Amanda sat, tied to the chair, trying to figure out how she could have overlooked the obviously very important details in this assignment. Perhaps she had taken the interviews too lightly; perhaps she was distracted by other things in her personal life. Whatever the reason, she was now dealing with the consequences. Her life was in danger as was the life of her unborn child. And most certainly, her captor was intent on killing Lee. She hadn't told anyone where she would be this morning. That is the number one rule as an agent that you always follow-never go anywhere alone or letting someone know where you are going. "Damn you, Joe!" she thought to herself. "If I hadn't have been so distracted by your selfishness, I might not be here in this situation right now!" Amanda knew that wasn't true. The mistakes she made were her own, but blaming someone else for at least the moment helped her feel a little better.
"I've got to get out of here", she thought to herself. Ekaterina stood looking out of the large picture window in the living room. Her back was to Amanda. The bright sun shone in through the window and enveloped both women. Amanda needed to loosen the ropes and then create a distraction. It was now or never while it was just the two of them if Amanda was going to accomplish this. She started to pull on the ropes that tied her arms. They were getting loose. She had tightened her forearms when Natasha was tying her to the chair, a trick she learned years ago and has served her well many times over. Quietly, she began to move her arms back and forth, struggling to get them free. Ekaterina slowly turned away from the window. Amanda froze and ceased her escape attempt.
"You know, Amanda….I have waited so long for this day." Ekaterina sat in the winged back chair opposite Amanda. "My life ended the day I met Lee Stetson, and today, I will finally have my revenge."
Amanda swallowed hard and just observed Ekaterina.
"It was fate that has brought us back together again, fate that I should run into Lee Stetson. Imagine how happy I was to hear that the agent that wanted to meet with us had the name of Stetson! It didn't take too much trouble to find that it was the same man I have hated all these years-AND he had a family, too! It was almost too perfect. I could now make him pay and suffer as he made me suffer….Natasha wanted a fresh start after her husband died last year. She wanted to come to America. Her husband was killed by the KGB for no reason at all. He was a brilliant dancer and loved my Natasha as my husband, her Papa once love me. And one night last winter, they mistake him for someone else…..and they shoot him. And just like that, he is gone."
"I am very sorry to hear that. I can't imagine what that must be like."
"No, you can not. My husband died, too….shot by your husband, in my own home!"
"I don't…."
"Nyet! Do not say another word. Lee Stetson kill my husband…..AND MY SON!" The tears started streaming down her face at the memories of that horrendous day. She began to mutter something to herself in Russian and began to cry harder. Amanda became more frightened as the emotional stability of Ekaterina began to waver. She quickly rose up out of her chair and crossed to Amanda, kneeling down to look her straight in the eyes.
"We were so happy! And he took it all away from me! Lee Stetson took it all away! My Nicholai was only 7-year old! He was just a baby!"
Amanda started tearing up at the thought of how horrible it must have been to lose a child. She was now better understanding Ekaterina's pain. She also thought about Lee and how horrible it must have been for him to have accidently killed a child. He had never spoken about this to her. Ekaterina was sobbing. Amanda tried to say some words of comfort.
"Mrs. Alezczeck, I can't even imagine the pain that you must be feeling. Losing a child is the worst pain that anyone can feel."
Ekaterina stood up, brushed away her tears and regained her composure.
"Yes….it is. But, soon you and Mr. Stetson will know what it is like to lose a child or more to the point, children."
"What? What are you saying?"
"Our guests have arrived."
The front door opened and in walked a frightened Jamie and Philip, followed by Natasha and her gun.
SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK
Lee picked up the phone and dispatched two teams: one to Mueller's address and one to Egorov's address that he obtained from Agent Hill. He was sure that the addresses would prove phony. They probably spoke to Amanda and asked her to meet them somewhere else.
"Call me the second you know anything!" Lee said as he slammed down the phone. He then rushed through the bullpen to the conference room where Francine was still with the rookies. He flung open the door startling Francine.
"Class dismissed!" Lee yelled. "Francine, I need you….NOW!"
"Uh…OK…..class dismissed." Francine replied.
The class looked very confused and slowly began to close their notebooks and rise from their chairs. Lee grabbed Francine by the arm and pulled her out of the room.
"Lee! What the hell is going on? Careful! You're hurting me!"
"In my office, NOW!"
Lee slammed open his office door and immediately began pacing. Francine quickly followed.
"Lee! Calm down! What is going on?"
Lee ran his hands through his hair as he continued pacing.
"It's Amanda! I think she has just walked right into a hornet's nest and it's MY FAULT!"
"Wait! I thought Amanda had light duty today….just a couple of interviews?"
