Report Number: 00003

Title:  Dreamin' Like Crazy

Agent:  Ashley B. McCall

Contact Address: nostalgic_betty@yahoo.com

Notes:  Too many of these characters are not
mine.  "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" belongs to Shoot the
Moon Productions and Warner Brothers.  "Remember WENN"
and its characters belong to Rupert Holmes and (yuck)
AMC. All characters making cameo appearances from
major sitcoms/movies belong to somebody else! No
enfringement intended. Believe me, I'm not making any
money off of this story or any other story!  This is
just good ole fashion fun! As for the story, it's
mine. So are the orginal characters. They are so
minute I cannot recall them.  But Ashley IS ME! And
thanks to all my friends, who are crazy enough to hang
out with me ~ Lisa, Rita, Susan, and Dream Guy (who
doesn't know about this, SO DO NOT TELL HIM! SHHH!!)
Thanks, Aunt Amanda, for my gift in rambling! Ok ..
that's it! ENJOY!

Classification: G

REPORT:

All of a sudden, Ashley found herself in the middle of
an enormous conference room.  She did not recognize
anyone, but then she noticed a vaguely familiar face –
make that two faces.  The woman wore a white, sequined
blouse with black dress slacks.  She approached Ashley
with opened arms.  “Ashley!”  Ashley stiffened when
she realized Amanda King was not only hugging her but
knew her as well.  “I’m so glad you made it!”  

Ashley looked at her own attire.  It had changed from
jeans and a shirt to a long, royal blue formal and her
locket around her neck.  Surprised, she looked at
Amanda for answers, but the other recognizable face
finally made it through the crowd.  Wide-eyed and
bewildered, Ashley questioned her sanity out loud,
“Lee Stetson?”

Lee answered her question with a half sigh, half
chuckle, “You’ll have to excuse Amanda, Ashley.  She
seems to have forgotten about her mission.”

“Mission?” Amanda and Ashley asked simultaneously.

Lee rolled his eyes.  “Yes, Amanda, mission.  The
reason we are here?” Lee questioned her memory.  

“WHERE are we?” Ashley was finally able to speak. 
“And WHAT are we doing here?”

Lee’s charming smile faded when her recognized a
newcomer to the party, “Oh no.”

“What?” Ashley figured if Lee said “oh no” something
bad was about to happen.

“Nothing” his delightful smile began to return.  “Um,
Amanda,” he held her by the shoulders, “can you fill
in Ashley?”

“Yeah, I got it, Lee.”  Amanda and Ashley watched Lee
approach the strange man (who bore a striking
resemblance to Rollie Pruitt from WENN).  Amanda
abruptly turned around.  “Well,” she sighed and
smiled; “Gosh, it’s good to see you again.”  Ashley
looked off to the side trying to recall when she last
saw Amanda.  NEVER – only on television!  Yep, she had
finally lost it.  She had finally fallen into her
dream world, but it was too weird.  

Ashley faintly smiled and dared to ask one more
question “So, what’s this about a mission?”

“From what I understand, we – Lee, you and I – are
here to retrieve vital information from Mr. Roman
Varsovie.  If we don’t get this information, the U. S.
might be in the midst of a nuclear war!”  *DA DA
DUMMMMMMM* Ashley looked at the symphony orchestra. 
Surely, they didn’t play that intense tune.  Or did
they? *DA DA DUMMMMMMM* She looked up and around. 
There it was again!  But Amanda did not seem to
notice.

Mrs. King (or was she Mrs. Stetson?) pulled Ashley out
of the way of a tangoing couple charging their way. 
“Hey, wasn’t that…”

Before Ashley could finish her question, the blonde,
dancing lady laughed, “Ah ha!  Tony!  Oh goodness!” 
Her partner dipped her and quickly returned her to an
upright position.

“Sorry, Angela, I just get carried away” the man
flashed a dashing smile.  Another turn and they were
headed toward the other side of the room.

Ashley had the stupidest look on her face.  She was
trying to tell herself that it was all a dream.  She
did not know these people.  They weren’t people – not
real people.  They were fictional characters.  “No,
no, no, no, no” she began banging her head with her
fist trying to regain sanity.

“Ashley, are you okay?” she looked to see who the new
voice belonged to.

“Lisa, what are you doing here?” Ashley asked.  Then
she began to think *How do I know this is Lisa?  I
don’t even know what she looks like!  At least she is
a real person. *

Lisa laughed “I’m here for the same reason you’re
here.”

“And that would be…?”  Ashley was very serious.  She
wanted to know what she was doing here (wherever she
was) and why she was meeting all these people.

