Tuesday, Day Two—Knoxville, TN to Little Rock, AR
At 6am the alarms rang for the group and they went to breakfast at 6:30 in the restaurant. Amanda had brought the thermos again, and had it refilled with coffee. They ate quickly, checked out and were on the road shortly after 7:30.
In the Vigilant, Amanda was feeling well-rested. “How did you sleep, Lee?” she asked her companion in the passenger seat.
“OK. My leg feels better today. Hey—maybe I can drive after lunch—what do you say?” He gave her his best smile.
“Lee—you were ordered—no driving for at least three days. You have to let that leg heal. I don’t want you—or me—to get in trouble with Mr. Melrose by disobeying his order.”
“I’m healed. I heal quickly.” He sounded a bit desperate as he tried to convince her.
“Lee…” She wasn’t buying it. “So, today is Knoxville to Little Rock—all across Tennessee and into Arkansas. I just love the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the fall colors are so spectacular!”
“The trees have been pretty,” Lee answered her in a less-than-enthusiastic tone.
Amanda noticed his lack of enthusiasm. ‘He can’t drive for three days, and he’s just got to live with that. Maybe he’s not a morning person. He had coffee at the restaurant—that’s all he had for breakfast—just coffee. That’s all he had at Betsy Ross Estates, too. That’s not a very good breakfast. When we were on the Connie Beth case, he sure wanted to talk in the morning—but that was business. The only business we have right now is to drive. It’s nice scenery—so I’ll just watch that. Maybe after our first rest stop I can try to talk to him again.’
A little over an hour into their drive, the radio crackled to life.
“Sikes to Vigilant.”
“We’re here, Sikes,” Lee answered.
“Pull off at the next rest stop. We’re having car troubles.”
“OK, will do.” Lee replied.
They pulled in a few miles down the road. Sikes and Unwin were looking under the hood of their car—steam was coming from the radiator. The two other cars pulled up with the RV and parked.
Lee started to get out. “Stay here, Amanda. I’m going to check this out.”
Lee walked to the car and arrived with the rest of the soldiers.
“Looks like a hose bust, sir,” Unwin was saying.
Sikes nodded, “Yeah, this one’s out of commission.” He was irritated.
Lee was peeved, “I thought these cars were checked out?”
Sikes turned to the agent, “They were—but hoses wear out, pure and simple, Stetson. No outside interference.”
“What do you plan to do?” Lee challenged.
Sikes marshaled his patience. “We’ll just leave this vehicle here and call to let the brass know where it is and hope they’ll get us a replacement at lunch or the motel this evening.”
Lee nodded. At least they wouldn’t have to wait for repairs. “Sounds like a plan.”
Sikes and Unwin transferred their luggage to the other cars and waited while Sikes called in to his superiors.
Wyatt walked over to the RV. Amanda let him in.
“Ma’am, you might as well make a pit stop as long as we’re here. I’ll stay with the vehicle. I took my break already.”
“Thank you, Wyatt, that’s very thoughtful.” Amanda smiled at the handsome soldier.
Amanda took her break and made her way to the disabled car afterward. Lee spotted her as she walked up. “Amanda, I thought I told you to stay with the RV!”
“Wyatt is in there—we should all take a break as long as we’re here and already stopped.”
Lee was taken aback. “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”
The men ambled off and soon they were reassembled around the disabled car.
Sikes had finished his call and taken a break also. “The brass say to keep going with the two cars. They’ll have a replacement at the motel this evening. But let’s stay in visual range for the rest of the day. With only two escort vehicles—if another breaks down, we’re in trouble.”
Amanda piped up, “We have an extra chair in the RV. Lee is supposed to study the van’s—um—equipment anyhow. One of you guys could ride with us,” she offered.
Lee frowned, but didn’t object.
Sikes was appreciative of her offer. “That’s a good idea, ma’am. Wyatt will stay in the Vigilant with you, then.” He walked to the RV and relayed his orders to Wyatt inside.
