Black Rose
Chapter One
Standing at the top of the stairs, coffee mug in hand, Lee called up to the two sleepers. "Lets go boys, you're gonna be late for school if you don't get down here!"
Turning back toward the kitchen he took an appreciative sip of his coffee and reached for the paper Dotty had left him on the counter before heading out to the garden to get an early start on her flowerbeds. He had to smile. She couldn't understand why the flowers that had seemed to be doing so poorly under the kitchen window for years suddenly had sprung to life in the last three years.
Three years.
Shaking his head he took another sip and listened to the scuffle from above over first dibs on the shower. Knowing he should go up there and break it up Lee decided to let them duke it out between themselves. Besides the last time he'd tried to break up the sibling squabbles he'd ended up limping the rest of the day. Suddenly he heard the loud thud of the bathroom door slamming and wondered who had won.
"Hey," Jamie said as he entered the kitchen, hunting for some breakfast. "Where's Grandma?"
"Outside in the garden," Lee answered. "She had to get away from the noise."
He ducked his head sheepishly as he poured the milk into his cereal. "Sorry about that."
Hiding his smile behind his coffee mug Lee watched his son settle down at the table with his food. Taking the paper with him Lee joined Jamie and the two sat in silence as they went through their morning routine until Philip came running down the stairs.
"Showers all yours dorkbreath," he announced, grabbing the cereal and milk for himself.
"Philip Alexander King," Lee admonished, glancing up from his paper.
Getting up Jamie took his bowl to the sink and hurried upstairs, ignoring his brother for now. Taking his chair Philip added sugar to his bowl and replied, "Man, at least Mom kept it to our first and last name. Why do you always have to throw in the middle one?"
"To be annoying," Lee responded flippantly, trying desperately to ignore the icy fist that had suddenly clenched itself over his heart at the mention of Amanda.
Philip grinned. "You're still coming to the game tonight, right?"
"I'll be there," Lee promised. "I'm not going to miss the State Finals when my boy is on the starting team. Jamie's covering it for the school paper, so he'll be there too. We can all go out and celebrate afterwards."
Nodding his agreement Philip hurried up to finish his breakfast and then ran back upstairs to gather his books. A few minutes later Lee heard them both hurry down the stairs and out the door. He heard the car start up and winced at the squeal of the tires as Philip drove out of the driveway. With a sigh he put his mug in the sink and headed upstairs to get ready for work. Dressed and ready to go he stopped to say goodbye to Dotty and climbed into his corvette.
Once he had settled himself into his desk Lee turned on his computer and waited for it to boot up. Looking at the picture on his desk he smiled softly at the woman smiling back at him. "Good morning, sweetheart," he said. "Tonight's the big game, Philip's really excited."
"Mr. Stetson?"
Looking up to the doorway he saw his secretary walking in, the woman used to his talking to the picture after working for him for over two years.
"Yes, Ann?"
"There are a few urgent messages for you. It seems that Ms Desmond has gotten herself in a bind and won't be able to handle the meeting today with that civilian group leader. She asked you to take it for her."
Lee frowned. "All right, what else?"
"Mr. Melrose called, he needs to meet with you this morning before he leaves for the summit in Germany. He says it's very important."
"It always is," he muttered. "Anything else?"
"Jamie's principal called. Apparently he's skipped school again yesterday."
He couldn't help but shake his head. "All right, I'll take care of it."
Leaving the messages on his desk she reminded him about his ten o'clock appointment and left him to his work.
"What are we gonna do about that kid, Manda?" he muttered under his breath.
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Sipping his third cup of coffee Lee headed toward the elevator, pressing the button to go down to the next level. Knocking quickly on the door he opened it and slipped inside, waiting for Billy to finish his phone call. With a small sigh he sank down into the chair, relishing the relative quiet after the headache of a morning meeting he'd just suffered through. Next time he was going to make Francine do it.
"Morning Lee," Billy said when he'd hung up the phone. "You certainly took your time getting here," he said, pointedly looking at the clock on the wall.
"Unavoidable," Lee answered. "The meeting went longer than anticipated."
Billy nodded. "That is one meeting I do not miss in the least." Lee glared at him. "Well I got you here for a reason. You have a meeting today with a civilian agency group, right?" Lee nodded. "I need to sit in on it with you. Apparently they did a big favor for one of the senators and he is putting pressure on us to help them out in whatever way we can."
"Any idea what they want?"
"No," he shook his head. "Their security is tighter than ours. All I know is that we are supposed to meet at a neutral place, some suite in the Hyatt. There was a brief mention of needing our help for one of their agents but that was it."
"How did these people end up in business?"
"They're not bound by the laws we are. As a civilian agency they can travel under the radar and get into places we can't. For what they do they're very good."
"And exactly what do they do?"
"Rescues, takedowns, kidnappings, all the things we do here."
"Interesting."
"My thoughts exactly. There may come a time when we can use them to help us out when we run into problems."
"So we're going to help grease some wheels and play nice," Lee surmised.
