Chapter 6
2:30PM
Orphanage
Moscow
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Stetson. I didn't know what to do." Elena was crying, sitting in one of the rockers in the nursery. Amanda stood in front of her, with her head in her hands. Her mind kept going back to earlier in the day, the last time she had seen Nicky.
Lee was pacing behind Amanda. "It's Butsayev, I know it. That bastard. How did he manage this? He hasn't been in contact with anyone since he was in custody. He's been watched around the clock." He stopped his pacing directly behind where Amanda stood and she turned to him. She looked up at him slowly, the lack of sleep even more evident now than before and he pulled her into his arms.
She laid her head on his chest and sighed. "What are we gonna do, Lee?"
"We'll find them, Amanda, I promise. Look, McCarty and Draper are here," Lee said quietly. "I need to go see what they've found so far." He eased her back slightly to look into her face. "You'll be fine while I'm gone, right? You can come with me if you want . . ."
"No, Lee, I need to stay here. I'll be okay." She sighed again and nodded. "Just . . . don't be long, please?" Amanda smiled softly at Lee.
"I'll be back before you miss me." He kissed her on the forehead and turned toward the door.
"Too late."
Lee squeezed Amanda's hand and released it, smiling at her. "I won't be long. Promise."
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McCarty and Draper stood just outside the door, questioning Sister Nadya about what had happened. "He just walked in. He grabbed Anna and demanded to know where the American's baby was. He dragged her up the stairs yelling at her to take him to the baby. When she said she did not understand he threatened to kill the children . . . one by one. She told him 'no' again, that she did not know who he was talking about, and he shot his gun . . . toward the nursery. She panicked and took him to Nikolai. He told her to grab the baby and things for him. She did, and he took them both. Anna will take good care of Nikolai as long as she is able to. But he was very angry." She started to shake as she recalled the events. "He was yelling at us . . . we did not know what to do . . . " She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Lee standing behind her.
"It's not anyone's fault. You had to think of the rest of the children. Anna did the right thing. We'll find them, I promise." Lee cringed inwardly at the promise he had again made. He prayed he would be able to keep that promise to both women. And he was careful not to make the same promise to himself. He exchanged a look with the other agents and then turned back to Sister Nadya. "We've got a lot to go over here, thank you. If we have any more questions, we'll come find you. We'll keep you informed."
Sister Nadya nodded and walked down the stairs as the three men moved slightly away from the door. Lee slumped against the wall, bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing hard.
He was still for a moment, and sighed, pushing the emotions back down once again. "Do we have ANYTHING?" he asked wearily as he rubbed his temples.
"Not yet, I'm afraid whoever did take them is someone who is closely associated with Butsayev, but I'm fairly sure he had nothing to do with it." Draper leaned against the railing and continued. "I talked to Devin right before I came up here and he had just finished a chat with Butsayev. He was taken completely by surprise. Devin is going to work on him for some names. He has to have an idea of who would be the most likely to take action. This has to be in retaliation for what happened with Butsayev and Mironov. There's no other explanation." He stood straight again and moved to go downstairs. "I'm going to head back to the Embassy, I've got a few ideas myself but I need to check them out. I'm going to have my own little chat with Butsayev, too. I'll call as soon as I can." He turned and descended the stairs quickly, turning back to face Lee and McCarty as he reached the bottom. "We're going to find them, Scarecrow. The whole Embassy has been involved with that baby since you made your first request." Draper paused and looked down for a moment. He looked back at Lee with a sigh. "We all have a stake in this, too. Tell your wife we're busting our asses on this one. It's personal for all of us."
Lee raised his hand and nodded to Draper in acknowledgment. He didn't think his voice would cooperate with him. Even agents he hadn't worked with in years were stepping up and throwing everything they had into this. It had to work out, it just had to. He turned to McCarty. "Speaking of my wife, I need to go check on her. She was doing all right earlier but it's been a while. I don't know how long she'll hold up in there alone." Lee walked back to the nursery and put his hand up to the door. "Once I've checked on her, I want to get in contact with someone. I'll need to be fairly discreet, but it shouldn't be much of a problem with everything that's gone down this week." He took a deep breath, not quite believing he was actually going to do this. "Do you think you can find Isaac Petrovitch?"
McCarty gave Lee a surprised look. "Oh, uh, yeah, I've got a good idea of where to find him. He's Russia's equivalent to . . . well, to you. We're always on the lookout for him. He and his wife aren't quite as active as they used to be but when something big goes down they're typically right in the middle of it. I'm surprised we haven't heard anything from them about this Butsayev case."
Lee turned back around and smiled thoughtfully. "Wife?"
"Yeah, Nadine Petrovitch. She's been his partner for years. Trickled down through the grapevine here that they've been married for quite some time, although no one is really sure how long – and they're not telling."
Lee smirked, thinking back a few years to an international cooperative case and how envious he had been of Petrovitch and his open affection for his 'assistant'. "Go figure," he laughed under his breath. He looked back up at McCarty, his face grim again. "Well, if you could find both of them, I'd like to arrange a meeting. I think they may be able to help us out on this one. And having Nadine there could make all the difference in the world."
