Part Two

Monday, November 5, 2001

3:30 PM

"Well?" Lisa said impatiently.

Jenna feigned nonchalance, trying hard not to giggle at the expression
on Lisa's face. "Well what?" she said.

"The list," Lisa said. "Are we on it or not?"

Jenna pointed to the paper which had been taped to the tiles on the
wall. "List?" she said. "You mean this list here? The dance team list?"

"Jenna, I swear I'll smack you in a second if you don't tell me," Lisa
said.

Jenna smiled at her best friend. "Relax," she said. "We made it."
Lisa jumped up and down, squealing, and Jenna jumped up down with her.

"We're Kenmore Divas!" Lisa said. "I can't wait to tell my parents."

"Just let me get my books," Jenna said, walking down to her locker.
"You're walking home with me, right?"

Lisa nodded. "Right to the door."

"Hey ladies." Mr. Frere, the new History teacher, was holding his
briefcase in one hand and locking his classroom door with the other.
"You certainly seem to be in a good mood."

"We just made dance team, Mr. Frere" Lisa said.

"Congratulations, Divas." Mr. Frere said His blue eyes crinkled as he
smiled at them. "So I'll see your talent at the next school Pep Rally?"

"I guess," Jenna said with a small smile.

"Certainly looking forward to it," Mr. Frere said. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye Mr. Frere," Jenna called.

"Jenna wants to marry you, Mr. Frere," Lisa sang under her breath.

"Lisa, stop it!" Jenna could feel herself blushing.

"It's true, isn't it?" Lisa said.

"No, it's not true," Jenna said. "I like Mr. Frere, but I'm too young
to get married."

"Avoiding the question, eh?" Lisa said as they reached Jenna's
locker. Jenna smiled but didn't reply. "Just between us, I heard from
Christy that he's been sharing all of his lunches with Mrs. Roberts.
Maybe the history teacher and the dance teacher are in lurve, huh?"

"Lurve?" Jenna said. "Are you sure that's a word?"

"Sure," Lisa said. "My cousin lived in London for a month and she says
they use the word there all the time. Anyway, speaking of History, I
was reading that in other countries girls can get married when they're
twelve years old..."

Lisa stood behind Jenna, keeping up a constant stream of chatter as
Jenna did the combination and pulled out the books that she needed,
dumping them into her bag. There was an envelope in there today-it
hadn't been in there this morning. The only thing written on the
envelope was her full name, Jenna Leigh Stetson. She didn't recognize
the handwriting at all.

"Did you send me a card or something?" Jenna asked Lisa, waving the
envelope in front of her friend.

"No of course not," Lisa said. "It must be your secret admirer again.
How many gifts does that make now?"

"Three," Jenna said. Thursday it had been a really pretty card with
the words "I'll be seeing you" inscribed on the inside. Actually the
card had creeped Jenna out a little bit, but she'd pushed it to the
back of her mind. Friday it had been a huge store-bought bag of candy
corn, which was her most favorite candy. She kept those things in her
backpack-wanting to avoid any questions about where they came from.

"Think it's Paul?" Lisa said.

"I doubt it," Jenna said. "Terri says that he thinks I talk too much."
Personally Jenna didn't think that all the talking had been her fault.
It was Paul who'd asked her all of the questions; all she did was
answer them.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Terri Morgan's an idiot."

"Well whoever it is, they have my combination," Jenna said, a teasing
smile on her face as she looked at her friend. "And since I only gave
that to you and Christy and Christy's been out with the flu, is there
something you want to tell me?"

"Who me?" Lisa said. "I don't give out people's combinations without
permission. Listen, I think we might need to go shoe-shopping- Caitlin
Harris told me that the whole dance team wears black Reeboks and I
don't know about you, but I don't have black Reeboks-"

Lisa's voice faded away as Jenna stared down numbly at the photos in
her now shaking hands. There was a note-carefully she unfolded it and
the words filled Jenna with dread. She could hear her own heart
pounding-so loudly that it seemed to drown out all the other sounds.
Jenna stared up at the mirror on her locker door. A white face with
frightened dark brown eyes stared back at her-Jenna put her hand up to her
forehead, unconsciously tracing the thin line of the scar that was
hidden by her bangs.

The words from the note she'd just read were echoing in her head:

'Those who bring down a good man like Gary Johnston must pay. You and
your family will suffer for your transgressions. These pictures will
show you that I can get to you-and them-anytime and anywhere. '

My family, Jenna thought, clenching one hand and feeling her nails dig
painfully into her palm. The thought of something happening to them
was almost worse than the thought of something happening to her. She
looked down again at the letter.

"Anytime and anywhere," she repeated the words under her breath. A
chill went through her as she remembered the words of Gary Johnston.

