Chapter Thirteen
Monday Early Evening, September 21st
Letting out a small groan, Sydney brought a hand to her head. Opening her eyes, she quickly shut them again. She thought she’d been having a bad dream, but one quick look at her current surroundings confirmed that it was all too real. “Jamie?” Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears.
Jamie had been searching the room, trying to find some means of protecting himself and Sydney. Turning at the sound of his name, he quickly ran over to his friend. “Hey, you’re awake. I was getting really worried about you.” He bent down and helped Sydney raise herself into a sitting position.
“Where are we?” Sydney took a better look at their surroundings. The bench she was now sitting on was definitely uncomfortable, but at least she hadn’t woken up on the floor. The floor was littered with broken items and looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. The walls were lined with metal shelves, housing all sorts of electronic equipment, musical instruments, car parts, kitchen utensils and even some pots and pans.
Jamie shrugged as he went over to a small sink in the back corner. “I don’t know. I know we’re somewhere in Arlington, and not far from the airport. The planes keep flying overhead and they’re pretty low, like they just took off or are coming in for a landing.” Taking a paper cup from the stack next to the sink, he filled it with cold water. Walking back he, handed the cup to Sydney. “Here, drink this. I don’t know what that Mr. Romanovich put on that cloth, but I’ve seen enough TV detective shows to know that it probably made your mouth dry.”
“Thanks.” Sydney took a sip of the water. “You were right, though, my mouth is dry. Actually it feels like I put cotton in my mouth.” Putting the cup down on the bench, she stood and began stretching her legs. Walking around the room, she began looking at the objects lining the shelves. Picking up a watch from the shelf in front of her, she examined the tag attached to it. “Jamie, take a look at this.”
Jamie moved over to his friend. “Yeah, I noticed that all the items have some sort of tag, but I didn’t bother to read the information on them.” He picked up a small tape recorder and examined the tag. He then put it next to the one Sydney held.
Sydney put the watch down and looked at the tag attached to a blender next to her. She gave Jamie a small smile as she realized the tags were all the same. “Looks like you were right, we are somewhere in Arlington. It’s too bad they didn’t leave a phone in here, we could call someone and tell them the name and address of this place based on the information on the tag.” She pointed to the rest of the shelves along the walls. “My guess is we’re probably in the back room of some sort of pawnshop. I mean look at the assortment of stuff back here.”
Jamie had been so busy looking for something that could be used in self-defense that he didn’t take the time to actually think about everything he was looking at. “You know, you could be right. Where else would you find things like a car battery, jewelry, and guitars all stored together?” He walked over to the shelves and examined everything more closely. Picking up an old radio, he turned towards Sydney, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Sydney eyed her friend suspiciously. “What’s going through that mind of yours, Jamie King? The last time you looked at me like that you came up with the brilliant idea to sneak into the tournament, and look where that got us.”
Jamie shook his head excitedly. “If my idea works, it may just get us out of this mess.” He motioned for her to come over to him, not wanting to yell across the room, in case their captors were listening.
Sydney crossed her arms in front of her. “All right, let’s hear it, but I’m warning you, if I even think it’s a bad idea, you’re on your own.”
“I think there might be enough stuff here for us to put together some sort of radio transmitter.” Jamie caught the skeptical look his friend was giving him. “Seriously. My mom helped me build one a few years ago for a science project. Of course it didn’t work, but I think between the two of us, we might be able to make one that really works. Think about it, we’re near the airport, and if we can put together some sort of transmitter that we can send an S-O-S from…”
Sydney’s eyes widened in excitement and a smile spread across her face. “I think, Jamie, you may actually have come up with a good plan for a change.” She began looking around at all the objects on the shelf. “Okay, so what are we going to need?”
Jamie moved a few items off one of the more empty shelves. Placing the radio down, he moved over to another shelf with jewelry. “Well, we’ll need some wire, and if we can find something copper or gold, we can use it as a conductor. We’ll also need something that creates a current, like a battery.” He started rummaging through the strands of jewelry. “Man all of this looks like junk, and if it’s junk it’s definitely not going to be real gold.”
