Genre:             Round Robin

Title:              “Following the Leader”

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters that are copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. It is meant for enjoyment purposes.

Following the Leader (Part 1)

Rating:  G

Author:  Miranda ([email protected])

Author’s Note:   This story takes place post series.  Suspend reality only so much that the President in 1988 was capable of running for re-election.  As far as what is going on… Dotty and the Boys still haven’t been told (yet) and Lee and Amanda are still married but living apart. (Keep in mind this is.. what? Seven months post marriage so I would imagine they are a little bit frustrated with the situation)

September 28, 1988

The expression on Billy’s face as he entered the Q-Bureau told Lee that he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear.

“Lee, Amanda.” His boss acknowledged them both then placed a folder on Lee’s desk.  “This one comes to you straight from the top.”

Amanda stood up from behind her desk and moved toward him as he was opening the file.  “The President?”

“He has a little problem that he wants us to take care of,” Billy began.  “The directive asked for the two of you specifically.”

“Red February?”  Lee asked, his brows furrowing in thought as he read the paper in front of him. “They’re still around?  I thought they stopped harassing the government after their failed attempt at stealing the Declaration of Independence.”

“So did we.”  Billy admitted, “But apparently they have been active, just underground.  Now the president is getting letters from them with information only someone very close to him would know.  Once it was a recap of every moment of his schedule and another described what he had eaten for dinner the night before.  Including what he left on his plate.  To say the least he is unnerved.”

“They want us because of the last Red February case?”  Amanda picked up a copy of one of the letters.

“That is part of the reason.  The rest is they want you to go undercover on the campaign trail.”  Billy hesitated and turned his eyes away from Amanda to Lee. “And they want you to take your family along for the trip Mrs. King.”

“No way Billy!”  Lee said without missing a beat. “Dotty and the boys cannot go traveling across the country with us for who knows how long.”  He ran his fingers through his already tussled hair.  He looked up to look at Amanda to gauge her reaction.  She had a puzzled expression on her face.

“Why all of us Billy?  When Lee and I could just as easily do this on our own?”

Billy shook his head in disgust.  “The president thinks that it will look less suspicious to whomever is connected to the Red February organization to see a family following him than two people.  Your cover with your family would be a documentary about the campaign trail and that it would be educational for your two boys.”

“They would miss an awful lot of school.”  Amanda mused worriedly.

“You aren’t seriously considering this Amanda.  There is no way we will be able to…” he trailed off realizing what he had almost said in front of Billy, “keep it a secret that we aren’t really documentary filmmakers from your family if we do this.”

“We can try Lee.  Do you think maybe we can get someone to tutor them on the trail?”  She asked Billy, her mind going back to the many hours of school Phillip and Jamie would miss.  “I’m sure there is someone that is capable in the President’s entourage of giving them lessons a few hours a day.”

“I can look into it Amanda.  There is going to be a meeting at o-nine hundred with the secret service and the head of the Presidential campaign.  They expect the two of you to be there.”  Billy gave Lee a consoling glance. “If it makes any difference I tried to dissuade them from this before I ever brought it in here to the two of you.  I don’t want your mother or the boys in danger any more than you do.”

“Thanks Mr. Melrose.  We appreciate the thought.  I’m sure we can figure something out.”

Lee grunted. 

Billy smiled at Lee and nodded to Amanda.  “I will let you know about the tutor Amanda.”  As he headed toward the door, he turned back to tell them, “You leave on Friday.  The first event is here in DC Friday morning then its out on the trail.”

“Thanks a lot Billy.”  Lee said sarcastically.  He frowned when Billy sort of shrugged in apology and closed the door.

“Amanda.  There is no way we are going to be able to keep our cover on this assignment.  I can’t pretend to be a director.  I don’t even know how to run a stupid camera.”

Amanda grinned at him and sat back down behind the desk with a few of the threatening letters in her hand.  “Lee what’s the worse thing that could happen?”

“We could totally lose concentration because we are worried about the boys and some psycho kills the President.”  He groaned in frustration

Amanda laughed gently.  “So the worst thing isn’t my family finding out.” At the negative shake of his head she continued.  “Then let’s worry about finding the member of Red February that is close to the President and eliminate that threat.  If mother and the boys realize that something is up then we will just have to tell them the truth.”

