Lee pulled the `vette into a parking spot, his usual, an end spot,
so there was only one side that could possibly get a door ding.
Leaning to his partner and secret wife he stole a kiss. "I'd better
kiss you now while I have a chance."
"I know. It's hard to pretend that we're just partners and friends
when we've actually been married almost one whole year." Amanda ran
her hand up and down his thigh.
"If you keep doing that, there's no way I can pretend to be just
your friend."
"Sorry, sweetheart." She pulled her hand back and played with her
necklace.
"Okay, here's the plan. We mingle, dance with some people and keep
up this friendship façade, but I'm not leaving until I get at least
one dance with my wife."
"Sounds good to me." Amanda unbuckled and waited for Lee to come
around and open her door.
Stepping into the ballroom at the Agency Valentines party they
surveyed the room. It looked like everyone was there.
"Here goes nothing." Lee dropped his hand from Amanda's back as
they were approached by . . .
A man dressed as cupid. He stood back and aimed an arrow at each of them. Lee pushed in front of Amanda to deflect the strike. Cupid laughed as he shot an arrow straight toward Lee’s heart.
Lee put his hand over his chest after the arrow bounced off him. He leaned over and picked it up. It was rubber.
“What the hell.” He bent the arrow.
“You’ve been shot by cupid and will find your true love tonight.” Cupid replied. “And the lady standing behind you will also find her love here.” He handed Amanda a long stem red rose and turned to the next couple entering the room.
“Little does he know my true love is standing behind me.” Lee whispered over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Amanda standing next to Emily deep in conversation. Who had he just whispered that his true love was standing behind him?
Slowly with an uneasy feeling he turned around. Standing behind him was . . .
Leatherneck. Lee froze and stared blankly at him.
"Don't worry Stetson. You're not my type anyway, but if my luck doesn't change tonight maybe I'll look for you later." He chuckled, patting Lee on the back before walking over to the bar.
Releasing a slightly irritated sigh, "now where did she go?"
Scanning the room, he spotted Amanda sipping punch while talking to Jeannie Melrose. He took a moment to admire her from the distance. She was beautiful and elegant in her long red evening dress that hugged her slender body in all the right places. The thin straps revealed the delicate skin of her shoulders, while her hair piled high on top of her head exposed her sexy neck. 'Absolutely breathtaking.'
Grabbing a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter Lee made his way over to his wife. He was almost to her when a voluptuous redhead stepped in front him.
"Well hello Lee. My, don't we look incredibly yummy this evening." She trailed her well-manicured nail down over the buttons of his tuxedo shirt.
"Kimber Davis, he said as another sigh escaped his mouth for the second time this evening, I'm sorry, I was just about to speak to Amanda and."
"Forget about her, Lee. It's not like you are going to get anywhere with her tonight. Dance with me." Draping her arms over his shoulders, she caressed his neck with her hands.
As he attempted to remove this unwanted predator from his body, his eye caught Amanda's. Giving her a silent plea for help, he watched her excuse herself and quietly snuck up behind Kimber.
"Excuse me." She tried to step in front of Kimber but it was no use. Kimber was pressing her body up against Lee and nothing short of a nuclear bomb would move her away.
"Sorry Amanda, work's over. Lee and I were just about to dance." Kimber took Lee's hand in hers and pulled him towards the dance floor.
Now what was he going to do? He couldn't very well refuse to dance with Kimber. What would he tell her? After all, the old Lee would never refuse a lady. He was resigned to his fate, but only for one dance. Then he would find his wife and stick to her like glue.
This was going to be the longest dance of his life. No matter how hard he tried to keep Kimber at arms length, she edged closer and wrapped herself around him.
"What's the matter, Lee?" She purred in his ear, snaking out her tongue to caress his lobe. "You seem tense."
He jumped at the contact. "I . . .I have a lot on my mind." He scanned the crowd, searching for his lifeline.
"I can help you forget." Kimber ran her hand down his shoulder, over his chest, across his hip and stopped on his fly. "Boy, you really are distracted. I usually get a better response than this." She gave him a gentle squeeze.
He grabbed her hand. "Stop. I'm sorry. I'm not interested in what you're offering." He turned and left her on the dance floor. Not caring that it was very rude.
