Chapter 6
July 3rd 1985 Wednesday
Meandering through the streets of downtown crossing, around government center and the Boston Garden, Lee kept an eye out for the entrance to the expressway. An uncomfortable silence filled the air as they began the fifty-mile drive. Lee felt compelled to bring up the topic that had haunted him for hours the night before.
"Gee, you know it's funny in all the conversations we've had, you never once mentioned Jeffrey."
"Lee, Do you have any idea how many things I have never mentioned to you?"
"Several thousand?" He guessed.
"No."
"Close though."
"Yeah."
Lee speculated, "I just thought that maybe you know, in one conversation or another you would have mentioned him, I mean, you used to mention Dan."
"You mean Dean?"
"Yeah, well, I just didn't picture that you had a hidden past to conceal. You two looked pretty close in the restaurant."
With frustration growing Amanda accused him, "Doing a little surveillance work last night?"
His temper was starting to get the better of him. Clenching his jaw, Lee replied, "You could say that. I saw the two of you dancing when I stopped at the bar."
Meeting Lee's eyes with a glaring look, Amanda questioned him, "That's not what's on your mind. You've seen me dance before, there's something you're not telling me."
Shifting uncomfortably in the driver's seat, with disapproval rising in his voice, Lee admonished, "If you want to entertain men in your hotel room, that's up to you, it's really none of my business."
Annoyed at his assumptions, Amanda stiffened her back, stared straight ahead and declared, "You're right, Lee, it's really none of your business."
"Amaaannda, look, I'm sorry for the way that sounded, let me try again."
Amanda looked at him sternly, unwilling to give an inch or make this any easier for him.
Not wanting the situation to go from bad to worse, Lee conceded,"Your assignment was to keep the professor occupied. It's an agent's option how you choose to do that. I just wouldn't want things to get out of control."
"Just what do you think happened last night in my room?"
Lee tried to conceal his thoughts, but a devilish grin crossed his face before he could disguise it.
Amanda grasped the meaning of his silence and what he must have been thinking about her.
"You know, Lee, That's pretty funny coming from you, the Agency's playboy." Thoroughly annoyed with him, she would have walked away had they not been in the car. "How could you think I would have an affair with a man that had been out of my life for the past three years!"
"You mentioned having an affair, not me." Giving her an unyielding look, Lee asked, "Well why not? He's tall and handsome, you're an attractive woman with those big brown eyes I bet you could melt any guy that you wanted to."
Flustered and complimented at the same time, that Stetson charm was beginning to wear her down. Amanda contemplated his words, 'He thinks I'm attractive, and even noticed my eyes, Lee makes it so hard to stay mad at him.'
"I saw the way he looked at you. Not that I blame him, in that new silk dress, he couldn't get enough of you."
"Did you see the way I looked at him?"
Puzzled, Lee thought about it for a few moments and admitted, "Well, not really."
"Maybe you should have before jumping to all the wrong conclusions." Deciding she really had nothing to hide, Amanda added, "If you must know, I was showing Jeff the latest pictures of the boys, the photo album was too big to fit in my purse."
With a sigh of relief, Lee commented, "Oh, I see, there really was nothing going on between you two."
"You sure sound like a jealous person to me."
Lee forced a lighthearted laugh and replied, "Don't be ridiculous, how could I be jealous? There's nothing going on between us, we're just friends, uh kind of like, partners, right?"
Amanda gave Lee a knowing sideways glance and thought 'Just because it sounds ridiculous, doesn't make it not true. One of these days he is going to have to face the truth, guess it won't be today'.
The highway ended in Gloucester. The remaining five miles found them on a narrow two-lane road, meandering along the rocky coast created by the Atlantic ocean. At the northeastern most tip of the 'bay state' they passed Rockport's welcome sign. The town boasted it was settled in 1690 with a year round population just over 5,000.
This artist colony flourished in the summertime. The oceanfront inns displayed 'no vacancy' signs. Easels and tripods were set up along the shore. Vacationers wandered though the picturesque streets.
Amanda took in the charms of the town and exclaimed, "What a quaint little village. All the little houses with window boxes filled with colorful flowers. It reminds me of when Dorothy's house landed in Oz. All that's missing is the yellow brick road."
"Well we're not in Kansas Amanda, you see any corn fields?"
With a sheepish grin Amanda replied, "No, but I do see a scarecrow."
Lee met her grin with raised eyebrows and a look that pleaded, 'give me a break'.
They parked the car and proceeded to walk down the peninsula known as Bearskin Neck. It was filled with galleries and craft shops. The walk provided a panoramic view of the Atlantic ocean dotted with fishing boats and a weather-beaten red lobster shack that had been painted by thousands of artist earning the name 'Motif #1.'
Amanda announced, "If I didn't see this town with my own two eyes, I probably wouldn't believe that such a place could still exist in 1985." With a puzzled expression she added, "I've seen this before, but that can't be, I've never been here before."
Lee informed her, "A few years ago they filmed part of Robin Cook's bestseller 'Coma' here, ya' know the one about the Boston doctors that stumble into a scheme to harvest human organs, when too many people were dying from minor surgery?"
