Phone Tag
They heard the car pull into the driveway as Oliver asked Lee where the bag with his notebook was. The question was quickly forgotten as they realized they needed a new plan, fast.
Amanda had been awakened by this nightmare more than once since Lee's disappearance. In the dream, she had Lee hidden in the attic, and some nameless, faceless enemy had tracked her to the house to find him. It usually turned out to be Thomas Blackthorne, the man who had killed Lee's parents, returning to finish the job. I know how this plays out. It'll work. It HAS to work. In her dreams, she'd almost always managed to save him if she'd been able to stay asleep long enough.
"Back inside! Quick!"
In the hall, Amanda's attention was drawn to her grandchildren's' phones on the credenza. They'd have to split up, and they'd need a way to keep in touch. She grabbed all three before leading the group back toward the kitchen.
Lee thought he understood and reached for one.
"No. You take mine. Whatever happens, you and Oliver have to get to D.C."
He didn't understand what difference it made which phone he took, but he recognized the Mrs. King look in Amanda's eyes. Francine understood the plan as soon as Amanda called one of the phones from the phone she'd been lent earlier. That phone went into her pocket. Francine had already taken the third phone and started the camera in video mode.
They'd done this before. It was crude, but an effective way to record their actions as well as preserve any evidence they might need later... and nobody doubted they'd need it. Lee caught up with the plan as the women slipped the two phones into the pouch of his sweatshirt.
"Whatever you do, don't stop recording, and don't drop the call. Now you fellas need to get upstairs to the attic. The ladder is in the guest room closet. We need you to play lookout, assuming they don't come in the house first."
She turned to Francine. "We need to get to my garden shed. It's the one behind the pool."
"That's not much of a hiding spot." Lee was skeptical... and concerned.
"We're not going there to hide. We're going for firepower." She handed Lee her Glock and her key ring and motioned for Francine to give him her pistol as well.
"You'll have to take the Subaru. The other cars have Viper security systems, and you won't know how to deactivate them. The Maplewood house is empty. The key is on my ring. Head there. We'll meet up with you as soon as we can. Wait for my sign, then call Andrew. Tell him we're headed for the Flame. He'll know what I mean."
Lee's brain took a second to catch up. "The arsenal?" So, she hadn't gotten rid of their considerable stockpile of weapons and other useful things. He remembered when she wouldn't willingly have a gun anywhere in the house with the boys. That long-ago Amanda would have never believed she'd keep so much weaponry so close to her grandchildren... or that she'd become so proficient with it.
"In the maplewood cabinet. Maplewood. Understand?"
He didn't understand. How the heck was he supposed to know what kind of wood something was made of? Hopefully he'd be able to figure it out if things played out that way.
"Now go on, get upstairs. I love you. Francine, you ready? Let's do this."
Lee's heart swelled with those three little words. Nothing like a life-or-death situation to make the Stetsons confess their true feelings. It's usually been me doing the confessing. And running the operation. What was that movie line? Something about the apprentice becoming the Master?
Oliver nudged Lee out of his reverie and led the way upstairs. Up until now, this had seemed like an interesting adventure to him. Now he definitely saw why Lee knew Amanda was worth living for. Beneath that warm and welcoming, if occasionally loquacious exterior was a quick, logical, decisive mind. Strangely enough, he didn't feel at all out of his element. In fact, for one of the few times in his life, he felt that he was among equals. Equals with a different skill set, but equals nonetheless.
"You know how to use this?" Lee asked, passing him Francine's gun.
And I... I'm one of the team. Lee understood a lot in the small smile that accompanied Oliver's nod.
The two women went out through the French doors in the livingroom and ran quickly to the shed. Once inside, Amanda deftly opened the combination lock on a large wooden cabinet. 4-2-4-7. She hoped Lee would understand the connection to "Maplewood" if for some reason he found himself in here. She opened the doors and grabbed two Kevlar vests, handing one to Francine.
They passed an awkward look between them, then undressed to put the vests under their tops. With no time to get fully dressed, Amanda had figured they could change on the way to D.C. Francine had her overnight bag, and Amanda had grabbed a few changes of clothing from her car ...including a bra. As often as they'd changed clothes together over the years, Amanda still felt tragically underendowed in the chest department around Francine, who in turn always felt a little bit ...fluffy... next to Amanda's trim figure. They each thought the other was beautiful. Lee would have happily told them they were both right... even in the ugly Kevlar vests.
"I need you to reactivate me."
"Reactivate you?"
"My agent status."
"I can't do that until we get back to the-"
"Section 447, subsection 3: An agent may be temporarily recruited or reactivated verbally in an emergency situation as long as there's a witness. I looked it up last night. We've got the fellas on the phone."
Did... did Amanda just out-Desmond me? "Okay... I, Dr. Francine Desmond, Northeast Regional Director of The Agency hereby officially reactivate Amanda Stetson to full Agent status. Lee, do you copy? Or Oliver?"
Oliver answered. "Roger. Regional Director Francine Desmond reactivated Agent Amanda Stetson."
"What? Then reactivate me too!"
"Can't do, Scarecrow. You're legally dead."
"What the- okay, they're out of the car. It's Minter. He has Oldfield with him. Both armed. Looks like standard Agency issue. Heading for the door." Lee ducked back, not wanting to risk being seen if either man looked up.