"You got it."
"Feel like grabbing some lunch before we go?"
"Sounds good, I'll come and get you when I'm done here."
Nodding, Lee stood up and headed back to his office in the bullpen. It had felt odd to him after he had moved into Billy's office but sitting with him in what used to be Dr Smyth's office had been downright unnerving. Thankfully they had both made the offices their own rather quickly and the uneasy feelings had left. Back in his own office Lee picked up the phone and dialed an extension.
"Media relations," the man on the other end answered.
"Jenkins, it's Stetson," Lee began, not bothering with formalities. "I need to know if Jamie King had been sent on a mission at all in the last week."
"One moment, Sir, let me check." Silence filled the line for a moment before the head of surveillance came back. "Yes sir, he was sent out yesterday to the college campus."
Lee nodded. "Okay, thanks." Hanging up the phone he dialed an outside line before dialing yet another number. "Yes this is Lee Stetson, Jamie King's father. I got a message to call the principal."
Asked to hold for one moment Lee strummed his fingers on his desk until the line was picked up again. "Mr. Stetson, this is Mr. Kelly, Jamie's principal. Thank you for returning my call."
"Not a problem. What did you need?"
"I'm afraid I needed to let you know that Jaime skipped all of his classes yesterday. Normally I would handle this myself but he told me he'd done so with your permission."
"He's right," Lee replied. "I'm afraid I completely forgot to call you and let you know. Jaime had an appointment on campus yesterday. I told him it would be okay to spend the whole day there since it was smack in the middle of the day."
"I see. Mr. Stetson, after looking over Jamie's records I must admit I'm seeing some trends in his absences that I don't believe are going to help him out when he starts applying to colleges. In the last two years he's had an average of three or four absences each quarter. So far he's managed to avoid getting into any serious trouble and as he is an excellent student his grades haven't suffered any ill effects but I feel it only fair to warn you this many absences will not reflect well on his transcripts when he applies to college."
"Thank you for letting me know this, I'll be sure to have a talk with Jamie about it. However all of these absences have been validated, am I correct? None of them are marked as skips are they?"
"Well no, but..."
"Then I don't foresee him having anything to worry about. Thank you for the call, Mr. Kelly, I do appreciate it and as I said, I'll be sure to talk to Jamie about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I really do need to get back to work."
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Sitting in the corner of Nedlingers Lee and Billy smiled as the waitress approached with their food. Thanking her Lee picked up his fork and speared a bite of potato before returning to their conversation.
"I still can't believe she went through with it."
Billy grinned. "He's been persistent, I'll give him that."
"Yeah, but Francine has always been so bad to him, she swore up and down she would never go out with him."
"I guess the fact that he saved her life opened her eyes to the possibility."
"Francine and Beaman on a date." Lee shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Both men chuckled. "There's been a rumor floating around the office that has me a little worried, Lee," Billy said after some time.
"Oh yeah?" he replied vaguely. He knew full well what the rumor was and Lee didn't want to address it.
Billy glared at him lightly. "You know full well what I'm talking about."
Sighing he leaned back in his chair, his appetite gone. "Yeah, I know, Billy."
"Is it true?"
"What if it is?"
"Lee, you know as well as I do that the agents look to their section chief for leadership and strength. Talking to her is not going to inspire them to follow your lead."
"I know."
"You've got to stop doing it at the office."
Lee shook his head. "I can't Billy. It's all I have left of her."
"What are you talking about? Lee you've got two great boys and a mother in law that loves you. You have her family, son."
"I know that Billy, and I love each and everyone of them, but they're not Amanda. We shared something that they can never understand. With all the times we got through scrapes together, we shared a bond that I will never have again. It helps me, Billy. It helps to know that I can still talk to her, still keep her with me, even thought she's no longer here."
Listening to his friend Billy noticed he never really said the word. He'd never had; not then, and still to this day he refused to say it. Dead. Amanda was dead. "Lee." He didn't know what to say.
"I know, Billy."
Closing his eyes for a moment he could still see it in his mind. He could still see the bright flash that had knocked them all off their feet. Smoke had billowed out through the shattered windows, fire licking at the wooden planks of the old warehouse. They had been able to feel the heat of the fire from fifty feet away. No one could have survived. Lee had been on the outside of the warehouse, updating the local office on the situation; Amanda had still been inside working with the bomb squad to deactivate the bomb.
There had been plenty of time left on the clock.
"Plenty of time," Lee whispered to himself.
Hearing his whisper, seeing the pain in his face Billy knew he had to change the subject. Lee had been able to recover with the help of Amanda's family, his family, but there were times, too many for his liking, when they would lose him to the memories of that awful night.
"Well we'd better get going. We still have to get to that meeting."
Nodding Lee stood and threw some money down onto the table. It was time to get back to work.
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"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm afraid not Billy."
Shaking his head he followed Lee through the lobby toward the elevator of the hotel. "Why?" he asked as the doors shut.