"Yeah, I saw that, Michael Douglas was in that movie. I've seen it someplace else too." Turning around taking in the panoramic view, Amanda remembered. "It was in Disneyworld. Mother and the boys loved standing in the middle of the Eastern Airlines pavilion. It was one of those new 360-degree theaters, with the movie in front of you and in back of you at the same time. 'If You Had Wings' showed highlights from all over the United States and this was one of them."
Craftsman were practicing and selling their trade in the various shops, from pewter displays to the multi colored windows of the house of glass. In the galleries one could choose between gentle watercolors or bold oil paintings. A woodworker carved the same scenes that had been depicted on canvas. A stained glass artist recreated the ocean vistas. They passed a silversmith, a glassblower, unique pottery, leather shops and several jewelers.
In one shop Amanda was admiring a painting of Motif # 1 and struck up a conversation with the shop owner. He told her, "Technically it is really Motif # 2. When we had the big one, the blizzard of 78, we had tides that were 18 feet above normal, combined with hurricane force winds of 93 miles per hour. Five feet of snow was left behind. Boats were flipped over; parked cars were washed away into the Atlantic. The ocean overflowed into all these shops, basements full of stock and supplies were flooded. When it was all over there was no sign of Motif #1-it had been destroyed and washed away."
"Oh my gosh!"
"About a year before that happened, one fella went over and documented the measurements, and the exact barn red paint, so that it could be refurbished when the time came, you're looking at Motif #2."
Outside with a gentle ocean breeze blowing in her hair, Amanda asked, "This is a very quaint little town that I would gladly spend all day exploring, but Lee, it would help if you told me what we are looking for? I think I have a need to know."
Nodding in agreement, Lee complied, "These photos show the missing men had been held here in Rockport. The information retrieved from them had been incorporated onto these blank canvases, which an artist would later camouflage. That way it could be safely moved out of the country without anyone knowing top secret codes were being transported."
Amanda picked up where Lee had left off. "So if we find the canvas, or recognize the artist from the finished paintings, we've found our traitor."
"Exactly." Lee agreed, pleased that Amanda had caught on to the plan so quickly.
He placed his hand on the small of her back as he led her from shop to shop looking for likely suspects. After all they were pretending to be a couple on vacation, and this was a much more natural position.
After a half dozen shops once again Lee removed the photos from his jacket pocket and matched up the pictures in his hand to the paintings in the gallery windows. "I could use your black belt in confusion right about now. I'm going in through the bulkhead and check out the storage area, you go in the front door and keep the guy's attention in the showroom, ready?"
Inside the shop, Amanda admired the artwork displayed on the wall. She kept one eye on the proprietor, a fair-haired man about fifty. Mr. Olson finished up with a customer and approached her with a friendly smile, "Good afternoon, can I help you find something special?
Amanda quarried, "I'm looking for a painting for my bedroom, something soothing, relaxing."
"We have mostly rocky coastal scenes, sailboats, fishing boats, and harbor views with the twin lighthouses here in this gallery."
"Oh that sounds perfect. I love to go sailing." Amanda replied.
Olson led her to the next room and presented a canvas showing Rockport's protected cove filled with a colorful array of boats.
Taking her time, Amanda considered the painting and remarked, "It's so vibrant, a really beautiful painting, but much too bright for my bedroom." Thinking of new ways to detain him, she asked, "Can I see what you have in sunsets?"
"My gallery does have some lovely sunsets." Walking her over to the opposite wall he persisted. "Would this one be more like what you are looking for?"
Amanda agreed, "It is lovely, but much too dark. This is at least an hour past sunset." Looking around the room Amanda walked over to a large painting that caught her eye. "I like the seagulls on the shore in this one, but I was hoping it would have more of the purple clouds you see at dusk."
The owner looked over his inventory book and stated, "I have more paintings to show you, but it will take me a few minutes to bring them up from storage." He placed his hand on the doorknob to go downstairs.
Amanda blocked his way and pointed behind him. "I've never seen anything like this before. What an unusual table, is this for sale, too?"
In the middle of the gallery two lobster traps formed a coffee table, a protective clear glass rested above them.
Turning away from the basement door, Olson replied, "Yes they are quite unusual, and available in a variety of sizes."
Amanda inspected the table for quite some time before rambling on, "Where would you put something like this? This is much too short for my family room. Can I get them standing up instead of on their side? How many traps would you need to stand them up and create a decent size table? They must have been in the ocean for many years to look so weathered. How many lobsters do you think were caught in these two traps? I know they are humane, after all lobsters are alive when you buy them, but I just don't know if I could get used to having them in my house. It certainly is an eye catching piece."
The onslaught of questions left the owner at a loss of knowing where to begin with the answers.
Amanda had kept Mr. Olson busy for 15 minutes when Lee walked in with the evidence that would prove his involvement in the theft of secret communication codes and deciphers.
Lee had called the state police for backup, to hold the suspect till arrangements could be finalized to take him to D.C.; nothing was available for tomorrow, Independence Day. Arrangements were made to return on the fifth. At the same time, the suspected paintings were confiscated from the basement and held as evidence.
End of chapter 6