September 24, 1989 (Sunday)
Lee Stetson was in middle of the woods in Nowheresville, Virginia watching a cabin. Waiting for an arms deal to go down. It had been two days of sitting in the woods by himself watching nothing happen. But the deal was supposed to go down this weekend. Once he got the pictures. The Agency would have the evidence they needed to finally bring the Bocelli group down for good. Why had he said yes to this assignment? Why had he refused having a partner for this one? The only partner he would have wanted for this would be his wife, but she was seven months pregnant. Amanda was not cleared for field duty right now. Which was fine with him. He did not want her anywhere near danger but he really missed her.
When Lee had said yes to doing this, he thought he needed some time alone. Some quiet. It was never quiet at the house. Between the renovations to the basement and the loft he was having built above the garage for Dotty. There were workers everywhere. The boys always had their friends hanging around. Their neighbor Buck just would randomly come over whenever he felt like it.
And now he didn't just have Amanda fussing over him all the time. He had her mother too. Always trying to feed him. Asking him inappropriate questions. He had been interrogated and tortured by Russians and terrorists and never broken. Dotty could break him in less than five minutes almost every time.
But right now, he missed the noise. Missed not having a moment to himself ever. He missed his family. He wanted to go home. He smiled to himself. For the first time in his life that he could remember, he had a home he actually wanted to go back to.
This deal better go down today. If he got home tonight it would just be Amanda and him. It was Joe's weekend with the boys. His mother-in-law and her boyfriend Captain Curt were in the Poconos. They would have the house all to themselves and Amanda liked it when he smelled like campfire and the woods. He smiled to himself as he remembered the last welcome home she gave him when he had taken the boys camping for a weekend over the summer. God he couldn't wait for his wife to welcome him home again. A noise brought him out of his thoughts, and he grabbed a pair of binoculars and put them up to his face.
There was some activity at the cabin. A couple of cars pulled up. Lee went over and grabbed his camera from his backpack. Finally, something was happening. But then he heard the sound of a helicopter. There was a clearing a little bit away from where he had setup camp. The helicopter touched down. The cars that had just pulled up to the cabin started immediately pulling away.
The men he had been watching also cleared out. They were abandoning the place because of the helicopter. What was going on? Lee pulled out his gun and went and hid behind a big tree. Just then Francine walked into his little campsite. "Lee it's me. Are you here?"
He came out from behind the tree and holstered his gun. "What the hell Francine? They just scattered! You just blew three months of work! The deal was about to go down! I just spent two days alone in the woods for nothing!" Francine looked at him. "You aren't going to care about any of that in a minute." Lee looked at her. "This had better be damn good."
Francine nodded. "Just come with me to the chopper. I will explain everything," He grabbed his backpack and followed her. "What about my campsite?" She looked at him. "We will send someone to pack it up for you later. Just come with me. Ok? We don't have a lot of time." He followed her and they got in the helicopter.
"So where are we heading? Why am I not going to care that you just blew 3 months of work? That I just wasted two days in the woods away from my family? Who knows where the Bocelli group is going to be hiding out next?"
Francine looked at him. "Lee, we received a distress call in the middle of the night last night from Camp Raccoon. We think it was from Phillip King. The signal wasn't great, but it sounded like a teenage boy. He said "8388 Eagle one there's a bird in the nest. Camp Raccoon. We need help. There is going to be a baby eagle in a little bit and there are some vultures circling us. Please come quickly." State Troopers found Amanda's Wagoneer totaled in a ditch off Route 645. Billy is sending agents to Camp Raccoon right now. He sent me to go retrieve you. Still care about the Bocelli Group?"
Amanda must be hurt. If Phillip called and not her. What if she lost the baby? Lee felt nauseous. He grabbed the sickness bag in the helicopter and vomited into it. Francine put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey Lee, it's going to be alright. I'm sure they are ok." "Francine, I can't lose them. Not now. I just can't" Francine squeezed his shoulder, "Hey we don't really know what is going on yet? Ok? Amanda might be fine."
Lee looked at her. "If she were fine, she would have been the one that called for help not Phillip. He asked for nest. She must be hurt. She is only 7 months along. If she is in labor. It is too early for the baby to be born. He or she needs a couple more months. I know that I was terrified of this baby, but I want this baby. More than anything."
Francine put her hand on his shoulder. "Lee it's going to be alright. Amanda's strong and she's smart. We will get them out of there."
Notes:
Spoiler alert. Matty aka Alex is going to be fine.
This story is only going to be 3-4 chapters.