police put a seal on this room, before anyone else can check in to suite #805. Then we take a little drive down highway 40. We need to be in place, and out of sight, by 9:30, well before they get there."
"Piece of cake, Lee," Amanda said somewhat sarcastically. "It's 8:15, and outside of knowing to take highway 40 to the Hampton exit, we have no idea where the Muny is! No problem!"
TO BE CONTINUED
by matahari2
Summary: Just in time for the Stetsons' 15th wedding anniversary, a family member is in danger.
Timeframe: February, 2002
Disclaimer/ Notes: See Chapter 1
Chapter Five – Jenny Makes a Plan
February 13, 2002
At 5:45 a.m., Jenny Stetson lay awake in the hard hotel bed. She'd finally figured out a way to transmit a message to her parents. If only Ms. Holden would get up and go into the bathroom or something. 'For goodness sake', Jenny thought, 'even people like her have to use the bathroom sometime, don't they?'
Rita Holden rolled over and punched the button to turn off the alarm clock's buzzer. She scowled at the offending instrument and fumbled with the zipper to one of the suitcases, and fished out a bag containing the toiletries and a bottle of aspirin that she'd bought at the drugstore in the mall. She took them and a set of clean clothes into the bathroom. She walked right past Jenny's bed, apparently assuming that the girl was still sleeping.
Jenny waited until after she heard the bathroom door close, and what sounded like the shower water running, before she started to execute her plan. She didn't know exactly where her parents were, but she was almost positive they would have come to St. Louis already, and they might even be in this hotel. Her plan depended on it.
She carefully padded out to the living room, and found the one telephone that hadn't been disconnected. With her wrists tied together, it was a little tricky, but she picked up the receiver and put it up to her ear, then wedged the receiver between her ear and her left shoulder, while she dialed her Mom's pager number once more. This time, when prompted to either leave a voice message or punch in a phone number, she'd just punched in the numbers 8-0-5. Okay, that was plan A, part 1.
For part 2, she needed paper and pen, which just about all hotels provided for their guests somewhere in the room. There was a small writing desk right there in the living room. Jenny hooked a finger into the drawer pull, and opened it far enough to see a notepad, stationery and envelopes, as well as 2 pens, all with the hotel's name and phone number printed on them. She reached in with both hands and took out a sheet of the paper, an envelope and one of the pens. On the stationery, she wrote:
'Mom & Dad: leaving here – 10:00 a.m. – Muny, lower entrance - Forest Park - highway 40 west to Hampton Avenue - JS'.
Then she folded the paper and stuffed it into the envelope. She sealed the envelope and wrote on the outside of it: 'for Mr. & Mrs. Lee Stetson'. She stuffed the small envelope and the pen back into the desk drawer and hurried back to bed as quietly as possible, just as she heard the water shut off.
Rita towel-dried her hair and dressed in the slacks and sweater she'd pulled out of the suitcase. Then she called to Jenny, "All right, Ms. Stetson, time to rise and shine! We've got places to go and people to see. You go ahead and start getting cleaned up, and I'll bring you some fresh clothes to wear."
Jenny looked at her own tied hands and feet, and looked up at Rita, as if to say, 'how am I going to do that, tied up like this?'
"Oh, yeah...right, I guess it will be necessary at that," Rita said, untying Jenny's hands and feet.
********
At 6:15 a.m, Lee stepped into the shower, unaware of the slight green glow and nearly silent vibrations emanating from Amanda's pager that lay hidden between a couple of hand towels on the vanity's countertop.
At the same time, Amanda was on the telephone in the bedroom, checking in with Francine Desmond-Stone. Amanda's former thorn-in-the-side, now good friend, was the head of the re-vamped Q Bureau, which now consisted of ten field agents and a research staff of twenty, all working on the Agency's most puzzling cases. She was also Lee's deputy, whenever he was out of the office.
"I'm sorry, Amanda, I don't have much to report, except that there were two people going by the name of Holden on American flight 595 on Thursday" Francine said. "The names they had given were Marian, the alleged mother, and Kimberly, the daughter."
"Don't feel bad, Francine," Amanda replied. "I mean, we're here in St. Louis, probably in the same hotel with them, but we don't have any information yet. We're going to try talking to one of the day-shift desk clerks this morning to see if she remembers the 'Holdens' checking in. If we get any leads, we'll probably be out of the hotel room most of the day, but you can call either Lee's cell phone or my pager number if you need to contact us."
Amanda was just hanging up the phone when Lee came back into the bedroom. "Any news?" He asked hopefully.
"Afraid not," Amanda answered. "All they know is that the airline tickets for their flight were purchased in the names of Marian and Kimberly Holden. Francine promised she'd contact us as soon as she knew anything more."
"Okay, then," Lee said, "Let me finish getting ready, and we'll go down to the lobby and talk to that desk clerk."
********
Rita called Room Service and ordered coffee, milk, and two sweet rolls for herself and Jenny. Just then, Jenny came out of the bathroom, dressed in her new red sweater and black jeans. "Ma'am? Is it all right if I watch television for a little while?"
"Yeah, but just until breakfast gets here," Rita replied. "We have to be down in the lobby by 8:00. Wait a minute. We need to fix your hair again. Come here, and bring me that wig!"
Jenny did as she was told. She hoped that somehow, her parents would find her note and follow them to the park. She'd just have to be a 'good girl' for Ms. Holden until then.
********
When Lee and Amanda entered the lobby, he looked at his watch and groaned. "Damn it! We're early. The girl we need to talk to won't be here for another twenty minutes. I hate this."
