

The Author is Dead

By Lynn Bowles

Published by Lynn Bowles at Smashwords

Copyright by Lynn Bowles

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

I want to thank John, my wonder husband of 42 years for loving me, his patience and his help then and now with this book. Also my daughters, Ginny and Laurie, for their suggestions.

PROLOGUE

He put the finishing touches to his signature on the book. Smiling sweetly he handed the book to a little old lady. She smiled back, turned and slowly went out the door. He looked around the bookstore to see if there was anyone else waiting for him. Noting the time, he stood up and stretched.

"Boy, this is the easiest job I have ever had to do," he murmured to himself. "Just sit here all day pretending I'm a famous author and sign books for his idiot fans." He laughed to himself as he straightened his tie, smoothed out his slacks and looked at his watch. "About time for some chow," he thought, "I'll have to hurry though so I can be back in time for the evening signing."

"After the evening signing," he thought. "I'll go back to the bar I found a few days ago; maybe if I'm lucky, I'll find another wild one and we will go back to the hotel for the evening. "Might as well take advantage of the plush setting," he thought. "Most of the girls around here really go in for the ritzy life style."

He made his way out of the store and down the mall concourse stepping into the men's room close to the mall's entrance. He didn't notice the guy who had been watching and following him all day. As he went in, he had a strange feeling that something wasn't right; he looked around but didn't see anything unusual, "Nerves," he thought as he shrugged his shoulders, turning back to the urinal. He stood thinking about the hot luscious girl he wanted to pick up when suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in the back of his head, then nothing.

The man in the brown suit caught him before he hit the floor. He had to move fast. The train would be coming soon. The body had to be positioned just right to make it look like a jumper. Hurrying to the exit with the body he let people around him think he was assisting a drunk friend in the middle of the day. Since it was Washington, D.C., people were used to seeing well-dressed men staggering around the mall.

He went out the door and down the hall to the subway station. Looking around he positioned the body up against one of the pillars in the station. "Just a few more minutes," he thought to himself. The lights above his head started blinking indicating the train would soon be in. As the train came around the corner, he slipped his arm out from underneath the body and pushed.

The sound of crunching bones and muscle filled the air along with the screams of the people waiting on the platform. In the turmoil of the crowd he slipped away. Soon, very soon, everyone would know that the famous author was dead.

Chapter One

Sam sat at her desk going over the mountain of bills her secretary had left that morning. Ever since her partner, Bill Slade, had been murdered in the alley behind their offices, business had slowed down to a trickle. She didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to keep going. Kelly, her secretary, had informed her the day before that if the business didn't pick up soon; he was going to be forced to take another job.

It was starting to look bad for the Marlow and Slade Detective Agency. Bill Slade had been her lifeline when her father, Michael Marlow, had died of a massive heart attack three years before. Sam had been working with her father and Bill since high school on various cases ranging from a simple lost and found to unresolved murder cases. She seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to finding lost objects and clues to murder cases.

It seemed she was always guided to the right spot at the right time to find the answers. Finding clues the police had overlooked was her specialty.

Now that Bill was dead no one seemed to want to hire a female investigator for anything except, trying to catch a promiscuous wife or husband. Cases like that bored her to tears. If a wife or husband wanted to fool around why not accept it, dump the jerk and get on with it. A lot of her past clients found this attitude callous but Sam really didn't care. From experience she knew you couldn't keep someone with you if they didn't want to be there. Her ex-fiance proved that to her a couple of years ago. Her motto now, never let your heart get in the way of a good time. Love'm and leave'm.

"God, I must be getting morbid dwelling on the past," Sam muttered to herself, as she sorted through the bills on her desk. She reached over to the intercom and buzzed Kelly.

"Yes, Sam what do you need?" Kelly answered.

"Can you come in here and help go through this mountain of bills you gave me? Maybe between the two of us we can figure out who to pay and who gets the shaft."

"Okay Sam, just as soon as I finish setting up your afternoon appointment."

"What appointment?"

"Just hold on a minute," Kelly snapped. "I'll tell you all about it in a moment." He turned off the intercom.

"Touchy old grouch," Sam murmured. Since Bill had died, Kelly had been getting extremely difficult to deal with. His relationship with Bill had always been a subject that no one would talk about even though it was quite obvious. Kelly had been the one who had discovered Bill's body in the back alley. He wouldn't show how devastated he was, but Sam knew. As the weeks passed and no new evidence had been found, Kelly had become grouchy and more difficult to deal with.

Five minutes later Kelly Carson walked into her office and sat down in the chair in front of her desk. He was a tall willowy, blonde man in his early forties, handsome in a distinguished way, very immaculate in dress and always correct in his manners both professionally and socially. He was always calm, cool and collected, never allowing anyone to know what he was thinking or feeling. He made the perfect secretary for a detective agency giving an air of complete confidentiality and efficiency. Sam on the other hand was a muscular, petite, brown eyed brunette with a fiery temper, living on her emotions and gut feelings most of the time. If she didn't like what was going on she told you. "Blunt and to the point," her father always said, "never let your client doubt a word you say, make sure everything was out in the open, no hidden agendas." Sam had always lived her life this way.

"Okay, Sam, you have an appointment at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. We have to get your desk in order and you need to have your hair done before your clients arrive. They are very influential people in Washington, D.C. and you need to put your best foot forward. I've made an appointment with Charlie at 11:00 a.m. to give you the works. Thank God, you had your hair trimmed last week." Kelly informed her, as he looked her over from head to toe.

"What do you mean I need my best foot forward? What kind of people are we dealing with–other than the fact they are very influential in Washington, D.C.?"

"They are liaisons with the Embassy of the United Kingdom."

"Oh, a couple of Mr. hoity-toities from England, Huh?"

"Please, Samantha have a little respect. The liaisons can put you in the black with the little project they have for you, and goodness knows you certainly can use it." Kelly snapped at her as he sat down. "After your hair appointment come straight back to the office, I will have your best blue suit back from the dry cleaners. God I hope they got that stain out. You can change here. That way you won't be late for your appointment. Understand me? I know I am only your secretary, but I have been around here long enough to see you grow from a dowdy, pig-tailed child, into a very mature, attractive young woman. I want to help maintain the dignity of your father's and Bill's business for as long as possible."

"Okay, Kelly, okay," Sam chuckled, it was nice having the mother hen back. After weeks of moping and grouching around it was great to have him back to normal. "Yes, Mama Kelly, I will be a good girl, mind my manners and look very prim and proper for the ambassadors."

"Not ambassadors—liaisons," Kelly corrected. "Now, get moving so you can be finished and back by 1:30 p.m., No later. I don't want you to be rushing in here at 1:55 trying to get your clothes on. I want you to be presentable by 2:00. Move it!"

Sam picked up her purse, keys and started toward the door laughing. She turned at the door and said in her snootiest voice, "Kelly, my dear, can we have a spot of tea prepared for our dignitaries."

Kelly raised his eyebrows at her as she closed the door.

Sam returned to the office at 1:15, and noticed Kelly on the phone again, completely preoccupied with his conversation. He nodded at her and she went into her office. On the couch was her blue suit and white blouse fresh from the dry cleaners. Attached to them was a sticky-note saying to quickly put them on and make sure there were no runs in her stockings. Sam shook her head and changed. As she was putting her shoes back on the intercom buzzed on her desk.

"Yes, Kelly," she answered.

"Ms. Marlow, your 2:00 o'clock appointment has arrived."

"Thank you, Mr. Carson, please send them in." Sam quickly sat down in her chair, straightened her clothes and prepared a smile for the "dignitaries".

Kelly opened the door, ... In walked three very distinguished gentlemen. Something was odd about these guys. They seemed stiff like the British, but yet, not quite right. They appeared to be confused about what was going on. Sam rose from her chair and walked in front of her desk.

The first gentleman to walk in was a very tall thin man with reddish hair and freckles everywhere, he reached out shook her hand gently.

"How do you do Ms. Marlow, I am very happy to meet you. Let me introduce my friends to you. This is Mr. O'Toole," indicating a small wiry man with beady eyes and a bald head. "This is Mr. Davis," nodding at a short stocky gentleman with a receding hairline as he stepped forward.

"I am Mr. Green. We are here on a very important mission that we know only you can resolve."

Sam looked at them, nodded her head and asked them to be seated. She turned to Kelly and asked, "Kelly would you please bring in the tea for our dignitaries and come back with your steno pad. I would like for you to take notes during our meeting."

Kelly looked at her, smiled, nodded his head and went back out the door.

The three gentlemen sat down in their chairs only after Sam returned to her seat behind her desk.

Mr. Green said, "We are under the impression this is the Marlow and Slade Detective Agency."

"Yes, it is. I'm Ms. Marlow. My partner, Bill Slade, has recently died. I am still running the agency now, just as if he was still here. Is there a problem with this, Sir?"

"Oh no, no, no! You misunderstand me, I was just trying to reconfirm information that we have regarding your detective agency. If you don't mind, my partners and I would like to ask a few questions regarding your procedures for investigations. You understand?"

"Very well, Sir, if you don't mind waiting until my secretary returns, I will be happy to answer any and all questions you have. This way Kelly will be able to take it all down, so there won't be any confusion later on in case you have some questions or you are not satisfied with the results of the case."

"Very good, very good," said Mr. Green. "That sounds very appropriate to me. We will wait for your sweet little secretary to return," he sneered at her.

Sam looked at him angrily and started to inform him what she thought of his investigation and where he could stick his snide remarks. Fortunately, Kelly returned with the teacart just in time to save her from having to do just that. Sam was surprised to see the cart. There had never been one in the office before and Sam had no idea where Kelly had dug this one up.

"Ah, the tea is here, Kelly would you please play mother and pour the tea for us," Sam asked. Kelly looked at her for a few seconds before he proceeded to pour out the tea in tiny china cups. She couldn't imagine where he had found the tea set. He must have raided his own china cabinet, it was the only explanation she could come up with. Once everyone had received their cups of tea and had gone through the procedure of getting the cream, sugar and lemon they all relaxed as Kelly sat down beside Sam with his pad and pencil.

"Now, Mr. Green, you were beginning to ask me how I go about investigating. Can you tell me what, or whom I will be investigating? This will give me a better idea on how to answer your questions on procedures."

"Thank you Ms. Marlow, I believe I will turn everything over to Mr. O'Toole, who will give you the details of whom we are looking."

"Thank you," Sam smiled, gritting her teeth. She was getting tired of being nice to these pompous asses, every time she looked at one of them she wanted to wipe the silly smirks off their faces. Since Kelly was sitting beside her and had already kicked her shin twice she decided it would be best to mind her "P's and Q's" and get on with the meeting.

Mr. O'Toole turned to her, pulling out a little notebook, turning it to a certain page he began as if he were reading a script, "We are here to find the missing heir of the Duke and Duchess of Faulkner that was kidnapped 25 years ago. We are trying to reunite him with his family, in order for him to take his rightful place in society. He was kidnapped from the Faulkners when he was six years old while they were visiting friends in New York City. The last information we had was a newspaper clipping from the Washington Post about three months ago. A friend of the family saw his picture in the paper and recognized a resemblance to his father. She immediately contacted the father and showed him the newspaper clipping. It appears that he was on a book tour promoting his latest novel. The last known address was the Colombian International Hotel here in Washington, D. C., Room 245. That is all the information we have been able to find."

"Well, this is different," Sam acknowledged. "How can you be sure this author is the man you are looking for? You said it had been twenty-five years since the kidnapping, people change a lot during that period of time especially children. What name is the author using?"

"Well," Mr. Davis spoke up, "he is using the name of William Joseph Jefferey. Jefferey is the maiden name of the Duchess of Faulkner. William is his father's name and Joseph is his grandfather's name on his mother's side. It seemed a bit unusual that a perfect stranger would use all three of these names and resemble the Duke." Mr. Davis took a sip of tea and leaned back in his chair looking smug.

"I see," Sam said, making eye contact with each of the men. "Before we go any further, would you mind showing me your credentials? Just as a safeguard, you understand. I would like to be sure I am dealing with the Embassy."

"Not at all my dear," Mr. Green said. All three of them looked at each other, pulled out their wallets and showed the Embassy identification cards along with their visas for six months in the United States. Their attitude was bizarre most foreign dignitaries or liaisons usually became huffy and gave her a hard time when she asked for identification.

"Thank you, sirs, now if you can give me some more information we will see what we can do to try and find Mr. Jefferey.

O'Toole looked at Green and nodded; Green looked at Davis and nodded; Davis looked at Mr. O'Toole and nodded.

This was becoming a bit monotonous as far as Sam was concerned. It seemed the three had only one brain between them and they were all afraid to use it.

Mr. Green spoke again, "Mr. Jefferey was last seen in the book signing promotion at, uh—I believe you call it Crystal City at 4:00 o'clock Wednesday, September 12th. No one has seen him since. We had arranged with his agent to meet with him for lunch and present him with the information on his background when he disappeared. It is imperative that we find him as soon as possible. You see the Duchess is in bad health and she wants to see her son before she passes on. You do understand that this must be kept totally confidential. There must not be any leaks. We would not want the Duchess to get her hopes up and then have them dashed to the ground."

"I understand, Mr. Green," Sam said. "Before we go any further let's go over a few financial details."

"By all means my dear, " Mr. O'Toole spoke up. "We are prepared to offer you a $1,000.00 a day plus expenses for as long as it possibly takes for you to find Mr. Jefferey. If you take the case, that is?"

Sam looked at Kelly and he raised his eyebrows, a thousand dollars a day, she thought, My God she could be out of debt in a few weeks. She turned to O'Toole and stood up saying," Thank you Mr. O'Toole, we will be happy to take your case. We are asking for a retainer fee just to keep things legal. Any information that I find for you will be sent to you as soon as possible. I will also need a local phone number or cell number other than the Embassy in case I need to contact you at night with information."

"Please, Ms. Marlow, do not contact us at the Embassy," Davis said becoming agitated. "As this is to be kept totally secret. It would be best that no one at the Embassy learn of our inquiry. Let me give you our cell numbers. In the enclosed envelope is your retainer fee, I do hope, you will find it appropriate. Do you have any other questions for us?" He squirmed in his chair seeming to be in a hurry to leave.

"Thank you, yes, do you have a current picture of the Duke and an old one that I can compare with the photo from the newspaper article?" Sam asked as she took the envelope.

"Yes, we do," Mr. Green answered reaching into his briefcase pulling out two photographs and a copy of the Washington Post article. "I do hope these will be of an assistance to you."

"Thank you, I'm sure they will."

"It has been a pleasure doing business with you Ms. Marlow, but now, we must be going. We have a lot of arrangements to make at the Embassy for a formal ball that is being given in honor of the Duke and Duchess of Faulkner. Please forgive us for rushing out," Mr. Green simpered.

"I understand. If you would please follow Kelly, he will get the cell phone number and give you a receipt for your retainer fee."

"Oh, no! Please no receipts, it would be too hard to explain," Mr. Davis shuddered. "Everything ... I must insist everything, be kept completely secret. You do understand?"

"Yes, sir I do," Sam nodded.

"Good day madam." Mr. Green said as the three rose from their chairs. It was so bizarre the way all three rose from their chairs in unison and headed for the door.

"Oh, one more thing," Mr. O'Toole said pausing at the door. "If anyone asks, you do not know us, and you have never had any connections with the Faulkner family. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." She said. "I will be very discreet at all times." The three followed Kelly through the door into the outer office. After several minutes Kelly returned and shut the door.

"Kelly, look at this retainer fee, Five thousand dollars."

"Something is very strange about this case, Sam."

"What can be strange about finding a missing person?"

"Considering that the missing person is already dead," he raised his eyebrows and continued. "I would say very strange."

"What do you mean, dead?"

"Sam, don't you read the papers? Remember the man they pulled out from under the blue line at Crystal City who had supposedly committed suicide?"

"Yeah, some bozo decided he couldn't take it anymore and jumped. What's that got to do with this case?"

"That bozo, as you called him, was named William Joseph Jeffery .... famous author."

"No, Kelly, you have got to be wrong."

"No, I'm not. Check with Detective Chambers. He will tell you the same thing. Something is very wrong here."

"Well, if there is, I guess I'm the person who is going to have to find out what it is." Sam sat down in her chair kicking her shoes off and grinned. "Oh, by the way, Kelly where on earth did you find the tea cart and china?"

"My dear sweet, under privileged Samantha, I have been saving this little item for a long time." Kelly smiled as he went out the door.

Sam leaned back in her chair. Now why would three guys from the Embassy want to find an author that was already dead. It just didn't make any sense. Maybe, he wasn't dead and the body the cops found was someone else.

Maybe she had better call Chambers after all and find out a few details. Better yet, she would go see him and see what he had on file. She smiled, it would give her a good excuse to see him again. She stood up, grabbed her bag and headed for the door, "Kelly, I'm going to see Chambers. See if you can dig up some information on Jeffery ... you know, background stuff. Like, where he grew up, school, college, etc. You know." Sam said sailing out the door. "I'll check back with you later to see what you have. Bye."
Chapter Two

Sam stood at the door to Detective Chambers office and waited for him to look up. Detective John Chambers was a tall, well-built man or as he referred to himself, a long lean fighting machine. Sam always laughed at his sexual innuendos and machoism, but sometimes; especially lately, she had begun to wonder what the real John Chambers was really like. The image he presented to the public was one of a perfectionist, always correct regardless of what was going on. Never bending the rules or allowing even the simplest offender to get by him. He was so straight laced you would think no one would like him, but he got along with everyone, except for Sam. She respected him but they always seemed to set sparks off every time they were in the same room for more than five minutes. Their mutual friends tried to keep a buffer between them when they attended the same functions. Even at Bill's funeral and her father's memorial service Sam and John came close to blows over some simple little slight Sam had thought John had done. Sam wondered if they would ever get along, yet there was something about him that attracted her, but God forbid she would never admit it. He would probably laugh her out of the city if she did.

As Sam waited for John to look up, she surveyed his profile one more time. Dark hair, six-foot tall, broad shoulders, lean hips, nice rugged good looks but the most startling feature was his steel gray eyes surrounded by tremendously long lashes. Why on earth God gave men long lashes, Sam couldn't understand. She forever had to apply layers of mascara just to make her eyes look like they had lashes. John looked up and saw Sam standing at his door.

"Well, Pipsqueak what do you want this time?"

"Nothing," Sam said. "Just wanted to ask you a few questions on a case that was closed several weeks ago."

"Yeah, what kind of a case was that?"

"This is the one that had to do with the subway killing at Crystal City. You know the famous author, Jeffery, who jumped in front of the train or was pushed."

"Yeah," John said. "I know which one you mean, something was odd about that case. The clothes that the man had on, if he was a famous author who had just come from a book signing, didn't match up to the image he represented."

"What do you mean they didn't match up?"

"You know these artsy fartsy guys usually wear silk designer suits from Italy with Gucci shoes and watches, but the guy we dug out from underneath the subway wasn't like that."

"Well maybe Jeffery preferred American made suits."

"Nope, the longer we looked into this guy's lifestyle, the more sure I became that we didn't pull Jeffery out from underneath that train."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he had Jeffery's identifications on him, but he wasn't Jeffery. We have kept everything pretty hush-hush, until now, something is really weird about this case."

"Okay, John spill it. If you think things were odd why did you close the case?"

"I had to, the head guy said close it. We had completed our investigation ... It was suicide, end of story."

"But you still think there is something unresolved about it right, and you want to look into it just a little bit more?"

"Sure, I want to look into it, but I don't want to put my ass on the line and lose my job over it. It's not worth it."

"Don't you want to find out who murdered this guy?"

"Sam, darling I think I will leave that up to you. I had planned to call you at the end of the day to see if you wanted to unravel this little mystery. I know what a kick you get out of proving us wrong." He gave her pearly-white grin.

"You know John, this is really bizarre. I just had a visitation from some dignitaries with the British Embassy who wanted me to find this Jeffery character and inform him, he is the long lost heir to a Duke and Duchess."

"Sure. Come on Sam pull the other leg. You don't expect me to believe that bull crap do you?"

"Look John, this time I am telling you the complete truth."

"Okay, Sam. Look I'm going to go get the file, so you can see what we have. There are too many oddities in this case for me to be satisfied with closing it. There is nothing in there that indicates that this man committed suicide; yet we have had to close it with that determination. The evidence clearly shows that he was hit in the head and pushed in front of that train. Now if you can make something of this, go for it. I'll be here to help you as much as possible, but understand that you did not get this information from me and I don't know a thing about what you are doing. Got it?

"Got it."

"I'm not getting into trouble again, because of you."

"Okay, just trot your little behind over to the files, and I will slip it into my bag and get out of here."

"Nothing doing, Sam," John grimaced. "I'll make a copy and bring it over to you tonight at 7:00. But no way are you going to take it out of the station. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand," Sam acknowledged looking at John suspiciously. "Something is wrong, right?"

"Right, I'll talk to you later. Now get out of here and let me do my job."

"Okay, okay, I'm going. See you at seven."

As Sam left the station she was more than a little concerned over John's attitude. Never had he been so nice to her or so helpful in giving her information. She wondered what he was up to. It had to be more than what he was saying. Usually he never gave up on a case until he had all the facts laid out perfectly. He would never willingly give her information on a case unless she went through hell and back. There had to be more to it than him being told to close the case.

Sam looked at her watch and realized it was 5:30. If John was going to be at her apartment at seven she needed to get her butt in gear, get home and do some fast cleaning. John would have a fit if he walked into the disaster area that she called home. She drove quickly over to her apartment in Alexandria, raced up the four flights of stairs and was met at the door by her cat, a long-haired, blue silk Persian named Bastard. She had named him this after he had roamed around the neighborhood and fathered at least a hundred offspring. Her next door neighbor had complained so much about the constant cat fights that she had to have him fixed. Now, all Bastard did was sleep all day and get fat. After saying a brief, hello, to Bastard, she frantically started cleaning. She decided that a nice touch in softening John up would be to fix his favorite meal, spaghetti. At a quarter to seven everything was ready, she had set the table and chilled a bottle of wine. Now all she had left to do was comb her hair and freshen up her makeup.

Promptly at 7:00 there was a knock on her door. She went to the door, opened enough to peak out through the security chains, and said, "John, how nice."

"Open the frigging door Pipsqueak, before I knock it down!"

"Well hello to you too!" She shut the door back, unlocked the security chains just in time for him to shove his way in and slam the door.

"God you are a pain in the ass," he yelled at her.

"Well! Good evening to you too, John," she repeated, then deepened her voice and added sarcastically, "Good evening Sam, you are looking lovely this evening."

"Now, isn't that a lot better than God you are a pain in the ass."

"No it's not, you are a pain in the ass," he shot back at her.

"Well gee, what can I do to soothe the nasty beast?"

John looked at her noticing for the first time how attractive she looked and said with a gleam in his eyes, "I tell you what, why don't you feed me, then sit down on the couch and make mad passionate love to me for the rest of the evening." He smirked at her waiting for the explosion knowing that a remark like that would usually piss her off.

Sam looked at him took a deep breath and said sweetly in her most exaggerated southern accent, "Come right this way honey, I have everything ready for you all. Your favorite spaghetti supper and a bottle of chilled wine for your pleasure."

"What?" He yelled surprised.

"Why honey-child, I was all ready for the nasty beast to come charging in here and storm around. So, I thought I would feed your little scrawny ass, put you in a good mood, pump you for all the information I could, and then kick you out," she said as she stomped into the kitchen.

"Oh my goodness," he laughed, "I can't believe little Samantha Marlow has turned into a passive women."

Sam got as far as the kitchen door before she turned around grabbed a pillow off of the sofa and threw it at him. He snatched it out of the air and laughed louder at her all the way into the kitchen.
Chapter Three

After supper John and Sam went into the living room and sat down on the couch. John pulled out the file from his briefcase and spread the contents onto her coffee table.

"As you can see from the autopsy report there was a blow to the back of the head causing death instantaneously. But in the official death certificate the coroner filed, death was caused by suicide from jumping in front of an oncoming train," John summarized.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me the coroner first reported the death occurred from a blow to the head and later changed it to suicide?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we first classified the case as homicide on a John Doe. Later we had to change everything to reflect a suicide by William Jeffery. The word came down from the big wigs downtown to rule it suicide instead of murder. Where this mandate came from I have no idea. Once it was ordered, everything and everybody were hushed up," John explained. "I hate having loose ends in a case, so I've been looking into it on the sly and came up with some interesting facts about Mr. Jeffery."

"Okay, so spill it," Sam said.

"Not yet. Not until you tell me whom you are working for and what they want with Jeffery ... Sam, I want the truth this time not some cockamamie story about a duke and duchess heir," John replied.

"John, listen to me. This afternoon three gentlemen came to my office after making an appointment with Kelly, to discuss a missing person's case. They showed their identifications from the Embassy and proceeded to give me a story about a long-lost child who had been kidnapped twenty-five years ago. They had been informed a man looking a lot like the Duke of Faulkner was having a book tour in Washington, D. C. according to an article in the Washington Post. They informed me arrangements had been made to meet with Mr. Jeffery in his hotel room. At the time of the arrangements they didn't inform him of their suspicions," Sam explained. She went over to her bag; pulled out the photos the men had given her and showed them to John.

"You can see from the photos Jeffery bears a striking resemblance to the Duke of Faulkner, just a younger version of him."

"Have you had these photos checked out?"

"No, I haven't had the time. I came straight over to your office as soon as Kelly pointed out that Jeffery was dead. Supposedly dead."

"How did Kelly know that Jeffery was dead?"

"You know Kelly, he always keeps up with the murders in the area. More so now that Bill is gone."

"Yeah, that kind of hit him pretty hard didn't it."

"It sure did, but he's making progress."

"Good. Now, why would these guys come to you to find an author that was already dead? They must have seen the news story in the papers. It made the headlines all over and was also on the news broadcasts for several days," John stated as he rubbed his hands together and continued. "Maybe they already knew the man killed was not Jeffery, and wanted you to find out so you would track him down."

"But why me? I'm nobody special, sure I've solved several cases that had been classified as unsolved, but that is only known around here."

"Sam, think a little bit would you? Remember last year when you tracked down that international jewel thief who was stalking all the big wigs in D.C.. We were going nowhere with the case, you and Bill, stepped in and solved it in a matter of days. Don't you think you were given a little bit of credit with the international set? They could have heard about you from several people."

"No way John. Bill took credit for the whole thing... Remember? He felt it would be better for the agency if I kept a low profile because I don't use the conventional methods for solving a case. Boy was he pissed off when he found out I was going on hunches I had received in my dreams. Even you laughed at me over that. Only Kelly believes in my methods. Dad was forever telling me that it was only my gut instincts not a psychic ability that helped me solve cases."

"Yeah, I know, but someone may have found out about your unusual techniques. You certainly haven't been quiet about it."

"Oh yes I have, no one wants a female detective with psychic abilities. They would think I was crazy."

"Maybe that is why these guys came to you."

"Why, because they think I'm nuts?"

"No. They may think you are the real thing. You may be the only hope they have in finding out where Jeffery is."

"Bullshit, let me see that autopsy report." Sam picked up the file and started going over the coroner's notes. Blow to the back of the head causing severe cranial hemorrhaging, not much left of him after the train hit him. The coroner found evidence of the possibility of plastic surgery done approximately six months ago.

"Why would this guy have plastic surgery six months ago?"

"From what was left of his hands we were able to run his fingerprints through the system and found out his name was Donald Kearney from Los Angles. Part-time actor and petty thief. Picked up two years ago on a shoplifting charge, had a few misdemeanors over the years, nothing really big. Nine months ago he just simply dropped out of sight, until his body was found underneath the train. We couldn't find any connection between him and Jeffery other than he had Jeffery's wallet on him at the time of death."

"So maybe he picked his pocket and was running away when he fell in front of the train."

"That is what I thought too, until I went to the Colombian International to talk to Jeffery and found out everyone there thought he was dead. The hotel manager was really upset because he had let Jeffery's so called brother into the room to get his personal effects. We questioned the manager for hours trying to get a clear picture of the man who had been there. All we could come up with was a man with sandy hair, 5'10" or 11", blue eyes and a mustache. Nothing very unusual about him, other that he was very distraught about his brother's death."

"Who claimed the body?" Sam asked.

"No one. It is still lying in the morgue. We have been trying to get in touch with this so-called brother, but he seems to have disappeared. The address he gave the hotel manager is a non existing address in Richmond, Virginia."

"But why take his personal effects from his room and then not claim the body?"

"Don't know. That's one of the little mysteries we have about this case. The other one is why all of a sudden we are ordered to close the case, rule it a suicide, and state that Jeffery is the one dead and not Donald Kearney. This whole case is stuck in my craw and I don't like being told to drop a case when it has too many unanswered questions. Something major is going on here and I want to find out what."

"And you want me to help you do it, right?"

"Among other things yes. I also want to know why Jeffery is being sought after by the Embassy and why they contacted you to find him."

"Well I guess I'm going to have to start at the beginning and go from there," Sam declared. She looked at her watch and realized it was midnight. They had been at it for over four hours and knew absolutely nothing. Sam stood up and stretched. "John maybe we had better call it a night. That way I can get an early start tomorrow."

"So you are kicking me out the door are you?"

"Yes, I'm tired and I've got a lot of ground to cover tomorrow." She walked over to the door and opened it. "See you tomorrow, come over after you get off and I'll fill you in on what I have so far."

"Just like that, I'm suppose to leave," he said disappointedly. "No good night kiss... Just hurry up and leave, so you can go to sleep."

Sam smiled walked over to John and pecked him on the cheek. "Goodbye, John."

"Well, I can take a hint, See you tomorrow Sam. Get some sleep you're going to need it." John picked up his briefcase and walked over to the door. As Sam was closing the door he grabbed her arm, pulling her close bringing his lips forcefully against hers. From the startled expression on her face this was the last thing she thought he would do. He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip and said, "Just something for you to dream about tonight." He turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

Sam quickly put the security locks on and walked over to the couch. Bastard walked in from the bedroom and she said to him, "Well kid looks like Mr. Meany is changing."
Chapter Four

Sam awoke at 6:00 o'clock the next morning with the feeling that everything was going to go wrong today. She showered, put on her slacks and Georgetown sweatshirt and headed for the office. When she arrived Kelly was ready there with a pot of coffee ready.

"Good morning, Sam, I see you are dressed for work," Kelly said sarcastically. He always hated it when she arrived in slacks and sweatshirts.

"Yeah, Kelly, I have this feeling that things are not going to go very well today."

"Nothing like having an optimistic outlook."

"Look Kelly, I didn't sleep well last night so don't give me any shit today, okay."

"Fine. Are you ready for your morning calls or should I wait until you are in a better mood?"

"Just tell me what's up," she snapped.

"Detective Chambers called and said he had made arrangements for you to go over to the hotel and look over Jeffery's room. It has not been released to the hotel yet."

"Did he say why the room hasn't been released? I thought since his personal effects had been released to his brother that the room would have been turned back over to the hotel."

"Apparently there was some sort of mix up and the room was forgotten about. The hotel hasn't even asked about it yet. They are still keeping everything status quo."

"Okay, I'll give John a call and see what time I can go over there and look at the room. Anything else?"

"Yes, we received an odd message on the answering machine. Do you want to hear it now or wait until you are in a better mood?"

"Just play the damn thing okay?" Kelly went over to the answering machine and pressed the message button. There was a crackling in the line and then an eerie voice came over the machine, "Help me. Find me. Come and get me. Help me. Find me. Come and get me." There was a scream and the connection went dead.

"Holy Mother of God. What in the blue blazes was that?" Sam exclaimed.

"I don't know but I thought you should hear it before you talked to Chambers."

"Why should I listen to it before I talked to John. It's probably some practical joker getting his jollies."

"Well whatever it is, you need to be on your toes for this one."

"Yes Mamma, I'll be on my toes." Sam went over to the coffee maker, poured herself a cup and walked into her office.

