*for disclaimers, see Prologue*
Treason and Old Lace-Part Five
The Agency
Friday, January 21, 2005
7:00 PM
"This exonerates you completely, Major," General Morrison, looking at the results from the blood tests. "The drug she gave you was extremely potent—you obviously weren't in control of your actions. I'm sorry I doubted you."
"No problem, sir." Major Sterns answered, his voice low. He sat in an armchair in the Q-Bureau, his right sleeve still rolled up. A gauze and tape marked the place at the crook of his elbow where they'd drawn his blood. Absently he scratched around of the edges of the bandage. "I'm just still—I guess I'm still taking it all in."
"Give it time—take some time off if you like—you deserve it." The general patted his shoulder briefly. "Any idea of how many soldiers might have been compromised?" He asked, looking up at Lee and Amanda.
"That's something we're still trying to figure out," Lee replied. "We have a warrant to search both offices—hopefully we'll find a record of volunteers and who they were targeting and put the ringleaders behind bars."
"Excellent." The general nodded. "Wish I could be there when you put these people away. Soldier's Relief is a wonderful organization and I was close to Althea Foster—I'd hate to see her good name soiled by this."
"We plan to do that, sir." Amanda told him. Hopefully they'd be able to capture both Mrs. Murphy and Faisal this time—shut them down once and for all.
"Good, keep me updated," the general said. "Take care, Major."
"Thank you, sir," the major replied. The general left the office and he felt silent again, staring down at his arm.
"Can I get you anything, sir?" Amanda asked him. "Coffee, or maybe even a glass of water?"
"No—I'm okay, really." The major let out a sigh. "All this time and Estelle was just using me—it seems crazy, but I thought we had something special."
Amanda could see the pain in the man's eyes—the same pain she remembered on the Colonel's face when he'd found out about Mrs. Murphy. To make someone trust you like that and then betray them—she could only imagine what the major must be feeling. "You can't blame yourself," she said. "She was very good at what she did."
"Still, if something had happened at a base, because of me—what I told her—" the major shook his head. "I'm not sure I could've lived with myself. What bases did I tell her about?"
"As far as we know you gave security information regarding Andrews and Langley," Lee replied. "If we find more, I'll let you know."
"Sir, you really shouldn't feel bad," Amanda reminded him. "This drug erased your memory—you really had no idea what you were doing."
The major looked up at her. "Guess you're right. Actually I'm glad I found out before we went any further—before I made a damn fool of myself." His fist clenched. "You meant what you said earlier, didn't you? That you'll do everything you can to put these people away?"
Lee nodded. "I promise you—we will."
"Yes, we will." Amanda repeated.
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5751 Wood Meadow Way, Apartment 2D, Centreville, VA
8:00 PM
"Not much of a place," Amanda remarked as they entered building two—the super had informed them that apartment 'D' was upstairs and to the left.
"Makes sense she'd have a place like this though," Lee replied. "She was living on a pension—if she started spending too much money she'd attract unwelcome attention."
"Makes sense," Amanda agreed. The stairs creaked slightly as they went up—the light bulb on the stairwell flickered. Downstairs she could hear a couple shouting at one another, mingled with the thin high-pitched wail of a baby's cry.
'No one would suspect you of being wealthy', she thought to herself. 'Not if you lived like this.' They reached the top of the stairs. To the left they could see a grey door with a black 'D' on the front. It was supposed to be a 'D'—the sticker was cracked and peeling in places.
"No expense spared," Lee muttered. He lifted his hand to knock but before he could the door opened slightly.
Unlocked? But who would leave their door unlocked in a place like this? Amanda wondered. Unless—she swallowed hard.
"Let's see what's going on, shall we?" Lee said. Amanda simply nodded. The door creaked slightly as they pushed it open the rest of the way.
"Oh my gosh," Amanda whispered.
The lamp was on but the shades were drawn. The glow from the lamp illuminated the body of a woman lying face-down on the rug. It was Estelle—it had to be. Lee knelt down beside her, placing two fingers on the side of her neck.