He stomped over to the bar, ordered two fingers of scotch and with
drink in hand went to find his wife.
He was just about to meet her when . . .
He saw Leatherneck stroll up to her and from what he could tell that his so-called friend had just asked his wife to dance. To think he used to like the guy. He better keep his hands to himself or Leatherneck would be in for a rude awakening. Lee watched as Amanda took Leatherneck’s arm and walked out on to the dance floor with him.
In vain he tried to keep his sight on the couple but soon lost them in the crowd of dancers. This evening was not turning out like they’d planned. One dance with his wife and they could go home to celebrate in proper fashion.
Downing his drink in one gulp he plopped the empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray. His mission was to find Amanda and he circled the dancers looking for her brunette head.
At last he found them. Amanda caught his eye and he began walking towards them to interrupt their dance. As he neared his wife she licked her lips and blew him a kiss stopping him dead in his tracks. Shaking his head to clear it of thoughts best left until later, he went to claim his wife.
Just as he was about to tap Leatherneck on the shoulder and ask if he could cut in, another man beat him to the punch. Amanda’s eyes grew huge at the man who held his arm out to her to dance . . .
Dr. Smyth!
He forcefully placed himself between Lee and Amanda, separating the
two, and whirled her away on the dance floor.
Amanda was not only surprised with whom she was dancing with but also
the abrupt yet accurate dancing he was doing. They were only
connected by Dr. Smyth's hand barley touching Amanda's waist, and
her arm placed on his shoulder with their two other hands together in
a traditional ballroom stance.
Dr. Smyth could not help but notice the shock on Amanda's face. "My
dear, Amanda. Did you not think I could dance so well?"
Amanda remained quiet as if a cat had gotten her tongue. Dr. Smyth
shook his head with his usual smirk on his face. With Amanda where
he wanted her. "Do you know why I stole you away from your next
dance partner?"
Amanda shook her head, no. "You see my dear. I have been noticing
something and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It seems as if you
and Scarecrow have been spending quite a bit of time together
lately. Both on and off the job."
Swirling around with Dr. Smyth, Amanda desperately looked for Lee,
her love. If anyone could get her out of this situation, he could.
Luckily for Amanda the song that was playing was nearing it's end
when another arm reached to dance with her. She smiled at the man
who saved her from the evil doctor, even if it wasn't her darling
husband.
Thank you, she said earnestly to her current dance partner. He
inclined his head and replied that it was no trouble at all. In his
own words, he always liked to rain on Smyth's parade. Besides he had
been meaning to speak with her all evening. Originally he had
planned to pull her aside to discuss the situation but since Smyth
had cornered her on the dance floor, he thought he'd kill two birds
with one stone, rescue her and have their little chat.
The music had ended and her former dance partner sauntered away.
Amanda was left standing in the middle of the dance floor still
stunned at the audacity of that man. She couldn't believe he was
trying to blackmail her. So he thought he could break her career at
the agency, did he. He just better be glad Lee hadn't heard what he
had said to her or Lee would've broken him, bone by slimy bone. She
couldn't believe what a wolf in sheep's clothing he'd turned out to
be. She'd thought he was a friend until then. No matter what anyone
said about him, she'd defended him, saying he just had his own style
of doing things, but not anymore.
Lee, she needed to find Lee. No she wouldn't tell him about Fred
Fielder's indecent proposal She still couldn't believe he had said
that to her. So what if he had followed her and Lee, did he really
think she would sleep with him, just so he wouldn't go to Dr. Smyth
with his so called incriminating evidence? What kind of woman did he
think she was? Lee, she had to find him. Where was he? She just
needed him to hold her for a minute or two. Together they would figure
out how to deal with that skunk, Fielder. She just had to find Lee
first, that and figure out a way to tell him there was a problem
with Fred without telling him what he did. She didn't really relish
spending the next ten to twenty years of her marriage visiting Lee in
the Federal pen for murdering their coworker.
Where was her husband? He was usually not far from her side, not for
this long. She had just spotted him when he was pulled out onto the
balcony. Amanda followed him. She had just about to push the balcony
doors open when she heard the sound of a zipper and moaning . . .
"Lee, please!"