"Yea…..and one of the interviews was with Ekaterina Egorov!"
Francine looked at Lee and shrugged her shoulders.
"Who is Ekaterina Egorov?"
"Ekaterina Egorov…..the woman whose husband and son I killed on my very first field mission as a rookie agent!"
Francine's face now started to mirror the same worry that was present on Lee's.
"Oh…oh that's not good. Do you think it is a coincidence? I mean there can be someone else with that same name, right?"
"Same name and has a daughter also has the same name as the daughter in 1973?"
"Uh, Probably not."
Lee shook his head, his eyes widened. "No…probably not."
The phone rang and Lee pounced on the receiver to answer it.
"Stetson."
"We got to the address you told us for Egorov and there's no one here. Doesn't look like anyone has been here for a while."
"Damn it! OK stand by for further instructions."
Lee slammed down the phone.
"The address we had was a phony."
"So Amanda probably never met with them. Did you call home?"
"Yes I called home and she's not there. I'm sure that they gave her some alternate address to meet her at."
"Let's go back to her desk and see what we can find. Did you check her computer?"
"Computer? No. I hate that thing. Takes me forever to find what I'm looking for."
"Well it's a good thing for you that I know my way around a computer. I'll start there. You have your calls transferred to Amanda's office and meet me as soon as you're done. We're going to find her, Lee. Everything is going to be OK."
Francine exited Lee's office and entered Amanda's through the adjoining door that separated the two.
Lee heavily sat in his chair and let out a heavy sigh.
Lee looked out the passenger window of the moving van over the Russian countryside. Everything was frozen and covered with ice and snow. The sun shone through the trees making them look like they were made of crystal. The open fields of high grass were also encrusted with ice. The frozen tendrils danced in the wind, reflecting the sun most beautifully. The scenery was breath taking but the temperatures were cruel and bitterly cold. Lee had never experienced such cold as this in his life. He hardly noticed the cold today, as he was too excited to finally be working in the field.
"Nervous, Stetson?" said the driver of the van.
"Not at all, Duncan! I'm ready for this! It's about time that they sent me out in the field."
"Easy there, rookie! This isn't going to be like those milk runs they have been sending you on. We don't need your first real mission to be your last."
Agent Jake Duncan patted Lee on the shoulder. He could tell Lee was very nervous about going into the field. He remembered how nervous he was for his first real mission and it was nowhere near as dangerous as this one had the potential to be.
The third agent that sat in the back of the van let out a sarcastic chuckle at the both of them.
"You just do what I say when I say to do it, Stetson and we all should be fine. Don't go off and try to be some damned hero. I know that old man Thornton thinks you are the next best thing since sliced bread, but just remember…..I am in charge." The senior agent on the trip said to him without making eye contact; he just continued to check his weapons. Lee stared at the senior agent in the rearview mirror, Paul Barnes for a moment before looking away. He hadn't quite figured him out yet. Lee thought that Barnes either hated his guts or wanted to be his best friend.
"We've been searching for Egorov for a long time. Too many of our agents have been killed by his hand or by someone acting on his orders. If we are going to get him, it's going to be today. Don't kid yourselves, gentlemen. This is not going to be an easy take down. We will have one shot and one shot only. Cornering him in his own apartment is risky but we will also have the best chance of taking him alive."
Lee and Agent Duncan nodded as they listened to Barnes speak. Lee felt the pit in his stomach grow larger as the reality of the mission began to set in. The van pulled down a narrow alley and came to a stop. Duncan turned off the engine and smiled at Lee.
"Check your weapons, Rookie. It's gonna be a bumpy ride from here on out."
Lee nervously smiled back at the agent. He made sure his ammo clip was firmly in place and that he had two to spare.
"Don't forget about your back up gun, Stetson." Barnes barked. "A good agent always has a back up when entering into a situation like this. Who the hell knows what Egorov has stashed up in his apartment?"
Lee nodded and checked the gun strapped to his ankle. He then noticed Egorov running into the apartment building.
"There he is!" Lee quickly unbuckled his seatbelt.
"EASY, STETSON!" You run after him now you are as good as dead. He'll have the jump on you in two seconds flat. Give him a moment to get into his apartment. He needs that false sense of security that will make him vulnerable."
Lee swallowed the lump that was building in his throat and nodded.
Barnes looked at both men. "OK-it's time. Let's go."