Sydney walked over to a shelf with pots and pans. Picking up an oddly colored pot, she banged on it. “Jamie, I think this might be a copper pot.”
Jamie turned towards her. “Good, that might work, go put it on that shelf.” He pointed to the one he had just cleared off. He then walked over and picked up one of the car batteries. “I’m not sure if this thing is charged or not, but if it is, I think we just found our power source.” He had just placed the battery on the shelf, when he heard the click of the lock. Looking at Sydney, his eyes grew wide. “Quick, get back on the bench.” He whispered as he headed over to the wooden seat.
Sydney rushed over and sat down, just as the door opened. Scooting closer to Jamie, she watched the man they had met earlier walk into the room.
“Ah, I see you are finally awake, Miss Bristow.” Sergei said, looking closely at the young girl. She looked so much like her mother. He had never met Irina Derevko, but he had seen pictures of her. She was, after all a legend. He turned and motioned behind him. “Vadorsky, bring in the food.” He then turned towards the two teenagers. “I suggest you eat something.” He motioned to the food Vadorsky was carrying on a tray. “I need to make sure you are well enough to travel, Miss Bristow.”
Vadorsky placed the tray on the floor in front of their two captives. He then turned and walked over to his fellow agent. “I just got off the phone with Levinson at the Embassy. He says the Americans brought Aleksandr back, safe and unharmed, but alone. Apparently the Agency is holding Plotkovich, Scarecrow apprehended him.”
“I knew we shouldn’t have left that fool behind.” Romanovich kicked a nearby garbage can in frustration. “However, if Ivan knows what’s best for him, he’ll keep his mouth shut. Was Levinson able to confirm my suspicion?” He tilted his head in Jamie’s direction.
“Levinson said that the driver of the Embassy car returned a few minutes ago. He was busy watching the chess match, and paid no attention to what was going on around him until federal agents came in and broke up the match. He overheard one of the agents talking to a woman and mentioning the names Stetson and King. Levinson said he would do some more checking, but my guess is,” Vadorsky pointed towards Jamie, “the boy is very likely Scarecrow’s partner’s son.”
An evil smile crossed the Magician’s face as he turned towards the two youngsters. “I hope you two get along, because you are going to be with each other for a very long time.”
“What do you want with us?” Sydney asked in a voice she hoped sounded more courageous than she felt.
Sergei let out a wicked little laugh as he looked at the young girl. “There is someone who is very anxious to meet you. But don’t worry, it seems that you won’t be traveling alone; Master King will be joining you on your trip. Now, I suggest you two eat up.” He turned around and started heading for the door.
Vadorsky followed his mentor. “Oh and one other thing, Levinson said that it would not be in your best interest to return to the Embassy. You’ve angered quite a few people with this little stunt. He suggested that you contact Borsky and let him know you have the package, and that he should come here to D.C. and head home to the mother country with you.”
Sergei stepped aside and let Vadorsky walk out of the room ahead of him. “That won’t be a problem. I needed to contact him anyway to let him know that he can stop his search in Los Angeles.” He glanced back towards the pair still sitting on the bench. There was a lot to plan and not a lot of time to waste. He knew Scarecrow well enough to know that his adversary would be working every angle to track them down, especially if Jamie King was his partner’s son. Now that Scarecrow had Plotkovich, he knew that the timetable had to be moved up if he wanted to deliver Sydney Bristow into Kholokov’s hands. If they didn’t move soon, their window of opportunity would be gone, and he’d never get back to Russia. Closing the door behind him, he inserted the key into the lock.
Jamie waited to hear the click of the lock before turning to Sydney. “Okay, now I’m really worried. Mr. Romanovich said something in the car about you going on a trip but never mentioned anything about me going too until now. I wonder what he meant by that, it’s almost like he singled you out for a reason.”