Amanda stepped closer to the door to try and figure out who the
blond was that had pulled Lee onto the balcony.
A grunt from her husband was followed by a repeat of the moan she
had first heard as she reached the threshold.
Amanda took a deep breath. She trusted Lee. He was not fornicating
with some floozy on the balcony. No matter what it sounded like.
"Ow! That hurts. Not so hard." The female voice was
familiar. "Please just get it off of me!"
"It's stuck." Amanda heard her husband heave a deep
sigh. "Sometimes Francine you get into the strangest situations."
Amanda smiled as she slid open the balcony door. "Anything I can do
to help?"
She folded her arms in front of her and tapped her foot on the
ground.
"Amanda!" Francine turned, clutching her dress so that it wouldn't
fall to the ground. "This isn't what it looks like. I swear."
Lee winked at his wife then put an arm around Francine. "What do
you mean, Francine? It's exactly what it looks like . . . Isn't it?"
Francine nearly dropped her dress and her jaw as she turned to face
Lee and push his arm from around her. "Are you crazy?"
"I see how it is, Lee. I turn you down and you go running for the
next person in a skirt. You cad!" Amanda hurried over to Francine
and pulled her away from him. "Don't worry Francine. This sexual
harassment has to stop. And now that I witnessed him trying to take
advantage of you, there's proof. It's no longer just one woman's
word against his."
"No, Amanda, that's not it." Francine's eyes were as big as
saucers. "He wasn't--"
"Francine, you don't need to protect him."
"But--"
Lee strode over and puffed out his chest. "You'll never rat me
out." His eyes narrowed as he leaned toward the ladies. "You
wouldn't dare."
That was it; Amanda couldn't keep it up any longer as a giggle
slipped from her lips. Soon Lee was laughing as well. Francine
just stood there with a deer in the headlights look.
She started to put her hands on her hips until her dress started to
slip down.
"Amanda," Lee could barely contain his laughter. "Could you help
Francine, there's something wrong with her zipper and I can't get it
fixed."
"Sorry, Francine. I couldn't resist. Please forgive me."
"I shouldn't but I'm desperate. I'll forgive you if you can fix
this stupid zipper." Francine turned her back toward Amanda and she
saw what the problem was.
"No problem, Francine." She pulled the zipper the rest of the way
down.
"Hey!" Francine tried to push her way "What are you doing?"
"If you let me unzip it the rest of the way, I can get it back on
track. Trust me. I might take the chance to tease you, but I'd
never do anything to truly embarrass you."
"Darn straight you wouldn't. I know where you live, and I keep a
mean grudge."
Amanda had just gotten the zipper up when the doors burst open with
a bunch of drunken agents.
"There he is." They stumbled toward Lee then propelled him back
into the ballroom. "You gotta tell these guys about that time in
Mexico City, you know, the story with that senorita with the huge
maracas"
Amanda watched him unwillingly leave; she still didn't have a chance
to speak with him. Would they ever have a chance to dance?
She stared at the backs of the departing men. Before she lost sight of them in the crowd, Lee turned his head and winked at her mouthing, I’m sorry. Letting out a long breath she jumped at touch of a hand on her shoulder.
“Maybe we can rescue him,” Francine said giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“Even after all the teasing we just gave you?” Amanda turned to face the blonde agent.
“Yeah, you did fix my zipper.” She straightened the strap of her dress. “And I know you two are still seeing each other.”
“But . . .”
Francine held up her hand. “No buts. I’ve known for a long time and now is the perfect time to tell you that I’ve seen a change in Lee. He’s not the man I used to know. He’s a better agent, he doesn’t take the risks that he used to, he’s a better person, and he’s a better friend. That’s because you’re in his life. Your secret is safe with me. I promise.” She crossed her heart with her hand.
Amanda smiled and knew Francine would keep her word. She may like to act like she didn’t care about anyone or anything but she’d lay her life down for a friend. She wondered what she’d do if she knew the real secret. That they’d been married for almost a year. She bit her lower lip with Fielder’s indecent proposal and Smyth acting strange it would be only a matter of time before all secrets came out. Maybe she should tell Francine everything. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted when several people came out on the balcony to get some fresh air. First they needed to save Lee from his drunken buddies, the rest would come with time. “What should we do?”
