SMK: Chapter 13 - Day 5
"Yeah, okay, Francine," Lee spoke softly into the sat-phone as he and Amanda soared westward 38,000 ft above the earth. "Uh-huh..." He glanced over at his wife, a hard look in his eyes. "He was going to burn Amanda to ash, Francine; it's hard to feel sorry for him." He listened quietly for a moment. "Okay, I'll let her know. Thanks, Francine. Yeah, catch ya later."
"What was that all about?"
"Well, it looks like we have one less lead to follow."
From Lee's part of the conversation, she knew who it must be. "Gerald Falcon?"
"Committed suicide six months ago." Lee opened the file on his lap and began perusing it.
Amanda sighed. "That's sad. Did he have family?"
Lee turned and looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "You bucking for sainthood again?"
"Huh?"
Lee reached over and tenderly wrapped his hand around hers. "Amanda, the man was trying very hard to kill you."
"I know..."
"He sent an assassin after you, and when that didn't work, he was only seconds away from incinerating you." Lee shook his head. "Forgive me if I have a hard time feeling bad for the guy." He gazed into her eyes, leaned toward her, and gave her a lingering peck on the lips. "I take his trying to kill my wife a bit personally."
"I love you, too." Amanda laid her palm alongside Lee's cheek, then stroked his hair around his ear.
He gave her one more quick peck then leaned back into his own seat as he sighed and opened up the file again. "One more name on our list and another on Francine's, then we'll get back to the Agency and start going through all this data."
"David Benson."
"Yeah, Davy."
Amanda squeezed his hand. "Ah, Sweetheart. I'm sorry. I know Davy was your friend."
"Friend might be a strong word, Amanda. Trusted colleague is a better description."
"Just as painful, though," Amanda acknowledged.
"Yeah." He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, then let go and patted her hand. "Okay," he said, turning back to the file, "let's get back to business."
"Alright. What's our cover?"
"Well, my contact at the Department of Justice has set things up to make us look like general inspectors doing a surprise safety check." He shrugged. "It could still raise some eyebrows, but I'm hoping that a surprise inspection will be less conspicuous than just checking out Davy."
"Makes sense." Amanda nodded her head in agreement. "So, we're DOJ."
"Right." Lee made a note on his paperwork. "Now, just to give us a little more cover, we're not going to use our real names – not even first names."
"Sure. If David were to hear about the inspection, the names Lee and Amanda would be obvious."
"Exactly. So, DOJ set us up with fake identities that look legit, just in case anyone calls to confirm our story...which any good prison employee would do." Lee took Amanda's fake I.D. from the file and handed it to her. "You're Julie Dunlap, and I'm John Sheridan."
Amanda looked him over. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I can see you as a John Sheridan."
He looked at her with a confused gaze and a lifted eyebrow. "You can?"
She nodded her head. "Shorter hair, a mustache and goatee...absolutely."
"You've been watching too much T.V. again, haven't you?" He shook his head.
"Don't worry," she winked. "I like Lee Stetson much better."
"Rooms for John Sheridan and Julie Dunlap..."
"Sure." The attendant at the front desk pulled up information on his computer. "I just need to see your identification, please." They pulled out their faked driver's licenses and laid them on the countertop. Lee winked at her when the attendant looked down at the I.D. The man pushed the cards back toward them, thanked them, and looked at his computer again.
"Okay, it looks like you requested adjoining rooms, and we've got 224 and 226 all ready for you." He reached beneath the desk for keys. "If you would just sign in, we're all set."
Lee grabbed the keys while Amanda signed her fake name. Once Lee had signed in, they grabbed their bags and headed toward the elevator.
"Here we are." Lee set his bags down and dug the keys from his pocket. "Your chambers, Milady..." he gallantly swept his hand before him indicating that she should precede him into the room. The door closed behind them as they looked around.
"Not bad." She put her bag on the queen-sized bed. The room had been updated and boasted a soft, quiet atmosphere in blues and creams. "It's much nicer than the typical chaotic color-schemes of most hotels."
Lee crossed the room to open the adjoining door, but it remained locked from the other side.
"I'll go next door and unlock this from the other side."
"Oh, you think you'll be sneaking into my room in the middle of the night, do you?"
"You'd better believe it." He winked at her and gave her backside a playful pat as he walked past and out the door.
Amanda smiled and shook her head. She headed into the bathroom to arrange her toiletries. They were only going to be here two nights, but she hated living out of suitcases and toiletry bags. She heard the adjoining door open and poked her head out the bathroom door just to be sure it was Lee.
"There we go," he turned to lock the door from her side. "Now security cameras have me going into the other room, and they'll get me going out whenever we leave." He smiled and walked over to her as she came out of the bathroom. He grasped her by the hips and pulled her close to him; she slid her hands up his chest and around his shoulders. "Meanwhile..." he brushed his lips against hers, lingering just long enough to tease. "...we can do all our...business...in here."
