Chapter 24

Amanda nervously rode the elevator to the 6th floor. She had stopped at the front desk to inquire about the courier service and they informed her it would be there in 30 minutes, the package in DC by early evening via air transport. She had to work fast to get everything together and in the envelope they provided her. She also needed to call Billy and tell him what they were sending and when it should arrive. What she didn't need was Harry asking a lot of questions she didn't have answers for.

Taking a deep breath, she exited the elevator and began walking down the hall. She could hear Charlie crying before she got to the room. Shaking her head, she knocked on the door. Christina opened it quickly, looking very frazzled.

"What's wrong with Charlie?" Amanda asked as she entered. She could see Harry holding him, bouncing him gently.

"I don't know, he woke up about 10 minutes and just started crying. I've been trying to calm him down but nothing I've done seems to work," Harry explaining.

Amanda walked over, taking a very upset Charlie from him. She held him close, speaking softly to him, rocking him gently, "Hey, hey, hey. It's gonna be ok. Shhhh…. Charlie…. It's ok." Charlie began to settle down, rubbing his head into her shoulder. Amanda smiled, realizing quickly what he wanted. "He's getting hungry. Probably needs his diaper changed, too," she stated matter of factly.

Harry and Christina just looked at each other. How could they both have missed the obvious?

Harry apologized, "I'm sorry, Amanda. I didn't even think. It's been a long long time since I've been around a baby."

Glancing at the clock, Amanda said, "Listen if I make him a bottle, do you think one of you could feed him. I need to get this stuff packaged up and sent to the Agency and not a lot of time to do it."

"I'll feed him. What about his diaper?" Christina asked.

"Can you get me that towel?" Amanda motioned toward one on the table. Christina laid it down on the bed and Amanda put Charlie on it. As she unsnapped his pants, Christina handed her a clean diaper and wipes. Quickly she changed him, thankful it was only wet. Now that Charlie was calmer, she handed him to Christina, grabbing the formula and a bottle. She mixed it up, ran it under hot water to warm and and handed it to her. "He only seems to burp sitting on your knee, not on your shoulder," she said as she started opening the buttons on the blouses they found.

"Amanda, what… is that what I think it is?" Harry asked as he watched her.

"Yeah, we found two more blouses in the safe deposit box. I need to get these to the Agency so Crypto can go over the microfiche in them," she indicated the small pile she retrieved from the buttons. She put them all in an envelope she had gotten from the front desk and with the blouses and the book they found, put everything into the larger envelope, ready to be picked up.

Standing, she turned to Harry, holding the birth certificate in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she turned to him. "Harry, we found this… it's a copy of Lauren's original birth certificate…. Listing you as her biological father," Amanda handed him the document.

Harry took it slowly, his hands shaking slightly. Reading the document, he swiped his hand across his mouth. "I didn't know this existed. Peggy never… she… she said she never listed me as Lauren's father."

"It must have meant an awful lot to her because she did. She may have had it amended after this one was issued. We found a book of hers too. It had names, dates… looks like she was recording all information they collected," Amanda explained. "Does the Coreforce List mean anything to you?"

"Coreforce? No, but that may have been something…" Harry started.

"Did you say Coreforce List?" Christina interrupted.

"Yes, do you know what that is?" Amanda asked.

"Coreforce was the list of mercenaries here in the States the Embassy would employ to do their dirty work," Christina explained. "Alina would have had that list for payouts."

"So, Alina had the list of mercenaries and the bank numbers for payouts. And once they got the information, Peggy recorded it. I wonder if that's what's on the microfiche then. Hopefully Billy will have some answers tonight," Amanda nodded. "I have to get this back downstairs. Will you be ok with Charlie for a few more minutes?" Amanda looked at Christina who was currently trying to coax a burp out of him.

Hearing it finally release, she looked at Amanda, "I think we will be ok for a while."

Amanda smiled, "Ok, I'll be back as soon as the courier gets here. Should be any minute now." Closing the door behind her, Amanda let out a sigh of relief they hadn't asked any question about Lauren. She hoped Lee was having as much luck as she was as she rode the elevator down the the lobby to wait.