“To see Lee Stetson, of course.”

There had to be another reason.  Ashley tried to
receive a different answer. “You mean, Bruce
Boxleitner.  Don’t you?”

Lisa looked at her friend curiously, “No, I mean, Lee
Stetson.  Who’s Bruce Boxleitner?” *DA DA
DUMMMMMMMMMM*

Ashley decided that she would seriously hurt the
person playing that tune – that is – if she could find
him.  But wait, Lisa said that she did not know Bruce
Boxleitner!  “You are Lisa from online?  Jax?”

Lisa laughed out loud “Silly!”

She was not helping Ashley at all “Well, do you know
about the mission?”

“What mission?” After Lisa asked the question, she
walked away to talk to some gorgeous hunk of man at
the candlelit table in the dark corner.

*That’s odd.  She didn’t even let me explain* Ashley
turned around to see if she recognized anyone else. 
“AH!” but Lee was standing right in front of her.

“So?” he asked.

“So?”  Ashley wondered what he wanted to know.  She
was the one without any answers.  

“Did Amanda fill you in?  Are you ready for your
assignment?”  He began to usher her around the room.

“I think I am.”  She questioned where that came from. 
It came from her!  *Oh no!  Why did I say that? *  But
she continued, “You will introduce me to Mr. Varsovie,
and I will act prim and proper as always.”  *Where is
all of this information coming from? * she thought to
herself, *Oh, you think too much.  Just go with it. * 
“I’m to gain his trust and hopefully information. 
Right?”

“Right” Lee smiled “You have an amazing memory. 
Almost as good as Amanda’s.  Any questions?”

“Do I have a cover?”  Ashley could get use to this spy
business.

“As a matter of a fact,” Lee began as he took two
champagne flutes from a tray passing by and handed one
to Ashley, “you do.  You are an upcoming star, the
starlet of IFF.”

Ashley unconsciously took a sip from the flute, but
she choked at the taste of Perrier and the unexpected
cover “A star?!”

“A starlet” Lee corrected.

“But IFF is strictly documentaries, I thought.  What
are they doing with a ‘starlet’?”

“Let’s just say that they are expanding their field.” 
His smile grew wider; “It was my idea.”

“Of course.”  One more question was on Ashley’s mind,
“So what’s your and Amanda’s cover?”

“I’m the director.”
`
“As always” Ashley said sarcastically and stomached
one more sip of Perrier.

And with an equally sarcastic laugh, Lee responded
“Amanda did teach you everything she knows.  As for
her cover, she will be your aunt and guardian.”

Ashley was satisfied.  At least two protective spies
with very protective roles would be surrounding her.  

“But I should warn you…”  

Ashley interrupted in panic “A Warning?  Lee, are you
sure I should be on this assignment?”

“Well,” he averted his eyes, “I don’t know if I like
the idea, but Amanda seems to think you are ideal. 
And you know Billy, he’s a sucker for innocence.”

She took a deep breath, “Okay.  So what’s the
warning?”

“Mr. Roman Varsovie is popularly known as a womanizer,
and he usually gets what he wants.”  Lee noticed
Ashley was already feeling extremely uncomfortable. 
He took her glass and placed it on the grand piano
that magically appeared.  He offered his arm, and she
nervously took it.  “Ashley, there’s nothing to worry
about.  Amanda and I will be with you almost every
step of the way.  Trust me.”

“Oh.  The dreaded ‘trust me’ of Lee Stetson” she
muttered under breath.  Without fail, “trust me” meant
“danger ahead” in Amanda King’s case.  Ashley had
watched enough “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” episodes to
know better, but she was going along with it anyway. 
Slightly louder, Ashley concluded, “So that’s why
Amanda isn’t ‘the star of IFF’.”

“What?”

“I’m the so-called ‘bait’ tonight because you would be
jealous of Varsovie if Amanda was in my place –
especially if she fell for one of his lines” Ashley
replied smartly.

“Well,” Lee did not want to admit that Ashley was
right, but she was not completely fair; “You just take
your own advice, young lady.  Don’t you fall for any
of his lines, or I will be very disappointed that I
misjudged your intelligence.”

Ashley jokingly saluted Lee.

“And you aren’t ‘bait’ as you call it.  If anything
happened to you, I’d have Amanda and Billy on my back,
and no master spy could handle that.”

Ashley giggled at the thought of Amanda aggravating
Lee throughout this entire mission.  Apparently,
Amanda had trained Ashley for the Agency.  That
explained many of the earlier events of the evening. 
Ashley just wondered how she got into this mess. *Oh,
be optimistic* she told herself, *I wonder how I
became a part of this intrigue.  Yes, that sounds
better. *  

At that time, Amanda reappeared, “It’s getting late. 
Are we ready?”

