CHAPTER TWO
Friday 17 July, 1:30pm
Francine and Amanda entered the bullpen after lunch together, at the end of the second week of Lee's mission. At their appearance, Billy beckoned them into his office. "I have a job for you two." He pointed from one to the other.
"Two?" Amanda looked puzzled.
"What?" Francine exclaimed.
"I'm putting you on a case … together." He had a hard time suppressing a smirk as he thought of how his latest brainwave would sit with these two incredibly different women.
"But-" began Amanda.
"Look," Billy interrupted. "I need two operatives for a case and you two are just what I need. You've worked together before anyway, so there'll be no problem, right?" They realized it was a rhetorical question. Amanda and Francine looked at each other, then back at Billy, but remained silent. "Good. I want you here bright and early on Monday morning."
As Francine and Amanda stood up to leave, Francine noticed that Amanda was hanging back a little. Silently acknowledging this, Francine made a discreet exit from Billy's office, closing the door behind her. Amanda was left alone with the Section Chief.
"Billy?"
"I haven't heard anything, Amanda."
"Oh." Her disappointment was evident.
"Amanda, sit down." She did as she was told. "So, how are you holding up?"
"Surviving." Amanda looked down at her hands as she twisted her wedding ring around on her finger.
"What about your family? What do they know?"
"Just that Lee's on a film shoot in Columbia and that he's nowhere near a phone. I just wish I knew he was all right."
"Well, we haven't heard otherwise. You know we didn't expect to hear from him at all." Amanda nodded and her eyes filled up with tears, but she took a deep breath and swallowed, suppressing her emotions. This was not the time or place. "Look Amanda, why don't you go home and spend some extra time with your family, maybe we'll hear something soon. I'll call you if anything comes in over the weekend."
Amanda looked up, hopefully. "You will? Thank you, Billy, I'd really appreciate it. It's just hard, you know?"
"I know, Amanda. It does seem quiet around here without him. Without me having to apologize for his behavior to the brass." He chuckled, and Amanda joined in, her mood a little lighter. "Now go home. Call me if you need anything, or if you just want to talk. Anything."
Amanda stood up and gave him a half-smile. "Thanks, Billy. I will. Have a good weekend."
"Trust me. He'll be fine. He's got too much to come back for now; I'm sure he'll be back soon as he can." He smiled at her as she left. He felt for her. Lee was like a son to him and he hated the lack of intel back to the Agency on this case. It was part of the job, though; they just had to accept it. He made a mental note to give Amanda a call tomorrow, just to make sure she was okay. He stood up. He needed another cup of coffee…and maybe another donut. He still had a pile of paperwork to finish before he could leave for the weekend.
~~SMK~~
Saturday 18 July, 5:20pm
"What's for dinner, Mom?" asked Philip eagerly.
"Yeah, I'm starving," agreed Jamie. "I didn't know playing baseball could make you so hungry!"
Amanda laughed. "Everything makes you two hungry. Now why don't you go change and wash up while I get dinner ready."
"Okay Mom."
"Yes Mom."
"Will they ever stop eating so much?" Amanda asked her mother.
"I don't think so." Dotty smiled.
~~SMK~~
Thirty-five minutes later, Dotty stood in the hall and yelled up the stairs, "Boys! Dinner!" She cowered against the wall as a herd of stampeding buffalo, masquerading as two young boys, hurtled down the stairs and into the kitchen. They sat themselves at the table as Amanda placed plates of food in front of them.
As they began eating, Philip spoke. "It's a shame Lee wasn't there today." He was obviously disappointed. "He missed my best hit ever."
"Yeah, that was awesome, you crushed it," Jamie agreed.
"Yeah, well, I almost had a home run."
"Your triple was great, Philip." Amanda spoke proudly.
"Then I stole home and made that awesome slide under the tag," he continued.
"You caused quite the dust storm." Amanda mock-coughed and waved her hands as she remembered the dirt flying everywhere.
"I still can't believe that Jamie got two people out." Dotty joined in the excitement of reliving the events of the afternoon.
Philip rolled his eyes. "That's called a double play, Grandma."
Dotty smiled indulgently. "Whatever you call it, it was great."
"That's the first double play I've ever turned. I bet Lee will be sorry he missed it."
"He certainly will be sorry he missed the tournament." Amanda agreed. "You were both awesome!" She smiled, indulgently. "The job came up at the last minute though, boys. He just couldn't get out of it."
"An emergency film shoot?" asked Jamie. "How weird is that?"
Amanda coughed and began to study her food as she searched her mind to find an adequate response to his question. "Well…he, er, he had to fill in for someone who was sick and they couldn't reschedule."
"So what's the film about, mom?" Jamie enquired.
An expression of guilt flitted across Amanda's face as she struggled to come up with a way to minimize the lie. "It's about drugs, sweetheart."
"Yeah, but what about them?" Jamie asked curiously. "Is he interviewing drug lords?"
"Oh, Jamie, where do you come up with these questions?"
"I saw a feature on TV. He's not in danger, is he?" Amanda tried and failed to keep the concern off her face. Jamie's voice reflected Amanda's anxiety. "Mom?"