Sydney shrugged. “I have no idea but I thought he was looking at me kind of strangely at the tournament. It was as if he recognized me, but I’ve never seen him before.”
Jamie pushed his glasses back up on his nose. “Now that I think about, Mr. Romanovich asked me if my mom knew your dad. I didn’t really think much about it at the time. Do you think there might be a connection between these men and your dad?”
“I don’t know, but I hope not. I’d hate to think of my dad associating with men like Mr. Romanovich.” Sydney glanced back around the room at all the clutter before turning her attention back towards Jamie. “At least we’re together.”
Jamie gave her a small smile. “Yeah, at least that’s one thing that’s good about this whole situation.” Suddenly his eyes grew wide. “You know what? I was so worried about you that I never really gave any thought about what they were going do to me. Now that I know they plan on taking me with them I don’t have to worry about more unpleasant thoughts. I wonder where they plan on taking us, and do you think they were speaking Russian?” He then looked down at the food at their feet. “Do you think we should eat something?”
“Boy, do you think you could have asked any more questions.” Sydney chuckled.
“Sorry.” Jamie self-consciously shuffled his feet. “I guess I’m just a little bit nervous.”
Sydney smiled warmly at him. “If it makes you feel any better, I am too.” She then looked over at the food that was brought in earlier. “And, to be honest, I’m not very hungry. I think we should get back to our little project.” She stood and started walking back towards the supplies they had started gathering earlier. “As far as what language, I’m pretty sure it was Russian. Aside from the fact that it makes sense because we know that Aleksandr Molinkof is Russian, I think I recognized it. Also, I think they’re planning on taking us to Russia.”
“Russia? How do you know or are you just assuming that because that’s what language they might be speaking?” Jamie stood and followed her.
Sydney shrugged. “Well I know they said something about the mother country. I know that most Russians refer to Russia as the ‘mother country’ so…” She reached the shelf and looked at the few items they had already placed on it. “Didn’t you say we needed some kind of wire?”
Jamie nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t remember seeing any wire when I was searching earlier.” He passed by a guitar and stopped. “Hey, we could use the guitar strings.” He bent down and picked up one of the instruments. As he walked back over to the bench, he started unwinding the string. “Hey, how did you know they said mother country? Do you know how to speak Russian?”
Sydney pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her friend. “No, I don’t know how to speak Russian, but I did recognize some of what they were saying.”
Jamie looked at his friend intently. “If you don’t speak Russian, how did you know what they were saying? And what other things did you recognize?”
“I don’t know, maybe I picked it up from watching the movies. I love James Bond movies and most of his enemies are Russian, and sometimes they speak it. I think they put subtitles up on the screen when they do.” Sydney shrugged. “Anyway, my dad doesn’t know that I’ve seen most of the movies. He’d probably get mad. I usually watch them at my friend Rachel’s house.” She moved over and started going through the jewelry. She figured that it might not hurt to see if she could find something made of gold. She knew from her science lessons that copper would be a good conductor, but gold was better. “I don’t know why my dad doesn’t like James Bond, I thought all guys did.”
Jamie shrugged. “I know I do.” He turned another of the knobs on the guitar, trying to unravel the string. “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you picked up Russian from watching the movies, you have a really good memory, you said so yourself. But it does seem weird that your dad doesn’t like James Bond. In fact, most of the movies I’ve watched recently have been with my mom and Lee.” He looked up to see what Sydney was doing. “Hey I already looked through there and didn’t find anything usable.”
Sydney turned to him and smiled. “Yeah, but I’m a girl. I probably have a better idea of what’s gold and what isn’t.”
“Ha ha. All right, little miss-know-it-all, you still haven’t told me what else our ‘keepers’ said.” Jamie turned his attention back to the guitar string.
“I don’t know. I only recognized a few words here and there.” Sydney picked up a necklace and eyed it suspiciously. “I know they said something about a Scarecrow. I also picked up the words partner and son. Other than that, they were talking too fast for me to really understand anything.” She looked over at her friend. “Remember our conversation from earlier, the one about what I want to be when I grow up?” She watched Jamie shrug and nod slightly. “Well I think I know what I want to do?”