Lee moved to the rear seat by the computer controls for the offensive equipment. There were several manuals there stored in a compartment that he could study. “I’ll sit back here and check out the manuals. Wyatt—you can ride shotgun,” he decided.
“Yes sir.” Wyatt turned to Amanda, “Ma’am, is that OK with you?”
“Oh, sure.” Amanda smiled brightly.
Once on the road, Amanda struck up a conversation with the soldier. Wyatt was tall and blonde, broad shouldered and quite good-looking.
“So Wyatt, where are you from?”
“Iowa, ma’am.”
“Where in Iowa?”
“Small place. I grew up on a farm outside Burlington.”
“Where is that in the state?”
“Southeast corner, ma’am. On the Mississippi.”
“Burlington," Amanda thought for a moment. “Like the railroad, Burlington Northern?”
“Yes ma’am. The railroad was a big industry last century. Now there’s the packing plants, the cement plant and the prison.”
“Prison?”
“Yeah, Iowa state penitentiary—my dad works there as a guard.”
“How could he work as a guard and be a farmer?”
“Lotsa farmers have town jobs. We mostly rented out our land—except a few acres we put in hay and feed corn. Mostly we raised livestock. Pigs.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
“Yes ma’am, it sure is.”
“So you took care of the chores while your dad worked?”
“We have a big family, ma’am. I’m the third of seven kids—four girls, three boys—we all worked at chores, cleaning the barns and whatever else was needed. My oldest sister was really good with the sows. She earned a dime for each piglet she helped deliver alive. Now she’s a vet.”
“You must be proud. How did you end up a Green Beret?”
“I wanted to go to college—but of course my folks couldn’t help out. I joined the Army to get college money, and I liked it. When the call came for special forces training—I just knew I’d make it. Three quarters of the men wash out.”
“Wow, it must be tough!”
“We’re the best of the best, ma’am. I specialized in demolition and explosives. Next year I’ll take classes in nukes.”
“Oh.” Amanda was taken aback. “That sounds … interesting.”
“Where are you from, ma’am?”
“Oh—just Arlington. Lived there all my life. I went to UVA—University of Virginia—for college. Then I got married and had two boys—and I still live in Arlington.”
“Your husband with the kids this week?”
“No—we’re divorced. My mother lives with us now. She’s a great help. She’s taking care of the boys this week. Philip is 10 and Jamie is 8. They’re great boys.”
“Well ma’am, if you bake cookies for them like you did for us, they have a great mom!”
“Oh really—I’m always baking stuff—doing a few dozen more cookies wasn’t any big deal.”
“My younger sister was a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off. I know how much work all that is.”
“Wow, the Pillsbury Bake-Off. I entered once, but they never even wrote back. She must be really good!”
“She’s always baking and cooking. I think she’ll become a chef—or maybe just find a nice guy and settle down as his wife. She’s pretty much a home-body. She’s a much better cook than my mom—mom’s much better at driving a tractor or bus than she is as a cook.”
“Your mom drives a bus?”
“Yeah—school bus. She does morning and afternoon runs for all the schools. And drives the teams during the season, too. No kids better act up on her bus.”
“She’s tough, huh?”
“Ma’am, Captain Sikes is a good C.O. but he isn’t anywhere near as tough as my mom.”
“I thought your dad would be the tough one—he’s the prison guard.”
“Oh no. He’s calm and endlessly patient. He says us kids are sweet and reasonable compared to the inmates. He says most of them aren’t too smart and they make really dumb choices. And they keep making dumb choices unless they finally decide to straighten out. He says he knows which guys will be back when they’re paroled.”
“I guess he would get to know them.”
“Yeah. He says all the programs—education, classes, help—so many inmates never take advantage of it. They just sit day after day in their cells. Then they get out and have no idea how to live in the world.”
“Wow. I guess you can try, but if the guy doesn’t do his part—it really doesn’t matter.”
“Oh look! Alaska!” Wyatt pointed excitedly at a passing car.
“Where? Oh yeah. Wow! That’s a rare one!”
“I saw Hawaii once.” Wyatt admitted smugly.