Dotty could feel the tension at the table. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Jamie. He's just making a documentary."
"Listen to your Grandma, Jamie. Lee's too smart to get into danger. Besides, he has us to come home to. He's not going to jeopardize that." As she spoke she wondered who she was trying to convince more – them or herself.
"But in the Columbian jungle? That's so cool," said Philip. "Do you think it's anything like in 'Romancing the Stone'? Do you remember, Jamie? When that guy did that leap over the river in his truck, he was a drug dealer or something… What did he call it? You know, the truck?"
"Little, er, Little Mule, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, that's right." Philip nodded. "His shipment of drugs had crashed in that plane. Then the guy killed that big snake. 'Very tasty,'" he mocked, replaying the scene.
"Yeah, that was a rad movie. Shame about all that stupid mushy stuff though."
"Yeah," Philip agreed.
"Girls like that mushy stuff, boys," interjected Dotty, smiling.
"Oh, but who cares what girls think, huh, Philip?"
"Well, er…" Philip searched for a response, as his plans to go to the movies with Linda on Sunday flashed through his mind. "Some girls are okay."
"Dream on," Jamie said, seeing the need for some guys versus girls solidarity at the dinner table. "I knew it was a good thing having Lee in the family, huh, Philip?"
"Why?" Philip was puzzled.
"Cos then we outnumber them." He pointed towards his mother and grandmother. They all laughed.
"Well, yeah," said Philip, "that's true. Mind you, sometimes Lee can get mushy too."
"That's true. Especially when he's with mom. Then they're just gross. All that kissing and stuff. And in public too!"
"Yeah," agreed Philip. "At their age, it's just…disgusting."
"It is not!" said Amanda indignantly. Then she saw the two boys grinning at her.
"Darling," said Dotty. "I think they're teasing you."
"Yep!" Philip turned and high-fived his brother. "And she falls for it, every time!"
"Oh, Mom!" Jamie laughed and rolled his eyes. "I still think action movies without girl stuff are the best though. Who needs some sappy girl getting in the way?"
"Jamie!" admonished Amanda, though with a smile.
"It's true. Guys can do stuff – you know, shoot guns, drive cars, fly planes; all girls can do is scream and get tied up and wait for the hero to come to the rescue."
Amanda opened her mouth to speak but Dotty got there ahead of her. "Jamie, Jamie, Jamie." Dotty shook her head. "Girls can do a lot of things."
"Watch out, dude," said Philip. "She's gonna mention the having babies thing again."
"Ew, I hope not. I mean, how useful is that for getting away from the bad guys?"
"Philip, I was not going to mention the having babies thing. I was going to say that girls are quick-witted, they can think on their feet. Guys have to be able to get out of trouble because they're always getting into it. Girls, on the other hand – or women, I should say – don't get into trouble in the first place. Isn't that right, Amanda?" Amanda's thoughts, however, were far away in the depths of Columbia and she didn't respond.
"Yeah, right," snorted Philip. "Real guys don't need girls to do things for them."
Dotty looked at Amanda and was puzzled by the strange expression on her daughter's face. "Amanda, am I right?"
Amanda was suddenly jolted back to her Arlington kitchen. "Of course, Mother." She took a quick drink of water. "So that's how it is? Well, I'm glad we sorted that out. It means your grandma and I can have that apple pie all to ourselves. Seeing as how a girl made it, I'm sure you wouldn't want to demean yourselves by eating something a girl made. Right?"
Jamie and Philip looked horror-stricken. Their comments had backfired. "Well, as girls go, mom, you're okay. So I guess we could, you know, make allowances," began Philip.
"Yeah," Jamie jumped in. "I suppose we could even wash the dishes for you after dinner. I mean…if you'd like for us to."
Amanda and Dotty exchanged amused glances at the boys' attempts at digging themselves out of the hole they'd just made.
"Doesn't that sound a bit girly to you, Mother?" Amanda asked Dotty innocently.
Dotty nodded. "I'd have thought washing the car was more to their tastes."
"The Jeep?" Jamie was incredulous. "But it's huge!"
"Too much for you?" mocked his mother.
"Er…no, I didn't say that." He deepened his voice a little. "I'm sure we can handle it, can't we Philip?"
"What?" It was Philip's turn to be incredulous. Jamie tried to communicate with his brother using eyespeak but was failing miserably. Philip just looked confused. Jamie mouthed the words "apple pie" to his brother and a light bulb metaphorically appeared over Philip's head. He assumed a super-hero style voice when he replied, "Wash the car? Of course we can. That's no problem." In his usual voice he added, "We can have pie first though, right?"
"What do you think, Mother?"
Dotty feigned thinking about the question for a second, then said, "I'm sure they made their offer in good faith. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt."
Both boys audibly sighed, relieved. "Thanks Grandma," they said together.
After they'd finished two helpings of apple pie, it was time to head out to the yard for their mission. Before they'd even left the kitchen, they were arguing over whose fault it was that they had this latest task to do.
"Now, who was it that said guys were smarter?" asked Dotty. Amanda laughed.
~~SMK~~SMK~~SMK~~