In the shed, Amanda had loaded a utility jacket with extra clips, smoke canisters, and a grenade. She'd considered one of the fully automatic rifles but chose 2 pistols instead. Francine followed suit, adding a knife and nunchakus to her inventory, thinking how satisfying it would be to crack that creep Oldfield upside the head with them. Amanda took a pair of binoculars and looked quickly toward the house. She could see the men in the hall, heading for the stairs. Damn! I forgot to bolt the door after Andrew left!
"Fellas, they're coming upstairs. I'm going to distract them. As soon as they're out of the house, get to the car and hit the road. I'll stall them as long as I can to give you the time. Don't disable their car on the way out. Francine might need it." Lee didn't like that she'd unflinchingly considered the possibility that Francine might need a way to get away on her own, or that she'd need Francine to do the driving. He didn't like it, but recognized she'd learned from his example. That was his Mrs. King.
Motioning Francine to stay in the shed and cover her, she handed her the phone and binoculars, then pushed the lawnmower into the yard. With a silent apology to her neighbors for doing this before 7 in the morning, she yanked the starter cord.
Nothing. She tried again.
Come on, don't get fussy on me now! The engine roared to life on the third pull.
As expected, the noise attracted the intruders.
Francine saw Minter signal Oldfield to stay inside and conveyed the warning to Lee and Oliver. They would have to get past him to get to the garage if he stayed in the house. Minter started advancing toward Amanda, playing it cool and friendly, as if he hadn't just let himself into her house uninvited. She turned the mower off. He'd have to be able to hear her without getting too close. "Mrs. Stetson! Amanda! Hi! I'm glad I caught you at home. How have you been?"
I'll bet you're glad I'm home, but you haven't caught me yet! "Oh, hello Sir! What a nice surprise! Was I expecting you?"
"Didn't you get my messages? I've been trying to reach you about the memorial for your husband. For Lee. I thought we'd start a new tradition this Memorial Day, to honor our fallen heroes." That should appeal to her patriotism... and sentiment. "And of course Lee was the first man I thought of. Can you come inside so we can talk about the ceremony?"
"That's a nice idea, Sir, but I really don't have time today. I've got to give the lawn a quick trim then head for the airport. They're very particular about keeping lawns mowed around here and I don't want to come home next week to a fine. Isn't that ridiculous? They fine you fifty dollars if your grass is more than three inches high. We already got fined once, and I don't know if the fine is higher for a second offence." She saw him losing patience with her ramble. "I wish I got your call. I could have saved you the trip. I'll be in Arlington all week visiting my mother."
"If you'd like, you can cancel your flight and ride back with me. It'll save you the airport hassle and we can talk on the way." Could it really be this easy? She supposedly used to be a great agent, not some idiot babbling on about suburban lawn care.
"Oh, no thank you, Sir. My boyfriend is picking me up in about an hour. Mother can't wait to meet him. You know, she was afraid I'd never be able to move on after Lee died, but you never really know, do you? Maybe I can stop in and talk while I'm in town. What days would work for you?"
He was slowly advancing around the pool toward her as she backed toward the shed. Time. Gotta buy the guys more time or get him to – there it is! She caught the subtle signal he used to call Oldfield to join the hunt. Okay, let's see if I can make him give his plans away.
"Let's see... Friday I've got brunch plans with some old friends from college. Wednesday mother has a shopping trip planned for us. Gosh I've missed shopping in D.C. There's so much more variety than up here. Um, Tuesday I, wait, no. How about Thursday?" Or will you be busy with Oldfield's hearing?
"Mrs. Stetson, I'm afraid you need to come with us. Now." Oldfield didn't bother dancing the dance.
She was even with the shed, about 10 meters from the woods. Minter had cleared the pool and closed the gap to about 5 meters, with Oldfield now right behind him.
"Well, if you're gonna insist. Let me just put this lawn mower away and lock up the shed."
She moved as if to open the shed door. Instead, she took one of the smoke canisters from her jacket pocket and tossed it toward Minter as she turned to run for the trees, throwing a second canister as soon as Francine left the shed. She hoped the smoke would prevent them from noticing Francine join her, but kept herself between them and her friend as best as she could until they were in the woods.
Minter, or more likely Oldfield had fired a few wild shots, but didn't get a lucky hit. The women heard Oldfield swearing, giving away their position as they tried to figure out which way Amanda went.
Due to the dense canopy, there was very little underbrush in this part of Chestnut Ridge Park. Amanda led Francine to the left, hoping the men would think she'd gone straight and end up ahead of them where the ground began to slope. High ground advantage was a trainee-level tactic, but she hoped overconfidence would cloud Minter's caution.
Back in the house, Lee saw Amanda throw the smoke canisters and heard the shots as the men followed her and Francine into the woods. He wasn't worried about Oldfield. He could outbark the best of them, but as far as Lee knew, he never did his own biting. Minter, however, was more quietly ruthless. And his marksmanship was befitting that of an Army sniper turned agent.
He gave Oliver Amanda's phone and her car keys. "I'm going after them. You take the Subaru and drive. Just pick a direction and go. Just go. Drive a mile or two, then call Andrew and tell him what's going on. If you don't hear the all clear within half an hour, head for Washington. If we can't stop them here, it's up to you to stop them there."
With that, he was down the stairs and on his way.