"You know, Scarecrow, as much as I'm in favor of all this glasnost and Perestroika stuff Gorbachev is touting, I'm still having a hard time buddying up to these guys." He sighed shaking his head. "Maybe this'll help change things, huh? Situations like this seem to bring out the best in everyone." He put his hand on Lee's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. "Hey, forget you're an agent for ten minutes, okay? I'll let you know as soon as I find them. Go take care of your wife." McCarty turned and headed the direction Draper had gone a few minutes before.
Lee took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. As hard as this was, he had been able to force himself into professional mode and not let the details affect him. He wasn't so sure about Amanda. Over the past few years, she had become very good at keeping her emotions under wraps during rough cases. But this one was much too close to her for his liking. He was worried about her. Opening the door to the nursery, he sighed and headed in the room.
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Lee had gone out to talk with Sister Nadya and the two agents from the Embassy. Amanda sighed as she watched him walk out the door and concentrated on breathing. She made her way around the room, stopping at each crib and pulling the covers back up over the sleeping babies. Only Fedor was awake and fussing. Amanda stood at his bedside for a few minutes, rubbing his back and talking soothingly to him. Realizing that he wasn't going to calm down with a mere back rub, Amanda picked up the little boy and cradled him in her arms as she rocked back and forth. Any doubts as to the intensity of her feelings for Nicky that had been hanging around before were quickly dashed. Fedor cuddled into her arms and drifted off to sleep, his little face relaxing peacefully, much as Nicky's did when she held him. She realized as she held Fedor, she felt none of the emotions toward this baby as she did Nicky. She almost felt guilty that she didn't feel the same way toward Fedor. He was sleeping soundly now and Amanda laid him back in his crib, covering him up as she had the others. She walked over to Nicky's crib and reached in to pick up his blanket. Anna must have left it there. Fingering the satiny edge, she hoped Anna had taken something warm for him with her. She hoped Lee wouldn't be gone too long. With the strain of trying to stay halfway professional and dealing with the rest of the children, she needed to draw from his strength. She just prayed he had enough for the both of them this time. He hadn't looked quite like himself when he left her. For a moment, she thought of everything he'd already lost in his life and hoped this wouldn't close him off again. They'd dealt with that in their past, and she didn't know if she could pull him out of it again.
Amanda looked over at the young woman still seated in the rocking chair. Her heart went out to the girl in front of her. Elena was visibly distraught over Anna and the baby being taken, and Amanda suspected she was blaming herself. She had just kept saying, "I'm sorry," over and over and was now repeating something in Russian. Amanda slowly pushed herself away from the crib, and walked to the window. Somewhere out there, Nikolas was being hidden. For a moment, she wondered at changing his name. She had gotten so used to calling him Nikolai that calling him Nikolas would take getting used to. Scanning the horizon, she sighed, resting her forehead head on the cool glass of the window. "Don't worry, Nicky, don't be scared. We'll be there as soon as we can," Amanda whispered as she placed her open palm on the window and squinted. A very foreign city sprawled out before her, almost mocking her with its deceptive beauty. If this were DC, she would have felt a little more confident. But it wasn't DC. It was Moscow, and no matter what the President, former President, or Gorbachev said about new international relations, or more openness in Russia, they were American Intelligence agents in a sea of Red.
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Opening the door, Lee sighed and headed into the nursery. As he walked into the room, he could see Amanda at the window, the same window he had been standing in front of yesterday with Nicky. A feeling of emptiness started to overtake Lee and he had to smother the panic that threatened to follow. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides and he fought the urge to put his fist through the wall. Suddenly he found himself standing behind his wife at the window. He raised his hands to place them on Amanda's shoulders but hesitated, his hands frozen in mid-air, fists clenching again. He didn't know if his emotions could handle touching her right now. If he couldn't hold it together, he'd be no good to anyone. But then, the decision was made for him as she turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his neck. Lee slid his arms around Amanda as well and was relieved to feel most of the tension slip away. He should have known. She had had this effect on him for as long as he could remember. She had the ability to calm every nerve, pull him back to reality, and she didn't even realize it. He tightened his grip around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Hey," he whispered hoarsely. "You all right?"
"I've been better. I'm feeling a bit numb right now. I'm just glad you're back." Leaning back slightly in Lee's arms she studied his face, and sighed. "How are you doing? You hanging in there?"
Lee looked at the ceiling, hoping she hadn't seen the remnants of the panic and fury he was sure was visible on his face just seconds before. "I think there's a thread left, yeah." He nodded. "Draper just left to hunt down someone we both think could be a huge asset in helping us find whoever has them." He broke away from her, took her hand, and led her from the window to the chairs in the center of the room. All three chairs were empty and Lee wondered when Elena had gotten up and left. When he'd come in, she had been sitting there. Maybe she wanted to give them some privacy. Looking at the hard wood rockers, he decided this wasn't the place he wanted to sit and try to relax with Amanda. After pausing for a moment, he continued out of the room, her hand still enclosed in his.
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly.
