Chapter 21
They rode the elevator in silence, Harry and Christina just watching the baby. Back in Lee and Amanda's hotel room, Lee was the first one to speak, "Harry, I couldn't tell you over the phone about Charlie."
"I'm confused. I thought you needed me here because of Lauren. Where is she, Lee? Has something happened to her?" Harry asked concerned.
Amanda sat on the edge of the bed, still holding Charlie. Christina walked over to stand beside her, reaching out to touch Charlie's hands.
Lee looked at Harry, trying to decide where to begin. "Harry, I need to you sit down. I need some answers from you before we can do anything," he said firmly.
Taking the chair from the table, Harry turned it so he was facing Lee. Lee picked up the notepad he had his notes from Billy and T.P. written on. "What do you need from me?" Harry asked.
Amanda sighed, watching Lee's demeanor change from relaxed loving husband to agent. She knew this conversation was going to be difficult so she made a decision. Before Lee could speak, she stood and walked over to Harry. "Do you want to hold Charlie?"
Harry and Lee looked at her strangely. Amanda glanced back at Lee, her expression said it all. Lee nodded, silently understanding it may make the conversation easier. Amanda didn't wait for Harry to respond, she simply turned the baby and placed him in Harry's arms gently. Sitting back down on the bed, she waited for Lee to start asking his questions.
"Ok, Harry, first I need to know everything about Margaret Duncan. I know she wasn't just your secretary," Lee started.
Christina looked at Harry who was now watching Charlie. She was the first to answer, "No, she wasn't just his secretary. She helped collect information over the years for Harry and for me. She's one of the reasons Harry was able to get me here."
"What kind of information?" Amanda asked, surprised Christina was the one to answer.
"All kinds. Plenty of secrets from the Russian Embassy, especially during the Cold War. The last few years, before she died, mostly target information. Hits that were being set up, where, when, that kind of thing," Christina replied again.
"Ok, what does Victor Dunforth have to do with this?" Lee questioned his mentor.
"Dunforth supervised and assisted Peggy. He would use his own personal methods to extract the information, Peggy would transport it," Harry answered this time, his eyes still never leaving Charlie.
"When you say methods, you're talking about MR5 right?" Lee questioned again.
Harry's head shot up quickly, "MR5? But how do you…"
"Lauren wrote about it in a diary when she was a kid… the Mad Russian and the little fish," Amanda supplied.
Shaking his head, Harry tried to find the connection, "Little fish?"
Lee laughed, "Exactly what I said until T.P. put it together for us. Microfiche. He's the one who figured out Dunforth was working with Peggy. What I don't understand is what any of this has to do with Lauren."
"When we saw Lauren for a few minutes yesterday, she said she had been receiving phone calls threatening her. She said she moved because someone broke into the house and searched it. She found this note," Amanda stopped talking to pull the note out of Lauren's backpack.
"She said they keep asking for the knopka… Christina? What is that?" Lee looked over at the older woman who was now sitting beside Harry.
"Knopka… that means button. Why are they looking for buttons?" Christina shook her head, looking at Lee and Harry.
Now it was Harry's turn to sigh. He stood up, gently sliding Charlie into Christina's arms. Pacing, he put his hand to his head, trying to decide how to explain it. Finally he said, "Peggy used to hide the microfiche in the buttons of her blouse."
Lee and Amanda looked at each other, her eyebrows raised to his furrowed ones. "Harry, I don't understand," Lee stated.
"Look, Lee, I should have told you this from the beginning. I'm sorry. I didn't know… Did you bring that blouse with you, the one you showed me in your apartment?" Harry needed to explain.
"Yeah, its right here," Amanda pulled it out of her bag, handing it to Harry.
Holding the button shank, Harry gently twisted one of the button tops until it came off in his hand, revealing a cavity to hide small items. "The microfiche would be cut and hidden here. She could go anywhere and be searched and no one would check the buttons." Checking each of them, they could see the buttons were all empty.
"So if these are all empty we can assume these aren't the buttons they are looking for." Amanda commented.
"Do you think Lauren knows about this?" Harry asked.
"Or knows where another blouse like this might be?" Lee continued Harry's thought.
"Lee, I have something…. I should have told you about before you came here." Harry reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. Inside was a letter and a key. "Peggy sent me these about 2 years ago. The letter told me to hang onto it until I felt Lauren needed to know the truth about her and me. It's for a safety deposit box. I don't know what's it in, but whatever it is, Peggy didn't tell Lauren about it."
Lee looked at Amanda. "Well, we need to check out that address that Billy gave me. Hopefully Lauren will be there and then we can check out this box," he said.
"Wait, Lee, what do you mean Lauren will be there… Where is she?" Harry demanded.
Amanda stood up and walked over to Harry. Putting her left hand on his arm she said, "We saw Lauren get grabbed by two men last night. Lee doesn't think they're professionals just how they handled themselves. That's how we ended up with Charlie. We don't think the men knew anything about him either because they grabbed her, leaving him behind in the car."
Harry put his hand over hers, "Do you think she's ok? Why didn't you tell me. We… we… could have tried to come sooner… if anything has happened to her…."
"Easy, Harry, I'm pretty sure she's ok. Really, Amanda got the license plate. I had Billy run it for me. The address isn't far from here. We need you to stay here with Charlie. We couldn't risk bringing him obviously and me going alone wasn't an option," Lee explained. "Oh, does the name Alina Kursk mean anything to you?" he added.
"Alina? Yes, she was an associate at the Embassy. She worked in their accounting department. I knew her. Why?," Christina said, adjusting the baby in her arms.
"Lauren mentioned the men said they would hurt her like her mother hurt Alina. Do you know what that means?" Amanda looked from Christina to Harry.
"Peggy couldn't hurt anyone, not physically anyway. Victor was the one who… " Harry couldn't finish his sentence. It dawned on him what the men might be talking about. "Wait, about 5 years ago, Peggy told me how Victor crossed the line with someone, trying to get information. She said he held back on giving the antidote until it was too late. She said the woman had given them offshore bank account numbers the KGB was using to pay mercenaries and he had insisted there was more. The woman died in a few hours. Peggy was furious. It was the last time she ever went on a run with him."
"Did she ever mention the woman by name?" Lee asked.
"No, I don't think she did but I remember hearing through the grapevine right around the same time that Alina had died. I thought it was one helluva coincidence," Harry said.
Charlie was beginning to squirm in Christina's arms. Before anyone could move, Lee walked over, taking the baby from her. He held him against his shoulder for a moment, then said quietly to him, "What's the matter, bud? We need you to keep it together for a while. Amanda and I are gonna go find your mom."
Harry looked at him, stunned. "Scarecrow, I never thought I'd see the day."
Lee looked at him "What?"
Smiling, Harry patted Amanda's hand, still resting on his arm, "You've done a good job with him. But I think there is something you haven't told me, young lady."
"I don't know what you mean, Harry," Amanda answered, eyes wide.
"Don't think I haven't noticed the new jewelry you and Lee have been sporting. How long?" Harry said knowingly.
Looking down, Amanda realized they were wearing their wedding rings. She slowly picked her head up, making eye contact with her husband. Dark brown eyes met hazel ones across the room, realizing they couldn't lie their way out of this. Amanda slowly moved her hand away from Harry's arm.
Lee watched her moving slowly toward him and Charlie. She took the baby from him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "You tell him," she said quietly.
Lee swallowed hard, knowing this was the first time he would say these words aloud, "Harry, Amanda and I have been married for 6 months now, but only a few people know the truth. Billy doesn't know, my uncle doesn't know….Hell Amanda's family doesn't even know….."
Harry stopped him with one word, "Why?"