Chapter 20 - Employee Day

The next day arrived and everyone was excited to have a day of fun. After showering and breakfast, Lee guided Amanda down to the midway where all the rides were set up. This midway was run completely by an outside venue that owned, operated and maintained the rides and games. Lee decided that they could use their cover to keep an eye on things and see if there was any sign that any of the venders were involved with helping get the terrorists off the property.

As they walked along, Lee said "What do you want to do first?"

"Oh I don't know Lee. I don't think my stomach can handle any of those carnival rides. Do you think we could find a simple game to play for fun?"

"Sure, let's see what they have." As he led the way, he saw the perfect game and smiled as he brought her to it.

"Seriously Lee? You know I can't do this."

Lee responded quietly "It will be good practice. I thought you wanted to learn all this stuff."

"I never said I wanted to learn how to shoot though" Amanda responded as she stared at Tin Can Game.

"Come on, it's easy." Lee said

Amanda sighed and said "Go ahead and show me."

Lee gave the operator his quarter and was handed a BB gun.

"Okay, so the rules are that you have to stay behind the line and you get 3 shots to make the can fly. Got it? Any questions?"

Lee shook his head and aimed the gun. He fired 3 times quickly in a row and between the 2nd and 3rd shot; the can went flying into the air.

The game operator said "Wow, congratulations. That was on the first try too. What do you want for a prize?" He pointed to a row of prizes that Lee could choose from. Lee smiled at Amanda and grabbed a baseball and said "I think I know a couple of boys who would enjoy this."

"So little lady, are you going to try too?" The Carnie asked Amanda.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not much good at shooting at anything."

"Amanda, come on, it is fun. I'll help you." Lee handed over another quarter and was given back the gun. He stepped behind Amanda and said "Okay, so the first thing you want to do is to hold the gun so that it is aimed toward the can. Now in order to make the can fly, you need to aim toward the bottom of the can, otherwise you will just put a hole in the can and do nothing else. So look in the gun's sights and line it up with the bottom of the can and then gently pull the trigger. Okay?"

"I don't know if I can do that Lee."

"Oh Amanda. Okay, let me help you."

Lee reached around Amanda from behind and put the gun in her hands. He then held her hands up so they were facing the can. He leaned in so he could get a view of what she would see at her height and sighted the gun in on the can. As he was doing that, he realized just what he was doing. After saying he wouldn't get close to Amanda again after Arizona, here he was almost as close as a man could get without taking her to bed. He could smell the faint smell of her perfume and he found himself once again uncomfortable being this close to her. He quickly pointed out how to look through sites and line up the can and then to shoot. He pulled the trigger and the BB missed the can. Lee quickly let go of Amanda and stepped back, realizing he was way too distracted to have focused enough on the can.

"Well it is harder to do it while trying to show someone. Go ahead Amanda; you have the idea now so give it a try."

Amanda picked up the gun the way Lee had showed her and took aim at the can but at the last second, she closed her eyes and fired twice. The first bullet shot out the light that was shining down on the booth. The second bullet managed to hit a section of the booth that was metal and ricocheted back and hit the game operator's hat.

"Oh my Gosh! I'm so sorry" Amanda said as she opened her eyes and saw what she had done. Lee smiled at the man and thanked him while apologizing. He grabbed Amanda's elbow and slowly backed them up away from the booth.

After they had gotten out of there, Amanda said "LEE! I told you it wasn't a good idea. I just don't like to shoot at things."

"Well geeze, Amanda, it wasn't like it was a person or anything. If you are going to shoot something, you really should keep your eyes open while you are pulling the trigger too."

"I'm sorry Lee. Can we walk around and see what else is going on?"

"Yeah. That would probably be best." Lee agreed.

They spent the next hour walking around the midway while watching the kids all have fun with the various games. Several times they walked by people they recognized as staff and nodded an acknowledgement to them but since they didn't really know any of them, there was no reason to stop and talk to them.

After they had seen all the midway had to offer, they walked to the other attractions. The kids had an area just to themselves where there were pie eating contests, bobbing for little pumpkins and carving Jack O Lantern contests were being held. Amanda couldn't help but notice a little 8 year old boy who was trying to win the pie eating contest and was wearing more pie than he was eating. He looked a lot like Jamie and it made her miss home. Lee noticed her somber look and reached out and squeezed her arm. She smiled up at him and let out a small sigh. "You'll be home soon" Lee promised.

At noontime, a whistle was blown and all the costumed kids lined up so they could parade through the farm and let everyone see their costumes. Lee realized this would be hard to see for Amanda too as she wanted to see her own boys in their parade this year. He set his mind that this plan had to work and they needed to wrap up this case quickly for all their sakes. After the parade ended, Lee guided Amanda over to a food booth and bought them both steak and cheese subs. They sat down at a table that was a bit away from the rest of the crowd. Amanda was watching the people who were walking by and suddenly spotted Angela walking with someone who looked a lot like her. She quickly pointed the two of them out to Lee "I think that might be her brother Johnny. I wonder whether he is here due to Nico?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Lee answered. "You wait here; I'm going to go see if I can overhear anything." Lee was gone for about 20 minutes and when he got back, he looked very somber.

"Anything?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, it sounds like Nico is here already. They talked about their client and him not liking his room much. I guess he is fussy. Amanda, I'm going to need to check out the Inn tonight."

"What about our plan?"

"There might not be time for that. Come on, let's check out the Haunted House. Lee pulled Amanda into the Haunted House and they found in a huge mirror room. "This is scary Lee" Amanda said.

"It's supposed to be scary, it is a Haunted House."

