Lee and Harry sped away in the silver Corvette towards the scene of the crime, or at least what they thought was the scene of the crime. Lee was convinced that this was Nick's doing. Whenever Nick was in town-whatever town that might be, there was always trouble. Try as he may to avoid getting involved, Lee always seemed to be dragged right into the middle of Nick's fiascos.

"Whoa! Lee! Slow down! I know we want to get there quickly but we also want to get there in one piece!" Harry said.

Lee looked down at the speedometer and realized that he was doing 75mph though the streets of DC. He quickly took his foot off the accelerator and apologized to Harry.

"Sorry. Guess my mind is somewhere else."

"Mmm. Yes I know. It is back at the party with Amanda."

"I just hated leaving her there to have to get information out of Nick on her own. That guy is as slippery as they come and I don't want Amanda being one of his victims!"

"Lee, my boy, I know you know Amanda a lot better than I do, but I hardly think that she will become one of his victims! That girl is a lot slicker than you think. She knows what she is doing and I bet she will come up with some answers to some questions that we never even thought to ask. She'll be just fine."

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"So, Lee jumped in the limo and we drove out to the justice of the peace with not too much time to spare. You and Felicia did a really good job of almost ruining our wedding! Lee is still angry about it." Amanda said as she and Nick sat at a café table on the balcony.

"Now wait a minute, Amanda! It wasn't me! It was Felicia. She was doing a great job of framing me. I guess I know how to pick 'em."

Nick looked down at his coffee cup and swirled the now luke-warm liquid as he became a little lost in thought. Amanda sensed the sadness and regret in his stare.

"You really did love her, didn't you, Nick?"

"Felicia? Well…ya, I guess I did. Or at least I came pretty close to love with her. And for a tricky thief and part time conman, I sure didn't see her set up coming. I guess the heart can really put the old blinders on, eh Amanda?"

"Yes, I suppose it can. What ended up happening to you after that?"

"Well, after being grilled for days about the McMasters' art collection and Jason McMasters murder and of course my relationship with Felicia, I was turned back over to the authorities in Turkey. Isn't that wonderful? Thankfully, I wasn't there very long. I struck a …..sort of deal with some very influential individuals. After that, I traveled the world a bit and now I am back in Washington. Not for very long, however."

"What about Sophia or Sophie….which ever she prefers to be called? How long have you two been together?"

"Oh….my sweet Sophie. We met about 6 months ago in the Ivory Coast of all places. It was love at first sight!"

"What were you doing in the Ivory Coast?"

"I was, um….doing some research. Let's just leave it at that!"

"Oh…research. hhmmm. OK. Research…. Writing a paper?"

"mmm nno. Not writing a paper. I was just some research and some 'on the job training', if you will. All very legitimate, I assure you, but also a little on the hush hush."

"Ah yes. The job being working for those influential people?"

"Yes…that's it exactly!"

Nick grabbed two flutes of champagne from the waiter that was passing by their table. He offered one to Amanda.

"Oh, no thank you."

"Aw come on, Dixie! One for old time's sake?"

"Thank you, Nick but I think I will pass. You feel free to indulge. I am just fine."

"Suit yourself! Bottom's up!"

Nick quickly drank down one glass of champagne and began to sip the second glass that sat before him.

"You know what I want to know, Amanda? What ever happened to that Picasso that Lee and I finagled that art curator into letting us borrow? Did you get it back from Big Tony?"

"Oh! The Picasso? Yes, well actually, Francine had to get it back and deliver it back to the curator. He was quite smitten with Francine…..the curator, not Big Tony. Kept calling her for a month! Or at least that is what Lee told me. I was out of commission during that time."

"Out of commission? What do you mean?"

"I was shot during our honeymoon. Almost died. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Took a while to recover and get back to fulltime status. But I am just great now."

"Gee, Dix, I am really sorry to hear that! Bloody awful luck, huh?"

"You've got that right! So, Nick? Have you been a good boy lately?"

"Good boy?"

Nick flashed his devilishly handsome smile at Amanda.

"Yes. A good boy. Keeping out of trouble? Not taking things that don't belong to you?"

"Actually, Amanda….you may find this hard to believe but I have been a very good boy lately. Haven't stolen a thing in a very long time! Those influential people would really frown upon that. And they pay me pretty well, so I prefer not to piss them off if you know what I mean!"

Amanda looked into Nick's eyes as he spoke. There was a genuine sincerity there. She actually believed him. She was beginning to think less and less that Nick stole the diamonds.

"Not to mention, I don't want to anger Sophie. She is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. Much like I assume you have been for Lee. Never thought that I would see Lee hitched. Seems happy, though. Thought he was going to bash my face in when I made a comment about how sexy you are!"

Amanda blushed at Nick's comment.

"OH well, thank you…I think. Sophia certainly does seem like a lovely young woman. Did you travel around Europe with her?"

"No, actually. We have visited a lot of the same places in Europe but never actually together. Seems as if I kept missing her by a few weeks! Who would have thought that I would find such a wonderful creature as her in Africa of all places."