Lee straightened his bow tie, “No time like the
present.”

Ashley took one more deep breath, “As ready as I’ll
ever be.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Amanda gave her student another hug.
 “Be careful.  And just keep your mind on that nice,
young man of yours” Amanda pointed to Ashley’s locket.

Ashley furrowed her brow “Young man?  Amanda, you know
that I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Don’t tell me the two of you broke up” Amanda’s face
saddened.

“Who?”

Amanda opened the locket that hung around Ashley’s
neck.  “And he was so handsome too.  I thought you two
would make the perfect couple.”  There was a picture
of Dream Guy in Ashley’s locket.

Ashley was shocked!  “How did that get in there?”

“What happened?  Did he find out that you worked for
the Agency?”  Amanda was full of concern.  She was
ready to stand up for all of Ashley’s rights and his
wrongs.

“No! No, nothing like that.  I’m just confused
tonight.  That’s all.”  Ashley noticed she must have
picked up Amanda’s nervous habit of babbling.  Even a
bigger shock – she was dating Dream Guy!  “Well,”
Ashley closed the locket; “As Lee said, ‘There’s no
time like the present’.”  And with that, she took on a
new determination.

“Ladies” Lee escorted “aunt and niece” to meet a
“promising sponsor” of IFF.  On their way, they passed
the dark corner Lisa and her hunk occupied.  Ashley
could not get a good look at the guy, so she just
stopped and decided to visit - probably much to Lisa’s
disappointment.

“Hey, Lisa!”  Ashley greeted her friend cheerfully. 
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

Lisa blushed at Ashley’s connotation, “Um, of course. 
Ashley, this is Michael Hammond.  Michael, this is my
friend Ashley McCall.”

Michael and Ashley shook hands.  Almost immediately,
Ashley pulled Lisa over to the corner, “Ja-ax, he
looks like JFK, Jr.”  Lisa smiled and blushed again.  
Both women turned around, but Michael was not there.

“We’re going to the beach” Lisa seemed to answer
Ashley’s thought.  “He has a house on the shore.  He
says that it is very secluded.  We should be back
before this party dies, but don’t wait up.”  Lisa took
her sweater and paced toward the exit humming “Under
the Boardwalk”.

Ashley had to catch up to Lee and Amanda.   She could
see them in the distance.  It looked as if they were
talking to Chow Yun Fat, so she decided to walk a
little faster.  

The moment Ashley stepped next to Lee, he introduced
her, “And Mr. Varsovie, this is my newest discovery,
Ashley McCall.”

Mr. Varsovie took Ashley’s hand, slightly bowed, and
kissed it “The pleasure is all mine.”

Mentally, Ashley could see her jaw drop.  *Boy, I
understand now why he gets what he wants. * 

Within an instant, Lee and Amanda were no where to be
found, and Ashley and Mr. Varsovie were sitting at the
table Lisa and Michael had left vacant.  The entire
room seemed cloudy, and the party has died down
somewhat.  Only half of the orchestra remained. 
Ashley guessed that it was about midnight if not
later.  Although Mr. Varsovie was very charming, he
had the personality of a doorknob.  

“Mr. Varsovie,” Ashley began but was interrupted when
Mr. Varsovie placed his hand over hers.

“Please, call me Roman.  My friends call me Rome.”

Ashley faked a smile “Roman”

Once more she was stopped “What’s the matter?  Aren’t
you my friend?”

“Of course, Rome.”  Ashley uncomfortably shifted in
her seat as she watched Roman Varsovie sit back in
satisfaction.  She only wished that Amanda or Lee were
in view.  She knew this was her duty – her patriotic
duty – to save her country, but she would have felt
better if she did not have to be alone with this
slime.  Lee had not taught her to “hit” as of yet. 
Grinning and bearing it, Ashley allowed him to think
he had her where he wanted her. “So, Rome, what are
you doing here in the U. S.?  That is, besides
supporting my first film” she giggled.  Ashley was
ready to gag at her own actions.

“My partner and I are buying this club.  We hope to
make a cabaret-like setting.  It will remain elite –
only opened to the rich, the famous, politicians, and
whatnot.  And stars like you, my dear.”  He began
caressing her hand and kissed it once more.

She lightly cleared her throat “Your partner?  Is he
here tonight?”

Rome continued to hold her hand as he took a quick
glance around the room “Well, he was here.  His name
is Michael Hammond.”

