Chapter 6
Lee looked at him stunned, "Harry, did you just say…"
Amanda finished his question, "your daughter?"
Harry nodded at both of them. He knew the rest of this conversation was going to be difficult so he took another, longer pull on his drink. Setting the glass back down, he repeated, "Yes, Lauren Proctor is my daughter. I haven't said those words aloud in years. Lee, Amanda, you are now part of an elite group of individuals that know the truth. Lauren's mother, Peggy, myself, Billy and now you two. No one and I mean no one knows about our connection. Not even Lauren." Harry face was strained, his mouth pulled tight.
Lee knew this was hard for his old friend and mentor. It was obvious Harry had gone to great lengths to hide Lauren's existence all these years. "But why bring this out now? What's going on, Harry?" Lee asked.
"Because I haven't heard from her in months. Peggy, her mother, passed away about a year ago. I had contacted Lauren to check in on her. She knows me, as her mom's old friend Harry. She used to call me Uncle Harry when she was little but as she grew up and the times I got to see her were less frequent, she dropped the Uncle bit. Since the time she was 12 until now I've only seen her in pictures. I didn't dare make the trip to Virginia Beach to see her any more. I was afraid she would ask too many questions and one day I wouldn't be able to give her an answer to suit her," Harry stopped to take another sip of his drink. "So I talked to Lauren just after her mom passed, told her if she needed anything to let me know. I gave her space, time to grieve. Then about 5 months ago I tried calling. No answer. I called everyday for a week, same thing. Then one day, the number said it was disconnected. I haven't heard from her at all."
Amanda reached over and rubbed his arm to comfort him. She could see by the pain in his eyes how much this was hurting him. "Harry, what can we do to help?"
Placing his hand over Amanda's he looked at her. "Find her, please. Just tell me she's ok. Obviously she doesn't want to talk to me but I need to know she is ok," Harry said, his voice strained.
"I'm sorry, Harry. This was not what I was expecting. We'll find her. I promise you that, old friend. We'll find her," Lee clapped Harry's shoulder.
"That's why I asked Billy for your help. I know you will. You two are the best in the business. Together, you make one hell of a team," Harry smiled at them.
Amanda blushed, looking down at the table, "Thank you, Harry, that means alot coming from you."
Lee looked at his wife and saw her reaction to Harry's compliment. He knew she still doubted her abilities as an agent sometimes and knowing Harry could see how good she really was made his heart swell with pride. "Amanda, Harry's right. You're one hell of an agent. You have some of the best instincts I've ever seen. And Harry, with Amanda there, I know we will find her. I've never seen Amanda give up on anything yet," Lee laughed.
Harry laughed with him and said, "She hasn't given up on you yet, so that's saying something."
Lee pretended to be offended, "Hey…." which sent Amanda into laughter as well. After a few minutes, they all stopped, sipping their drinks before continuing. "Harry, do you have a picture of Lauren, anything recent?" Lee asked.
Pulling out a small wallet sized photograph, Harry handed it to Amanda. "That's the last one I have of her. She was a senior in high school so it's a little old but you should be able to find her. She has a distinctive trait, inherited from her mother…." Harry began.
Amanda took one look at the photo and her eyes widened immediately, "Lee, look. Her eyes…"
Lee took the photo and saw it. The beautiful young girl in the photo had one dark brown eye and one very light blue eye. Looking at Harry he asked, "Her mother, Peggy. That wouldn't be Margaret Duncan, would it?"
Harry looked at Lee, stunned. "Yes, how did you know?"
Lee looked at Amanda and then back to Harry, "I think you need to come to my apartment to see this. Not here."
Lee paid for their drinks and quickly jotted down his address for Harry. Knowing they could possibly be followed because you could never be too careful, he told him to park in the lot about a block away and walk through the alley to the back entrance to his building. They would wait for him there. Parting ways inside the bar, Lee and Amanda left first. Harry waited about 20 minutes before he left and purposely went the opposite direction, weaving through neighborhoods just to be sure he didn't have a tail.
Harry may not have been an agent anymore but it didn't make him any less valuable. He knew many secrets and had more enemies both foreign and friendly. He was constantly aware of his surroundings, and never did anything the same to confuse anyone that may be watching him.
Arriving at the parking lot Lee told him, Harry hugged close to the buildings, hiding in the shadows as best he could. Stopping once or twice to look back, Harry made it to Lee's building, confident he was alone. Inside the trio made their way to Lee's apartment with no incident.
Harry sat on the couch waiting to see what was so important they had to bring him there. Amanda sat on the chair beside the couch, watching Lee pace nervously. He had been on edge the whole ride back to the apartment, trying to decide what to tell Harry. Finally she couldn't take Lee's pacing anymore and said, "Sweetheart, you sit down. I'll get it."
Lee sat beside Harry on the couch, running his fingers through his hair. Harry noticed this and knew something was bothering Lee. Amanda walked into the bedroom and retrieved the file and shirt they had found earlier. She put them both on the table between the men. "Harry, we found these today, hidden in the vault."
Harry picked up the shirt first, fingering the buttons for a moment. He put it back down and opened the envelope, letting the contents slide out, just like Lee had done earlier. His breath caught in his throat as soon as he saw the pictures of Peggy. Picking up one of them, he ran his finger across the image. "She's was so beautiful," was all he said.
Lee looked at Amanda, understanding how Harry felt. His Amanda was beautiful especially when she wasn't even aware of how she affected him. Sometimes it only took a look, a laugh, a touch and his breath would catch, just like Harry's did. Looking at Harry, Lee commented, "You loved her didn't you, Harry."
Harry smiled, looking at the picture in his hand. "Maybe, a different place, a different time, I could have shown her how much but back then, I don't know. Loved her, yes…. In love with her, well that's another thing. She was my first civilian contact, a mistake really. I was just starting the Agency, bumped into her in the grocery store thinking she was my contact. Turns out, she wasn't. I passed off information to her and had to find her later to get it back. Nothing of too much importance now." Harry laughed lightly at the memory. "She ended up coming to work for me for a while, as a secretary, until she got…. Well, you can figure out the rest I guess."
He placed the picture down on the table beside the envelope. Picking up the file, he flipped through the first few pages then stopped. "Amanda, where did you find this?"
Amanda, wide eyed, looked at Lee who just nodded. Looking at Harry she said, "It was under a drawer filled with empty files. Along with that shirt."
Lee looked at Harry with concern, "Harry, what's going on?"
Harry looked at Lee, "I've never seen this before. Someone had Peggy under surveillance but I don't know anything about this. These pictures? They were taken while she still worked at the Agency but I've never seen them. And these letters in here…. This was correspondence between her and I… private notes…. Before she got pregnant."
Amanda picked up the shirt, looking it over, "What about this? Why would this shirt be there too?"
"I don't know. She used to wear a blouse similar to it to work at least once a week but that's about all I remember," Harry shook his head.
Lee picked up the file and flipped through it again quickly, "So you don't know anything about this?"
Harry just looked at him and said firmly, "No."