Lee, Amanda, and Francine entered the bullpen, laughing. "I can't believe Leatherneck was able to salvage the sauce, Francine," Lee teased.
"I didn't realize what a wonderful cook he is. He turned the sauce into a restaurant-quality meal." Amanda smiled before adding, "Just another Leatherneck mystery I guess."
Francine stopped walking and scowled at them. "I don't believe you two. Here, I thought I was doing something nice by inviting the two of you to my place for dinner and all you can do is rave about how great Leatherneck's meal was. I'll have you know, that was my recipe. Not his."
Amanda reached out and patted Francine's forearm. "I'm sorry, Francine. It was a lovely gesture and I'm sure if you hadn't dropped the container of garlic in the Alfredo sauce, your recipe would have made a lovely meal. Right, Sweetheart?"
"Yeah, Francine." Lee scratched the back of his neck. "Let's call it a coooooo…" Lee's voice trailed off as he desperately looked at Amanda.
"A collaboration of recipes," Amanda supplied quickly.
"That's it. That's exactly what I was going to say. A collaboration of recipes which turned into a fantastic garlic fettuccine. You know, I never knew you could add a block of cream cheese with extra lemon juice to Alfredo sauce. Did you know that, Amanda?" Lee rambled uncharacteristically.
Amanda tilted her head and forced a smile onto her face. "I can't say I've tried that before. I'll have to suggest it to Mother the next time we make Alfredo for dinner."
"Francine, can I see you in my office?" Billy's voice boomed across the bullpen.
Francine's head snapped toward his open door. "On my way, Billy."
"Scarecrow, you and Amanda should join her." Billy stepped back into his office, the door closing slowly behind him.
"That doesn't sound good. I wonder what got under his skin this morning," Lee pointed out as they slowly moved toward Billy's door.
Francine bit the corner of her lip. "I did turn in my expense report for last quarter. But it doesn't explain why he wants you two."
Amanda shrugged her shoulders with raised eyebrows before she twisted the knob and waited for Lee and Francine to step inside. "Hello, sir. Did you have a nice weekend with Jeannie? The other day she mentioned you were going to be taking a long ride through the mountains to view the foliage." Amanda flashed Billy a warm smile as she closed the door behind her.
Billy tipped his head slightly. "We had a lovely ride, Amanda. Jeannie even managed to find a small shop on our travels and it sold her favorite, hard-to-find tea."
"Sounds wonderful, sir. I'm sure spending time together, enjoying the beautiful weather we had, riding through the colorful mountain roads must have been so relaxing." Amanda sighed loudly and glanced around. Lee's face twisted in a confused expression whereas Francine just stared at her blankly.
"It was. But now it's over and we have something more important to discuss." Billy gestured toward the empty chairs across from him and stated, "Francine, you may want to sit for what I'm about to tell you."
"Tell me about what?" Francine questioned as she slowly lowered herself into the brown leather seat.
Billy straightened the papers on the desk in front of him before he cleared his throat. "I got a call from the local PD late last night."
"And?" Lee questioned as he folded his arms across his chest and sat on the edge of the desk.
"They were on scene for an apparent suicide," Billy continued, his voice softening as he spoke.
Lee held up his hand. "Billy, I don't understand. Why would the locals call you about a suicide? And what does this have to do with Francine?"
Billy inhaled deeply before he stated, "Francine's name was found in what appears to be a note written by the deceased." He lifted his eyes and studied Francine's face.
"Who's note? You're not making a lot of sense right now?" Francine rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly.
"The note was written by…" Billy's voice faded away momentarily. He cleared his throat hoarsely then finished, "Jonathan Stone."
"Jonathan? Sir?" Amanda gasped incredulously behind Francine.
"That's impossible! The last time I heard from Jonathan he was selling his townhouse and heading back to France and in no uncertain terms, he informed me he was never coming back," Francine disputed.
Billy pursed his lips tightly. "I'm sorry, Francine. They have a positive identification. It was Jonathan Stone."
Lee watched Francine as a myriad of emotions flickered across her face. "I don't understand. So Stone decides to off himself and throws Francine's name in his parting words. Why'd they call you?"
Billy leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "They had to. Because of his relationship with both our Agency and the CIA, there's a standing order to notify both agencies upon his death."
Francine gasped sharply, drawing everyone's attention to her. From behind her, Amanda placed her hands on Francine's shoulders and gently rubbed up and down. Tears began to slide down Francine's cheeks as she fought to regain her composure. "What did it say?" she asked softly.
"They're sending a copy over. From what I know, he states Francine will know what to do with his estate." Billy leaned onto his forearms. "I'm sorry, Francine. I know this isn't going to be easy."
"Easy? This is hell," Francine stated as she angrily swiped at her tears.