Location: Arlington, DC
 

[I sat down at the table of my suite at the Quality Inn, made sure I was alone and carefully pulled out a small listening device. I turned the power on and listened intently.]

"Is that this year’s binder?" Lee Stetson asked his wife curiously.

"That’s it," Amanda confirmed.

There was the rustling of pages. "There are over 30 people this year. I just don’t get it."

"Well, I think it’s nice that people are still interested in us after all these years," Amanda answered.

"I can’t believe that you were able to take another set of the handouts. Didn’t anyone notice anything?"

[Yeah, I did and I’m sick of one set disappearing every year. At least now I know where it went.]

"No, no one was there," Amanda continued. "There are so many this time that I don’t think anyone’ll notice."

[Hah! That’s what YOU think. I can’t believe that neither of them notices a small listening device in the spine of that binder. Wait! They’re still talking. I hope I didn’t miss anything too important.]

"There’s a lot of stuff here," Lee continued, sound of papers rustling again.

"I know," Amanda agreed. "A lot of hard work went into this."

[You’re not whistling Dixie, sister.]

"Maybe we could crash brunch on Sunday..." Lee mused.

"We can’t. They’ve taken over the entire floor of the Key Bridge Marriott," Amanda pointed out.

"Maybe we could go undercover..." Lee’s voice trailed off.

There was silence for a few minutes. I tapped the listening device a few times carefully, frowning. ‘What the hell...’

There was a knock on the door. "What happened, Kim? You forget your key?"

There was another knock, this one more insistent than the last.

"Okay, okay, I’m coming." I went to the door and threw it open, shocked into silence.

"Miss Frawley?" Lee asked conversationally, leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest. "I have a few questions for you."

"What?" I blurted stupidly. Not my usually witty repartee, I admit. He was the LAST person I’d expected to see.

"Don’t you know that it’s illegal to plant listening devices?" Lee asked, cocking an eyebrow to the equipment sitting on the table. "Can you come with me, please?"

"Hey, wait a second! I get one phone call," I pleaded, trying to think.

"You’re not under arrest," he corrected. "We just need to know where you’re getting your information."

"I have to write a note or something. People are gonna wonder where I am," I stammered desperately.

"We’ll leave a note at the front desk," he agreed, taking me by the elbow and leading me outside. "I don’t think we’ll be too long."

"Okay, okay, don’t rush me," I asked, following along blindly. True to his word we stopped at the front desk and I dashed off a quick note. "I’ll be back in a little while. Tell everyone to have a good time."

Lee glanced at the note, then nodded his approval and led me outside.

‘Well, Robin DID say she’d post bail for me,’ I thought fairly calmly as he led me outside. ‘Besides, it’s not too bad being escorted by a handsome man someplace. I know he’s married, but maybe he’s got a friend. Hmmmm...this has possibilities.’

We got into the car and drove off.

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