CHAPTER ELEVEN - CLOWN MONEY

"How are you so good at this?" Lee asked, peering over Amanda's shoulder as she tapped the keyboard. He couldn't begin to fathom the way the program worked, with all the function keys and a cheat-sheet of shortcuts that she'd barely looked at since she sat down. She was navigating between databases as if she'd written the thing.

"It's not that hard, once you get the lay of the land," she said. "You just have to know where to look for what."

"Well I have no idea where to look for what."

"Sure you do, you used to go downstairs and look through the stacks. It's the same thing, just digital now." Tap, tap, tap. Amanda sat back in the chair. "Bingo, another one with the same head office address. This one claims to sell 'small appliances.' That's the third one. They've all put money into that account, and then had the exact amount transferred back a week later."

"Huh." Lee straightened and folded his arms over his chest. "So maybe it is like Warren says, it's not about the money moving around at all, it's about his cover."

"But what for?" Amanda prompted. "I mean we all have enemies, I guess, but this seems like an awfully indirect way to go about exposing an agent. Especially someone as high-profile as he is."

"Some people like the game," Lee said. "They want to make him scramble."

"It seems pointless." She leaned forward in the chair, peering at the paper on the desk in front of her, then entered the name into the database. "Now there we go. This one has a different address."

"It looks like a legitimate company," Lee said, peering over her shoulder. "Carrington Textiles." He sighed. "It says they're based out of Seattle. Guess we can't zip down the street and take a look for ourselves."

"Nope." She leaned back in her seat, smiling a little as his hand drifted her the base of her neck, rubbing gently.

"We'll have to get one of our west coast agents to take a look for us." His fingers worked at the knot in her shoulder, even as his eyes stayed on the screen. "I wonder what they do."

"We can find out," Amanda said. "But we'll have to go downstairs and talk to a real person."

Lee laughed. "Thank God. Turn off that box and let's go."

"Here it is," Jimmy Wilbur said, strolling back toward his desk in forensic accounting with a printout in one hand. "Carrington Textiles, based out of Seattle. Huh. Says here they supply upholstery and apparel fabrics for manufacturing."

"Any chance you can take a closer look at their activities?" Lee asked Wilbur, who had started scrolling through a database on his screen.

"I can, sure. But I'm leaving in half an hour for my kid's birthday party."

"Aw, that's sweet," Amanda said. "How old is he?"

"Seven." Wilbur grinned. "He's pretty excited. We've got twenty kids coming over. We booked a clown."

"Oh, I did that once," Amanda said, and Lee snorted softly at the memory. She elbowed him, gently.

"Look, when do you think you can get it to us?" Lee asked, trying to temper his frustration. "I've got a couple of anxious upper management types who'd like to see some movement."

"Monday," Wilbur said. "I'll put it on the top of the pile. Sound good?"

"Sounds great."

"It'll give you time to work on your pitches, anyway," Wilbur said, grinning.

"What do you know about that?"

"I know I've got ten bucks on the underdog, Scarecrow. So come up with something good, all right? I'd like to make the clown money back."

Amanda laughed. "The pressure's on, Lee."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Monday by noon," he said, looking at his watch. He nodded at Amanda. "I'd better get you home."

"What time does the movie start?" Lee asked, as they drove towards Amanda's house.

"Seven. But we're going for burgers first at that new place near the mall."

"The one with the giant cow on the roof?"

"Yeah." Amanda grimaced. "I'm not expecting much."

Lee chuckled. He went quiet, suddenly, and Amanda thought about suggesting he come along again, but she didn't want to nag him. "What about tomorrow?" he said, after a minute. "Dinner, maybe? I mean with everyone."

"Oh." Her eyes widened in surprise. "I'd love that. But the boys are going go-karting with Joe."

Lee's eyebrows shot up, and she knew he wanted to ask her why.

"I know it's not his weekend, but he got these passes and…" Amanda shrugged. "I don't want to be all rigid about it if he wants to spend time with them, you know? He's definitely stepped up since the whole… Stemwinder thing."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Next weekend, maybe?"

"Next weekend is his weekend," Amanda said. "And Mother's away, and I know she'd never forgive me if you came for dinner and she missed it."

Lee chuckled. "I can't decide if that's nice or terrifying."

"But it means we get the whole weekend to ourselves," she pointed out. "If we can keep work out of it. Friday to Sunday, just us."

He let go of the gear shift and covered her hand with his. "I can't complain about that."

"Maybe the week after," she said, after a minute. "Though it's so hard to plan in advance. You never know what's going to happen."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"I'm glad you want to meet them," she said, worried he'd change his mind.

"Did you think I didn't?"

"No. Not really. But I know the idea makes you nervous." She shrugged. "It makes me nervous."

"You? Really?"

"I've been hiding you for three years, Lee. Sharing you is going to take some getting used to." She turned her hand over under his and meshed their fingers together. "Especially because I know they're going to like you as much as I do."

He lifted their joined hands and kissed her fingers. "You think so, huh?"

"Well maybe not as much, but a lot."

'You sound pretty confident."

She nodded. "Yep. I have a good feeling about it." She squeezed his hand and he let go to shift gears. They were on her street now, and the Corvette slid smoothly up to the curb, right in front of the house. "All right, look, Mother's going to give me the third degree when I go in there. So can I tell her week after next?"

"Week after next," he said, nodding, though he looked anything but sure about it. "Unless higher powers decide otherwise."

"Let's not even go there." She leaned across the gear-shift and gave him a kiss. "I'll call you later."

"Okay. Have fun at the movies."

"I will." She kissed him again, then pushed the door open and got out of the car. As she did, she saw the front door of her house open. "Here it comes," she said, as Dotty appeared in the doorway. She heard him laugh as she pushed the car door shut and he drove away, escaping into the golden light of late afternoon.