Chapter 24

The Truth Comes Out

As the holidays came to a close, the wedding planning moved into full swing. Amanda did not want the usual big wedding gown, despite Dotty's insistence. Lee would wear a suit and Amanda would wear a dress, but not full length. The trouble is, everything she saw, she hated. At this point, she was ready to wear a frumpy suit. At least she'd be comfortable.

It was a Tuesday and Amanda walked into the Q Bureau, actually happy to be away from wedding planning. Lee was downstairs talking to Billy about something, but she was not certain what exactly. She'd ask him later. Jackie Ware knocked lightly and came in to the office. "Hey, Amanda."

"Hi Jackie, what brings you up here?"

"I was looking for Lee. He asked for some information on the Brody case. I ran down some of the leads for him. Can I just leave it with you?"

"Brody case?" Amanda asked. "You mean Nathanial Brody? I thought he was in prison." Jackie looked a little confused. She thought they worked as partners. She knew Kristen had also been working on the case, but she had been asked to help out as well to run down some background information on some of his recently hired thugs. Was she not supposed to say anything?

"I thought you knew," Jackie said cautiously. "He escaped back in November. I was running some background info on some of the people he's been hiring." Amanda's head was reeling. Brody escaped and the Agency was tracking him, but Lee said nothing. Just play it off, Amanda she told herself.

"Oh yeah, that." Amanda said. "You can just give it to me." As Amanda read the case files her blood began to boil. Brody has had associates stalking Lee, including times when he was with Phillip and Jamie. She paced the floor, as she felt the rage welling up. The worst part was that Kristen also knew but neither told her. The agreement was that Kristen was only to take over for some potentially dangerous field work, but not take over for her altogether. Should she go down and barge in now to Billy's office? No, maybe not make a scene. She would not drag Billy into this, as this was personal. She sat at Lee's desk for about 20 minutes, during which the kettle was brewing and the whistle was about to blow.

She saw the doorknob turn as Lee opened the door. "Hi," Lee said as he entered. Amanda was sitting at this desk, and she did not look happy.

"Hello, there." Amanda stood up. "So, were you ever going to tell me about Brody?"

Oh shit! Keep calm. Just explain. "Amanda, of course I was going to talk to you about it this week."

"Really? You didn't think it was a good idea to tell me earlier that Brody had escaped and had people stalking our, no, MY children! You told Kristen. You don't think I have a right to know as well?"

Lee was backpedaling as fast as he could. "Amanda, I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you."

"Oh, well isn't that sweet of you!" She said sarcastically. "Lee, stop protecting me! I don't need a hero, I need a partner. I'm pregnant, not made of glass."

"Amanda, you're right. I made a mistake." Lee said. But, hold on. What did she mean by "my" children. "Hold on a second, what's this my children? Am I suddenly not part of this family again because I made an error in judgment?"

"Don't change the subject." Amanda retorted.

"I'm not. I admitted I made a mistake. However, do you think Phillip and Jamie are just your children just because they aren't mine biologically? Part of the reason I didn't tell you was because it scared the hell out of me that they were being watched because of me. I didn't want you to see that."

"Well, that's another reason you should have told me. We are supposed to support each other. How can we go into marriage if we're keeping things from each other."

"I agree. And the boys?" Lee shot back. Did she not know how much he cared about them?

"What about them?" Amanda asked, a little confused. Lee looked down at his feet, then back up..

"Only your boys?" Lee shot back. "Not mine?" Sudden realization hit Amanda.

"Lee, I'm sorry," she said. "That was terrible of me to say."

"It's okay," Lee said, crossing his arms to let his body language emphasize his point. "Maybe in anger the truth comes out, huh?" Lee knew he's made a mistake not telling her about Brody, but that was just a mistake in judgment. What Amanda said was downright cruel. Over the last couple of months Lee had come to see Phillip and Jamie as his kids as well. While he'd always wanted to marry her, his reasons had expanded so that he could officially become their stepfather. For her part, Amanda was both horrified at herself for making such a comment, but like the Grinch, her heart had grown three sizes to know Lee truly loved her boys, scratch that, their boys.

Damn it! One thing Amanda hated about being pregnant was the inability to control her emotions. Hold it together, Amanda. Come on. No use. She started weeping uncontrollably. Lee could see that his words had trigged something. He opened his stance and reached over to grab a tissue, handing it to her. He was not certain what had caused this emotional outburst, so he elected to just wait.

"I'm sorry." Amanda started, trying desperately to pull herself together. "I never considered that you thought of Phillip and Jamie as your kids too."

"Amanda." Lee softened, walked over and put his arms around her.

"I thought you'd come to love them in time. I just never thought it would be this soon."

"I didn't either." Lee said. "In fact, I didn't even realize it until you said they were your kids, not ours, I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut."

"You're right. They are your boys too. Thank you for loving them." Amanda hugged him tightly, then releasing, looking at him. "Back to being a team again?" Amanda asked, emotionally pulling herself back together.

"We've always been a team," Lee said. "We just hit an inevitable bump in the road."

"Yeah," Amanda said. "We have bigger problems. So why is he stalking Phillip and Jamie?"

"He's not," Lee tried to explain. "He's only had them following me. Phillip and Jamie just happened to be with me. There's no evidence he has any direct interest in them. However, there was another one at the house on Christmas Day. I saw him, so I'm thinking that one's days are numbered as well. Brody is executing these guys as they get caught."

"This is not good." Amanda said. "He knows we have a family, you know he's going to use that against us. We need to take him down." Amanda said fiercely. Time to teach Brody you don't mess with Mama Bear….or Papa Bear for that matter.

"Can I explain what we know so far?" Lee looked at her. "Why don't we get Kristen up here and we have all get up to date."

"Why didn't Kristen tell me?" Amanda looked a little hurt.

"Because I told her not to. I'm sorry. That was my mistake."

"Clearly she follows orders better than I do." Amanda grinned. She could not be mad at Kristen, she was just doing her job and following the directions of the Senior Agent.

"Clearly." Lee snickered.