"He said they needed to meet someplace neutral. I guess one of their agents is on a mission. They had arranged to check in here so he thought we could to the meet here as well."
"Makes sense I guess."
Exiting the elevator they looked for the door numbers until they found the one they wanted. Knocking once and then three times they waited. Lee could hear some movement from within the suite and after a moment the door cracked open, a man peering out at them from the other side.
"We didn't order room service."
"But the pot roast is the hotel specialty, sir," Billy said, finishing the recognition code.
The door shut and they could hear the movement of the chain from within. Seconds later the door opened fully, allowing them to enter the suite. "Come on in," the man invited, motioning for them to enter. Shutting the door behind them he turned to face the men after he had re-secured the door. "You must be Scarecrow and Lancer," he smiled, holding out his hands to shake them.
"Are you Winter?"
The man smiled. "That'd be me. Have a seat, can I get you a drink?"
Both shook their head. "No thanks, we'd rather get down to business."
Winter nodded. "Understandable. I must say," he continued as he sat down across from them. "I was pretty surprised when Queen agreed to arrange a meeting. She's been anti-government for so long we were sure it would never happen. But I guess it's not surprising, given how much she like BR."
"Who are you talking about?" Lee asked. "Who is Queen?"
"She's the leader of our little group. Queen keeps us running, gets our missions, keeps us alive."
"What's her real name?" Billy wondered.
"No one knows. We all go by our code names within the group."
"Yours is Winter?"
"Yep," he nodded. "I was found in Antarctica, I helped Queen get out of the country without getting caught and she gave me a job. That's how most of us have joined our family. We kind of just stumbled into it."
The happy go lucky air about this man made Lee wonder if he was an agent or a secretary of some sort. If he were an agent Lee couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to live as long as he had in his line of work. Looking around the room something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.
"Who else is here?" Lee motioned toward the mirror reflection of a bra hung over the curtain rod in the bathroom.
"Just BR. She's checking in from her mission. She won't be joining the discussion today."
"Why?"
Winter point behind him. Looking through the open doorway to the bedroom part of the suite they could see a lump under the covers of the bed.
"Sleeping. The poor kid's exhausted. Her mission has been running for about a week now and she's had no time to sleep or eat," he replied, nodding towards the half empty tray of food on the table. "She's here but we'll be leaving her alone for now."
Sympathizing with her Lee turned his full attention to their host. "Why did you want this meet?"
The jovial man suddenly grew serious and Lee understood the answer to his previous questions. It was as though he were staring at a completely different man.
"We were hoping we might work out some sort of an arrangement with your agency."
"What kind of an arrangement?" Billy interjected.
"A trade. We would be willing to help you out on some of your cases, the more sensitive ones where it might help to have a civilian doing the work instead of a federal agent."
"In exchange for?" Lee drew out, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"One of our agents needs your help," he said leaning back in his chair and reaching for a cup of coffee. "At the moment I'm not able to say who or why. I am at liberty to tell you that she is the best agent we've got and we sure as hell don't want to lose her. She is the one who led us in your direction and convinced Queen to let us find out who you are."
"Why?"
Winter shook his head. "As I said, all I can say is that we need your help."
"When will we get more details?"
"After you agree to the arrangement."
"You're not really giving us a lot to work with here," Lee frowned.
"I know and I'm sorry. I gotta follow the rules too you know." Glancing at the bedroom he lowered his voice a little. "Look, off the record, you'll be helping out one of the best agents we've got. Black Rose is the best our little team has ever had. She rivals even you, Scarecrow. If you can help her we'd all owe you a big debt. We would all be willing to do any assignment you need us to if you can get her what she needs."
"What does she need?"
Pausing for a moment he shook his head, apologizing. "I can't release that. She'd have my head."
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Sitting in the benches Lee cheered with the rest of the crowd when their team scored a free throw. Watching Philip standing off to the side waiting with the rest of the players Lee smiled encouragingly when the young man met his gaze. Smiling quickly he turned his focus back to the game at hand. Letting his gaze drift to his other son Lee saw Jamie standing on the sidelines, catching a shot of the ball as it hovered over the hoop before sinking in.
Pride filled him as he watched his sons. 'You'd be so proud of them, Amanda," he thought to himself.
"Yes, she would."
Glancing down at the older woman who sat next to hi Lee realized he had spoken out loud. Maybe Billy was right, maybe he did need to watch himself.
"Don't looked so shocked, Lee," Dotty smiled at him. "We hear you all the time. I think its sweet that you still talk to her. Goodness only knows I still find myself talking to my husband every now and then."
"Does it bother the boys?" he wondered.
"A little, in the beginning. But I think it helped them to realize how much you loved her, and them."
Before Lee could answer his pager went off, vibrating against his hip. Excusing himself he hurried down the bleachers and out into the hallway. Finding a phone he dialed a familiar number. "Scarecrow here. The gold stars shine brightly in the midnight sky," he said, giving his recognition code for the day. "What's going on?"