"Downstairs. I need to talk to you and I don't want to do it there, in separate chairs." He moved his hand to her back as they descended the stairs and headed for the sitting room. A fire was burning in the fireplace and the room seemed much more inviting than any place else they'd been in the last few hours. Lee walked to the couch and sat down. Amanda turned so that she was facing him and sat with one leg tucked underneath her. Lee stared into the fire, not quite ready to continue talking about what was happening. He could feel her eyes on him and he closed his, he was so tired. When this was over he was going to sleep for a week. He felt her fingers on his cheek, brought his hand up to capture hers, and kissed the palm of her hand. He still hadn't opened his eyes.
"Lee, what happened while you were with McCarty? Who is Draper going to get? Do we know anything else yet?" She paused for a moment. "Are you all right, Lee?"
He took a deep breath and turned toward her, opening his eyes. "I'm fine. Really. Just tired. It's strange, I've only spent a few minutes with Nikolai . . . Nikolas, but I miss him already. " Lee swallowed hard around the lump forming once again in his throat and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
He heard her sigh and turned to look at her, not lifting his head from the couch. Reaching out with his free hand he ran a finger down her cheek. "We're gonna find him, Amanda. I swear." Lee paused a moment. "Draper went in search of a Russian Intelligence Agent I think will be a huge help to us. You may remember him and his wife from an international co-op case we worked on few years ago."
She looked away for a minute and shook her head, her forehead furrowing in thought. "A husband and wife Russian Intelligence team? I don't remember anyone . . . Oh my gosh! You don't mean the Skylar case?" Lee smiled as she figured it out. "Nadine and Isaac? Lee, they're married?" A smile spread across her face. "I knew it. I knew they were together."
"Seems we have more in common than we realized."
Amanda looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"McCarty said no one knows how long they've really been married but that it's been a while. The intelligence community just found out recently, and Isaac and Nadine aren't talking." He grinned at her and raised an eyebrow. "I bet you they were already married when we worked with them. I was pretty suspicious of that pinkie ring he was wearing. Nadine had one on her left ring finger as well. And did you notice when he introduced her he didn't give us a last name?" He sighed, pulling Amanda close. "I was so envious of them on the plane . . . on our way back east. I wanted to tell you right then and there how I was feeling but I just wasn't ready. All I could come up with was that cheezy line about your nose." He snorted and shook his head. "What was I thinking?"
"I thought it was rather sweet, after I thought about it for a while. No one had ever complimented me on my nose before. Or since, for that matter." She teased him, but the teasing didn't reach her eyes. Amanda was quiet for a minute. "Do you really think they'll help us? You and Isaac barely got along, Lee."
"That's where you and Nadine come in. The two of you kept us from killing each other and pretty much solved the case yourselves. I think if Nadine knows it's us and what's going on, they'll be here to help." He smiled at her again and lifted her hand to his mouth for a kiss. "If Isaac and Nadine are anything like us, he'll do what ever she wants him to."
Amanda grinned, "He will, will he?"
Lee leaned in and kissed her nose, then rested his forehead on hers. "Oh yeah. Anything."
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Francine and John Devin arrived at the orphanage two hours later to find Lee and Amanda asleep on the couch in front of a dying fire. Lee had leaned into the corner of the couch with Amanda across his lap, her head on his chest.
At the sound of their voices, Lee opened his eyes slowly. Careful not to jostle Amanda too much, he sat up slightly, looked around, and shook the sleep out of his head. "Wow, last thing I remember was discussing our next course of action. I guess we were pretty tired."
"You both need about 12 more hours of sleep, Lee." Francine stated. "I don't know how Amanda is doing it." Lee started to wake Amanda. "No, Lee, don't wake her up yet. Let her sleep for a few more minutes. I have a feeling it'll be the last she gets for a while longer."
"My, my, is that a hint of concern I detect, Ms. Desmond?" Lee raised an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't look too bad on you."
"Can it Stetson. I'm not in the mood. This has turned into much more than I ever expected."
"There she is! The Francine I know and love."
"Lee, really, I'm worried about Amanda. And you too, for that matter. This certainly isn't going to be easy. Draper has come up with a couple names and," Francine drew in a long breath and held it for a moment before averting her eyes away from Lee's, "I'm not sure you're going to like this. In fact," she turned slightly and gestured to the man standing behind her, "John, you tell him. I'm going to go, um, over there," she finished nervously and pointed to the fireplace. Francine walked over to the fire, and stood stiffly, one arm crossed in front of her and her other hand rubbing her chin.
Lee looked from Francine to John. "Well, out with it."
By this time, Amanda had awakened as well, and was trying to reorient herself. She and Lee turned together and ended up side by side on the couch, Lee leaning his arms on his knees. Amanda rested her hand on Lee's leg. "Out with what, Lee? What did I miss?"
"Draper came up with some names and John was just about to tell me those names," Lee stood, moving in front of John, his hands on his hips. "Right, John?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure of the significance of any of this, Fran tried to explain it, but we really didn't go into details. She said the less I know the better this will turn out for me." Devin cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Francine, who was shaking her head slowly. "We have the names of two KGB agents whom Butsayev thinks are behind this. Strangely enough, he's cooperating with us in this. I get the impression he is trying to teach these two agents a lesson. I haven't quite figured out why yet, but . . . "
"Who?" Lee interrupted.