"Is she—" Amanda asked. Lee nodded, pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket and putting them on. Amanda did likewise and knelt beside Lee.
"No blood," Lee said. "At least not that I can see."
"No bruising or strangulation marks either," Amanda said, pushing Estelle's hair away from her neck to get a better view. No signs of violence anywhere—not that she could see. What could have done this? That's when she spotted it—a single teacup—it had rolled under the sofa. Carefully she retrieved it by the handle and lifted it to her nose.
"Anything?" Lee asked.
"Well, I can't smell anything," she told him. Not that the lack of smell meant much, she knew—many poisons were odorless. They'd take this to the lab for further testing. "It's possible that she died accidentally—maybe a heart attack."
"It would be a hell of a coincidence, though," Lee replied. "Somehow I doubt she'd leave her door unlocked in a neighborhood like this."
"Yeah, you're right," Amanda agreed. She rose to her feet. "I think we need to call the Agency—get a team in here—hey, look at this." A sheet of paper lay on the table beside the sofa—she picked it up. It was a letter, she realized, studying the hastily scrawled writing that took up most of the page:
To Whom it May Concern,
To whoever finds me and reads this letter, I'm so sorry. I know that doesn't make any difference now, but I feel like it needs to be said. Sorry for everything that I've done. I've betrayed my country and our brave men in uniform and all for a few dollars. I could no longer live with myself, knowing all the damage that I may have caused.
If you have the teacup tested, you will find that it contains poison—that is what I used to end this. And as a show of good faith, on the back of this paper I have included the name and phone number of Faisal Shahad—he is the leader of Karbala. Also included are the names and contact info of other major Karbala operatives.
I realize that this does not exonerate me completely. And I know that in the eyes of many I will be forever viewed as a traitor. Still, this may help to undo the damage that I've done. In the long run that means so much more. Again, I'm sorry.
-Estelle Coulton
"Awfully formal for a sudden suicide note," Lee remarked, looking over her shoulder.
"Awfully unbelievable," Amanda said. This one had Mrs. Murphy written all over it. She turned the paper over and there it was—the names, numbers and even addresses of the main leaders of Karbala. In sharp contrast to the messy handwriting on the front of the paper, each bit of information was carefully and neatly recorded.
'Tying up loose ends and clearing out,' she thought. That's exactly what was happening here. "Let's get the team over here," Amanda told Lee. "I think we need to locate Mrs. Maxwell and pay her a visit as soon as possible."
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Them again—they had found her.
Seated in her car across the street Mrs. Murphy watched as the couple entered the apartment building. Even in the dim glow of the streetlights she could see that they looked just the same; a slim dark-haired woman and a taller man with grey hair—the same people who had raided the Veteran's Aid Offices back in Arlington.
Colonel Clayton's family—the same people who had nearly snagged her before. Alice should've guessed they'd be involved in this somehow. They were probably the ones who planted the bugs in the major's home.
'The best-laid plans of mice and men', she thought to herself. At the moment Mrs. Murphy couldn't recall who'd said that, but it seemed appropriate for her situation.
She had to get out of here—part of her had hoped that arranging Estelle's 'suicide' and selling out Karbala would buy her a little breathing space. Now—looking up she could see lights on in Estelle's apartment, shadows moving around. After they found the body they'd call in federal agents. They'd search the house—the Centreville and Richmond offices—they probably didn't know her address yet, but they would before too long.
What she wouldn't give to find out who these people were, who they worked for and take them down herself…
No—she couldn't think about things like that—at least not yet. Not until she got herself settled and established somewhere else. The only question was where? Another state, perhaps? Or should she leave the country entirely?
Her gaze fell on the papers beside her on the seat—the financial information that she'd taken from Estelle's apartment. The exact location didn't really matter very much, Alice told herself. Once she retrieved her own money and the money from Estelle's accounts, she'd be ready to go just about anywhere. It was regrettable that she had to move so abruptly; her cat would be annoyed—Mr. Whiskers was older now and tended not to travel that well. Still, it couldn't be helped.