"Mr. Stetson we just received a call from Ms Desmond. It seems that they've got Addi Birol cornered in a warehouse but they are requesting back up."
"Birol!" Lee cried in shock. Seeing the curious glances from the passerby he lowered his voice. "Send three back up teams and tell Francine I'll meet her at the warehouse. I want Birol captured, dead or alive, is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" the young agent replied.
Hanging up the phone Lee hurried back into the gym, staying only long enough to let Jamie know he was leaving and to keep an eye on Philip and Dotty. Nodding he promised he would, the young man understanding why Lee sometimes left in the middle of everything. As a civilian photographer for the agency he had a better understanding of Lee's work than Dotty or Philip did.
Silently wishing Philip well with the rest of his game Lee ran out of the building to his car and left, getting out of the parking lot as fast as he could. Once on the road he called in again to verify the location of the warehouse before speeding his way there as fast as he could. Birol's face hovered before him, the laughter he had heard when he'd told them about the bomb and how he had been the one responsible for it. That was when Lee knew that Birol was going to die. Whether it was by his own hands or the hands of someone under him the bastard was going to pay for killing Amanda.
Pulling the car to a stop he got out only to see the agency van surrounded by a group of people, some he knew and others he didn't.
"What's going on here people?"
Turning around Francine was about to reply when another car came pulling up quickly. Getting out Winter hurried over to the group, passing by Lee and Francine and going over to one of the men Lee didn't know.
"What's happening?"
"These Fed.'s came in here and tried to rush the building. If we hadn't stopped them they could have gotten everyone killed!"
"Winter?" Lee called out, catching the man attention. "What are your people doing here?"
"We've got a man on the inside, we're waiting for her signal before helping her capture the terrorists. You are more than welcome to help but you have to wait for her signal!"
"How long until..."
Holding up a hand for him to stop Winter put his other hand to his ear, pressing on a hidden earpiece to hear more clearly. "There it is people, lets move!" he cried.
Immediately the three men Lee didn't know sprang into action, running towards the building. "Move!" he commanded, ordering the others to follow. Getting a radio he put the earpiece in his ear and listened as the updates were called out. He could hear shots and the thuds of bodies as they fell, wondering who had been hurt, his people, theirs, or Addi's. Soon the all clear was given and both he and Francine moved forward toward the building.
"We need medics, sir!" one of the agents called out as they helped their partner out of the door. Laying out his friend the young man turned and headed back indoors to help someone else.
"Call the ambulances," Lee ordered, sensing Francine nod before turning away to make the call. Lee saw Winter come out, his three men behind him, none of them hurt, and he couldn't help the glimmer of respect that rose in his mind. "What happened?"
"Our girl came through, but if I were you I wouldn't get to close. She's pretty mad."
"Lee the ambulance is on its way," Francine announced as she returned to his side. "Who are these people?"
"Ma'am," Winter nodded, introducing himself. "This is Magic, Fiddle, and Boxer. Black Rose is wrapping up a few things inside, but she should be out soon."
"Why is she mad? Everything went fine."
"Well..." Winter drew out his word. "It seems that your people killed a man she had wanted left alive for questioning."
"Who?"
"Addi Birol!" a woman yelled as she approached them, her voice filled with anger though muffled by the mask she was wearing.
Looking up they watched as a woman stormed towards them. Stopping next to her teammates she began to strip off her guns and weapons, handing them to the men that stood with her.
"I thought I had been very clear. Addi Birol was to be captured alive!"
"You were, BR, but we didn't anticipate the fed.'s showing up," Winter tried to reason with her.
"Why are the fed.'s involved in the first place?" she demanded. "This was our mission."
"We're here because Birol was a threat to our nation," Lee interjected. "And just who are you?"
The last weapon handed off she reached up to take off her ski mask, the hood pulling her hair with it, long auburn locks falling back to her shoulders as she shook her head with relief that the heavy wool was finally off. With a grateful sigh she ran a hand through her hair before looking back up at the men before her.
"My name is Black Rose."
Lee felt himself sway on his feet, sure that he was seeing things, certain his dreams had become hallucinations. He watched as she frowned at him, raising one eyebrow in question of his sudden paleness.
"Is he okay?" she asked the woman standing next to him only to find the same reaction on her face. "What is their problem?" she asked, turning to look at Winter.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Scarecrow?"
"He's the Scarecrow?" she asked in disbelief, looking back at the visibly shaking man. Seeing the pain in his eyes and the trembling in his hands her frown deepened. "Hey, are you okay?"
Swallowing Lee stared at her, his eyes wide and burning. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing could come out, he couldn't form the words to explain what was running through his mind.
Another agent came up to them and stopped still in shock. "Mrs. King!" he cried. "Holy shit!"
All around them the movement stopped as agents heard his cry. Each one looked toward the woman that had stormed out of the warehouse in all black, the sudden realization of who she was hitting each and every one of them when they saw their leader staring at her in dead silence.
Amanda King was alive.