“Really?” Amanda was surprised.
“Yeah, one time I went with dad hauling a load of hogs to Kansas City. We saw Hawaii along the way. It was a really big deal.”
Lee piped up from the back, “How can you see Hawaii between Iowa and Kansas City?”
Amanda and Wyatt looked at each other and laughed.
Amanda answered, “Lee it’s a game—the license plate game.”
“What?” Lee was totally confused.
Amanda explained, “When you take a long car trip it’s a way to pass the time. You have a sheet with all the states and DC, and you see who can spot the most license plates from the states. It works best if you’re on a long cross-country trip, and if you go somewhere like Yellowstone—you can get most all of the states. Except Hawaii. I never heard of anyone getting Hawaii before this.”
“Oh.” Lee was sarcastic, “You play this game often, Amanda?”
“It’s a good way of keeping the kids quiet.” She replied as if she hadn’t noticed his sarcasm.
“You ever play license plate poker?” Wyatt asked.
Amanda answered, “No, I’d rather the boys get older before they learn that bit of knowledge.”
Lee piped up from the back in an interested tone, “How do you play license plate poker?”
Wyatt answered, “It works best with plates with four numbers or more, though you can count AKQ and J if you want to.”
“I don’t get it.” Lee replied.
Wyatt continued, “You find a plate and turn it into a poker hand—obviously a flush is impossible—but you get pairs or three or four of a kind—rarely a straight. How you count who gets what plate can be a problem, though.”
Amanda continued, “Yeah—I played it with friends on a car trip in college—we got into a big fight about who got what plates—so partly because of that I just decided it was better to not teach it to the boys.”
“So how do you decide who gets what car?” Lee asked.
Wyatt answered, “We went in turns by age—each new car was assigned to each person in order of age—oldest to youngest.”
“That’s a good way,” Amanda replied. “We used to call dibs but on the college trip it didn’t work. People wouldn’t call bad cars but everyone claimed the good ones.”
“So what do you bet?” Lee asked from the back.
Wyatt answered, “We didn’t bet—just kept track of who won the most often.”
“On our trip it was winner gets the bed. There were 5 of us and we rented only one motel room, so someone always had to sleep on the floor. That’s why people were so eager to win. Eventually we just traded off in turns sleeping on the floor.”
Lee sounded puzzled, “What’s the fun of poker if you don’t bet?”
Amanda replied patiently, “Lee, the point of the game is to help pass the time while you’re driving—not betting.”
“And this is the sort of “fun” you “normal people” have?” Lee added sarcastically.
“What did your family do on car trips, sir?” Wyatt asked.
“My family didn’t take car trips.” Lee said with finality.
Lunch was uneventful at an I-Hop. Young stayed with the Vigilant. As there were no family reunions, it went quickly. Back on the road, Amanda and Wyatt happily chatted the afternoon away.
In the back of the RV, Lee alternately studied the manuals and brooded. ‘Wyatt’s just being polite because he has to. Tonight they’ll get a replacement vehicle and tomorrow Amanda and I will be alone again. I wonder what she thinks of film noir—or some of those weird foreign films…’
Amanda and Wyatt laughed—interrupting Lee’s thoughts.
Lee gritted his teeth and went back to the manuals. ‘If this is how “normal people” pass the time—it’s highly overrated.’
They arrived at the motel in the late afternoon, room assignments were made—they ate dinner and returned to the motel. Wyatt was assigned to the Vigilant overnight.
Valentiner was making plans for the evening—“Sir, ma’am—are you up for poker tonight?”
Lee was still disgruntled after the day’s events and Amanda and Wyatt’s easy camaraderie. “Yeah sure—I’m game. What about you, Amanda?” He asked, figuring she would not want to play—probably because she wasn’t willing to risk the money.
“Oh well, I’ve gotta call home. Maybe after that.” She replied cheerfully.