"Oh, Kelly, here are those photos the three gents gave us. Run them over to your friend's lab and see if he can verify they are legit. While you are gone I'll check in with John and see what time I can get into the hotel room."

"Sure, I haven't seen Tulu in a long time. Oh, I just remembered you have another appointment at 1:00 this afternoon with Mr. Green."

"What does he want now? We just started the case I can't give him a report until I know what is going on."

"He said he had some new information for you that he thought may help in the investigation."

"Shit, that means I have to go home and change before I see him."

"That would be appropriate, but under the circumstances not necessary. You can tell him that you were cleaning offices today and didn't have time to change."

"Very funny. Why don't you go check on those photos and I'll handle Mr. Green in my own way." Sam turned away from Kelly and went over to the phone on her desk, as she was dialing Chambers number she heard the outer door slam.

She arranged to meet John at the hotel at 9:00 o'clock to go over the room. She decided not to tell him about the strange phone message. If it occurred again then she would deal with the possibility that it was related to the case.

At 8:45 she picked up her pocketbook and went to her car. As she was walking through the underground parking garage she had the feeling she was being watched. At her car she casually dropped her keys and looked around. All she saw was the parking attendant and he was too busy flirting with the driver of a red Porsche to notice much of anything. As she drove out of the garage she checked her rear view mirror for anyone following her.

John was waiting for Sam in the lobby of the hotel pacing back and forth.

"It's about time you showed up," he snapped at her.

"My God, it's only 8:59. You said 9:00 o'clock. Who put the burr in your shorts this morning?"

"Just shut up and come with me."

Sam followed John to the elevator and hastily got in as the he was shutting the door. John pushed the button for the second floor and fumed. When the door opened he stomped down the hall to room 245. At the door he took down the police tape and went in. Sam quickly followed him inside.

"As you can see nothing has been touched since the investigation started. I deliberately kept this room closed until I was satisfied that we haven't missed anything. Feel free to nose around."

Sam nodded and began to search. As she was poking around the bed she had a strange feeling she should lift up the mattress and look underneath. Under the right hand corner of the mattress was a piece of paper that had fallen partially behind the bed. She reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a pair of tweezers and a plastic baggy. Very carefully she picked up the piece of paper.

"What do you have there?" John asked as he hurried over to her.

"Oh just something your forensic guys missed," she said smugly. She laid the paper on a nearby table to see what was on it."

Meet me at 11:30 at Shady Acres Home on the 24th.

There was also a number written on the paper beside the name. Sam carefully put the paper inside the baggy and handed it to John.

"You had better take this to your guys and see if any finger prints show up. I have a hunch that there will be a print of Jeffery's and Donald Kearney's on it. Shady Acres, hmm... Shady Acres, isn't that the name of that exclusive rest home up in the Shenandoah Valley that was brought up on charges of manslaughter and neglect a couple of months ago?"

"No, you are thinking about Shady Knoll. Shady Acres is the rest home just outside of Manassas where the well to do send their spouses and kids to dry out. For an exorbitant fee anyone can be committed for an indefinite period of time. The security in that place is extensive. No one breaks out or in. The head of security was once in charge of Fort Knox. Believe me no one goes in or out without a clearance."

"I wonder why Jeffery was going there. Or maybe Kearney was to return there after the book signing to have his face changed. Shit, I guess I'll never know until I find out what happened to Jeffery. Back to work." Sam moved away from the table and the bed, heading for the closets. She opened the door to the left, turned the overhead light on and looked inside. Some of Jeffery clothes were still hanging inside.

"I thought you said Jeffery personal effects were picked up by his so called brother."

"The manager let him into the room and the only thing that he picked up was Jeffery's laptop and his briefcase. He told the manager he would pick up the articles of clothing the next day but he never showed back. The manager said the brother was getting very agitated just being in the room."

"Sounds to me like the only thing he wanted was the laptop and the briefcase. That probably was the real Jeffery picks up his stuff after he had heard about Kearney being killed."

"My thoughts exactly. That's why we didn't allow the hotel to take over the room. We wanted to wait and see if anyone came back to pick up something that may have been forgotten."

"Did your guys go through the pockets of the jackets and pants?"

"I'm sure they did. No matter what you think Sam those guys are pretty thorough."

"Then you won't mind if I just double check."

"Go ahead knock yourself out."

"Thanks." Sam proceeded to go through each and every pocket of the suits hanging in the closet. In the last one she found a book of matches from one of the bars downtown. She carefully slipped it into the pocket of her jeans without John seeing her. Some things she would just keep to herself for a little while. She continued her search of the closet but didn't find anything else. As she was closing the closet door she noticed a strand of hair on the upper hook of the closet.

"John look at this."

"What is it?"

"Looks to me like someone bumped into this hook and got their hair caught on it." Sam took her tweezers and pulled the strand off and put it into another baggy. She gave it to John and said, "Another item for your collection. Let's hope it can help identify that someone else was in this room." Sam closed the door and continued searching. Finding nothing else she decided it was time to go.

"Well I guess that's about it. But I would like to reserve the option of coming back if I need to."

"You have until the end of the week. Then we have to turn the room back over to the hotel," John informed her.

As they were leaving the room Sam noticed a man at the end of the hall watching them. When he realized she had seen him he quickly disappeared down the hallway.

"I'll be right back John." Sam yelled as she darted down the hall to follow the guy. When she turned the corner someone hit her in the head knocking her to the floor.

As she was picking herself up off the floor John caught up to her and asked what happened.

"As we were coming out of the door I noticed a guy watching us from down the hall. When he saw me he ran down the hall. I followed him and as I went around the corner; wham, bam, the lights went out. I guess he didn't want me to find out what he was doing."

"Damn it Sam, you should of waited for me!"

"And why should I do that? This is my case buster... unless you have forgotten."

"Look Sam, you could have gotten hurt. Oh Hell! Forget it. You're not going to listen to me anyway. Come on let's go." John turned and stalked to the elevator and waited for Sam to follow.

God her head was splitting. When the elevator door opened the manager immediately signaled for John to come over to the front desk.

While he was still occupied Sam quietly slipped out the front door to the parking lot to her car. Almost immediately she had the feeling someone was watching her again. As she drove to her office she kept checking to see if someone was tailing her.

Sam looked at her watch as she went through the door to her office and realized that she had exactly thirty minutes before Mr. Green arrived. She quickly went into the bathroom and surveyed the damage. Not too bad... a few brush strokes on her hair and a touch of lipstick and she would pass muster. She went to her desk and sat down. First things first, she had to get some aspirins for her headache and prepare herself for this meeting.

Promptly at one o'clock Green arrived. Kelly buzzed her through the intercom and escorted Green in.
Chapter Five

"Good afternoon Mr. Green, please come in and have a seat. As you can see we are very busy so let's get down to business. You said over the phone that you have information regarding our case."

"Ms. Marlow, it is imperative we locate Mr. Jeffery right away. We have received an express package this morning demanding a ransom," Mr. Green said agitated.

He pulled from his briefcase a manila folder and handed it to her. Sam took the envelope and opened it. Inside the envelope were several photographs of a man with bruises and cuts on his face. There was also a typed note stating that unless four million dollars in bearer bonds was delivered to the Shady Acres Sanitarium by 8:00 o'clock tomorrow evening William Jeffery would be killed.

"Have you notified the authorities?"

"Absolutely not!" Mr. Green exclaimed. "They said they would murder him if the authorities were notified."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Mr. Green but chances is Jeffery is already dead."

"Oh no, don't say that. How can you possibly know he is dead. These photos show him alive just badly beaten."

"Mr. Green these photos could have been taken weeks ago when Mr. Jeffery left his hotel room. We have no way of knowing whether or not he is still alive. I think the best thing we can do at this time is to notify the authorities."

"Please, Ms. Marlow do not notify the authorities. Can't you handle the ransom exchange? I can have the money for you by 9:00 o'clock tomorrow morning. I have been authorized by the Duke and Duchess to do whatever may be necessary to obtain the release of their son."

"But they don't know for sure that this Jeffery is their son. We could be on a wild goose chase. We do not have any proof that Jeffery is their long lost son, all we know is that someone fitting his description has been abducted."

"I will leave everything in your capable hands. I must leave now, thank you for your assistance." Mr. Green rose and quickly left the office pausing only for a minute at the door to say, "It is of the utmost importance that everything we have discussed today be kept in the strictest of confidence. Good day Ms. Marlow." He closed the outer door and hurried down the hallway.

Sam sat down at her desk and started to go through the information she had. She pulled out a pad and pencil, and started to make a list.

One: Jeffery was presumed dead by the upper brass of the police department.

Two: reality check... Jeffery was not necessarily dead but Kearney who was impersonating him, definitely was.

Three: it was a safe bet Jeffery was the brother who came to collect the laptop computer and the briefcase.

Four: missing heir kidnapped over twenty-five years ago.

Five: note saying a meeting at Shady Acres on the 24th.

Six: ransom note demanding four million dollars to be delivered to Shady Acres.

Seven: hair sample found in closet.

Eight: photos of missing heir with resemblance to the Duke.

Nine: matches from a local bar on the seedy side of town.

Ten: more photos this time of Jeffery in a badly beaten state.

Eleven: the attack in the hotel and the feeling of being watched.

Twelve: strange message on the answering machine.

Sam looked at her list and sighed not much to go on. The only constant connection was the reference to the Shady Acres sanitarium. Sam reached for the phone just seconds before it rang.

"Slade and Marlow Detective Agency," she said automatically.

"Sam, I'm coming over to your office in a few minutes I have something that may interest you," John's rich male voice boomed in her ear.

"Sure John, I'll be here, I'm just waiting for Kelly to come in with the report from the computer lab."

"Good, see you in a few," with that John hung up.

"Now I wonder, what that is all about?" Sam thought to herself. Kelly walked in and handed her the file from the computer lab.

"Looks like the photos are legit, Sam," Kelly said. "I had them double check everything. Amazing what computers can do nowadays. I also took the disc from the answering machine this morning and guess what?"

"What now?" Sam asked.

"The voice on the line is computer generated," Kelly informed her with a smile. "Seems like someone is trying to pull a fast one on you."

"You had better sit down Kelly because I got more news for you. From the hotel room I found hair samples, a note of a meeting at the Shady Acres Sanitarium, and a book of matches from the Cruiser Bar in D.C.. Plus Green has handed me a folder with photos of Jeffery being beaten-up along with a ransom note for four million dollars to be delivered tomorrow night at 8:00 o'clock. John has now called to inform me he will be here in a few minutes to give me something interesting to chew on." Sam rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. The headache from the bump on her head was really starting to pound away. She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of aspirins and took a couple more.

"Kelly, what type of bar is the Cruiser?"

"It is a S&M club that allows drug deals and a few other unsavory crimes to occur. Word is on the street that if you want someone bumped off contact Eddie at the Cruiser. For the right amount of money almost anything can be had."

"Great I was hoping for something simple like a sleazy bar for swingers."

"You are not planning to go down there just because of a book of matches are you?"

"Yes, someone may have seen Jeffery or Kearney there within the past few weeks."

"And you expect them to just jump-up and tell you."

"No I don't, but maybe a little persuasion and a couple of hundred dollars just might give me some information."

"You are not going near that bar and that is final," John yelled from the door where he had been eavesdropping for the past few minutes.

"And who is going to stop me?" Sam yelled back.

"I am," he said as he stomped around her desk and pulled her up out of the chair. "No decent woman would ever voluntarily go into that den of snakes."

"Look John," she said, tilting her head back, poking him with her finger with every word, causing him to back up. "I am more than just a woman. I am a private investigator on a case that looks like it may have turned ugly. I don't need your okay to do anything. I don't have to tell you anything. As long as I follow the letter of the law you can't touch me, and if you try to prevent me from going there I will have you up on harassment charges so fast it will make your head swim. Got it!"

"Samantha be reasonable. You don't know what you are getting yourself into."

"That is my problem, John not yours. Now if you would just sit down and quit chewing my ass I'll tell you what I have found out in the past few hours."

"Okay, okay, but first let me tell you about a few of the fingerprints we lifted from that note you found in the bedroom. It appears that the CIA is involved in this mess. The prints belonged to an undercover agent by the name of Lyle Douglas who by some strange coincidence has been missing for the past four weeks. His last contact was the same day Kearney a.k.a. Jeffery was killed in the subway."

"If this guy is with the CIA how did you get all of this information?"

"I just happen to have a very good friend who owes me a favor," he said. "The head honchos are very concerned about Douglas. Apparently, he was working on something really big and was about to finalize the case. He had been given the identity of Jeffery a long time ago. It gave him free range to move in places that most agents couldn't get into. On top of all that, the guy actually did write the murder mysteries."

"Is that why the murder of Kearney was hushed up and ruled a suicide by the top brass to cover the butts at the CIA."

"That would be my guess too. My friend said that anyone looking into the Jeffery case would be asking for a lot of trouble and would be under surveillance at all times."

"So because the big bad boys from the CIA are going to be breathing down my neck I am suppose to just quit?"

"No, but you can start being a little more careful about what you are doing. Now tell me what info you have uncovered in the past few hours."

"Oh nothing special, just the photos we have are legit. Green received a package with photos of a beaten-up Jeffery and a ransom note for four million dollars to be delivered at the Shady Acres Sanitarium tomorrow night. We received a computer generated message on our answering machine asking for help."

"What!" John exclaimed, getting up out of his chair again.

"Relax, I'm going to hand it over to you. I want you to know that I am going to be the one who delivers the ransom money tomorrow night after Green brings it to me, and I don't want any problems from you in the mean time."

"I can't let you go there by yourself."

"Who says I'm going to be by myself, Kelly is going with me and he is a lot better companion then you are."

"You can't be serious?"

"Yes I am, besides, you can't come with us because you have been pulled off of the case. Remember?"

"She has you there Detective Chambers," Kelly said with a smirk on his face. "Besides if just the two of us show up no one will expect anything. If the agents in the CIA are following Sam they will be able to move in and take care of the kidnappers after Jeffery is released."

"And you expect him to be alive after all of this. You guys are living in a dream world. Jeffery or whoever in-the-hell he is, is dead. Understand me D.E.A.D. Which is what you two are going to be if you follow through with this insane plan." John barked.

"What is so insane about driving to Shady Acres dropping off the money and picking up Jeffery? Nothing could be simpler." Sam countered.

"Nothing could be simpler," John said sarcastically. "I give up with you two." John got up and left the office slamming the door on his way out.

"I guess we can guarantee that he will be following us tomorrow night," Sam said laughingly. "I'm going to check out this bar tonight do you want to come with me or not?"

"What time to do want me to pick you up?"

"About 10:00 o'clock things should be just slow enough to ask the bartender a few questions without seeming too obvious."

"Sam wear something sexy. They expect the women in there to be sleazy and if you show up in jeans and a sweatshirt you will stand out like a sore thumb."

"Gotcha."
Chapter Six

Promptly at nine o'clock Kelly arrived at Sam's apartment. Sam was a little surprised to find him dressed all in leather and chains. She stifled a giggle and asked him in.

"Is this your normal attire to go to a bar?"

"Yes, when I'm going to a S&M place. You look like you are ready to go. Where did you find that outfit?"

Sam turned around so he could get a better look. It had taken her all afternoon to locate the short leather skirt and vest with a pair of six inch stiletto heels, finally in a consignment store downtown that specialized in the strange and uninhibited, she had found what she considered the perfect ensemble. She had applied her makeup heavily, outlining her eyes in a dramatic cat look. Her hair was brushed out in a curly lion's mane hairdo giving her an exotic, sleazy look.

"I can say for sure you look like you will fit in. Can you walk in those shoes?"

"No problem, I'm pretending I'm walking on a tightrope without a net and there are alligators down below. I also brought my sneakers just in case."

"Let's go," Kelly grinned. This was going to be a very interesting evening. He wished Bill was here to enjoy it with him. They always got a big kick out of the disguises Sam came up with. He only hoped that there wouldn't be any problems tonight.

As they were getting into Kelly's car Sam spotted another car down the street. She glanced again at it as they passed by and she was sure it was John's car. "Well, I guess I'll have plenty of protection tonight whether I want it or not," she said to herself.

The drive took them down to the center of D.C., next door to a well known swingers club. There were no flashing bar lights to indicate where they were just a name on a door with a peephole in it. Kelly knocked three times and the peephole slide open. He said something to the man at the door and it opened up so they could go inside. Kelly leaned down to her and whispered, "I informed Rocko that we were expecting a third party for our little get together and that he was running a little bit late. Rocko assured me that he would let him in when he arrived. I told him that he was a bit of a stuffed shirt but when loosened up he became really kinky. That should be enough to get Detective Chambers inside."

"Good, then we can start wandering through the bar and find a table so we can ask a few subtle questions."

"Sam, why don't you let me ask the questions. These guys in here are really hesitant to answer questions from females, they prefer them to just sit still and look pretty. I gave Rocko the impression that you were the submissive and John and myself were the dominants. Understand?"

"Okay, okay!" She snarled. "Do you want to put a dog collar on me too or just a muzzle?"

"Sam, please behave yourself. This is not the type of place where you can come barreling in—asking questions. You have to be very subtle about it. Uh-oh, here comes John, boy does he look pissed. Rocko must have made a comment to him at the door."

As John walked toward them Sam looked around the bar. The clientele were as weird as Kelly had told her. There were at least seven couples, various genders, with dog collars around their necks and a chain attached to one end either at the hand of their companion or around their wrists. Sam felt she had overdressed for the occasion with so much skin that was showing on some of the couples near by. One man attached to another man's wrist looked over at her and winked and waggled his tongue at her. His partner jerked on the chain and said something to him. He immediately got down on all fours and started licking his boots. As he was doing this his friend reached over and slapped him on the butt. The guy on all fours moaned and licked harder on the boots. Sam turned her head and noticed John looking at her.

"Have you seen enough?" He sneered. "I have a half a notion to attach a collar to you and then beat you senseless."

"Try it and it will be the last thing you do Chambers."

Kelly signaled the waiter over to their table and ordered a round of drinks for everyone. He then leaned over to Sam and John and said, "Look kiddies, I hate to bust your bubbles but we are in disguise so we can try and find out some information here. So settle your differences and play the roles you have been assigned. John, you are a stuff shirt but you have this kinky side to you, so act the part. You are here with us to get into a trio with a little S&M on the side. Sam, you are the center of our trio so try and act sexy and submissive. If you don't, they will start to get suspicious of us."

"Okay, I'll purr like a kitten but what if I complain a little and try to find out about our missing person," Sam said, smiling sweetly at Kelly and John. The waiter brought over their drinks and stood for a few minutes. He rubbed Sam's shoulders and said to John, "You sure do have a sexy little kitten here. Anytime you get tired of her just let me know and I'll take her off of your hands." Sam smiled up at him sweetly.

John slapped her hard on the ass and said, "Behave yourself sweet cakes. The old man and I are about all you can handle for one night." The waiter laughed and walked away.

As soon as he was out of hearing Sam turned to John and said, "You just wait! Chambers! I'll make you pay for that if it is the last thing I do." Rubbing her butt where he had hit her. John just laughed at her.

Kelly motioned for both of them to be quiet as another patron sauntered over to their table. He was a biker, a mean looking mother, all tattoos, leather and chains. From his belt hung a cat of nine tails and he was fondling it as he leered at Sam.

"Good Sam, keep it up with the sweetness, I think we have a visitor, so be nice to him, but not too nice... Understand me?" Kelly instructed.

"Good evening friends mind if I join you for a while?" He said and sat down before they answered. "Don't get many lookers like you in here, most of the time, it's just faggots and scag-hags. You all interested in a little blow to help you along or do you want a partner to add a little spice to your life."

"Thanks, but no thanks," John said. "We just dropped in to see if a playmate of ours was here tonight. Missy here kind of misses him a little. He sure had a way with her that he promised to teach us. You know how it is. When a woman finds a technique that sends her squealing like a stuck pig she's got to have it again and again."

"Yeah, man I know what you mean," the biker said staring at Sam's breasts. "Had a fellow in here a couple of weeks ago that was looking for some excitement so I pointed him out to a couple that was into some really weird shit and I haven't seen them since. I guess they're still partying somewhere. Who are you looking for? I know just about everyone who is in this scene except for you two. The old man here I've seen a couple of times but not with you two." He turned to Kelly and said, " What happened to the old geezer you use to bring in here?"

"He died," Kelly said simply as he stared the biker down. "I've hooked up with some new friends now as you can see."

"Good, doesn't do anyone much good to hang around and mourn for the dead. What does your friend look like? Maybe I can help you?"

John stared at him for a few minutes and then described Jeffery to the guy. The man rubbed the side of his jaw and thought for a few minutes before saying, "That sounds a lot like the joker I just told you about. He hooked up with this couple."

"And you haven't seen them since, right?" Sam said sweetly.

"Yes pretty thing, you are right. Madge and Bill haven't been around to any of the places they normally go since they met up with this joker. I even went by their pad a couple of nights ago and no one was at home."

"Do you think you could give us Madge and Bill's address so we could double check and see if they have seen our friend? I really do miss him a lot," Sam purred. "It would mean a whole lot to me if you could."

"Sure little kitty, but first you have to be real nice to me and give us a little dance on the floor," he leered.

"Can I Daddykins?" Sam asked John. "Just one little dance so we can find Poopsie."

"I don't know," John answered rubbing the side of Sam's head. He turned to the biker and said, "be careful that is my property and I don't want it damaged tonight, understand?"

"Sure buddy, just one little dance and I'll give you the address. Come on sugar let's go," He said, as he reached down and picked Sam up out of the chair.

All during the dance Sam had to suffer through being pawed and smelling something that came from a sewer. By the time he brought her back to the table she was ready to puke her guts out.

"Nice little kitty there," he leered at her. "Madge and Bill live over in Alexandria at Mount Puckett Apartments. Apartment 234, Jefferson Street. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Yes, I have some friends that live over that way... nice development," Kelly said. He nodded at John and stood up. "I guess we had better get going, we've got a long night ahead of us. Missy here is going to be in such a pissy mood because we couldn't find her Poopsie we will be up all night."

"Good luck guys. Hey, if you need any help handling little kitty here you know where you can find me," he said, rubbing the whip again and leering at Sam.

John, Kelly and Sam hurried and left the bar as soon as possible. Once outside they walked quickly to their cars. At the cars John told Kelly to go on home and that he would take Samantha back to her apartment.

"No John, I'm going to check out this address and see if these people know anything about Jeffery," Sam informed him shaking his hand off her arm. "You can go pull your macho bullshit on someone else. We're not in the bar any longer and I don't have to take your crap."

"Look Sam, you go over there dressed like that and this couple may think you want to join in with their fun and games. I was only suggesting that I take you back to your apartment so you could change then we can check out this address together."

"And what about Kelly?" Sam asked not really believing what John had said. "Were you going to suggest that Kelly change clothes too and meet us at the apartment or were you just trying to send Kelly home?"

"I just don't think it is a good idea for the two of you to go running about town dressed like that."

"And what is wrong with the way we are dressed? You just saw at least a hundred people dressed the same way. What's the matter John, does this outfit give you ideas that you can't handle," Sam taunted him with her hands on her hips.

John ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. He took one more look at Sam and shoved her back up against the car, trapping her with his body. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and held her there, as he lowered his lips close to hers and said, "If you think I can't handle you, Pipsqueak, you are in for a big surprise." His lips ground into hers, forcing them apart. He'd expected resistance, but she offered none. Instead, she parted her lips and drew his tongue even deeper into her mouth. Fire shot through him and he groaned with the exquisite pleasure her kiss gave him.

He tore his mouth away and stared at her. She trembled against him. Her response to him had shocked him to the bottom of his toes. He was as hot as a furnace, and his groin pulsed with need stronger than he had ever experienced before.

Sam tore out of his arms and ran over to Kelly's car and got in. Kelly looked at John and smiled, "Surprised you didn't it? I'll take her home to change and then we will meet you at Madge and Bill's apartment in about forty-five minutes okay?"

John took a deep breath trying to control himself and nodded, yes. As they drove off John stood by his car and wondered what in the world had happened. All he had intended doing was to shut her up, but somewhere along the line things changed. He raked his hand through his hair and laughed. Sometime in the near future he was going to have to do that again, but next time it wouldn't end with her running off.

Sam was very quiet on the drive back to her apartment. She was still puzzled and shocked over her reaction to John's kiss. Never had she felt anything like that before. Sure she had lovers but no one had left that longing burning desire in her like John's kiss had. How on earth was she going to face him in forty-five minutes with his kiss still imprinted on her?
Chapter Seven

Sam quickly changed her clothes and washed her face. Kelly had brought a gym bag with a change of clothes and was in the bedroom changing. As she was coming out of the bathroom Kelly was in the kitchen fixing a cup of tea.

"Here Sam, I think you need something to calm you down before we go over to the apartment."

"Thanks Kelly. Is the apartment complex very far from here?"

"No, it will take only a few minutes to get there. John said he would meet us, but if he is late he wants us to wait until he arrives. I've got a bad feeling about this Sam something isn't right. I've known Madge and Bill for a long time and you always see them around at the bar scenes every night, for no one to have seen them in a week or so is very odd."

"Well, maybe they were having such a good time they didn't want to go back for a while."

"Sam, it doesn't work like that. You pick someone up have a party then it's over. Nothing lasts more than a day or so."

Sam shrugged her shoulders and finished her tea. "Time to go, just let me get something from the bedroom and we will leave." She went into the bedroom and over to her night stand. She pulled out the Sig Sauer® her father had given her the day she received her investigators license. She checked the clip in the gun and pulled another one from the drawer and put it into her pocket. She slipped the gun into the back of her jeans and pulled her sweatshirt down over it. If Kelly was right there may be trouble tonight and she wanted to be ready for it.

As they were going to the car Sam had that feeling again, that she was being followed. From the corner of her eye she thought she saw a shadow behind one of the cars in the parking garage. As they got into the car she told Kelly to keep a look out for anyone following them.

"Getting paranoid on me old girl?"

"No, I just have that itchy feeling in the back of my neck that someone is watching me. You know Kelly, the more we look into this case the weirder it gets." Kelly just nodded and continued driving.

"Don't look now but we have picked up a tail. I guess your itchy feeling was right. There's a blue Toyota following us a few cars back." Sam pulled down the visor and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, two cars behind was a dark blue Toyota.

"Kelly, let's try and loose these guys before we reach the apartment," Sam suggested.

"No problem."

After several twists and turns and running through yellow lights Kelly soon ditched the tail. As they were pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex they noticed several police cars and the coroner's van parked. John was standing beside one of the cars talking to one of the guys on the scene. When he noticed Kelly and Sam he thanked the guy and walked over to them.

"Well, we won't be getting any answers from Madge and Bill," he said. "Looks like one of their little parties went bad."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"One of the neighbors complained to the manager about a bad odor in the hallway. He came to check it out and found it was coming from Madge and Bill's apartment. He decided to call the police and let them check it out. Good thing he did. It's a mess in there. Blood all over the walls and floor. Madge was chained to the bed with multiple stab wounds all over her body and Bill was in the living room gutted like a pig. He must have put up a pretty good fight before he died because the living room is wrecked. I talked to Detective Brand and he is going to give us permission to look at the apartment after they are finished. I told him we were trying to track down a missing person that was last seen with Madge and Bill, so don't say anything else."

In about an hour Detective Brand signaled at John to come on over. John, Sam and Kelly walked over to the car.

"You can go in now but don't touch anything we are still getting samples of blood and fingerprints. It's a sick mess in there. Do you have a picture of the guy you are looking for handy?"

John pulled out his picture of Jeffery and showed it to Brand and said, "His name is William Jeffery, we have reason to believe he was not killed in the subway accident three weeks ago as reported."

"Something fishy going on?" Brand asked.

"Don't know for sure but I don't want to close the case until I have all the facts," John answered.

"Who are these guys, undercover cops?"

"No investigators hired to find our missing person. Is there a problem with that?"

"Nope, most of the one's I have worked with are pretty decent guys. There are a few that I wouldn't give the time of day to, but if you take responsibility for them I don't see any problem even though you are out of your jurisdiction."

"Thanks Brand. We will be very careful." He nodded to Sam. They went into the building and up the stairs to the apartment. The smell of death still lingered in the air even after the bodies had been removed. As they went into the apartment it was evident that a major struggle had occurred. Bill had fought hard trying to prevent being killed. The furniture was turned over, lamps were broken, blood was everywhere. Bloody hand prints were all over the walls and on the bedroom door. On the floor was the chalk outline where Bill's body had lain. One hand outstretched toward the bedroom door. It was evident he had been trying to crawl to Madge in the bedroom. Sam looked around the room sickened by the violence around her. This was not the first time she had been at the scene of a violent death but it certainly was the grizzliest she had been to. Being careful not to touch anything she wandered into the bedroom. She went over to the dresser and looked over the contents. Madge has gone in for expensive, exotic perfumes and body oils. Next to a bottle of oil from Paris, Sam noticed a phone number written on a piece of pink paper. If she wasn't mistaken it was the same number that Green had given to her the other day. The number to his cell phone. Now why would Madge and Bill have that number? Sam looked over to the forensic guys working on the night stand and carefully picked up the slip of paper and put it into her pocket. Green was going to get a phone call and answer a few questions for her tonight. She wandered back into the living room and nodded to Kelly as they slipped out the door. When they were going out the front door Sam noticed the same blue Toyota that had been following them driving by the parked cars. She pulled Kelly behind the bushes and ducked until the car went by.

John looked over the railing by the door and said, "Got a problem Pipsqueak?"

"Nothing I can't handle Chambers. See you tomorrow."

Sam and Kelly quickly walked to the car. Before Sam could get in John grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.

"Okay Sam what did you pick up?" He asked.

"Nothing, I just didn't see the need to continue to look at all that blood. Do you think you can get Brand to give you a copy of the report when he is finished? I would be curious to find out who was there before and after the murders took place."

"I've already asked and he was agreeable. You did see something, didn't you?"

"Maybe, but I won't know for sure what it means until I make a few phone calls. Why don't I talk to you tomorrow about this John, I'm not feeling well, okay." Sam said holding her stomach.

"Okay, but you are not fooling me a bit, I know you better than that Sam. A little blood is not going to make you puke. Take her home Kelly and I'll talk to you guys tomorrow."

Sam quickly slipped into the car and they drove off. As they were leaving the parking lot Sam noticed the Toyota again, this time parked at a gas station. She pointed it out to Kelly and said, "Looks like we have been spotted again. I wonder why it showed up at the murder scene? I thought we had ditched them long before we got there."

"Maybe they wanted to make sure we were there."

"Could be. When we get to my place just drop me off and go on home. You've put in enough overtime for tonight. I think I will just take a shower and crawl into bed and sleep until noon tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good idea, except, I don't think I will be doing much sleeping tonight after what we have seen. I still can't get over all that blood."

"At least we didn't see the bodies."

"Thank God," Kelly gasped. "Sam, what did you pick up in the bedroom?"

"What makes you think I picked something up?"

"Because, my dear girl, I know you very well and I can see a slip of pink paper in your pocket." Sam laughed and said, "I found Green's cell phone number on Madge's dresser. Now why would Madge have his phone number? He doesn't seem the type that would go for the type of fun and games that she was in. I'm going to give him a call tonight and ask a few embarrassing questions."

"Just be careful."

"Don't worry I will. Is the Toyota following us again?"

"Nope, everything is fine."

Kelly dropped Sam off at her apartment and she quickly went inside. The phone was ringing as Sam opened her door. She quickly slammed the door shut and threw the dead bolt and picked up the phone. An eerie voice came over the line and said, "We are watching you."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sam asked. The voice laughed and hung up. Sam went back over to her front door, making sure all the locks were secured. She made a sweep through the rooms to make sure all the windows were locked.