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Chapter One
Standing at the top of the stairs, coffee mug in hand, Lee called up to the two sleepers. "Lets go boys, you're gonna be late for school if you don't get down here!"
Turning back toward the kitchen he took an appreciative sip of his coffee and reached for the paper Dotty had left him on the counter before heading out to the garden to get an early start on her flowerbeds. He had to smile. She couldn't understand why the flowers that had seemed to be doing so poorly under the kitchen window for years suddenly had sprung to life in the last three years.
Three years.
Shaking his head he took another sip and listened to the scuffle from above over first dibs on the shower. Knowing he should go up there and break it up Lee decided to let them duke it out between themselves. Besides the last time he'd tried to break up the sibling squabbles he'd ended up limping the rest of the day. Suddenly he heard the loud thud of the bathroom door slamming and wondered who had won.
"Hey," Jamie said as he entered the kitchen, hunting for some breakfast. "Where's Grandma?"
"Outside in the garden," Lee answered. "She had to get away from the noise."
He ducked his head sheepishly as he poured the milk into his cereal. "Sorry about that."
Hiding his smile behind his coffee mug Lee watched his son settle down at the table with his food. Taking the paper with him Lee joined Jamie and the two sat in silence as they went through their morning routine until Philip came running down the stairs.
"Showers all yours dorkbreath," he announced, grabbing the cereal and milk for himself.
"Philip Alexander King," Lee admonished, glancing up from his paper.
Getting up Jamie took his bowl to the sink and hurried upstairs, ignoring his brother for now. Taking his chair Philip added sugar to his bowl and replied, "Man, at least Mom kept it to our first and last name. Why do you always have to throw in the middle one?"
"To be annoying," Lee responded flippantly, trying desperately to ignore the icy fist that had suddenly clenched itself over his heart at the mention of Amanda.
Philip grinned. "You're still coming to the game tonight, right?"
"I'll be there," Lee promised. "I'm not going to miss the State Finals when my boy is on the starting team. Jamie's covering it for the school paper, so he'll be there too. We can all go out and celebrate afterwards."
Nodding his agreement Philip hurried up to finish his breakfast and then ran back upstairs to gather his books. A few minutes later Lee heard them both hurry down the stairs and out the door. He heard the car start up and winced at the squeal of the tires as Philip drove out of the driveway. With a sigh he put his mug in the sink and headed upstairs to get ready for work. Dressed and ready to go he stopped to say goodbye to Dotty and climbed into his corvette.
Once he had settled himself into his desk Lee turned on his computer and waited for it to boot up. Looking at the picture on his desk he smiled softly at the woman smiling back at him. "Good morning, sweetheart," he said. "Tonight's the big game, Philip's really excited."
"Mr. Stetson?"
Looking up to the doorway he saw his secretary walking in, the woman used to his talking to the picture after working for him for over two years.
"Yes, Ann?"
"There are a few urgent messages for you. It seems that Ms Desmond has gotten herself in a bind and won't be able to handle the meeting today with that civilian group leader. She asked you to take it for her."
Lee frowned. "All right, what else?"
"Mr. Melrose called, he needs to meet with you this morning before he leaves for the summit in Germany. He says it's very important."
"It always is," he muttered. "Anything else?"
"Jamie's principal called. Apparently he's skipped school again yesterday."
He couldn't help but shake his head. "All right, I'll take care of it."
Leaving the messages on his desk she reminded him about his ten o'clock appointment and left him to his work.
"What are we gonna do about that kid, Manda?" he muttered under his breath.
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Sipping his third cup of coffee Lee headed toward the elevator, pressing the button to go down to the next level. Knocking quickly on the door he opened it and slipped inside, waiting for Billy to finish his phone call. With a small sigh he sank down into the chair, relishing the relative quiet after the headache of a morning meeting he'd just suffered through. Next time he was going to make Francine do it.
"Morning Lee," Billy said when he'd hung up the phone. "You certainly took your time getting here," he said, pointedly looking at the clock on the wall.
"Unavoidable," Lee answered. "The meeting went longer than anticipated."
Billy nodded. "That is one meeting I do not miss in the least." Lee glared at him. "Well I got you here for a reason. You have a meeting today with a civilian agency group, right?" Lee nodded. "I need to sit in on it with you. Apparently they did a big favor for one of the senators and he is putting pressure on us to help them out in whatever way we can."
"Any idea what they want?"
"No," he shook his head. "Their security is tighter than ours. All I know is that we are supposed to meet at a neutral place, some suite in the Hyatt. There was a brief mention of needing our help for one of their agents but that was it."
"How did these people end up in business?"
"They're not bound by the laws we are. As a civilian agency they can travel under the radar and get into places we can't. For what they do they're very good."
"And exactly what do they do?"
"Rescues, takedowns, kidnappings, all the things we do here."
"Interesting."
"My thoughts exactly. There may come a time when we can use them to help us out when we run into problems."
"So we're going to help grease some wheels and play nice," Lee surmised.