Francine led her back into the ballroom. “Do you seem them anywhere?” She said stretching her neck to gaze around the room.
Amanda did the same. No sight of the men in question. “If they’re drunk they’d probably go back to the bar.”
“Not necessarily, there are waiters passing out drinks. Why don’t we split up? You go right, I’ll go left and we’ll signal each other if we find them.”
“What kind of signal?”
Francine plucked two napkins off a passing waiters tray. “Wave this in the air.” She handed her one.
“How will we rescue him?”
“Once we locate him. We’ll both casually pass by them. I’ll pretend to trip into them and you grab Lee and take him to the dance floor, hiding among the dancers.”
“What about you?” Amanda asked not wanting to leave her with the drunken agents.
Francine waved her arm. “No problem, I’ll have them buy me drinks then disappear to the ladies room. Trust me, I’ve gotten rid of bad dates this way more then once.”
The duo split up and Amanda searched for her husband. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a white napkin waving in the air. She made her way towards Francine and saw Lee and the others standing at the bar. Francine began to sexily walk past the men when Amanda heard a voice she near expected in a million years to hear at this party.
Oh my gosh! What was she doing here . . .?
Amanda couldn't believe her eyes. How could she be here? She must
have escaped. But why would she come to a party full of Agents?
There could only be one reason, Mrs. King reasoned, to finish the
job she started 5 years ago, kill Lee. There was no way Amanda was
going to let her snuff out the life of her spouse. She had to make
sure he was safe, and then they would take the suspect into custody.
Not wanting to alert the duplicitous infiltrator that she had been
spotted, Amanda stealthily made her way over to where her husband was
standing. Francine had managed to divert the attention of their
drunken coworkers from Lee and when he saw his wife he grabbed her
hand and started rushing her as far away from the guys as possible.
Digging in her heels to get Lee attention, she was finally able to
get her partner to stop long enough to tell him who was at the party.
"What? It can't be. Are you sure?" he asked.
"Of course I am. I'll never forget Mrs. Pilgrim's Peach Puff as long
as I live. To think how close she came to killing you," Amanda said,
reaching out to hug him regardless of who saw her because at the
moment, she needed the reassurance that he was there more than she
was worried about their secret getting out.
"Shh, we have survived much worse than Mrs. Welch. Besides, if she
hadn't been committing treason, we'd never met. And that is worse
than any fate, I could ever face," her loving husband whispered so
only she could hear.
"You're right, so what's the plan?" she questioned.
First we find Billy and Francine and Brief them on the situation
without making it obvious. I really don't want to go off half cocked
on this one because even though we have a room full of agents, I
would guess most of them are unarmed like we are not dreaming there
would be a need to at a function like this. Don't worry if she gets
out of line, I am sure we will be okay, after all you know how
to 'HIT' now, her spouse teased her referring to the time early on
in their working relationship where she advised him and their
superior Billy Melrose that she needed to learn to defend herself.
The reference brought a smile of reminiscence to her face and she
retorted, "I've come a long way since then buster"
"You certainly have partner. What do you say we go show that traitor
just how much you have learned?
It didn't take long to locate Billy and Francine and brief them on
the situation. Francine was especially eager to nab the nefarious
lady since she had used her as a pawn, embarrassed Francine and
endangering her career.
A plan was formulated and using Scarecrow as bait they carefully set
the wheel in motion.
It was obvious from the way Mrs. Welch was scanning the room she was
looking for someone. She waited till Lee's attention was "diverted",
while he talked to Ned from engraving. When she got behind Lee she
raised her hand and...
Before she could utter one word, Amanda and Billy each grabbed one
of her arms.
"What is the meaning of this," she said in a formal, accented voice.
Dr. Smyth chose that moment to arrive on the scene.
"Unhand my date, this very second. You two better have a darn good
explanation for this or you will be investigating UFO's in Two Egg
Florida until you retire.
"Your date?" The four agents asked in surprise?
"Did you suddenly develop a hearing loss when you lost your manners?"
"I don't know what is going on but let me go this second. I have not
done anything to you people. All I was going to do was ask this nice
young man, if he had seen my cousin Emily since you were taking so
long on that conference call Austin. I recognized his face from the
photos she keeps at her house and knew they were friends. Emily
always gushes about how nice you are but obviously you have her
fooled.