“What? Do you want to be a spy?” Jamie let out a laugh.
Sydney narrowed her eyes at him and shrugged. “Perhaps, but whatever it is, it’s going to be a job where I can make sure that men like Mr. Romanovich and his friends get what they deserve.”
“Maybe you should pay more attention to what Mr. Romanovich does. It might give you some good insight and experience that you can use later on when you’re working your way through spy school.” Jamie chuckled good-naturedly. “Sorry, Sydney. I know you’re being serious. I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little.”
Sydney shrugged and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, well you better watch out, because if I do become a spy, the first thing I’ll do is track you down and make you eat your words.” She then looked at her friend curiously. “Jamie, do you remember what the guy who brought us our food said? I think I heard him say the names Stetson and King, too.”
Jamie stopped fiddling with the string and looked at Sydney intently. “Yeah, I heard that too, now that I think about it. You know, in the car Mr. Romanovich kept saying something about the Scarecrow, and kept asking me how I knew him…the Scarecrow that is. I could have sworn I saw Lee running after us, too, right after Mr. Romanovich pushed me into the car.” He shook his head. “This is so unreal, you know. I mean this whole situation,” he motioned to the room around them, “it’s like the things we see on TV, it’s not supposed to happen in real life.”
“I know what you mean. I feel like we’re in the middle of some bad movie.” With the necklace still in her hand, Sydney walked over to the shelf of items. “I think this might be real gold, if not we always have the copper pot.” As she placed the necklace on the shelf, she noticed the bracelet on her wrist and let out a little chuckle. “I totally forgot I had this on. It was my mother’s, and it’s real gold.” She twisted the bracelet around and stared at it intently. “Hey, I think I know why I recognized what they were saying.”
Jamie unwound the rest of the string. Placing the guitar on the ground, he coiled the string up and walked over to Sydney. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I just remembered that my mom had a Russian friend who came over to our house sometimes. He usually came over during the day, when my dad wasn’t around, and I think I remember her talking to him in Russian.” Sydney looked up at Jamie. “My mom said she took Russian in College and that’s where she knew him from. I don’t remember his name though. So it’s possible that I picked up a few things just by listening to them.”
“Like I said, you have a great memory. It doesn’t surprise me that you picked up some of it just by being around it.” Jamie went over to a nearby toolbox and pulled out a screwdriver. He then went back to the shelf and started taking the radio apart.
“You know, Jamie, if you think you saw Lee, that means they definitely know we’re missing.” Sydney’s face brightened.
Jamie nodded his head. “Ever since Mr. Romanovich said something in the car, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.” He pulled a few items out of the back of the radio. “My mom ran off with Lee about a year ago, but they said it was some security mix-up. We had federal agents crawling all over the house. I was never fully convinced that they would go to all that trouble because of a couple of documentary filmmakers.” Jamie put down the screwdriver and looked over at Sydney. “Wait a minute, if Lee really is connected with those government agents, that means my mom is too.” He leaned back against the wall and shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense, I mean she’s my mom. She doesn’t go around waving a gun at people.”
Sydney walked over and placed a hand on his arm. “Jamie, I think I know what you’re feeling. I think I’d feel the same way if I suspected that my dad was a spy. The thought is so ridiculous. My dad sells airplane parts. Your mom’s supposed to produce documentary films. Those don’t sound like the type of things that government agents do. Does it?”
Jamie shrugged and pushed away from the wall. He stared at the items on the shelf. “I don’t know what to think anymore. What I do know is, that if by some chance Lee really is this Scarecrow they keep talking about, then we have a really good chance that, if we can get this transmitter to work,” he pointed to the items in front of them, “Lee might have people listening for it.”