Francine turned from the fireplace and sent a tight smile to Amanda. "The man is Yuri Karloff. Alexi Butsayev's right hand man for years. Up until just a few months ago, actually. We're still not sure what transpired between them but this whole thing is becoming quite a mess and unfortunately the three of you are caught up in it."
"I've heard that name before but besides being Alexi's associate, it doesn't mean anything to me, what's the problem here? Why are you so jumpy, Francine?" Lee had turned to face her and she rubbed her hand over her eyes before meeting Lee's stare.
"Lee, sit down," she started.
"NO! Damn it, just tell me would you!"
Francine walked up next to Lee and placed her hand on his arm. "His accomplice, suspected accomplice that is," she nervously looked up at him again, "is Eva Karloff."
Lee shrugged his shoulders, a bewildered look on his face. "Who is that?"
"Oh my gosh." Amanda gasped, putting her hand up to her mouth. She stood and looked at Francine. "Are you sure it's her?"
"Unfortunately, yes. We've had her under surveillance since she was released six months ago. She came directly back here."
"Why is she involved?" Amanda whispered. "Does she know?"
"We're not sure yet," Francine began.
"Would someone please fill me in here? You two seem to know exactly who you're talking about. I've never heard that name before." Lee looked at John. "Would you tell me what I'm so obviously missing here?"
John cleared his throat. "Eva Karloff is Yuri's wife. She went by the name Spinelli a few years back during a case she was on. I've been told you know her rather well." As John talked, Lee's face paled and he sat down heavily on the couch.
"*Knew* her." Lee corrected. "And not as well as I had thought." Why did these things always come back to him? All he wanted was to take his family home and forget all of this had happened. They didn't deserve any of this. Especially Amanda and Nikolas. Maybe it was time for a new line of work. Or at least a line that didn't involve fieldwork or old vendettas. Lee sighed. At least this time there was no confusion as to where his heart belonged. "It certainly doesn't surprise me, though. She was quite the agent. I'm sure the KGB scooped her back up as quickly as possible. We're gonna have to find out somehow if she knows who we actually are. Sister Nadya said Yuri asked for the American's baby. So that leads me to think that he didn't know exactly who we are. But if he was avenging Alexi's betrayal and capture how could he not know it was us?" Lee had paced his way over to the fireplace and was leaning on the mantle.
Amanda and Francine had been watching him the whole time, exchanging glances, hoping to squelch any impulsive behavior before it got out of hand. Amanda couldn't watch him work this out alone any longer and headed for her husband. Francine reached out and squeezed Amanda's arm as she passed.
"She's no match for you, you know." Francine gave her a sympathetic smile. "Especially the two of you together."
Amanda stopped and returned the smile. "I know, Francine, thank you. Lee and I worked Eva out a long time ago." She glanced over in Lee's direction, placing a hand over Francine's, which was still on her arm. "Before there was an *us.*" She squeezed Francine's hand in response and continued across the room to where Lee stood. He was facing the fire, both hands on the mantle, his head down. Amanda put her hand on his back and stood next to him. Lee shook his head slowly.
"This can't get any more complicated, can it? I feel like I'm watching myself in some bad movie." He hit the mantle with the heel of his right hand and swore under his breath.
"Lee, don't. It's not worth it. We'll deal with this just like we would anything else. No difference."
She didn't quite sound convinced. Lee took her face in his hands and just stared at her for a moment. "I love you. So much." He smiled at her. "I know you know that. But if this gets too hectic and I forget to tell you, I love you. You know it's over; you were there. Whatever happens, whatever she says to you, to me, don't ever doubt this." He leaned in and kissed her, desperately wanting to make sure she understood. John shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot while Francine turned and gave them as much privacy as possible. Lee deepened the kiss for a moment, then pulled away slowly. He searched her eyes for an answer. He needed to be sure she understood.
"Lee, I'm fine. I know how you feel. About me and about Eva. Don't worry, I can definitely hold my own when it comes to her." She chuckled slightly and took his hands in hers. "I've been practicing on Francine for years now. Eva will be a walk in the park, believe me."
Lee laughed at her, relief washing over him for the first time since they had run from the Embassy. She understood, and she knew exactly what he needed to hear, as well.
"You're amazing, Mrs. Stetson."
"Thank you."
"All right!" Francine cleared her throat and turned back toward John. "I think we should start out by getting as much on these two as possible. Do you have any contacts here at all, Lee?"
"Hmmm?" Lee was still staring at his wife, wanting to make everything else fade away around them.
"Contacts. Do you have any contacts here in Moscow or up in St. Petersburg?" Francine sighed, shaking her head.
Lee sighed, dropping his head to his chest, knowing that they needed to move fast to make sure the trail didn't grow cold.
Francine continued. "We could really use some local experience here. Draper told me McCarty was on some hunt for an old acquaintance of yours. Has he turned anything up yet?"
"We don't know. Haven't heard anything from him. But then we were both asleep, so I'm not sure if he called or not."
"Nope!" A voice came from the doorway. "I didn't call. And guess who I have with me?" McCarty had appeared at the door and was grinning from ear to ear.
