Chapter 3 A normal day at the office

Lee hastened into the bullpen. He was running a little late and was in a rush getting to the Monday morning briefing. Opening the door he let out a quiet sigh of relief. All of the other agents were in their places, but Mr. Melrose wasn't in sight. He quickly and quietly slid into his seat beside Amanda. She was concentrating on the book in front of her and hadn't noticed his entrance. He picked up the corner of her book and scanned the title, Caring for Your Dog. She glanced around the room and then turned mouthing a special good morning to him.

"Thinking about getting a dog?" he queried trying to make it sound to others in the room that this was the first he heard about the subject.

"Well, Jamie asked if we might get a dog and so, you know, I'm trying to do a little research on the subject," she responded picking up on his cue.

"Oh! I had a dog when I was a kid and I just loved him," interjected the new female agent sitting across from Amanda. "It was really sad when he got hit by that semi."

"Oh! I'm sorry," replied Amanda.

"It's okay" responded the young agent. "My Dad bought me a new Camero to help me forget."

The agent didn't notice the shocked look on Amanda's face having already started another conversation with the handsome young agent setting next to her. Amanda returned to her book. She didn't get more than another paragraph read when Mr. Melrose entered followed by Francine with an armload of files.

"Well, the KGB and the terrorist haven't taken a weekend off," reported Billy with a frown on his face. Turning to Francine he took a file folder from her pile, ignoring the groans from the room. "We have rumors that the KGB has placed a mole in the office of defense and that the mole has been leaking some information vital to our new star wars system. He handed the file to the third agent down from him. "This is your baby, Williams."

Williams took the file and began to page though it with a look of concerned concentration.

After passing out several more files, he turned to Lee and Amanda with the next file in his hand. "The president has decided to stay in D. C. for a special 4th of July celebration this year and the secret service needs our help in scoping out any possible threats against the president. I'm counting on you and you 'family' to handle this assignment," he said to Lee with a smile.

"Piece of cake," countered Lee. "I've been looking forward to an easy local assignment every since that last one took me out of town for almost a month."

"Good," responded Billy glad to have at least one team happy with their assignment.

"Brogan, you've got the assignment on the Tanner case," Billy continued handing him a file.

"That about wraps it up for this morning. Everyone else have ongoing assignments. Just a couple of more things, there's been a report that a vial containing bacteria was either stolen or misplaced at a pharmaceutical company just south of here. All our information is unconfirmed, but apparently the substance is pretty toxic so keep you ears open. Also it's been rumored the Russians have placed some trainee operative in the D. C. area probably just for the experience. See is any of you can come up with some names and what they could be up to. That's all for the day."

Amanda picked up her book and walked out the door headed for her desk. Lee followed close behind; his had at her back.

"How about a proper good morning greeting?" ask Lee as he shut the door to the Q-bureau.

Almost as quickly as he had shut the door, it was opened again by Francine.

"I just need to get some files from the vault," she explained. Then she noticing the book in Amanda's hand. "Thinking about getting a dog?"

"Well, Jamie."

"Personally, I don't care for dogs. They're so dependent and.. messy," said Francine a look of scorn on her face.

"Well."

"Let me get those files and get back to work," continued Francine, obviously not one for a long conversation that day. She entered the vault, quickly pulled the files and was out the door in record time leaving only a trace of her expensive perfume behind.

"What's got into her today?" wondered Amanda out loud.

"Seems to be pretty preoccupied with whatever she's working on," observed Lee staring at the closed door that Francine just exited. "I always knew Francine was a cat person."

"Meow," said Amanda with a laugh.

"So this dog thing is getting more serious?" he questioned taking a seat on the edge of Amanda desk.

"We talked about it over the weekend quite a bit. When Jackie brought the boys back from tubing Sunday night, they really were wound up about it. Jackie was telling us all about things to look for when getting a dog. He convinced Mother that not all dogs dig up the yard or mess up the house. He suggested that we adopt one from the pound rather than getting a puppy. He thinks a dog, 2-3 years old, will be more settled and may not be as much trouble and he gave us some ideas on what kind of breeds might work the best for us." Amanda stopped, realizing that she had been rambling and that Lee probably wasn't interested in her dog talk. She was surprised to see him listening intently. "We're going to visit a pound this evening if you want to come along?"

"Well, maybe," he said in a non-committal tone with a shrug of his shoulders.

"We'd better get to work. Why don't you call this Ragsdale listed in our brief and see what the President's agenda is for the fourth and I' ll contact some of my family and see if they've heard anything."