Bastard wandered out of her bedroom stretching and yawning. Sam picked him up, rubbed her head on his and said, "I guess someone is trying to scare me Bastard. And you know what? It's working." Sam sighed and put the cat down on her way to the bedroom. She took the gun out of her pants and laid it on the night stand. She took the extra clip out of her pocket and put it into the drawer. She carefully took the slip of paper out of her pocket and looked at it. She glanced at the clock on her night stand. Two-thirty in the morning. She sighed again and wondered if it was too late to try and call Green. She shrugged her shoulders and picked up the phone. Might as well wake him up. She dialed the number and waited. The phone on the other end just keep on ringing, then finally it was answered.

"Green here. How can I help you?"

"Sam Marlow, Mr. Green. Sorry to be calling you so late but I've just come back from a murder scene and I have a few questions for you."

"Murder scene," He yelled. "Not Jeffery?"

"No not Jeffery but maybe some playmates of his. I found your phone number there and I want to know how it got there."

"What do you mean my phone number was there.'

"That's what I said."

"How can that be? Tell me who was murdered."

"A couple who were in the S&M bar scene. Stabbed to death in their apartment, apparently a couple of weeks ago. I'll be able to pinpoint the exact date when the autopsy report gets back. Now Mr. Green are you into kinky sex? Is that why they had your number?"

"Absolutely not, Madam," he said huffily. "I have no idea why my number would be in an apartment like that. I'll have you to know that I have been a happily married man for over twenty-five years."

"I'm not saying you are not. I'm just asking why your number would be there. I'm sure the police will be asking the same thing tomorrow."

"The police!" He shouted.

"Yes the police. They will be checking any and everyone who may have been in contact with the victims in the past few weeks."

"But you can't allow them to contact me Ms. Marlow, it would jeopardize everything."

"I'm sorry but it is out of my hands. Do you have the money ready for the ransom pickup tomorrow or rather today?"

"Not quite, I am waiting for the wire transfer from the Duke today at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. I will be by your office no later than 9:00. You will be there won't you?"

"Yes sir, I will be there. If I have any other questions I will call. See you in the morning Mr. Green. I'm sorry I woke you up. But you do understand why I had to call."

"Yes, Ms. Marlow. I believe I would have done the same thing. Good Night."

"Good Night, sir," Sam said, as she hung up the phone. "Kind of touchy wasn't he. I wonder what he's hiding," she murmured to herself. She yawned and stretched. "Time for a shower and bed." She quickly took a shower and went to bed. Her last thought as she was drifting off to sleep was why would Madge have a phone number to a man who worked for the British Embassy.
Chapter Eight

She was running down a long hallway trying the doors as she went along. They were all locked. If she could just manage to make it to the stairs she just might have a chance. She looked down at the blood covering her clothes and ran faster. She could hear him behind her, coming quickly down the hallway. His tennis shoes slapping the floor as he ran. Just a little bit further and she would make the stairs. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck. He was closing fast ... Just a little bit further and she would be free. A hand reached out for her shoulder and she screamed.

Sam sat up in the bed. Her head was pounding as she tried to re-orient herself after the nightmare. She reached for the lamp beside her bed. As she turned it on she looked at the clock ... 5:30, two and half hours sleep. She took a deep breath to steady her shaking, slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. In the bathroom mirror she looked at her reflection. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and her hair was standing on end where she must have been thrashing about the bed. She splashed cold water on her face and reached for a towel. Two and a half hours sleep ... How in the world was she going to be able to handle the day with so little sleep? There was no way she could get back to sleep now, after the nightmare.

Sam went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As she was passing the front door she looked down at the floor and saw a note someone had slipped under it. She bent down and picked it up.

"Watch your step Bitch, we are watching you. Next time it could be your faggot friend that gets the blade."

She flung the note to the floor and stood there with her arms around her waist. Sam took a deep breath trying to calm herself. She went over to the phone and dialed Kelly's number. The phone rang several times before he picked it up with a sleepy, "Hello."

"Kelly, are you okay?"

"Sam, what's the matter?"

"I'm just glad you are alright, " she said with a thankful sigh.

"Sam, what's going on?"

"Kelly I just received a note threatening to kill you if I don't watch my step."

"What!" He shouted and sat up in bed.

"Yes, it was slipped under my door sometime after I went to bed last night. Let me read it to you, 'Watch your step Bitch, we are watching you. Next time it could be your faggot friend that gets the blade.' That sounds like a death threat to me doesn't it to you."

"That depends on how many faggot friends you have. Are you alright Sam?"

"Yes I'm fine I'm just a little rattled that's all."

"What are you doing up at this hour of the morning anyway?"

"Oh, I just had a nightmare and I thought I would fix myself a cup of tea to calm down. Now I think I need a stiff drink instead."

"Do you want me to come over for a little while?"

"No that's not necessary, I'm fine now that I know you are okay. Just go on back to sleep and I'll see you at the office."

"You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes, see you in the morning. Bye."

"Sam? Put the note in a baggy and we'll see if we can get a few prints off of it."

"Don't worry I will but I really don't think it'll show anything. Whoever we are dealing with they're not going to be so kind as to leave us a useable print."

"Yeah, you're right. See you in the morning. Good night, Sam."

"Goodnight Kelly." Sam hung up and went to the kitchen for a baggy. She carefully picked the note up and put it inside. She went over to her bag and placed the baggy inside. She debated on whether or not she should call John about the phone call and the note. As she was trying to decide what to do her phone rang. She walked over to the phone and as she was picking up the receiver she hit the record button on her answer machine just in case it was another crank call.

"Hello," she said. There was a long pause and then a whirling, long distance sound and a quivering voice said, "Help me, find me, please don't call the police, just come and get me." And then it hung up. Shaking, Sam hit the stop button on her machine. "That tears it," she grumbled to herself. "I'm calling John."

Just as she was dialing his phone number there was a pounding at her door. Before she could see who it was, they pounded on the door again and said, "Sam open the friging door. Sam do you hear me? Open up!"

"John just hold on." She yelled back at him. She yanked the door open and he burst through. He grabbed her and hugged her tight to his chest. Then he started shaking her and yelling at the same time. "Are you okay? Kelly called me saying you had received a death threat and that he was worried about you. So, I rushed over here as fast as I could and ... ." He trailed off when he noticed she was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

"Okay, okay, so I made a fool of myself. So what else is new, just because I was stupid to think you may be scared and need me."

"John, calm down," Sam laughed. "I think it is sweet that you ran over here to be my knight in shining armor. I never knew you cared so much."

"Of course I care, I have for a long time but you have been so tied up with proven what a hot shot investigator you are that you haven't bothered to notice."

"I'm sorry," Sam said trying to keep from laughing again. "Please sit down and read this, and listen to the call I just received." John sat down on the couch while Sam handed him the note and played the disc for him.

"When did you receive the note?"

"It must have been slipped under my door sometime between 2:30 and 5:30 this morning. I'm not really sure, the phone call has been just a few minutes before you started pounding down my door. How someone knew I would be awake at this time of morning I don't know."

"Did you call Kelly right after you read the note?'

"Yes I had to make sure he was alright."

"How come you are awake so early?"

"I had a nightmare and got up to get a cup of tea to relax that is when I found the note and called Kelly."

"Are you alright now?"

Sam looked at John on the couch, curling up beside him she laid her head on his shoulder. She took a deep breath and said, "now I feel better. Could you just hold me for a little while until my stomach quits doing flip-flops."

"Sure Sam," John said with a grunt as she snuggled closer to him and sighed. "Just stay still okay."

"John, I think Kelly and I may have been followed to that apartment tonight. I recognized a blue Toyota that seems to be everywhere I am. I noticed it the day we went to the Columbia International Hotel, and as Kelly and I were driving to the club I thought I saw it again. I can't be sure about that time, but I know for sure it was following us tonight to the apartment and back home again."

"Is there anything else you need to tell me?" John said hugging her close.

"Ah, yes I stole a phone number from Madge's dresser I thought I recognized it as the one Green from the British Embassy had given to Kelly. I called and talked to Green last night after we got back and he said he had no idea how she may have come about getting his number. I don't believe a word of it. My gut instinct tells me he is lying through his teeth. I wonder if he is responsible for the note under my door and the phone call," Sam yawned and snuggled closer.

"You may be right Sam. Sam are you awake?" John nudged her. Sam had drifted off to sleep. John picked her up, carried her back to the bedroom and laid her down on the bed. As he stood back up he noticed her gun lying on the night stand and shook his head. He leaned over and kissed her cheek as he tucked the blanket around her. He walked softly out of the door into the living room and stretched out on the couch. He set the alarm on his watch and closed his eyes. A few hours of sleep would do them both a lot of good.
Chapter Nine

Sam woke up, stretched and turned to see what time it was on the clock. Nine o'clock! "What!" She screamed as she jumped up out of bed. "Holy shit, Green is going to be at the office waiting for me." She grabbed her things and rushed to the bathroom. John was coming down the hallway with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. I brought you a cup of coffee," he said cheerfully.

"Thanks, I'm running late. I was suppose to be at the office to meet with Green at 9:00. I don't know how I am going to explain my running so late," Sam said grabbing the cup of coffee and disappearing into the bathroom slamming the door.

"Don't worry I called Kelly and told him you were running late, and to stall Green," John said through the bathroom door.

"Did you tell him how long to stall Green?" Sam yelled back through the door as she was turning on the water.

"Long enough for you to get a shower and get ready for work. Don't worry, Green will wait as long as he has too. So take your time. I'll have breakfast for you when you get out," John said as he went back down the hall laughing.

Sam hurried through her shower and finished dressing in record time. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and applied a touch of lipstick and mascara. She pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt and opened the door. She slipped into her bedroom, grabbed her socks and tennis shoes, and put them on. Before she left her room she picked up her gun and extra clip. For some reason she felt she would not have time to get back to her apartment before tonight and the ransom rendezvous.

John was waiting for her when she went into the kitchen. On the table was a full breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon and juice.

"My God, John I don't eat that much for breakfast," she exclaimed.

"I figured it was going to be a long day for you and you'll need all the strength you can get. So, shut up, sit down and eat."

"Yes Master," Sam said laughingly as she pulled out the chair and sat down.

Halfway through breakfast the phone rang. John motioned for Sam to sit still and answered the phone. When John didn't return in a few minutes Sam went to the living room to see what was going on. John was still on the phone running his hands through his hair and nodding. Finally, John said goodbye and hung up. He turned to Sam, put his arms around her hugged her tightly and said, " That was Jim Baker. He is at your office. Someone attacked Kelly this morning and ransacked your office. Kelly is on his way to the hospital with a stab wound in his chest. Baker doesn't know how bad it is, but apparently Kelly was conscious enough to call the police after the attacker left. The bad news is Green is dead. He was with Kelly when the assailant attacked and from the looks of things he tried to fight him off."

"Oh God," Sam cried as she pulled away from John and took a deep breath. She angrily grabbed her bag and keys and started for the door. "Are you going to just stand there or are you coming with me. To what hospital did they take Kelly?"

"They are on their way to Community," he said as he grabbed his coat and keys. "I'll drive." They hurried out of the apartment to the parking garage to John's car. As they were passing Sam's car they slowed down. On the hood of Sam's car was a briefcase.

"That looks similar to the one Green was carrying the other day when he brought over the ransom note and photos," Sam said as she approached the car carefully.

John told Sam to stand back while he checked things out. He carefully walked over to the car and examined the case before he picked it up and started back over to Sam. John was only a few feet away when the explosion rocked the parking garage. John and Sam were knocked to the ground and covered with debris from her car.

In the distance Sam could hear the sound of sirens, someone must have called. She scrambled to her feet and rushed over to John. He was lying face down on the pavement with the door of her car on his back. She frantically pulled the door off and went down on her knees. John groaned, rolled over and reached for her hand.

Sam leaned over him and said, "Lie still baby, the paramedics are on their way." She brushed his hair off of his forehead and started checking to see how badly he had been injured. The paramedics quickly arrived on the scene, picked John up and moved him over to the ambulance while the firemen put out the inferno of what was left of her car. Sam glanced over at the briefcase that John had flung away from him when the bomb exploded. She walked over to it and kicked it under John's car. Sam looked up and saw Jim Baker talking to the paramedics.

He slowly walked over to her and asked. "What happened here Marlow? Didn't you have enough excitement at your office?"

Sam gritted her teeth and said, "Of course not. I thought we needed the publicity so I decided to blow up my car."

"Now don't get smart with me little lady," Baker said. "Just tell me what went on here and make it simple. I don't have time to fool around with you today."

Sam relayed the details omitting the fact about the briefcase. Baker nodded his head as he wrote down the information in his little black book.

"I guess we will have to wait until the bomb squad finishes with their report to find out what triggered the explosion."

"While you sit around waiting for the report, I'm going to go to the hospital with John," Sam retorted. "I now have two friends in the hospital. Did you get a description from Kelly on his attacker?"

"Just leave the police work to us, Marlow. I don't need you sticking your nose into this."

"Don't hold your breath Baker," Sam said angrily. "This is my case, too and I intend on finding the slime ball who did it, so stay out of my way." Sam turned away and stormed over to where John was lying on the stretcher. The paramedics told her they would be taking him to Community. Sam walked over to the driver's side of John's car and opened the door. She casually dropped the keys and bent down to pick them up, she reached under the car, pulling out the briefcase and hurriedly slipped it into the back seat of the car. She straighten up just in time to see Baker walking over to her again.

"Leaving the scene of the crime Marlow?" He sneered.

"I plan on following the ambulance to the hospital when it pulls out, if that is okay with you!" Sam sneered back at him. "You are finished with me, aren't you?"

"For the time being, but stay close," he said, "I'm sure I'll have more questions, after I speak with John."

"If you need me I will be at the hospital or at my office. Okay?" Sam smiled sweetly.
Chapter Ten

Sam waited in the emergency room lobby for information on John and Kelly. She had been told by the nurse that Kelly was in surgery repairing multiple stab wounds to his stomach and chest. It may be several hours before they would know the status of his condition. John on the other hand should be able to go home in a few hours. He had been very lucky with only a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion among an assortment of cuts and bruises. If he had been closer to the car when the bomb went off chances are he would be dead.

Sam paced up and down the lobby too angry to sit still for any length of time. The emergency room doors opened, John walked slowly out with his arm in a sling and his shirt open. Sam rushed over to him and was about to throw her arms around him in a big hug when he put his hand out to stop her.

"Easy Pipsqueak," he said laughingly. "I'm in no shape for an enthusiastic hug from you. Just take my hand and get me the hell out of here."

"I would love to John, but I'm still waiting for news on Kelly," she said sadly. "The last thing I heard was he had been stabbed several times in the abdomen and chest and is still in surgery. They are not sure what his condition will be after the surgery. Right now it is a fifty/fifty chance of recovery."

"I'm sorry Sam," John said slowly putting his good arm around her shoulders. "Kelly is a tough old bird. He'll be out in no time and back yelling at you for being a pig." A nurse in operating room scrubs came around the corner and over to Sam.

"Ms. Marlow?" She asked.

"Yes," Sam said.

"You can come with me now, Mr. Carson is out of surgery and in recovery room four. The doctor said you may have five minutes with him," the nurse said as she turned to show them the way to the recovery room. Sam turned to John and asked if he wanted to wait in the waiting room. He gave her a glaring look and stalked after the nurse.

Kelly was just coming around when Sam and John entered the room. Sam hurried over to the bed and picked up Kelly's hand gently. She looked at all the wires and IV's attached to him and shook her head.

"God, Kelly did you have to try and be a hero, you should have let them have anything they wanted, " she said with tears running down her cheeks. "Please don't die. I don't want to lose you too." Kelly opened his eyes slowly and looked at her.

"Sam," he whispered. "Don't cry Sam. I'm not going to let some creep with a knife get rid of me. Look at me girl, and listen. The attacker wasn't after me he was after Green and I just got in the way."

"Kelly, can you tell us what happened." John asked as he hobbled over to the bed.

"Chambers, you look as bad as I feel," Kelly said as he surveyed John's injuries. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing much just a bomb went off in Sam's car."

"A bomb," Kelly exclaimed and winced from the pain in his stomach.

"Everything is okay, I'm the only one who got hurt, except Sam's car is dead. Can you tell us about the assailant?"

"There isn't very much to tell," Kelly said as he leaned back into the pillows. "Green was waiting for me when I got to the office this morning. As I opened the door someone dressed in black with a ski mask jumped at us. He stabbed me first. Then he went after Green. Green never had a chance he fought back but the guy was a professional. After he had finished Green off he ran down the hall. I managed to crawl over to the phone and called for help. After that I guess I passed out. The next thing I remember is waking up in the emergency room in pain with the cutest doctor telling me that everything was going to be alright and that I was very lucky." Kelly slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. The nurse came in, checked his vital signs and told Sam and John to come back tomorrow.

Sam and John went out the door and back down the hall to the waiting room. Sam took John's arm and guided him out the door and into the parking lot where she had left his car. She helped him get in and drove over to her apartment.

"What are we doing here?" He asked when she parked the car.

"I'm going to get you settled, then I am going to the office and survey the damage there." Sam said as she picked up the briefcase from the back seat of his car. "While I'm there, if you feel up to it, I want you to go over the contents of this case and see if it can give us a lead."

"Why didn't you turn this over to Baker?" John snarled. "It is part of the evidence the bomb squad needs to figure out how the bomb was rigged."

"I don't think so John," Sam said as they were walking over to the elevator. "I think the bomb had a timer on it to go off at a specific time. Probably to scare me off and prevent me from delivering the ransom tonight."

As they were approaching Sam's apartment she noticed that the door had been jimmied open. She pushed the briefcase into John's arms and pulled her gun from the back of her jeans. She took a couple of breaths, kicked in the door and moved to the right just in case someone was still there. Slowly entering, she searched for intruders. She turned to tell John that everything was all clear and was surprised to see him crouched with his gun pulled. Apparently he wasn't going to let her have all the fun if someone was still there. John walked over to the phone and called the precinct, after a few minutes he hung up and turned to Sam. She stood in the middle of the living room surveying the damage. There wasn't a thing that hadn't been touched. The apartment look as if a tornado had touched down. She doubted whether or not there was a thing that could be salvaged. Sam walked from the living room into her bedroom and stared from the door. All the drawers from her dresser and bureau and been turned upside down. The clothes from her closet were on the floor. All her keepsakes from childhood were dumped in the middle of the floor and looked as if someone had deliberately stomped on them. This was the last straw as far as Sam was concerned. From here on out it was war.
Chapter Eleven

After the police left, Sam searched for Bastard, she finally found him hiding in the corner of her closet behind some old shoes. She picked him up and crooned into his fur. John came into the bedroom and sat down on the bed.

"Sam I think you need to stay at my place until things calm down," he said. "I know you don't want to but I think it will be for the best. You know you and Bastard are welcome there. I have two bedrooms and I'll give you a key to come and go as you please, no strings attached."

Sam shook her head and said, "Thanks anyway John, but I wouldn't feel comfortable there. Who knows how long this may drag on. I could be there for a couple of weeks or longer."

"I don't care how long it takes," he said as he grabbed her arm as she passed by the bed. "Either you stay at my place or I stay here. The choice is yours either way you are not going to be out of my sight until this case is over."

"John you can't baby sit me twenty-four hours a day, you have to go to work sometime," she said patting his hand on her arm. "I will be alright."

"Look I am on administrative sick leave as of today, so you are stuck with me," he smiled back at her. "You just have to choose where we are going to stay."

"I really don't have a choice do I," she snarled at him as she started picking her things up out of the floor. "We are staying here then. I'll make up the couch for you at night but I won't clean up after you—understand?" Sam stalked out of the bedroom and slammed the door.

John leaned back on her bed and sighed, "Fix up the couch for me ... Not if I can help it Pipsqueak. This bed is big enough for both of us ... Whether you like it or not."

Sam surveyed the damage in the living room and kitchen then started to fume again. "What on earth were they looking for," she said to herself. She spotted the briefcase on the couch and walked over to it. Maybe the answer to that question is in this case. "John," she yelled. "If you want to make yourself useful come out here and help me go through this case."

"John," she yelled again when he didn't answer her. She walked into the bedroom and there he was sound asleep on her bed with Bastard curled up beside him. She picked the comforter out of the floor and spread it over him. "So much for babysitting me," she smiled as she closed the bedroom door.

Sam sat down on the couch and pried the locks open on the briefcase. She opened the lid carefully and looked inside. There were several files, discs and a .35 magnum inside. Sam laid the gun on the couch and opened the first file folder. It was a complete dossier on the Slade Marlow Detective Agency. As she continued reading she realized the file covered approximately thirty years of her father's life starting from when he joined the CIA, up to the day he had quit and started his own agency with Bill Slade.

Sam rubbed her forehead, she had no idea her father had ever been in the CIA. As far as she knew he had always been a private investigator with friends on the police force.

Bill never talked about how he had met her father, but here it was in black and white. Bill had been an undercover cop with the New York Police Department and had worked closely with her father on a major drug bust connecting several underworld heavy hitters. After the bust her father had become disillusioned with the CIA and quit. He had been accused of becoming involved with one of the suspects in the case and was asked to resign his position. It was later discovered that Marlow had been set up to take the fall for another agent who was believed dead. After numerous attempts to be reinstated the agency decided it would be best for all concerned for him to remain connected but apart from the agency, to be held on a recall basis.

"Oh my God," Sam said to herself. "That means he was still working for the agency when he died. I wonder if Bill was working for them too, at the time he was murdered."

Sam continued reading the dossier on the agency. Describing every case her father had taken on. Sometimes he had been working for the CIA using the agency as a cover. Everything that had happened in her father's life was there in the file, from the time her father met her mother, the date of her birth, her mother's death when she was six years old, on up to the time when she joined the agency and solved her first big case.

Sam threw the file on the couch and stood up. "Why didn't he ever tell me," she cried angrily to herself. There in black and white was every detail of her life including who she had dated and where they had gone. All her life she had been under surveillance by the CIA. It was unthinkable that Uncle Sam had been keeping tabs on her. No wonder she always felt as if someone was looking over her shoulder. Sam paced up and down in front of the couch and kicked it a couple of times trying to calm down before she continued reading. She took a deep breath and sat down. She reached for another folder deciding it would be best to see what else was here before she continued with her father's file. She noted the names of each one of the folders, Bill Slade, Kelly Carson, John Chambers, William Jeffery a.k.a. Lyle Douglas and Timothy O'Toole.

Sam picked up the one on Jeffery and started to read when she heard the bedroom door open up.

John walked into the living room and said, "What was all the commotion out here. Are you having another temper tantrum, Pipsqueak?"

"Sure I am," she yelled at John. "I opened this case you almost got killed over and found out that my Dad had been working for the CIA for the past thirty-years using the agency as a cover for his operations. There are also files on you, Kelly, Bill, Jeffery and some guy named Timothy O'Toole. It seems the boys at the CIA have been keeping tabs on all of us for a very long time."

"Take it easy Sam," John said coming over to the couch and sitting down. "Anything else in the case other than the files."

"Oh yeah, discs and a 35 magnum that hasn't been fired for a very long time," Sam said.

John picked up the case and started looking closer at it. He took out everything and started shaking the case while listening to it. "Sam something is fishy about the bottom of this case, it may have a hidden compartment in it. I've taken everything out of it and it still rattles."

"Let me see it," she said as she took the case from him. "Dad used to have one a long time ago that if you pressed on the back hinges," she grunted as she pushed, "and pulled it came open. Just like that." The case opened up from the bottom and out spilled another disc and photographs. Sam picked up the photos and started looking at them, she passed them over to John as she finished.

"Do you recognize any of these guys?" She asked as she passed the last photo over to him.

"Not really. This one here looks vaguely familiar but I'm not sure. I need to check with the office and see if they are on the wanted list," he said as he finished looking at the photos. "Let's play the discs and see if anything is on them that can help us figure out what is going on."

Sam walked over to her computer and sighed, "Forget it John its been smashed. I guess we will have to use yours or the one in the office. Oh my God, the office. I forgot to go over there and check things out. Shit I'm suppose to be at the ransom drop off at Shady Acres at 9:00 o'clock tonight. Man, its 7:30 p.m. now I'll never make it in time. I wonder if Green had the money with him when he was stabbed this morning."

"Sam you can't go running off half cocked. Let's go to your office and check and see if the money is still there, if not we can use this briefcase as a decoy and try and make the switch," John suggested as he stood up.

Sam picked up the files, discs and photos and went over to the bookcase. She pressed a button on the side and the front panel slide open revealing a safe behind it. "These will be safe here until we get back," she said as she was putting the things inside. She turned to John and he was just staring at her.

"When did you have that little gadget installed?" He asked perplexed.

"Oh, Dad had it installed for me shortly before he died. He said you never could tell when a wall safe would come in handy when you were dealing with a sensitive case. I guess he really knew what he was talking about when it came to secrets," she said sadly. "At the time I thought he was just joking."

Sam picked up her bag and said to John, "I guess we had better stop at your apartment on the way so you can change out of those clothes. You look a little worse for wear. Are you sure you feel up to this?"

John looked down at his clothes and said, "I guess you're right. Yeah, I feel okay, a little sore, but nothing I can't handle. Let's go Pipsqueak before it gets any later."
Chapter Twelve

After stopping by John's apartment for a change of clothes they headed over to Sam's office. It was quiet in the building at this time of night, most of the businesses closed at 5:00 o'clock so there was no one around except for the cleaning crew and security guards. Sam nodded at one of the maids as she went down the hallway. The yellow and black police band was across her door warned that this was a crime scene to stay away.

Sam unlocked the door and they walked in. She glanced around the office trying not to look at the blood on the floor and the chalk outline where Green had died. She moved through the outer office to her own. Every file cabinet had been overturned, papers were strewn about the floor, even the potted plants had been uprooted and thrown about the office.

Sam picked up the plaque of Robert Frost's quote that had been given to her by her father and sat it on the desk and read it out loud, "'The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and doesn't stop until you get into the office.' He always said that this reminded him of me." Sam wiped a tear off of her cheek and turned to John and said, "Whoever did this was not looking for anything. They just wanted to vandalize my office, but why attack Kelly and kill Green?"

"I don't know Sam," John said as he came in the office and looked around. "Maybe they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe the attacker thought they recognized him."

"But John, Kelly said he had a ski mask on and was dressed all in black. How could they recognize him?" Sam said shaking her head. "Whatever the reason I don't think we are going to find the answers here. Help me look for Greens briefcase, maybe there will be some answers in it." Sam and John did a thorough search of the offices but came up blank.

"It's 8:30, we had better go. We are going to have to push it to make it to Shady Acres by 9:00," Sam said as she stepped over a file cabinet. "I'm not even sure where we are supposed to meet the kidnappers. Green was going to tell me this morning when he handed over the money." As Sam and John were closing the door Sam noticed a gym bag behind the couch. She picked it up thinking it was Kelly's and stopped.

"John I think I just found the money," she said as she lifted the bag onto the couch. "This is heavy enough to have a load of bricks in it. I wonder why the attacker didn't take it with him?"

"He probably wasn't after the money, Sam," John said as she opened the bag. Inside the bag were stacks of one bearer bonds all neatly wrapped together with a note to Sam attached.

John read the note out loud, "Drive to the old oak tree with the red bench underneath approximately one mile from the main entrance. Drop the case and slowly walk back to your car. Wait fifteen minutes and drive to the main gate. Jeffery will be waiting at the gate. Don't call the police or bring anyone with you or Jeffery will die and so will you." That's pretty simple except they don't say how you are suppose to get in. That place has such a tight security it is almost impossible to get in without a pass from the head doctors."

"I guess I'll just have to bluff my way through. Do you know the name of the Chief of Staff of the hospital?" She asked as they were closing and locking the door to her office.

"No, but I know who does. Give me a moment and I'll find out." He punched in several numbers on his phone and paused. After a few minutes he said, "the name of the head doctor is Gerald Lawrence, but we have another little problem to deal with."

"Now what, Shady Acres blow up?" Sam said sarcastically.

"No but close, it caught on fire this afternoon and is still burning. We couldn't get within twenty miles of the place now."

"So what am I suppose to do about all this money and Jeffery."

"I don't know Sam, I just don't know," he said shaking his head. "Let's go back to your apartment and continue looking through those files and see what is on those discs."

"Great idea John, but my CD player and computer were trashed, remember?" She snapped as they walked to John's car in the parking garage. At the car Sam put the bag in the back seat and climbed in. As she drove back to her place John suggested they stop by his apartment so he could pick up a few things.

While Sam was waiting for John to come back she sat thinking about what had happened in just one day. Green murdered, Kelly attacked, her car bombed, the office trashed, her apartment ransacked, four million dollars in the back seat of John's car and now Shady Acres on fire. What did all this have to do with the finding of a missing heir? The answer to that question was she wasn't looking for a missing heir but a CIA agent who was presumably kidnapped. Chances were he was already dead or maybe he set up the whole thing because he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Deep in thought Sam jumped when John jerked open the car door and threw his bag in the back seat.

"Move Sam" he said as he jumped in. "I think we have a tail." Sam gunned the engine, sped out of the garage and down the street. She keep checking her rearview mirror for any sign of someone following but so far everything was clear.

"What makes you think someone was following you," she asked.

"While I was in the back bedroom picking up my disc player, someone opened my front door. I ducked out the window and down the fire escape to the alley below. As I was going into the back entrance of the parking garage I could hear someone following me down the fire escape. I think I lost them in the parking garage but I can't be sure," John informed her as he rubbed his forehead. "Do you see anyone following you?"

"No it looks pretty clear to me," she said checking her mirrors again. "John lets drive out to Shady Acres and see what is going on out there. I have a feeling that there is more to this fire than what is being told to you."

"Fine with me, but first I think we need to drive by your apartment and check things out there and give the hospital a call."

"Yeah, I'd like to see if Kelly is okay and feed Bastard before we take off."

They drove to Sam's apartment and while John sat in the car guarding the money Sam rushed through feeding Bastard and calling the hospital. Kelly was resting peacefully and had been taken out of intensive care. Grabbing the files and briefcase she left her apartment and hurried to the car. As she approached the car she looked around the area making sure no one was around. She flung the things in the back seat and started the engine.

"Kelly is doing fine. He has been moved out of intensive care and they have posted a guard at his door. John I was thinking that maybe we should stay on the move for a while until we can figure out what is going on and who is responsible."

Sam pulled out into the street and started toward the 495 bypass to Reston, as she slowed down at a red light she noticed a blue Toyota parked in a gas station. She made a U-turn and went back to the station and stopped.

"John that looks a lot like the Toyota that has been following me. Do you think you could run a make on it and find out who the owner is?"

John reached for his cell phone and called his office. After a few jokes at his expense with the dispatcher he was told he would have to be put on hold for a few minutes. The driver of the Toyota emerged from the station and headed for his car. Sam and John slipped down out of sight until he was in the car. Sam followed as he left the station. It wasn't long before he turned onto I-495 toward Reston.

"Now isn't that interesting," Sam said as she glanced at John who was still on hold. "Looks like our boy is heading the same way we are. I wonder if he is going to Shady Acres to."

"Thanks," John said as he hung up the cell phone. "Sam, my dear, we have just struck pay dirt. The Toyota belongs to a Mr. William Jeffery address 240 Westmont Drive, Reston, Virginia."

"What!" Sam yelled. "How can he be driving his car when he is suppose to be either dead or kidnapped?"

"I don't know but we are going to follow that car and see where it takes us," John said as he reached in back for the briefcase with the files in it. "In the meantime I'm going to look over the file with Mr. Jeffery's name on it and see what kind of dirt the CIA has on him. Did you ever figure out how come this case was on your car?"

"No I didn't have a chance to finish looking the case over," Sam said. "Why don't you give it a thorough going over while I keep up with our friend ahead."

"Sure just let me turn on this map light and we will see whom this baby belongs to," John said as he switched on the light. John went through the case but found nothing except a pair of gold cufflinks with the initial J on it.