He sat down on the edge of her desk and took her hand in his.  “I’m lucky that I married such a smart woman.”

“Yes you are.”  She smiled up at him and then shooed him off her desk.  “Let’s get through this file before the meeting…” she glanced down at her watch, “in forty-five minutes.”

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

“This is so exciting!  And to think IFF is paying for all of it!”  Dotty’s eyes shot from one side of the platform to the crowd beyond.  “Just look at all these people.”

Amanda sighed and smiled gently at her mother.  “I know.  We are going to have a long trip ahead of us though.  This campaign has us traipsing all over the country.” 

“Oh Amanda, don’t be such a wet blanket.  This is history in the making!”

She grinned at her Mother’s enthusiasm and scanned the crowd for Lee and the boys.  Phillip and Jamie had been following Lee and Justin, the cameraman that Billy had provided for their cover, ever since they had reached the rally.  She spotted them to one side of the platform.  The boys were watching intently as Lee pointed out to Justin shots he wanted for his supposed documentary.

“Oh Amanda!  Look, here he comes!”

Amanda turned to where her mother was pointing to see President David Andrew Marshall’s motorcade entering the park.  The crowd noticed the cavalcade moments later and began shouting and cheering in earnest.  She felt rather than saw Lee move behind her.

“We have a meeting with him just after his speech,” Lee said into her ear softly.  “Can you convince your mother to take the boys back to the car so we can meet him alone?”

Amanda nodded as President Marshall made his way to the podium. 

The President stepped down to the side of the stage after ten minutes of speaking and many cheers from the crowd.  He paused to speak to a couple of aides and headed toward his campaign manager.

“Mother, Lee and I need to go speak to the campaign manager and hopefully the President.  Can you take the boys back to the car?  We will only be a few minutes.”

“Of course dear.  Don’t be too long. I still have a bit of packing to do before our flight tonight.”  She shouted for Jamie and Phillip, who quickly left Justin and his camera to follow their grandmother.  Once they were safely on their way to the car Amanda followed her husband toward the president.

“I’m glad that the two of you were able to work out this trip.  After reading your involvement with the last Red February threat, I wanted to make sure I had the best people for this job.”  President Marshall stuck out his hand for Amanda to shake.

“It’s our honor to be here, Sir.”  Amanda began.  Her palms were a bit sweaty with nerves.  She had never met a president before.  “I was a little concerned about bringing the boys and mother into a potentially threatening situation, but then I realized that they would only be at risk if someone found out what we were doing, and since that wasn’t going to happen I decided this would be a great opportunity for them, even though they are going to miss a great deal of school, but since the Agency  found a tutor on your staff to work with them for a couple of hours a day I'm feeling much better about it…”  Amanda took a deep breath as she felt Lee’s hand grip her arm just a little more tightly than was comfortable.  She sighed.  “I’m sorry, Sir.  I suppose I’m a little nervous to meet you.”

The president chuckled softly, “As long as you don’t pass out Mrs. King, you can talk to me for hours.  I’m a politician you know, I keep company with a lot of long winded people.”

Amanda smiled, ‘this was a nice man, despite his being a politician.’

“We have been briefed on most of your staff, Sir,” Lee stated, “but can you think of anyone that might be consorting with the members of Red February?”

“Not at all.  I have racked my brain over and over about this.  I’m in contact with many of the same people day after day.  Most of those people I have known since I was a Governor in Massachusetts.  This campaign is going to be rough enough without this threat hanging over my head.  I just hate suspecting everyone around me is a traitor.”

“I understand completely, Sir.”  Amanda told him, “We were just hoping you might have a gut feeling about someone.”

“No.  No one has acted any differently since I received the first letter.”  He sighed and turned when a young man came up behind him and softly relayed a message to him.  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cut this short.  Feel free to ask anyone on my staff any questions that you have.  I will see the two of you in California?”

“Yes sir.”  Lee replied.

“Good.”  He headed back toward the vehicle that he had come in followed by an army of men in suits.

“Well.  That wasn’t very helpful.”   Amanda sighed.

The two of them headed back to the car both silent and lost in their own thoughts.  Amanda hoped that someone would give a hint to their involvement with the threats soon.  She didn’t think life on the campaign trail was something she was cut out for.