Alex and Frankie walked leisurely down Pennsylvania Avenue. To the passersby, they looked like tourists, but in reality they were waiting for a phone call from Alex's interim boss with any information that Thomas Renquist could unearth on the case that Frank had gone undercover as the husband of one Daphne Charles. In the meantime, Alex was looking forward to seeing someone very special.
"Yo! Cross!" Both Alex and Frankie turned in time to see Christian Kelley dashing across the busy street, dodging vehicles along the way.
"Christian!" Alex called, running to meet him and was swept happily into his arms for a lengthy, heated kiss.
Frankie waited patiently while the two reacquainted themselves. She wished Jake would call with some information that they could investigate and as if on cue, she heard Alex's phone chirp across the short distance. "Answer your phone, Alex!" Frankie yelled.
"Okay, okay! Cross," Alex spoke into the small phone.
"Alex...we've got a name. Frederick Maxwell Martin...clerk number 9376418. Find him, and you may find the answer to those missing documents."
"Anything else, Jake?"
"Yeah...pass the phone to Frankie..."
Alex passed off the phone to Frankie and resumed her re-introduction to Christian.
"Yeah babe?"
"We've got someone who might be able to shed some light. He's a file clerk, Frederick Martin. Alex has his clerk number. From what we can tell, he's the one who filed all of the necessary documents with the District of Columbia to process the application for Frank and Daphne's 'marriage'."
"Don't say that word in association with her. She makes Caroline look little Suzy Homemaker."
Jake laughed a bit and sighed. "Be careful. I can't tell you that enough."
"I know baby… hang on." She covered the phone with her hand and turned to Alex and Christian. "Hey, get a room!! We haven't got all day you know."
"Oh chill, Private Dick!" Christian yelped playfully as Frankie took a swipe at him and then returned to the phone call.
"I'm back. I got to go. It's getting on to lunch time here and if we don't go pay Mr. Martin a visit immediately afterwards, we might never get a hold of him."
"Francesca."
"Yes?"
"Keep your cool. I know you want to kick Daphne Charles' butt from the Potomac to the Pacific, but you can't do it through Frederick Maxwell Martin, OK?"
"Frederick Maxwell Martin. What a geek. I bet the kids in school tormented him endlessly."
"Well, if they did or not, it's not our business. Get the documents or get his statement about them. Deirdre is in D.C. as well. Apparently she flew back last night after her talk with Frank. If you get anything, you go straight to her, let her know at all times where you are until this investigation is over with, got it?"
"Got it Jake. Lighten up - nothing's going to happen to Alex or me. I'm gonna dash, I see a bistro that's calling my name."
--
"What's so urgent, Daphne?" he asked, joining her at a small table at a sidewalk cafe not far from her apartment.
"Look at this," she demanded, tossing him the papers she had been served. "The bastard thinks he can divorce me."
"He can try."
"Perhaps it's time to give him something else to think about?" she suggested, grinning evilly.
"Do you think that's wise?" the man asked.
"Look...you want to ruin his life as much as I do. That pitiful excuse he has for a wife has her hooks into him deep and she won't let go easily. If we toss something else at them, something with a bit more teeth than just a forgotten marriage...it may split them apart."
"You may be right, Daph...but there's a chance nothing will change."
"Maybe, maybe not...but I've waited a long time to get a little satisfaction. I mean to make the man squirm..."
"Fine...do your damnedest. But I warn you...if they discover a connection between us, nothing will save you."
--
Christian leaned back in his chair, reveling in the silence of being alone for the first time in the last thirty minutes. Since Alex and Frankie had sat down, they only stopped chattering long enough to order their lunch. They filled him in as to why Frankie was there in addition to Alex's presence. He felt for Frank and Shay, he really did. And he knew that this was part of Alex's job. But just once, he'd like to see her under NON work-related premises.
A movement caught his attention and he turned to see who it was. A beautiful woman, very beautiful from this distance, came stalking down between the tables and threw something down in front of the man sitting at a nearby table. She appeared to be rather pissed off about something in that manila envelope. When she turned her head and looked around, he recognized her from the photograph that Frankie had shown him during lunch. 'Holy Shit! I hope to God that she doesn't see Frankie and Alex!' Unconsciously he strained his ears to see if he could pick up on what she was saying…
Frankie and Alex were coming out of the bathroom when Frankie's hand flipped up and stopped Alex in her tracks. "Cross… wait…"
"Now what?"
"Look." Frankie pointed to Daphne seated across the patio from their table. "Sssssssssshitballs! I hope to high hell she didn't see us here."
"Look there.." Alex pointed to Christian, who was apparently listening to what she was saying to … someone. Alex moved around and squinted, but she never could get a definite glimpse of the man with Charles. At least she guessed it was a man. Could have been a stoutly built woman, too. "God I love that man. He's eavesdropping. Hey, grab that table and wait until she leaves before going back out there. We can't risk her knowing we're here in D.C. until we blow her story out of the water."
Frankie and Alex grabbed a table inside the door to the patio, out of sight of Daphne and her lunch guest.
They both kept looking back and forth between Daphne and her companion and each other. "I think she's been served…" Frankie giggled.
"Jesus I would have KILLED to have been a fly on the wall when she got the papers."
"Ssshhh… there she goes… damn, she's up to something. I can see that look on her face."
"What look?"
"The kind Frank gets when he's dissecting something… the kind Jake is developing." Frankie groaned.
"He is turning into another Frank."
"Don't I know it. Jesus Alex, please tell me that nothing like this is gonna happen to me in the next few years."
"I doubt it. The one time he and I had to pose as married, I KNOW it won't be a problem. Cody faked the records masterfully. I love Jake to death, but it wasn't pretty being FAKE married to him, let alone REALLY married to him."
"Tell me about it. All right, coast is clear. Seems her lunch date is gone, too. Let's grab Christian and see what he's got for us."
****
to be continued...