Too Close to Home: A Scarecrow and Mrs. King Continuing Story - Book 2

Chapter 3

Q-Bureau

Amanda was just coming out of the safe room when the door opened and Lee walked in. "Well, hi!" She smiled and turned to lock the vault door.

Lee smiled back and closed the door behind him. "Hey." He walked over to her and laid his hands on either side of her baby-bump. "How are my girls doing?" He bent down to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Girls, huh?" Amanda shook her head. "What makes you so sure this is a girl?"

Lee bent down at the waist to talk directly to the baby-bump and whispered conspiratorially. "Don't take it personally, Little One. Mommy just doesn't know yet, but Daddy knows you're going to be sweet and beautiful and smart – just like her."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Lee jerked himself back into a standing position and turned abruptly toward the door to see Billy standing there with a smirk on his face. "What are you smiling at?" Lee stood next to Amanda and put his arm around her shoulders. "Haven't you ever seen a man talking to his unborn child?"

"Of course I have." Billy came in and nodded at Amanda. "Hello, Amanda."

"Hello, Sir."

"I just never thought I'd see you doing it." Billy grinned a wide, cheeky grin.

Lee let go of Amanda and wandered over to his desk to sit. "You needed something, Billy?" Billy turned serious and placed a file folder on the desk. Lee reached for it. "What's this?"

"This is a file on Tania Amador."

"Tania Amador." Lee squinted up at Billy as he opened the file. "That name sounds familiar."

"Francine was up here getting her file from the vault this morning." Amanda absentmindedly reached a hand around to massage her lower back. "Who is she?"

Billy sat in the chair near Lee's desk and removed his glasses. "About six years ago, the D.C. area experienced a large up-tick in teen over-doses. One of the similarities in all these cases was that they were happening in affluent school districts, and the kids all died after using tainted drugs."

"Yeah, that's right." Lee tapped a pencil on his desk and looked at Amanda to explain. "In every case, there was a new female student in the school who had befriended the students who died. But the descriptions were never exactly the same."

"Is that this Tania Amador?"

"No," Lee leaned back in his chair and looked up at her. "She was a person of interest in a separate drug investigation. We always thought there might be a connection, but we could never prove it. Then she disappeared." Lee looked back toward Billy. "Why the renewed interest in her, Billy?"

"There may have been a sighting of her here in D.C."

Lee's eyebrows raised. "Really? After all this time?" He tapped his fingers on the desk. "I always figured she'd ended up as a Jane Doe in some morgue somewhere."

"Francine is looking into it, but so far it seems likely the sighting is authentic. If it is, Scarecrow, I want you on it."

"Are you thinking she could be here on business?"

"That's what I want you to find out." Billy stood to leave. "Oh, by the way, did you talk to T.P.?"

"Yeah. He seems to think Foster, Donald Jordan's third, may have had the strings to pull to get Peralta executed."

"I thought Foster was still in prison?"

"Yeah." Lee stood. "Give me a day or two to look into this as well, Billy."

"Alright, Scarecrow." Billy moved toward the door; Amanda followed him. "Let me know as soon as you find anything."

"Of course."

"See you two, later." He waved and was out the door.

Amanda closed it behind him and turned to look at Lee. "Looks like you've got quite a bit to keep you busy for a while."

"Looks like." He walked over to her and wrapped his hands around her upper arms, careful to avoid the area that was still sensitive from the knife wounds she'd received three months ago. "I'm gonna need the car for this, Manda. You think your mother could pick you up?"

Amanda nodded her head. "Sure, I can give her a call; but why don't I just come with you?"

Lee shook his head. "No, not where I have to go today."

"Lee," Amanda reached out her hands and laid them against his chest. "Won't you need back-up?"

He shook his head even more emphatically. "No. Please don't ask me to take you with me, Amanda. There's no way I want to take my pregnant wife to the Hell-hole I need to visit."

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Amanda closed her eyes and nodded her head. "Alright." Opening her eyes again, she smiled and patted his chest. "I've got some more research to do here before I leave. Anything you want me to do?"

"Actually, yes. Would you check the data bases to see if there have been any unusual teen overdoses in the area in the last, say, six weeks?"

"Sure. Are you thinking they might be related to this sighting – that is, if there are any?"

"I'm not sure; it's just a gut feeling. And honestly, I'm not sure if it's because of the sighting or the information T.P. gave me on Peralta and Foster." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

Amanda smoothed her hands down from his shoulders to his biceps. "Do you think you'll be home in time for dinner?"

"I plan on it, but I'll try to let you know if I'm gonna be late." He leaned down to give her a peck on the lips, but when he lifted his head and looked into her eyes, he decided it wasn't enough. Bringing his hands up to frame her face, he gazed into her eyes for a moment before lowering his lips back to hers and capturing her mouth in a much more intimate kiss.

Amanda closed her eyes to savor every sense ignited by his kiss. When he broke away and lowered his forehead to hers, she took in a shuddering breath and sighed. "Be careful, okay?"

He raised his head to give her a sweet kiss on her forehead. "I'm always careful." He pulled away to look into her eyes. "Have I told you today how much I love you, Mrs. Stetson?" He kissed her forehead again, reached down to squeeze her hands, and turned to leave.

"I love you, too, Mr. Stetson."

He turned with a smile and a wave. "See you at home." And then he was out the door.

Home. The word held much more meaning for him now than it ever had in his entire life – well, at least since his parents had been alive. Amanda had done such an amazing job rearranging her household to make him feel like he wasn't intruding that it truly was beginning to feel like home.

Lee drummed his thumb on the steering wheel of the Vette as he drove through the downtown streets of Washington D.C. Dotty had welcomed him like a son and even had a great attitude about designing a new apartment over the garage for her so they would have a room for the baby. Which, by the way, he and Amanda needed to start fixing up into a nursery. They hadn't even done any shopping yet. Amanda had the boys' old baby crib in storage, and she wanted to use that. But there were other things to think about as well: paint, bedding, wallpaper...Lee chuckled out loud. In all honesty, he felt like a more complete man than he ever had before. It was a strange feeling.

The only thing that poured a little bit of cold water on the whole family thing was Philip, which was surprising. He would have thought Jamie would have the most difficult time since he was the one who had struggled so much when Lee first openly entered their lives. Philip had always liked him and tried to get Jamie to accept him. But now...Jamie was the easy one, and Philip had turned rather distant.

Lee turned into the parking lot of a dingy nightclub. He'd have to think about his new family dynamics later. Right now, he needed his head in the game. There was a man here he needed to see; someone he didn't want anywhere near his wife. But the facts of the matter were that if you needed information on any kind of hit going on in the drug world, this was the guy to see.