It’s In The Mail Part 2/5
By Nectar99
Rating: PG
See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer, Timeline, and Summary.
Amanda struggled to find the words, but nothing seemed appropriate. She had done enough lying to her mother, and didn’t want to continue to lie for Lee’s sake. It was killing her on the inside, not being able to share this with Lee. He was her friend, her best friend, and she hated deceiving him, but thought it was for the best. “Lee, I just…. please understand, I can’t…talk about it right now, but I promise when the time is right, I’ll share this with you,” she uttered softly while walking toward the vault door.
Lee placed his arm up, blocking the entrance. He gazed directly into her eyes, searching for an answer. He knew when Amanda King was hiding something from him by the way she tried to avoid him. Lying was another story. She would just repeat his questions, which he was well aware of. When she lowered her eyes from his, Lee removed his arm in defeat.
Amanda returned to Billy’s office and handed him the files. She placed red checks by all the remotely potential suspects, and pointed out the particulars on those cases.
“That’s it, Sir, but I don’t see any potential problems from the cases I’ve been on for the last month,” Amanda concluded.
“That doesn’t matter, Amanda. This person isn’t going to jump right off the page. He’s trying to be inconspicuous, so we need to take a good thorough look at these and rule out the suspects in jail. I’ll work on this tonight, and by the way, there were on prints on either one of your letters,” Billy informed her.
Amanda nodded her head. “That’s was I was afraid of,” she responded, slightly uneasy with the situation.
“Don’t worry, I have two good agents posted right outside of your house,” Billy reminded her.
“I know, and thank you. Have a good evening, Sir,” Amanda solemnly replied before exiting his office.
Amanda arrived home at approximately 4:00 p.m. Her family was all packed when she walked through the front door. After handing Dotty an itinerary of her plans for the next two weeks, she kissed and hugged her family and scooted them out the door.
“I’ll call you when I get settled in a room tonight, Mother,” Amanda promised.
“I’ll be expecting your call tonight, Amanda,” Dotty replied, walking toward the awaiting cab. “I love you, dear.”
“I love you too. Take care, and mind your Grandma, fellas.” Amanda shouted in a raspy voice while waiving goodbye to her family. She let out a sigh of relief, no longer worried about their welfare for the time being. She glanced down the street and noted the gray sedan parked on the corner. Seeing the agents made her feel somewhat secure.
Amanda thought about the last case that she and Lee had worked on together. It was a case involving Senator John Thatch. He was involved in a drug smuggling operation off the coast of South America. It was an open and shut case, and Amanda couldn’t imagine that case having anything to do with the problem she was currently facing. She sat pondering the events not realizing the time. It was after 8:00 p.m., and she hadn’t eaten anything since lunchtime.
Amanda prepared a small chef salad. Her stomach was doing flip-flops, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to eat anything else. After pouring a glass of milk, she sat down to enjoy her meal. Jumping at the sound of every noise, Amanda only consumed a few bites and pushed the salad aside.
After taking a relaxing bath, Amanda retired to the living room. Exhausted from day’s events, she collapsed on the couch. She surfed through the channels, with no particular program in mind. She finally settled on Kate And Allie, a funny sitcom that might lighten her mood a little. During the commercial break, Amanda decided to make a cup of tea when the phone startled her.
Amanda shook her head back and forth, realizing that she was acting silly. She picked up the receiver on the third ring and said, “hello.”
“Well, hello there, Mrs. King,” the muffled baritone voice replied. “Before you say anything, I just want you to go to the front window and check on your so called protection,” he added, with a chilling laugh.
Amanda shakily placed the receiver on the table and ran to the front window. She was so scared to look through the blinds, but she had to know what was going on outside. When she glanced at the Sedan, Don and Rick appeared to be asleep, but they were both hunched forward in an awkward position. Amanda’s heart began to race. ‘What am I going to do?’ she thought, trying desperately to remain calm.
Amanda hesitantly walked back to the phone. She fought an internal battle to keep her strength, not to appear frazzled by the event. A trembling hand picked up the phone to see if the caller was still there. “What do you want?” Amanda asked, deliberately hiding her anger with a monotone voice.
“Ahhh, there you are,” the stranger replied. “Why I want you of course, and I’ll stop at nothing to have you. You look so lovely on the phone right now, but you look scared. Don’t worry, I’ll be joining you this evening to keep you company,” he laughed, before hanging up the phone.
Amanda couldn’t hang the phone up. Her entire body was shaking with fear, and she felt as if she was on the verge of crying. Without thinking, she dialed the one person that was always there for her, who would give his life to protect her, no questions asked. Amanda silently begged him to pick up the phone, and on the third ring, she let out a sigh when she heard his voice.
“Stetson here,” he answered.
Amanda was so elated to reach him that she was rendered speechless. “Ah…ah…” she desperately tried to speak.
“Who is this?” Lee interjected.
“Lee,” she finally cried out, taking a deep breath, “help me, please,” her voice cracked.
Lee knew by the sound of her voice that something was terribly wrong. “Amanda? Where are you?” he shouted into the mouthpiece, already pulling his jeans on.
“Lee, I’m at home, but someone is here watching me. Please hurry,” she uttered.
“Amanda! Amanda!” Lee screamed, but only heard the dial tone.