"Well that was a waste of time," John complained. "Maybe the file on Jeffery will give us something." John read the dossier on Jeffery a.k.a. Lyle Douglas. He had joined the CIA in '89, had a unique ability of impersonation and prided himself on being able to fool everybody. He developed the persona of Jeffery in '07 to help in the infiltration of the social circuit of the international set. A secretary in the CIA actually wrote the books that were being published and received all royalties as long as she kept quiet.

"Now that was something different," John mused to himself. He had been told earlier that Douglas wrote the books himself. He continued reading. Jeffery was working on an assignment that forced him to travel to Europe frequently. This caused a problem with his cover in the United States forcing the hiring of Donald Kearney and the re-constructive surgery needed for him to impersonate Jeffery in the book circuit. The situation was working out fine, until Kearney was killed in the subway accident. Jeffery had dropped out of sight and no one has been able to locate him.

"Nothing in here that we don't already know Sam," John closed the file. "Except that some little secretary in the CIA is making a fortune on the royalties from all the books she has written. I wonder if she really gets to keep it or if Uncle Sam takes most of it and gives her a token of the royalties."

"She probably gets a token, Uncle Sam isn't going to let a dime squeak by," Sam said. "Looks like out little bird is leaving the interstate. Didn't you say Jeffery has a home in Reston?"

"Yes, and it looks like that is where he is going," John slouched down in the seat. "Stay back a little ways and let's see where he heads."

They followed the Toyota through a residential neighborhood and out into the rural area around Reston. At the third driveway he turned in and they passed it by. Sam made a U-turn in the middle of the road and came back up to the driveway, stopping the car she turned out the lights. From the distance they could see the car going up to the garage and pull in. A tall thin man got out and walked up to the front door and went in.

Sam and John got out of the car making sure it was locked and followed on foot. When they reached the house they slipped around to the side window of what appeared to be a family room. On the couch sat O'Toole, and Davis waiting for the thin man from the car to come into the room. From their position outside of the window they could hear what was being said in the room.

"The prodigal boss returns," Davis said as the tall man came into the room carrying a briefcase in his hand. "Have you located Douglas yet?"

"No I have not," the man said as he placed the briefcase on the table. "I don't think that detective bitch knows her cunt from her asshole. All day long she's been running around in circles trying to figure out what's been happening to her friends."

"Well she has had a slight problem there," O'Toole said sniggering. "With the faggot in the hospital and having her car blow up and almost killing her puppy dog cop, she has had a bad day."

"Wasn't it fortunate Green was killed when the faggot was stabbed," the thin man asked. "I know we had decided to wait until Douglas was located before we eliminated the excess baggage, it seems part of our problem has been taken care of."

"My dear Duke," Davis said rubbing his hands together. "Green was getting cold feet. And accidents do happen to liabilities to our cause. I assure you it was necessary to remove him as soon as possible before he alerted the authorities of our plans. Some of our friends became a bit over anxious and simply removed the excess baggage a bit premature. Making the murder look like a burglary gone bad was just a bit amateurish." He sneered looking at O'Toole. "If I do say so myself. It's just unfortunate that the man Carson got in the way. I'm sure given more time we will be able to find out what Green did with the money before he died. We now have to continue following the detective bitch before we can recover it."

"And what makes you think she has the money?" The Duke asked Davis. "Green could have easily hid it before he went to her office."

"I don't think so," O'Toole interjected. "He was convinced that the money was needed for the ransom of Douglas. He was sure that if Marlow made the exchange, he would be able to get his old friend back. I still don't understand what happened to Douglas. His cover as Jeffery was working fine until someone killed his impersonator, suddenly he disappears without a trace. Not a word for weeks and then right after we hire a detective to try and find him Green receives a ransom note with the demand of four million dollars."

"O'Toole did it ever occur to you that Douglas and Green may have set up this entire kidnapping. They could have been using this detective as a cover to steal the four million and disappear. It wouldn't be the first time someone in our organization got greedy," the Duke stated fixing himself another drink at the bar. "After all," he continued, "how could we report stolen money. We do not exist remember. This house," he waved his hand around the room, "the grounds and that toy car all belong to the famous author William Joseph Jeffery who in reality does not exist." He laughed as he sat down and crossed his legs.

Davis stood up and came toward the window. Sam and John ducked down behind the bushes. The window was raised a couple of inches to let in the cool night air. He walked back toward the couch and said to O'Toole, "the couple Douglas was friends with ... Did they give you any information about him?"

"No, that silly bitch hadn't seen him for weeks," O'Toole stated as he rubbed his hands together and laughed, "I think that was the most fun I have had in a long time. I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been for that husband of hers getting suspicious. That stupid bastard actually tried to throw me out of his apartment. Telling me I was Irish trash, but I took care of him and enjoyed the bitch before I finished her. Such a sweet kill."

Davis grimaced at O'Toole and turned his head toward the Duke and asked, "So where do we go from here?"

"We wait," the Duke said. "If Douglas was waiting for Marlow to deliver the money tonight he will be disappointed. I had a few friends take care of Shady Acres. Douglas will have to contact her again and set up another drop off. When he does we will follow and get the money and Douglas."

"What about Marlow?" O'Toole asked.

"You can do whatever you want to do with her, after we have the money and Douglas," Duke answered. "But make sure it looks like an accident this time. I'm tired of all the mess you have made. The police will be on to us soon if you keep using that knife of yours."

"Okay," O'Toole mumbled.

John pulled Sam aside and back down the driveway to the car. When they were in the car and back on the highway he said, "I guess we got the answers we were after, all except how you received the case with all of the CIA files in it."

"It must be Douglas," Sam said as she pushed her hair behind her ear. "He is the only one of the players who could have done it. But why blow up my car?"

"I don't think Douglas blew up your car," John said. "I think that was just a scare tactic or a warning to you."

"But why?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," John said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go home and regroup. I don't know about you Pipsqueak but I'm beat."

"Right maybe tomorrow Douglas will try and contact me."
Chapter Thirteen

As they were driving back to D.C. Sam suggested they go to Kelly's apartment instead of their own. "Our places may have someone watching, but with Kelly in the hospital no one would think of looking there for us or the files."

"Sounds like a good idea, but how do we get in?" John asked as he rubbed the back of his neck. He had a terrific headache and his body was starting to hurt all over. What he needed was a long hot shower and about eighteen hours of sleep.

"Kelly gave me a key to his place after Bill died," she said. "He said it was in the case of an emergency, he wanted someone to be able to get in and take care of his plants and fish."

Sam and John drove to Georgetown about three blocks from the main street to an old brownstone on Market Street. They pulled into the driveway and got out.

"Kelly lives here?" John said.

"He bought it several years ago and renovated it," Sam said as she got out of the car. "He turned it into three large apartments. He lives in the top floor flat and rents out the other two."

"Who rents the other two apartments?" John asked as they were going through the front door.

"The bottom floor houses a professor and his wife along with three Siamese cats," she said as they started climbing the stairs. "In the middle apartment lives a congressional secretary and her present boyfriend. The boyfriends change a lot so I'm not sure which one it is this week. She also entertains a few of the congressman in between boyfriends, so don't be surprised at whom you may see on the stairs."

"Busy little lady, huh?" John said sarcastically as he climbed the stairs behind Sam. "Have you seen anyone interesting coming out of her apartment?"

"Not recently, but for a while, one of the congressmen from New York was a frequent visitor when he was in town," Sam said as they walked to Kelly's front door. Sam opened the door and turned on the lights.

Kelly's apartment was breath taking. Decorated in old Victorian antiques with chintz curtains on the windows and dollies on the furniture. It gave the impression of walking back in time to the late 1800's. Everything was very elegant with just the right amount of masculinity blended in with the feminine furnishings. The only thing out of place was an old leather recliner sitting in a corner with a reading lamp and an old table beside it. On the table was a half smoked cigar in the ashtray and a humidor beside it. Sam walked over to the chair, picked up the cigar and looked at it with tears in her eyes.

"This was Bill's," she said trying to hold back the tears. "He used to smoke these things in the office. Some mornings when I came in you couldn't breathe for the smoke and smell. We used to get into the worse fights over smoking in the office, Kelly would come in with the air purifier and tell us to shut up that we were scaring away the customers."

Sam turned from the chair and hurried into the kitchen. She turned at the kitchen door and asked, "Would you like something to drink or eat? Kelly always keeps a fully stocked bar and refrigerator."

"I could use a glass of milk and a ham sandwich if he has it," John said as he rubbed the back of his neck again. "Does Kelly have any aspirins around here my head is beginning to kill me?"

"Sure in the bathroom medicine chest," Sam called from the kitchen. "You can have the first shot at the shower if you want, while I fix us something to eat. Kelly keeps extra robes with the linens in the hall closet."

John said thanks then pulled out a robe and towels from the linen closet and headed for the bathroom. When John emerged from the shower twenty minutes later, Sam was sitting on the couch with the briefcase open. She looked up from the files and said, "Your food is on the kitchen table. Please eat in there Kelly would have a fit if we spread crumbs all over his floor. When you finish I have a couple of new facts for you."

"Why don't you come into the kitchen while I eat and fill me in on what you have found," John said as he tightens the robe and headed for the food.

"I have been going over the file on Jeffery. Kearney has only been impersonating him for about six months while he was in the British Isles," she said as she sat down at the kitchen table. "According to the file Jeffery had stumbled upon information on the IRA that was highly volatile. Do you suppose the IRA killed Kerney thinking he was Jeffery, and found out later they had killed the wrong man? That could explain why they have been following me and why my car blew up."

"It's possible," John said as he reached for the milk. "But try this scenario; Douglas knew the IRA was hot on his trail and bumped off Kearney to make them think he was dead and then went into hiding until things cooled off. Later he decided to fake his kidnapping so he could get money to flee the country and stay hidden permanently."

"But that doesn't explain the murder of Green and the attack on Kelly," Sam said. "Unless he wanted to make sure no one could trace him."

John finished eating and took his plate and glass to the sink, "Maybe Green knew where he was hiding out and was trying to help him get money to leave the country. Green could have become a liability to him so he eliminated him. Kelly just got in the way."

"I guess we could theorize all night long and still not come up with any new ideas," Sam yawned and stretched as she pushed away from the table. "Why don't we call it a night and start over in the morning. I fixed up the spare room for you down the hall. I'm going to take a shower and hit the sack."

"Good night Sam," John said as he went back into the living room. "What do you want to do with the files and the money?"

Sam walked over to the bookcase behind the leather chair and touch a button on the side. The case swung open revealing a wall safe. "They should be okay here," she said as she opened the safe. "Dad insisted Kelly have one of these safes too when he was remodeling the house." As she was starting to put the money in the safe she noticed a package with her father's name on it. She picked it up and showed it to John.

John took the package out of her hand and opened it up, inside was a video disc and a CIA file on Bill Slade. Sam finished putting the bonds and other files in the safe and locked it up. She walked over to where John was sitting on the sofa reading. He walked over to the computer, turned it on along with the television. He put the disc in, hit media play and sat back down on the couch.

"Are you sure you want to see what is on this disc Sam?" He asked.

"Yes," she said as she tucked her feet underneath her on the couch. "Let her rip. It can't shock me anymore than finding it in Kelly's safe. I'm just wondering how come he didn't give it to me when Dad died."

"Maybe your Dad asked him to keep it for him and he just forgot about it after he died. It doesn't look like it has been opened for a long time."

John expanded the screen. There on the screen was Bill Slade, William Jeffery and Green. There was no sound on the disc but it was obvious that money was being exchanged. Bill was being handed a large envelope of money which he proceeded to count. He turned and shook hands with the other two and left the room. The next section of the disc showed several explosions occurring in various cities in Europe. One of them showed Green and Jeffery running from a building shortly before it exploded. The disc went blank and John stopped it.

Sam sat staring at the blank screen shaking her head. John went over to the couch, sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. He sat holding her close for a few minutes before she jerked away and started pacing back and forth in front of him angrily.

"Dad must have taken this video," she yelled at him. "He must have found out Bill was involved in something crooked with Jeffery and Green."

"Now Sam," John said trying to calm her down. "You are jumping to conclusions. Remember your Dad worked with the CIA on various cases and Bill could have been helping him. This disc could have been showing Bill carrying out an assignment instead of someone trying to use it as a blackmail against your father or Bill."

"But why hide it away," Sam asked. "God, John my head is going around in circles." She flopped down on the couch beside him, picked up the file that was with the disc and opened it. As she started reading she jumped up again and shouted, "That low-down son-of-a-bitch. He was helping the British Intelligence track down one of the bombers in the IRA. It states here that information had been leaked to an agent concerning the dual role Douglas was playing. But it doesn't say which agent it had been leaked to, or what the information was."

"Sam the only agent it could have been was your father," John said as he stood up. He walked over to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "If Bill was helping the British Intelligence track down a bomber he must have been working with Douglas as a double agent."

"Shit, how could I have worked with these two all these years and never have known what was going on," she cried. "I must be the stupidest detective in the world. I never had a clue about their double lives."

"Sam, people hide secrets all the time," John said trying to calm her down. "Your Dad was probably one of the best keep secrets in the business. Who would suspect a private investigator with a child being a CIA agent? No one would."

Sam twisted out of John's arms and began pacing again. Finally, she sat down on the couch, and said, "I know one thing, Bill was murdered in that back alley because of this and not because of a mugging that went bad as the police suspect. He must have found out the name of the bomber and they killed him for it."

"You're probably right," he said. He picked up the disc and the files and went over to the safe. "We had better put these back where we found them for the night. There is nothing we can do now." Sam walked over to the safe and opened it again. John replaced the package, closed the door and the bookcase. He shoved Sam in the direction of the bathroom and said, "Go take a shower and go to bed. We will tackle this again in the morning. Maybe things will make sense after we have had a good night's sleep. Sam nodded her head and grabbed a robe and towel from the linen closet then headed to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later she came out drying her hair, John had cleaned up the dishes in the kitchen and turned off the lights in the living room. There was a soft glow coming out from underneath the spare bedroom door. Sam started over to it, changed her mind and walked into Kelly's bedroom and shut the door.

John had sat up in the bed when he heard Sam's footsteps coming toward his door. He was just getting ready to put his robe on when he heard her turn around and go into the other room. "Oh well," he said to himself. "I need the sleep anyway." He laid back down and turned the light out.

Sam crawled into the huge four-posted Victorian bed and settled down between silk sheets. She reached over to turn out the light and noticed the picture beside the bed. It was the one that had been taken on her twenty-first birthday, the day she had received her private investigators license. In the picture was Bill, Kelly, her Dad and herself all laughing at something Bill had said. They looked so happy then, like one big happy family. Sam sighed and turned out the light.
Chapter Fourteen

She was running down a long hallway trying the doors as she went along. They were all locked, if she could just manage to make it to the stairs she just might have a chance. She looked down at the blood covering her clothes and ran faster. She could hear him behind her coming quickly down the hallway. His tennis shoes slapping the floor as he ran. Just a little bit further and she would make the stairs. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck. He was closing fast, just a little bit further and she would be free. A hand reached out for her shoulder and she screamed.

Sam sat up in the bed and reached for the light just as John burst through the door in his shorts with his gun in his hand.

"Are you alright?" He said, as he came over to the bed.

"Yes, it was just a nightmare," she said shakily. "It was the same one I had the other night after we came back from Madge and Bill's murder scene. Someone is chasing me down a long hallway and I know he is going to kill me, I keep running and running and just as his hand reaches out to grab me I wake up screaming. What does it mean?"

John sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her up close to him and said, "It was just a dream, Sam. Nothing else, after everything that has been going on you have a right to have nightmares."

Sam snuggled closer to John and closed her eyes. He rubbed his chin across the top of her head pulling her closer to him. Sam tilted her head back and looked up at him timidly, thinking back to the kiss they had shared in the parking lot the night before. As if he read her mind he bent down and touched his lips to hers. She ran her fingers through his thick hair as she savored the taste of him, an alluring sensation that sparked a deep burning hunger inside of her.

He pulled her closer to him releasing a sigh which exploded from the depths of him. She ran her palms across his chest and he groaned then rolled her onto her back. He looked deep into her eyes and said, "Sam if I make love to you tonight I won't be able to be just your friend in the morning."

"Make love to me John," she whispered pulling him closer to her.

He breathed her name as he kissed her breasts through the sheet. Slowly removing the sheet from between them, he was surprised to find her sleeping in the nude. Looking up at her he hypnotized her with his stare, he slowly removed his shorts and pulled her against him. The hardness of his arousal thrust hot against her thigh. So tightly entwined, she couldn't tell if his muscles quivered or her own. Slowly, he released her shoulders and trailed kisses across her breasts and her waist, he skimmed his hands down her hips and sought the center of her being. Gently his fingers teased her until he knew she was ready and slowly entered her.

Her body tensed and throbbed, drifting on a rising current of ecstasy until she soared with a roaring in her ears like a train rushing across the tracks to the unknown. A moan escaped her lips and she clung to him, digging her nails into his shoulders, fearing she might die of pleasure. His gaze locked with hers before he lowered his mouth, wet and hot, to her lips. He moved in a slow, easy thrusts until the tide of passion was upon her again, merging with his, washing away all other thoughts. Firecrackers seemed to explode in her head as she reached her climax the same time as he shouted her name.

She laid cuddled in his arms slowly drifting back to sleep. John reached over and turned out the light and sighed with contentment.

Sam awoke the next morning with John's arm around her waist snuggled up close to her backside. She slowly eased away from him making sure she didn't wake him. She slipped out of the room and went to the bathroom. As she was running the shower she wondered how on earth she was going to face him this morning. Maybe it would be better if she slipped out of the apartment and went to the office for a few hours. Sam quickly took her shower and dressed. As she opened the bathroom door she looked to see if the bedroom door was still closed. She tiptoed down the hall to the kitchen, got orange juice from the refrigerator, poured herself a glass and drank it. She went back down the hall to the bedroom and opened the door. John was still sound asleep, with a very contented smile on his face that made Sam want to laugh out loud. Stifling a giggle she closed the door quietly. She wrote a note telling him where she was going and left it on the refrigerator door then left the apartment.

Sam decided as she backed his car out of the driveway her first stop would be at the hospital to see how Kelly was doing. On the way to the hospital she keep checking to see if she was being followed.

Kelly was sitting up in the bed when Sam arrived. She walked quickly over to the bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, well, my girl, what has brought this on?" He said smiling at her. "You seem to be in a good mood this morning."

"I'm just thankful you are alive," Sam said as she walked around his bed and over to the window. "You gave me quite a scare yesterday."

"I scared myself too," Kelly said turning his head to the side and looked long and hard at her. "There is something different about you this morning, Sam. What did you and Chambers do last night?"

Sam blushed from the top of her head down to her toes, and turned to look outside. "Nothing, we were just investigating the case," she stuttered.

"Don't give me that crap sweetheart. You look like the cat who ate the canary and you are blushing," Kelly grinned. "Did you and John finally get it on?"

"Kelly, please," she turned and came over to his bed. "I don't want to talk about John and myself. There will be plenty of time for that after we find the man who tried to kill you."

"Do you have any leads?" Kelly asked thinking it would be better to change the subject.

"A few but I need for you to go over what happened one more time. Maybe there was something you forgot to tell me yesterday. You were pretty groggy at the time."

"It's just like I said Green was waiting for me to open the door and when I did, this guy in a ski mask stabbed me and then went after Green. I managed to crawl to the phone and call the police. I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is waking up here."

"Can you remember anything about the attacker? Was he tall or short, heavy or thin?" She asked, watching Kelly's face.

"I'm sorry my dear, but I just remember something being shoved into my stomach and falling to the floor," Kelly said as the plucked a piece of lint from the sheets.

"Oh, well it was just a thought," Sam said as she patted his hand. "I guess I had better go for now. I'm going to go to the office and start cleaning up the place. That guy trashed the entire thing. I wish I knew what he was looking for."

As she turned to go Kelly said, "Be careful Sam you don't know who you are dealing with. These guys are playing for keeps and they wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

"Don't worry about me," Sam said confidently. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve that these guys haven't even thought about yet. See you this afternoon, Kelly. Don't give the nurses a hard time okay?"

"Honey, these nurses wouldn't know what a hard time was if it bite them on the ass. Take care Sam."

Sam turned and went down the hallway. Something about the way Kelly wouldn't look at her when he was telling about the attack didn't ring true. Kelly was lying and she knew it. It wasn't what he said but what he didn't say that bothered her.

As Sam drove to the office she went back over their conversation about the attack. Normally, Kelly was able to give minute details on everybody. He prided himself in being able to have complete recall on every person he met. That was what bothered her, Kelly was unable to describe his attacker and he should have been able to.

Sam was busy cleaning up the mess in the outer office when John stormed into the room. "Why in the hell didn't you wake me up this morning?" He demanded as he grabbed her up out of the floor, shook her and tossed her back away from him. He flung her note in her face and paced up and down the room. "I thought last night meant something to you, but evidently it didn't," he screamed, grabbing and shaking her again.

Sam reached up and put her arms around his neck and brought his head down to her and kissed him with all the passion she had in her heart. Stunned John returned the kiss. Sam broke away from him and walked back over to the files she had been picking up out of the floor and said, "You were sleeping so peacefully I decided not to disturb you. After the injuries you received yesterday you needed to rest and regain your strength."

John looked sheepish and mumbled, "Sorry," as he reached down and started helping her pick up the mess.

Sam laughed and kissed him again. "Let's forget it, okay. We have a lot of things to do today and fighting isn't one of them. I went by the hospital this morning to see Kelly and asked him again about the attack."

"How is he doing this morning?" John asked.

"Pretty good. But I don't think he is telling us everything he knows."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a feeling I have. I think Kelly knows who the man was that killed Green and stabbed him."

"Then why wouldn't he say so?"

"I don't know," Sam said bewildered. "Maybe he is trying to protect someone."

"That doesn't make any sense Sam," John flopped a stack of files on the desk. "You don't protect the person who attacks you."

They spent the next three hours cleaning up the offices. Just as they were getting ready to call a halt for lunch the phone rang. Sam picked it up and said "hello."

There was that eerie sound on the phone again and she hit the record button on the answering machine. The same strange voice came on the line and said, "meet me at Fort Hunt Park at midnight near the old bunker ruins and bring the money with you." Before she could say anything the line went dead. John asked her to play the recording. She hit play for John to hear the details of the drop off.

"He didn't say anything about bringing Jeffery did he," John said.

"No, he didn't, maybe he doesn't have him and just wants us to think he does," Sam wondered out loud. "This could have been the Duke on the line trying to draw me out just to get his hands on the money."

"True, but he wanted Jeffery more than he wants the money. Remember he wants to shut him up permanently."

"So what do I do?" Sam asked. "Meet this creep tonight at midnight and hand over the money. Or call his bluff and not show up?"

"Oh we'll show up tonight but only after I make a few arrangements with a few friends of mine. We are going to catch this turkey tonight and put a stop to all this craziness once and for all," John said vehemently. He walked over to the phone and said, "Why don't you go pick up something for lunch so we can set up our game plan for tonight."

"Oh sure, send the little woman out for food so the big strong man can take over and handle everything," Sam said angrily. "No way buster we are in this thing together and I decide what kind of game plan we are going to use."

"Okay, Sam," John said as he leaned over and kissed her. "It is your show tonight but please allow me to take a few precautions. I would like to make sure we have a repeat performance of last night."

Sam blushed and stalked out the door to get lunch while John started making his phone calls.
Chapter Fifteen

When Sam returned with the sandwiches, Detective Jim Baker, was in her office talking with John. Baker nodded his head at Sam, then continued telling John about the evidence that had been found.

"Like I was saying, John," Baker continued, "something is really odd about finding an attacker inside a locked office. Carson isn't telling us the whole truth. The forensics report reveals only two sets of fingerprints on the knife we found underneath the bookshelf."

"When did you find the knife, Detective?" Sam asked as she bites into her sandwich. "You didn't tell us yesterday that you had found a knife."

"I don't have to tell you anything little lady," Baker said with a sneer. "From the looks of things I say Green came at Carson with a knife and was killed. If that is the case then all your little friend has to do is tell the truth. We rule it self-defense end of story."

"Kelly didn't kill anyone," Sam snarled back at him. "He said the killer was already inside the office when he opened up yesterday. Green was waiting outside when he showed up and unlocked the door. What reason would Green have to kill Kelly."

"I don't know, a lovers spat maybe," Baker said sarcastically. "The only blood found on the scene belong to Green who was `O' positive and Carson who is `A' negative."

"Of course you asshole," Sam jeered at him. "They were the ones who were stabbed. Tell us something we don't know."

"Carson's blood was found on Greens hands," Baker smiled. "The coroner speculates that he was either attacking Carson or fending him off after Carson was stabbed."

"Maybe he was behind Kelly when he was stabbed and caught him before he hit the floor," Sam theorized. "Green probably was trying to help Kelly when he was killed."

"It doesn't wash, Sam," John interjected. "From the preliminary report Green was trying to save his own neck. He has multiple stab wounds on his hands, arms and face. The attacker viciously stabbed him over and over again until he struck the fatal blow. What I don't understand is why Kelly wasn't stabbed more than a few times. Most of his wounds are not very deep, the only wound that did any damage was the one in his stomach area."

"But the doctor said he had multiple stab wounds," Sam said angrily. "Doesn't that prove he was viciously attacked too."

"Sort of," Baker said. "The only problem is they were not deep enough to do any real damage except for the one in his stomach. Green on the other hand, had deeply inflicted wounds. Another thing that bothers me, is the fact we couldn't find any evidence of breaking and entering. The door wasn't jimmied open and you don't have a back exit. Whoever was in here had a key or was let in. He came right through the front door."

"Baker, did it ever occur to you, that the attacker was the one who murdered Bill Slade in the back alley a few weeks ago? His wallet and keys were never recovered—remember?" Sam pointed out. "This guy may have had Bill's keys and decided to burglarize the office. Kelly and Green walked in and caught him in the act."

"But why attack so viciously? If that was the case, he would have shoved the two out of the way and bolted through the door," Baker said as he stood up. "Listen you two I've got to go. I'm dropping by the hospital this afternoon to talk to Carson. If I find out anything I'll let you know John." Baker turned and went out the door.

Sam stood up and fumed, "That asshole couldn't find his way out of a paper bag if someone pointed the way for him."

"Now Sam just calm down, Baker is only doing his job," John said. "Give him some time he'll find the guy."

"Yeah, sure like he found the thug who murdered Bill," Sam retorted as she dropped into the chair.

"Baker was the investigating officer in that case too?" John asked. "Usually Thurlo handles mugging, resulting in homicides."

"Baker was the first one on the scene," Sam explained. "Kelly found Bill in the back alley, and called the cops on his cell phone, while he stayed with Bill."

"And Baker took the call?"

"Yeah, he told Kelly he was on his way home, and heard it on dispatch so he stopped to see if he could help."

The phone rang on the desk, as Sam reached for it John picked it up. He waved her back down in the seat after whispering it was for him. Sam stomped around the room furiously. She walked into the outer office and sat down at Kelly's desk. She started pulling out the drawers and looking into them aimlessly. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she continued on. In the last drawer Sam pulled open, she was surprised to find a small handgun with a pearl handle, attached to the side of the drawer. She picked it up carefully and looked at it. Engraved on the side of the handle were the initials `KC'. She didn't know Kelly kept a gun. He had always told her he hated guns of any type. She heard John finish his call and put the gun back where she had found it. She would ask Kelly about the gun when she saw him later at the hospital.

John came out to the outer office, "That was a friend of mine from the office. I've made arrangements for him and a few others to meet us at Kelly's apartment at 8:00 o'clock to go over the details for tonight's little party at Fort Hunt."

"Just like that," she said. "Are you going to let me in on tonight's fun or should I just sit at home like a good little girl and wait for the macho men to return?"

"Sam, there is no need for you to get an attitude," John said angrily. "Of course you are going tonight, we can't catch this turkey if you don't show up. I'm just taking a few precautions to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Sure John," Sam said as she stood up. "I'm going over to the hospital to check on Kelly. See you tonight."

"Sam," John said as she started out the door. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Screw you," she said as she slammed out the door. John ran his hand through his hair, and slammed his fist on the wall.
Chapter Sixteen

On her way to the hospital, Sam decided to make a stop at the British Embassy and offer her condolences to O'Toole and Davis. Maybe she could get some more information from them concerning Jeffery and his alleged kidnapping.

Parking at the Embassy was impossible, apparently they were having a garden party today honoring a visitor from Indonesia. Sam circled around the block several times, finally giving up, she headed for the hospital. On the drive Sam used John's cell phone to call the Embassy. The receptionist informed her that O'Toole and Davis were away on business. She should contact them next Monday when they returned. "So much for being concerned about Jeffery," she thought. She dialed her office.

John picked up the phone and she hurriedly said, "I'm sorry I ran out on you. I'm on my way to the hospital and thought I would let you know, I will be back to pick you up shortly."

"Ah, that's not necessary Sam," John said. "Just take your time with your shopping, I'll meet you back at your apartment at 5:00 o'clock."

"John, is someone there with you?" She asked.

"That's all right sweetheart, I know you need some time to yourself," John answered.

"John I'm on my way back, don't say anything except yes," she said as she turned the car around in the middle of an intersection with horns blaring. "Are you in danger?"

"Yes, darling, that will be fine take all the time you need. But I don't think green is the right color for you," John said as he stared down the barrel of the gun that was being pointed at him from the doorway. "Just go to the shop on Baker's street and pick up what you need."

"Got it John. I'll have Baker there is a few minutes," she hung up the phone, dialed Baker's number at the precinct. After a brief demand for him to meet her back at the office she sped down the street.

"Goodbye dear," John said as he hung up the phone carefully.

"Very good, Detective Chambers," said the man in the ski mask. "Now if you would please sit down we can have our conversation without any interruptions.

John sat down in the chair as the man moved from the doorway, to stand beside the bookshelves.

"Now if you will cooperate there will be no need for further violence," the man said as continued to point the gun at John.

"How can I help you?" John said hoping Baker would get there before Sam arrived.

"There is a little matter of four million dollars in bearer bonds that was misappropriated from me by Green. I believe he had the money with him at the time of his demise.

"The forensic boys were all over this place yesterday after the murder. If there was any money I'm sure they found it," John said. "Did you kill Green?"

"No, stabbing is not my style I assure you," the man said smugly. "It is by far, too messy. It is unfortunate that the police have my money, I must insist that you retrieve it as soon as possible."

"And how can I possibly get your money?" John said as he heard a siren in the distance. "I've not even been connected to the case or any other case. Because of my injuries I have been put on medical leave indefinitely."

"Now that is too bad," the man said as he moved to the door. "I do believe I hear sirens. Naughty boy, you must have tipped that girl off. How unfortunate for you, I must leave before they arrive, but before I do let me leave something with you.

John gritted his teeth in anticipating being shot. The man in the ski masked reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a man's wallet and tossed it to him. John caught it in air as the man slipped out of the door. John hurried around the desk just as the outer door was closing shut. He ran across the room, pulled the door open just as Baker was running down the hall.

"Did you see him?" John yelled pushing passed Baker.

"I didn't see anyone," Baker yelled at him. "What's going on here? Marlow called me saying you had the guy who knifed Green and you were in trouble."

"Damn it," John said as he slammed his fist against the door. "I just spent fifteen minutes looking down the barrel of a gun and you let the guy get away."

"Look Chambers there wasn't anyone in that hallway when I came in," Baker yelled at him. "I've got the building surrounded. If that guy is still here we will get him. What does he look like?"

"That's the problem, Baker," John said. "He had on a ski mask. I couldn't see his face, but he spoke with an English accent, very cultured. He was approximately 5'11" tall, medium build, wearing black slacks and a black jacket. Other than that I can't tell you."

Baker got on his radio, giving his men around the building the John's description. He told them to begin searching the area.

Sam came rushing into the room, stopping short when she saw Baker talking to John.

"Are you alright?" She said to John.

"Yeah, but the guy got away," John said glaring at Baker.