“Well, let’s stop talking and start working.” Sydney was now more determined than ever. She still didn’t know why Mr. Romanovich had taken them, but if Jamie was right about his mom’s boyfriend, then they had a very good chance of being rescued.
SMK a SMK a SMK
Lee stared through the two-way window, watching the smug look on Ivan Plotkovich’s face. There was no way he was going to let anyone else interrogate that man. Turning around, he stared at Francine and Gordon. “I’m not budging on this one, he’s mine.” He heard his wife clear her throat. “Let me rephrase that,” he pointed from himself to Amanda and back again, “he’s ours.”
“Oh, come on Scarecrow. You had your chance with him back at the school. Let us take a crack.” Gordon didn’t get much of a chance to do interrogations and he was really looking forward to doing this one. Plotkovich would be his first KGB agent.
Lee shook his head and pointed towards the window. “That man in there knows exactly where those kids are, and there is no way I’m letting anyone else get the information from him.”
Gordon stepped closer to Lee and looked his fellow agent directly in the eye. “How about we discuss the fact that you carry a picture of your partner and her kids in your wallet.”
Lee’s face grew three shades of red and he narrowed his eyes the agent. “That is none of your business, Gordon.”
Francine stepped between the two men. “Actually, Scarecrow, I think it is our business.” The phone rang and interrupted anything else she wanted to say. She watched as Amanda picked up the receiver.
Amanda nodded. “Yes, he’s here. Okay, I’ll let him know.” She put the phone back on its base and turned towards her fellow agents. “Gordon, that was Research. They say they need you downstairs, now. I guess they’re short handed.”
Gordon let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, looks like you won this round, Scarecrow.” He turned and headed out of the room.
“Looks like your interrogation partner’s gone which means,” Lee looked over at Amanda, “we get to do the questioning.” He smiled and turned towards the door to the interrogation room.
Francine quickly moved in front of him. “Not so fast, Scarecrow. I think I’d like to know if what Gordon said was true or not.”
Lee shrugged. “What difference does it make, it’s none of Gordon’s business and it’s certainly none of yours.” He moved to step around the blonde.
“I’m not taking the side-step answers anymore.” Francine looked behind Lee towards Amanda. “I want to know exactly what’s going on between the two of you.”
Before Lee could give Francine any kind of an answer at all, Billy walked into the room. “I’m glad you guys haven’t started interrogating Plotkovich, yet. It makes this a whole lot easier.”
Francine glared at her friend and whispered, “Don't think I'm going to let you wriggle your way out of this Lee. I promise you, I will get the full, unabridged answers to my questions.”
Lee smiled smugly at his friend and then turned towards his section chief. “I’m glad you’re here Billy, now you can tell Francine that Amanda and I are doing this interview.”
Billy shook his head. “Sorry Scarecrow, but I’m giving this one to Francine.”
“No way Billy, Plotkovich is mine.”
Billy put up a hand to stop his agent’s protest. “Scarecrow, I’m not letting you go in there. I have a feeling that Ivan Plotkovich is going to be a hard nut to crack, and I don’t need you doing anything stupid.” He looked over at Lee knowingly. “I’ve seen some of your interrogation techniques, and that’s when you don’t have a personal stake in the information…when you do have a personal stake…”
Lee let out a groan of frustration. “Oh, come on Billy, I’m not that bad.” He rolled his eyes at the hard glare his boss was giving him. “Okay, so sometimes I get a little carried away.”
Billy let out a small chuckle. “Fine, I’ll let you get away with ‘little’, however, I promised the Embassy we’d return Plotkovich in good condition.”
“Return him.” Lee took a step closer to his boss. “Please don’t tell me that we’re just going to hand him over.”
Billy shook his head. “Give me a little more credit than that.” He then turned towards Francine. “Go ahead and start the interview. See if you can get him to give you any idea what their plan is, where the Magician took Jamie and Sydney, and if he has any idea what airport they might be flying out of.” As the blonde turned to head in, he put a hand on her arm to stop her. “Oh, and Francine, Plotkovich can holler all he wants about diplomatic immunity, but tell him that it won’t do any good. Let him know that the Embassy knows we won’t be returning him until those two children are returned, safe and unharmed.”