As they rounded a corner, they found themselves in complete darkness. A few seconds later, Lee felt a hand close over his mouth and he was jerked quickly off his feet and into another room. "Shhhh" He was told. "I'm Tom Hanko" The man quietly whispered. "Hang on, let me grab Amanda" A few seconds later, a stunned Amanda was in the room with them. "Tom?" "Shhhhh! Tom warned. He then motioned them to follow him. He led them to a door that was in the floor and found that it brought them underground. They soon found themselves walking a long tunnel. After they were considerable distance away from the Haunted House, Tom stopped and asked if they were okay. "Tom, we have been worried about you." Amanda said.

"Well I found out that Angela was going to have Stewart kill me so I decided to go into hiding."

"Down here?" Lee asked?

"Sort of. The tunnel leads into town I found a fork years ago in it that was hidden and I have been sleeping in that section of the tunnel. I have been waiting for a chance to talk to Amanda again but you are always with people. You are agents aren't you?"

Amanda looked at Lee and Lee said "Yes, we are Tom. What can you tell us?"

"Well I finally figured out what is going on. Angela and her brother Johnny are smuggling Russians into the town for big money. This attraction doesn't make enough money to support their love for gambling and expensive things. I didn't want to believe Mary's kids could be involved in treason against their own country but since they have Russian ties, it makes sense."

"Do you know who else is involved?" Lee asked.

"I believe that Johnny is in charge and Angela does what he tells her. Johnny stays away from the business most days so it is harder to track what is going on. I think Stewart is like their bodyguard and helps keep things under control. There is a man Rusty who helps them move the people."

"Yes, we have met Rusty." Lee said.

"Are Bubba, Margaret, Dennis or any of the bakers involved?" Amanda asked.

"I am pretty certain they are not. Tom responded.

"Wait a minute" Amanda said. "That ghost story said that Henry Clegg came out all bloody mumbling something about being aware of the Raven, right?"

"Yes" Lee answered.

"Well we all know ravens are smart birds. In fact, Phillip did a report on them last year and they actually get others to do their work for them. When they come across a dead animal, they will convince a wolf to come open it up for them so they can eat it. They love getting others to do their dirty work. Do you think Johnny's code name might be Raven?"

"Amanda, you are a very smart lady" Tom complimented her. "Johnny's nickname is the raven. I overheard Angela call him that one day and they tried to claim it was because it was their high school mascot but I know what school he went to and their mascot was a bearcat."

Lee was amazed that Amanda had figured it out. She continued to amaze him even if she couldn't shoot.

"So now what?" Tom asked.

"Well I think we need to change our plans again. Amanda, I'm going to need you to get a message to Margaret and Bubba while I try to find Sam."

"Who's Sam?" Tom asked.

"Sargent Sam Leeland. He was undercover at the farm and even got Rusty to trust him to help him move the next terrorist in but then he got a little careless and almost got killed. We happened to be in the right place at the right time to save him. He's apparently been investigating this place for a time now and this is the closest anyone has gotten to finally break it." Lee answered.

"Well if you need to get to the police station, this tunnel leads into town. It ends at the Falls Inn but there are a few places that allow you to get out sooner so we could get out at the Post Office which isn't far from the station. I can take you there." Tom said.

"That sounds great. Amanda, do you think you can go back on your own and alert Bubba and Margaret?"

"Sure. What do you want me to tell them?"

Tom answered before Lee could "Tonight is when everything is happening. They will use the Full Moon to distract people by making them think that there is increased ghost activity. It's a perfect way to keep people scared so they can complete their mission "

"Isn't Nico already here though? Why do they need to sneak around at this point? I would think he is probably already out in the crowds learning to blend in." Lee pondered.

"Oh Nico is already here. What you must not realize is that they didn't stop with Nico. I know for a fact that they Ivan Stepanov is coming in tonight."

"Oh my God, are you sure?" Lee asked with a look of panic.

"Who is Ivan Stepanov?" Amanda asked.

"Oh, Amanda, he is bad news. Bad news. This man likes to hurt people and he doesn't care who gets in his way. He has no friends because he will kill anyone including anyone who thinks he is a friend. Even the Russians don't trust him but he does his job well. He is deadly but accurate." Lee explained.

"Why is he coming here?" Amanda asked.

Tom quietly said "He is being sent to kill the President."

"What?" Lee asked. "Do you know that for sure?"

"I overheard this whole conversation between Johnny and Angela. That's how I knew he was coming and I knew I needed to do something. I think they knew I was on to them so they were talking about having Stewart get rid of me. It wouldn't be the first time that there was an accident at the Falls. I quickly packed a bag and came down to hide in the tunnel.

"Who knows about this tunnel?" Amanda asked

"Spencer made this tunnel shortly after he purchased the farm. He wanted to create something similar to Disneyland so he created an underground place for employees to move around without being noticed. That was the claim anyway but only a handful of us know about the tunnel and it hasn't been used in years. I think it is likely used to move the terrorists from town to the farm though."

"Well we need to stop all this and we don't have a lot of time to do it. Amanda, please hurry back and tell Bubba to meet me at the Falls at 8pm. Tell him to find a reason to cancel all the ghost walks tonight. It isn't safe to have people anywhere near the falls tonight."

"Okay, and then what do you want me to do?" Amanda asked.

"I want you to go to your room and stay there until this is all over."

"No, I want to help."

"Amanda! We don't have time for this. I'm not arguing with you about this. I need to make sure you stay safe. You have 2 boys to get home to. Now go talk to Bubba and then go to your room and lock the door. Do you understand me?" Lee scolded.

"Okay, but I think I should be there to help." Amanda noticed the look that Lee was giving to her and said "Okay, okay, I'm going. Be careful"

Amanda then hurried back up the tunnel and disappeared.

Lee could only hope that she would listen to him and do as he asked. It was going to be a long night without having to worry if Amanda was safe or not.

TBC