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TBC
2:30PM
Orphanage
Moscow
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Stetson. I didn't know what to do." Elena was crying, sitting in one of the rockers in the nursery. Amanda stood in front of her, with her head in her hands. Her mind kept going back to earlier in the day, the last time she had seen Nicky.
Lee was pacing behind Amanda. "It's Butsayev, I know it. That bastard. How did he manage this? He hasn't been in contact with anyone since he was in custody. He's been watched around the clock." He stopped his pacing directly behind where Amanda stood and she turned to him. She looked up at him slowly, the lack of sleep even more evident now than before and he pulled her into his arms.
She laid her head on his chest and sighed. "What are we gonna do, Lee?"
"We'll find them, Amanda, I promise. Look, McCarty and Draper are here," Lee said quietly. "I need to go see what they've found so far." He eased her back slightly to look into her face. "You'll be fine while I'm gone, right? You can come with me if you want . . ."
"No, Lee, I need to stay here. I'll be okay." She sighed again and nodded. "Just . . . don't be long, please?" Amanda smiled softly at Lee.
"I'll be back before you miss me." He kissed her on the forehead and turned toward the door.
"Too late."
Lee squeezed Amanda's hand and released it, smiling at her. "I won't be long. Promise."
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McCarty and Draper stood just outside the door, questioning Sister Nadya about what had happened. "He just walked in. He grabbed Anna and demanded to know where the American's baby was. He dragged her up the stairs yelling at her to take him to the baby. When she said she did not understand he threatened to kill the children . . . one by one. She told him 'no' again, that she did not know who he was talking about, and he shot his gun . . . toward the nursery. She panicked and took him to Nikolai. He told her to grab the baby and things for him. She did, and he took them both. Anna will take good care of Nikolai as long as she is able to. But he was very angry." She started to shake as she recalled the events. "He was yelling at us . . . we did not know what to do . . . " She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Lee standing behind her.
"It's not anyone's fault. You had to think of the rest of the children. Anna did the right thing. We'll find them, I promise." Lee cringed inwardly at the promise he had again made. He prayed he would be able to keep that promise to both women. And he was careful not to make the same promise to himself. He exchanged a look with the other agents and then turned back to Sister Nadya. "We've got a lot to go over here, thank you. If we have any more questions, we'll come find you. We'll keep you informed."
Sister Nadya nodded and walked down the stairs as the three men moved slightly away from the door. Lee slumped against the wall, bringing his hands up to his face and rubbing hard.
He was still for a moment, and sighed, pushing the emotions back down once again. "Do we have ANYTHING?" he asked wearily as he rubbed his temples.
"Not yet, I'm afraid whoever did take them is someone who is closely associated with Butsayev, but I'm fairly sure he had nothing to do with it." Draper leaned against the railing and continued. "I talked to Devin right before I came up here and he had just finished a chat with Butsayev. He was taken completely by surprise. Devin is going to work on him for some names. He has to have an idea of who would be the most likely to take action. This has to be in retaliation for what happened with Butsayev and Mironov. There's no other explanation." He stood straight again and moved to go downstairs. "I'm going to head back to the Embassy, I've got a few ideas myself but I need to check them out. I'm going to have my own little chat with Butsayev, too. I'll call as soon as I can." He turned and descended the stairs quickly, turning back to face Lee and McCarty as he reached the bottom. "We're going to find them, Scarecrow. The whole Embassy has been involved with that baby since you made your first request." Draper paused and looked down for a moment. He looked back at Lee with a sigh. "We all have a stake in this, too. Tell your wife we're busting our asses on this one. It's personal for all of us."
Lee raised his hand and nodded to Draper in acknowledgment. He didn't think his voice would cooperate with him. Even agents he hadn't worked with in years were stepping up and throwing everything they had into this. It had to work out, it just had to. He turned to McCarty. "Speaking of my wife, I need to go check on her. She was doing all right earlier but it's been a while. I don't know how long she'll hold up in there alone." Lee walked back to the nursery and put his hand up to the door. "Once I've checked on her, I want to get in contact with someone. I'll need to be fairly discreet, but it shouldn't be much of a problem with everything that's gone down this week." He took a deep breath, not quite believing he was actually going to do this. "Do you think you can find Isaac Petrovitch?"
McCarty gave Lee a surprised look. "Oh, uh, yeah, I've got a good idea of where to find him. He's Russia's equivalent to . . . well, to you. We're always on the lookout for him. He and his wife aren't quite as active as they used to be but when something big goes down they're typically right in the middle of it. I'm surprised we haven't heard anything from them about this Butsayev case."
Lee turned back around and smiled thoughtfully. "Wife?"
"Yeah, Nadine Petrovitch. She's been his partner for years. Trickled down through the grapevine here that they've been married for quite some time, although no one is really sure how long – and they're not telling."
Lee smirked, thinking back a few years to an international cooperative case and how envious he had been of Petrovitch and his open affection for his 'assistant'. "Go figure," he laughed under his breath. He looked back up at McCarty, his face grim again. "Well, if you could find both of them, I'd like to arrange a meeting. I think they may be able to help us out on this one. And having Nadine there could make all the difference in the world."
