Chapter 19

A battered and bandaged Lee opened his eyes to find himself staring at another uncomforting hospital ceiling. His shoulder ached and he could feel gauze placed over what he assumed were burns. Glancing around, he noticed an IV stuck in his arm and he fought the instantaneous urge to pull it out.

The only thing different this time is that he remembered what had happened. 'We were so close.' Lee turned his head to find Billy dozing on a sofa in the corner. His clothes were tattered and Lee could spot a few identical bandages peeking out from the numerous holes in Billy's attire. The door opened and an unmarred Francine walked in quietly, glancing first at Lee and then at Billy. She tiptoed over to Lee and gave him a comforting smile.

"What happened?" Lee whispered.

"You don't remember?" Francine returned, a puzzled frown replacing her smile.

"I remember the blast, but after that everything's a blur. What happened to Dzhugashvili?"

"He was killed in the blast. We're still searching for his remains. I think that bomb was his backup plan. Lee, Amanda wasn't in the building."

"What?" Lee said, not believing his ears. He had been sure...

"There were no human remains found in the rubble," Francine had to smile at the huge grin that erupted on Lee's face.

"There were some tire tracks leading away from the scene, we lost them a few miles later. We assume that whoever was driving that car had Amanda with them."

"So there's still a chance," Lee said, already moving to get up from the bed.

"Whoa, Lee. Come on, now. You were pretty close to that blast yourself."

"I'm fine, Francine. I've got to find her. Leslie is probably the one who has Amanda and she's already proven herself to be dangerous--not to mention demented."

"Francine's right, Lee," Billy spoke up. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes before coming over to the opposite side of the bed. " You need to rest. We all do. I have a team of agents going over that building with a fine tooth comb. But until they turn up something helpful getting ourselves killed is not going to do anyone any good."

"You can't keep me here, Billy. Not this time. I'll sign out AMA if I have to, but I'm not staying strapped down to this bed helpless when I could be out there doing something. We were close, Billy! She was right under our noses. I'm not letting them take her away from me again."

Billy met Lee in an intense staring match until Billy finally relented and shook his head in annoyance. "Fine. You can leave. But as soon as this case is over you are taking a mandatory vacation!"

"Yes, sir!" Lee grinned as Billy called in a nurse to take out the IV.

***********************************************************************

"No, no, no! It wasn't supposed to end this way. We were going to live together, start over. He said he loved me. I loved him. And now he's dead. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" Leslie shouted at the prone Amanda, who was sprawled across the back seat unaware of the gradual decline of her tormentor's mind.

"I'm not going to get caught," Leslie said violently shaking her head from side to side like a child throwing a tantrum. Her neck was sore by the time her motions ceased, but she didn't feel it. She was beyond feeling any pain except for the ache deep in her heart. "And I'm not going to let Lee have you. He doesn't deserve you. He wants me. I know that deep down he wants me, not you. And I'm going to have him all to myself once you are gone. He'll never know what hit him!" Leslie sharply tuned the wheel, punctuating her exclamation sending the gray sedan squealing around the corner and nearly tipping it over.

When all four tires finally met with the ground again, the car fishtailed as its insane driver fought for control. With a screech Leslie managed to throw the car into park along the curb in front of an apartment building. Masked by the growing dusk she pulled an awaking Amanda out of the car and dragged her around to the back of the building. When they had first planned their entry into Lee's apartment Sam Macht had discovered an old service elevator hidden in the back of the storage room. Now Leslie broke open the wooden barrier covering a small square entrance that had once been a window with adrenaline-induced strength and slung Amanda over her shoulder, ducking into the hole.

Carefully placed empty boxes were flung aside as Leslie attacked them with her foot. She dropped Amanda roughly to the perforated metal floor of the elevator and jammed the button that would lead her up to Lee's now vacant apartment, mumbling incoherently to voices only she could hear. With a creak the elevator ceased its upward climb and Leslie carefully surveyed her surroundings before grabbing Amanda's limp hands and forcing her body to follow her path. Police tape was ripped off of the walls and door, sending chips of paint flying through the air. The door was kicked in, splintering the

frame and denting the wall behind. Used to unusual activity, no curious neighbors poked their heads out to see what the commotion was all about.

Leslie forced Amanda onto the familiar couch, now covered with fingerprint dust and pieces of broken glass. A small bloodstain on the arm of the couch made the now semi-conscious Amanda shiver and she couldn't bring herself to steal a glance over at Lee's bedroom. Leslie went on a rampage, destroying everything that wasn't already in a shambles.

Then suddenly she stopped, her eyes fixating on a picture frame in front of her. Amanda rolled her head over to see what had stopped the tirade and gasped as she recognized the picture Leslie now madly clutched in her grasp. Billy had taken it in front of the agency to try out a new high zoom camera the agency had just obtained for its priority surveillance cases. She and Lee had comfortably moved close together and smiled for the camera. Lee had placed a copy in the Q Bureau and Amanda had noticed this copy briefly the other night before disaster struck.