Now Lee, Amanda, Billy and Francine were confused. Could they have
possibly have made a mistake and harassed an innocent woman who
just looked like Mrs. Welch?
"Gretchen are you okay?" Smyth asked her as Billy and Amanda
released her but didn't move away still on guard for a trick.
"I am fine Austin, I just want to know why I was attacked."
"Yes I am still waiting for an explanation also." Smyth stated
impatiently.
Billy decided to take charge of the situation. He had everyone move
to a place where they could talk this out in private. Then he sent
Beaman whom they passed on the way to find Emily.
When they were out of earshot of everyone else, Billy asked the
suspect to state her name. She did, responding Gretchen Welch. "So
you are indeed the same Mrs. Welch involved with the Colonial
Cooking Show?" Melrose asked?
This time Gretchen looked to Smyth before she answered in the
affirmative.
All of a sudden Smyth understood what was going on. "Oh is that what
this is all about?"
"What do you mean is that what this is all about" Amanda
interjected. She tried to kill Lee and that is all you have to say?
"Not only did she try to kill me, she did kill a lot of other good
agents."
"Don't be silly Stetson, she never tried to kill anyone. That was
all a cover, so we could take down the real masterminds. Gretchen
here is an Agent for MI6.
"Say what?" Billy shouted.
With perfect timing, Emily arrived to the cloakroom where they were
discussing the current predicament. "Yes, Gretchen Welch is my
cousin, I only found out about her connection with MI6 a few months
ago when my supervisor informed me that Gretchen would need to know
any information that I had about the Agency for her next assignment."
Smyth puffed out his chest and took Mrs. Welch by the arm. "As you
can see, you, Scarecrow, and your housewife partner have made a mess
of things. Next time, get your facts straight before you go off half
cocked." They turned and reentered the party.
"Yeah," Lee muttered. "Straight from the horses backside."
"Emily, we're so sorry that we offended your cousin." Amanda placed
an arm around her friend.
"Oh, my darling, Amanda. I could care less if you offended
Gretchen." Emily took Lee's arm and allowed him to escort her back
into the ballroom. "I've never really liked her myself. And
there's something about her obsession with Dr. Smyth that is just
not normal."
In the middle of the dance floor were the subjects of their current
discussion. Dr. Smyth and Mrs. Welch were burning up the dance
floor doing the Cha-Cha. Amanda wasn't sure if it was her
imagination or she was watching for something out of the ordinary
from Mrs. Welch, but it seemed like she was distracted during the
dance.
As soon as the music ended and they bowed for all the applause from
the brownnosing agents that were a tad overzealous in their praise
of the boss, Mrs. Welch excused herself from Smyth and walked toward
the bathroom. Amanda was about ready to turn her attention to her
husband's inquiry of a dance, when Mrs. Welch stopped, looked around
the room and dashed into the kitchen.
Maybe their suspicions of Mrs. Welch were valid after all.
Emily must've seen the same thing, she sent Lee too follow Dr. Smyth
then taking Amanda's arm, lead her to the kitchen.
Standing outside the kitchen they watched Mrs. Welch through the
small window on the door. Her voice carried as she argued with the
head chef about the Crème Brule. The chef stomped off in a huff to
the walk in refrigerator. Looking around the kitchen, and luckily
not noticing the two faces staring at her from the door, she
sprinkled something on one of the ramekins. Calling over a waiter,
she handed him the tray with the doctored desert and whispered
something to him.
Emily and Amanda ducked behind a column as Gretchen and the waiter
exited the kitchen.
"See the man with the cigarette holder? This Crème Brule nearest
your hand is for him, and only for him. Do you understand?" Amanda
caught a glimpse of a one hundred dollar bill slipped in the waiters
hand.
"No problem, lady." The waiter pocketed the money and worked his
way around the room and toward the intended victim while Gretchen
darted through the crowd and to Dr. Smyth's side.
Spotting Lee just in front of the waiter, she motioned for him to
detain the waiter. Luckily the waiter was greedy and easily bribed
to follow their instructions instead of Mrs. Welch's.