Francine nodded and, putting on her sultriest face, entered the interrogation room. “Ivan, Ivan, Ivan. Now that I’ve got you alone, I can tell you how handsome you are.” She walked over to him and ran a hand teasingly across his shoulders and neck. “I couldn’t let anyone back at the school know, but I find you very, very attractive.”
Billy shook his head and turned away from the window. “Francine loves to use that technique, doesn’t she?”
Lee chuckled. “Yeah, and most of the time, it does work. Then again, sometimes it doesn’t.” His face then turned serious. “All right, Billy can you please tell me why we’re promising to return Plotkovich?”
“Because, in order to avoid an international incident, since Ivan really does have diplomatic immunity, the Embassy has agreed to let us hold Ivan until Jamie and Sydney have been returned. The Russians were very thankful that we returned Aleksandr to them, especially after one of theirs just kidnapped two American children.” Billy looked over towards Amanda. He could tell that she was putting up a strong front. If it was one of his children that was in the hands of the KGB, he knew his wife would be a wreck. Giving her an encouraging smile, he turned his attention back towards Lee. “So, as a way of thanking us, they’re letting us hold Plotkovich for questioning. Right now, he’s our only source of information. The Magician won’t be able to get back into the Embassy without being taken into custody, or shipped right back to Russia. Which means he most likely won’t go back there, but I’m sure he’s got enough friends inside the Embassy that he’s not totally cut off. And even if Romanovich does go back there, it’s not like the Embassy is going to just hand him over to us.”
Lee leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. “So if we can’t get Plotkovich to talk, we’re basically back to square one? Have you heard from Fielder? He was doing a thorough search of the school, not that I expect him to find anything, but we had to leave him there to make it look like an official investigation was being done.”
Billy sighed and leaned back against the window. “Fielder called, he’s on his way back. His team finished at the school, and you’re right, they didn’t find anything. He didn’t expect to find anything either, but, like you said, we had to make it look convincing for the Principal. He did say that when he was leaving, he noticed the Embassy car was gone. Apparently we all forgot about the driver of the car. He tracked the car back to the Embassy, and they aren’t releasing any information on the driver. I tried to encourage them to let us at least talk to the driver, but they said we already have one bargaining chip, they refuse to give us another.”
Lee turned and glared at the man on the other side of the window. “Francine’s not getting anywhere with him, Billy.” He turned back and looked pleadingly at his boss. “Please, let me go in there.”
Amanda moved forward and stood next to her husband. “Lee, I think the threatening angle won’t work. You tried that back at the school, remember?”
Lee turned to look at his wife. “A-man-da.”
Billy cleared his throat. “I stick with my earlier decision, Scarecrow.” He then turned towards Amanda. “Now, I know you want to stick around and hear what we find out, but it may be a long while before we get anything out of him.” He pointed back towards the window. “I want you to go home and take care of your family. I’ve already sent extra teams to your house, just to be on the safe side, and I want you,” he looked directly at Lee, “to go with her. She’s going to need all the support she can get.”
“Thank you, sir.” Amanda nodded at her boss. “Um, sir, Lee and I were trying to decide exactly what to tell my family. As much as I would love to be able to tell them a modified version of the truth, we realized that wouldn’t be possible without exposing Jack as a spy. Since my mother and Joe know what we do for a living, it’s going to be awful hard not to tell them the truth. Do you have any suggestions?”
Billy scrunched his face in thought. “Well, we know that Jack tells everyone that he sells airplane parts for a living…so, tell them that he sold some parts to a couple of Russians who turned out to be with the KGB and the deal went bad.” He then looked at Amanda. “As far as your oldest is concerned, if you feel like telling your son what you do, go ahead, it might make things a little easier for him if he knows that you have the right connections to find his brother. With regards to Sydney, you can tell them that since Jack is now working with the government to fix the situation with the deal gone wrong, you were ordered to take Sydney in because Jack feared for her safety. Tell them that the Russians who were assigned to protect the chess prodigy recognized her, and took her to get to Jack. That part, at least, is the truth. Let them know that we’ve got every available agent working overtime to find your son and Sydney.”
