Chapter Two
Efraim parked his car in Francine's space in the garage at the Agency. He grinned at his wife as she shook her head at him. "I told you the only reason I was marrying you was to get your parking place!" He teased as he climbed out of the car and walked over to get her door for her. She handed him his lid to his uniform, which he put on his head and gave his hand to Francine. She took his hand and climbed out of the car and looked around the garage.
"It's been a while since we've been here. Does it look different to you?"
"Nah, it just looks better with my car in your space!" She swatted him and waited while he locked and closed the doors. He set the alarm and they walked to the elevators. First on Francine's list of things to do was to get new identification cards in her married name. She was actually looking forward to it, and had been teasing Efraim that now she could blame all her mistakes on him. He had rolled his eyes and told her they would disappear in the flood of his own mistakes he planned to blame on her.
The elevators opened on the their level and they were met by Billy Melrose. He grinned as the newly wedded couple stepped out of the elevator.
"Glad to see you two could make it today."
"Give me a break Billy, today is our scheduled day back." Francine said to her boss and friend.
"Yes, and we start work here at 8:00 AM. It's 9:30 AM." He told them as he trailed them to their offices.
"Efraim had to report to the Pentagon at 7:00 AM, and I had to pick up my medical release papers. And, we had to sign papers regarding Quigley for pre-trial disclosure," Francine replied. "So all in all, I'd say we made good time. Anything going on here?"
"No, it's quiet. We're short now that Porter is in jail. Take the grin off your face Francine, now we have to find someone to replace him, a perfect job for you. And I want Dave Geiger in here full time now, get him out from under Smyth's influence. He's an excellent agent." Billy told them.
Efraim agreed. "Great idea with Dave. Get him in here and partner him up."
"I was thinking of partnering him with you, Beaman. The two of you worked well together." He watched the mask that fell on Efraim's face and the storm clouds that gathered on Francine's.
"No. Efraim and I are partners."
"No Francine. You are my assistant."
"Billy, I have been an agent for how many years and you have complained once a day and twice on Sunday's about my inability to work with a partner. I now have a partner I can work with and you will not pull me in from the field and stick me at a desk!" Francine's voice put a halt to all work in the bullpen as everyone watched the threesome outside of Francine's office.
A huge grin filled Billy's face. "A year ago you would have screamed had I tried to partner you with your husband."
Francine rolled her eyes. "Please! A year ago I would have attempted murder had you tried to partner me with my husband. Things have changed. I have changed."
"Not much!" Billy zinged as he headed towards his office.
"I'm not staying in the office," she warned as Billy walked into his office. Billy waved as he closed the door on the couple. Francine turned to Efraim, her face flushed and her eyes snapping. "Can you believe this? I can't believe this! Efraim! What are we going to do?"
"Hon, he's pulling your leg."
"He's what?" Francine asked, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed.
"He's giving you a hard time. He has no intention of splitting up our partnership, he's just trying to rile you up and he's done a damn good job of it, and you fell for it!" He hurried his explanation as the look on Francine's face warned him that his wife wasn't about to cut their boss any slack, not even on their first day back in the office. "Billy finds it amusing that a little over a year ago you wouldn't say three words to me and now I'm your husband and your partner here at the Agency. He's twisting your tail," he pushed her office door open and pushed her inside away from the prying eyes of the bullpen.
"I'm going to kill him!" Francine dropped her purse and briefcase on her desk before heading towards Billy's office.
Efraim grabbed her arm as she walked past and pulled her up against him. "Listen. There is more than one way to get even, my love."
"What are you saying exactly? Aren't you upset? "
"I'm saying, let's have some fun while things are quiet. And no, Billy put us together, do you really think he's going to pull us apart on a whim?"
Francine shook her head, still rankling over the pronouncement of a partner change. "Any ideas?"
"One or two. . ." He winked at her.
"That we can do here, B." She told him, her voice tinged with mock disgust.
"Yeah. Let's go to my office and talk."
"I should go take care of my ID first."
"Go on then, take care of that and meet me in my office when you're done then Mrs. Beaman."
