Co-Authored by Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna

Chapter 7

"Yes, Vladimir, all the arrangements have been made. Stetson will be in the open tomorrow morning during the trade. Take him out and payment will be made in full within the hour," Gregory confirmed to Vladimir Ashkenowitz, a well-known Russian assassin. Ashkenowitz had the highest sharpshooting kill rate than any other hired mercenary at the time. Gregory had just made the call to Billy to set up the trade with Koslov at an old mattress factory on the outskirts of DC. "Good, by this time tomorrow, Stetson will be dead and Koslov with be on his way back to Russian soil," Gregory stated before he hung up the phone.

He stood and walked outside toward the back of the property to check on Lee again. As soon as he walked into the small shack, he heard Lee calling from below.

"Gregory, dammit," Lee shouted, his voice sounding hoarse and irritated.

Gregory opened the trap door, only this time he found Lee standing beneath the opening. Lee attempted to jump up and grab the edge, but he was weak from lack of food and water and the sedative he'd been injected with. Gregory easily knocked him back with a carefully placed kick to Lee's shoulder as he tried to pull himself up. Lee fell hard on the ground below with a thud as Gregory laughed loudly at his predicament. "I see you still don't give up, even when the odds are stacked against you, do you, Stetson?" Gregory teased. "No worries, after tomorrow you'll be traded for Koslov and I'll be on my way, a happy man. I can live the rest of my days knowing I made a difference -"

Lee cut him off, "What do you mean 'a difference'? You're not going to get off that easy and you know it. Billy will find a way -"

"Ah, ah, ah, Billy is the one making the arrangements. I'm sure right now, as we speak," Gregory informed him.

Billy had initially balked at the plans, stating how unsecure the location was but Gregory insisted there would be no trade unless it was under his terms. Billy finally conceded as Amanda walked through his office door, a notepad in one hand, a file folder in the other. "Sir?" she asked as he hung up the phone.

"Amanda how are you doing today?" Billy asked with a strained smile. Amanda could tell something was bothering him. His donut was still sitting uneaten on his desk and his coffee mug was still full.

"Sir, I found a few things I think can help find Lee. Now, last night I searched the encyclopedias we keep at home for the boys and I searched for information on the Underground Railroad. This morning, I went to both the library and the town hall. I found there are nineteen homes in the Bellevue Forest area that were all built during the early 1800s and of those homes, six of them were known to have been used for hiding people for the Underground Railroad," Amanda explained as she handed him her notepad.

Billy skimmed the pages, as he nodded his head and said, "Well done, Amanda, I'll send this down and have a few agents assigned to search the properties. See if they can find anything."

Amanda opened the file folder and handed Billy copies of land maps from the area, each home marked. "Maybe these will help. It includes the Parcel numbers, addresses, the year built for each property, any additional buildings, parcel size…" Amanda's voice trailed off as Billy looked up at her, his eyes wide in astonishment.

"Amanda, you got all of this since yesterday afternoon?" he asked bewildered.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and replied, "It all started with Jamie's research paper on Harriet Tubman. Then, well, you just have to know how to ask the right questions at the Town Hall, I guess. And of course, maybe it helps when the Town Clerk and I have been on the PTA at school for the last few years. She didn't even question why I was looking for the information."

Billy shook his head as he replied, "I have to say, I am impressed."

"Impressed with… Oh, Amanda, I didn't realize you were here," Francine said dryly as she walked in the office.

"Good morning to you too, Francine," Amanda muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"Billy, I have that information you were looking for on Koslov. He's a real character, no wonder he got picked up. Apparently, he has a knack for hacking into the wrong computers. He tried to hack the Pentagon and got caught, but not before he managed to download and disburse hundreds of electronic files. The boys over there are still trying to sort it all out," Francine explained as she handed Billy a green file folder.

Billy took the file and thumbed through the pages. "Looks like he hacked a few networks for our friends in the Middle East as well. The question is, what does Gregory want with him?" Billy asked pensively.

"I don't know but he could be a loose cannon if he's back on the market. I heard the KGB is willing to put him on an open payroll…" Francine trailed off.

"Sir, do you really think you could find Lee before the trade?" Amanda questioned nervously.

Francine narrowed her eyes at Amanda as she retorted, "Amanda, we have how many agents working on gathering information about Gregory and Koslov, not to mention scoping out the meeting place? How do you possibly think we are going to find him before tomorrow morning? After all it's not like we really know where to start looking."

Billy leaned back in his chair, a smile spread across his face as he replied, "Well, thanks to Amanda's hard work last night and this morning, it appears we may have narrowed it down to a small area in an Arlington neighborhood."

"Billy, you can't be serious?" Francine asked incredulously. "You're not honestly entertaining the idea that Amanda might actually be right about the whole bells and basement thing, are you?"

"Well, Francine, given all the facts Amanda has presented me with this morning, I think it's a good place to start anyway," Billy informed her.

"No offense, Amanda, but we have people that have been doing this kind of work for years and not even they could narrow it down that fast," Francine insulted her.

Amanda stood up angrily as she gritted, "You're right, Francine. How could I POSSIBLY know about anything that's practically in my own backyard?!" Amanda stormed toward the door. She spun around before leaving to call back, "I'm sorry, Sir, but I can't stay here any longer."

Francine started at her back as Amanda disappeared through the bullpen. "Well, that was a bit uncalled for," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Desmond, that is quite enough," Billy yelled. "Amanda put in a lot of time and effort pulling information together and you just dismissed her like yesterday's news."

"Billy, I –" Francine started but Billy cut her off.

"And furthermore, your attitude toward Amanda needs some serious adjusting. You've been nothing but disrespectful and mean spirited since this began," Billy berated her.

Francine dropped her chin when reality dawned on her. "You know what, you're right. I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'll apologize to Amanda when I see her. This was unprofessional of me."

Billy nodded his head and replied, "Good, now let's hope she calms down quickly so we can focus all our energy on finding Scarecrow before tomorrow."

I'll find Lee myself if I have too! Amanda thought as she pursed her lips and walked briskly toward the elevator to the parking lot. Once she was safely in her car, Amanda took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Don't worry, Lee. I'll find you without help from anyone else!" she muttered loudly as she backed out of the parking spot.

Amanda drove home to change her clothes into jeans and a sweatshirt with a pair of comfortable sneakers, thankful her mother was noticeably absent. She was glad she had thought to make two sets of copies of the location information in case she needed multiple copies for her report. She took the second set with her and drove toward the first address.