"Was she making cakes in Africa?"

"No, actually she was on vacation. The places she traveled to in Europe, though…there she was making cakes and such."

"And what brought you to the different parts of Europe?"

"My job mostly. I almost forgot to tell you…..seems we have a mutual friend. I was supposed to deliver a message from…."

"Amanda? Is that you?" a woman's voice called out.

Amanda looked up into a familiar face…Leslie O'Connor, Lee's ex-girlfriend. Amanda could have kicked herself for not anticipating her being at the embassy party. Amanda tried to muster a smile.

"Leslie! Hello! How are you?"

"It is you, Amanda! How wonderful to see you! Is Lee here?"

"Uh, Leslie, this is an old friend, Nick Grant. Nick, this is a friend of Lee's, Leslie O'Connor. Leslie is a translator."

Nick stood up and pulled out a chair for Leslie to join them.

"So, Leslie? You know old Stetson, huh?"

"Yes, he and I dated for a bit. Is he here?"

"He's around here somewhere." Amanda quickly chimed in not wanting to alert Nick to Lee's absence.

"Yeah, where is the ol' boy? You would think if he saw me sitting here chatting up his Mrs. that he would be over here in a flash."

"His Mrs.? Amanda, did you and Lee get married?"

Amanda felt her face get flush. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, but she did feel slightly uncomfortable around Leslie given that Lee broke up with her so that he and Amanda could explore their own relationship further.

"Yes, Leslie. We did. Lee and I are married now."

A gentile smile spread across Leslie's face.

"Well congratulations! That is wonderful. I am so glad that Lee settled down. I had a feeling that there might be something going on between the two of you back when he and I were together. Something about the way he talked about you…"

"Leslie, there was never anything going on between Lee and I while you two were dating. I promise you that."

"Maybe not, but his heart was with you, not with me. I am happy for you both, I really am. If you see him, please give him my best. Nick, it was lovely to meet you."

Leslie pushed her chair back and walked away.

"Well, Dixie….you are a little vixen, aren't you? I think Dixie was the perfect name for you!"

"Nick! Stop it! It wasn't like that! Lee and I…."

"Nicky! There you are! I have been looking all over for you! The photographer is setting up and I want you there for some pictures!"

Nick stood up and kissed Sophia's hand.

"Of course, darling! Amanda and I were just catching up. How does your cake look?"

"It was almost a disaster! One of the tiers was cracked! Mon dieu! I had to work fast to replace it! Thank goodness it looks trés magnifique maintenant!"

"Amanda, if you will excuse us?"

"Of course! Nice chatting with you, Nick."

Amanda watched the couple walk away. Something was not sitting right with her. Nick seemed different from the Nick Grant she met what seemed like a long time ago. He had a sincerity to him as he talked about Sophia. But she wondered who these influential people were that helped him out of prison. Had he indeed been a good boy? And who was the mutual friend? She hoped Lee was having better luck.

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"Harry, we've been over every inch of this office! There has to be something we're missing! I just can't see it, damn it!"

Lee turned to the two gentlemen that were supposed to be safeguarding the jewels, Harrison and Fitch.

"Let's run this down one more time from when the jewels were signed over to you and when you noticed they were missing."

"It's like I have been saying, Mr. Stetson….the jewels were locked up here in this safe. We both put them in there after we authenticated them. The safe wasn't opened again until just a few hours ago. No one was in here and even if they were, we are the only two that have the combination to the safe."

Lee paced around the room. Nothing looked like it had been broken into with any force. He examined the safe door…..no nicks or dents that you might find from it being forced open. The only thing even the slightest bit odd was a fine white powder that was on the tumbler, but the whole office had dust. Lee's suit jacket was covered in dust from leaning up against the wall near the door. There just wasn't enough to go on here. But he also felt that the answer was staring him right in the face but he couldn't see it.

Harry began to ask some questions.

"Gentlemen, what else happened last night after you put the jewels in the safe? Did you leave and go home? Did you work a while longer? Did you talk to anyone? Even someone that you think is insignificant?"

"No, not a soul. We locked the jewels in the safe and left." Fitch said.

"Well, except for that cake lady. We did say hi to her when she came in here by accident. Remember?" Harrison reminded him.

Lee's ears perked up.

"Cake lady? What cake lady?"

"You know, the famous cake lady that was on the Today show and doing a press tour of Washington, DC. Sophia something. It's just cake! I don't know what the big deal is." Said Fitch.

Lee looked at Harry who had a twinkle in his eye.

"What was she doing here? This isn't a bakery!" Questioned Lee.

"She was being interviewed for some magazine that wanted to take some pictures of her with the French display that we are building for the exhibit." Fitch continued.

"Was her boyfriend here with her? About 5'10", dark, almost black hair, English accent?""

"Could have been. Not really sure."

Lee walked over to Harry.

"That's gotta be it, Harry. If Sophia was busy being interviewed, Nick would have had lots of time to switch out the jewels! I am going to have the agency team dust for prints now that we have looked everything over. And I know exactly whose prints we are going to find…Nick Grant's."

To be concluded...