Francine smiled, she loved it when he called her Mrs. Beaman. What was she thinking? She loved it when anyone called her Mrs. Beaman. "Sounds like a plan to me, Commander Beaman." She blew him a kiss as they went their separate ways.
Francine returned a little over an hour later, new identification cards and clearances in hand. She went to Efraim's office and found him studying his computer screen.
"What's so interesting, B?" She asked him as she handed him her new ID for him to look at.
He smiled as he looked over her ID's. 'Francine Desmond Beaman' and a picture of his smiling wife. "Very nice, hon. I was looking over the requirements for storage and filing of classified documents. Did you know that they have to be backed by a blast rated wall?"
"Ah . . .I think I remember reading that." Francine took her usual seat on the edge of his desk, craning to look at his computer screen. "What about it?"
"The wall behind me is not blast rated. It's an interior wall."
"Okay, so?"
"What's in the office next to me?" He asked her, watching as she began to follow his train of thought.
"The active and complete files are in the next office!"
"Exactly," he sat back in his chair, kicked back, put his legs up and grinned at his wife. "And your office, because it shares a wall with Billy's office, is a blast rated wall."
"You're devious! I love it. When can we switch offices?"
"Overnight. Get the paperwork filled out and it will be done."
"Billy may kill us," the grin on her face proclaimed her lack of worry over any retaliation from their boss. They both knew Billy would bluster.
"We'll bring in jelly donuts. You know he likes them!" He blew her a kiss then pointed to the door from his office that connected with the file room. He raised his eyebrows at her and watched as recognition dawned.
"Efraim! You really are a genius! We'll be able to keep the door open!" She put her arms around her husbands neck and kissed him, patted his cheek and headed towards her office, stopping at the door to turn and wink at him. "I'm going to get that paperwork filed right away."
"I'm going to head up to the Q Bureau and see what Lee and Amanda have going."
She nodded that she had heard and waved. Efraim got up and headed for the elevator that took him up to the upper levels.
He waved hello to those who nodded or asked how he was. There were many who offered him their congratulations. He smiled, knowing that the office scuttlebutt had his marriage on the rocks inside of a year. They all had said the same about Lee and Amanda.
"Commander! Welcome back! How's married life treating you?" Leatherneck stuck his head out of his office, a smile wreathing his face.
"Hey Leatherneck! How are you? Thanks, married life is treating me just fine." Efraim told him, giving him a slap on the back.
"Looks like it is from where I'm standing. I saw your wife earlier, lovely as ever." Leatherneck watched Efraim's face light up when he mentioned his wife. He gave a mental eye roll and laughed. "Yeah, you got it bad college boy, just have to mention the woman to you. Of course, it's always been that way."
"Yep, it sure has been. Look, I'm heading up to see Lee and Amanda. How about I stop by on my way back down; you have any coffee in there?"
"Same as always Commander. Thick enough to stand a sharp knife in it!"
"I'll be back then, save me some."
"Will do, Commander."
Efraim turned into the small front hallway that housed the Q Bureau. He knocked on the door and heard Amanda's answering call. He opened the door and stuck his head in. "Hey Amanda, how's it going? Anything interesting happening?"
Amanda looked up at Efraim's voice and smiled. "Efraim! Come in! Welcome back." She met him half way and gave him a warm hug hello. "It's good to have you back, we've missed you around here. Is Francine downstairs?"
"Yeah, she's filling out paperwork, we're changing her office to the file room next to mine."
"That will go over really well with Billy." Lee said, closing the Q Bureau door behind him. "Glad to see you Beaman. How's it feel to be back and a married man?"
Efraim grinned. "Like it should, good! As for Billy, jelly donuts go a long way to smoothing things over. Besides, regulations state that the files need a blast proof wall behind them, and that's Billy's wall. He's talked about it before, we're just helping."
"The man marries Francine Desmond and now he's taking on the DC Section chief, he's fearless! Next he'll be leaping tall buildings in a single bound!" They all laughed at Lee's joking.
"Efraim? Do you know how long you'll be on active duty? There's no chance of you being transferred, is there?" Amanda voiced the same concerns that Francine had when his orders had come in.