"You got it."
"Feel like grabbing some lunch before we go?"
"Sounds good, I'll come and get you when I'm done here."
Nodding, Lee stood up and headed back to his office in the bullpen. It had felt odd to him after he had moved into Billy's office but sitting with him in what used to be Dr Smyth's office had been downright unnerving. Thankfully they had both made the offices their own rather quickly and the uneasy feelings had left. Back in his own office Lee picked up the phone and dialed an extension.
"Media relations," the man on the other end answered.
"Jenkins, it's Stetson," Lee began, not bothering with formalities. "I need to know if Jamie King had been sent on a mission at all in the last week."
"One moment, Sir, let me check." Silence filled the line for a moment before the head of surveillance came back. "Yes sir, he was sent out yesterday to the college campus."
Lee nodded. "Okay, thanks." Hanging up the phone he dialed an outside line before dialing yet another number. "Yes this is Lee Stetson, Jamie King's father. I got a message to call the principal."
Asked to hold for one moment Lee strummed his fingers on his desk until the line was picked up again. "Mr. Stetson, this is Mr. Kelly, Jamie's principal. Thank you for returning my call."
"Not a problem. What did you need?"
"I'm afraid I needed to let you know that Jaime skipped all of his classes yesterday. Normally I would handle this myself but he told me he'd done so with your permission."
"He's right," Lee replied. "I'm afraid I completely forgot to call you and let you know. Jaime had an appointment on campus yesterday. I told him it would be okay to spend the whole day there since it was smack in the middle of the day."
"I see. Mr. Stetson, after looking over Jamie's records I must admit I'm seeing some trends in his absences that I don't believe are going to help him out when he starts applying to colleges. In the last two years he's had an average of three or four absences each quarter. So far he's managed to avoid getting into any serious trouble and as he is an excellent student his grades haven't suffered any ill effects but I feel it only fair to warn you this many absences will not reflect well on his transcripts when he applies to college."
"Thank you for letting me know this, I'll be sure to have a talk with Jamie about it. However all of these absences have been validated, am I correct? None of them are marked as skips are they?"
"Well no, but..."
"Then I don't foresee him having anything to worry about. Thank you for the call, Mr. Kelly, I do appreciate it and as I said, I'll be sure to talk to Jamie about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I really do need to get back to work."
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Sitting in the corner of Nedlingers Lee and Billy smiled as the waitress approached with their food. Thanking her Lee picked up his fork and speared a bite of potato before returning to their conversation.
"I still can't believe she went through with it."
Billy grinned. "He's been persistent, I'll give him that."
"Yeah, but Francine has always been so bad to him, she swore up and down she would never go out with him."
"I guess the fact that he saved her life opened her eyes to the possibility."
"Francine and Beaman on a date." Lee shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Both men chuckled. "There's been a rumor floating around the office that has me a little worried, Lee," Billy said after some time.
"Oh yeah?" he replied vaguely. He knew full well what the rumor was and Lee didn't want to address it.
Billy glared at him lightly. "You know full well what I'm talking about."
Sighing he leaned back in his chair, his appetite gone. "Yeah, I know, Billy."
"Is it true?"
"What if it is?"
"Lee, you know as well as I do that the agents look to their section chief for leadership and strength. Talking to her is not going to inspire them to follow your lead."
"I know."
"You've got to stop doing it at the office."
Lee shook his head. "I can't Billy. It's all I have left of her."
"What are you talking about? Lee you've got two great boys and a mother in law that loves you. You have her family, son."
"I know that Billy, and I love each and everyone of them, but they're not Amanda. We shared something that they can never understand. With all the times we got through scrapes together, we shared a bond that I will never have again. It helps me, Billy. It helps to know that I can still talk to her, still keep her with me, even thought she's no longer here."
Listening to his friend Billy noticed he never really said the word. He'd never had; not then, and still to this day he refused to say it. Dead. Amanda was dead. "Lee." He didn't know what to say.
"I know, Billy."
Closing his eyes for a moment he could still see it in his mind. He could still see the bright flash that had knocked them all off their feet. Smoke had billowed out through the shattered windows, fire licking at the wooden planks of the old warehouse. They had been able to feel the heat of the fire from fifty feet away. No one could have survived. Lee had been on the outside of the warehouse, updating the local office on the situation; Amanda had still been inside working with the bomb squad to deactivate the bomb.
There had been plenty of time left on the clock.
"Plenty of time," Lee whispered to himself.
Hearing his whisper, seeing the pain in his face Billy knew he had to change the subject. Lee had been able to recover with the help of Amanda's family, his family, but there were times, too many for his liking, when they would lose him to the memories of that awful night.
"Well we'd better get going. We still have to get to that meeting."
Nodding Lee stood and threw some money down onto the table. It was time to get back to work.
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"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm afraid not Billy."
Shaking his head he followed Lee through the lobby toward the elevator of the hotel. "Why?" he asked as the doors shut.