"Now wait a minute, Chambers," Baker said. "If he was here we will find him."

"What do you mean if he was here? Don't you believe me?" John yelled.

"Look, I didn't see anyone getting into the elevator when I came out and I have a man coming up the stairs."

"Maybe he slipped into one of the other offices," John suggested.

"We'll take a look. You two stay here and don't move," Baker said as he went out of the door. Sam came over to where John was standing and put her arms around him. John patted her on the back and told her to go sit down. They walked back into Sam's office.

"Okay John, spill it, what happened?" Sam said as she settled down at her desk.

"Oh nothing much. I just think the Duke paid us a call demanding his money back, that's all," John said infuriated. "Damn it, I should have been able to stall him." He looked down at the wallet he still had in his hand. "He did give this to me. I don't know who it belongs to."

Sam took the wallet from John and looked at it. It was the one she had given Bill two years ago at Christmas, after he had been complaining about his old one. She held it in her hand for a few minutes, sighing before she opened it. Inside were his pictures, drivers license, social security card and other miscellaneous credit cards. Even the money he had on him was still there.

As Sam looked closer she found a note folded inside with the money. She opened it up and read it aloud, "Meet me at Shady Acres on the 24th. Be careful they are on to us.' Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "Bill was supposed to be meeting someone at Shady Acres on the 24th. Wasn't that the date on the note we found in the Jeffery hotel room."

"I believe so," John agreed. "Here let me look at it. It appears to be written on the same type of paper. Let's send it down to the lab and let the guys there compare the two."

"Okay," she said quietly staring at the wallet. "You had better give this to Baker too." She tossed the wallet back to John and stood up. "I think I'm going to my apartment and pick up Bastard and his things and take them over to Kelly's place. Do you want me to come back for you?"

"No, I'll have one of the guys drop me off at Kelly's. He walked her to the outer door and paused, "Are you alright, Pipsqueak?"

She patted him on the arm and said smiling, "I'm fine. Don't worry so much. See you back at the apartment."

When she arrived at her place Bastard was waiting at the door, demanding attention. She picked him up snuggled for a few minutes and carried him into the kitchen. She fed him and then walked back to her bedroom. Everything was still in such a mess, she thought. It's going to take me hours to put it right again. I just wish I could do the same thing in this case. She picked up her gym bag and started packing for a couple of days. Until this mess was over she planned to stay at Kelly's while he was still in the hospital. She walked over to her phone and dialed the number of the hospital. The switchboard tried to put her through to Kelly's room but was unable to do so because he was in therapy. They suggested she call back later.

Sam quickly got her things together, put Bastard in his carryall, forwarded her phone to Kelly's apartment and left.
Chapter Seventeen

John was waiting at the apartment when Sam arrived with the cat. She came in, put Bastard who was complaining from inside his carrier, on the floor. She then took her gym bag into Kelly's bedroom and put it on the bed. She went back down the hall to the bathroom and put the litter box just inside the door. Finally returning to the living room, she took Bastard out of his carrier and turned him loose. She smiled as he inspected his surroundings and then she turned to John.

"He won't tear up anything will he," John asked as he watched Bastard rub against the expensive furniture.

"Of course not, Bastard is a well behaved cat," Sam said. "Did Baker find anything?"

"The only thing they found was a ski mask outside of the building on the sidewalk," John said shaking his head. "Apparently our friend is a master of disguise."

"Sounds a lot like Jeffery doesn't it," Sam observed. "His file said he prided himself on being able to fool people."

"What are you saying, Sam?" John asked.

"Maybe the man we followed to Jeffery's house, was Jeffery and he is impersonating the Duke to fool Davis and O'Toole," Sam speculated. "He could be setting up this whole thing. The supposed kidnapping and ransom could have been a scheme created by Jeffery and Green to get the money. Jeffery may have decided that Green knew too much and eliminated him. Now he's playing Davis and O'Toole for a bunch of fools, by impersonating the Duke of Faulkner to insure he will get the money. Then he can fake another death in the process to skip totally out of existence."

"It's a good theory but I don't see how Bill Slade falls into it," John said. "It doesn't explain how he had his wallet and why he so causally gave it to me."

"Maybe he killed Bill, because he found out what he was going to do," Sam answered. "The video showed Bill with Jeffery taking money, the file also indicates that Bill was hot on the trail of a double agent."

"The double agent, or in this case triple agent, was Jeffery," John interjected. "So he kills him because he knows too much. I don't know Sam, it sounds pretty far fetched to me."

Sam sat down on the couch and leaned back. She rubbed her temples with her fingers and said, "What time are the joy boys coming by?"

"They should be here shortly," John said as he walked into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Just a glass of juice."

"Tomato, or orange?"

"Orange, she said as she got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen. "What have you got planned for tonight?"

"Nothing much," he said handing her the juice. "We plan to surround the area and wait. We'll let you get situated at the bunker early so he has to walk over to you for the money. Then we will confront him. Simple."

"It won't work," Sam said as she places the empty glass in the sink. "He is too smart to allow himself to be trapped. Do you honestly think this is the first time he has done this sort of thing? I don't think so. He'll probably spot your guys right off."

"Sam, these are professionals who have done this type of thing before. Trust me," John said.

"Famous last words," she stated and walked back into the living room. John followed her, grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"Listen Sam, I'm not going to take the chance of you being killed out there tonight."

"John, he wants his money," she interjected. "That's all he is concerned about. I pose no threat to him, but if your guys pounce on him, once he has the money what's going to stop him from shooting me or someone else?"

"We will stop him," John remarked. "We're finalizing everything here before we leave. Nothing will go wrong."

"Don't be so sure about that," she mumbled. There was a knock on the door, John walked over to open it, while Sam moved over to one of the chairs at the end of the room.

Five guys all dressed in black and carrying gym bags walked into the room. They said hello to John in unison and nodded at Sam. Sam started to giggle, but stopped when John glared at her. This was too much. They resemble a clown show moving in unison with somber looks on their faces. The machismo in the room was getting so thick, she could cut it with a knife. John right in the middle running the whole show.

After about thirty minutes of listening to their plans, tactics and hearing herself referred to as the little lady, Sam stood up and walked over to the table and slammed her fist down and shouted, "That's enough. You guys can sit here and go over all the plans you want, but it isn't going to do any good. We are dealing with a pro, fellows. He will see through this setup. The best thing we can do is to let me go through with the exchange and then follow him. We can implant a tracking device in the gym bag and then follow him back to where he has our man."

"Now little lady, don't you worry your little old head about anything we ain't gonna let anything happen to you," the tall guy with the Texas accent drawled. "Just leave it up to old Ben here, we'll have him in custody in no time at all."

Sam rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You just don't understand," she interjected. "This is not your common everyday kidnapper. This is a man who has fought terrorist and won. He's not, and I repeat, he is not going to allow himself to be caught."

John took Sam by the arm, led her down the hallway to the bedroom and shut the door. Sam jerked away from him and sat down on the bed.

"John you are making a big mistake," she remarked.

"Listen Sam, we know what we are doing," John stated. "Those guys out there have been trained by the very best. They do this type of thing for a living. Please, just go along with our plans."

"Okay, but if this falls through..." She stopped when John interrupted her.

"Why don't you get ready for tonight and leave the details up to me." He turned and left the room.

Sam picked up a pillow and tossed at the closing door. If they think she was going to sit calmly by and let them handle everything they had another thing coming. She would go along with part of their plan, she decided but if things started to go wrong she was going to do things her way. Sam quickly changed clothes and checked her gun.

John knocked on the door and told her it was 11:00 o'clock, time to go. Sam calmly came out of the bedroom with her bag. She went over to the safe and retrieved the money. She crossed her fingers and said a little prayer in hopes that things would go alright.
Chapter Eighteen

It was dark and eerie inside the park at night. The area in which they were to meet with the kidnapper was at the far end of the picnic area. It was obvious that teenagers used this area late at night, for their parties. Sam saw several of them being chased away by the men in black. These kids must have thought the cops were on their tails as fast as they ran out of the park, and they were right. Sam made her way slowly over to the bunker area, sat down on a rock wall and waited. John and his men were scattered in different areas surrounding the bunker. Sam shook her head, this was so ridiculous, if she could pinpoint where John and the men in black then she was sure the kidnapper could too. She looked at her watch and sighed 11:45 ... fifteen more minutes. She would be willing to bet that it was going to be a no show tonight. Sam stood up, walked down to the end of the rock wall and peered into the darkness.

She slowly turned, walked down to the other end and sat down again. A voice came out of the darkness behind her

and whispered, "Good evening Ms. Marlow, don't move, Just sit very still and listen to what I have to tell you. I

Realize the area is surrounded by your police friend and his buddies, but I'm not really concerned about them I have dealt with their type before. I need you to be very quiet and do exactly what I tell you to do. Please don't make the mistake of thinking, just because you are a woman, that I won't use the knife I am holding at your back ... because I will. All I want you to do is answer a few questions for me, leave, and turn over the bag you are holding. If you understand me, take your right hand and put your hair behind your ear." Sam moved her hand and did what he told her.

"Very good. Now slowly stand and walk to the other end of the rock wall. I will be with you so don't try anything."

Sam stood, slowly walked to the end of the rock wall and stood still. The voice spoke again, "Now Ms. Marlow take the gym bag, place it on the wall and sit down beside it." Sam did as she was told and waited.

"Now," he whispered. "We are going to have a little chat. I will ask you a question and you will nod your head either yes or no understand?" Sam moved her right hand again and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Oh, but you are a bright girl. Do you know where Jeffery is?" Sam nodded no. The whisperer chuckled.

"Was Green stabbed with a knife?"

Sam nodded yes.

"Have you met O'Toole and Davis?"

Again Sam nodded yes.

"Do you know who killed Bill Slade?"

Sam nodded no.

"Did you receive the CIA files left on your car?"

Sam nodded yes.

"Are you familiar with the code name Phoenix?"

Sam nodded no.

"Have you seen any of your father's old files?"

Sam nodded yes.

"Was there a disc of Bill Slade in the files?"

Sam again nodded yes.

"Do you believe the kidnapping story of the missing heir?"

Sam nodded no.

"Bright girl. Do you know who I am?"

Sam nodded yes.

"You do?" He whispered surprised. "Very well, that changes a few things. It won't be long before you have the answer to all of your questions. But first do you know who killed Green."

Sam nodded no.

"Just one more question."

Sam sat very still waiting for the next question. After a few minutes she slowly turned and looked behind her, the man was gone. Sam stood up, walked behind the rock wall and looked around. On the ground was a note pinned with a knife, Sam took a deep breath and whistled

for John. John came running through the undergrowth to the rock wall, stopping beside Sam and looking at her.

She pointed at the note with the knife in it and said, "He was here John. He told me he knew you and your buddies were waiting for him, but he wasn't worried about it. He also asked a few questions and then he left."

"Are you okay," John asked as he carefully removed the knife from the note and picked it up.

"Yes I'm okay," Sam stated. "I think I know who he is, John."

"Who?" John asked as he whistled for his companions to join them.

"William Jeffery a.k.a. Lyle Douglas," she retorted.

"How do you know that?" John asked irritated.

"Because he asked if I knew who had killed Bill Slade," Sam answered.

"And that makes you think he is Douglas," John remarked. "Sam that's stupid."

"Read the note John," Sam interjected. John opened the note and read; "Samantha Marlow you are very much like your father and I respect that. Meet me at the burned remains of Shady Acres at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. Come alone. Bring the money and the CIA files with you. Be careful that you are not followed. All questions will be answered. `D'."

John whistled and turned to Sam, "You are not going there alone I forbid it."

Sam looked at him and laughed, "Since when do you have the right to forbid me to do anything, John Chambers. Let me make something very clear to you. Just because we had sex doesn't mean you own me. We had a good time, and that was all there was to it. I come and go as I please, whether you like it or not." Sam turned around and stalked off down along the woods to where the cars were parked.

John shook his head and explained to the rest of his friends what had happened. They agreed to join him tomorrow when he would follow Sam to Shady Acres. John picked up the gym bag and started through the woods to the cars.

As Sam stumbled through the woods fuming, she heard something in the brush, she turned thinking it was John and was confronted by a man dressed in black with a ski mask pulled over his face. He didn't say a word, just motion her to move on with the gun he had pointed at her. Sam started to run, but the man grabbed her arm and put the gun to her back. He escorted her to the blue Toyota, pushed her inside the back seat and climbed in with her. He tied her hands and blindfolded her. He told the driver to get moving and they sped off down the George Washington Parkway toward D.C..

As John came out of the woods he looked around for Sam. He called for her, but no answer. He quickly searched the area but could find no trace her. He signaled for the rest

of the party. They did a thorough search of the area but could find nothing. John walked back to where the cars were parked and found Ben, the big guy from Texas, on his hands and knees looking at the ground behind John's car.

"Looks like we had a little bit of company, John," he said. "From the tire tracks and the footprints I would say the little lady was taken by two men in a medium size car. One of them was smoking a cigar, while the other one grabbed her and put her inside."

"Damn! They could have taken her anywhere," John said angrily. "Why in the hell didn't she wait for me?"

"That little lady waits for no one. If you pissed her off, which I'm sure you all did, she was probably fuming and fussing and didn't pay any attention to what was going on around her. She probably didn't have a chance to run," Ben informed him. "There is nothing we can do about it now, we'll just have to wait and see. Let's head back to the apartment and decide where we go from here."

"I guess you are right," John stated. "One thing is for sure, if they were going to kill her, they would have done it here. I guess we'll have to wait for them to contact us." John and the rest of the guys got into their cars and left.

On the drive back to the apartment John cursed himself for pissing Sam off. He should have known better than to try and tell her what to do. She was in trouble and there was nothing he could do—but wait.

With the blindfold on Sam couldn't tell where they were going. From the sound of the traffic passing by them it sounded as if they were on the bypass. It was the only road that would have a lot of traffic on it, at this time of night. She pulled at the rope binding her wrists to see if she could loosen them. It only seemed to get tighter with every movement.

The man in the back seat leaned across the seat, slowly stroking the side of her face with the gun he said, "There is no way you can loosen your bonds my dear, the more you struggle with them the tighter they will become. Just sit back, enjoy the ride and don't be afraid. We have no intention of harming you as long as you cooperate with us."

The driver of the car laughed and said, "We are almost at our destination, you had better go ahead and get it over with now." Sam felt the sleeve of her jacket being pulled up, there was a sharp jab of a needle and she blacked out.

They drove into the entrance of an abandoned warehouse and pulled around back. They carried Sam down the stairs to the basement and laid her down on a bed that had been provided. They tied her to the headboard of the bed and removed the blindfold. The man with the gun looked at her and leered, "I'll be back soon my dear, to have a long talk with you." The driver stood at the door and laughed. They went out chuckling to themselves as they locked the entrance to the room.

"Did you leave the message for Chambers?" Davis asked O'Toole as they climbed into the car.

"Yes, I left it on the answering machine at her office and at her apartment," he said. "He should find it soon enough. Once we have retrieved the money, we can concentrate on getting rid of Douglas and the others."

Chapter Nineteen

Slowly consciousness began to return to Sam as the drug wore off. She cautiously turned her head, and as her eyes began to focus. Her arms were beginning to ache from being tied to the headboard of the bed. At least they had left a light on in the room so she wasn't totally in the dark. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but from the feeling in her arms it must have been for an hour or two. She wiggled her fingers and pulled against the ropes. Nothing gave. She started inching her way up the bed to see if she could at least sit up. Thank God, they hadn't tied her legs too. She finally made it to a sitting position and looked around the room. The only furniture in the room was a chair, a desk and the bed. The light came from a small lamp on the desk.

Sam listened carefully to see if she could hear any sounds of the men returning. Nothing, not even the sound of a car passing by.

"I must be out in the country somewhere," Sam muttered to herself. She pulled on her restraints again. "How in the Hell am I going to get out of this one?" She grumbled to herself.

John returned to Kelly's apartment and started pacing the floor. Where on earth had they taken Sam? He had driven to the house where Sam and he had followed the man in the blue Toyota. There had been nobody there.

There must be some way he could find her he thought. He looked at the note he had in his hand. Douglas wanted to meet with her at Shady Acres tomorrow. Could he have abducted her tonight? No, he doubted that. She must have been taken by Duke and his henchmen. They probably had been following her all day looking and waiting for the opportunity to take back the money. If that was the case, they would be contacting him soon to set up a time for the exchange.

"Damn!" John said running his fingers through his hair. "All I can do is wait."

John wandered through the apartment aimlessly trying to decide what to do next. He paused as he passed the picture of Sam sitting on the night stand in Kelly's bedroom. Beautiful, vivacious, pigheaded Samantha. John remembered back to the day she had received her PI license and the conversation her father had with him.

"Don't get involved with Sam, John," Mike Marlow had said. "I don't want to see her go through what her mother went through with me. Waiting by the phone day and night for a call to come in, dreading every time you leave the house that this will be the last time she sees you alive. Stay away from her John. If you really care about Sam, you won't let her fall in love with you." At the time he really believed what Mike had said and stayed away from her. But as the years went by he found himself drawn to her time and time again. He would pick fights with her to make sure she would stay away from him. It had been easier to deal with her mad then to deal with his love for her. He looked about the bedroom remembering how wild and passionate she had been when they had made love. He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. Here he was waiting by the phone dreading the call that would inform him she was hurt or dead. John slammed his fist on the dresser and stormed out of the bedroom.

"God if anything happens to her I'll kill the son-of-a-bitch who does it," he screamed as he continued to storm about the apartment. On his third trip by the phone he noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. He pressed the play button and listened. Kelly was calling to let Sam know he was much better and should be getting out of the hospital soon. The next call was Sam's dry cleaner reminding her that her suit was ready to be picked up. John smiled. The next call was for Kelly from one of his friends offering his condolence on Bill's death. Saying he had just arrived back from Europe yesterday, and had just heard of his demise. As John waited for the next message to play there came a knock on the door, he stopped the machine, went to the door and looked out the security hole. There was no one there. John pulled his revolver out of the holster and slowly opened the door. Just outside the door was a basket of fruit with a note attached to it.

John sighed, picked it up and brought it in. John read the note and choked, "What the hell?" He read the note again, "Greetings Kelly, Be careful Phoenix is watching. Time to cover your ass. "D."

John slammed the basket of fruit on the table and stormed out the door. It was time Mr. Kelly Carson answered a few questions.
Chapter Twenty

Sam could hear someone coming down the hall, so she closed her eyes and pretended to still be asleep. They walked into the room and put something down on the desk. She moaned and opened her eyes slowly giving the appearance of still being groggy.

O'Toole walked over to the bed and looked at her, "It is about time you were waking up young lady," he said as he reached down and patted her face.

"Water," Sam croaked out.

"Here you go," he said as he put a cup of water to her lips. "Now, don't drink it too fast. I'll have plenty more for you to drink later." He put the cup of water on the desk and sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached out and stroked her cheek and smiled. He slowly moved his hand down her neck and onto her chest.

"If you are real nice to me I'll see to it no harm comes to you, but if you are not ..." He let the sentence hang.

"The others will be back in a few hours, so we will have plenty of time to play a few games," he laughed. "All you have to do is to co-operate with me."

Sam closed her eyes as he squeezed her breast. She looked up at him as pitiful as possible and asked, "Can I please go the bathroom?"

"Why of course," he said as he reached across her to untie her wrists. "We are not barbarians. No funny business, understand?" Sam nodded.

She allowed him to help her up off the bed pretending to be still groggy from the drug. He kept the gun pushed against the middle of her back. As they walked out the door to go down the hall, she pretended to stumble and fall. O'Toole reached out to catch her, when he did she struck his right hand that held the gun with her left arm knocking the gun to the floor. Before he could recover from the shock, she struck him in the Adams apple and kneed him in the groin. O'Toole passed out and collapsed onto the floor.

Sam quickly grabbed the gun and double checked to make sure he was unconscious. She pulled his limp body back into the room, and tied him up with the rope on the bed. Just as she was finishing she heard a car pull up. She went quickly out of the room and down the hallway to a window, she climbed up onto some crates and looked out. O'Toole was wrong, his friends were returning earlier than he anticipated. Sam had to hide somewhere fast, she looked around her and noticed the rafters running overhead. She jumped up to the first rafter from the crate and pulled herself up. She moved across the rafters of the warehouse without making any noise.

"Concentrate," she told herself. Slowly she inched across the rafters. Somehow she had to make it to the end of the warehouse before they realized she was gone. She reached the end of the rafter at the far end of the warehouse just as Davis and the Duke came inside. She held her breath and waited until they went by her to the room where O'Toole laid tied up. She looked at the distance to the next beam and groaned. Only a four foot jump. If she could just get across to it, she could make her way down to the door, and she would be home free. She just may have a chance out of this mess as long as she didn't look down. It was going to take all of her concentration and strength to make that jump.

"Okay old girl, you can do it, just take a deep breath and go on three. One, two, three,... jump." She grabbed the beam and hung on, swinging herself up onto it. Now all that was left was to walk out it and over to the front door.

Slowly, Sam walked down the beam, as she inched her way down she noticed the crack in the beam. The closer she got to the end the bigger the crack became. Only a little bit further, she thought, one more step. As she reached the end, the beam shuddered and broke. Sam reached out to grab a rope hanging from the ceiling and caught it. She swung over to the door and dropped to the ground, just as Davis burst from the room shouting. Sam quickly slipped out the door and started running down the road toward the highway.

Glancing back she saw Davis running after her, but he was in no condition to catch up. She could hear Duke yelling for him to come back to the car. Just as she was nearing the end of the driveway she spotted a bronco speeding toward her. She looked back and saw the Toyota coming. She jumped out in the middle of the highway and started flagging down the car. It stopped with a squeal of brakes and she jumped inside slamming the door. Without even looking at the driver she screamed, "Move it."
Chapter Twenty-one

As they sped away Sam turned to the driver and said, "Thanks you are a life saver ... she stumbled across the words. There sitting in the driver's seat was William Jeffery a.k.a. Lyle Douglas. "Wh, wh, what are you doing here?" She stuttered.

"Saving your pretty little butt," he said. "How did you get away from those three?"

"Oh, just taking advantage of the situation, with a blow to the Adam's apple and a swift knee to the groin," she said as she brushed the dirt from her pant leg.

Douglas laughed and said, "Good. Which one of the lower forms of life got the knee?"

"O'Toole," Sam said as she turned to face Douglas.

Douglas shook his head and peered into the rearview mirror and said, "You had better fastened your seat belt girl and get ready for a wild ride. Your little friends are right behind us." Douglas swerved off the road and cut across a field jumping a ditch.

Thank God, he was driving a four-wheeled drive or they would have flipped over after the jump. She turned around and saw the Toyota had stopped at the ditch. Douglas kept on driving across the fields, until he came to a dirt road and turned down it.

"Did you have to go across those fields?" Sam asked as she tried to straighten herself up in the seat.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be followed," Douglas said laughingly. "You really have pissed off the wrong people this time, Sam. After what you did to O'Toole the next time he gets close to you he'll kill you. You have made fools of them today and they won't forget it."

"What was I suppose to do?" Sam asked sarcastically. "Wait until some knight in shining armor rescued me. No one knew where I was."

"I knew," he said calmly. "I have been following Davis and the Duke all day, trying to figure out what they were up to. Oh by the way, your boyfriend had a big fight with Kelly Carson in the hospital today and had to be forcibly removed by the security officers."

"What!" Sam exclaimed.

"Apparently, Chambers was at Kelly's apartment and intercepted a message I sent him. He decided to go to the hospital and seek some answers out of Kelly. He didn't get very far because the cop they have guarding the door removed him from the room. The hospital security escorted a fuming Chambers out of the hospital into a police car that was waiting for him. He is now at the station trying to explain why he was accosting Kelly Carson."

"Oh my God, poor John, he must have thought Kelly knew I had been kidnapped." She turned to Douglas and asked, "Why did you send a message to Kelly at his apartment and not to the hospital? You did know he had been stabbed."

"Yeah, I knew he was stabbed, but I saw lights in the apartment earlier in the evening, I thought he had been released." Douglas said shaking his head. "You two have been bouncing around your apartments so much, it didn't occur to me, until later that you may be staying at Carson's. It is out of character for him to allow anyone to be in his place when he is gone."

"Kelly didn't know we were there," Sam explained. "I had a key to his place and decided no one would look for us there with him in the hospital."

"Good thinking, kid," Douglas stated. "I said you were a lot like your father and you are. I was sorry to hear about your dad. He was a good man and I've missed him a lot."

"How well did you know my Dad?" Sam asked dreading the answer.

"I've worked on a lot of cases with him over the years. At the time of his death we were working on a leak in the agency. Your father called me the night he died to say he though he had found the leak, but he wanted to move very slowly on it in case he was wrong. We were to meet the next day and go over his findings, but he died. I never found out who he suspected, nor did I find his files on the case."

"I think I have found them," Sam said sadly.

"You did, where?"

"In Kelly's safe, along with a video disc of Bill Slade taking money from Green, Davis and you."

"I never gave Bill any money," Douglas stated. "As a matter of fact, Bill was never at a meeting when Green and Davis were there. My identity would have been blown if he had showed up."

"Then you have your answer on who was the leak," Sam said taking a deep breath. "It must have caused my father's heart attack when he found out about Bill."

"No I don't think so," Douglas said, he glanced over at her. "Was there an autopsy done for your father?"

"No, we didn't think it was necessary. Dad had been having problems for months. The doctors told him if he didn't slow down he was going to have a massive heart attack and that is what he did."

"Are you sure?"

"What are you trying to say? That someone found out that Dad knew about Bill and killed him?"

"Possibly, I don't know for sure." Douglas said. He pulled into a gas station, stopped the car and turned toward Sam.

He reached over and turned her head toward him and said, "I know this is hard for you Sam, but your father may have been murdered by Bill Slade."

Sam jerked away and yelled, "No! No, he would never have done anything like that. Bill and my father were best friends they loved each other like brothers. Bill was like a second father to me."

Douglas grabbed her by the shoulders and shook. "Listen to me," he yelled back. "We don't have time for you to have hysterics over what may or may not have happened. All we know for sure is that your father found out who the leak was and was murdered for it. Bill Slade may have alerted his superiors on the other side and they had him killed. Whatever the case may be, your father didn't die from natural causes, that I would stake my life on. Trust me."

Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slowly opened them, looked at Douglas and said, "How can I trust you? I don't know you at all. From the very beginning you have been this elusive man in the shadows, that was supposedly dead, then kidnapped, now you appear out of nowhere and accuse a dear, dead friend of mine of murdering my father. Who in the hell are you?"

"Believe me Sam, you really don't want to know," Douglas said as he released her and started the Bronco. He pulled back onto the highway and started for D.C.. Sam continued to stare at him for a few minutes, turned and looked out the window.

"What if he is right?" She thought to herself. "If he is, then Kelly must be involved in it somehow. The package with the evidence was found in his safe. Bill could have placed it there without Kelly knowing about it since they did live together. But I doubt that. Nothing ever gets by Kelly."

Sam rubbed her forehead and sighed. She was starting to get a massive headache. She leaned her head back on the head rest and closed her eyes.

Douglas glanced over at her and shook his head. She was a tough little thing, he hoped she would be able to handle the next few days.
Chapter Twenty-two

Sam awoke as they pulled into a parking space in front of Kelly's home. She turned to Douglas and said, "I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"Don't worry about it Sam, after what you have been through in the past twenty-four hours you needed the rest," Douglas got out of the Bronco. "Come on, Chambers is probably standing on his head by now."

"John's here?" Sam asked. "I thought you said he was trying to explain his behavior to the cops."

"He was but I called, explained the circumstances to a friend of mine, he was released, escorted back here and told to stay until I showed up."

"John's not going to like that," Sam interjected. "He is probably going to try and hit you when we walk in. Then he is going to kill me."

Douglas laughed, "Don't worry it won't be the first time an irate boyfriend has tried to knock me out." They walked into the brownstone and up the stairs to Kelly's apartment. There was a uniformed guard standing outside of the door, he nodded and let them inside.

John was pacing the living room when Sam and Douglas walked inside. He rushed over to Sam, wrapped his arms around her, hugged her tightly, kissing her passionately before he asked if she was okay.

Stunned Sam nodded, pulled backward, turned to Douglas and said, "John I want you to meet William Jeffery a.k.a. Lyle Douglas."

John took one look at Douglas and became angry, "You son-of-a-bitch. I should beat the shit out of you for putting Sam in jeopardy."

"You may try my friend, but I wouldn't advise it," Douglas said smugly. Before John could say anything he continued, "I did not put Sam in jeopardy. She did that all by herself and I might add she got herself out of it. I merely came by at the right moment and picked her up."

"What do you mean she got herself out?" John demanded.

"I didn't do a thing but pick her up. Samantha is a remarkable woman, you shouldn't underestimate her abilities, Chambers. She really didn't need either one of us."

Sam pulled away from John and stood between the two men. "Okay guys, your testosterone is showing. Let's sit down and discuss this like civilized beings." She pushed John over to the couch and motioned for Douglas to sit in the chair.

Just as Sam was about to sit down the phone rang. She went over to it, started to pick it up, but changed her mind and allowed the answering machine to pick up. An eerie voice came over the phone, "Help me. Find me. Time is running out. Heh, heh, heh." The line went dead.

"What the hell was that?" Douglas asked.

That my friend is the third message I have received concerning your kidnapping. The first was at the office, the day after my initial visitation from the Embassy trio. It was concerning a certain missing heir calling for help. The second came after the murders of Madge and Bill telling me they were watching. Now this third, asking for help again." Sam explained. Kelly had the first one analyzed and found it was computer generated I can only assume the other two must be the same."

"Do you have copies of these messages?" Douglas asked. "Yes, the first one I put in the safe and the other two are on Kelly's machine." Sam walked over to the bookcase and opened it up revealing the safe on the wall. Opening the safe, she took out the disc, and the other files inside, walked over to the table, in front of the couch then put them down. She turned to John and asked, "Where is the gym bag with the money in it?"

"I put it in the safe when I returned from the park." He stated.

Sam went back over to the safe and looked inside. "John it isn't here. Are you sure you put it back?"

"Yes, I am!" He snapped.

"Well, guys, it looks like someone has taken the money." She said.

"Who knew the money was here?" Douglas asked.

"Just John and I," Sam said.

"How about the your police buddies at the park. Were they aware of the money?" Douglas turned to John and asked.

"They thought we were bluffing," John said.

"Did you say anything to anyone about the money?"

"I don't think so," John said baffled. "The first thing I did when I returned from the park was to put the money into the safe. I stormed around the room for awhile, then your little basket of fruit arrived for Kelly with the note inside. I left and went to the hospital to confront Kelly. I figured he had to know more about this than he was telling. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at the hospital I was so pissed, I lost it. I don't remember what I shouted at Kelly. I could have mentioned the money at that time but I don't think so."

"How did he react to your questioning?" Sam asked.

"He was shocked at first, then he said something strange," John rubbed his forehead with his hand and said, "He said not to worry about Sam. He would take care of everything. I didn't pay any attention to it, because the guard was hauling my ass out the door and into the arms of the hospital security. They hustled me so fast out of that hospital, I didn't have time to ask anything."

"Maybe I should give Kelly a call and let him know that I am alright," Sam said walking over to the phone. Just as she was about to pick it up it rang again. She let the answering machine pick it up and waited. At first there was a crackling sound on the phone then a voice came on the line saying, "Meet me at the Jeffery home in Reston on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and bring the money. Bring your friends with you if you want to. Looking forward to seeing you again, Douglas." The line had another crackling sound and then went dead.

"Great, now I have to go back to that place and take money I don't have," Sam fumed. "What makes those turkeys think I'm going to show up? Now that the threat of kidnapping Jeffery, or excuse me, Douglas, is over I have no reason to deal with them again."

"Yes, you do Sam. You still pose a threat to them," Douglas said. "Knowing O'Toole like I do, he will be wanting to get even with you for humiliating him. No matter what you do from here, he will track you down."