This isn't over.

"Jenna?" Lisa asked. Her voice sounded far away. "Are you okay?"

Jenna tried to answer Lisa, but for some reason her mouth didn't seem
to work properly. Bile rose up in her throat and for a minute the room
seemed to sway back and forth. There was a loud thumping noise.

"Jenna!" Lisa was shouting her name and suddenly Jenna realized that
she was on her knees, her books lying in a heap beside her. Other
students had stopped to stare.

"Everything' s okay," Lisa told them. "Just go." Once they'd moved on,
she turned to Jenna, speaking in a lower voice. "What happened? Did
you get dizzy or something?"

"Nothing," Jenna said. "I'm fine."

"Must have been some note to get that kind of reaction. What did it say?"

"It was just stupid, don't worry about it." Jenna quickly stuffed the
pictures and everything back in the envelope, putting it in her bag so
Lisa couldn't see. Her friend was still staring at her.

"We should tell your dad," Lisa said. "It could have something to do
with your head injury."

"We're not going to tell my dad! I said I'm fine. Can we
go now?" She saw the hurt expression on Lisa's face and continued in
a softer tone. "You can tell me some more about those black Reeboks
and what else we need to go shopping for."

Lisa laughed. "Girl, you're terrible-you know that talking about
shopping is my weakness. Anyway, according to Caitlin these shoes cost
an arm and a leg but they're essential. I don't know about you, but
I'll have to do endless chores and babysitting to earn them. Maybe the
dance team will let me wait till Christmas…"

Jenna just let Lisa talk as they walked off school grounds and onto
the sidewalk leading home. Everyone, from the crossing guard, to the
other children, to the teachers-even cars going by seemed to be watching
her, studying her. Jenna shivered, looking away from them and down at
her feet. With every step she took the last words of the note
repeated themselves in her head. Anytime and anywhere, anytime and
anywhere.

Monday
November 5, 2001
4:10 PM

"It's not that I mind hearing from you, sir." Lee sat on
the family room sofa, the cordless phone up against his ear. He could
hear Amanda in the kitchen, checking on the roast that was now boiling
in the crock-pot. "It's just unexpected."

Colonel Robert Clayton's voice crackled over the phone. "I know,
Skip," he said, using Lee's old childhood nickname. "But I'm going to
be in town later on this month for a 9-11 conference and I just wanted to
let you know I'll be dropping by."

"How long will you be in town?" Lee asked.

"Two or three days," his Uncle said. "Should be around Thanksgiving,
so I'm looking forward to becoming acquainted with my great-niece. How
is Jenna?"

"She's just fine now, sir," Lee said, thinking to himself about just
how far they had come. For about two months after the kidnapping Jenna
had suffered from nightmares, migraines and crippling flashbacks. The
sessions with Dr. Pfaff helped, but even the psychiatrist had told Lee
that the best cure of all was time. Lee would never forget the one
time he'd found his daughter standing by the open front door where the
kidnapping had taken place. Her dark eyes had been frightened and
unseeing while her breath had come in panicked gasps. It had taken him
and Amanda a full half-hour just to calm her down. Thankfully with the
trial behind them things seemed like they were back to normal.

"I'm glad to hear that," The Colonel said. "I'm sorry that ever had to
happen to Jenna," he said. "I'm even sorrier that I had to hear about
it second-hand through the media reports. You should've called me."

Maybe if I'd known that you even cared I would have, Lee thought to
himself, but he didn't say that out loud. He knew that Amanda was
listening from the other room, and he knew how badly she wanted him
and his Uncle to get along. "I'm sorry about that, sir," he said. "It
was just a very hectic time." Just then the front door opened and
Jenna came in, hanging her bag on the door and quickly locking it
behind her. Something was wrong. Lee knew it as soon as he looked at
his daughter. Jenna was just standing there, looking down at her
shoes. Her face was pale and her hands were trembling slightly.

"I'm going to need to let you go, sir," Lee said, "Yes, we'll see you
soon. Goodbye." Lee pressed the button to hang up the phone and placed
it back on the charger as he stood to face his daughter. "Jenna, is
everything all right? You look a little upset."

"Everything' s fine," Jenna spoke a little too brightly. She lifted her
head but didn't meet Lee's gaze. "Where's Mom, is she here?"

"Of course I'm here," Amanda said as she came in from the kitchen and
gave Jenna a hug. "How was your day, sweetheart?"

"Fine," Jenna said. "It was fine. How's Grandma?"

"Your Grandmother' s still in Florida with Captain Curt," Amanda said.
Captain Curt and Dotty had been married this last June, and they
seemed to divide most of their time between Arlington and Florida.
"Last time I spoke to her she was fine. Was there something you wanted
to talk to her about?"

