Deception
 

Part Two          by Robin

The coffee pot was empty and so was Amanda’s coffee mug that Lee had been borrowing.  Empty containers of Chinese food were sitting on top of a nearly filled garbage can.  With his wife and partner missing, Lee didn’t dare leave the office.  Paperwork was never his fortitude, but today it was at the top of his agenda in case there was a break in her whereabouts, he planned to be nearby.
 

The day seemed to be dragging on.  Lee glanced down at his watch wondering if it had actually stopped.  It couldn’t possibly be only 2PM.  Getting up, he opened the window to get a breath of fresh air.  He took a few deep breaths hoping to clear his mind when the phone rang, breaking the silence in the room.
 

“Scarecrow,” Lee answered pouncing on the phone before it rang a second time.
 

“Good news, Scarecrow,” Billy Melrose announced, his voice sounding quite cheerful. “Francine flagged Amanda’s passport. Amanda King is being held in Customs over at Dulles International Airport in Virginia!”
 

“Seriously?” Lee gasped in disbelief.
 

“Absolutely,” Billy answered with relief clear in his voice.  “Do you want to go spring her, or should I send someone else?”
 

“I’m on my way,” Lee answered as he hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket.  Elated and relieved, he was out of the Agency in record time.
 

The drive to Dulles was never an easy one, but today, Lee didn’t mind. His thoughts were racing through his head.  Once Amanda was debriefed, he was going to take her out to a fancy dinner – just the two of them.  They needed to decide how to end the mystery part of their marriage.  The past few hours reminded him that every second together was precious.
 

Parking his car at the airport, he headed towards the Customs office.  There was a bounce in his step and he chuckled at all that had happened the past few hours.  He couldn’t wait to see his wife and eager to hear what had transpired in Kiev.  Quickly, he flashed his badge to gain access.
 

“I’m here for Amanda King,” Lee Stetson explained to the Custom’s officer.
 

“Right this way,” she led him down the corridor and pointed to the door at the end.  “She’s in room number two.”
 

“Thank you,” Lee nodded as the officer left and he opened the door. “Welcome back, Mrs…” Lee stopped mid-sentence. Inside the holding room was not Amanda King Stetson, his wife and partner.  For a moment he wondered if the officer had led him to the wrong room.  However, the woman sitting inside the room looked oddly familiar.  It only took a moment before Lee realized, he had seen her picture earlier in the morning.
 

Trying to regain his composure, Lee Stetson swallowed before saying another word. Her appearance was similar to his wife’s in many ways.  Both were tall and slender with dark hair. Although Amanda’s skin coloring was darker, had her passport not been flagged, Dr. Galina Popova probably could have passed through customs without anyone knowing she wasn’t Amanda King.
 

“Where’s Mrs. King?” he demanded succinctly of the woman.
 

The woman didn’t immediately reply.  With hesitation in her voice, she eventually forced out, “I’m Mrs. King.”
 

He shook his head firmly.  “No, Doctor Popova, you may be a lot of things, but you are certainly not Amanda King.  Now where is she?”
 

There was a long pause.  The woman bit her lower lip before answering.  “She’s in… Kiev.  She um, gave me her passport and told me to take the flight and get out of the country.”
 

“No,” he answered directly.  “Mrs. King would never give you her passport. What did you do to her?”
 

“I didn’t do anything to her.  She’s back at her hotel in Kiev,” Dr. Popova answered.
 

“Don’t you think we’ve called her hotel?” he snapped angrily, worried about his wife’s safety.  “Where is Amanda King?”
 

“I swear; the last time I saw her she was in her hotel…”
 

Lee Stetson was furious.  He reached down and firmly grabbed her arm, struggling with his desire to shake the truth out of her.  “Come on, Dr. Popova, I don’t have time to quibble with you.  We will get to the bottom of this at the Agency.”
 

Lee Stetson drove like a madman back to the Agency, realizing that time was of the essence.  Something was definitely wrong, and his wife was undeniably in danger. He made a phone call to Billy on the drive back to DC.
 

“Billy, we’ve got a problem,” Lee explained when his supervisor picked up the phone.  “I need an interrogation cell ASAP.”
 

“What the hell’s going on?” Billy queried, totally confused by his demand.
 

Lee Stetson answered him tersely.  “Amanda wasn’t being held at Dulles.  Galina Popova stole her passport and impersonated her.  I’ve got her in custody so we’ll need an interrogation cell ASAP.”
 

“We’ll have a briefing room available when you get here, Scarecrow.”
 

“Great, I’ll see you in interrogation,” Lee answered before he hung up, ignoring Billy comment.
 

Lee scowled over at Dr. Galina Popova, her face paled as she turned away from him and gazed out the window.
 

