Chapter 11

Lee stepped closer to the door, "Lauren, do you remember Harry? Harry Thornton?"

Lauren looked at him with distrust, "Yes, Uncle Harry. I haven't seen him in years. He was a friend of my mother's. Why?"

Amanda looked at Lee who nodded gently, "Harry asked us to find you. He… ah… he has something for you. Can we come in and talk privately?"

Lauren looked at Lee then Amanda and slowly opened the door. The office was sparely furnished. There were no pictures of any kind on the walls or her desk, just a few files piled up in the corner and on top of the credenza to her right. Lauren closed the door behind them, turning the lock as she did.

Lee stood, waiting for both women to sit down first. He decided Amanda would be best to ask the questions. She was much better at Class C interrogations than he ever was so he was going to let her take the lead.

Amanda looked at Lee and as he nodded, she understood. They made a great team, and at times like this they didn't need words to communicate. She turned to Lauren and quietly said, "Harry's been looking for you. He said he tried your home but you didn't answer the phone then it was disconnected."

"Uncle Harry always was protective of me when I was little. I don't know why this doesn't surprise me. He wasn't able to come to Mom's funeral. He left a message, something about work, he couldn't get away, but I could tell by the sound of his voice it hurt him," Lauren offered.

Lee nodded, "Harry's a good guy. If he sounded hurt, he was."

Lauren looked at Lee, "You sound like you know him pretty good."

Lee just nodded, "Yeah, Harry gave me a job, took a chance on me at a time in my life when I needed one. Treated me like a son. That was a long time ago."

Changing subjects, Amanda said, "Lauren, we went by your old address this afternoon. The nice woman across the street, Mrs. Taylor, said when you moved you were nervous, like you were looking for someone. Is something going on? Are you in some kind of trouble? We're… we're federal agents…. we can help."

Lauren shook her head, "I don't even know. Right after my mom died, I started getting these crazy phone calls. Someone demanding the knopka. I had no idea what they were talking about so I would just hang up. I thought it was just some crazy person, you know? Then one day I came home and it looked like someone ransacked my house. I tried telling the police but they just passed it off as vandals." She stopped to take a sip of water, then continued. "The phone calls kept coming, so I finally stopped answering the phone. Then I came home again to find a note on my door saying if I didn't give them the knopka they were going to hurt me, like my mother hurt someone named Alina Kursk. I have no idea who that is, but that scared me more so I moved. I bought a condo near the beach. More security, you have to be scanned into the complex. I changed my number, so the phone calls stopped."

Amanda looked at her again, "And you have no idea who it was that was calling?"

"No," Lauren shook her head again. "I just wanted to be left alone. I was still grieving my mom and then having to move... I felt safe here until about a week ago. Someone broke in and ransacked my office. They destroyed everything in it so bad I had to move here for a temporary office until they can repair all the damage. I almost lost my job over this. If it wasn't for Charlie I would quit and move away entirely."

Lee looked confused for a moment, "Charlie… who's Charlie?"

Before Lauren had a chance to answer, the telephone on her desk rang. She picked it up and immediately tensed. "Yes, sir. Yes, sir, I have that file completed. I can bring it down to you now. Yes, sir, right away." Hanging up the phone, she said, "I have to go. That was my boss. I had a deadline on one of my clients and I have to get this finished or else I'll have no job. I'm sorry. I can… I can talk to you more tonight, after I get off work. Meet me downstairs in the parking lot at 6:15?" She stood up and moved toward the door.

Amanda looked at her watch. It was only 2:00 so they had plenty of time to look into the information she gave them already. "Six-fifteen, downstairs. We'll be there," Amanda stood and leaned forward to give Lauren a hug. "We'll help you find the people that are bothering you. I promise. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

Lee guided Amanda out of the office and down the stairs again without saying a word. They nodded at the receptionist on their way out and climbed into Lee's car. Lee spoke first, "Amanda, I think maybe we should go back to the hotel. Let's go through that file we found, maybe there's something in it about this Alina Kursk. If we can't find anything there, we could give Harry a call or call Billy. I have a bad feeling about this." Amanda took his hand in hers and simply nodded.

The ride back to the hotel was quick, as they were only a few miles away. Deciding room service may be their best bet for lunch, they each ordered a sandwich and started going over the file they had found.

Over an hour later, they didn't have much more to go on. The only thing they could see is that Margaret Duncan went by both Maggie to most people and Peggy to a few close individuals. She had done a few drops for Harry but that was about it. She worked at the agency for just under 3 years, then left, from what they could tell, just after she would have gotten pregnant. The pictures didn't yield any additional clues either.

Amanda looked at the shirt closely, hoping that it may tell them something. "Lee, I don't know what we are supposed to be looking for. This shirt looks like any shirt I would buy to wear for work. The embroidery is beautiful, the buttons look handmade almost. I don't see any tears, or secret spots hidden on this anywhere. There are no tags identifying where it came from. No dry cleaner markings. Nothing."

Lee held the shirt in his hands, shaking his head. "I don't know either, but it must mean something. Why else would it have been hidden in that drawer."

"Did you figure out who had her under surveillance?" Amanda asked, fingering the edge of the file.

"No, not really. Just the initials VFD. Without asking Harry or Billy, I have no idea who that is," Lee admitted. Looking at his watch, it was just about 4:15. "Amanda, we have almost 2 hours to kill. Let's say we take a walk along the boardwalk. Some time to be just Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, not special agents."

Amanda smiled at him, "I think that sounds like a perfect idea, Mr. Stetson. I just have one request."

Lee leaned forward, close to her lips, "What's that?"

Amanda smiled before kissing him lightly on the lips, "Can we take this contact out? Its starting to irritate my eye."

Lee just laughed, "Of course, do you want to do it?" He stood up to get the contact case out of his jacket pocket. As he walked away, Amanda easily slid the contact off her eye, blinking rapidly.

After a few seconds, she sighed, "Hopefully I won't have to wear that for a while."

They cleared the file, putting it in Lee's bag along with the shirt and headed down the elevator to the boardwalk. Together they walked, hand in hand, enjoying the warm air, the ocean breeze and each other's company. Stopping to get an ice cream at a local vendor, they began walking back to their hotel. Arriving back just before 6:00, they made the short drive back to Lauren's work.

As they pulled into the parking lot, they could see her closing the back door to her car. Lee beeped as they drove around the opposite row of cars separating them. Lauren waved back in recognition. As Lee rounded the end of the row, he heard the distinctive sound of tires screeching to a stop. He tried to speed up but a car backing out blocked him. He and Amanda heard a woman screaming and as they wove around the offending car, they could see two men trying to shove Lauren into a nondescript black sedan. Lee pressed on the gas to try to get closer.

Lauren was putting up a fight but the two men quickly overpowered her. Amanda could hear her screaming one name over and over, "Charlie…. Charlie….." Just as Lee tried to follow them, another car backed out quickly, cutting him off. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

"I got a partial on that license plate if that helps, " Amanda offered, knowing how irritated he was.

"Yeah...thanks Amanda… I'll have Billy run it." Lee sighed out, knowing he couldn't do anything else. "Let's see if there's anything in her car or her purse that can help us."

Lee backed the Vette up until it was blocking the car they had seen Lauren standing at. Amanda got out first and as she approached the drivers' door, something in the back seat caught her attention. Quickly she threw the door open and yelled to Lee, "I think I know who Charlie is…"

Lee leaned over the top of his car, "Really? Who?"

Amanda leaned into the car and after a few seconds turned to face Lee, holding what appeared to be a very healthy 4 month old baby boy.