Chapter 9

Lee pulled up to the agency with this disturbing thought plaguing his senses. "Um, we've got to let Billy know. Maybe he and Francine can get a location on Leslie," he said, ushering her out of the car and into the building. Mrs. Marsden gave the pair a bewildered look as they made record time checking in with her before they rushed to the elevator. Lee angrily shoved a jacket out of his way and the clunk as it hit the other side of the wall echoed through the tiny chamber.

Amanda nervously tapped her foot on the floor in a rhythmical pattern; the short ride seemed to be taking forever today. Finally they reached their destination and before the doors could shut behind them Lee and Amanda were off again. They hurried into the bullpen and past a frenzied Francine who was buried in files and folders. Seeing an excuse for a much-needed break, Francine vacated her workstation and followed behind Amanda into Billy's office. Billy was seated at his desk arguing with someone on the other end of the phone. He held up a finger to signal the trio to have a seat, never

once breaking his concentration. He hung up the phone with a loud clunk as it hit the base.

"That was the lab. They just received the test results on the remnants of the bomb in your house, Amanda. It's a match to the one the President received, except this one was armed. Now we all know who planted it there--my question is why? We still don't know why they are after Amanda," Billy said, intertwining his fingers and folding his hands on top of his desk, knocking a pencil astray in the process.

"Dzhugashvili shouldn't even know of her connections with the agency. We sealed her files under a code yellow priority, that means no access to anyone except the people in this office," Francine said glancing at the stray pencil as it rolled underneath Billy's desk and out the far side in front of Amanda's chair.

"We know how," Lee said finally getting a word in. "Amanda made the connection," he sighed, knowing that Francine would never let him live down what he was about to tell her. "About a month ago I met a Leslie O'Connor while on assignment at an UN embassy party. I uh...asked her out. Now as far as we can tell," he said glancing over at Amanda "Leslie is the connection. She met Amanda at my apartment and although we gave her a cover story she could have checked up on it."

"And this was before Amanda's files were under high security. With the right connections they would be fairly easy to access," Billy said, "But I don't see how this woman fits in."

"Sir," Amanda said, picking up the stray pencil and proceeding to juggle it in her hands. " Leslie mentioned to me that she is a translator. And that she had been to Moscow," she said, breaking off when the eraser popped off the end of the pencil.

"Yeah," Lee began where she left off. " Billy, you said earlier that the only visits to the prison had been two translators with spotless records. Well, I think that maybe at least one of them didn't have such a spotless record after all, and that one is Leslie O'Connor. Francine, how easy would it be to forge papers for a translator?"

Francine shrugged and raised her eyebrows. "I would assume with a computer it would be doable. You don't think..." she said before Lee cut her off.

"I think that my meeting Leslie at that party was no accident. Dzhugashvili's been out of prison for at least three months; that's more than enough time to set up something like this. It was just coincidence that Leslie ran into Amanda," he glanced down, preparing himself for the inevitable shock that would be the effect of his next statement. " Dzhugashvili wants revenge, and he is using Amanda to get just that."

"Lee?" Amanda said, still preoccupied with the pencil.

"Yeah?" he replied, expecting the worst. He hated to tell her that once again her association with the agency had put a threat on her life, but it was impossible to keep her in the dark.

"Look," she answered, handing him the damaged pencil with the eraser side facing up.

"What?" He couldn't figure out why she would want him to look at a pencil at a time like this. He glanced down expecting to see wood and instead wires met his eye. He brought the pencil closer and discovered that it was hollowed out, all but the tip of lead replaced by an intricate system of wires and minute microphones. "Oh no," he said.

"You were right," Amanda said quietly.

Lee put a finger to his lips silencing the impending questions from Billy and Francine. He glanced around for something useful and settled on Billy's decanter of water sitting on a side table. He opened the lid and deposited the pencil, watching it sink to the bottom before replacing the lid and finally speaking. "We have a leak at the agency."

Billy and Francine shared a glance and Billy leaned over to get a closer look at their enemy, a tiny bug that had been recording every bit of information previously discussed in the office.

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

Meanwhile Leslie Barnes/ O'Connor was busy delivering the latest piece of information to Iosif Dzhugashvili.

"So they have discovered us," Dzhugashvili said, his hands steepled under his chin in a thoughtful manner. He slowly swiveled his oversized armchair around away from the window. "Lee Stetson's worst nightmare is coming true right before his eyes. We have infiltrated his beloved agency and we have reins on that which, apparently, is most precious to him--Amanda King. Have they discovered the bug planted in Mr. Stetson's car?"

"No Sir, not yet. I predict it won't be long before they do after finding the one in Mr. Melrose's office. His apartment will probably be swept as well."

"No matter. They have extended their usefulness to us anyway. Our contact can inform us of any important proceedings from now on. Paranoia is approaching fast for Mr. Stetson now. He will probably keep Mrs. King under his own watchful eye. Is everything ready for the next stage?"

"Miss Brinkman is setting up the facility as we speak. I've also had your men, per your orders, set a small surprise in Stetson's apartment. We are one step ahead of him. When he arrives with Mrs. King in tow he will have the scare of a lifetime, Sir."

"Very nice. We must keep the element of surprise on our side if we wish to be successful, Miss Barnes."

"Of course," she nodded and backed out of the room through the great double doors guarding the office entrance. As the doors shut behind her an sadistic smile spread over her features as she thought, 'Mrs. King will get more than she deserves for taking you away from me, Lee. I would have abandoned the old man for you but you chose her instead. Next time you won't be around to make the same mistake; neither of you will."