A small win for him, obviously he put her on the defense.  The one thing he knew for sure is that there would be no soft interrogation.  He wanted answers and he wanted them now.
 

When he arrived at the Agency, he opened the car door for Dr. Popova, just as he would have for Amanda.  However, when she stepped out of the car, there wasn’t a gentle hand on her lower back.  Instead, there was a firm grip on her arm, just above the elbow and he forcibly led her into the Agency.  A nod to Mrs. Marston and he swiftly moved across the lobby and into the closet/elevator down to interrogation.
 

When they stepped off the elevator onto the detention level, Billy Melrose was there waiting for them.  Lee was pleased that Billy had conceded to his request.
 

“Billy Melrose, meet our suspect, Galina Popova,” Lee snapped, pushing the woman out of the elevator toward his supervisor.  “Not only did she steal the passport of an agent, but she assumed Amanda King’s identity.  She still hasn’t told me what she’s done with the real Amanda King.  Then she used Mrs. King’s passport to illegally gain entrance into the United States as well as impersonating a Federal Agent.  I’m not sure how many laws she’s broken, but I count about a half dozen.”
 

“Dr. Popova, I’m William Melrose, Mrs. King’s supervisor.  We are extremely concerned about the location and safety of Mrs. King!  I expect you can tell me where she is?” Billy Melrose growled his face clearly angry, as he unlocked the door to the room.
 

Galina Popova spoke, her English perfect, although accented, “The last time I saw Mrs. King she was in Kiev at her hotel.”
 

“We’ve been calling her hotel room and she hasn’t answered.  We may not have a lot of time here, so I need an honest answer and I need it now!” Billy Melrose barked in growing frustration.
 

“Please, be reasonable, I was given Mrs. King’s passport to escape the country. I have done nothing wrong.   That was part of the plan, no?”
 

“No, Dr. Popova that was never the plan.  Mrs. King had specific instructions to return to DC with you.  Not send you alone and certainly not give you her passport.  We need to locate Mrs. King immediately. Now sit down,” Billy Melrose demanded furiously.
 

“Mr…. Melrose wasn’t it?” Galina Popova disputed, “I assure you, Amanda King can be located at her hotel.”
 

“We’ve called the hotel and she’s not answering the phone.  Obviously, there is a problem and there’s a strong possibility that she’s in danger,” Billy pointed to the metal chair in the room. His angry voice bellowed.  “Now sit down!  I’m not going to tell you again.  We need the truth and we need it now!  Where is Mrs. King?”
 

There was no further argument from Galina Popova.  She sat down in the chair meekly, her face showing signs of strain, but she remained silent.
 

Billy nodded his head towards the door, signaling Lee to leave. For a second he hesitated then he acquiesced, as Billy followed him outside the room.
 

“Billy, what the hell?” Lee protested once the door was closed.
 

“Steady, Scarecrow.  Let’s give the good doctor a few minutes to think about what she’s done.  I do plan to get to the bottom of this, but we’re skating on thin ice.  The State Department is expecting the Agency to deliver Dr. Popova ASAP…”
 

“The State Department doesn’t know she’s in the country, Billy.  She came in using my... partner’s passport.  That’s a federal offense.  She knows where Amanda is and I want to know now!” Lee argued hotly.  “We’re wasting time.  Either she spills her guts, or we get the good doc to use his magic potions to help!”
 

“Lee, you can sit out here and listen.  You’re not going to interrogate the woman and we’re certainly not going to have Pfaff work on one of the world’s leading authority on nuclear disasters.  I will get to the bottom of this.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, time is of the essence.”
 

Billy re-entered the room and sat down across from Dr. Popova.  Lee turned on the sound to the interrogation cell and listened intently. He leaned his forehead onto the glass window and swallowed hard.  Where was his wife?  Was she alive?
 

“Dr. Popova, the United States government went through a lot of trouble to arrange for you to exit the Soviet Union,” Billy Melrose started; his tone was professional, but insistent.  “I’m pleased that you have arrived safely, but there is the matter of my agent, Amanda King.”
 

“Yes, she met me for dinner the other night.  She knew how important my research is and she insisted that I take her passport and exit the country.”
 

Billy Melrose shook his head.  He knew it was a lie.  “Yes, I’m aware you met for dinner the other night.  You see my agents report back to me regularly when they’re on assignment.  Mrs. King mentioned that your dinner went well and her assignment was on target.  That meant you would be leaving the country via Odesa.”
 

Dr. Popova began to perspire.  Her face, already pale was turning a sickening ash gray.  She squealed out, “Odesa?”
 

“Mmmm,” Billy nodded, knowing he had her on the hook.  “Now, the way I see it, you have two choices.  You can either tell us the truth of what happened and where my agent is, or you can continue to lie to me and further endanger Amanda King, a mother of two boys and a friend of yours who risked her life for you.  So, Doctor, what’s it going to be?”
 