"Hmmm," she murmured. "I think I like the sound of that." She reached up and returned the kiss. "Where do you think we should start?" She looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow.
He gently eased her back against the wall. "How about right here," he whispered into her ear. She sighed and closed her eyes as her fingers twisted into his hair and his mouth found hers.
Day 6
"Alright, Mr. Sheridan, Mrs. Dunlap. I've confirmed your assignment here with the DOJ." The security desk officer, a young man named Jeff Dewey, handed their I.D.'s back to them along with security badges. "These badges are coded to let you into any room you need to go into except the actual cell blocks. They also give you clearance for whatever files you may need to access."
Lt. Dewey held up his hand indicating for them to wait a moment. "Hey, Al."
"Yeah, Lieutenant?"
"Would you mind watching the desk while I escort Mr. Sheridan and Mrs. Dunlap to an office?"
"Sure thing, Sir."
Lt. Dewey led them out of the security area and down the corridor. Lee looked over at Amanda and winked. This was going to be a breeze.
Two corridors later, Lt. Dewey let them into a private office. "I hope you will find this to your liking." He flipped the light on. "You've got a private restroom, a kitchenette, two desks, two computers, and comfortable chairs. In the kitchenette you'll find a coffee maker, microwave, refrigerator, glasses, mugs, plates... Everything you need to be comfortable while you look over reports and charts.
"If there's anything missing or anything else you need, just pick up the phone and press 8 for internal calls. The numbers for various departments are listed on the wall there by the phone. My number is circled."
"This is perfect, Lt. Dewey," Lee clasped his hands behind his back and looked around. "Thank you so much, I can't tell you how much we appreciate this courtesy." He offered Lt. Dewey his hand along with his cheesiest smile.
"Well, you're very welcome." Lt. Dewey shook Lee's hand. "All of us want these inspections done and done thoroughly. It helps us all stay safe." He looked over at Amanda. "And in a place like this, safety is of paramount importance."
"It sure is," Amanda agreed.
As soon as the door closed, Lee dropped the fake smile and set his briefcase on the table. "Alright," he looked over at Amanda. "You want to make the coffee? Or would you rather I do it?"
Amanda smiled. "Ah, no. I'll make the coffee, Mr. Sheridan." Her professional tone, used for the benefit of anyone listening in, belied the intimacy behind her eyes as she smiled. They both knew they'd been awake too long the night before. Nothing a little coffee couldn't take care of.
Lee winked at her but got right back down to business. "Wonderful. I'll get started pulling files of the randomized names we drew." They did, in fact, have a list of randomized names of prisoners, but one name on that list wasn't so random. David Benson.
They had it down to a science: look for visitors with unusual names, visitors who seemed to come regularly, and regular callers or phone numbers coming in or going out. Then, pull video feeds or recordings of conversations related to the names that they flagged. It was long, tedious work.
Amanda's back was aching. She was slowly regaining her strength from the freak shooting in California on their honeymoon, but she still had inflammation on some of her ribs that flared up when her body didn't get the rest it needed. She'd been feeling a little extra tired lately for some strange reason, too. Probably all the stress of everything going on. She sat back in her hard chair, clasped her hands, stretched her arms up as high as they could go, and let out a sigh. She pulled her stomach in and rounded her back, then stretched and arched it hoping to alleviate the ache.
"You okay over there?" Lee's concern showed in his eyes. He was fully aware this was all still taxing on her.
"Yeah, I think I just need some more coffee."
"You sit. I'll get it for you." Lee stood, stretched, and meandered over to the coffee pot. He reached for a mug and began pouring the coffee when Amanda suddenly drew in a sharp breath.
"Manda?" Concern and lack of sleep made him slip out of his cover. He grimaced at the realization but set the coffee mug down and quickly made his way to her. "What's wrong?"
"Take a look at this." She looked up at him as he drew near and pointed to the papers she was studying. He looked her in the eyes as he braced one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the table. Then he bent down to get a closer look.
"Check out this name," she whispered.
"Rick Meadows." Without changing his body position, he looked up from the papers and into her eyes. "Rick Meadows. It doesn't ring a bell. Should it?" He whispered back.
"Not unless you realize that Rick is a nickname for Frederick...which also uses Fred as a nickname."
"And meadow is a synonym for field as in Fielder?" He shook his head. "I don't know. That seems like a bit of a stretch."
"Yeah, maybe. But look how many visits there have been and how many phone calls." She pointed to some numbers on her pad of paper; she'd kept a tally. "Ten visits in the last six months, and twelve phone calls in the same period. So far, no one else in the log comes anywhere close."
"Hmmm." Lee frowned. "That does seem excessive, doesn't it." He tapped the back of her chair a couple of times. "Okay. Let's pull whatever video and audio they have of these visits."
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