At the Virginia Beach Agency branch office, Lee had just began his interrogation of Andre Kuznetsov. He was going to play it rough until he walked into the room to see the man practically in tears. "I didn't do anything wrong, he just wanted to scare her," Andre insisted to guard standing near the door.

Lee motioned to the guard he could clear the room. "You didn't do anything wrong? Then why is there a young mother in a hospital unconscious, injected with God knows what…" Lee began.

"Max told me it wouldn't hurt her, just make her talk then make her forget she said anything," Andre pleaded.

"What was in the injection?" Lee leaned close to him over the table.

"Dental anesthesia… um… Propofol and…. Midazolam I think he said. Nothing that would hurt her," Andre said defeated.

Lee looked at him strangely, "Dental anesthesia? Where the hell did he get that? It's not like you can just get that stuff at the local drug store."

"Max's girlfriend, Mary White, works for an oral surgeon. He went to visit her at work last week and lifted it. He just said he wanted to scare that girl. Said she knew something about his mother's death," Andre was looking at the table.

"Alina Kursk was Tsipkin's mother?" Lee demanded. This is easier than I thought it was going to be.

Andre looked up at Lee, "She was. A nice lady too. Made the best Ptichye moloko cake, even better than my Babushka. He was heartbroken when Alina died. Said he would do everything the could to find out who was responsible."

"Where is Tsipkin now?" Lee demanded again.

Andre threw his hands up, "If I had to guess, hiding at Mary's. She lives on Kempsville Road. Apartment complex. Number 538 I think."

Lee didn't say anything as he left the room, he just motioned to the guard to return to his post inside the door.

Lee stopped the first agent he saw, "Hey how close is the hospital… um...General... from here?"

The agent replied, "Only a few blocks. Take a left out of the parking lot, then another left at the lights. You won't be able to miss it."

"Thank you. Can you tell Agent Miller that's where Scarecrow is headed? If he doesn't get me there he can call the Barclay Hotel. Ask for Stetson," Lee asked.

"Scarecrow? Wow, sure," the agent replied. Even in Virginia Beach, Lee was well known in the intelligence community.

Lee ran out of the building directly to his car. He made it to the hospital quickly thanks to the directions he was given. Racing inside the Emergency department, he flashed his badge at the admitting desk, "A woman was brought in here about an hour ago. Lauren Proctor. I need to see her attending physician immediately."

The nurse behind the desk got up quickly and simply stated, "Follow me."

Lee was thankful as she brought him directly into the ER and Lauren's doctor, Dr. Olufsen. Lee flashed his badge again. "I'm Lee Stetson, I'm a federal agent. Lauren Proctor was brought in about an hour ago. She had been injected with an unknown drug," Lee started.

Picking up a nearby chart, Dr. Olufsen read, "Yes, our toxicology lab hasn't sent up the results from her blood tests or the syringe that was brought in with her yet."

"I know what it is. Our suspect just told us it was dental anesthesia… a combination of Propofol and Midazolam," Lee finished.

"Excellent. Neither are overly dangerous however if they overdosed her, it may take her longer to wake up. Nothing we can do but monitor her really for any side effects," Dr. Olufsen noted her chart. "And you're sure that's what it was?"

"Not 100% but that's what we were told and we don't have a reason to believe otherwise," Lee confirmed.

"Well then, I'll let the nurses know. It might be best for us to keep her overnight to monitor her. Worse case she may have some vomiting, confusion, headache, extreme drowsiness. Is there anyone we should contact on her behalf?" Dr. Olufsen asked.

"I'll take care of that. Her father just got to Virginia Beach from DC but I'll let him know she's going to be ok. Can you call me at my hotel as soon as she's awake? My partner and I are staying at the Barclay," Lee explained.

"Excellent. As soon as she regains consciousness we will call you. It may be a while where we don't know exactly how much was injected, but we will keep an eye on her, checking vitals every 20 minutes," Dr. Olufsen held his hand out to Lee.

Shaking hands with the doctor, Lee said, "Thank you. Much appreciated."