Chapter Three Wednesday, November 15, 1989
Amanda and Lee sat in the foyer of the Hungarian Embassy, waiting for Béla Szabó. Apparently, he was still in conference with the Ambassador. Amanda leaned over to Lee and whispered, “Let me know if you see that aide.” Lee nodded and squeezed her hand. It was on days like this that Lee felt blessed to have a partner like Amanda. She was able to see things no one else would ever notice and her instincts were usually right on target.
Just then, an older man entered the foyer. “Mr. and Mrs. Stetson? I am Béla Szabó. It gives me much joy to see you today,” he welcomed. Lee and Amanda stood and shook his hand. “Please…to follow me, yes?” He motioned for them to follow him. As they walked through the embassy, Amanda was struck with the simple beauty of the rooms. Finally, they reached a little reception area.
“Mr. Szabó,” Lee began. “I have here the details of the security plan we’ve developed. It’s pretty straightforward. However, I am concerned about the ball you will be hosting here on Saturday. Yesterday, I met with János Balázs, but he was unwilling to let us do more than get a cursory look at your ballroom.”
Mr. Szabó looked disturbed. “Mr. Stetson, my apologies. I do not understand why János would not allow this. Please, let me show you there so you may do your work.” He jumped up and proceeded to show them the way, apologizing the entire time. As Lee looked around the ballroom, making extensive notes, Amanda stood to the back and looked up at the balcony. She noticed a man peeking through the curtains of the door that opened back into the building. When the man saw Amanda, the curtains flew shut. “Hmm,” she said to herself. “I wonder if that’s Mr. Balázs.”
Eventually, Lee made his way back over to his wife. “I think I have everything now. Are you ready?”
“Sure,” she replied and they walked back to Mr. Szabó’s room. He met them on their way and was effusive in his thanks for the detailed security plan. As he led them out the front, Amanda noticed the same man from earlier watching them from a corridor. She whispered to Lee, “Is that him?” Lee looked over and nodded. “Hmm…” she murmured as they left.
As Lee opened her car door for her, she said, “Lee, that man was watching you in the ballroom. He stopped when he saw me watching him. I definitely think we need to keep a close eye on him Saturday night.”“I agree,” Lee responded.
“Something’s fishy about that guy. I’ll be interested to see if Francine or Ephraim have turned anything up on him.”
SMK SMK
At the Agency, Francine sat at her computer, reading the information she’d found on Mátyás Kun, the delegation member Magda had pointed out. From what she’d found earlier, he’d been a party member since the age of 17. There wasn’t much else to go on, so she was trying to decipher his family members and match them to any undesirables on the Agency list.
Just then, the door flew open and a laughing Kelly backed in, followed by a smiling Ephraim. Francine looked up and grimaced. There was something about Kelly that she just didn’t like. She seemed familiar, but Francine couldn’t place a finger on why. “Oh,” Kelly exclaimed with a giggle. “I think we’re disturbing Ms. Desmond, Ephraim. Want to join me in the library?” She leaned forward towards Ephraim with a suggestive look.
Ephraim looked at Kelly, a little nonplussed. He glanced over at Francine, then replied, “Uh, no, Kelly, I really need to get some work done in here. I think Amanda wanted you to finish shelving those books.” Kelly gave a little moue and Francine rolled her eyes.
Kelly glanced over at Francine, then turned around to Ephraim and simpered, “You know, I heard that they have a really great deli just down the street. I, uh, was wondering if you’d like to join me for lunch. Please say you will, Ephraim?”
Francine looked up at Ephraim and was shocked when he answered, “Sure, Kelly, I’d love to.” Kelly giggled and wiggled her fingers at him as she sauntered out of the room. Before she left, she shot a triumphant look towards Francine.
“You might want to watch your back there, Beaman,” Francine warned. “Looks like someone has her hook out for you.”
Ephraim gave Francine a look and said, “She’s just lonely. She told me all of her family is back in Georgia and she hasn’t really made any friends here.”
“I just bet she hasn’t,” Francine muttered. “It’s your life…just trying to help you out.”
“I don’t need helping, thank you very much,” Ephraim retorted. “So, have you found anything out about Kun?”
Francine filled him out on the background she’d found, then said, “How about you…anything on Balázs?”
“Nothing more than you found…party member since 17. Can you check the Agency list for his last name? What town did you say Kun was from?”
“Um,” Francine muttered as she looked at her background information, “Balatonfüred…why?”
“Nothing,” Ephraim sighed. “I thought maybe they were from the same town…maybe they are connected to one another. Mine is from Veszprém. I’m still going to look into the geography. Maybe there’s a connection that way.”
The two of them continued working for the rest of the morning. Around 11:30, Kelly popped in and said in a sing-song voice, “Ephraim, I’m ready!”