"No," Jenna said. "What about Philip and Jamie? Are they okay?"

"They're fine too," Amanda said. "I talked to Jamie only yesterday."
She put her hand on Jenna's arm. "Is something worrying you?"

"Nothing's worrying me." Jenna's tone was suddenly defensive. "I'm
just glad to hear that they're all right."

"So did you make the dance team?" Lee asked. He knew that Jenna and
Lisa had been practicing for the tryouts all last week, and the
results were supposed to be posted today. This morning she'd been so
excited and hardly able to stop talking about it. But now …

Jenna looked up at her father briefly and then looked away again.
"Yeah," she said, her voice flat and toneless. "I made it." Lee frowned.

"And Lisa?"

"She made it too, Mom," Jenna said.

"Jenna, that's great news," Lee said. "We should celebrate. How about
I take my two favorite ladies out to dinner tomorrow night?"

"No!" Jenna spoke with such vehemence that Lee and Amanda both stared
at her. "I mean -It's not really that big of a deal and I don't feel
like eating out. Look I think I'll just go upstairs-I have a lot of
homework to do." She lifted her backpack from the hook, and before Lee
or Amanda could ask any more questions, Jenna turned abruptly and
left. Lee could hear the sounds of her feet practically running
upstairs and her door slamming shut. Lee and Amanda exchanged glances.

"I'll go and talk to her," Lee said.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

Lee knocked on Jenna's door. "Jenna?" He said. When there was no
answer, he pushed open the door. The lamp on the desk illuminated the
room; Jenna was sitting at her desk, an open book in front of her.
Lee noted the window-shades were drawn. That was definitely strange,
he thought. Jenna had told him more than once that she liked the
natural light in her room. Lee moved to pull up the shades, causing
Jenna to lift her head from her book.

"Don't do that," she said sharply.

"Why?" Lee asked.

"The sun distracts me," Jenna said. "I really need to study. Did you
want something, Dad?"

Lee sat down on his daughter's bed, facing Jenna. "Not really," he
said. "I just thought that you might need to talk."

"What would I need to talk about?"

"How about we start with whatever's upsetting you."

"Upsetting me? Why would anything be upsetting me?"

Because instead of answering my question, you just repeated it back to
me, Lee thought, but he didn't say that out loud. "Did something
happen at school?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Is it one of your friends?" Lee said. "Did you have a fight?"

"We didn't have a fight," Jenna said. "My friends are fine."

"It's not about a boy, is it?" Lee asked, feeling a brief moment of
panic at those words. Jenna was showing a definite interest in the
opposite sex, and Lee and Amanda had agreed that she could date once
she turned sixteen. Personally Lee had wanted to set Jenna's dating
age to thirty, but Amanda had told him that was just a little on the
unreasonable side.

. "No, it's not about a boy," Jenna said. "I'm only in seventh grade.
I mean, I like boys, but I don't have those kinds of problems yet"

"Then what's bothering you?" Lee asked, pushing the anxiety about
Jenna's interest in boys to the back of his mind. "I can't help you if
you don't tell me."

"Dad, there's nothing to tell," Jenna said. "Why don't you believe me?"

"Oh come on." Lee heard frustration creeping into his voice. He had
the feeling that interrogating a member of Al-Quaeda would seem like a
piece of cake when compared to getting information out of his own
child. "You're sitting up here like a virtual hermit with the shades
drawn- You don't want to go out to dinner tomorrow and you usually
love going out. I wasn't born yesterday, Jenna. I know something is
bothering you."

"Well maybe I'm tired of restaurants. " Jenna said, "And maybe I have
a lot of homework to do. Can you stop pestering me?"

"Well I'll tell you one thing," Lee said. "You won't get a lot of
homework done if you try to read your book upside down," Lee picked up
the volume from his daughter's desk. An envelope fell from the book
and landed on the carpet. Jenna made a grab for it, but Lee bent down
and picked it up first. He stared at his daughter's name on the front
of the envelope.

"Jenna what is this?" Lee asked.

Jenna's face was suddenly very pale and she looked as though she were
on the verge of tears. "Dad, don't-please. "

Lee opened the envelope. "Sweetheart, whatever it is it can't be
that-" his voice broke off as the flipped through the photos. There
was one of he and Amanda in the front yard, one of Dotty, even ones of
Philip and Jamie when they had visited this last weekend.
And Jenna. Photos of her leaving for school, coming home, even one of
her trying out for the dance team. And then there was the last photo,
the one that made Lee feel sick with fear and rage. Now he understood
why Jenna was keeping the shades closed. Included with the
photographs was a note. Lee read it and closed his eyes momentarily,
trying to keep his emotions under control.