Leslie swung around to face Amanda, blind rage evident in her eyes. Suddenly she hurled the picture at Amanda, the glass shattering against the back of the couch and raining down on her prone form. Amanda found that she feared a silent Leslie more than the babbling one. Leslie approached her slowly, each step foreshadowing her intent to kill Amanda, a small mirthless grin twisting the corner of her mouth into a snarl. Just as Leslie wrapped her hands around an almost unconscious Amanda's neck, a small click froze the scene. Leslie glanced up in horror and threw her hands up to her mouth as she muffled a scream. Amanda, confused and disoriented, tried her best to fight the impending darkness and listen to the action playing out around her.

"No, no--you're dead. I saw the bomb!" Leslie began, her pitch rising from a frightened whisper to a shout in a matter of seconds. She instinctively stepped backwards until her knees hit the back of the coffee table, nearly causing her to fall.

"As you can see my dear, I am very much alive. I must ask you--what are you doing?" Amanda cringed at the masculine voice that flowed from behind her. She had been relieved that Dzhugashvili was dead just so her ears would never be assaulted with his rich baritone again.

"I'm--I'm finishing it, Iosif. I want her gone!" Leslie sputtered in shock, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective gesture.

"But that is not the plan, Leslie. I'm beginning to think that you are a traitor."

"No! No, Iosif, I love you!"

"Ahh, but you also love, or at least loved, Mr. Stetson," Dzhugashvili stated with an eerie assurance as he closed the distance between himself and Leslie. Even with blurring vision, Amanda recognized the outline of the barrel of a gun protruding from Dzhugashvili's massive hand. Its relentless aim was directed at Leslie and the reason for her fear became evident. Leslie's shocked gasp elicited a throaty laugh from Iosif.

"Did you forget that I had installed surveillance cameras in the room, Leslie? I heard your whole...dramatic account of the sordid details. How could you even think of betraying me?" Dzhugashvili growled, whipping the back of the gun across Leslie's cheek. She stumbled backwards and landed on the floor, scooting backwards to avoid his rage.

"I loved you, Iosif! But you never loved me like that! I wanted more, Leslie said, trembling.

"You are not worthy of more. If not for me you would never have done what you have done, seen what you have seen! I knew that you enjoyed it, craved it," Iosif purred as he sensually stoked her swelling cheek with the gun. "You were nothing more that someone to take the blame and grant me my freedom. Taking you to my bed was just an added bonus."

"You son of a..." Leslie screamed, lunging towards Iosif. Her words were cut short as Dzhugashvili fired the gun, hitting her square in the chest. Leslie fell to her knees, clutching her wound in shock, her eyes wide with horror and fear as she faced her own mortality in front of two people she now hated with a passion.

Amanda weakly turned her head away from the carnage, the recent events permanently burning themselves into her brain. She finally allowed herself to surrender to the darkness even as she sensed Dzhugashvili approach the couch.

***********************************************************************

Lee once again found himself pacing the length of the Q Bureau. This time Billy had joined him as they anxiously awaited news from Francine. They both stopped and laughed sheepishly, if not happily, as they bumped into one another. Lee retreated to the repaired window and glanced at the street below where normal people were bustling about, rushing to get home from their "normal" jobs as the sun set. Billy leaned back against Lee's desk, keeping his eyes trained on the door. A shadowy figure appeared behind the frosted glass and the door handle turned, admitting a flustered Francine into the office. She held up a perfectly manicured hand to stop their onslaught of questions and only spoke once she was assured silence.

"Leslie's records are clean. There are no obvious places she would go. Her hotel room is--get this--at the Arlington Hilton, room 44."

"Oh my God," Lee choked out. "Amanda's family is in room 48."

"I know. I had a team sent over. They're okay, Lee--don't worry. Leslie's room turned up nothing useful either. There was a small wardrobe stashed in the closet and a few bottles of perfume on the dresser. It was very neat, like someone had taken great care to make it look as inconspicuous as possible."

"Dzhugashvili's work I'm sure," Billy added

"There was some chemical residue on the dresser; we assume that it was part of a concoction used to drug Amanda in order to get her out of the apartment and make the switch with Karen. Nothing amazing about that. But... we just got wind of a police report upstairs. A woman called the police reporting shots fired next door. It's Lee's old apartment building."

"She's there. She went back to the scene of the crime!" Lee shouted, his hand already on the doorknob.

"Let's get over there," Billy said. " Francine, get some backup over there and then follow behind us. Here," Billy dug in his pocket and tossed his car keys at Francine. "Take my car." Francine nodded and picked up the phone, her clicking heels echoing behind the retreating forms of the two male agents.