"You know, Scarecrow, as much as I'm in favor of all this glasnost and Perestroika stuff Gorbachev is touting, I'm still having a hard time buddying up to these guys." He sighed shaking his head. "Maybe this'll help change things, huh? Situations like this seem to bring out the best in everyone." He put his hand on Lee's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. "Hey, forget you're an agent for ten minutes, okay? I'll let you know as soon as I find them. Go take care of your wife." McCarty turned and headed the direction Draper had gone a few minutes before.
Lee took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. As hard as this was, he had been able to force himself into professional mode and not let the details affect him. He wasn't so sure about Amanda. Over the past few years, she had become very good at keeping her emotions under wraps during rough cases. But this one was much too close to her for his liking. He was worried about her. Opening the door to the nursery, he sighed and headed in the room.
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Lee had gone out to talk with Sister Nadya and the two agents from the Embassy. Amanda sighed as she watched him walk out the door and concentrated on breathing. She made her way around the room, stopping at each crib and pulling the covers back up over the sleeping babies. Only Fedor was awake and fussing. Amanda stood at his bedside for a few minutes, rubbing his back and talking soothingly to him. Realizing that he wasn't going to calm down with a mere back rub, Amanda picked up the little boy and cradled him in her arms as she rocked back and forth. Any doubts as to the intensity of her feelings for Nicky that had been hanging around before were quickly dashed. Fedor cuddled into her arms and drifted off to sleep, his little face relaxing peacefully, much as Nicky's did when she held him. She realized as she held Fedor, she felt none of the emotions toward this baby as she did Nicky. She almost felt guilty that she didn't feel the same way toward Fedor. He was sleeping soundly now and Amanda laid him back in his crib, covering him up as she had the others. She walked over to Nicky's crib and reached in to pick up his blanket. Anna must have left it there. Fingering the satiny edge, she hoped Anna had taken something warm for him with her. She hoped Lee wouldn't be gone too long. With the strain of trying to stay halfway professional and dealing with the rest of the children, she needed to draw from his strength. She just prayed he had enough for the both of them this time. He hadn't looked quite like himself when he left her. For a moment, she thought of everything he'd already lost in his life and hoped this wouldn't close him off again. They'd dealt with that in their past, and she didn't know if she could pull him out of it again.
Amanda looked over at the young woman still seated in the rocking chair. Her heart went out to the girl in front of her. Elena was visibly distraught over Anna and the baby being taken, and Amanda suspected she was blaming herself. She had just kept saying, "I'm sorry," over and over and was now repeating something in Russian. Amanda slowly pushed herself away from the crib, and walked to the window. Somewhere out there, Nikolas was being hidden. For a moment, she wondered at changing his name. She had gotten so used to calling him Nikolai that calling him Nikolas would take getting used to. Scanning the horizon, she sighed, resting her forehead head on the cool glass of the window. "Don't worry, Nicky, don't be scared. We'll be there as soon as we can," Amanda whispered as she placed her open palm on the window and squinted. A very foreign city sprawled out before her, almost mocking her with its deceptive beauty. If this were DC, she would have felt a little more confident. But it wasn't DC. It was Moscow, and no matter what the President, former President, or Gorbachev said about new international relations, or more openness in Russia, they were American Intelligence agents in a sea of Red.
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Opening the door, Lee sighed and headed into the nursery. As he walked into the room, he could see Amanda at the window, the same window he had been standing in front of yesterday with Nicky. A feeling of emptiness started to overtake Lee and he had to smother the panic that threatened to follow. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides and he fought the urge to put his fist through the wall. Suddenly he found himself standing behind his wife at the window. He raised his hands to place them on Amanda's shoulders but hesitated, his hands frozen in mid-air, fists clenching again. He didn't know if his emotions could handle touching her right now. If he couldn't hold it together, he'd be no good to anyone. But then, the decision was made for him as she turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his neck. Lee slid his arms around Amanda as well and was relieved to feel most of the tension slip away. He should have known. She had had this effect on him for as long as he could remember. She had the ability to calm every nerve, pull him back to reality, and she didn't even realize it. He tightened his grip around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "Hey," he whispered hoarsely. "You all right?"
"I've been better. I'm feeling a bit numb right now. I'm just glad you're back." Leaning back slightly in Lee's arms she studied his face, and sighed. "How are you doing? You hanging in there?"
Lee looked at the ceiling, hoping she hadn't seen the remnants of the panic and fury he was sure was visible on his face just seconds before. "I think there's a thread left, yeah." He nodded. "Draper just left to hunt down someone we both think could be a huge asset in helping us find whoever has them." He broke away from her, took her hand, and led her from the window to the chairs in the center of the room. All three chairs were empty and Lee wondered when Elena had gotten up and left. When he'd come in, she had been sitting there. Maybe she wanted to give them some privacy. Looking at the hard wood rockers, he decided this wasn't the place he wanted to sit and try to relax with Amanda. After pausing for a moment, he continued out of the room, her hand still enclosed in his.
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly.