"Probably until after the laser has been recovered. And the admiral has the assurances of the President that I won't be reassigned."
Lee nodded his agreement. "It goes a very long way to essentially save the life of the President of the United States and getting the duty of your choosing."
"This is true." Efraim agreed. "But I would rather the entire incident be over and done with. I always think that something will come back and bite you the longer it strings along."
Amanda frowned and patted Efraim on the arm. "Now, don't think that way Efraim. You have to think positively, isn't that right Lee?" Lee shook his head no to Efraim and quickly nodded agreement when Amanda looked at him.
"I'll try to remember that Amanda, thanks. Look, is everything quiet?"
"I just got word from a friend at Justice that the CIA has requested permission to question Quigley." Lee frowned. It was no secret that he didn't like the CIA. He liked them even less when they began sticking their noses into Agency business.
"I don't like the sound of that," Efraim said, shaking his head. "Nothing ever good comes from the CIA sniffing around. Any idea who might be running things on this at Langley?"
"Probably the Assistant Director. He and Smyth are legendary rivals, goes back quite awhile, or so I've heard. There have been some spectacular verbal fireworks in the halls of Congress over territory. Smyth does have a leg up being the Director here, but that doesn't mean that Carlson won't try to run Smyth and the Agency to ground."
"Why am I seeing this great, big rain cloud waiting to pour on my parade?" Efraim asked.
"Yeah, buddy, I'm with you on that one." Lee said.
"I'll bet it's nothing, Lee, Efraim. They're probably just inquiring what happened." Amanda tried to reason and sooth over the male egos that got ruffled at the thought of outsiders tromping in their backyards.
"Right Amanda." Lee rolled his eyes and gestured toward the door. "I'm going to go watch the shooting' match when Billy finds his office structure being moved. You can find me there, okay Amanda?"
"Alright Lee. Goodbye Efraim, glad to see you back at work!"
Efraim gave Amanda a mock salute and followed Lee out the door. "So, what did you hear about this? It makes my skin crawl to think about the CIA sticking their two cents in our business. I haven't heard anything from the Defense Department on this."
Lee pressed the button for the lower level of the elevator. "Well, Carlson and the DDOD are old friends. Think you can do some of that computer magic of yours and get us some info?"
"Not in uniform I can't. Could be one of the reasons they're pulling this now. But, Francine can do it."
"Will she?"
Efraim raised an eyebrow at Lee as if to ask if he was serious. "In an instant. She has no love for the CIA. I'll have her hide the tag in their own signal, it will look like a slow terminal, I've been working on the program for that for awhile now."
"Good thing you're working for us, Beaman. I'd hate to have to track you down if you were hacking out there." Lee laughed as they walked out of the elevator and headed towards the bullpen. They heard Billy bellowing the closer they came to the entrance.
"Beaman! Get in here right now!"
Francine came out of Efraim's office. "What's the matter Billy?"
"I want Beaman!"
"I'm here, Billy. Look!" Francine handed Billy her ID with her married name on it. Billy shook his head, gave it back to her and headed to his office.
"When your husband gets back here, I want him in my office." The door slammed and the shades shook on the window in Billy's office.
"Any idea what you did?" Lee asked?
"Ah, no, but it's probably more what I didn't do that has him that upset! Let me go take care of it." Efraim winked at his wife and went to Billy's office and knocked on the door. Several agents at their desks in the bullpen jumped when Billy yelled for Efraim to come in. Efraim opened the door, walked in and closed it behind him. Everyone stared at the door as the room was deadly silent. Francine and Lee walked over by the door, Lee leaning against the wall as Francine sat on the filing cabinet. Lee gave a small shake of his head, Francine chewed her bottom lip as they tried to listen for any sound that might give them a clue as to what was going on in the office.
The door suddenly opened and Efraim walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. Francine jumped up, a worried look on her face. "What's up, B?"
Efraim took Francine by her elbow and ushered her over to his office, Lee tagging along behind them. Lee closed the door to Efraim's office as they all walked in. "Remember in LA when I buzzed the FBI office? Made it look like the DOJ was snooping?"