“I assure you, I don’t want any harm to come to Amanda,” Galina Popova quickly answered honestly.
 

“Where is she, Doctor?” Billy demanded, pounding his fist on the table.
 

“At the hotel.”
 

“No, she’s not.  We’ve tried calling her.  She’s not answering her phone and she hasn’t picked up any of her messages.”
 

There was silence in the room.  Galina Popova wouldn’t maintain eye contact with Billy and began fidgeting nervously in her chair.
 

“Ms. Popova you are trying my patience and wasting my time,” Billy shouted banging his fist loudly on the table yet again.  “If you don’t tell me where my agent is right now, I’m going to press charges against you and have you deported back to the Soviet Union. The decision is yours and you have a minute to make it.”
 

With the threat of deportation, the truth began to flow from Galina Popova lips. “We had a nice dinner where Amanda explained that we were going to sightsee for a few days as part of her cover.  I tried to impress upon her how important it was for me to exit the country immediately. She kept telling me we had to stick to the plan.”
 

“Go on…” Billy advised, encouraged by the dialog.
 

“After dinner she went back to her hotel.  I went home, but I could tell I was being followed.”
 

“You’ve been followed for months, Doctor.”
 

“Yes, it’s true,” Galina Popova acknowledged sheepishly.
 

“So what happened next?”
 

“When I got home, my apartment had been searched.”
 

“Again, Doctor Popova, that’s happened before. What was different now?” Billy asked.
 

She swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper.  “I can’t explain it.  Maybe knowing I was only a few days from freedom, it made me more desperate to escape.”
 

“Doctor, get to the point.”
 

“A friend of mine, a chemist, had given me a drug, which was supposed to make someone agree to the power of suggestion.  I grabbed the drug – a pill and went back to Amanda’s hotel.  It was late, but with the pill, I knew I could convince her to leave immediately.”
 

“Tell me more about this drug - what is its name?” Billy implored.
 

“I don't know its chemical makeup, but it’s Russian; developed about five years ago.  They call it ‘the Instigator’.  When I got to her hotel room, she invited me in.  I slipped it into her drink when she was in the bathroom,” Galina whispered.
 

Billy looked over his shoulder, through the mirror knowing Lee was in the other room.  He knew Lee would be on the phone with the medical staff to start investigating.  “Did Amanda King consume the drink with the pill in it?”
 

“Yes,” she nodded and wringing her hands nervously.  “However, her reaction wasn’t what I expected.  She began to feel faint almost immediately and then she passed out.  I tried to wake her, but she was out cold.  I don’t know why or what happened.  I got scared.  I went through her purse to see if she had any medication.  That’s when I came across her passport.”
 

“So you took it?” Billy asked.
 

“I panicked.  I saw it as my only chance to exit the country,” she answered with a small shrug.  “We’re the same age and we looked enough alike.  I put Amanda on the bed.  I made my hair up like Amanda had hers and took her jacket. I put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign outside her door and slipped out of the hotel without being followed.  I thought it might be my only chance.”
 

“When you left Mrs. King, she was unconscious?”  Billy asked.
 

“Yes...” she choked out.
 

“And you left her not knowing what the drug you gave her was doing to her…” Billy remarked in disbelief.
 

This time the woman only nodded, tears streaming down her face, clearly ashamed of her actions.
 

“Wait here, Ms. Popova…” Billy insisted and he left the interrogation cell.  As he suspected, Lee was on the phone.
 

“Why was the use of ‘the Instigator’ curtailed by the Soviet’s?” Lee asked the person on the line.  “Because its side effects varied greatly, sometimes it worked other times it caused amnesia… OK, what about fainting?  Really?  It’s been known to knock someone out up to 72 hours.  What if someone had consumed alcohol? In some instances it caused respiratory arrest… Oh my gosh!  I need a full list of potential side effects ASAP.  Yes, fax it to the Q Bureau immediately.”
 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Billy remarked after Lee hung up the phone.
 

“No, it doesn’t,” Lee admitted nervously, running his hand through his hair.  “Amanda could be lying in the hotel room passed out or dead.  The drug was so bad, even the Soviet’s curtailed its use.  We won’t know until we get someone in there.”
 

Billy nodded in agreement.  “We’ll try to get an agent over there to check on her.  We don’t have anyone in Kiev, but I’ll see who’s available.  Maybe someone in Minsk or Moscow can check on her, but that could take hours…”
 

“By that time I can be in Kiev myself.  I want to be on the next flight.”
 

“Go!” Billy consented.
 

With nothing else to be said, Lee Stetson raced out of the room anxious and upset, wondering and worrying if his wife and partner were alive or… dead.
 
 

End Part Two
 
 
 

Go to:  Part Three
 

 
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