Amanda gave her boss a half-hearted smile. “Thank you, sir. It may not be the complete truth, but at least it does have a few elements of truth.”
Billy reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know how much you hate lying to your family, Amanda.”
Amanda nodded and gave him a small smile, but it quickly turned to a frown of concern. “Sir, have you contacted the CIA yet? So that they can get word to Jack.”
“Yes, I called them as soon as I heard.” Billy gave her a reassuring nod. “They said they would let Jack know. I’m sure he’ll be on the next flight here.” He had not looked forward to making the phone call to the CIA director, but surprisingly, the director had been very understanding about the whole situation. He had a feeling that it had a lot to do with the fact that Jamie King had been kidnapped, as well.
“Great,” Lee groaned. “That’s all we need, Mr. Personality arriving and mucking up the entire rescue mission.” He looked at his section chief. “You know what’s going to happen the minute he gets here, he’s going to say that since it’s his daughter, the CIA is going to take over the investigation.”
Amanda moved over to her husband and placed a hand on his arm. “Lee, Jack is just as entitled to be a part of the search for his daughter, as you are because of Jamie. We all have a loved one’s best interest at stake.”
Billy watched the exchange with renewed interest. They really were perfect for each other, and he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would before they came to their senses and made a life-long commitment to each other. He had given Lee enough pushes in that direction, and he had been outside the room when Gordon had made the comment about the photo. He wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Dr. Smyth, but he’d do whatever it took to keep the pair together, he owed Lee that much. Shaking his head, he got back to the business at hand. “Actually, Scarecrow, I’ve already received confirmation from the CIA’s deputy director that they’ll let us handle this since it’s been our operation from the start.”
“Well that’s a first.” Lee looked at his boss, with a mixture of shock and relief on his face.
Billy shrugged. “Actually, I think it has more to do with the leak. I think they're afraid that if they get involved, they'll have to admit that Sydney was in the D.C. area all along, and it might tick a few people off that the CIA came to us for help. Since it’s still our operation, I’m having Research get more information on the Magician’s known associates and frequent haunts here in the D.C. area. I told them to follow up on any leads, no matter how small or insignificant they think it might be.”
Amanda removed her hand from her husband’s arm and looked at her boss curiously. “Is that why Research called up here looking for Gordon?”
Billy nodded. “Yes, they need all the available manpower they can get and honestly, Plotkovich is way out of Gordon’s league. He hasn’t had much experience with interrogations, and I didn’t want Gordon to tangle with him,” he motioned at the glass window, “being as green as he is.”
“I think you were probably right, even Francine’s having trouble with Ivan.” Amanda glanced into the interrogation room. Although her husband had openly admitted that he wanted to be the one interrogating Ivan Plotkovich, she had secretly hoped to get a crack at the man as well. She wanted desperately to go in there and wipe the smug look off the man’s face. It was killing her to know that Plotkovich knew where the Magician was holding her son and Sydney, and that the Russian might never give up the information. Fighting the urge to storm into the room, she let out a sigh and then turned to look in her husband’s direction. “I guess we should head home, Lee.” Receiving a nod in response, she turned and headed for the door. As she reached the doorway, she stopped and turned around. “You know, sir, there is one other person who might know where they are?”
Lee looked at his wife curiously. “Amanda, there was no one…” he looked directly into her eyes. His wife nodded and he turned towards Billy. “Amanda’s right. Aleksandr was in the room with Jamie and Sydney. You know he had to have seen what happened, and I’m positive he heard what the Magician would have told Plotkovich.”
Billy shook his head. “I’m sorry, but even if he does know something, there’s no way we can get to the boy and question him.”