Quickly filling in Billy and Francine to their plan they placed
themselves near Dr. Smyth and the nefarious Mrs. Welch. After both
of them had eaten at least half of their deserts, the waiter
approached Mrs. Welch and informed her that he made a mistake and
the ramekin that she was eating from was the one that she wanted the
man with the cigarette to have.
Her face paled as the ramekin crashed to the floor. "You
imbecile!" She screamed at him. "That was filled with poison. You
poisoned me!"
"No, Mrs. Welch. You poisoned no one." Billy cuffed her and turned
to Dr. Smyth. "This woman, whom you trusted and brought into this
agency party, just tried to kill you."
With an agent on each side of her, she turned to Dr. Smyth. "It was
you I was after all along, I just couldn't get that blond to ever
give away your whereabouts."
She glared at Lee and Amanda. "I would've succeeded this time too,
if weren't for those pesky kids."
Lee was leading Amanda to the dance floor when Dr. Smyth stopped
them. "I have something to say to both of you . . ."
“I suggest what you say is thank you to them.” A voice came from behind Lee and Amanda.
Amanda turned around and stood face to face with the President. “Mr. President, Sir I . . .”
“No need to speak, Mrs. King.” He held up his hand. “I’ve just been briefed on the activities of the past hour and wanted to express my utmost gratitude to you and Scarecrow for a job well done, once again.”
Dr. Smyth took a drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke and looked directly at Amanda. “That’s exactly what I was going to tell them.”
Amanda held her breath. Would he say anything about noticing the amount of time they’d been spending together on and off the job to the President? She didn’t put it past him. Especially, after the way she’d one-upped him with discovering his date wanted to kill him.
“Come on Austin, I know you. You were going to give these two a hard time.”
“Well I have noticed that both Scarecrow and Mrs. King have become quite,” Austin smirked at Amanda before continuing. “Intimate of late, spending an inappropriate amount of time with each other outside of the Agency. I’ve been meaning to bring it up to them. That it needed to cease.”
Amanda grabbed Lee’s hand as she felt it leave her waist. If she didn’t stop him he’d deck Smyth right here in front of the President. “Don’t,” she whispered to her husband.
“Now, when the hell has that ever been a problem?” The President replied. “Partners become friends and sometimes they even fall in love. If these two wanted to get married,” he gestured towards Lee and Amanda, “I’d tell them congratulations and that they’d just strengthened their partnership one hundred fold.”
Amanda felt Lee squeeze her hand. If the president didn’t care about their relationship why should anyone else?
“With all do respect, sir, we do have the rule at the Agency that partners cannot be married to each other.”
“Barbaric rule and one that will be changed, right Austin?”
Amanda stared at Dr. Smyth and saw his jaw clench.
“It’ll be changed by Monday. I’ve been meaning to do it for sometime now.”
“Austin, if I hadn’t brought the subject up you never would have done it. Meet me in my office tomorrow, I want to go over some other changes I have in mind also.”
“Yes, sir.” He replied and stalked off in a puff a smoke.
“Mrs. King, would you give me the pleasure of this dance?” The President bowed to Amanda. “And if you don’t mind Lee.”
“Of course, not,” Lee said bowing.
“Yes,” Amanda said taking his arm and looking back at her husband.
They began to sway to the music. “Smyth may not appreciate your talents, Mrs. King, but I do. I know a good team when I see one.”
“Please call me Amanda.”
“Thank you, Amanda,” he said guiding her around the dance floor.
They danced in solitude for several moments. Amanda worried that Smyth would outsmart them by adding a grandfather clause to the no fraternization rule. She bit her lip and decided to confide in the President, at least as much as she could without giving herself or Lee away.
“You don’t think Dr. Smyth would put a clause into the rule book saying that if a relationship or marriage took place before the change that the partners would still be broken up?”
The President looked deep into her eyes. “Do you want me to make sure there isn’t one?”
Amanda let out a slow breath. “Yes, please.”
The President winked at her. “Done, if partners are married it’ll make no difference when the marriage took place,” he said and whirled her around the dance floor.
The music stopped and they parted. “I hope this means you and Scarecrow will be making an announcement soon.”
Before she had a chance to answer him, secret service agents surrounded him and led him out of the room.