"Yeah, I remember. We wanted to play with the kiddies. What's the matter?" Francine wondered at the chastened look on her husband's face.
"I forgot to undo the line." There was silence in the room. Lee started to chuckle. Francine was biting her lips to keep from laughing as Efraim sat down in his chair and started hitting the keyboard of his computer. By the time he looked up, Lee and Francine were laughing outright. "It's not funny! The DOJ is livid and on a witch hunt at the LA office of the FBI."
"Can you undo it remotely?" Lee asked, having a hard time containing his laughter.
Francine smiled. "He can do anything from that computer of his." Lee just laughed harder.
"Not exactly, hon. We have a glitch, and well, Lee and I need you to do some finagling for us."
"What's wrong?" Francine was all business now as she eyed Efraim and Lee, concern shadowing her eyes.
"I don't know if there's anything wrong, Francine. But, a friend at the DOJ told me the CIA asked for access to talk to Quigley. You know how Carlson would love to stick it to the Smyth and the Agency." Lee told her, the look on his face telling them he was concerned about the information.
"Why do I need to do it? I'm not as good as Efraim is. Why don't you just tag them?"
"I can't, Francine. I'm in uniform now, which could be a reason the DOD insisted I remain active until the laser is up. If I get caught, I could be court marshaled. I'll talk you through it though, and we'll just make the signal look like terminal lag. We need to get some listening going on over there too, and maybe at Quigley's cell."
"Aren't you going a little far flung, Beaman?" Lee mentioned when it looked like Efraim would go off on one of his thought tangents.
"Think about it Lee, the CIA doesn't casually ask to talk with an Agency prisoner unless something is going down. I don't like it and I'd rather be overcautious then get caught holding an empty bag." Efraim told him as he hit the enter key on his computer. "Okay, LA now looks like a phone line screw up, they'll even get letters of apology from the telephone company."
Francine gave Lee a small smile and a raised eyebrow. "See?" Lee shook his head and rolled his eyes. Efraim got up from his chair and held it for Francine to sit in. She sat down and started the sequencing that would tag the central CIA computer for any references to 'laser, Quigley, Dark Horse, Romania, Poenari,' and on a whim she typed 'Beaman'.
"Okay. Instead of putting in the next sequence, I want you to attach it to a level 17 terminal." Efraim watched as she searched for, and found what they were looking for, coding the script the way Efraim directed. "Good! Now, trace the system line for that terminal, yeah, that's it. Hook it to all of those."
Francine chuckled as she realized how her husband was able to hide his line tags.
"Okay, now the next sequence. Wait a second. What's that?"
"Is that a hit already?" Francine leaned in toward the monitor, clearly surprised by the return of information so quickly.
"Yeah. They aren't expecting us to do this, damn, their security is lax." Efraim whistled under his breath, reading over his wife's shoulder.
"What are you getting? Asked Lee and he stepped behind the couple crowding the computer screen.
"I'm getting a return on 'Beaman'." Francine told him. She hit the print button and Lee walked over and lifted the paper as it came hit the printer tray.
"Guess you were right Beaman, you're in the Navy until that laser is raised. Damn." Lee sat on the corner of the desk rereading the printout in his hand. He shook his head as he quickly ran over implications in his mind.
"Who do we take this to?" Francine asked. The three agents looked at one another.
"Well, we tell Billy. Smyth is going to have to know, but we have to make sure he doesn't want to go tilting at Carlson, or we'll be blown out of the water. I guess I had better take care of Smyth after we tell Billy. Maybe we can convince Smyth to play cat and mouse, he does like to win." Lee speculated, his mind already working the angles.
"Efraim, your father isn't involved in this, it's just not the way he does things." Francine said, worried about her new father-in-law.
"No, Dad wouldn't agree to this. The honor and code of the uniform mean too much to him and he's too much of a straight shooter to play these cloak and dagger games. That's one of the reasons we had such a rough patch after I joined the Agency, he couldn't understand how his son could become a spook, as he termed it. Hon, finish the next sequence before we forget and leave ourselves open."
"Do we tell your father, Beaman?" Lee asked.