Amanda went to her room and called home just as she had the night before. Everything was still fine—the boys were doing their homework, and Dottie had called the Littman boys’ grandfather and accepted his offer of a date for the following weekend. After she finished her call, Amanda rearranged her luggage and set out her clothes for the next day, as well as her nightgown and robe for the night. Then she left her room and made her way toward the end room where the poker game was in progress. A car drove up with two soldiers in it. They parked their car and knocked on the door of the room Captain Sikes was registered in. There was no answer.
Amanda came up to them, “Excuse me—are you looking for Captain Sikes?” she asked politely.
“Yes ma’am,” one soldier answered.
“He’s in here.” She knocked on the room next door. The door opened to show Taylor, and behind him the rest of the men clustered around a small table with too many chairs crowded around it.
“Hello,” Amanda announced brightly. “These guys are here to see Captain Sikes.”
Sikes stood and folded his cards, putting them in his breast pocket as he came to the door. It was a tight fit, moving around the other men.
“I’m Sikes,” he said.
The soldiers saluted. “Sir—we have your replacement vehicle.” One soldier handed Sikes the keys.
“Very good, soldier. Show it to me.”
They all went outside to inspect the car.
Amanda looked around the crowded room. Five men and six chairs were crowded around a small table by the window.
“You want to play, ma’am?” Valentiner invited her over to the empty chair.
“You guys don’t have much room here.” Amanda observed.
“We’re managing OK, Amanda. Are you going to play or what?” Lee was impatient.
“You know, if you moved the bed over and brought another table from the next room, you’d have more room.” Amanda pointed out reasonably.
The men looked at each other in surprise.
“You could even bring a third table and have room for snacks, too,” she added.
The soldiers immediately stood. Two moved the bed over against the wall, another went next door and got another table. Lee offered his room key and a third table was brought over.
Sikes returned with the two soldiers. “Make room, men. These soldiers are here for the night.”
“What’s going on, Sikes?” Lee asked.
“The brass in their wisdom sent these soldiers with the replacement car, but they have no transport back to base. A car will come in the morning—for the night they bunk with us.”
“Let’s play poker!” Valentiner interjected.
“So what’s the stakes here?” One soldier asked.
“Dollar ante, three dollar raise max, five dollar limit.” Valentiner replied.
“Sound good to me.” One soldier sat down in the empty chair.
“Amanda, you playing or not?” Lee asked.
“That’s a bit rich for me. I’ll just watch, if that’s OK,” she replied.
“Someone mentioned snacks,” Young piped up.
“There’s a convenience store down the block,” Unwin mentioned.
Sikes took charge, “Everyone chip in five bucks,” he ordered. “Young, you go get some snacks.”
“I’ll help,” Amanda chimed in.
“That’s nice, ma’am,” Young replied.
Everyone forked over and Amanda and Young walked to the convenience store. Young was of average height, with brown hair and was somewhat bow-legged. He walked with a long loping stride.
“So Young, where are you from?” Amanda asked as they walked.
“Texas, ma’am. I’m just an ol’ cowboy. Grew up on a ranch.”
“Really! That’s interesting. You do all the traditional stuff, drive cattle, rope steers, ride a horse?”
“All that and more. There’s also ridin’ the fence lines and repairing fences, branding and driving the cattle to market, plus all the other chores. It was a family operation. I was the youngest son, so I decided to go into the army, because I wasn’t going to inherit the ranch. I could go back after my 20 years, but maybe not. I like the army, I like being a Green Beret. Lotsa interesting action. I’m a sniper as well as a rifleman.”
“So each of you guys has a specialty?” She asked.
“Yeah, we’re Green Berets, which is a specialty in itself, and we also have special training in other areas. Makes life more interesting.”
“I know you guys are the best of the best, but I never knew you had other specialties above and beyond that.”
“You must have a specialty, bein’ a spook and all.”
“Oh, I’m not a spy—I assume that’s what you mean by spook—I’m just a Civilian Auxiliary. I help out from time to time.” Amanda explained.
“But you’re Stetson’s partner—isn’t he a spook?”
“We’re not really partners, but yes, Lee’s a spook—uh, spy—no, intelligence operative. I just help out now and again when I’m needed.”