'This is not the end,' she thought. 'It's only a beginning.' She started the ignition and took off down the street—there was a lot of work to be done.
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The Agency
11:30 PM
"Coffee," Billy said, as he handed each of them a cup. "After tonight I think we can use it."
"Thanks Billy," Amanda took a sip of the warm liquid. "Any news yet?"
"Some good news and some bad news," Billy replied. "From what we can tell so far, it does look like Estelle Coulton was poisoned. Whether it was by her own hand or not has yet to be determined—we have a handwriting expert in crypto going over the suicide note now."
"I'd be willing to bet that was no suicide," Lee said.
Billy let out a sigh. "Frankly, I'm inclined to agree with you there. It also appears that someone went through Estelle's things and took some papers—we're guessing financial papers—though we're not completely certain about that."
Financial papers, Amanda thought—either Mrs. Murphy had simply been covering her tracks or she was planning to make off with Estelle's money as well. She'd already murdered an associate and sold out her network—Mrs. Murphy was capable of anything at this point. A shiver ran through her and Lee took her hand in his, giving it a brief squeeze. "What about the other volunteers?" she asked Billy
"We're working on it," Billy said. "We have a list from the Centreville office. Hopefully they can tell us something. And we expect to have all of Karbala rounded up by the end of the week—at least something good will come of this."
"And Mrs. Murphy?" Lee wanted to know. "What about her?"
Billy drew in a deep breath. "That's part of the bad news," he began. "We did find a street address for Mrs. Angela Maxwell at the Centreville branch. However, when we went to her house, she'd already cleared out."
"Any clues to where she might be heading?" Amanda asked.
He shook his head. "There were a few items that were left behind, but nothing that would tell us anything. I'm sorry."
"I see." Somehow they should've guessed that would happen, Amanda knew. The woman had probably been watching them as they'd entered Estelle's apartment and decided that it wasn't safe to hang around. If there was one thing they'd learned about Mrs. Murphy in all this time, it was that she was a survivor.
'Maybe she'll decide to go straight after this,' she thought. 'Take her money and leave the business.' No—something inside told Amanda that would never happen. Mrs. Murphy would turn up again—the only question was when—and where.
"Amanda?" Lee stared at her his eyes full of concern.
"We caught Karbala," Amanda told him, struggling to put her thoughts into words. "That's the most important thing. And if—when we find Mrs. Murphy we'll be ready for her. Right, Stetson?"
Lee squeezed her hand. "Right, Mrs. Stetson."
"That's the spirit," Billy replied. "Now both of you get out of here and go home—enjoy your weekend. Believe me, you've earned it."
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Saturday, January 22, 2005
12:30 AM
"Sweetheart?"
Jenna looked up from her book. "Hi, Mom—I hope I didn't wake you or anything."
"No, you didn't wake me—I just got home myself." Amanda walked into Jenna's bedroom and sat down beside her on the bed. "You know that it's about half-past twelve?"
Jenna let out a sigh. "It's not a school night or anything."
"Yeah, I know." Amanda smoothed Jenna's hair. "It's just that you usually don't stay up this late, that's all." Jenna said nothing in reply, staring down at the bedspread. "Something you want to talk about? I know your dad and I have been busy lately, but we're still here for you."
"How did it go, by the way—the stuff at work? I know I can't ask details or anything, but did it go okay?"
Amanda smiled—Jenna's curiosity about the Agency still reminded her of when she was just starting out. "Everything went just fine," she replied. "There's still a little bit of work to do—you know, tying up loose ends, but it went well. Now, do you want to tell me what's keeping you up so late? Hmm?"
"Just a lot of thoughts, I guess—thoughts about stuff."
Now they were getting a little closer to the truth. "Thoughts about what kind of stuff?" She asked her. "Stuff at school?"