Amanda scanned the area for Lee and finally spotted him dancing with Emily. She couldn’t wait to tell him what the President had told her, that they didn’t have to stay in the shadows anymore where their relationship was concerned. At last the future looked bright.
A tap on her shoulder stopped her progress to her husband. “Yes,” she sighed turning around catching Lee and Emily out of the corner of her eye disappearing into the crowd.
She let out another exasperated sigh at the interruption. Meeting up with her husband would have to wait just a little longer. At the rate they were going, they'd be lucky to leave together let alone share a dance.
"Mrs. King, may I have this dance?"
She couldn't gracefully refuse, so with a slight nod of her head she placed her hand in Beaman's as he led her to the dance floor.
She was stiff in his arms and knew she had to relax or he would be able to tell
she really didn't want to be dancing with him and that would be rude.
Pasting a smile on her face, she racked her brain for something to talk about. "You look very handsome in your tuxedo."
"You really think so?"
He sounded so uncertain that she quickly nodded her head in agreement, "I really think so. All men look handsome dressed in a tuxedo." But not as gorgeous as Lee does she thought.
"Um... Mrs. King... Amanda... may I ask you a question?"
Ut-oh here it comes, she was afraid he was going to ask about her relationship with Lee. Was he going to try and blackmail her too? There was only one way to find out. "Sure, what do you want to know?" She held her breath waiting for his answer.
"This is a little embarrassing, but I feel I can trust you to be discrete." He paused and she was getting nervous
"Go on." she prompted, anxious to get this over with.
"Well, I was wondering... you're friends with Francine... and maybe you could give me some advice..."
She watched him take a deep breath and was stunned when he blurted out that he loved Francine and wanted some idea how he could get her to go out with him. He was sure that if Francine just gave him a chance she would see they have a lot in common.
His face was beet red and she tried real hard not to laugh at him. Francine would chew him up and spit him out. But she had to give him credit for perseverance.
She smiled at him thoughtfully then right before the song ended gave him what he asked for. "Back off. You're embarrassing her with your...enthusiasm. Just take it slow. She may not want to admit it but she's been hurt before and she's afraid of getting hurt again. Start off by being her friend. Once she trusts you that much, then things may or may not move forward."
The song ended and Beaman left her standing in the middle of the dance floor. She shook her head as she watched him push through the crowd to get closer to Francine.
She had enough of her co-workers and all the drama they created. Fielder and his blackmail scheme was no longer a concern since the President assured her they wouldn't be split up at work. Now all she wanted was to dance with her husband. He promised her a dance. Then she was leaving and she didn't care if she had to drag Lee out the door.
That wouldn't be necessary. He would follow her blind through a blizzard at midnight and if she was ready to leave, Lee would leave. She had a few surprises in store for Lee and she was tired of waiting to let him have them
Scanning the room she spotted her true love over by the buffet. Quickening her pace she set out to grab him before anyone else did.
But she wasn’t quick enough. Just as she turned the corner of the buffet Harry Thornton stepped into her path. “Amanda, would you do the pleasure of having this dance with me?” He bowed gallantly.
So much for her best laid plans of leaving the party. Besides she couldn’t turn him down. They’d been through a lot together and she’d really come to care for him as a friend, almost as much as Lee did. “Where’s Christina? I thought you’d be dancing the night away with her.”
“She’s over there,” he replied pointing to her. “Asking Lee to dance. Shall we, my dear.” He held his arm out to her.
“I’d be honored.”
They glided around the dance floor for several minutes in solitude. “I wanted to tell you I talked to the President and Blue Leader earlier. Everything is set to change the code of conduct. You and Lee have nothing to worry about, you can come out into the open, soon.”
Amanda was at a loss for words. She stopped dancing and looked into the eyes of the older man. “I . . .”
“Don’t say anything, my dear. I just wanted to let you know you have a Cracker Jack team in your corner and Smyth will rue the day if he tries anything underhanded.”
“Thank you, Harry.”
“Shall we finish the dance?” He began twirling her around.
Before she realized it they’d danced towards Lee and Christina.
“Lee,” Harry said. “Would you be so kind as to look after the ladies? I have an introduction to make in a few moments.”
Lee glanced at his wife, a sparkle in his eye. “Do you trust me with them both?”
