Chapter Six

October 30. 1991

5:00 PM

Most of the chicken soup ended up having to go into a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Amanda didn’t have much of an appetite and neither did Jamie. Jenna had managed to eat three mouthfuls before she’d pushed it away, declaring that she wasn’t hungry and she wanted her Daddy. Now Amanda sat on a stool at the kitchen counter, dialing the number that was on the prescription bottle. So far it was her only lead.

“Plastic Surgery Associates of Alexandria,” a bored-sounding girl on the other end of the line said. “This is Caitlin-how may I direct your call?”

“Is Dr. Worrell there?” Amanda asked.

There was a long pause. “Who is this?” Caitlin asked.

“This is Amanda Stetson,” Amanda said. “I’m the wife of one of his patients-Lee Stetson? My husband needs another prescription. Can I talk to the doctor, please?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.” Caitlin said.

“Why?” Phone in hand, Amanda walked into the family room. Jenna was sitting on the sofa with her thumb in her mouth, holding her favorite blanket and watching a Sesame Street video. Amanda put an arm around her and Jenna curled up against her side. “Has something happened to Dr. Worrell?” Amanda said.

“You could say that,” Caitlin said. “He was murdered yesterday.”

“Oh my gosh,” Amanda said. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that. He seemed like such a sweet man.”

“Yeah, he really was,” Caitlin said, her voice suddenly tearful sounding. “He certainly didn’t deserve to be shot, you know? Listen-there’s going to be a memorial service this Friday. You can come if you want. ”

Shot, Amanda thought. It had to be connected to whatever had happened to Lee-it was too much of a coincidence otherwise. “I would love to do that,” Amanda said, “but in the meantime I still have this prescription for my husband that needs to be changed. Can someone else help me?”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Caitlin said. “Dr. Worrell only had one patient, just like I told the police. And his name wasn’t Lee Stetson.”

“Only one patient?” Amanda said. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Caitlin said hotly. “Dr. Worrell was real secretive about him too-I wasn’t allowed to see the records before the surgery and I only ever knew his first name. He was so good-looking, you know, for an old guy. He had like the most amazing hazel eyes, you know? I don’t know why he needed plastic surgery, unless he'd been really ugly or deformed before.”

And I thought I could babble, Amanda mused. This girl could give me a run for my money. “See that sounds just like my husband,” she said to Caitlin. “Are you sure his first name wasn’t Lee?”

“No, not Lee,” Caitlin said. “It was Ren. I remembered that because it was like a really unusual name.”

Amanda hung up, placing the cordless beside her on the sofa. “Ren Jepard,” she whispered. It had to be him-the man who’d tried to kill her five years ago over a situation that had erupted when she’d received his check by mistake. The thought that Ren Jepard-that he’d been in this house, so close to Jamie and Jenna, made her shiver. The question was, why was he here? This was an awful lot of trouble to go through for just revenge. Amanda rubbed the center of her forehead with her hand. If she wasn’t so tired and worried she’d be able to think more clearly. Her mind went back to what Lee-Ren-had said to her this morning. The costumes for the masquerade ball- Of course. Ren Jepard must be the assassin that Lee had been talking about. Dimitri Patrov would hand over the microdot to the man paid to destroy both it and him, and no one would be any wiser. And Lee, her Lee. Was he even still alive?

“Don’t think like that, Amanda,” she murmured. She had to believe that Lee was still alive, and she had to concentrate on finding and rescuing him. There wasn’t much time. Amanda looked down at Jenna, who had fallen asleep and was curled up like a little cat. She reached out one finger, smoothing her daughter’s cheek. Somehow Jenna had known all along.

“Don’t you worry, munchkin,” Amanda told her. “I’ll bring your Daddy home.” Picking up the phone again, she dialed the Agency’s number.

October 30, 1991

5:20 PM

Lee slowly opened his eyes and gave a soft groan. His head felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on it. He’d lost track of how many times he’d come to, only to have yet another needle jammed into his arm. Lee wondered how long he’d been here-and how long Ren had been out there, taking his place with his associates, with his family. With Amanda-the thought of that man touching Amanda, his Amanda, sent him into a blind panic He had to get out of here, and soon.

His vision was clearing now, and Lee could see that he was in some sort of warehouse. Daylight shown down through windows high above, illuminating the stacks of crates that were piled upon each other. The crates would work. Lee moved his body back and forth as he scooted backwards, being careful not to fall over. Now that he was closer to the crates he could see that one of them had a protruding nail. Lee moved further backwards, angling his chair so that his bound wrists touched the nail, and he moved his wrists back and forth. The nail sawed into the thick rope. He had to hurry-something told him that there wasn’t much time.

TBC