"Great. But what do we do about the money?" Sam asked.

"We fake it for now," Douglas said simply.

"Wait a minute," John interjected. "We fake it. That is all you got to say?"

"What else can we do? Even if we did have the money and turned it over to them, do you really think they will let you two live?"

"No, you're right," John said. "We had better sit down and figure out what we are going to do for now."

Sam looked at the two guys on the couch and shook her head and said, "I don't know about you two but I'm taking a shower and going to bed. After a few hours of sleep I might be able to come up with something to get us out of this mess. Douglas, you are welcome to use the couch. John you are on your own. Good night fellows." She turned and went down the hall to the bathroom.

Chambers and Douglas looked at each other and laughed. John said, "You know she is right. A good night's sleep may do us all some good."

"Yes, it would be nice to be able to sleep on a bed for a change and not in the car," Douglas agreed and stretched as he got up off of the couch. He looked down at the files Sam had placed on the table, picking up the package with Sam's Dad's name on it and asked, "Where did she get this?"

"It was in Kelly's safe along with a video. Do you want to see it?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. I think it would be a good idea if I did."

John took the disc over to the computer, put it in and came back with the remote and turned on Kelly's TV, switching it to HDMI 2.

On the screen was Bill Slade, Douglas and Green. There was no sound on the disc, but it was obvious money was being exchanged. Bill was handed a large envelope of money which he proceeded to count. He turned, shook hands with the others and left the room. The disc continued on with the numerous bombings occurring in various cities. The last scene showed Green and Douglas running from a building shortly before it exploded.

John turned to Douglas who was still staring at the screen and asked, "Was Slade taking money from you and Green?"

"No. Slade was never in the same room with Green and myself. It would have blown my cover for him to have shown up. Obviously, this disc has been doctored to make it look like I was paying him off," Douglas explained. "Mike Marlow suspected we had a leak in our agency and was determined to get to the bottom of it. We had several agents over a period of months, murdered brutally and he knew that only a handful of people knew about them. Mike called me the night he died and said he thought he had found out who the leak was, but he wanted to move slowly to be sure. We had planned to meet the next morning and go over his finds, but he died before we could. I've been looking for his files ever since, from what I see here, Carson's must have kept it for him."

"But why wouldn't Kelly turn them over to you?" John asked. "You obviously knew each other."

"No, we didn't. The only contact we had was through the fruit basket deal," Douglas stated. "That was arranged through Mike Marlow. Kelly was the only one outside of the agency that knew Slade and Marlow were still working with the agency."

"I thought Slade was with the New York police force and quit," John said.

"Oh he was, but Mike talked him into coming in with the agency to work on special cases," Douglas explained. "Mike could be very persuasive when he wanted to be."

"Yeah, I know," John said. "He persuaded me years ago to leave Sam alone. He said he didn't want her to fall in love with a cop and have to worry night after night whether or not her husband was coming home."

"So what changed things?" Douglas asked.

"Sam changed," John said shrugging his shoulders. "Our situation is something very new. Something may come of it, or it may just fizzle out to one of those things that occurs under stress."

Douglas slapped John on the back and said, "Don't worry about it. From where I sit sparks fly off of you two as soon as you get within ten feet of each other. Go after her. Take a word of advise from someone who was too scared to make that step. You will regret it for the rest of your life. Life is too short to live with constant regrets on what may have been."

Sam came out of the bathroom and into the living room where the guys were talking. They shut up very quickly when she walked into the room. She looked from toweling her hair to look from one to the other and asked, "What are you two cooking up?"

"Nothing, I was just showing Douglas here the disc and the files that Kelly had in his safe. We were speculating on how they got there," John said.

"It's quite simple, Kelly probably found them in the office when he found Dad's body," Sam said sadly. "Knowing how secretive Dad was he realized they were important and put them in the safe. With all the funeral arrangements he had to make and taking care of the insurance men for me he just forgot about them."

"But Sam, if he knew they were important why didn't he give them to you or to Slade?" Douglas said.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" Sam said grouchily. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

John stood up and walked down the hall to the bedroom door with her. Sam turned, looked up at him and smiled. John bent down and kissed her. She reached up and touched his cheek and said, "Thanks for being here. I need to be by myself for a little while, okay. Just for tonight, I need to sort through all that has happened."

"Good night Sam, if you need me you know where I am," John turned and went back down the hall.

Sam opened the bedroom door, walked in and sat down on the bed. Too much had happened in the past few days. She thought of Kelly in the hospital and looked at her watch 10:30 p.m.. "I wonder if it is too late to call and let him know I'm okay." She reached for the phone, dialed the number of the hospital and waited. Kelly's voice came on the line, "Hello?"

"Kelly it's me Sam," she said.

"Thank God! Chambers told me you were kidnapped. Are you okay? Where are you Sam?"

"Calm down, I'm fine. I'm at your place. I escaped from the British jerks and made it back home. Kelly, I've found Jeffery. He is here in the apartment now. He has been telling me some really strange stories about Dad and Bill."

"Listen to me carefully, Sam. Don't trust the man. Anyone who would fake their own death could be capable of anything."

"Don't worry, John is staying here too."

"Well, lock the bedroom door and get a good-night's sleep. If you can, come and see me tomorrow."

"Goodnight Kelly. I'll be by to see you tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

"Fine. Good night Sam," Kelly said as he hung up the phone. Sam replaced the receiver, climbed into bed and fell to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-three

Sam awoke in the middle of the night and looked at the clock on the night stand, 3:30 a.m.. She shook her head and sat up on the edge of the bed. Something in the dream she was waking her up. She rubbed her eyes and tried to remember what it was. The safe, that's what it was. How could anyone steal the money out of a locked safe. The only people who knew the combination of the safe was John, Kelly and herself. Only someone who knew about the safe could have stolen the money. "I wonder," she said to herself. "Bill could never remember numbers." She and Kelly was forever teasing him about his inability to remember phone numbers and other numbers like his social security number. The wallet, Bill's wallet, it may have had the combination of Kelly's safe inside.

Sam got up out of the bed and started getting dressed. The wallet was still at the office. She would go there and see if she was right. If she was, that would mean the Duke knew the combination of the safe and stole the money. She carefully opened the bedroom door and slipped out. As she was passing by the couch she picked up Douglas's keys and quietly slipped out the door.

She went down to the driveway, and got into the Bronco and left.

Across the street a man sitting in his car noticed her leaving. Now was his chance, he said to himself as he opened the car door and got out. Carefully, he went into the brownstone and up the stairs making sure not to make any noise. He opened the door to the apartment and slipped inside. He looked around the room and tiptoed over to the couch where Douglas was sleeping. He slipped the knife out of his jacket, quickly grabbed the back of Douglas head and slit his throat.

"Good, no noise", he turned, slipped back out the door and down to his car. He drove away thinking to himself two down and three to go.

* * *

Sam was halfway to the office, when she remembered telling John to give the wallet to Baker for the forensics lab.

"Damn!" She said to herself. She looked at her watch, 4:15 a.m. "I wonder if it is too early to call Baker and find out if I can look at the wallet again." She continued driving to her office parking garage. She parked the Bronco and went inside. She waved at the security guard at the desk and went to the elevator. At the door to her office, she stopped and looked around, for some strange reason she had the feeling she was being watched.

"Probably just my imagination," she said to herself. She opened the door and went inside. She made sure it was locked as she went back to her office. The place felt empty and alone without Kelly's presence. She went over to the desk, sat down and turned on the lamp. A note taped to her phone caught her eye. She picked it up and read, "You escaped this time, my dear, but next time you will not be so lucky. Bring the money to Jeffery's house on Friday at 3:00 p.m.. Bring your rescuer with you, we have things to discuss. If you choose to ignore this request, remember your friend in the hospital, accidents can be arranged."

"Damn," she said aloud. "I have to go now or they will kill Kelly." She reached for the phone and noticed the red light flashing, indicating a message was on the answering machine. She got up, walked into the outer office over to the answering machine and pressed messages. Over the line came a cultured voice telling John to bring the money to the office yesterday afternoon and they would exchange her for the money.

"I stopped that one didn't I guys," she laughed to herself. The next message was from Baker saying the forensics guys had found nothing in the wallet other than her and John's fingerprints.

"Oh well," she mumbled. She listened to the last message on the machine. A strange crackling noise came on the line for a few seconds then the eerie voice said "Two down and three to go," the line crackled and went dead.

Sam stared at the machine. She quickly ejected the disc, went back to her office, and grabbed her bag and keys. She needed to get back to the apartment quickly and let John and Douglas know about the message. What did it mean `two down and three to go?' Had the man who attacked Kelly killed again, if so, who was it this time? Sam ran out of the office and to the Bronco.

John heard the cat howling outside of his bedroom door and turned to look at the clock on the night stand 6:00 a.m..

"Damn that stupid cat," he mumbled into the pillow. "Why don't it wake up Sam, if it's hungry." He lay there for a few more minutes listening to the cat scratch on the door, his meowing getting louder every minute. He tossed the covers back off the bed and sat up. "You little bastard," he mumbled to himself. "I'm getting up and when I do your mistress is going to get a big surprise." He opened the door and looked down at the cat who was winding himself around his legs. "Why don't you go wake up Sam?" He said to the cat.

John looked down the hall toward Kelly's bedroom and noticed the door was slightly ajar. He went down the hall putting his robe on and opened the door wider. He looked around the empty room and turned to the bathroom. He called out to her, but received no answer. He hurried down the hall to the living room and stopped short. There on the couch laid Douglas in a pool of blood. His head was tilted to the left and an angry gash was on his throat. His left hand was dangling on the floor. Bastard was sitting on the edge of the couch arm meowing again. John yelled for Sam again rushing into the kitchen praying he wouldn't find her dead too.

Sam opened the door to the apartment as John was rushing back out of the kitchen. He ran over to her and hugged her close to him.

"Good morning, to you too," Sam said surprised at the reception she was receiving.

"Thank God you are alright," he said keeping his body between her and the couch. "Where have you been?"

"Of course, I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" She asked trying to get around him. "John would you please move so I can put my things down. I forgot something and went to the office to get it. Now would you please let me by."

"No Sam, Douglas is dead. He has had his throat cut."

"What!" She screamed. "He was okay when I left this morning, about a quarter 'till four."

"Sam, we've got to call the police," John said as he shook her to get her attention. Sam looked at him and nodded.

"Two down and three to go," Sam said.

John looked at her puzzled. "What are you talking about," he asked.

"Nothing, just something I heard."

"Sam, why don't you go into the kitchen and make some coffee, while I make the call to Baker," John suggested.

"Okay, but first can't we cover him up," she said taking a deep breath as she walked to the kitchen. John walked over to the couch and pulled the blanket up over Douglas.

While Sam was in the kitchen, John made the phone call and went to put on some clothes. Sam decided to go ahead and feed Bastard while she was in the kitchen. Fixing his dish she went looking for him. He was beside the couch playing with a piece of tissue paper. She reached down and picked it up. "Now where on earth did you get this," she asked the cat. She looked at the tissue and said, "Strange as finicky as Kelly is I thought he would use Puffs instead of this cheap stuff." She threw the tissue in the waste basket, picked up the cat and walked back into the kitchen.

John came out of the bedroom and walked into the kitchen where Sam was sitting at the table staring off into space. He came over to the table and put his hands on her shoulders. She reached up and covered his hands with her own. He slide his hands down her arms and turned her to him. Sam looked up at John with tears in her eyes and said, "How did they get in? I know I locked the door when I left this morning. I made sure of it."

"I don't know Sam. I'm trying to figure out why I didn't hear anything," John said pulling her up out of the chair and into his arms. "Why was Douglas the only one killed? If I was sleeping so soundly that I didn't hear anything they could have aced me too."

"I know, that's what scares me," Sam said wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you too."

John leaned down and kissed her. "Don't worry," he said as he pulled away. "I plan on being around for a long time." There was a knock on the door, John released Sam and went to open it.
Chapter Twenty-four

Baker came into the apartment all bleary eyed with his hair sticking up on his head. "Okay Chambers, where is the body?" He grunted.

"On the couch. We didn't touch anything except to cover him up," John said. Baker went over to the couch, pulled back the blanket and looked at the body.

"Messy," he said disgustedly. He went over to the door and told the uniform officer to radio for the coroner and the forensic boys. He turned to John and Sam motioning for them to go back into the kitchen.

"Is that coffee hot?" Baker asked. Sam poured him a cup and set it down in front of him. "Okay Chambers why don't you tell me what happened."

John explained how the cat woke him up, about finding the body and then searching for Sam in the apartment. He explained about Sam coming in shortly after his finding.

"And where were you at this ungodly hour in the morning?" Baker asked Sam. She explained to him about going to her office to retrieve the wallet.

"Why would you be concerned about a wallet at 3:30 in the morning?" Baker asked.

Sam looked at John and started to explain about the money but changed her mind and said, "I just couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Kelly and Bill and I just wanted to look at the wallet again. It was only after I was halfway there that I remembered John had given it to you. I decided to continue on to the office and try and sort out some of the mess there. With the break-in and Kelly being stabbed I haven't had much of a chance to do any work."

"Likely story. What time did you leave the apartment?"

"It must have been around 3:45 or later."

"What time did you arrive at your office?"

"I'm not sure probably about 4:15 or 20, you can check with the security guard at the desk. I waved at him when I came in."

Baker turned to John and asked, "What time did you find the body?"

"I told you Sam's cat woke me up at six o'clock, howling. I found the body shortly after that. Sam came in about 6:10 or so."

Baker turned to Sam and said, "What time did you leave your office to come back to the apartment?"

"I left around 5:30. I had to stop on the way to put gas in the car. You can double check on that if you want to. I stopped at the all night station three blocks from my office. The clerk will remember me, he tried to convince me to hang around until his shift was over, so he could treat me to breakfast."

There was a knock on the door, Baker stood up and said, "That will be the coroner. You two stay here in the kitchen. There is no need for you to be messing around in there." He walked out of the kitchen and opened the door. As the coroner and forensic guys came in, John turned to Sam and whispered, "Okay Sam spill it, why did you rush home so fast?"

"Not now, John," Sam whispered back. "Wait until Baker and his men are gone and I'll tell you."

After about an hour and half Baker came back into the kitchen and said, "That's about all we can do for now. You two have any plans for today?"

"I'm just going over to visit Kelly at the hospital this afternoon, other than that, no," Sam said. John just shook his head no.

"Good, after I finish downtown I will be back to talk to you two again so don't go anywhere, until I get back understand?" Sam and John agreed and walked with Baker to the door, Baker turned to John and said, "Are you sure you didn't hear anything other than the cat howling?"

"Yes, I'm sure that is all I heard," John said.

"Strange, there is no sign of someone breaking into the apartment, no apparent struggle. Whoever did this was a professional. He knew exactly where the victim was, came in completed the job and walked out without anyone hearing or seeing a thing. I wished I hadn't pulled your uniformed watch off this afternoon."

"Baker are you trying to say something?" John said getting angry.

"No, not yet, Chambers. But don't go to far. We will be watching the two of you from now on. If the forensic guys come up with anything, I'll let you know," Baker smirked walking out of the apartment, taking the last of his men with him. At the door he motioned for one of the uniforms to stay until further notice.

John shut the door and walked back into the kitchen where Sam was making another pot of coffee. He walked over to her and said, "Okay, Pipsqueak, what happened at the office that caused you to come running back to the apartment so fast?"

"There was another message on the answering machine," she announced. "This time it said two down and three to go.' I was puzzled at first, but now I think I know what it means. Whoever is doing the killing knew about Douglas, his work with the agency and his involvement with Green, Davis, O'Toole and the Duke."

"How do you come up with that conclusion?" John asked.

"You're still alive," Sam stated. "If this had been an attempt to get rid of us, recover the money and files you would be dead. No, whoever killed Douglas didn't want to hurt you, nor did they want the files that are still lying on the coffee table beside the couch."

"Not anymore they're not," John announced.

"What do you mean not anymore?" Sam asked going into the living room.

"Baker took the files with him along with the package of your Dad's and the disc," John informed her.

"Damn, no wonder he said he would be talking to us again," Sam stated, flopping down on the couch, only to jump back up quickly recalling Douglas's death. She started pacing around the room fuming, "Of all the stupid things to do. Leaving vital information out in the open for anyone to just pick it up and walk away with."

"Now Sam, who was to know that someone would come in and kill Douglas," John said trying to calm her down.

"No, John. He was suppose to be a professional," Sam declared. "He knew how important those files were, yet he just carelessly left them lying about on the coffee table."

"Sam, how could he have put them away? You locked the safe and I had already gone to bed," John stated. "Even if he wanted to put them away, we were both asleep and he didn't have the combination to the safe."

"Yes I know," she fumed. "It just burns me up, now Baker has the files and God knows what he is going to do with them."

"Let's not worry about that. Why did you go back to the office?" John asked.

"Like I told Baker I wanted to see Bill's wallet again. I had the idea that he may have written the combination of the safe down and put it into his wallet," Sam answered. "Bill could never remember numbers. He couldn't even remember his own social security number. I thought that since the Duke had returned the wallet to you he may have looked inside and got the combination of the safe."

"But Sam, how was Duke suppose to know that combination belonged to Kelly's safe and not the one in the office or in your apartment."

"Logical deduction. He tried the one in the office and it didn't work that's when Kelly came in and he stabbed him. Later, he ransacked my apartment found the safe, tried the combination it didn't work there either. He must have known Bill lived with Kelly so he came here looking for the safe, found it took the money and left."

"But why leave a message asking for you to bring the money to him Friday?"

"I don't know maybe he wanted to entice Douglas and myself back to the Jeffery's house and kill us."

"Sam it doesn't make any sense. He didn't know that Douglas was with you."

"Yes he did," Sam went over to her bag, pulled out the note that had been taped to her phone and handed it to John to read.

"You see, he did know Douglas was with me because he said in the note they had a few things to discuss. Now if I don't show up he is going to kill Kelly."

"That brings up another interesting possibility. What if there is someone else involved in all of this mess? Someone who knows all the players and is playing out a diabolical scheme of their own," John interjected.

"But who?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea, but we can't rule out the possibility of the unknown," John stated.

Sam looked at her watch and said, "I think I'm going to go visit Kelly for a while. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, give my best to him. I think I will go down to the station, see what is going on and have a long talk with Baker," John answered.

Sam turned, went to the door and opened it. The uniformed policeman turned around and asked if she need anything. Sam told him what she was going to do and he asked her to wait a minute. He radioed the information into the station. After a few minutes, he told her she was free to go. He turned, went into the apartment with Sam and over to John.

"Detective Chambers," he said. "I hate to do this sir, but I have been asked to bring you down to the station for questioning."

"What?" Sam shouted.

"It's just routine, ma'am. Detective Baker has a few questions he needs Detective Chambers to answer," the policeman said.

"It's okay, Sam," John said. "I was expecting this anyway. Well, it's Jackson, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir,' Jackson said.

"Let's get this over with, Jackson," John picked up his jacket and put it on. He walked over to Sam, kissed her and went out the door with the policeman.

Sam stood still for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. She grabbed her bag, the Bronco keys and slammed out the door. "Damn Baker!" She mumbled to herself. "He can't possibly think John had anything to do with Douglas's murder." She started over to the Bronco in the driveway to find it being towed away. She went up to the driver and asked him what he was doing. He informed her he had been instructed to tow the vehicle to the police impound garage. Sam walked away from the tow truck over to John's car it was locked.

She went back upstairs to the apartment to search for John's car keys. She finally found them under the bed in the spare bedroom. For the second time today she stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door. She started John's car and roared out of the driveway.
Chapter Twenty-four

Sam drove to the police station and went inside. She marched into Bakers office and demanded to know what was going on. Baker closed the file on his desk and motioned for her to sit down. He leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head and smiled, "Well, well, you are demanding to know what is going on."

He leaned forward, looked her in the eye and said, "I'll tell you what is going on Ms. Marlow. Your boyfriend is being questioned about the murder that occurred in Kelly Carson's apartment today which he conveniently reported. As soon as we finish with him I'm going to ask you a lot of questions."

"Go ahead," Sam smiled. "We were working with Douglas trying to track down an international terrorist group."

"Oh give me a break," Baker shouted. "Why would anyone in his right mind ask you to help him track down a terrorist group."

Sam stood up and said, "Think what you like Baker, when this is all over you are going to be singing a different tune. Can I see John now?"

"No, not until I'm finished with my interrogation," Baker said smiling.

Sam stood up and turned and started for the door when Baker said, "Ms. Marlow don't go very far, you're next." Sam huffed, walked out of his office and continued out the door.

On the way to the hospital Sam tried to think of a way to get John out of jail. They didn't really have enough evidence to hold him on the murder, but they could make his life miserable until they found out who had really done it.

Kelly was sitting up in the bed when she arrived. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

"Fine. The doctors told me today I should be able to leave the hospital in a day or two, " Kelly told her. He looked at her for a few minutes noting the way she wandered around the room aimlessly. He waited until she passed by the bed, grabbed her hand and told her to sit down.

"Okay Sam. Tell me what is going on. Something really has you upset," Kelly said.

She looked at him and said, "You won't believe what has happened Kelly. I left the apartment last night, went to the office and when I got back Douglas was dead."

"Douglas, who is Douglas? I thought you said Jeffery was staying with you."

"Didn't I tell you Jeffery is Douglas and he is, or was an agent for the CIA." Kelly shook his head. She continued, "Jeffery was an alias. He didn't even write the books he was so famous for. Some secretary in the agency wrote them. Kelly, it is so confusing."

"Sam, why don't you sit down and tell me the whole thing from the very beginning," Kelly suggested.

"I wish I had the time to do that," she said trying to keep from crying from frustration. "The police have taken John into custody to question him about Douglas's murder. Kelly, they think he did it." Sam put her head down on the sheet and cried. Kelly reached into the drawer beside the bed, pulled out a tissue and gave it to her.

"Okay blow," he said. "Take a deep breath and tell me exactly what is going on."

Sam took a breath and looked at Kelly as she wiped away the tears. She put the tissue in her pocket and stood up. After pacing back and forth a couple times to compose herself, she proceeded to tell Kelly about the events that had taken place the past few days. She finished by telling him about the note on the phone in the office, demanding she bring the money and Douglas out to the Jeffery house on Friday at 3:00 o'clock.

"So what are you going to do?" Kelly asked.

"I guess I'm going to go to that meeting on Friday and bluff my way through," she said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Sam when they find out you don't have the money or Douglas they will kill you," Kelly pointed out.

"No, John and his buddies will have the house surrounded, they will break in and arrest the turkeys," she said with more confidence than she really believed.

"And what makes you so sure John will be out of jail by then?" Kelly asked. "Baker could keep him for at least 72 hours as a possible suspect, without pressing charges."

"If that happens, I'll contact his friends myself and have them follow me and make the arrest. I'm not about to let these guys get away with kidnapping me."

"Sam promise me you, won't do a thing until you call me and let me know," Kelly said, taking her hand into his. "Promise me!"

"I promise. But what can you do here in the hospital?" she asked.

"Don't worry. Things will be taken care of," Kelly stifled a yawn.

"Oh Kelly, I've tired you out. I had better go and see if I can help John in some way," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You take care. I promise I'll let you know what is going on."

"Goodbye, Sam," Kelly said as she went out the door.

As Sam left the hospital she had the feeling that she had missed something important. She drove back to the police station to see if John had been released. Unfortunately, she was informed that he would be a guest of the department for the night. Sam left the station and drove to her office. Maybe if she sat down and listed all the facts she might get a handle on what was going on.

Sam arrived at her office shortly after five in the afternoon. She opened the door to the outer office and looked around. Someone had been inside again, she couldn't put her finger on it, but something was out of place. John and she had spent hours cleaning up the mess that had been left by the intruder. Sam moved around the office, stopping at Kelly's desk and looked around. Yes, someone had been here. She remembered adjusting the computer on Kelly's desk and pushing the keyboard back underneath the desk. The keyboard was pulled out as if someone had just finished using it. She sat down and turned the computer on. Maybe if she browsed through the dates on the files she might see one that had been recently used.

After spending an hour searching through the files Sam was ready to give it up. Maybe she was just mistaken about the keyboard drawer. Just as she was getting ready to close out the files she noticed on the menu, IPS Log.

"Now what on earth could that be," she said to herself. She accessed the file and a list of phone numbers showed on the screen. She scanned through the numbers to see if she recognized any of them. The numbers had dates and times with them, that went back several months, Sam paged down until she came across numbers and dates that reflected the past few weeks. There on the last page was the number to the office, her home number and the number to Kelly's apartment. She looked at the dates and time and realized she had found the computer that had generated the voice messages she had received over the past few days.

"But who could be doing this," she said to herself, "and how?" She sat looking at the screen for a few minutes and decided to print out the last page of the log. After it was printed she closed down the computer and put the log in her purse. When she went to see Kelly tomorrow she would show him the log and see if he knew anything about it. She had to get to the bottom of this case as soon as possible. She walked out of the office, after making sure everything was locked up. As she walked down the hall she had that itchy feeling that she was being watched again. She stopped at the elevator and looked down the hall. No one was in sight, "God I must be getting paranoid," she muttered to herself.

In the parking garage she started over to John's car only to stop a few feet away from it. On the side of his car was a message scratched along the side. Just six little words " You Are Going to Die Bitch."

She ran over to the parking attendant station and started to ask him to call the police. He was lying face down on the floor of the station unconscious. Sam backed out of the station and ran inside the building to the security office. She informed the guard on duty what had happened in the parking garage and he made a quick call to the police. He followed her back down to the parking garage to the attendant's station. The attendant was starting to come around groaning loudly. The guard told him to relax that help was on the way. In a few minutes the police arrived and took over.

It took forever to finish with the police in the garage. They finally towed John's car away to the impound lot to hold for the forensic boys to check for fingerprints. Sam doubted if they would find any. The attendant was of no help at all. All he could remember was hearing someone approach him from the rear and then nothing. Sam waited inside the building as she called a cab to take her to her apartment. On the drive there Sam tried to figure out who had left the message.
Chapter Twenty-five

Sam went quickly inside to her apartment. She locked the door and made sure all the locks were on. She looked about the room, it was still pretty much a mess from the break in. She shook her head and went into her bedroom. She reached into her pockets and laid the contents on top of the dresser. She stripped down going into the bathroom for a long needed shower. When she was finished, she fixed herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch to go over the printout that was in her bag. Just as she was settling down, she remembered, she had forwarded all her calls to Kelly's apartment. She went over to the phone and changed it so the calls could come through to her. She would have to go over to Kelly's later to pick up Bastard and his things. No way was she going to stay there by herself knowing what had happened.

She sat down again and started reviewing the numbers, just as she was in the last section her phone rang. She started to let the machine pick it up, but decided it may be John saying they had decided to release him. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

"Samantha Marlow?" A masculine, cultured voice asked.

"Yes, this is she."

"It is imperative that I speak with you tonight," the voice said.

"Who is this?" Sam asked.

"This is the real Lyle Douglas, Ms. Marlow," the voice said.

"What kind of a joke is this," Sam retorted.

"This is no joke, Ms. Marlow. If you will meet with me tonight I can prove to you who I am," the voice answered.

"Sorry, I don't meet strange men," Sam said.

"Please, Ms. Marlow, we can meet in a very public place and I promise nothing will happen to you," the voice pleaded.

"I've heard that one before. Why should I meet with a man who claims to be someone who was murdered today?" Sam asked.

"That is the very reason you need to meet with me," the voice said. "He was an imposter."

"How do I know you are not the imposter and the real Douglas is dead?" Sam asked.

"I know things about you that your father told me," he said.

"Yeah, like what?" Sam asked.

"I know he always like to refer to you by quoting a line from Robert Frost," he answered. "I can even tell you why he referred to that line."

Sam stood very still, only someone who was close to her father would know about the poem. It was the way her father used to tease her. Even Kelly and Bill didn't know about the circumstances that caused her father to quote the poem.

"Okay I game, quote the poem to me," she stated.

"The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and doesn't stop until you get to the office,'" he quoted. "He always said that when you woke up in the morning everything was functioning at top speed, but as soon as you would come into the office it would stop. He started referring to the line in the poem after you embarrassed him one morning when you were fifteen."

Sam looked at the phone with tears in her eyes. She remembered the incident very clearly. She had been fifteen and full of herself thinking she knew everything there was to know about solving cases. She had walked into her father's office that morning as he was discussing confidential details with a client. Instead of waiting until they were finished, she had proceeded to blurt out certain details about the case that the client wasn't supposed to know. The client had been furious with her dad, because he had allowed a child to know about the case. The client had stormed out of the office yelling, that she was going to sue. It had taken her dad several weeks to rectify the matter. After that he would tease her about leaving her brain at home when she came into the office. Kelly and Bill had always wondered about the line in the poem, but she had never told anyone about the incident.

"Where do you want me to meet you?" Sam said.

"There is a Shoney's a couple of blocks from your apartment. Can you meet me there in about twenty minutes?" he said.

"I'll be there." Sam said. "How will I recognize you?"

"I will be wearing an Orioles baseball hat and sunglasses, besides, you've seen my image at least twice," he said sighing into the phone. "Samantha be careful."

"I will," she said as she hung up the phone. She turned and went into the bedroom to get dressed. She decided to call a cab instead of walking the few blocks to the restaurant. Before she left she made sure she had her gun tucked in the back of her jeans with her sweatshirt pulled over it. She grabbed her bag and went downstairs to wait for the cab.
Chapter Twenty-six

Sam opened the door to the restaurant and walked in. She looked about trying to locate the Orioles baseball cap and sunglasses, finally she spotted him in a back booth. She walked back to the booth and sat down. A waitress came up to her to take her order. As the waitress left, she turned to the man and said, "Well I'm here show me your proof."

"Just like your dad blunt and to the point," he chuckled. He pulled out his wallet and handed it to her. "Feel free to go through it," he said. "At this point I have nothing to hide from you."

Sam took the wallet and started to look through it. There were credit cards in the name of William Jeffery and Lyle Douglas, also he had two social security cards in both names. She pulled out two drivers license and looked at him and said, "Doesn't it get confusing at times. I mean, when you go to introduce yourself to someone, do you ever forget who you are."

"No, I can't afford to," he said softly.

"Must be like having a multiple personality. Except you are aware of what the other one is doing at all times," Sam muttered. She quickly hid the wallet, when the waitress returned with her coffee and Danish. After the waitress left she looked at him and said, "Would you take off those sunglasses? I prefer looking into someone's eyes when I talk to them."

He smiled, took off the dark sunglasses, baseball cap and laid them on the seat beside him. When he looked up, Sam was surprised to find herself looking into the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

"Are you wearing contact lenses?" she asked.

"No, this is the real me," he announced.

"The other man had blue eyes," she stated. Sam continued to go through the wallet looking at the various items inside of it. She handed it back to him and said, "This still doesn't prove you are Douglas."

"No, but this will," he said as he pulled out his CIA identification and handed it to her. She carefully looked it over and handed it back to him.

"That doesn't prove anything either. They have been faked before," she stated as she took a bite of her Danish.

"Samantha, what can I do to prove to you I am Lyle Douglas," he asked.

"Get John, out of jail," she suggested. "If you are who you say you are then you have the pull to do so."

"Clever. Shall we go down to the station now, or do you want to hear what I have to say first?" He said.

"Both," she said as she wiped her hands and stood up. She put several dollars on the table, turned and started walking away. Douglas hurried to catch up with her.

At the front door Sam turned to him and said, "We will take your car and I'll drive," holding out her hand for the keys. He nodded and handed her the keys and pointed to a black 1968 Corvette parked in front. Sam raised her eyebrows at him as she walked over to it and looked around. She ran her hand over the back fender lovingly before unlocking the door and getting into the driver's seat. Douglas climbed in beside her and asked, "What were you expecting a Mercedes or a BMW?"