“So how often are you needed?”
“I just started at the beginning of the month, but they’ve been keeping me pretty busy, now that you mention it. And I’ve also been doing clerical work, transcribing tapes and the like.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of work you can do.”
“I guess so. I just hope I can keep doing it, I really need the extra money.”
They had arrived at the stores. There was a liquor store next to the convenience store. “Hey, let’s stop here first,” Young suggested.
“I don’t know…” Amanda temporized.
“C’mon, ma’am. We gotta have refreshments.”
Young went into the liquor store and Amanda followed. He grabbed a large bottle of bourbon and also of rum. “These should do it.”
He paid for his purchases and they went into the convenience store.
“Gotta get Coke, you like rum and Coke, ma’am?”
“I’m not much of a drinker. I’ll just stick with the soft drinks.” Amanda replied.
They got an assortment of snacks, dips and soft drinks in large plastic bottles. Amanda added a couple bags of M&M’s, plain and peanut and a large roll of paper towels. “Some sweet stuff is nice, too,” she explained. “The paper towels are for napkins and cleanup.”
They paid for the purchases and walked back to the motel.
“We’ll need another table and more chairs,” Amanda announced when they returned to the game. “We can get them from my room.”
The extra furniture was obtained, and Amanda commandeered the dresser and one table and set up the food. She got glasses from the rooms for the beverages, the snacks were opened, dips set on the “poker table”. Everyone got a drink for themselves, helped themselves to food, and then the men set down to playing poker in earnest.
After 9pm the game was winding down. The two soldiers—Nelson and Griggs—had gambled away all their chips, and were just enjoying the company, snacks and booze. Young had folded as soon as he saw his hand. Sikes, Taylor and Lee were in a battle to the death. Valentiner had also folded, but he was the dealer and had been managing the game all evening.
“So, who needs cards?” Valentiner asked.
“I’ll take one,” Lee said. He took his card and immediately folded his hand and gave the room his agent face.
Sikes watched Lee closely. “I’ll take two.” Sikes took his cards and sat back giving nothing away.
Taylor was silent.
“How many, Taylor?” Valentiner asked.
“I’m thinking,” Taylor replied after a pause.
Sikes shifted in his chair. Lee was still.
Amanda watched from the corner. The game had been lively but nobody was giving anyone a break. There had been little chatter—these men took their poker seriously.
She would have enjoyed playing—but even though they only played for chips—the Green Berets had rules about gambling for money—the thought of money values for the chips and the intensity of the men just made it easier for her to beg off and watch the game from the corner of the room. She had been studying the men as they played. Lee played with his “agent face” on—but she was pretty sure he was bluffing with this last hand. Something about the set of his shoulders was different. Sikes was pretty good—but Taylor was an enigma. He seemed to like the challenge of playing more than the actual winning—though he won also.
Nelson and Griggs were casual players—they didn’t get as many chips as the others so they didn’t last long. They just seemed to be enjoying the “night off” from their usual duties. And the booze. Valentiner seemed more like a guy who planned, organized and ran the game—for him the actual playing was something that happened between the wheeling and dealing. Unwin played to be sociable and didn’t seem to care much about winning and losing. Amanda noticed he kept sneaking looks at her with a wistful expression on his face. Maybe he wanted more cookies. Young was an enthusiastic player and tried hard to win, but he had trouble controlling his reactions to his cards, so he lost a lot.
“C’mon, Taylor—what do you want here?” Valentiner handled the cards in anticipation of dealing some for the impassive man.
“I might want fry bread—but I’m not gonna get it.” Taylor replied dryly.
Sikes replied, “You and your fry bread. Maybe tomorrow in Oklahoma. Right now you need to decide on your cards. How many you want, Taylor?”
Sikes was impatient. Lee was silent and still through the entire exchange. Now Amanda was sure Lee was bluffing—big time. ‘This could get interesting.’ Amanda thought.
“OK, give me …” Taylor waited for a time to draw out the tension, “… one.”
Everyone, except Lee, let out the breath they had been holding. Valentiner dealt Taylor his card.