"I'm in a tight spot, Lee. I'm obligated to report any and all information. By default, my dad happens to be my direct commanding officer. Think about that, will ya? I'm boxed. I tell my father, both of us go down. Dad is getting ready to retire next year, he could lose it all, be disgraced. I don't tell Dad, I disgrace him and cast suspicion on him, he's out. Someone has given some thought to this."
"Why? Why do this to you?" Francine was indignant, rapidly on her way to annoyed.
"Maybe it's got nothing to do with me, but someone knows what's going on over here. I don't like this at all." Efraim leaned over and checked the row of gadgets on his desk that told him if his office was clean. He nodded, satisfied that they could talk freely there. "Maybe someone is just trying to give us something to worry about."
"I'd say they've done a good job. I'm worried." Francine said, putting her arm around her husband's waist as he stood next to her.
"First things first," Lee interrupted, wanting to get a handle on things. "Let's get the exterminator's moving, just in case we have an infestation. And we need to keep this quiet. Francine, call Billy and tell him to come over here." Francine nodded and picked up the telephone on Efraim's desk as Lee headed over to Billy's office.
Efraim stood behind Francine, looking at the picture's on his wall. Francine's comment about the clutter in his office as opposed to the lack of it in the townhouse crossed his mind. He smiled as he looked at the one picture of him and his father, taken at the Pentagon when Efraim had returned home from Operation Desert Storm. We'll figure this out, Dad. I promise you.
Lee came back, Billy hurrying behind him waving the papers Francine had put through for the transfer of the file room. "What is this, Desmond?"
"It's Beaman now, and you've read it. The files have to be backed by a blast proof wall, and that's my office. It makes perfect sense for me to move to the filing room and for the filing room to take up residence in my old office." Francine told him, hands on her hips as she waited for the ensuing battle of wills to begin.
"It just so happens that the file room connects to your husband's office! Convenient, don't you think?" Billy waved the paperwork in the direction of the door that connected the two offices.
"Gee Billy, I really hadn't given that a thought! Efraim? Did you know these offices were connected by that door?"
"No Francine, I've never used that door before." Efraim replied, watching as Billy shook his head.
"Okay, cut the games you two. Go ahead, move your office Francine, it will be easier to find you, as it is you're always over here." Billy turned towards the door to leave, but Lee put a hand out to stop him.
"Billy, there's something else we need to talk to you about. You better have a seat."
"What have you done now, Beaman?" Billy sighed as he sat in one of the chairs next to the desk.
"Nothing! I took care of the LA DOJ. They'll get a letter from the phone company saying the phone lines had been crossed in error. There's even saved work orders that were 'overlooked'." Efraim bristled at his boss's assumption he was the cause of this latest wrinkle.
"Then what?" Billy demanded, clearly losing patience with his agents.
"I have a source over at DOJ that gave me a heads up on the CIA requesting access to Quigley. We thought we'd do some preliminary investigative work," Billy shot a look at Efraim, who raised his hands in denial and shook his head. Billy glanced at Francine who shrugged, not wanting to give anything away. "And this is what we came up with." Lee handed Billy the printout.
"Interesting. Any conclusions people?"
"Efraim's term of service was dictated by Carlson at the CIA." Francine huffed, her tone saying what her words left unsaid.
Efraim's door opened and Dr. Smyth walked in. "Hello children, Billy. If it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Newlywed and the Scarecrow. I see that someone has sent the exterminators out on their appointed rounds, children? I do so dislike the implication of their diligent efforts. Care to bring me up to speed?"
Billy handed the computer printout to Smyth who took it, eyes narrowing as he read it. He pulled the cigarette out of his holder and stabbed it out on the side of Efraim's trash can, then leaned up against the door. "How's our craft in here kiddies?" He asked.
"We're clean. I monitor constantly and checked when that came up," Efraim indicated the paper in Smyth's hand with a nod.
"It seems that our friends and compatriots over at the CIA are interested in obtaining the information regarding the laser. Anyone willing to place a small wager that they won't be sharing? What led to this and I take it, Beaman, that you're doing some computer wizardry of your own?" Smyth leveled his ice blue stare on Efraim, demanding answers to the questions no one had yet asked.