He glanced up at her, somewhat surprised at her tone. “Oh, is it lunchtime already?”
“You silly,” Kelly laughed. “Of course it is! We want to beat the lunchtime rush now don’t we?”
“I guess…” Ephraim muttered, glancing over at Francine. She looked at him, then faced her computer. “Sure, Kelly, let’s go right now,” he exclaimed. Kelly giggled, then put her arm through his.
Francine watched them go out, then threw a folder at the closed door. She knew that Kelly was up to no good, and Ephraim was going to suffer for it.
SMK SMK
The rest of the day flew by as Lee and Amanda met with various members of their “family” to see if they had heard of any plans to disrupt the delegation. Francine and Beaman continued digging into the background of the two suspects.
Finally, at 6, Lee called the rest of them into the conference room. “OK, Rhonda told us she overheard one of the embassy workers complain about Balázs. Apparently, they haven’t been allowed to work in or around the Ambassador’s office all week. Unfortunately, that’s all anyone had for us. If Balázs has a plan, he’s keeping it close to the vest.”
“We were able to determine that Kun and Balázs worked at the same resort on Lake Balaton around the same time. We can’t confirm, however, if they worked together. I tried calling the resort, but they don’t keep employment records for that long. However, they both began working for the party at around the same time as well. We’re still trying to dig, but looks like this is all we’re going to find,” Ephraim explained.
“What’s our next step?” Francine asked.
“OK, tomorrow and Friday they are in meetings all day in offices at the State Department. I’ve assigned several agents to be there, and Secret Service is also going to be working them. I’d like for one of us each to be there at rotation shift, to get a feel for the meetings as well as getting a physical ID on Kun,” Lee clarified. “Our main concern continues to be the Saturday night ball. Ephraim, I’d like for you and Francine to head over there tomorrow and make a sweep of the room. That way you can also ID Balázs. We’ll all meet here prior to going to the ball on Friday night, to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
They all nodded and got up to leave for the day. Francine pulled Amanda to the side and whispered, “I need to talk to you sometime about…Kelly.”
Amanda gave her a look and nodded. “Does it need to be tonight? I’ve really got to get home…apparently Katie has been really fussy today. I think she may be teething again.”
“No, it can wait until the morning…she just bugs me. Nothing official,” Francine sighed. “Go home and take care of Katie. I’ll be fine.”
SMK SMK
Around 8:00, Francine was sitting on her couch, glass of wine in one hand, remote control in the other. She had been surfing through the channels mindlessly, her mind unable to get off of Kelly. She’d finally realized what was so familiar about Kelly. Kelly was exactly like the simpering women Francine always saw at cocktail parties- the kind that had clawed their way up the social ladder.
Obviously, Kelly had set her sights on Ephraim. He was a really nice guy and was well-liked by everyone in the Agency. Kelly must have thought that by, catching him, she would be able to have her choice of assignments. Ephraim wasn’t rich by any standards, but he did well enough to drive a new car and wear nice clothes. Francine would be willing to bet that Kelly came from a blue collar family and saw Ephraim as a meal ticket.
As soon as she came to this realization, the phone rang. “Hello?” Francine answered.
“Hi,” Jonathan responded, “Is this a bad time?”
“Jonathan?” Francine choked out. “What…what…ahem, why are you calling?”
“I was wondering if you got my invitation.”
“Yes, Jonathan, I did,” Francine retorted. “Are you calling for congratulations…or to ask if I’m going to buy you a gift? I’ll tell you the first, but don’t hold your breath on the second.”
“Actually, I was wondering if I could come over,” Jonathan explained.
“Come over? No, you can’t come over!” Francine exclaimed. “Why on Earth would you want to come over?”
“I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing…marrying Eloise,” he said. “I think I’m still in love with you.”
Francine hung up the phone. “Who does he think he is? Why is he doing this to me?” She burst into tears as she thought about the games Jonathan had played with her heart over the years. First, he’d left her at the altar. Then, he’d come back into her life and drugged her for Brody. Then, she’d given me another chance and wasted a year in trying to please him. Now, he was messing with her head, telling her he didn’t know if he should get married.
She looked around the room for something to throw and found a magazine. As she was lifting it to throw, her doorbell rang. “Ugh!” she yelled. “Jonathan, if that’s you…you better look…” As she opened the door, she saw Ephraim standing there with a folder in his hand.
“Francine, I hope…” Ephraim began, stopping when he saw her tearstained face. “Francine? What’s going on? What’s happened?” He put his hand on her shoulder as he spoke to her.
“Oh, uh, Ephraim…um, nothing’s going on…why do you ask? Did you need me for something?” she spit out, turning to wipe her face, hoping to hide the evidence of her outburst.