"Not school exactly," Jenna said."Mom—what do you think about long-distance relationships? I mean, not like friend and pen-pal stuff, but like a boy-girl relationship?"
"Do you mean Chris?" Amanda prompted. This must have been what was bothering Jenna at dinner the night before—the reason why she'd been so quiet. Jenna nodded. "What's going on?"
"Well, he said his mom's decided to move to California next month—she says she wants to be closer to her parents," Jenna said. "And Chris says that we can still text and email and stuff—that'll be just the same as always."
"That's what Chris says?" Her daughter nodded again. "What do you think?"
"I don't see how it can be the same," Jenna replied. "I mean it might be different if he was just going to college or vacation and I knew he'd be back, but he's moving for good—we won't be able to see each other at all."
"I see what you mean."
"Yeah," Jenna bit her lip. "I just—I don't know what to do. I don't want to tell him goodbye but I don't see how it can work this way. Does that make sense?"
"It makes sense." Amanda's mind went back to the relationships she'd had as a teen—how intense they could feel. She knew she had to tread very gently here. "Sweetheart, listen," she began. "You and Chris have been together a long time now, and you're very close." She drew in a deep breath. "But you might find—you both might find—that even though you stay close, it's okay to meet someone new."
"You mean find another boyfriend?"
"Sure. You're still young, you know—there's no harm in playing the field."
A faint smile. "That's the same thing Grandma said when I asked her."
Amanda laughed softly. "I think I heard the same thing from her myself when I was your age. Jenna, I know how much you care about Chris and I know you'll miss him, but that doesn't mean you can't care about someone else too."
"I guess," Jenna said uncertainly. "I'm just not sure how I feel about it all yet."
"Give it time," Amanda told her. "Chris is still coming to the restaurant for your birthday, isn't he?"
"Yeah."
"Well you can talk about it then—there's still plenty of time." She watched as Jenna covered a yawn with the back of her hand. "Why don't you go to sleep now—we can talk about this more in the morning."
"Okay." Another yawn. "I am kind of tired. Good night, Mom—I love you."
Amanda stood. "Love you too, sweetheart." Bending over, she kissed Jenna's forehead. "Good night." She turned off the light and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
"Everything all right?" Lee asked. "I heard you two talking."
"Everything's fine," Amanda told him. "She just had some things on her mind, that's all."
He frowned. "Anything serious? Maybe I should—"
"Lee, trust me—it's just fine," Amanda said. "It's just that Chris might be moving away next month and she's a little anxious. I dealt with it."
"So just normal teenage stuff then? I shouldn't worry too much?"
"You shouldn't worry." Amanda wrapped her arms around Lee, pulling his body against her own. For a few moments they stayed like that, drawing strength from each others' closeness.
"Feels like it's been forever since we've done this," she said.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. You know what, Mrs. Stetson?"
"Hmm?" Amanda murmured.
"I think maybe we should go to bed."
"Yeah," Amanda agreed. "You know, the way I feel, I think I could stay there for a month or more."
"Well how about this?" Lee put his finger under her chin, tilting her head upwards so that her gaze met his own. "How about we sleep in, then I make us a little breakfast in bed, and we spend the rest of the morning just relaxing—maybe doing the crossword—celebrate a case well done. How does that sound?"
"Good." Amanda replied, running her hands lightly up and down his back. "Though between the two of us we might find something more entertaining than doing the crossword."
Lee smiled. "I like the way you think." His lips met hers in a brief but passionate kiss. Hand in hand they made their way down the hallway towards their bedroom.
A case well done, Amanda thought—that's exactly what it had been. There was still a lot of work to be done of course, but in the end the members of Karbala would be behind bars and the network destroyed forever.
'There's still Mrs. Murphy.' A voice seemed to whisper in Amanda's ear, sending a small chill through her body. 'She's still out there.' Determinedly she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. They would find Mrs. Murphy, Amanda thought—find her and make her pay for her crimes.
She had to keep believing that.
TBC