"Jenna when did you get these?" he asked.

"Today-the envelope was in my locker at school," Jenna said. "I'm not
sure how it got there. There were other things in my locker last week,
but this was the only thing that was really scary."

"What other things?" Lee demanded.

Jenna looked down, tracing the carpet with her foot. "A card and a bag
of candy corn."

"And where are they?"

"In my backpack," Jenna said. "I didn't eat any of the candy corn yet."

"Jenna look at me." Lee's voice rose slightly as he spoke. "This note
says you and your family'. By not saying anything you were putting
all of us in danger."

"I wasn't trying to put anyone in danger-"

"It doesn't matter what your intentions were," Lee said. "The fact is
that you were risking your family's life by keeping this to yourself.
Do you understand me?"

Jenna stared at Lee, her brown eyes wide. "I don't--I---I mean that I didn't mean to-" Jenna leaned her forehead against
one hand, tears running down her face, her shoulders shaking with
barely audible sobs. Lee stood and pulled his daughter into a hug.

"Hey, munchkin, it'll be okay," he said, patting her back gently as he
held her, rocking back and forth. "It's just that if anyone or anything is ever bothering you I want you to tell me or your mom so we can help."

"I know." Jenna's voice was muffled against Lee's coat. "The card
and the candy corn-they seemed so harmless, even though the card was
kind of weird. But this-the pictures."

"I know," Lee said.

"I just-I- hoped it was all over," Jenna said. "The kidnapping and
everything, but now this- it makes it seem so scary, like it happened
yesterday. And I thought maybe if I didn't talk about it-"

"Sweetheart, you can't pretend things away," Lee said. "Handling it on
your own would be scarier –you know you don't ever have to do that."

"But it'll never be over, will it?" Jenna said. "Just like Gary
Johnston said at the trial, remember? I thought maybe that I could
feel safe again, but I can't. And now you guys are in danger too."

"Jenna, you will be safe, I promise you. We'll all be safe" Lee said,
breaking the embrace and looking down at her. "Whoever this is,
they'll be found and stopped. Okay?"

"Okay," Jenna said. Lee watched as she made an attempt at a smile. He
gave her another quick hug and left the room. Standing in the hallway,
he watched through a crack in the door as Jenna curled up in a fetal
position on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

Lee's fury at whoever was doing this to his daughter rose. When he
found the person responsible, they were going to pay for terrorizing her.

SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK

"Someone will be coming around to talk to Jenna," Francine said to
Lee. "The lab will run tests on the envelope, the pictures, the card
and the candy corn to check for any DNA samples and fingerprints. I
can also do a complete background workup on Johnston to see if he has
any relatives or associates who would have a motive to do this."

"While you're at it you better run a background check on people
working at the school," Lee said, clutching the phone tightly to his
ear. "It's very possible that our suspect works there." He was in the
kitchen, ladling the pot roast into three bowls. Amanda was upstairs,
trying to console Jenna.

"I was just getting to that," Francine's voice was slightly tinged
with annoyance. "I've been Section Chief now for five years,
Scarecrow. I know how to do my job."

"I know you do."

"Maybe you should have taken this position when it was offered to
you."

"What, and deprive you of all that administrative fun?" Lee said,
thinking back to how close he'd come to taking that position after
Smyth's death and Billy's promotion to Agency head. But after talking
it over with Amanda he'd decided to turn it down. They were happiest
working together as partners in the field. It had also meant working
extra hours, and the money and added safety of a desk job wouldn't
have compensated Lee for the time not spent with his family.

"You want to see fun, Scarecrow, you should try sitting through one of
those late-night budget meetings," Francine said testily.

"I'm sorry, Francine," Lee said, clutching the phone tightly to his
ear. "This whole thing just has me on edge."

"I know, and we'll do everything to keep your family safe," Francine
said. "That includes 24 hour surveillance and a tap on your phone
line in case the stalker tries to call you," Francine said. "Of course
you and your family can always move to one of our safe houses."

"No," Lee said, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be heard. "Not yet,
anyway. I don't want to disrupt her life unless it becomes absolutely
necessary."

"I understand," Francine said. "How's Jenna handling it?"

"Handling it?" Lee said. "She's terrified, Francine. She worries about
her family and she doesn't think she's safe anywhere. I can't say I
blame her. This creep even had a picture of Jenna in her own bedroom
while she was changing her clothes."

"Oh my God," Francine said softly. "Lee, I promise you, whoever this
is we'll find them."

From upstairs Lee could hear the faint sounds of Amanda's voice over
Jenna's sobbing.

"I hope you do find them, Francine," Lee said quietly. "Because if I
find them first I won't be responsible for my actions."

TBC