"He said they needed to meet someplace neutral. I guess one of their agents is on a mission. They had arranged to check in here so he thought we could to the meet here as well."
"Makes sense I guess."
Exiting the elevator they looked for the door numbers until they found the one they wanted. Knocking once and then three times they waited. Lee could hear some movement from within the suite and after a moment the door cracked open, a man peering out at them from the other side.
"We didn't order room service."
"But the pot roast is the hotel specialty, sir," Billy said, finishing the recognition code.
The door shut and they could hear the movement of the chain from within. Seconds later the door opened fully, allowing them to enter the suite. "Come on in," the man invited, motioning for them to enter. Shutting the door behind them he turned to face the men after he had re-secured the door. "You must be Scarecrow and Lancer," he smiled, holding out his hands to shake them.
"Are you Winter?"
The man smiled. "That'd be me. Have a seat, can I get you a drink?"
Both shook their head. "No thanks, we'd rather get down to business."
Winter nodded. "Understandable. I must say," he continued as he sat down across from them. "I was pretty surprised when Queen agreed to arrange a meeting. She's been anti-government for so long we were sure it would never happen. But I guess it's not surprising, given how much she like BR."
"Who are you talking about?" Lee asked. "Who is Queen?"
"She's the leader of our little group. Queen keeps us running, gets our missions, keeps us alive."
"What's her real name?" Billy wondered.
"No one knows. We all go by our code names within the group."
"Yours is Winter?"
"Yep," he nodded. "I was found in Antarctica, I helped Queen get out of the country without getting caught and she gave me a job. That's how most of us have joined our family. We kind of just stumbled into it."
The happy go lucky air about this man made Lee wonder if he was an agent or a secretary of some sort. If he were an agent Lee couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to live as long as he had in his line of work. Looking around the room something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.
"Who else is here?" Lee motioned toward the mirror reflection of a bra hung over the curtain rod in the bathroom.
"Just BR. She's checking in from her mission. She won't be joining the discussion today."
"Why?"
Winter point behind him. Looking through the open doorway to the bedroom part of the suite they could see a lump under the covers of the bed.
"Sleeping. The poor kid's exhausted. Her mission has been running for about a week now and she's had no time to sleep or eat," he replied, nodding towards the half empty tray of food on the table. "She's here but we'll be leaving her alone for now."
Sympathizing with her Lee turned his full attention to their host. "Why did you want this meet?"
The jovial man suddenly grew serious and Lee understood the answer to his previous questions. It was as though he were staring at a completely different man.
"We were hoping we might work out some sort of an arrangement with your agency."
"What kind of an arrangement?" Billy interjected.
"A trade. We would be willing to help you out on some of your cases, the more sensitive ones where it might help to have a civilian doing the work instead of a federal agent."
"In exchange for?" Lee drew out, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"One of our agents needs your help," he said leaning back in his chair and reaching for a cup of coffee. "At the moment I'm not able to say who or why. I am at liberty to tell you that she is the best agent we've got and we sure as hell don't want to lose her. She is the one who led us in your direction and convinced Queen to let us find out who you are."
"Why?"
Winter shook his head. "As I said, all I can say is that we need your help."
"When will we get more details?"
"After you agree to the arrangement."
"You're not really giving us a lot to work with here," Lee frowned.
"I know and I'm sorry. I gotta follow the rules too you know." Glancing at the bedroom he lowered his voice a little. "Look, off the record, you'll be helping out one of the best agents we've got. Black Rose is the best our little team has ever had. She rivals even you, Scarecrow. If you can help her we'd all owe you a big debt. We would all be willing to do any assignment you need us to if you can get her what she needs."
"What does she need?"
Pausing for a moment he shook his head, apologizing. "I can't release that. She'd have my head."
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Sitting in the benches Lee cheered with the rest of the crowd when their team scored a free throw. Watching Philip standing off to the side waiting with the rest of the players Lee smiled encouragingly when the young man met his gaze. Smiling quickly he turned his focus back to the game at hand. Letting his gaze drift to his other son Lee saw Jamie standing on the sidelines, catching a shot of the ball as it hovered over the hoop before sinking in.
Pride filled him as he watched his sons. 'You'd be so proud of them, Amanda," he thought to himself.
"Yes, she would."
Glancing down at the older woman who sat next to hi Lee realized he had spoken out loud. Maybe Billy was right, maybe he did need to watch himself.
"Don't looked so shocked, Lee," Dotty smiled at him. "We hear you all the time. I think its sweet that you still talk to her. Goodness only knows I still find myself talking to my husband every now and then."
"Does it bother the boys?" he wondered.
"A little, in the beginning. But I think it helped them to realize how much you loved her, and them."
Before Lee could answer his pager went off, vibrating against his hip. Excusing himself he hurried down the bleachers and out into the hallway. Finding a phone he dialed a familiar number. "Scarecrow here. The gold stars shine brightly in the midnight sky," he said, giving his recognition code for the day. "What's going on?"