They quickly and quietly exited the van and ran to the back of the building. Barnes tried the rusty looking door that would allow them to enter unseen. Drawing his weapon, he gestured for Lee to try the door. Duncan followed Barnes' lead and had his gun at the ready. Lee nodded and pulled the door open. Duncan quickly scanned for any danger. Seeing that all was clear he motioned for Barnes and Lee to enter. Barnes held up three fingers indicating that they needed to make it to the third floor. Lee nodded and began up the stairs, gun drawn. Barnes and Duncan were right behind him. Not another soul was seen as they ascended the stairs. Lee cautiously opened the stairwell door and peered around the corner. Silently, he gave the sign the two agents to proceed. They found the door of Egorov's apartment. Inside, they could hear a woman's voice and children crying. Ivan Egorov was yelling something to his wife. Lee's Russian was still not quite up to the speed of Duncan and Barnes'.
Barnes nodded to Lee and Duncan and indicated they should get ready, each crouched down on either side of the door. Barnes crouched next to Lee and began to yell in Russian through the door. Lee could understand that he was telling him to surrender. Egorov yelled back that he would not surrender, they would have to kill him first. The woman inside started screaming. The children cried harder. Duncan kicked in the door. Egorov started firing his gun and hit Duncan in the arm. Barnes fired some warning shots into the apartment, shattering the windows. Lee parachute rolled into the apartment and fired his weapon twice at Egorov's knee. At the same moment, Egorov bent down and grabbed his son that was weeping on the floor and positioned the small boy as a shield between him and the American agents. The bullet that was meant to only wound Egorov hit the child in the heart, killing him instantly and traveled into Egorov, hitting him in the lung. The second bullet hit the moving Egorov in the throat severing the jugular and causing him to bleed out quickly.
Duncan sat on the floor applying pressure to his bleeding arm. Barnes placed his hand on Lee's shoulder.
"Good job, Stetson. Guess you're not a rookie any more."
Lee looked at the dead body in front of him. There was so much blood. He hadn't meant to kill him, only wound. Suddenly, Egorov's wife ran across the room. Lee and Barnes both aimed their guns at her. She rushed to her husband's side, and collapsed. It was then that Lee noticed the horror that lay on the ground: the body of the innocent child that had been used as a human shield by his own father. Ekaterina saw her son and began to wail uncontrollably. Lee felt sick to his stomach and ran out into the hall to vomit. He had killed a child…..a child! That wasn't supposed to happen!
Barnes appeared in the hallway with Duncan in tow. "Come on, Stetson! We've gotta get out of here!"
Lee nodded in an almost zombie like state, still in shock from what had just happened. They were supposed to take Egorov alive. No one was supposed to get hurt and certainly no children were supposed to be killed.
"Stetson! NOW!"
The three men ran back down the stairs and into the waiting van. Barnes jumped into the driver's seat and sped away.
Lee looked out the window. He couldn't bring himself to speak.
Duncan saw how this was affecting Lee.
"Stetson, good work." He said.
"Good work? I just murdered a little boy!"
"Lee, I saw the whole thing from where I was sitting. You aimed for his knees. Egorov was the one that dove and grabbed his own son to use as a human shield. It wasn't your fault."
"Egorov was one of the worst killers that we have encountered in a long time, Lee. This had to be done." Barnes chimed in. "Duncan is right. This wasn't your fault. Sad, yes….tragic even but it was Egorov that put his own son in harm's way, not you. This is a tough business, Lee. It's not the bullets and the beatings that make it tough. It's what happens after all the fighting is over. It's dealing with the ones we've lost and the ones we have hurt or killed. You have to learn how to keep feelings out of this business. If you can't, you'll never last."
Barnes made eye contact with Duncan in the rearview mirror. Duncan acknowledged that Barnes' words were correct. Lee inhaled deeply and continued to look out the window. After a few moments of deafening silence, Lee pulled himself together and began to speak. "OK, so what's next?"
Barnes laughed. "What's next? We get the hell out of Russia and head back to DC as soon as we can. This is a long way from over. Egorov had a lot of connections that will be after us now, including his wife."
"Well then put the pedal to the metal, and get us the hell outta Dodge." Lee replied.
"Stetson, when we get back to Washington, there is a project that I think you would be good for. It's called the Oz Network. Interested?"
"Yes, absolutely."
Francine burst through the door. "Lee! I found the new address! LEE! Are you listening to me?"
Lee sat up in his chair and looked at Francine. "You found it? In her computer?"
"Yup!" She said with a smile.
"Well give it to me! We have to get someone over there right now!"
Just then, the phone began to ring. Lee jumped at the sound and grabbed the receiver.
"Stetson"
"Mr. Stetson…..it has been a very long time. I wanted to personally call and invite you to a little party I am having in your honor. My guests are dying for you to make an appearance."
To be continued…..