"Downstairs. I need to talk to you and I don't want to do it there, in separate chairs." He moved his hand to her back as they descended the stairs and headed for the sitting room. A fire was burning in the fireplace and the room seemed much more inviting than any place else they'd been in the last few hours. Lee walked to the couch and sat down. Amanda turned so that she was facing him and sat with one leg tucked underneath her. Lee stared into the fire, not quite ready to continue talking about what was happening. He could feel her eyes on him and he closed his, he was so tired. When this was over he was going to sleep for a week. He felt her fingers on his cheek, brought his hand up to capture hers, and kissed the palm of her hand. He still hadn't opened his eyes.
"Lee, what happened while you were with McCarty? Who is Draper going to get? Do we know anything else yet?" She paused for a moment. "Are you all right, Lee?"
He took a deep breath and turned toward her, opening his eyes. "I'm fine. Really. Just tired. It's strange, I've only spent a few minutes with Nikolai . . . Nikolas, but I miss him already. " Lee swallowed hard around the lump forming once again in his throat and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
He heard her sigh and turned to look at her, not lifting his head from the couch. Reaching out with his free hand he ran a finger down her cheek. "We're gonna find him, Amanda. I swear." Lee paused a moment. "Draper went in search of a Russian Intelligence Agent I think will be a huge help to us. You may remember him and his wife from an international co-op case we worked on few years ago."
She looked away for a minute and shook her head, her forehead furrowing in thought. "A husband and wife Russian Intelligence team? I don't remember anyone . . . Oh my gosh! You don't mean the Skylar case?" Lee smiled as she figured it out. "Nadine and Isaac? Lee, they're married?" A smile spread across her face. "I knew it. I knew they were together."
"Seems we have more in common than we realized."
Amanda looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"McCarty said no one knows how long they've really been married but that it's been a while. The intelligence community just found out recently, and Isaac and Nadine aren't talking." He grinned at her and raised an eyebrow. "I bet you they were already married when we worked with them. I was pretty suspicious of that pinkie ring he was wearing. Nadine had one on her left ring finger as well. And did you notice when he introduced her he didn't give us a last name?" He sighed, pulling Amanda close. "I was so envious of them on the plane . . . on our way back east. I wanted to tell you right then and there how I was feeling but I just wasn't ready. All I could come up with was that cheezy line about your nose." He snorted and shook his head. "What was I thinking?"
"I thought it was rather sweet, after I thought about it for a while. No one had ever complimented me on my nose before. Or since, for that matter." She teased him, but the teasing didn't reach her eyes. Amanda was quiet for a minute. "Do you really think they'll help us? You and Isaac barely got along, Lee."
"That's where you and Nadine come in. The two of you kept us from killing each other and pretty much solved the case yourselves. I think if Nadine knows it's us and what's going on, they'll be here to help." He smiled at her again and lifted her hand to his mouth for a kiss. "If Isaac and Nadine are anything like us, he'll do what ever she wants him to."
Amanda grinned, "He will, will he?"
Lee leaned in and kissed her nose, then rested his forehead on hers. "Oh yeah. Anything."
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Francine and John Devin arrived at the orphanage two hours later to find Lee and Amanda asleep on the couch in front of a dying fire. Lee had leaned into the corner of the couch with Amanda across his lap, her head on his chest.
At the sound of their voices, Lee opened his eyes slowly. Careful not to jostle Amanda too much, he sat up slightly, looked around, and shook the sleep out of his head. "Wow, last thing I remember was discussing our next course of action. I guess we were pretty tired."
"You both need about 12 more hours of sleep, Lee." Francine stated. "I don't know how Amanda is doing it." Lee started to wake Amanda. "No, Lee, don't wake her up yet. Let her sleep for a few more minutes. I have a feeling it'll be the last she gets for a while longer."
"My, my, is that a hint of concern I detect, Ms. Desmond?" Lee raised an eyebrow at her. "Doesn't look too bad on you."
"Can it Stetson. I'm not in the mood. This has turned into much more than I ever expected."
"There she is! The Francine I know and love."
"Lee, really, I'm worried about Amanda. And you too, for that matter. This certainly isn't going to be easy. Draper has come up with a couple names and," Francine drew in a long breath and held it for a moment before averting her eyes away from Lee's, "I'm not sure you're going to like this. In fact," she turned slightly and gestured to the man standing behind her, "John, you tell him. I'm going to go, um, over there," she finished nervously and pointed to the fireplace. Francine walked over to the fire, and stood stiffly, one arm crossed in front of her and her other hand rubbing her chin.
Lee looked from Francine to John. "Well, out with it."
By this time, Amanda had awakened as well, and was trying to reorient herself. She and Lee turned together and ended up side by side on the couch, Lee leaning his arms on his knees. Amanda rested her hand on Lee's leg. "Out with what, Lee? What did I miss?"
"Draper came up with some names and John was just about to tell me those names," Lee stood, moving in front of John, his hands on his hips. "Right, John?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure of the significance of any of this, Fran tried to explain it, but we really didn't go into details. She said the less I know the better this will turn out for me." Devin cleared his throat and glanced nervously at Francine, who was shaking her head slowly. "We have the names of two KGB agents whom Butsayev thinks are behind this. Strangely enough, he's cooperating with us in this. I get the impression he is trying to teach these two agents a lesson. I haven't quite figured out why yet, but . . . "
"Who?" Lee interrupted.