"Francine is, sir. My hands are tied as far as interagency snooping is concerned."
"That answers the 'why' you're still in uniform. Well, your hands may be tied, but I take it you've tutored your bride in the art of hacking?"
"Yes sir."
"Excellent. Now, how did this, " Smyth tapped the paper with his fingertip, "come about?"
Lee explained his source at the DOJ and the connection to Quigley. Smyth nodded his head, listening intently as Lee wrapped up what they knew. "And that brings us here. Any ideas or suggestions on how you want to proceed with this, Dr. Smyth?"
"We can't let on we know any of this is happening, lest we scare them back under their rocks. No losing tails, but try to see who it is if you're able without compromising our position. Beaman, your father and Carlson have history if I remember, correct?"
Efraim could have hit himself upside the head. "Of course! I remember now. Goes back to the end of Nam. I was just starting at Annapolis. I don't know the whole story, but Dad bumped heads several times with Carlson, something to do with bad intell Dad's carrier was getting. He was losing fighters to STA's and he wasn't happy. It was Carlson who was Agent in Charge of Operations in the theater for the CIA at the time."
"Let me stir your milk tea, children," Smyth said. "The Admiral turned turrets on Carlson and got him thrown out of the theater. I stepped in, your father stopped losing his planes and Carlson was demoted and sent stateside. Only a lucky break has seen him rise over at the CIA. I think perhaps he's looking to have his name on the Director's door. After all, Quigley was up to his ears in senators and congressmen, and women," He added with a nod to Francine. "And he'll need plenty of them to get through the confirmation hearings."
"So if Carlson can get the plans and give them to the Intelligence Committee, he cuts out the Agency, and looks like a hero . It makes Efraim look bad because the laser is in the lake. We look incompetent all the way around," Francine mused, looking at her husband who nodded in agreement.
"Full marks for Mrs. Wedded Bliss. And to take out the father, Carlson will ruin the son. So kiddies, I'd say we've had our fill of party games. I don't like being the hunted, so lets get something into gear and turn the tables on Carlson. And Commander, lose the code of honor when dealing with Carlson, he'll only use it to light a fire under you. Billy, I'll leave the details to you, but I want daily briefings. Anything interesting, I want to know about it. One last thing, let's keep this under our hats; inter-agency sparring is so Junior High School." Smyth turned and left the office, the door slamming behind him. Everyone looked at one another, their thoughts racing over the problem that had presented itself.
"Well, I'd say we have our marching orders. Beaman? I suggest you get over to Quigley's cell and get some information out of him. He responded to you at Poenari, you might be able to pull it off again. And I don't want to read your conversation in a CIA report, understand?" Billy told them as he got out of the chair. "Francine, get me whatever you can find on Carlson and his staff. Scarecrow, I want information and I want it now. I have no intention of letting the CIA take a run on one of my agents." Billy left the office.
"Why can't you just resign from the Navy, give up your commission?" Lee asked, arms crossed over his chest, a questioning look on his face.
"It will make it look like he's running or hiding something. Carlson has him boxed, and in doing so, he'll make the Admiral look bad." Francine said, shaking her head, her eyes glittering with anger.
"Dad will resign. He won't sit by and let them run me through the ringer. Carlson wins either way."
"Francine, get to work on Carlson, I want a complete work up in the Q Bureau as soon as possible. Efraim, get what you can out of Quigley. Visit Leatherneck first, and take Geiger with you, he can help you keep an eye on things. Basically, he's still assigned to you, let him watch your six. Let it roll around in your minds, Billy may want to keep the CIA from shaking you down, but Dr. Smyth wants to turn the tables. I want a plan of action and I want it soon. Let's get moving." Lee pointed up, meaning he was heading back up to the Q Bureau, leaving Efraim and Francine alone in Efraim's office.
"Well, that sets a speed record. Back in the office for what, two hours? And all hell breaks loose." Efraim just shook his head, sitting in the seat that Billy had vacated.
"This is not good B."
"No honey, it's not good at all."