Harry laughed as he nodded his head and walked towards the podium set up at the end of the room.
Amanda wondered what could be so important that they had to stick around. She was finally by her husband’s side, they hadn't had a chance to dance, but she was more than ready to leave the party. The microphone screeched when Harry picked it up.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce Blue Leader.”
A round of applause filled the room. Amanda’s eyes became huge when she saw who walked towards the podium.
“Oh my gosh!”
There, standing at the podium was none other than Captain Kurt.
"Close your mouth, dear, you'll catch flies." Turning her head to
see who had just whispered in her ear, Amanda was even more amazed
to see her mother.
"What? Who? Why didn't? Huh?"
"Just pay attention dear." Dotty pointed to the stage.
"As you know," Kurt began. "Blue Leader has, up until now, been a
very closely guarded secret, even among those with the highest
security clearance. I have been Blue Leader for twenty years, and a
few years ago, Harry Thornton, the President and I started to do
some restructuring of the Agency."
Amanda glanced around the room, with the exception of Harry, the
President, Kurt and her mother; every other agent in the room was in
as much shock as she was.
"At that point, I stepped back, even more into the background. You
no longer heard me through your radios. I'm sure you all
appreciated that."
"Oh yeah," Lee whispered, he would come on in some of the most
inopportune times.
"Oh really? I don't think I've heard about those stories." She
nudged his ribs.
"Later, my dear. Much later."
"You mean never."
"Yep."
She turned her focus back on Kurt. "Our restructuring is now in
it's final stages. Don't worry. Usually when people talk about
restructuring it means that some will be without jobs. That is not
the case. In fact, we'll be hiring 100 new employees in the
Washington area alone, as well as opening three new offices in the
states and around the world."
Applause echoed the room.
"Your own Dr. Smyth will be heading one of those branches in the
Aleutian Islands as Director of Counter Intelligence."
Smyth dropped his champagne glass, his face ashen. "Alaska? You're
sending me to Alaska?"
Kurt looked at Smyth with a smile on his face. "Of course, so close
to Russia. The President and I thought you were the perfect choice
to head up that office and keep tabs on the Russians, up close and
personal."
"But who's going to run the DC office?" Smyth swayed back and forth
on his heels. Amanda was afraid the man might faint.
"I hate to ask him here in front of everyone else. But we, that is
the President and I would like to have our very own Scarecrow, move
out of the field and be the Director of Counter Intelligence in the
DC office."
Now Lee looked like the one who was about to faint.
Kurt continued to promote their friends and coworkers, including
herself. Amanda was now in charge of the Q Bureau, with twenty
agents answering to her, doing the fieldwork. Due to the
restructuring, field section now had co-section leaders, Francine
and Beaman. Fielder even got a promotion of sorts, he was moving to
Alaska with Dr. Smyth as his assistant.
"Saving the best for last, due to my upcoming nuptials, the new Blue
Leader will be Billy Melrose. I know that you will give him the
same respect that you have always given me."
Now Amanda thought she might faint, did he just say nuptials?
As if reading her mind, Kurt answered her question. "Yes, Amanda,
you did hear correctly." Dotty walked up onto the stage. "I'm
retiring and getting married, to the love of my life. Ms. Dotty
West."
After the applause died down she realized that now all eyes were on
her. Turning to Lee she saw him down on one knee before her.
"Amanda King you are the best, the bravest, the smartest, the most
beautiful woman I have ever known." He took her left hand in his.
"I love you."
"Then will you marry me?" He winked at her, the words from his
first proposal that had echoed through her heart were now being said
again.
"Will I marry you? Oh yeah I'll marry you. We're the luckiest two
people on the face of the earth."
Lee stood and took her in his arms. "I've been trying to dance with
you all night and I'm not leaving until I have a dance with my
fiancé. May I have this dance?"
"Of course you may." She leaned into his embrace only to be
bombarded by their friends trying to congratulate them.
They looked into each other's eyes and the rest of the people in the
room seemed to melt away.
They finally had their dance.
The End
Story Notes:
Authors: Lisa, Cheryl, Bubba, Sue, Ange, Alleycat, and Miranda
Setting: Weekend before Valentines Day, after series end.
Setting: Weekend before Valentines Day, after series end.