"Mr. Stetson we just received a call from Ms Desmond. It seems that they've got Addi Birol cornered in a warehouse but they are requesting back up."
"Birol!" Lee cried in shock. Seeing the curious glances from the passerby he lowered his voice. "Send three back up teams and tell Francine I'll meet her at the warehouse. I want Birol captured, dead or alive, is that understood?"
"Yes sir!" the young agent replied.
Hanging up the phone Lee hurried back into the gym, staying only long enough to let Jamie know he was leaving and to keep an eye on Philip and Dotty. Nodding he promised he would, the young man understanding why Lee sometimes left in the middle of everything. As a civilian photographer for the agency he had a better understanding of Lee's work than Dotty or Philip did.
Silently wishing Philip well with the rest of his game Lee ran out of the building to his car and left, getting out of the parking lot as fast as he could. Once on the road he called in again to verify the location of the warehouse before speeding his way there as fast as he could. Birol's face hovered before him, the laughter he had heard when he'd told them about the bomb and how he had been the one responsible for it. That was when Lee knew that Birol was going to die. Whether it was by his own hands or the hands of someone under him the bastard was going to pay for killing Amanda.
Pulling the car to a stop he got out only to see the agency van surrounded by a group of people, some he knew and others he didn't.
"What's going on here people?"
Turning around Francine was about to reply when another car came pulling up quickly. Getting out Winter hurried over to the group, passing by Lee and Francine and going over to one of the men Lee didn't know.
"What's happening?"
"These Fed.'s came in here and tried to rush the building. If we hadn't stopped them they could have gotten everyone killed!"
"Winter?" Lee called out, catching the man attention. "What are your people doing here?"
"We've got a man on the inside, we're waiting for her signal before helping her capture the terrorists. You are more than welcome to help but you have to wait for her signal!"
"How long until..."
Holding up a hand for him to stop Winter put his other hand to his ear, pressing on a hidden earpiece to hear more clearly. "There it is people, lets move!" he cried.
Immediately the three men Lee didn't know sprang into action, running towards the building. "Move!" he commanded, ordering the others to follow. Getting a radio he put the earpiece in his ear and listened as the updates were called out. He could hear shots and the thuds of bodies as they fell, wondering who had been hurt, his people, theirs, or Addi's. Soon the all clear was given and both he and Francine moved forward toward the building.
"We need medics, sir!" one of the agents called out as they helped their partner out of the door. Laying out his friend the young man turned and headed back indoors to help someone else.
"Call the ambulances," Lee ordered, sensing Francine nod before turning away to make the call. Lee saw Winter come out, his three men behind him, none of them hurt, and he couldn't help the glimmer of respect that rose in his mind. "What happened?"
"Our girl came through, but if I were you I wouldn't get to close. She's pretty mad."
"Lee the ambulance is on its way," Francine announced as she returned to his side. "Who are these people?"
"Ma'am," Winter nodded, introducing himself. "This is Magic, Fiddle, and Boxer. Black Rose is wrapping up a few things inside, but she should be out soon."
"Why is she mad? Everything went fine."
"Well..." Winter drew out his word. "It seems that your people killed a man she had wanted left alive for questioning."
"Who?"
"Addi Birol!" a woman yelled as she approached them, her voice filled with anger though muffled by the mask she was wearing.
Looking up they watched as a woman stormed towards them. Stopping next to her teammates she began to strip off her guns and weapons, handing them to the men that stood with her.
"I thought I had been very clear. Addi Birol was to be captured alive!"
"You were, BR, but we didn't anticipate the fed.'s showing up," Winter tried to reason with her.
"Why are the fed.'s involved in the first place?" she demanded. "This was our mission."
"We're here because Birol was a threat to our nation," Lee interjected. "And just who are you?"
The last weapon handed off she reached up to take off her ski mask, the hood pulling her hair with it, long auburn locks falling back to her shoulders as she shook her head with relief that the heavy wool was finally off. With a grateful sigh she ran a hand through her hair before looking back up at the men before her.
"My name is Black Rose."
Lee felt himself sway on his feet, sure that he was seeing things, certain his dreams had become hallucinations. He watched as she frowned at him, raising one eyebrow in question of his sudden paleness.
"Is he okay?" she asked the woman standing next to him only to find the same reaction on her face. "What is their problem?" she asked, turning to look at Winter.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Scarecrow?"
"He's the Scarecrow?" she asked in disbelief, looking back at the visibly shaking man. Seeing the pain in his eyes and the trembling in his hands her frown deepened. "Hey, are you okay?"
Swallowing Lee stared at her, his eyes wide and burning. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing could come out, he couldn't form the words to explain what was running through his mind.
Another agent came up to them and stopped still in shock. "Mrs. King!" he cried. "Holy shit!"
All around them the movement stopped as agents heard his cry. Each one looked toward the woman that had stormed out of the warehouse in all black, the sudden realization of who she was hitting each and every one of them when they saw their leader staring at her in dead silence.
Amanda King was alive.
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