“Francine, it’s obvious there is something going on. Something has obviously upset you. So, tell me…what’s going on?” Ephraim pressed as he walked into her apartment.
Francine shrugged her shoulders and motioned for him to sit down. “I just hung up on my ex-boyfriend. I received his wedding invitation a few days ago, and tonight he called me and told me he thought he was still in love with me,” she sighed.
“Oh,” Ephraim exhaled. “So…I take it you weren’t happy with him calling? I mean, since you said you hung up on him.”
“No, I wasn’t happy! That jerk has jerked me around for the last time! He actually wanted to come see me…can you believe that? I really feel sorry for this woman he’s marrying. I hope he doesn’t leave her at the altar,” she yelled.
Ephraim sighed and watched as Francine strode about the room, waving her hands in the air. “I take it this is Jonathan Stone you’re referring to,” he finally said.
“How did…how did you know that’s who I’m talking about?” she questioned as she stopped pacing to look at him.“You seem to forget…I was around the last time you were with him. I well remember when you broke things off…people steered clear of you for quite a long time, if I recall,” Ephraim shared. “In fact, you locked me in a supply closet one afternoon for saying the name Jonathan in your presence.”
Francine stared as the memory of that afternoon rushed back. She flushed and whispered, “Oh, Ephraim, I’m really sorry about that. It’s just that Jonathan makes me so mad sometimes!”
“I take it this is what’s had you in such a stellar mood the last few days,” Ephraim surmised. Francine flushed again and bowed her head. “Hey, it’s OK. I understand. It’s hard when you see someone you once cared about taking a big step…even if you don’t particularly want to see them ever again.”
Francine walked over and sat on the couch next to Ephraim. “When you’d get to be so nice? I’m really sorry I’ve been so grouchy this week. Forgive me?”
Ephraim smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Of course…that’s what friends are for. OK?” He pulled back and gazed into her eyes. “You can always come to me…for anything.”
Francine stared back at him. He really was a nice guy…nothing like the other men she’d known over the years, with the exception of Lee. Ephraim was someone she could count on- he never played games with her and allowed her to be herself, without holding her mistakes against her. “That means more to me than you can possibly know, Ephraim,” she whispered as she gazed into his eyes.
Slowly, they started leaning towards each other…when the doorbell rang. Ephraim couldn’t help but exhale audibly. Francine leaned back and wiped her face with her hands, then made as if to stand. Ephraim put his hand on her shoulder and said, “Allow me.”
Ephraim walked over to the door and opened it to find Jonathan Stone standing there. “Yes?” Ephraim said authoritatively.
Jonathan gaped at him, then asked, “Um, is Francine here? She’s expecting me?”
“She is?” Ephraim queried, sarcasm evident in his voice.
“Uh…” Jonathan stammered. Then, he noticed Francine wander into the room from the bathroom.“Who is that, darling? Has our pizza arrived? Don’t forget to tip him this time,” Francine called out.
“Honey, it appears to be an old friend of yours. He says you’re expecting him,” Ephraim answered, catching on quickly to Francine’s game.
“Oh?” Francine said as she walked over to Ephraim. “Jonathan? What are you doing here?”
“I told you I was coming…”
“That’s right…and I believe I made it clear that you weren’t welcome.”
“Who’s this?” Jonathan demanded. Ephraim glanced down at Francine and smiled.
“I’m her fiancé,” Ephraim responded. “Now, Francine has made it clear that you aren’t welcome. So, I suggest you leave…now…before I’m forced to take…an action…you might not like.”
“Her…fiancé? Francine, you’re getting…married?”
“Yes…as are you, Jonathan,” Francine answered. “Don’t contact me again. I prefer to leave my mistakes in the past.”
“I think that’s your cue to leave, Mr. Stone,” Ephraim warned. Jonathan looked one last time at Francine, then walked away dejectedly. Ephraim closed the door and watched Francine walk back to her couch.
“Francine, I, um, I hope I didn’t overstep…I mean…you called me darling, so I thought…”
“Ephraim…thank you,” Francine said. “You really helped me out tonight. You didn’t overstep…you were wonderful.” She lowered her head.
“OK,” he answered. “Um, I think I’d better go. I came by to give you the schedule for tomorrow. Lee left it on my desk, and I figured you might want to look it over before the meetings.”
“You don’t have to go,” Francine said.
“Yeah, I think I do,” Ephraim responded. “You need to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He turned to walk out the door when Francine rushed up to him and gave him a fierce hug. “Thanks,” she whispered, then turned and went to the bathroom.
Ephraim stared at her as she left, then shook his head. Tonight he’d seen a different Francine, a vulnerable Francine…and she’d never been more beautiful.