Chapter 16

Billy placed his coffee mug on the desk before him and pursed his lips tightly. "So you're saying you think Brody's network is involved in Stone's death?"

"That's what it looks like, sir. We found fingerprints belonging to at least one of the men who worked under Brody at Jonathan's home," Amanda explained.

"And they found Deja Vu 2 as well as temazepam in his system," Lee interjected.

France dropped her head and stared at the file in her hands, silent.

"And then there was that tail from yesterday. When Francine and I were headed over to talk to Brody," Lee added quickly.

Billy leaned forward onto his forearms. "You went to see Brody yesterday?"

Lee cringed as Billy's voice rose. "We didn't get that far. We noticed a tail and tried to –"

"I don't care what happened! You were told to have no contact with him without written authorization!" Billy rose to his feet slowly. "Or did you forget that?"

Lee scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I, ah, yeah. I forgot. I mean, Brody's behind bars. What can he do from there?"

Billy slammed his hand off his desk. "This is Brody we're talking about here. He's capable of almost anything." Billy noticed Francine's posture and his tone immediately softened. "Francine, how do you feel about Brody? Do you think Lee should have a talk with him?"

Francine lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "I think Brody is the only link we have right now to what happened with Jonathan. And even though he's not tops on my list of criminals I want to be hanging out with, he might be able to supply us with some answers."

"Fair enough. Amanda, your thoughts on all of this?" Billy tipped his head and blinked at Amanda.

Amanda inhaled softly before looking at Lee and Francine. "Sir, I know they didn't find any fingerprints at Francine's place after what happened there but they did find fingerprints at Jonathan's along with the syringe and the chair with the special seat–"

Billy's hand shot up. "What special seat? What chair?"

Amanda's eyes widened nervously at his outburst. "Um, sir," she stammered.

Billy quickly lowered his hand. "I'm sorry, Amanda. Please explain."

Amanda looked around the room once more and with a subtle nod, began, "We found a broken chair at Jonathan's that Francine said was very important to him. You see, it's called a Thonet Kohn cane chair, and it's very unique because it only has three legs."

Billy's chin lowered and his brows knit together as she spoke. "So why is this chair so important?"

"I'm getting to that. Francine told us Jonathan always had that very chair in the same spot across from his desk and when we got there, the chair was missing. We found it out by the trash and not only was one of the arms on it broken, but the seat wasn't right either. So Lee brought it back here and they found the seat was really a pressure-sensitive switch for some kind of recording device." Amanda's voice dropped lower as she explained.

Billy couldn't hide the smile which began to cross his face. "Did you find the recorder as well?"

"No, not yet. We were going to head back over to Stone's place and do a more thorough search," Lee offered. "And after that, I'd like to take a trip over to see Brody. With authorization this time."

"Fine. I'll sign off on your report when you get back from interviewing Brody. But, be very careful what you say to him. We don't need to tip him off about Stone's death or anything else for that matter," Billy warned.

The muscle in Lee's face twitched as he asked, "Then what do you expect us to ask him about? The weather?"

"Be creative. Feed his ego. You know Brody better than the rest of us. Figure something out," Billy snapped. "One more thing. Have you finished the background on Stone's business yet?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I was going to have Amanda work on that this afternoon while Francine and I saw Brody. We all know she's better on the computer than I am and can get it done in less time than it would take me." Lee grinned at his wife which she returned with a demure smile.

"Then it sounds like all three of you have a busy afternoon ahead." Billy opened a file folder on his desk but before he could say anything, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Enter!" Billy bellowed.

A young agent opened the door slowly, a small slip of paper in her hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt Mr. Melrose but I noticed Mrs. Stetson was in here and she just received a phone message from Dotty."

Lee took the slip of paper from the young agent, handed it to Amanda, and laughed. "I think we're going to have to give Dotty her own security level, sort of what Amanda had when she first started calling in." The young agent peered at him, confused. "Thank you for bringing this to us promptly."

"I'm sorry… you are?" The young woman stared at Lee.

"Stephanie, I don't know that you've been formally introduced. That gentleman is Lee Stetson, otherwise known as Scarecrow." Amanda smiled warmly.

The woman paused for a moment. "Wait… you're Mr. Stetson? As in Mrs. Stetson's husband?" she stammered.

"And the father of our twins. Yes, that Mr. Stetson," Amanda added.

The young woman blinked several times before she squeaked, "I'm sorry." She rushed out of the room, leaving everyone staring at the door.

After several long seconds, Lee laughed loudly. "Well, I guess I need to show my face around the bullpen a little more often."

"Or just make it to the morning staff meetings. By the way, when did you connect with Gourad last? Any updated intel from Djibouti?" Billy questioned.

"I got a fax from him a few days ago confirming the supplies we sent were received. They've done a good job keeping on top of the factions over there," Lee reported as Amanda read the handwritten message.

"Um, sir. May I borrow your phone to call Mother? It says she needs an answer pretty fast, so I hope everything is okay at home," Amanda asked with raised eyebrows.

Billy slid his chair to the side to give Amanda room as he said, "Of course."

Amanda stood, punched in their home number, and waited while the phone rang. "Mother! Is everything alright?"

Even though Lee was several feet away, he could still hear Dotty on the other end of the phone. "Well, yes and no. Lauren just called me and asked if I could go get Charlie at his daycare. One of the other children just came down with chicken pox and the provider wants to keep the rest of the babies safe. I just put the girls down for their afternoon naps, so would you be able to come home so I can go get him?"

Amanda smiled at Billy first, who nodded then over to Lee.

"I was going to make a suggestion about stopping by the house anyway so this works out. Amanda can still work in the office on those financials while Francine and I pay Brody a little visit." Lee bobbed his head as he spoke.

"That's not a problem at all, Mother. Is Charlie feeling alright?"

"He's just fine. I guess he's been playing in another room, away from this poor baby for the last few days, but Lauren has that big presentation this afternoon and couldn't leave. She might get a promotion already. Isn't that wonderful, Darling? I'll bet she's so happy she's moved closer to Harry and Christina too. You know, we should invite them all over for dinner one night next week. It's been a while," Dotty rambled.

"We can talk about it later, Mother. Lee and I will be home in about a half hour. We'll see you then." Amanda dropped the handset onto the receiver and added, "Thank you, sir. I know it's not really an emergency for us to leave but if I can work from home this afternoon, it helps everyone."

"It's not a problem, Amanda," Billy assured her.

Lee stood and said, "Amanda, since we took the 'Vette this morning and my car is not really nondescript, I'd like to take the Jeep. Francine can follow us to the house and we can swap cars from there. We've been followed once, maybe this time we can confuse them a little."

Billy nodded at the trio and stated, "Keep me posted. If Brody has anything to do with Jonathan Stone's death, I need to know."