Francine turned from the fireplace and sent a tight smile to Amanda. "The man is Yuri Karloff. Alexi Butsayev's right hand man for years. Up until just a few months ago, actually. We're still not sure what transpired between them but this whole thing is becoming quite a mess and unfortunately the three of you are caught up in it."
"I've heard that name before but besides being Alexi's associate, it doesn't mean anything to me, what's the problem here? Why are you so jumpy, Francine?" Lee had turned to face her and she rubbed her hand over her eyes before meeting Lee's stare.
"Lee, sit down," she started.
"NO! Damn it, just tell me would you!"
Francine walked up next to Lee and placed her hand on his arm. "His accomplice, suspected accomplice that is," she nervously looked up at him again, "is Eva Karloff."
Lee shrugged his shoulders, a bewildered look on his face. "Who is that?"
"Oh my gosh." Amanda gasped, putting her hand up to her mouth. She stood and looked at Francine. "Are you sure it's her?"
"Unfortunately, yes. We've had her under surveillance since she was released six months ago. She came directly back here."
"Why is she involved?" Amanda whispered. "Does she know?"
"We're not sure yet," Francine began.
"Would someone please fill me in here? You two seem to know exactly who you're talking about. I've never heard that name before." Lee looked at John. "Would you tell me what I'm so obviously missing here?"
John cleared his throat. "Eva Karloff is Yuri's wife. She went by the name Spinelli a few years back during a case she was on. I've been told you know her rather well." As John talked, Lee's face paled and he sat down heavily on the couch.
"*Knew* her." Lee corrected. "And not as well as I had thought." Why did these things always come back to him? All he wanted was to take his family home and forget all of this had happened. They didn't deserve any of this. Especially Amanda and Nikolas. Maybe it was time for a new line of work. Or at least a line that didn't involve fieldwork or old vendettas. Lee sighed. At least this time there was no confusion as to where his heart belonged. "It certainly doesn't surprise me, though. She was quite the agent. I'm sure the KGB scooped her back up as quickly as possible. We're gonna have to find out somehow if she knows who we actually are. Sister Nadya said Yuri asked for the American's baby. So that leads me to think that he didn't know exactly who we are. But if he was avenging Alexi's betrayal and capture how could he not know it was us?" Lee had paced his way over to the fireplace and was leaning on the mantle.
Amanda and Francine had been watching him the whole time, exchanging glances, hoping to squelch any impulsive behavior before it got out of hand. Amanda couldn't watch him work this out alone any longer and headed for her husband. Francine reached out and squeezed Amanda's arm as she passed.
"She's no match for you, you know." Francine gave her a sympathetic smile. "Especially the two of you together."
Amanda stopped and returned the smile. "I know, Francine, thank you. Lee and I worked Eva out a long time ago." She glanced over in Lee's direction, placing a hand over Francine's, which was still on her arm. "Before there was an *us.*" She squeezed Francine's hand in response and continued across the room to where Lee stood. He was facing the fire, both hands on the mantle, his head down. Amanda put her hand on his back and stood next to him. Lee shook his head slowly.
"This can't get any more complicated, can it? I feel like I'm watching myself in some bad movie." He hit the mantle with the heel of his right hand and swore under his breath.
"Lee, don't. It's not worth it. We'll deal with this just like we would anything else. No difference."
She didn't quite sound convinced. Lee took her face in his hands and just stared at her for a moment. "I love you. So much." He smiled at her. "I know you know that. But if this gets too hectic and I forget to tell you, I love you. You know it's over; you were there. Whatever happens, whatever she says to you, to me, don't ever doubt this." He leaned in and kissed her, desperately wanting to make sure she understood. John shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot while Francine turned and gave them as much privacy as possible. Lee deepened the kiss for a moment, then pulled away slowly. He searched her eyes for an answer. He needed to be sure she understood.
"Lee, I'm fine. I know how you feel. About me and about Eva. Don't worry, I can definitely hold my own when it comes to her." She chuckled slightly and took his hands in hers. "I've been practicing on Francine for years now. Eva will be a walk in the park, believe me."
Lee laughed at her, relief washing over him for the first time since they had run from the Embassy. She understood, and she knew exactly what he needed to hear, as well.
"You're amazing, Mrs. Stetson."
"Thank you."
"All right!" Francine cleared her throat and turned back toward John. "I think we should start out by getting as much on these two as possible. Do you have any contacts here at all, Lee?"
"Hmmm?" Lee was still staring at his wife, wanting to make everything else fade away around them.
"Contacts. Do you have any contacts here in Moscow or up in St. Petersburg?" Francine sighed, shaking her head.
Lee sighed, dropping his head to his chest, knowing that they needed to move fast to make sure the trail didn't grow cold.
Francine continued. "We could really use some local experience here. Draper told me McCarty was on some hunt for an old acquaintance of yours. Has he turned anything up yet?"
"We don't know. Haven't heard anything from him. But then we were both asleep, so I'm not sure if he called or not."
"Nope!" A voice came from the doorway. "I didn't call. And guess who I have with me?" McCarty had appeared at the door and was grinning from ear to ear.
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TBC