Amanda touched his arm gently and offered a small smile, saying, "I know, Lee. I do too, but there's nothing we can do about it. Lee? There was a card in the room, on the little writing desk, that said they have a breakfast buffet every morning, in their atrium restaurant," Amanda pointed out.
"All right, we might as well go on in" Lee said, placing his hand at the small of her back, and guiding her into the restaurant. "We can't talk to that desk clerk for another twenty minutes anyway."
After breakfast, Amanda asked, "Lee? You have your cell phone with you, right? Because I told Francine she should either call your cell phone or my pager to let us know any news from DC." She felt for her pager, and couldn't find it on her waistband where she usually kept it. "Lee! My pager! Darn it! I must have left it in the room. Look, you go ahead and talk with the desk clerk, and I'll go back up to the room to pick up the pager," Amanda said in a panic, kissing Lee on the cheek and hurrying out of the restaurant.
"Yeah," Lee answered the empty table.
As he watched Amanda disappear into the elevator, Lee walked back toward the registration desk. "Pardon me," he said to the first young woman he saw, "is Jane Watkins on duty now?"
"Yes, Sir. I'm Jane Watkins."
Lee was careful to identify himself as a federal agent and flash his Agency id badge, before stating, "Ms. Watkins, this is about a federal kidnapping case. We'd really appreciate your help. Do you remember a woman and a young girl checking in yesterday afternoon, sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m.?"
"Yes. That was about 3:15 p.m., sir," Jane answered, after looking at the registration card.
"Did the woman register as Marian Holden, by chance?" Lee asked.
"No sir, the name she gave me was Holder, Rita Holder," Jane responded.
"Can you tell me what you remember about the two of them?" Lee inquired further.
"Well, sir, the woman looked to be about 5'9" tall, with short, dark hair. I'd guess she would be in her late forties or early fifties. The girl was maybe 12 or 13, and it looked to me like her auburn hair was really a wig," Jane volunteered.
Lee asked, "How could you tell, about the wig, that is?"
"It looked a little big for her head, sir. I could see the edges, and there were shadows. I didn't want to say anything about it, though. I guess I thought at the time that she might be a cancer patient or something, you know?"
"Excuse me? Cancer patient?" Lee asked, her meaning escaping him for the moment.
"Oh. Well, sir, sometimes the downtown hotels get parents and siblings staying here, families of children who have catastrophic illnesses, who are being treated at Children's Hospital, but normally they would stay someplace closer to the hospital, in the Central West End," Jane explained. "Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know. Sorry, sir."
"That's quite all right," Lee said. "Is there anything else you can tell me about these 'Holders'?"
"No sir," Jane stated, "but I suppose you'll want to know their room number. It's # 805, sir."
"Thank you very much, Ms. Watkins," Lee said, handing her his card. "We appreciate your help."
Lee turned and walked toward the elevators. Amanda was just stepping out as he pushed the 'up' button.
"Lee! I got another message from Jenny!" Amanda shouted, then remembered she probably shouldn't be shouting in a hotel lobby. In a quieter tone, she continued, "But Lee, all it says is 8-0-5. What can that mean?"
"That's their room number, Amanda, " Lee replied, turning her around and leading her back into the elevator. "What do you say we go check it out?"
"Sounds like a plan," Amanda said, nervously, as the elevator doors closed and they started their ascent.
********
Just as Lee and Amanda were going up in one elevator, Rita and Jennifer were going down in the other. Rita took care of checking them out of the hotel. This time, Jane Watkins was busy with another guest, and Sally Parker took their room key and gave her the receipt. Rita and Jenny rolled the suitcases outside and took the first available taxi to Low Rent Cars on 11th Street.
********
Lee Stetson knocked on the door of suite # 805. When there was no response, he raised his eyebrows, signaled Amanda with a sideways glance, and reached into his inside coat pocket. Amanda stood watch as Lee carefully picked the lock, and the two of them entered the suite as quietly as they could. Lee went to check the bedroom while Amanda stayed and scanned the living room. It didn't take long before Amanda found the envelope. "Lee!" she cried out, in a stage whisper.
"What is it?" he asked softly.
"An envelope, for Mr. & Mrs. Stetson," Amanda answered, as she tore the flap open. "Okay, it says:
'Mom & Dad: leaving here – 10:00 a.m. – Muny, lower entrance - Forest Park - highway 40 west to Hampton Avenue - JS'. "
Lee looked over her shoulder and commented, "Let's see. . .she's telling us that they're leaving, well, that's obvious," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe they're supposed to meet someone at 10:00 this morning, at the lower entrance to the Muny, whatever that is. I guess it must be located in Forest Park. And look, here. . .", he said, pointing at the last part of the note, "she's given us the basic directions to get there. That's our girl!"
"Yeah, you were right about our 'ace in the hole'," Amanda said with a little smile. "Lee! I remember something about the Muny. It's a huge outdoor theater" she said, spreading her hands in front of her, "it seats something like 12,000 people. I think it's only open in the summer time. At least that's what my friend Katie Callahan told me."
"So...if it's the off-season, then Rita and whoever she's meeting there expect the Muny to be pretty much deserted, right?"
"Yeah, that would make sense," Amanda nodded. "So what do we do now?"
Lee stated plainly, "First we phone this in to Francine, and have her make sure the FBI or the local police put a seal on this room, before anyone else can check in to suite #805. Then we take a little drive down highway 40. We need to be in place, and out of sight, by 9:30, well before they get there."
"Piece of cake, Lee," Amanda said somewhat sarcastically. "It's 8:15, and outside of knowing to take highway 40 to the Hampton exit, we have no idea where the Muny is! No problem!"
TO BE CONTINUED