“Michael Hammond?”  Ashley was shocked.  Her friend,
Lisa, had left with him hours ago.

“Yes.  Do you know him?”

“Oh, um” she nervously giggled again “Well, the name
just sounds familiar.  It’s possible that I met him
tonight.  So many people were here, I just can’t
remember.”  And she sealed it with a smile.  “So
you’re a man of politics?”

“Hmmm?”  Rome seemed to awaken from a daze.

“You said that the club would be opened to the famous,
such as politicians?  Do you know many?”

He playfully changed the subject “You are certainly
full of questions tonight.”

Ashley leaned forward “I’m interested in every aspect
of the business.”

“I bet you are.”  Rome raised her palm to his lips;
then, he kissed her wrist.

At that moment, Ashley saw Lee appear from behind a
corner.  She threw him a look of distress.  Lee
quickly moved toward the table like a protective older
brother, but he regained his professional manner
before he approached Mr. Varsovie.  

“Mr. Varsovie!”  He greeted his “sponsor” cheerfully. 
“You won’t believe this!  I’ve been given the
opportunity to show off my new star!  You can see her
at her best tonight!”  Lee practically plucked Ashley
from her seat “Come on, hon. Sing a song for your new
friend.”

As soon as they were far from the table, Ashley
retrieved her arm.  “Hon?”

“Well, I have to keep up my appearance” he was
flipping through a stack of sheet music.

“And a song? Lee, I can’t sing!”

“Shhh.”  He only looked up to hand the music to the
pianist.  “Do you have any information yet?”  He
leered at the slimy Varsovie still sitting at his
table defeated.

She leaned back against the piano.  “Well, he and his
partner, Michael Hammond” she emphasized “are buying
this club.  They want to make it elite, opened to the
famous, like the rich, stars, and politicians.”

For the first time in the conversation Lee looked at
Ashley “Politicians, huh?  Did he give you any names?”

“No.  He changed the subject.”  Lee shifted in
restlessness.  “And about that Michael Hammond.”

“Yeah,” Lee regained interest.

“An old friend of mine, Lisa Adair, left with him
hours ago!  And I’m worried about her, Lee.  They went
to his house on a very secluded beach.  I have no idea
where it is located.”  She took a deep breath and
whined “Lee, isn’t that enough information?”

“It’s a good lead, Ashley” he gave her a pat on the
back; “but it’s not enough information.  As for your
friend, I’ll try to find her for you.  You have no
idea where his house is?”

“No, but Varsovie did say something about setting up
his office.  There might be some info in there.”

“Good, good.  I’ll check that out.”  

The orchestra was finishing its piece, and Ashley
would be next.  “So does this mean I’m still assigned
to the slime ball?”

Lee took one step off stage and turned around “Yes,
you are.  But I’ll have Amanda meet you at the stage
after your number, and she will be with you the rest
of the night.  Just remember, she’s your ‘Aunt
Amanda’.”

With a smug smile, Ashley asked, “So have you and
‘Aunt Amanda’ been smooching behind that corner all
night?”  Lee gave her the evil eye.  “Well,” Ashley
continued, “It’s the only explanation I could come up
with for the lipstick on your collar.”

Lee covered the left side of his collar and smiled
sheepishly.  When he got to the bottom of the stage,
Ashley called to him again.



“Just one more question?”

“Yes?” he was perturbed.

“What song am I singing?” she asked in a loud whisper.

 “Come Rain or Come Shine” A look of revenge flashed
through his eyes,  “And sell it!”

Ashley was dumbfounded and disappointed.   She had to
sing that song to Varsovie.  She mumbled “I also know
Weird Al’s ‘I’m Fat’, but you couldn’t pick that. 
Could you?”  She took the microphone off the stand and
nodded to the pianist to begin.  Suddenly, she was
dressed in an elegant, black dress that accented each
and every curve as she lounged on the grand piano. 
Her auburn hair was curled and rested on her left
shoulder.  She rolled her eyes and began to sing “I’m
gonna love you like nobody’s loves you come rain or
come shine.  High as a mountain and deep as a river
come rain or come shine.  I guess when ya met me it
was just one of those things.  But don’t ever bet me
cause I’m gonna be true if you let me.  Let me. 
You’re gonna love me like nobody’s loved me come rain
or come shine.  Happy together, unhappy together and
won’t it be fine.  Days may be cloudy or sunny.  We’re
in or we’re out of the money.  But I’m with you
always; I’m with you rain or shi-i-i-ine.  Rain or
shine.”