"Anything but this," Sam said as she started the car and eased it out of the parking lot and onto the highway. "Dad always talked about owning one. He said it was the only car that he could drive and feel like a kid again."

"He used to love to drive this car. I remember us going out one evening just cruising down the eastern seaboard, just for the hell of it," he said. "We stopped at this little out of the way bar around Virginia Beach and picked up these two wild blondes and ..." He trailed off. "I guess you really don't need to hear about that."

"I don't think so. How old are you anyway?" She asked.

"I'm forty-three," he said. "Why?"

"Kind of young to hang around with my father weren't you," Sam said sarcastically as she pulled into the police station. "Okay, show time."

"Why don't you stay in the car and wait for me, I'll have John out of there in a few minutes," Douglas said.

"No way buster," she said. "You have to prove to me who you are remember?"

"Come on brat," he said as he slammed the door and walked into the station.

"Brat is it," Sam mumbled as she closed and locked the door on the corvette.

Sam followed Douglas into the station, watching as he went up to the night sergeant, asked a question and flashed his ID. The sergeant looked surprised and pointed down the hall. Sam hung back in the shadows and decided she would just follow him to see how far he would get. Once he meet up with Baker she figured he would be tossed out on his ear or arrested for impersonation. Baker, may be an ass, but he was a good cop.

He knocked at the door that had interrogation room five written on it and waited. After a couple of minutes he knocked again, this time it opened up revealing a frazzled Baker.

"What in the hell do you want?" Baker demanded.

"Just a few words with you," Douglas said smiling as he showed his identification to him.

"Oh it's you,' Baker said opening the door wider. "You're late."

Douglas turned to Sam and motioned for her to come down the hall. When she showed up Baker sneered at her but didn't say anything as he gestured for them to come inside. John was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee, reading a file. It was obvious that Baker and he had been going over the files for quite some time, because of the number of coffee cups on the table.

"Good evening Sam," John said as if nothing was wrong.

"As you can see we were just going over a few things."

"I hope you have been having a good time," she said bitterly.

Douglas motioned for Sam to sit down, pulled out a chair and sat beside Baker. John looked at him and Sam and gritted his teeth.

"Who are you?" John said nastily.

"Oh, I'm just the man you supposedly murdered," Douglas said.

"What did you say?" John stood up putting his hands on the table and leaned forward.

"I'm Lyle Douglas," he said reaching out to shake John's hand. John stared at it and raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of shit are you trying to pull? I saw Douglas with his throat cut—he's dead," John stated angrily.

"No, who you saw was an imposter," Douglas said sitting down. "Please take a seat and I'll try and explain everything to you." John sat back down and looked at him skeptically.

Douglas turned to Baker and asked, "Do you have the preliminary findings of the coroner ready?"

Baker handed him the file and said, "It just came in and John and I were starting to go over it when you showed up. I was told you would be here earlier today, what happened?"

"I had a few details to take care of first," Douglas said glancing at Sam before he started going over the file. Sam leaned closer to him so she could read over his shoulder.

John narrowed his eyes at her and said to Douglas. "Why don't you share with us what is in the report."

Douglas smiled at him, "First of all it states that the man was murdered with a thin blade cutting from left to right indicating that the person must have used his right hand to cut while holding the head with the left."

"Which means he was asleep when he was attacked, he didn't know what hit him," Sam interjected.

"Precisely. It also states, that the fingerprints taken from the body does not match the ones on file with the CIA for agent Douglas," Douglas pointed out to them. "Which means my friends he wasn't me."

"If that's the case how can we be sure we are talking with the real one now?" Sam asked. "Would you submit to having your fingerprints checked out to verify who you are?"

"After everything else that has happened maybe I should," he said. "Then we can get on with this case." Baker stood up and said, "Why don't you come with me and get it over with." Douglas stood up and went out the door with Baker.

John turned to Sam and glared at her.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" He said furiously as he grabbed her by the arms.

"Let go of me," she retorted pulling away from him and walking to the end of the table. "For your information I was trying to get your butt out of jail. But apparently, I shouldn't have bothered."

"No you shouldn't have," he said. "Sam things have gone too far to be handled by a private investigator. Baker told me the CIA is stepping in to take over the investigation of the murders."

"That has nothing to do with me," Sam said. "As far as I'm concerned, I was hired by the British Embassy to locate a missing heir and that is what I'll continue to do. If I happen to come across a few details that are significant to an ongoing murder case, I will be more than happy to turn them over to the police."

"But Sam, your case is all a scam," John said frantically running his hands through his hair. "They were just using you to draw out Jeffery so they could kill him."

"Don't you think I don't know that," Sam retorted. "I'm not stupid. I refuse to be used as a decoy for a bunch of uppity men. I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it is the last thing I do."

As Sam turned to leave the room Baker and Douglas opened the door. Baker sat down at the table and motioned for the others to do the same. Douglas looked from Sam to John raising his eyebrows, it was obvious they had been fighting.

Douglas cleared his throat and said, "If you two would take your seats we will get on with the briefing."

Baker stated, "For your information, this is the real Lyle Douglas. I have confirmation on his fingerprints from the CIA here in my hand. I have assured Agent Douglas that we will cooperate in any way we can," he took a deep breath and continued. "Detective Chambers, I have been instructed to put you on suspension until the murder of the John Doe has been cleared up. With pay of course. Sorry, John."

John slammed his hands down on the table, stood up and yelled, "Sorry, that's all you've got to say!"

Douglas turned to him and said, "Please John, sit down and let me explain things to you." John glared at him but sat down.

"Thank you. Now, if everyone will hold on to their tempers for a few minutes, I will, explain things to everyone's satisfaction," Douglas stated.

Everyone mumbled yes and nodded their heads.

"Good. First of all your suspension is just a temporary one," Douglas said. He held up his hand to quiet Sam when she started to interrupt and continued, "I suggested it to your captain and he agreed that it would be best for everyone to think you were involved in the murder. This will give you a cover in which you can work to try and clear your good name. After all of this is over you will be reinstated with a clean record. I am in hopes that the person or persons who committed will be given a false sense of security. We can step in an nail them. They may even help us out by trying to plant false clues along the way pointing directly toward you."

"But what if this doesn't happen?" Sam asked.

"We will then try something else. Don't worry, John will not go to trial for murder," Douglas cleared his throat. "The man who was murdered was a flunky working for the Duke of Faulkner. He was hired by the Duke three years ago, because of his amazing resemblance to me. The Duke taught him every detail of my personality and mannerism, so he could be used to discredit me with the agency and when he needed information quickly. The only major difference between the two of us was the color of our eyes. Basically our features were the same."

Douglas turned toward Sam and smiled, "Now I need to ask you a few questions. Why was Green in your office?"

"He was delivering the ransom money to me, so I could meet with the kidnappers and make the exchange," Sam explained. "At the time I thought I was tracking down Jeffery. I had received a strange message on my answering machine and Green had received a package with a ransom note with photos indicating that Jeffery was being beaten and held for ransom. I was suppose to deliver the money at Shady Acres that evening. Unfortunately, he was killed and Kelly stabbed. Later that day Shady Acres was burned to the ground."

"What happened to the money?" Baker asked.

"We found it behind the sofa in the outer office. I took it and put it into the safe in Kelly's apartment after my place had been burglarized. I thought that would be the safest place for it."

"Is that where it is now?" Douglas asked.

"No, the night I was kidnapped by O'Toole, Davis and the Duke. John took the money back to the apartment and put it into the safe. Somewhere between the time John went to the hospital to talk to Kelly, then later taken to the police station, and my arrival back at the apartment the money was taken out of the safe."

"Who knew about the money?" Baker asked scratching his head.

"That was what we were trying to figure out," John interjected. "The only people who knew the combination to the safe was Sam, Kelly and myself."

"I thought maybe the combination might have been in Bill Slade's wallet," Sam interrupted. "That was the reason I left the apartment during the night to go to my office. It wasn't until after I was halfway to the office that I remembered John had given the wallet to Baker to be checked out."

"Sam, why didn't you turn around and go back to the apartment after you remembered about the wallet?" Douglas asked writing in a little tablet on the table.

"I decided since I couldn't sleep I would try and get some work done. When I arrived at the office I found a note attached to my phone informing me of a meeting at the Jeffery home on Friday at 3:00 p.m., to deliver the money and to bring Douglas with me," Sam recalled. "There was also a threat on the answering machine telling me that if I didn't show up Kelly would be killed. But it was the other message that came through that scared me, it said `two down and three to go.' After listening to the messages I hurried back to the apartment, I was afraid something may have happened to John."

"Two down and three to go?' Do you still have copies of these messages," Douglas asked.

"Yes, I have it here in my bag," She reached inside her purse and pulled it out. As she handed the disc to Douglas the printout from the computer log fluttered to the floor. She picked it up and said, "I also found the IP log for our computer in the office and checked the numbers, dates and times and found they correspond with the time of the messages. I can only speculate that my computer was being used to transmit these messages."

"Who has access to your computer?" Baker asked standing up to get another cup of coffee.

"Just Kelly and myself," Sam answered. "But apparently anyone can walk into my outer office any time they please."

"Do you use passwords to start up your system," Douglas asked.

Sam shook her head no, "Kelly felt that it wasn't necessary. Since he was basically the only one who used the system. I use it once in awhile but not enough to have passwords to protect my files."

"Basically you are saying that Kelly was the only one who used the computer," Douglas stated, "and he has been in the hospital for the past few days with a stab wound?"

"Right," Sam said. "He was stabbed the next morning after we found out about Madge and Bill being murdered."

"Who are Madge and Bill?" Baker asked.

"They are the two swingers that were murdered in Alexandria," John answered. "We found out that night, from a friend of theirs, that they had picked up Jeffery, here, a week ago and had not been seen since. We thought, they may have some information on his whereabouts. Unfortunately, they were in no condition to answer any questions."

"But I did find a cell phone number on Madge's dresser," Sam remarked. They turned and looked at her as she continued. "It was the same number Green had given me earlier in case I needed to contact him. He told me either himself or one of the other two would answer the phone."

"And you withheld this information from the Alexandria police?" Baker asked starting to fume. "I should run you in for tampering with a murder scene."

"I know it," Sam said disgustedly. "I called Green that night and asked him about it. Of course he knew nothing, he was too absorbed with getting the ransom money to me the next morning."

"This being the morning he was murdered and Carson's stabbed?" Baker stated. "Who knew he would be there with the money?"

"Just Kelly and myself," Sam answered.

Douglas turned to John and asked, "You didn't know about the money at that time?"

"No I didn't find out about it until later," John said. "That was also the morning we found the CIA files on Sam's car just before it blew up."

"What CIA files?" Baker asked.

"The ones your guys confiscated from Kelly's apartment when you retrieved the body," Sam informed him.

"Please continue John," Douglas asked as he motioned for Sam and Baker to be quiet.

"Someone placed a briefcase on the hood of Sam's car that morning and as I was getting it off and walking back to my car when her car blew up," John said. He turned to Baker and asked, "Do you have the lab work back on what type of device was used?"

"Not yet they are suppose to be ready in the morning," Baker answered.

"What I can't understand is where did the files come from," Sam stated. "Why were they placed on my car?"

"I placed them there," Douglas stated. "I thought it would draw out the man who was impersonating me. I took a chance that he would come to you pretending to be me."

"But why would he go to Sam?" John asked.

"Sam's father had found out about the leak in our organization. He notified the office the day he died that he was meeting with the traitor the next morning to convince him to turn his self in," Douglas stated as he shook his head. "It never occur to him they would murder him."

"But my father was not murdered he died of a massive heart attack," Sam interjected. "How can you say he was murdered."

"Was there an autopsy performed on the body?" Douglas asked.

"No, we didn't feel it was necessary," Sam answered. "Dad had been having problems for a couple of months. The doctor told him that if he didn't slow down he would have a massive coronary."

"Sam, I know this is a sensitive issue with you, but I have to ask. Can we exhume the body and have an autopsy performed?" Douglas asked.

"That would be a little difficult to do," Sam replied. "Dad was cremated and his ashes scatter into the Chesapeake Bay."

"Who made the arrangements?" Baker asked looking up from the file he was browsing through.

"Kelly and Bill made all the arrangements. At the time I wasn't really capable of handling the situation," Sam explained. "I didn't even know that Dad had requested to be cremated until Bill told me."

"And you of course didn't question him about it," Douglas said.

"No, Bill and Dad had been friends for years I just accepted it," Sam said as she stood up and started pacing the floor. "Did you ever find out who the leak was?"

"No, I was hoping that your father left something with you to give us a clue to his identity," Douglas continued. "It had to be someone your father knew very well. He was convinced he could talk them into turning themselves in."

Sam stopped pacing the floor and turned to look at the men at the table and said sadly, "It had to have been Bill who was the leak. He would have been the only one Dad would have trusted with information about cases. Dad would have felt compelled to convince him to turn himself in."

"That was the conclusion I came up with," Douglas agreed. "The only problem was there was no proof. What evidence your father collected, it must have died with him, unless it was tangible and if he was murdered it was taken from him and destroyed."

"But that would mean Bill killed my Dad and destroyed the evidence against him," Sam retorted. "No, I'm sorry I can't believe that. Dad died from a heart attack he was not murdered."

"If that is true then where is the evidence, Sam?" John asked standing up and walking over to her.

"He must have hidden it somewhere," she said. "John, the files and the disc we found in Kelly's safe could that be the proof he found?"

"Hold on. I've gone over the files and disc Sam, after Baker finger printed me," Douglas interrupted. "There's nothing in there to indicate a leak. The disc is one your father and I made when we were trying to track down my imposter. We had arranged for Bill to pretend to be an ex-military, demolition expert, he was better suited for the mission because of his experience with the bomb squad in New York. It worked until our leak let it out that Bill wasn't the real thing. He barely got out of the country alive."

"Doesn't that prove that Bill wasn't the leak," Sam said. "If he was almost killed, he couldn't possibly have been the leak."

"That is what I thought too, until I found out he had been tipped off," Douglas said.

"Who tipped him off?" Baker asked.

"He received an anonymous phone call with a cryptic message saying, get out now you are in danger," Douglas explained. "One of our agents, who is now dead, recorded the phone call. The disc of that call has only recently showed up."

Sam walked back over to the table and sat down. She took a deep breath and asked, "Was the message computer generated?"

"Yes, it was," Douglas answered.

"It must have been the same person who has sent me messages," Sam said. "But the computer in my office was only installed last year. So it couldn't have generated the message three years ago."

"No but the same person could have," John interjected. "Sam, who suggested you put in a computer system."

"Kelly did. He said it would be easier to keep track of our files and make his life a lot simpler," Sam answered. She looked at John, Douglas and Baker and started shaking her head, "You can't believe that Kelly is behind all of this. It's impossible. I've known him all my life."

"I think maybe it is time for us to have a serious talk with Mr. Kelly Carsons," Baker said and stood up and stretched. "We can sit here all night and still not have any answers."

"You may be right," John said. "I think it would be a good idea to make a trip over to the hospital and have a long talk with Kelly."

"But John, Kelly was attacked too when Green was killed," Sam said.

"But the only fingerprints on the knife were Kelly's and Green's," Baker stated.

"Because the man who attacked them must have worn gloves," Sam retorted.

"But we only have Carson's word that there was an attacker," Baker sneered.

"Oh and you think Kelly trashed my offices, killed Green and stabbed himself to make it look like they had walked in on an intruder," Sam retorted sarcastically. "I don't think so."

Douglas stood up, "I don't think this is getting us anywhere. We need to back up a little bit. Sam is there anyplace your father would have hidden information that no one but you and him would know about?"

"Not that I can think of," Sam answered.

"Is there anything that your Dad gave to you before he died and asked you to keep it for him," Douglas asked.

"No," she said.

"It was worth a try. I suggest that we adjourn for now and return in the morning," Douglas said. "Let's arrange to meet back here at 8:00 sharp and prepare for Sam's meeting at the Jeffery house at 3:00 p.m.."

"You mean you want her to keep the appointment," John retorted.

"Yes, I will be accompanying her posing as the phoney Douglas," he said. "Maybe we can draw out the man who killed him."

"But what if they don't buy the act. You could be putting Sam in danger," John said.

"John don't worry about it. I was planning on keeping the appointment anyway because of Kelly remember," Sam said placing her hand on his arm. "They threaten to kill him if I didn't show up."

John ran his fingers through his hair and nodded "Okay, but I'M going to make sure that there are no slip ups. Sam, you will do exactly as you are told. No going off on your own."

"Yes Momma," Sam said begrudgingly. "I will obey."

They finished up and left the police station. As they were walking out the door Sam turned to Douglas and said, "Can you give me a lift to Kelly's apartment. I need to feed Bastard and take care of a few things there before I go back to my place."

"Sure no problem," Douglas said as John was giving him the evil eye. "I would like to take a look at the wall safe there. Chambers why don't you come along. I may need some assistance." John nodded as they walked over to the Corvette.

Sam climbed into the mini back seat as John and Douglas got in front. As they sped down the highway to Kelly's Sam started to worry. Was Kelly behind all of this? Was he the leak that her Dad had found? She shook her head and tried to get comfortable scrunched up in the seat.
Chapter twenty-seven

Sam unlocked the door to Kelly's apartment and walked inside. John and Douglas followed on her heels discussing the merits of the Corvette. "Men," she mumbled on her way to the kitchen.

"Bastard, come here boy," she called as she passed through the kitchen door. Bastard jumped down off the counter, came over to Sam and wound himself around her legs. She reached down, picking him up, nuzzling his head. "Are you hungry boy?" She asked as she went to get the cat food from the shelf. There on the counter was his dish with fresh food in it. Sam looked at it puzzled.

As she was standing looking at the dish, John walked into the kitchen and said, "Sam do you want pizza or Chinese food?"

"What?" She said strangely.

"Sam, what's the matter," John asked coming over to her.

"Bastard has been fed," Sam said.

"Well good, I'm sure he thought he was going to starve to death," John said going to the refrigerator.

"No, John you don't understand," Sam stated as she picked up the cat again. "Someone has fed him and it wasn't me."

"What do you mean it wasn't you?" John asked as he turned toward her with a carton of orange juice in his hand. "That's what you came out here to do isn't it?"

"Yes, but someone has already fed him," she answered. "I haven't been back to this apartment, since we left this morning. Someone came in and fed the cat."

"What's going on out here," Douglas asked as he came through the door.

"Sam says that someone has been in here and fed her cat," John said as he turned toward Douglas.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Guys concentrate," Sam said as she waved her arms in the air. "Someone has been in this apartment, after we left this morning."

"We had better look around John," Douglas said as he backed out the door. John followed him to the living room. Sam shook her head and put the cat down. Bastard went over to the waste basket and turned it over.

"No Bastard," she yelled as she went over to it to pick up the things he had knocked out. As she was picking up the paper and debris she noticed the tissue she had placed in the trash earlier that morning. She looked at it and felt the texture again. Now where had she seen this type of tissue before, sometime today she was sure of it. She shook her head and placed the tissue in her pocket. Maybe it would come to her later.

In the living room John and Douglas searched to see if anything had been disturbed. Everything seemed to be still in place the only disturbance in the entire room was where the police had been earlier that morning. Sam came out of the kitchen still wondering about the tissue in her pocket. She looked around the room and slowly walked over to the bookcase behind the old recliner.

"John, did you check the safe?" She asked.

"No, I didn't see any need to," he said.

"Well you had better come here," she stated. John walked over to Sam. "It looks as if the recliner has been moved to the right a few inches."

"You're right, it looks as if it was scooted around," John said bending down to look at the scuff mark on the floor.

Douglas walked over to them and suggested, "Why don't you open the safe and look to see if anything is missing."

Sam pulled the bookcase open, unlocked the safe and gasped, "Oh my God!"

"What is it?" John asked.

"The gym bag that had the money in it, is back.

"No way," John stated as he moved Sam out of the way. He reached in, pulled out the bag and opened it. Inside was the money still neatly wrapped.

"I don't believe this," Sam said as she sat down in the recliner. "First someone breaks in and takes the money, then they come back fed my cat and put the money back. It doesn't make any sense."

Douglas picked up the money and took it over to the coffee table and put it down, "Obviously who ever did it, thought you wouldn't be back here tonight."

Sam got up out of the recliner, walked over to the table and picked up one of the packets of bearer bonds and said, "Strange, whoever did this had to have a key to the apartment, the combination to the safe, plus be familiar enough with Bastard to feed him his favorite food."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Douglas asked as he quietly counted the packets of money.

"The only person that fits the description is Kelly, but he is in the hospital under police protection," Sam said. The phone rang, John went over to it and picked it up. John listened for a few minutes and then said, "Thanks Baker," and hung up.

John turned to Douglas and Sam, "That was Baker, he went over to the hospital to ask Kelly a few questions and found his guard unconscious and Kelly gone. The hospital staff has no idea how long he has been missing. All they know is that he was in his room at the beginning of visiting hours because the nurse gave him his medication at 7:00 p.m.."

"That was three hours ago, John," Sam said. "How come they didn't find the guard before Baker arrived."

"They had an emergency in one of the other rooms and we're working frantically trying to revive a patient. By the time they had everything under control Baker was there asking about the guard and Kelly."

"Damn! It's the Duke," Sam said angrily. "He threaten to do something to Kelly if I didn't cooperate and now he has kidnapped him."

"Sam, what about the apartment and the money?" Douglas asked.

"I don't know. John are we suppose to meet Baker somewhere?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I told him we would meet him at the hospital."

"Before we go there let's stop by the office I want to check the answering machine and see if any messages have been left. I would call it but Kelly just put in a new machine and I don't have the code."

"Sure, but first let me call and see if I can get my car out of the impound lot," John said. "No offense Douglas but yours is just a little bit too small."

"John, we can use Kelly's car. It's still parked in the garage at the office," Sam suggested. "He always keeps a spare key underneath the front bumper in case of emergency."

"Fine, let's go," John said picking up his jacket and heading for the door.

"Wait folks. What do we do with the money?" Douglas asked.

"That's your problem now," John said. "I'm tired of having it disappear and reappear on me."

"Okay, let me make a phone call and arrange for one of our couriers to pick it up at your office," Douglas said as he picked up the phone. After he explained the situation to the courier. He told him to call him when he was in the area and he would meet him in the parking garage.

"Ready to go?" Douglas asked as he picked up the money and his jacket.

"Ready as I ever will be," Sam said as she grabbed her bag and went toward the door. "I sure hope they have left a message telling me Kelly is okay."

"Don't worry, Sam," John said. "They want their money, not to hurt Kelly."

"That hasn't stopped them so far," she said. "Look what happened to Madge and Bill."

John put his arm around Sam's shoulders and hugged her tight as they went out the door. As the door shut the back bedroom door opened slowly and a man slipped out smiling. He waited for a few minutes and quietly slipped out of the apartment.
Chapter Twenty-eight

When they arrived at the parking garage Sam looked around the for Kelly's car.

"For goodness sakes, I wonder if security had it towed," Sam said.

"Don't worry I'll ask one of the guards inside. If it has been towed, they will have a record of it," John said as they were walking to the elevator. Once inside the lobby John went over to the security room, while Douglas and Sam continued on upstairs to her office.

As Sam was unlocking the door she had that funny feeling, that she was being watched. She shrugged it off and went inside. As soon as she turned the lights on she knew someone had been in the office again.

"Someone has been here," she said to Douglas as they stepped inside.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"For one thing my office door was shut when I left today and now it is standing wide open," she said as she walked over to her office. She turned the lights on and looked inside. Someone had gone through the files on her desk and had scattered them on the floor. Douglas stepped inside with her and looked around checking behind the couch and closet doors.

"Well, whoever was here is gone now," he said. "Do you keep anything valuable in your office?"

"No. That was the first thing Dad insisted on when I came to work here. Nothing valuable was to be left at the office," she informed him. She looked at her desk and saw the plaque her father had given her a few weeks before he died. "Douglas."

"What?" He asked as he turned to her.

"Do you remember asking me if my father gave me anything before he died and I said no," she said.

"Yes, I was hoping he may have left the files he was working on with you," he answered as he moved around the room.

"Do you remember the poem you quoted me over the phone?" She said picking up the plaque.

"Yes, the one about the brain being a wonderful organ."

"My Dad had that poem put on a plaque shortly before he died. He gave it to me and told me to keep it close to my desk as a reminder," she said as she started inspecting the plaque closer. "You don't suppose he left something inside of it?" She started shaking it close to her ear. Nothing rattled. She looked closer at the sides of the plaque, noticing a slight flaw in the lower right hand corner of the poem. She walked over to her desk and pulled out her drawer. She looked inside for a few seconds until she found the pocketknife she keep there. She opened the knife and scraped along the edge of the plaque, part of the surface started to peel off. She continued scraping until a small hole appeared revealing a small disc inside about the size of a watch battery. She looked up at Douglas surprised, "Oh my God! Do you suppose this is what they have been after?"

"If that is what I think it is. Yes," Douglas said shaking his head. "To think you have had it here all these years." "I never knew," Sam said awed at her discovery. "When he gave it to me I was so surprised that I really didn't look any closer than to read the poem."

Douglas's phone rang he looked at the number and said, "That must be the courier. Why don't you give me the disc and I'll have him take it to the boys in the computer lab and see if they can decode it."

"Okay," she said as she handed it over to him. He walked out of the office and down the hall to the elevator. Douglas had been gone for only a few minutes when Sam heard a noise in the outer offices, thinking it was probably John coming in she yelled, "I'm in here John. You will never guess what I found... She stopped in mid-sentence as she turned toward the door and saw O'Toole standing in the doorway.

"Good evening, my dear," he said with a sick smile on his face. "I do believe we have some unfinished business to take care of." He slowly moved from the doorway and came around the side of the desk. Sam started inching her way around the other side as she said, "I don't think we have anything to discuss Mr. O'Toole. I believe I made myself perfectly clear the last time we met."

"Oh indeed you did," he said as he rubbed his crotch and then flicked his wrist revealing a wicked looking knife. "My boss was extremely disappointed in me for allowing you to escape. The humiliation of being found tied to that bed will live with me for a long time."

He moved closer to her as she inched her way to the door. He lunged at her as she ran for the door slicing her on her arm with the knife. She had to get out of the office before he could catch her. She glanced at the gash on her arm as it spilled her blood.

She ran down the hallway trying the doors as she went along. They were all locked. If she could just manage to make it to the stairs she just might have a chance.

As she ran her dream came back to her, "Oh God," she said to herself "I don't want to die, please help me." She looked down at the blood covering her clothes and ran faster. She could hear him behind her coming quickly down the hallway. His tennis shoes slapping the floor as he ran. Just a little bit further and she would make the stairs. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck. He was closing fast, just a little bit further she told herself and she would be free.

His hand reached out for her shoulder and he spun her around. Sam screamed and tried to fight him off. O'Toole pinned her to the wall, smiling into her face he said with a laugh, "I'm going to enjoy slicing you up my sweetness. I only wish I had more time to savor every moment of it." He raised the knife up and started to plunge it down when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards.

John swung at him landing a sharp right to the jaw. O'Toole came back with the knife slashing at his middle. John jumped back. O'Toole came at him again in a mad rage plunging the knife, striking John in the shoulder. Just as he was preparing to strike again there was a commotion down the hall and Douglas came running.

O'Toole looked at Sam and leered, "I will be back for you my sweet, next time your friends won't be able to stop me." He ran down the stairs with Douglas in pursuit.

Sam dropped to the floor where John was lying up against the wall. She quickly took off her jacket and pushed it against the wound in his shoulder.

"Come on John, let's get you down the hall to the office so we can call an ambulance and the cops." She struggled to help him up. John leaned heavily on her as they staggered down the hall. She finally was able to get him into the outer office and down on the couch. She went over to the phone and dialed 911. She gave the information to the operator and hung up.

She went to where John was lying and tore open his shirt to look at the wound in his shoulder. She took a piece of the shirt and held it to the wound to stop the bleeding.

Douglas came back into the office breathing heavily, he stopped as he came into the room and gasped for air. "How bad is it?" He asked after he caught his breath.

"I don't know. I've called for an ambulance and the police. They should be here shortly," Sam said wiping a tear from her cheek. "I owe you one. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't showed up when you did. What made you come back so quickly?"

He looked sheepish and said, "I'm so stupid, Sam. It never occurred to me that anybody would be watching your office. When I arrived at the parking garage the courier was unconscious, the trunk of my car was open and the money was gone."

"Here today and gone tomorrow," John laughed and then groaned. "I'm glad you are the one who lost it this time and not me."

"Well I'm not," Douglas said as he stormed around the room.

Baker appeared at the door with the paramedics and said, "Good God, Chambers haven't you had enough excitement for one week by almost getting blown up. Now you had to step in front of a knife."

"Go to Hell, Baker," John said as the paramedics started to clean up the wound. One of the paramedics came over to Sam and started cleaning up her arm.

"We better get these two to the hospital for some stitches," one of them said. "You can finish questioning them there." They helped John up and started down the hall with him and Sam when Douglas said, "I have another victim in the parking garage with a sore head. You might as well take him too." Baker shook his head laughing and went out of the office locking the door.
Chapter Twenty-nine

While Sam was having her arm stitched up Baker told her what he had found out about Kelly's disappearance.

"From what the guard said he was hit from behind," Baker said. "He never saw what happened. The nurse who found him said he was still unconscious and Kelly's room was empty. We checked the room, it doesn't appear to have any signs of a struggle and all of his clothes are gone."

Sam shook her head and said, "Now, what do we do? The money is gone, Kelly is gone, John is being stitched up and may possibly have to stay in the hospital for blood loss, and we're back to square one."

"Sucks, doesn't it," Baker said scratching his head. "Can you tell me what happened at the office?"

Sam proceeded to give him a blow by blow description of O'Toole's attack, and how she also suspected the office had been broken into again.

"I may as well have a revolving door on my office as many times as it has been entered into with the door locked," Sam said disgustedly.

The nurse came in and asked Baker to leave for a few minutes. She patted her on the shoulder and asked her to lie down while they gave her a shot for infection and tetanus and checked for any other possible injuries.

Douglas was waiting with Baker when Sam came out of the examining room. She walked over to them and asked, "Any news about John?"

"Yes, he's going to be okay. They want to keep him overnight for observation but he is pitching a fit," Baker said. "I think they will release him just to shut him up."

Douglas turned to Sam and said, "Come on Sam I'm going to take you back to your apartment so you can get some rest. Baker is going to stay here and wait and see if they release John or not."

"But I need to stay too," Sam protested.

"No you don't. Not this time. John is in no danger except for maybe getting slapped by one of the nurses," Douglas responded. "You are coming with me." He took her by the arm and started down the hallway.

Baker laughed and said, "Good luck."

Down in the parking lot Sam turned to Douglas kicking him in the shins screaming, "Of all the high handed male chauvinistic... you make me so mad. Who died and made you God? I am not going home. I am staying here and waiting for John." She turned to go back into the hospital when he grabbed her again and slammed her back against the car holding her there with his body.

"Sam listen to me," he said as she started to struggle. "We need to talk. I don't think Kelly was abducted from the hospital."

"What?" She said as she stopped struggling. "What do you mean he wasn't abducted?"

"Are you going to listen to me?" Sam nodded as he released her. "Get in so we can talk without an audience." Sam went to the passenger side of the car and got in.

Douglas started the car and pulled out of the hospital parking lot onto the highway.

"Okay, explain to me what you meant about Kelly not being abducted from the hospital," she demanded.

"Don't you think it is strange that his car is missing from the parking garage at your office?" Douglas asked.

"Yes, but it could have been towed away by security. They do that sometimes when they see a car parked for more than two days in the same space, unless you notify them," Sam answered.

"John checked it out and they hadn't touched it," Douglas stated. "The parking attendant on duty tonight said Mr. Carsons came in a cab and picked up his car around 7:45."

"But that's impossible," Sam said. "He was in the hospital at the time."