“Actually, Billy, there is. One of my family works inside the Embassy. I’ll get in touch with her. She may be able to get in to talk to Aleksandr. Even if she can’t, I can at least have her keep an ear out for anything that might be useful.” Lee turned to follow his wife out the door. “I’ll also get in touch with some of my other family and see if they have any information on the Magician. I’ll let you know if I turn up anything.”
Billy waited until Amanda was in the hallway before reaching out and placing a hand on Lee’s arm. “Amanda’s going to need you more now than ever. I can tell she’s putting up a brave front, but that’s her baby out there in enemy hands.”
“Billy, I’m fully aware of what’s at stake.” Lee looked his boss in the eye. “Jamie’s very important to me, too.”
Billy nodded. “Yes, I know. What I’m trying to tell you is that it’s obvious that she’s bottling up her emotions and it will only take something small to make her explode. Just remember to be there for her, no matter whom she directs her anger at,” he looked pointedly at Lee, “and don’t take it personally, okay?”
Lee ran a hand through his hair. “I hear you.” He had witnessed the type of explosion his wife was capable of just yesterday. The only difference with what happened yesterday and the current situation, was that before neither one of them realized the amount of stress they had been suppressing. Now, however, he was fully aware of the situation and would be able to react a whole lot differently. He would be there for her, no matter what. He glanced briefly towards the interrogation room. Billy was right, Ivan was definitely biding his time; even Francine’s cunning wiles didn’t appear to be working. “I’d better go. I’ll touch base with you if I hear anything from my contacts.”
Billy nodded. “And I promise that I’ll get in touch with you as soon as we have any information at all.”
Lee gave his boss a smile of thanks before heading for the doorway. Entering the hallway, he walked over to his wife.
“What did Mr. Melrose want?” Amanda asked as she started heading towards the elevators.
Lee fell into step beside her, and placed his hand at the small of her back. “He just wanted to assure me that he’ll call us as soon as they hear anything.”
Amanda shook her head and looked at her husband. “Nice try, Scarecrow, but I’m not buying.” She stopped in front of the elevator and pushed the button to go down to the garage.
“Actually, he really did say that. But you’re right, that’s not what he wanted to talk to me about.” Lee glanced over at his wife and caught her looking at him, her eyebrows raised questioningly. “He’s worried about you, and wanted to make sure I was going to be there for you.” He looked directly into his wife’s eyes. “And that’s the honest truth.”
“I love you, Lee.” She looked deeply into her husband’s hazel eyes, so full of expression. “I don’t think I’d be able to keep my wits about me if I didn’t have you.”
Lee placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “And I’m not going anywhere.” The elevator doors opened and he guided his wife inside. “And I love you, too.”
“Lee?” Pressing the button for the garage level, Amanda turned and looked up at her husband. “Do you really carry a picture of us in your wallet?”
Lee let out a self-conscious laugh and, as the elevator doors closed, he pulled out his wallet. “Yeah, I do.” Opening the wallet, he took out the picture he had shown Gordon earlier. “As long as I have that, my family is always with me.”
Amanda wrapped her arms around him. “Our family is very lucky to have you.” She leaned up and kissed him on the lips.
Lee returned the kiss and pulled her closer. It wasn’t until the bell dinged to let them know they had arrived on their floor, that he remembered where they were. “I guess we just gave the security guys something to talk about.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly. “I guess we’ll be telling a lot more secrets when this whole thing is over.” She took his hand in hers. “Come on. We have a lot of ground to cover at home. The sooner we fill our family in on what’s going on, the sooner we can get back here and help look for Jamie and Sydney.”
Lee nodded as he accepted her hand. He knew that she wanted to be back in that interrogation room, just as much as he did. He also knew that she needed to go take care of things on the home front. The next twenty-four hours were going to be extremely tough, especially on his wife, and he was going to be there for her, in whatever way he could.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Please note that any dialogue in italics is indicating that the speaker is speaking in Russian…