“It’s the Captain’s bet,” Valentiner announced.
“I bet $3,” Sikes threw his chips into the middle on the sizable pile.
“Stetson?” Valentiner asked.
Lee looked Sikes directly in the eye, “I’ll see you … and raise you $2.”
“That’s $5 to you, Taylor,” Valentiner tried to keep the game moving along.
Taylor looked at his cards and thought. Then he spoke, “This is probably the last hand for the evening. You guys want to lift the limit?” He looked at Sikes and Lee.
Sikes shifted and looked at his cards. Lee looked from Taylor to Sikes.
“Sure,” Lee answered, “I’m up for that. What about you, Sikes? Your hand good enough to go sky high?”
Amanda was sure Lee was taunting Sikes—but also warning him. This was interesting. She was learning a lot about Lee.
Sikes looked annoyed. He played with his cards—then threw them in. “Nope. It’s up to you guys.” He leaned back and relaxed to watch the contest.
“So it’s $5 to you, Taylor, your bet,” Valentiner said.
“$5 to me.” Taylor repeated. He fingered the large pile of chips in front of him. “See your $5 and raise you … $20.” He threw the chips in and looked Lee directly in the eye.
Lee was impassive. “$20, huh?” Lee looked at his pile of chips. “I have $20 here.” He laid the chips on the table. “And I have another $50 on top of that.” He put more chips in and resumed his impassive stare at Taylor.
Taylor was deep in thought again. Lee was still impassive. The rest of the room watched the contest as the tension rose.
Finally Taylor stirred. He fingered his piles of chips—and looked up. “I’m ahead on the evening. I don’t need to know that bad. You play a good game Stetson. Even if you are a spook and a jar-head. I fold.” Taylor, placed his cards on the table.
“Thanks, Taylor.” Lee smiled tightly and snatched up the pile of chips in the middle of the table. Valentiner recorded the amounts for each man in a little black book, and cleaned up the chips and cards. Everyone else helped clean up and return the borrowed furniture and set the rooms to the condition they had been in before the great poker game.
Once everything was settled, Lee walked Amanda back to her room. She turned to him as she opened her door. “So, how bad was that last hand, Lee?”
“What?” He was taken aback. He looked guiltily around and pushed her into her room. He followed her in and shut the door.
“You were bluffing,” Amanda continued, “good move waiting until the last hand. Did you ever have anything, or was it a bluff from the start?”
“What are you talking about, Amanda?” Lee tried a diversion.
“OK, have it your way. Pretend you don’t understand. But I know you were bluffing. Pretty good too, Scarecrow!”
“A—man—da!” Lee ran his hand through his hair. “How in the hell …?” He stopped and looked at her closely. “I don’t know how you guessed, but—yeah. I was bluffing from the start. How did you know? Could you see my cards?”
“I don’t know. You just looked … different. I was on the other side of the room facing you, I would have to have x-ray vision to see your cards.”
“How did you do it?” Lee was intrigued.
“I just watched you guys as you played. Taylor was the one I had the most trouble figuring out. Captain Sikes fidgets when he’s uncomfortable. And Unwin doesn’t really care about the game. He just likes being with his buddies. Everyone’s different that’s all.” She shrugged.
“Is that right? Well remind me never to play poker with you, Amanda King.” Lee shook his head and took her hand in his. “Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Lee. Sleep well.”
Lee let her hand go and went to his room. Amanda closed the door behind him.
As he lay in his bed, Lee thought about the evening. ‘Amanda has to have some sort of radar. She figured out I was bluffing when none of the other guys did. And she spent the evening studying the players. She seems to be able to read people really well. She sure seems to get along well with everyone—everyone except Francine, that is. She does have good people skills. Maybe she isn’t a total liability. But no way will she ever be an agent or my partner. Still, it’s good to know she could be useful in certain situations—if Billy keeps making me work with her. Maybe I can get an assignment in Sweden. Inga … she sure was fantastic. And flexible. Very flexible…’ He drifted off to sleep thinking of Inga.
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