Chapter 34

Amanda, Francine, and Lee entered the bullpen. Francine still wore the same incredulous expression on her face and Amanda continued to glance in Lee's direction as they neared Billy's office.

"Francine, are you sure you're okay? That's an awful lot to take in," Amanda questioned for the fifth time since they'd left Jonathan's townhouse.

"I'm fine, Amanda. Honestly. It's just taking a little bit to soak in," Francine reassured her.

"What's going on?" Leatherneck's voice drifted in their direction. He rushed closer to Francine and added, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Francine lifted her hands as she tried to gently push everyone away from her. "I promise, I'm going to be fine. Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened, my foot. Francine, Stone left you everything. You're sitting on almost ten million dollars from his estate. How can you stand there and say that?" Lee demanded.

"Stone did what?" Leatherneck gasped. He noticed a few agents staring at the small group and took hold of Francine's hand. "Let's go talk about this in the conference room. Privately."

As he started to guide her toward the door, Billy's voice barked, "Scarecrow! In my office! The warden is on the line with news about Brody!"

"I'll be right there." Lee reached up and squeezed Francine's shoulder. "Listen, whatever you need, you let me know. A good lawyer, tax advisor, you name it."

"Thanks, Lee." Francine smiled in his direction as he turned and disappeared into Billy's office.

"Mrs. Stetson, there's a call for you on line six," another agent called out.

Amanda's head swiveled around as she moved to Francine's desk. "I'll meet you two in there as soon as I find out who this is." She lifted the receiver and immediately Dotty's voice filled her ear. "Amanda, I just have to tell you what happened today." Amanda inhaled sharply and whispered loudly, "Mother, I'm at work." She looked up apologetically, covered the mouthpiece, and said, "This might be a few minutes." She quickly turned her attention back to the phone. "Mother, I hope this isn't an emergency."

Leatherneck tugged Francine's hand. "Guess it's just you and me, kid." In the conference room, Leatherneck first lowered the blinds in the room and closed them. "We don't need any more peeping toms than we already have." He sat on the edge of the table, facing Francine. "Now, what is going on? The last I knew you and Scarecrow were over at the prison."

Francine took a deep breath. "We were. I guess this was one of those things where we had all the information right in front of us and now the warden's helping us out. Long story short, there's a guard who's part of Brody's network working the inside. With any luck we should have this case wrapped up in a day or two."

"That's good news. Now, what's all this about Stone leaving you everything?" Leatherneck tipped his head slightly and peered into Francine's eyes.

Francine reached into her purse and pulled out several envelopes. She handed him the envelope with Jonathan's letter without a word and waited for him to finish reading. He exhaled loudly and ran his hand through his hair before dragging it down the back of his neck.

"I don't know what I'm going to do yet," Francine admitted.

Leatherneck dropped the envelope on the table, took the remaining stack from her, and placed everything in a pile beside him. He took her hands in his and pulled them together before bringing her fingers to his lips. "Frannie, I need you to know… Stone wasn't the only one who felt that way… feels that way. I think about you morning, noon, and night. When you're not here, I miss you. And when we're together, all I can think about is you."

Francine leaned her forehead against his and whispered, "Me too. This whole thing with Jonathan's death made me realize that. And I'm sorry I've treated you… well… I haven't been very nice to you these last few days. You didn't deserve that. Sometimes I feel like you don't deserve me."

Leatherneck released her hands and cradled her head in his hands. He pressed his lips to hers as he assured her, "You're wrong."

Silently, the door swung inward and Amanda froze when she found them in their embrace. She quietly backed up, pulling the door closed with her. Unaware of Amanda's intrusion, Leatherneck and Francine separated slowly.

"So what does this mean for us now?" Francine studied Leatherneck's face, searching for any indication of what he was going to say next.

Leatherneck chuckled softly. "Well, it depends. You're a millionaire now, Frannie. Ten times over if I heard that right. What are you going to do now?"

Francine dropped her head back and stared at the ceiling. "I don't want it."

"What do you mean, you don't want it? You've spouted for years about how much you wanted to marry a rich prince or senator or whomever. Granted you're sort of stuck with me for right now, but still. You don't need them anymore. You're rolling it. It's all yours," Leatherneck joked although his voice sobered as he spoke and the reality of his words set in.

"There's a big difference between marrying a man with money and power or just having money. And I don't need any of that anymore. Is the money idea nice… sure. I'd be a fool if I said otherwise, but you've sort of taught me something else. And Amanda and Lee, if I'm being honest," Francine admitted with a small smile.

Leatherneck held her hands once more. "What's that?"

"Money only goes so far. But being with the one you care about is absolutely priceless. You can't put a dollar sign on that." Francine leaned close once more and pressed her lips against his cheek.

"So, I'm going to ask you again. What are you going to do now?" Leatherneck slipped his arms around her shoulders and held her close.

Francine slid her arms around his waist. She felt the heat from his body warming hers and an idea came to mind. "I know what I'm going to do. But I might need a little help getting it all set up. You in?"

Leatherneck laughed loudly in her ear, his chest rising and falling against hers. "Why not! I don't know what's going on in that beautiful mind of yours, Frannie, but I'm all in."