"Think Sam, the nurse said she gave him his medication at 7:00 o'clock and they didn't find the guard until 8:30. Kelly would have had plenty of time to knock out the guard, leave the hospital and pick up his car," Douglas retorted.

"But why. He was suppose to be released tomorrow or today rather," she stated. "If he left by himself then where is he."

"That is what we are going to find out," he said as he turned a corner. "I think Carsons is into this mess up to his neck. I agree with John, he knows a lot more than he has been telling you."

Sam shoved her hands into her pockets and didn't say a word for a few minutes. Her hand grasp the tissue in her pocket and pulled it out. She looked at it for a few minutes thinking where she had seen this type of tissue before. She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and sighed.

"Are you alright?" Douglas asked as he glanced at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine just a little tired," she answered. "Douglas let's go by Kelly's apartment. If he is by himself the first thing he is going to do is change his clothes. Kelly is so finicky he would not be able to stand to wear the same set of clothes two days straight."

"Do you think you could tell if anything is missing?" Douglas asked.

Sam sighed and said, "Yes. Unfortunately, I think I already know the answer." Douglas glanced at her but didn't say anything.

When they arrived at the brownstone Sam hurried out of the car and up the steps. She didn't stop until they came to the door of Kelly's apartment. Sam inserted the key and went in. Bastard came out of the kitchen and meowed at her. She patted him on the head and moved down the hallway to the bathroom.

"If I know Kelly the first thing he would do is take a shower," she said as she went into the bathroom. She checked the shower stall but it was dry and the towels on the rack unused. She moved over to the bathroom shelves and checked the special soap Kelly always used. Yes, it was still damp. Unless John had used it the night before, which she doubted, Kelly had been there. She hurried down the hall to his bedroom. The bed had been made up and the room appeared to have been recently cleaned.

She turned to the door and yelled, "Douglas come in here."

Douglas came through the bedroom door and said, "Well did you find anything?"

"Kelly has been here, I'm sure of it," Sam said.

"How can you be so sure?" Douglas asked.

"The bed is made, the room has been cleaned, his special soap is still damp, and it looks as if some of his clothes in the closet have been moved around," she said as she closed the closet door. "Only Kelly would take the time to make the bed and straighten up."

"Well, at least we know he's okay, but where is he and why hasn't he contacted you?" Douglas asked.

"I don't know," she said as she rubbed her forehead again. The headache that had started in the car was really coming on strong.

Douglas came over to her and put his arms around her and asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

Sam shrugged out of his embrace and walked down the hall to the bathroom. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out the bottle of aspirins and took two. She turned to Douglas who had followed her into the bathroom and said, "I'll be fine once this headache goes away and I find Kelly. Did you check the messages on his machine?"

"Yes, nothing new there," Douglas answered. "Can you access your machine from here?"

"I can do the one at home but the one at the office is new and I don't have the code for it. Let me see if he has called me at home." She said as she picked up the phone and dialed her number and access code. She hung up the phone and said, "Shit!" Douglas turned to her surprised and asked what was the matter.

"Oh nothing much, except my insurance company telling me they will pay off the loan on my car but they are canceling my insurance because I now have become a high risk," she answered him.

"I suppose having your car blown up is considered a high risk," he chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Any other messages?" He asked.

"No, that was it," she said. "I guess we should go down to the office and check it."

"I tell you what, Sam," Douglas said. "Why don't you lie down and take a nap and I'll run down to your office and check the messages. I need to go to the police station and check on a few things anyway."

Sam rubbed the back of her neck and looked at him. She walked over to her bag and handed him the keys to her office and said, "A lot of good these things will do you. It probably is open anyway. I think I will get some rest, but not here. Can you drop me off at my place?"

"Sure no problem," Douglas said. Sam gathered up Bastard, put him in his carrier and walked to the door. She turned to look at Douglas and said, "While you are at my office check the lower left hand drawer on Kelly's desk and see if a pearl handled gun is still there." Douglas nodded and opened the door.

"You think he went to the office and picked it up?" He asked.

"Maybe, he may have felt he needed protection of some sort. But I can't see him using it on anyone, he just isn't the type," she said as they walked down the hall. Just as they were climbing into the car Baker drove up with John.

John got out and came over to Sam. She took one look at him and put her arms around his waist carefully and held him close and cried. John let her cry for a bit then slowly lifted her chin so he could look at her and said, "Hey Pipsqueak, don't carry on so. You want Baker to think you're a woman."

Sam dried her eyes and said, "I am a woman you ninny and I don't give a damn what Baker thinks." John laughed and then grimaced as she punched him in the ribs.

He turned to Douglas and asked, "Where are you two headed?"

"I was just getting ready to take Sam to her apartment and then go back to her office to check on the answering machine," Douglas said. "With all the excitement we didn't get a chance to see if anything had come through."

Baker turned to them and said, "Don't bother I had a few of the guys go over it after the attack and there was nothing there. The machine's disc was gone and the internal memory had been erased completely."

Sam looked at Douglas and said simply, "Kelly?"

He nodded, turned to Baker and suggested, "Why don't you drop these two off at Sam's apartment, while I go back to the station and start making arrangements for the meeting this afternoon."

Baker nodded and motioned for John and Sam to get into the car. Sam picked up Bastard, placing him inside the car she turned to John and said, "Go with Baker to my place and I'll meet you there shortly. I have a few things I need to talk over with Douglas about the meeting. Don't worry I won't be long." John simply nodded and climbed inside.

Baker closed the door and drove off. Sam walked back to Douglas and said, "Okay let's go to my office. If Kelly was there and erased the messages he would have left me a note telling me why."

"What makes you so sure he would have left you a message?" Douglas asked as she got inside of the car.

"Because I know Kelly," she said simply.
Chapter Thirty

They arrived at her office shortly after three in the morning. Sam unlocked the door and went in. She hurried over to Kelly's desk and pulled open the drawer—the gun was gone.

She slowly shut the drawer and said, "It's gone. He must have been here. Look around and see if you can find a message or a note somewhere." Douglas began searching the outer office while Sam went into her office and looked around. She walked over to her desk and saw a note taped to her phone.

She called for Douglas while opening it and read it.

"My darling Samantha, After our conversation today I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. I know you will find it hard to believe that I am capable of violence but there comes a time in all our lives, when we hit a breaking point and that time has come to me. I love you Sam you are the daughter that I always wanted but could never have. Take care of yourself and try and remember the good times. Kelly."

Douglas came into the room as Sam finished reading the note and said, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes, a note from Kelly," she said as she took a deep breath and handed to him. "I think he has gone after the Duke."

Douglas quickly reads the note and reached for the phone. He called Baker at Sam's apartment and informed him of their findings. He arranged to meet him at police headquarters in fifteen minutes.

He turned to her and said, "We better get going. Baker and Chambers will be at the station in a few minutes. We have a lot of things to get together before we head out to my house."

"Your house?" Sam said.

"Yes, it's my house," he said. "I bought it a few years ago under the name of William Jeffery. After all of this is over I planned to retire there and become a writer or something along that line."

"You never cease to amaze me," Sam said as she headed out the door.

Sam and Douglas arrived at the station just minutes after Baker and John. They went into a briefing room where a number of men were already assembled. Douglas stopped to talk to one of the men at the door and motioned for Sam to take a seat. Baker and John sat down beside her near the entrance. Douglas walked with the other man over to the podium and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

Silence prevailed in the room as everyone turned toward Douglas. He stood at the podium for a minute and surveyed the men assembled, he nodded his head and said, "I'm not going to waste your time by going over the details that you have already been briefed on. You know your assignments. I have every confidence that we will be able to achieve our mission. There is only one change that has occurred that you need to be aware of. We now have an armed civilian on his way toward the target. We don't know how this will affect the situation. So be on your guard. Good Luck."

Sam looked at John and said, "That was a briefing? It sounded more like a coach encouraging his team to go out and win, win, win."

"Sam these are highly trained professionals. They know what their jobs are, we are the bystanders here. Douglas is only letting us go along as a courtesy because we have been involved in this case. Ordinarily we wouldn't even be in on the kill," John explained.

"In on the kill, that has an ominous sound to it," Sam said as shivers ran up her spine. "Are you trying to tell me that once we get to the Jeffery house we will have to sit back and let them go in ahead of us."

"That is exactly what he is saying," Douglas interrupted. "Sam listen to me carefully. You are doing absolutely nothing once we get into place."

"But... " she started to interrupt.

"No buts, you are to stay where we put you. I will not have you interfering in our bust," Douglas said as he turned and walked away.

"We'll see about that," Sam muttered under her breath.

John took her arm as they walked out of the briefing room and pulled her aside and said, "Sam don't do anything stupid out there. You could get yourself and Kelly killed."

"Don't worry," Sam said as she pulled away and started down the hall.

They met out behind the station and went over to different vehicles assembled there. Sam marched over to Douglas's Corvette and got inside. Douglas came over to the side of the car and started to pull her out, but changed his mind once he saw the look on her face.

"She probably would be better off with him," he thought. "That way he could keep an eye on her."

They headed off to the Jeffery house with a full armament of trucks prepared for battle.
Chapter Thirty-one

They pulled up to the entrance of the driveway, stopped the car and got out. Douglas instructed his men to fan out around the house and to wait for his signal. He turned to Sam and told her to stay in the car and to keep quiet. Douglas moved down the driveway to where Baker and John were waiting.

As soon as Douglas was out of sight Sam slipped out of the car and went behind it. "Stay in the car and keep quiet, my ass," she mumbled to herself. "Go to hell Douglas. I don't take orders from anybody."

She moved slowly from behind the car to the underbrush beside the driveway and slowly making her way down the driveway, ensuring she stayed behind the hedges that lined the entrance.

John turned to Douglas when he reached him and asked, "Where is Sam?"

"She is still in the car. I told her to stay put and be quiet. This is no place for a woman," Douglas said.

John laughed and said, "You really think she is going to stay there?"

"Of course. I told her too," Douglas said emphatically.

"Boy, have you got a lot to learn," John said. Baker tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down the driveway. Douglas and John looked and saw Sam slipping from bush to bush, moving slowly down the drive.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Douglas said angrily. "She is going to blow the whole thing."

"I told you she wouldn't stay where you put her," John said. One of the men in Douglas's squad brought vests over to them. Douglas, John and Baker took the vests and put them on. They checked their rifles and handguns and fanned out. John and Douglas started moving down the driveway the way Sam had.

"She is going to get herself killed," Douglas said shaking his head.

"Give her a little credit, Douglas," John said. "Her father saw to it that she had extensive training."

"I don't care what kind of training she has had," Douglas retorted angrily, "she should learn to follow orders."

"Hey, she isn't one of your minions that you can order about. You should realize that by now," John said as they moved closer. "Sam lives by her own rules and does what her heart tells her to do." They watched as Sam slipped underneath the car that was parked in front of the house. Beside it was Kelly's car. Sam rolled out from underneath the car and moved over to Kelly's and stopped to feel the hood. She then moved to the side of the house, flattened herself against the wall and disappeared. Douglas and John followed close on her heels. They didn't want to draw attention to the fact that Sam was ahead of them.

Sam moved slowly to the back of the house and listened. She slipped up to the back window, slowly raised up to the window sill and looked in. She was looking into the house from the dining room window where a light was shining from the kitchen, but she couldn't see any movement or hear anything. She slowly moved down from the window sill and crept around to the back of the house. She inched forward to the back porch and listened. There was still no noise from the house, it was as if it was totally empty. Slowly she moved forward to the back porch and slipped inside.

Cautiously, she moved from the porch to the back door of the kitchen and glanced inside. There on the floor was Davis in a pool of blood. Sam backed away from the door, flattening herself along the wall. She took a couple of deep breaths to settle herself.

John and Douglas moved along side of the house mimicking Sam's movements. John held his breath as she peered into the window expecting any minute for her to get her head shot off. He exhaled a deep breath when she moved away from the window toward the back porch.

"I'm going to beat her senseless when we get out of here," he whispered to Douglas.

"Only, if I get to help," Douglas whispered back. They watched as she moved onto the back porch and out of sight. Following quickly they made their way passed the window to the edge of the porch.

Sam saw a movement beside the porch and ducked behind a rattan chair. She sighed in relief when she saw John come onto the porch and look around. She moved from behind the chair quietly coming over to him and whispered, "Davis is dead on the kitchen floor."

He glanced down at her angrily and motioned for her to get off the porch. She shook her head and put her finger to her lips. She moved forward to the kitchen door, quietly opening it she slipped in. Douglas moved up behind John following Sam inside. They watched as she carefully stepped over Davis and then moving to the door leading to the dining room she slipped in.

Douglas stopped by Davis's body and turned him over. Davis's throat had been sliced from ear to ear. From the expression on his face he had been taken totally by surprise. John grimaced as Douglas rolled the body back over and moved down to the dining room door.

Sam moved from the dining room to the hallway, almost tripping on a body hidden in the shadows. She gasped as she caught herself before she fell. She kneeled down to the body and slowly turned it over. Staring up at her with sightless eyes was O'Toole. Someone had put a bullet in his forehead. In his right hand was his knife with blood still on it. Sam backed away from the body and moved down the hallway. A shot rang out from the room down the hall and Sam rushed forward. John and Douglas caught her just as she started to burst into the room.

"Wait," John whispered as he pulled her back against the wall. Douglas radioed for his men to move up and surround the house, but to wait for his signal before moving in. From the room they could hear the Duke talking to someone.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" Duke said moving closer to the man on the floor. From their position outside of the door Sam could see Kelly lying on the floor. He appeared to be hurt but still alive.

"I do believe it is Mr. Kelly Carson," the Duke said as he kicked Kelly's gun away from his hand. He motioned for Kelly to get up and move over to the couch. "Please be seated, Mr. Carson. I have been looking forward to making your acquaintance."

"So we finally meet," Kelly said sneeringly. "You must be the infamous Duke of Faulkner."

"At your service, sir," the Duke said as he made a courtly bow. "I have heard a lot about you from a mutual friend of ours. Bill Slade."

"Ah yes, Bill," Kelly mused. "I'm sorry to say he didn't have very many nice things to say about you."

The Duke chuckled and waved the gun in front of him. He walked over to where Kelly had been lying and picked up the gym bag lying on the floor. He carried the case over to the coffee table keeping his eyes on Kelly. He pushed the bag over to him and said, "Would you please open the bag for me?"

"Naturally," Kelly said as he moved toward the bag and grimaced and fell back onto the couch clutching his shoulder. "Unfortunately, I don't believe I will be able to accommodate you."

"Open the bag!" He shouted. Kelly reached forward again and unzipping the gym bag, slowly pulling it open. Inside were the four million dollars in bearer bonds.

"Good. Finally I have it back," Duke said as he peered at the money. "It has been a total nuisance chasing this thing around this godforsaken city. I must admit I am surprised to find you with it. I thought that Marlow bitch still had it."

"Oh, she did. I just took it from her," Kelly said leaning back against the couch again.

"So Green did give it to her. I thought so." Duke said nodding his head.

"Why don't you tell me how Green got the money and why," Kelly asked.

"I might as well satisfy your curiosity, since you won't be alive much longer to tell anyone," Duke sneered at Kelly. "You see, Green and his partners had been skimming money off of my organization for years. It was only when they started getting greedy that I decided to put a stop to it. I constructed the story of the kidnapping of one of my Jeffery impersonators and approached Green and his compatriots with trying to find him. The money came from various factions to rescue what they believed was a valuable asset. After all, Jeffery had become a household name through his writings and to the organization. His name alone would open doors for us to infiltrate.

He was so easily convinced when I showed him the photos of his friend brutally beaten. Unfortunately, things fell apart when Green wound up stabbed to death and the money missing. I suspect O'Toole became greedy, he has always been a little too energetic with his knife. Later, I called my friend who has been impersonating Douglas, to find the money and bring it back. But tragedy struck again and he was found dead. Naturally, I was beginning to get desperate so I decided to get rid of all the excess baggage and complete the job myself. I really hate incompetence. I ordered O'Toole to remove Davis then I shot him before he realized what was happening. Now that I have my money back I will finish with you and be on my way."

"Before you do would you please answer a few questions I have?" Kelly asked.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Why did you kill Bill Slade?"

The Duke laughed and said, "Want to know about your little lover, huh?"

"Yes, I want to know why," Kelly said as he closed his eyes. "I know he had been working for you for a long time. Why was it necessary to kill him?"

"He was becoming a liability to me. After Mike Marlow discovered he was the leak in his agency I ordered Slade to get rid of him. He wouldn't have any part of it. I was forced to send Davis to do the job."

"But Mike died of a heart attack," Kelly stated.

"That is what everyone was supposed to think. Davis was an expert in his field. A simple little injection of an air bubble and poof no more problem."

"And Bill, why didn't you have him killed the same way?"

"I wanted him to know why he was going to die. Slade developed a conscience after Marlow was killed and refused to do my bidding. I allowed it to continue for a while until he was going to turn himself in and expose my entire operation. I won't have my people crossing me. So, I sent O'Toole to deal with him. O'Toole later brought me back his wallet as proof of his kill. I really enjoyed going through his wallet and seeing all of his photos of his little friend and god daughter. You people are pathetic. Now, I really must be going. Tell Slade hello for me when you meet him in Hell."

Duke raised the gun and pointed it at Kelly, just as he was getting ready to pull the trigger a shot was fired and he fell backwards dropping his gun. Kelly jumped from the couch and grabbed the gun as Sam, John and Douglas burst into the room. Kelly stood over the Duke with his gun pointed at his head.

"Now who is the pathetic one, you bastard, " Kelly screamed.

"Kelly drop the gun," Sam yelled as she raised her gun again. "He isn't worth it. Let the authorities deal with him." Kelly turned to her with tears in his eyes. He slowly lowered the gun and collapsed on the floor.

Sam rushed over to his side taking the gun out of his hand. John helped the Duke up as Douglas read him his rights. Soon the room was filled with the men from outside.

Sam helped Kelly over to the couch. She pressed a cloth against his shoulder and told him that the paramedics were on their way.

She walked over to where the Duke was handcuffed and sitting in a chair. She looked at him with hate in her eyes and said, "Bastard" as she slammed him across the face with her gun. John grabbed her before she could do any more damage and took her outside to cool off. In the background they could hear Douglas and Baker laughing their heads off.

Once they were outside John pulled Sam into his arms and kissed her, Sam pushed him away and said, "What do you think you are doing?"

"I think I was pretty obvious about what I was doing," John said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, just stop it," Sam retorted. "Why did you stop me in there?"

"Sam, what good would it do to beat the hell out of the Duke. It won't bring back your father or Bill. It would only jeopardize our case against him. He could bring harassment charges against us and we would be forced to drop the charges."

"He deserves to suffer," Sam said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "He is evil. I only wish I had killed him instead of just wounding him."

"What good would that have done," John answered running his hands through his hair. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to him. "Sam, with him alive we can find out more about his operations and put a stop to them. We don't need you going off half cocked and punching him."

"Oh so that's the way it is. You guys are so interested in building a case against the slime ball that you were willing for him to shoot Kelly just so you could get a conviction," Sam screamed at John. She shrugged Johns hands off her shoulders and started to walk away.

"Sam come back here I haven't finished talking to you," John hurried after her. She stopped and turned toward him. "Yes we want to build a case against him. But we were not going to sacrifice Kelly for it. Douglas was getting ready to stop the Duke, but as usual you jumped the gun and had to play hero."

"Oh, so I'm the one at fault here?"

"No one is at fault, Sam. You're becoming too emotional again. Calm down. Be reasonable for a change. I'm trying to explain to you, that as usual you had to charge in and try and take control of a situation that could have gotten yourself and Kelly killed. You have to stop trying to be in-charge all the time."

"Go to hell, John. Douglas and you would have waited out in the driveway until you heard a shot fired before you would have done anything. By the time the two of you got off your macho asses Kelly would have been dead."

"Sam, just shut up. You have no idea what we were planning. You should have stayed in the car and waited until the situation was taken care of. Instead of jeopardizing everything with your impulsiveness. One of these days you are going to get yourself killed. I don't want to be around to see it."

"You don't want to be around anymore, huh," Sam said as she shook her head. "Dad warned me about you. God knows I should have listened to him. He said you would never stay around if things got rough. Well, Detective Chambers you don't have to be around me anymore as far as I'm concerned you are out of the picture. I wouldn't have you around if you came begging me on your hands and knees." Sam turned and stalked off down the driveway.

John stood staring after her for a few minutes. He couldn't believe what she had just said. How dare she give up on him so easily. John smiled to himself. He would show her. Ms. Samantha Marlow was going to be his, whether she liked it or not. John turned and walked back into the house.
Chapter Thirty-two

Sam, John and Baker sat around the table in the briefing room waiting for Douglas to come back. Sam was still fuming because they wouldn't allow her to go to the hospital with Kelly. The paramedics indicated his shoulder wound wasn't too bad and he should be back to normal in a day or two. Duke on the other hand was suffering from a broken jaw and a shoulder wound. He wasn't going to be communicating with anyone for a while. Douglas had been furious with Sam when he found out.

Douglas came into the room, went to the coffee pot and poured a cup of coffee. No one said a word as they waited for him to finish. He walked over to the table, sat down carefully placing the cup of coffee on the table. He folded his hands in front of him and glared at Sam. She swallowed hard, tilting her head up she stared back at him.

"Well young lady," he said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing except I saw my duty and I did it," she said defiantly.

"Damn it woman!" Douglas shouted as he slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. "You have to be the most aggravating female ever born. Why on earth your father didn't beat the hell out of you a long time ago I don't know."

"Don't yell at me," Sam screamed back as she stood up. "You would have allowed the Duke to shoot Kelly if I hadn't shot him first."

"No, I wouldn't," he yelled back. "You just jumped the gun."

"Well, maybe my reflexes are faster than yours—old man!" She jeered back at him.

Douglas started coming around the table after her when John grabbed his arm and said calmly, "Just sit down. You can't win with her. Sam is Sam. No matter what anyone says or does she is going to be her own person and do what she thinks is best."

Douglas sat down and took a drink of his coffee trying to calm down. Sam eased back down in the chair and waited. Baker cleared his throat and said, "From the information I get from the hospital it is going to be a while before the Duke is capable of answering any questions other than yes and no."

"Yeah, thanks to little Miss Hothead," Douglas said. "We will have to wait at least six weeks for his jaw to heal enough for him to be able to speak."

"You still have enough on him to close the case don't you?" Sam asked.

"Oh we have plenty on him," Douglas stated. "We just don't have the answers to a lot of other questions that only he can answer."

"Do you really think he is going to answer your questions?" John asked.

"Not really, but we might be able to work a deal out with him for information on the location of his operatives and put them out of business," Douglas replied.

"So that's it. Case closed," Sam said. "You get the terrorist who have been bombing places all over the world. And the man responsible for Dad's, Bill's and, Madge and Bills deaths gets off Scot free."

"Not necessarily," Douglas stated. "Once his friends in Ireland and the Middle East learn of his duplicity they will probably take care of him for us. They don't like having loose lips in their organization."

"So you are just going to turn him free and allow the other bad guys to kill him for you," Sam stated.

"Yes," Douglas agreed.

"And what about Kelly?" She asked. "What about the things he did."

"We have nothing on him," Douglas said. "As far as the agency is concerned he was just another grieving party trying to help out."

Sam stood up and walked over to the window. It was starting to rain outside, dark and dreary just another fall day in Washington, D.C.. She turned back to the men at the table and said, "Well, if you guys are finished I think I will go home and sleep for a couple of days."

"Before you go Sam. I want you to know that the disc you found was the files your father had made. We haven't decoded all of it yet but from what we have seen so far we will be able to shut down a lot of the terrorist activities in Europe," Douglas stated.

"Good," she said as she started for the door, paused and turned back to Douglas and asked. "I still don't understand who killed Kearney, Green, and the phoney Douglas?"

"It must have been O'Toole," John said. "He was the one who loved to use a knife all the time."

"We may never know for sure who actually did it," Baker stated. "But we know who was responsible for it."

"Right," Douglas interjected. "The mighty Duke of Faulkner." Sam nodded and went out the door.
Chapter Thirty-three

Three days later Sam arrived at her office and found Kelly sitting at his desk. She smiled and walked over to him saying, "Good morning, Kelly. Do you think you should be back at work so soon?"

He smiled at her and said, "The doctor informed me that my shoulder is healing nicely, the wounds in my chest and abdomen were healing nicely and other than a slight cold I should be fine in a few weeks."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Sam said as she walked over to his desk. She stood there for a few minutes, looking at him. She slowly reached into her pocket, pulled out a tissue, she placed it on the desk in front of him. He looked up at her puzzled. She sighed and said, "Just tell me why Kelly?"

"Why what?" He asked picking up the tissue off of his desk.

"Why did you kill the phoney Douglas, Green and Kearney?" She asked.

"Sam do you believe I would do something so ghastly?" Kelly asked raising his eyebrows up.

"I know you did Kelly," she answered. "I just want to know why you did it." Kelly slumped back in his chair looking like a very old man.

"How did you figure it out?" He asked. "I was very careful not to leave any clues."

"There were a lot of little things that didn't add up," she said. "For instance the phone calls with the computer messages, there was no way the Duke could have made them from this office on our computer. But yet the IP files showed that they were sent from here. And then there was the phoney Douglas being murdered in your apartment. No one but you, John and I knew he was there."

"Also, Green being killed here. I started to believe that it was O'Toole who had murdered Green, but then I started to realize that if he had been the one, he would have taken the money with him. Oh yes, the money. Amazing how it kept appearing and disappearing out of your safe when only the three of us knew the combination."

She paused taking a deep breath and continued. "But, I think what really cinched it for me was the tissue you had dropped out of your pocket when you killed the phoney Douglas. When I picked it up that morning I was surprised that you didn't use a better quality tissue. You always use the best quality of everything. Then while I was crying on your shoulder in the hospital you gave me one of those cheap tissues the hospital uses. Later, I compared the two and realized that it had to be you who had killed him." Sam looked at Kelly as she laid out the facts to him. He seemed to shrink further into the chair he was sitting in.

"Tell me why, Kelly I need to know," Sam asked.

Kelly sat up and took a deep breath. He looked at her and said, "I loved Bill with all my heart. We had been together for over twenty years. I was aware of his activities with your father in the CIA. Most of the time, he would come home from one of his cases and tell me what had occurred. He really admired your father. One day, five years ago, he came back from one of the European situations and he was different. He wouldn't talk to me about what had happened. I still don't know why he changed but he started to become more distant as the time went on.

He spent a lot of his time traveling back and forth between the States and England. Every time he came back he changed just a little bit more. Mike started to become suspicious of him when they both went to Ireland after one of the bombings in Belfast had killed a very important agent. Bill was adamant that it wasn't necessary for both of them to go, but your father insisted.

This was about a week before your father died. Apparently Bill had been giving information to the Duke for years in exchange for large amounts of money. I realize now that was how we were able to buy the brownstone and remodel it. Bill had told me it was from an investment he had made that had finally come through. I had no idea he was selling his soul to the devil. The night your father died Bill came home in a terrible state. He screamed out the truth to me about everything he had been into with the Duke. I tried to calm him down but I couldn't, he finally stormed out of the house shouting that he was going to put a stop to it once and for all. I followed him to the office. By the time I arrived it was too late, Bill was standing beside your Dad's lifeless body crying."

Kelly paused for a moment, got up and poured a cup of coffee from the coffee maker. He stood there for a few minutes before he continued, "Bill and I decided it would be for the best to keep the truth from you. We had no proof that your father was murdered even though we both knew he had been, so we kept quiet. Bill arranged for your father's body to be cremated and scattered in the Chesapeake Bay. He told me later that in case someone at the agency got suspicious, no one could have the body exhumed for an autopsy. For three years Bill and I lived with the knowledge of your father's death,"

Kelly took a deep breath and continued. "The day he died he told me he was going to turn himself in. Another agent had been murdered along with his wife and children. Bill said enough is enough he couldn't stand any more killing. That night he was murdered in the alley behind the office. He was waiting there for his contact from the agency. I had no idea who it was except, from something he had let slip a few weeks before about an agent who was posing as an author around the world. He told me that his name was William Jeffery but in reality he was Agent Lyle Douglas. He said Douglas had worked with your father for years and was still trying to find the missing files of your fathers."

"I assumed Douglas had killed Bill. I don't know what happened to me. I started to follow his movements around town waiting for an opportunity to kill him, like he had killed Bill. At the mall, the author Jeffery was signing autographs for his fans, so I waited and watched for an opportunity. He was such an arrogant piece of work. So full of self-importance. He finally finished signing autographs and went to the restroom at the mall. I followed him inside, waiting until we were alone and hit him in the back of the head. I carried him to the subway just outside of the mall entrance pretending he was a drunk friend. Soon the train came and I shoved him in front of it. I thought to myself an eye for and eye. Justice had been done."

Kelly walked back to his desk and sat down. Sam looked at him and said softly, "You must have been shocked to find out that the man you killed was not the real Jeffery."

"I nearly went insane I couldn't believe I had murdered an innocent man," Kelly cried. "When the call came in from the Embassy wanting to discuss with you about a missing heir I was totally shocked to see Green with the other two. I knew Green from the Cruiser. We had partied with Madge and Bill several times. He later called me and asked for my silence telling me that he would pay me for it. I thought at the time that this was really a strange thing for him to say. The morning he died, he informed me that he was working for the Duke of Faulkner and I had become a liability to him because I knew about his secret sex life. I laughed at him and told him he was crazy, in this day and age no one really cared about someone else's sexual habits. I turned my back and he came at me with the knife. We fought and well you know what happened. I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid that you would start to dig a little too deep and find out about Bill and his traitorous activities and about me murdering Jeffery. Everything started snowballing after that. I tried to throw you off the scent with the phoney computer messages. Bill and I had designed the computer voice system years ago as a way of covering up for him." Kelly put his head in his hands and cried.

Sam put her hand on his shoulder and said, "And I gave you another chance to get rid of the man you thought had killed Bill. You took a cab from the hospital to the office, picked up your car and drove to your apartment. You must have been outside watching the place when I left to go to the office."

"Yes, I saw you drive off and then I slipped in and slit his throat. I must have dropped the tissue when I pulled the knife out of my pocket." Kelly said. He turned to her grasping her hand and asked, "What are you going to do now?"

Sam smiled, leaning down she kissed him on the cheek and said, "Nothing. As far as the agency and the police are concerned the Duke ordered O'Toole to do the killing. They have all the evidence they need to point the finger at a dead man. As far as I am concerned justice has been done."

Sam turned and walked to her office, just as she was going inside Kelly says, "Oh by the way you have a visitor in your office."

"Who is it?" She asked.

"Why don't you open the door and see," Kelly said as he turned back to answer the phone.

Sam shrugged her shoulders and continued to walk into her office and shut the door.

Kneeling on the floor was John Chambers dressed in black leather shorts, a black vest with a dog collar around his neck. Attached to the collar was a long silver chain. Sam stared at him in shock. John didn't say a word as he held out the end of the chain to her. Sam walked over to him and took the end of the chain in her hand and asked, "Why?"

John smiled at her and said, "Mistress, will you take my chain and make me your love slave?"

Sam stared at him a moment. Then slowly she began to smile and tugged on the chain. He crawled to her on his hands and knees stopping a few inches from her. She knelt down to him, took his face in her hands, kissed him and said, "Only if you will allow me to be your love slave, too."

John laughed as he took her into his arms and said, "I love you, Sam. I always have."

"I love you, too." Sam said as the tears started down her cheeks. "Can you forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me, Pipsqueak," John wiped a tear from her cheek and kissed her. "Can we begin again, I won't promise you that I'll agree with everything you do, but I can promise that I will be with you and love you forever."

"That is all I want." She said as she hugged him tightly to her. "To be with you forever sounds like a commitment to me, John. Are you sure you want to be tied to me for the rest of your life?"

"Till the end of time," John said as he lowered his lips to hers to seal the bargain.