Lee rummaged through every drawer in Varsovie’s
office.  Being in the dark did not help much either.  
He opened the left bottom drawer of the massive oak
desk.  Lee took out all of the contents and sorted
through them.  He felt around the bottom of the
drawer.  Something just struck him as odd.  He knocked
on the lower surface.  It sounded hollow.  It was a
false bottom.  Underneath was a thick file nestled in
the darkness – out of sight to any priers.  “This
could be useful” Lee hid the file under his dinner
jacket.  He continued to search for any information on
Varsovie’s partner. 

He turned around to look through the file cabinets
behind him.  The first drawer would not open.  Neither
would the second drawer.  When the third drawer would
not open, Lee repetitively tried to shake it open.  He
aimlessly looked for the key when a file box caught
his eye.  He crouched in the corner and lifted the
lid.  

“Easy enough.”  One of the files was labeled “Personal
Finances”.  Every invoice was addressed to a Mr.
Michael Hammond.  There it was.  Everything he needed
to know about the house: where it was located, how big
it was, even how much Hammond owed on it.  

“Not so fast!”  A booming voice warned.  Lee froze
only for a second; then, he reached for his gun.  “I
don’t think so, Mr. Stetson.  Slowly place the gun on
the floor and turn around.”

Lee followed instructions completely “Well, well.  Mr.
Pruitt, the last I heard, you were imprisoned as a
Nazi saboteur.  I suppose I can safely assume that you
are a KGB agent now.  Am I right?”  Lee continued to
raise his hands in surrender.  

“Keen observation, Mr. Stetson.  Now,” the heavy man
waved his pistol “give me the files.”  

Lee tossed the files on the desk and curtly grabbed a
letter opener.  He lunged toward his enemy but failed
to make contact when Pruitt shot him in the shoulder. 
Lee grabbed his wound and fell against the wall. 
Before he knew it, Pruitt was standing in front of him
with the barrel of the gun resting between his eyes. 
Lee closed his eyes tight as he heard Pruitt cock the
gun.  He winced in anticipation of pain and perhaps
death.  Then a gun went off.

Lee’s eyes flashed open in time to see Pruitt’s face
and blood protruding from his shoulder “Not another
pure Sumatrian silk suit.”  

Lee caught Pruitt’s slumping body and looked up to
find his savior.  “Sherwood?” he was so stunned that
he dropped the body “What are you doing here?”

“Saving your life apparently.”  The dashing Scott
Sherwood in his sparkling white dinner jacket reached
down to check Pruitt’s pulse.  “Come on, Scarecrow,
help me get him in this chair.

Amanda met Ashley at the bottom of the stage.  “Wow”
Amanda hugged her “niece” “Two encores!  I didn’t know
you could sing!”

“Neither did I,” Ashley chuckled.  They made their way
back to Varsovie’s table were stopped by the same
couple that had charged toward them during the tango
earlier that evening.

“Amanda?  Amanda West?” the lady inquired.  

Amanda stepped back in joyous surprise “Angela
Robinson?!”  

The estatic women embraced.  Ashley and Tony stood
back trying to decipher which “oh”s and “nice to see
you”s belonged to which woman.  When the old friends
separated, Angela asked, “What have you been doing all
these years?”

“Ay oh.  Oh ay.” Tony interrupted.  “What’s goin’ on
here?  Angela, aren’t you gonna introduce us?”

“Oh, Tony.”  Angela put her hand to her head in
forgetfulness.  “Tony, this is an old college friend,
Amanda West.  And, Amanda, this is my fiancé, Tony
Micelli.” 

As they shook hands, Amanda corrected “Amanda King.”

Angela realized her mistake “Oh, forgive me, Amanda. 
So, where’s your husband?”

“Hmm?”  Amanda was confused.  “Oh!  You mean Joe?” 
She looked down and began with her fluid actions. 
“No, I mean.  We’re divorced.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No, no.  Don’t be sorry.  Life’s wonderful” Amanda
was trying to ease her friend’s discomfort.  “Oh!  Let
me introduce you to Ashley McCall.  She’s my, uh,”
Seeing her old friend had surprised Amanda so.

“Her niece” Ashley interjected.  She shook hands with
Angela and Tony, “Nice to meet you.”

~*~

Sherwood pulled the rope taut and tied a difficult
knot securing his nemesis Pruitt to the office chair. 
He stood up straight with a confused look on his face
“De ja vu!”  

Before Scott could put any more thought into it, Lee
asked, “How did you know I was here?”  He gave the
swivel chair Pruitt was tied to a good push.  

Scott watched the chair go around and around.  “I
didn’t.”  As the spinning slowed down, he gave it
another push; “I was following Pruitt.  He’s been
acting strange – even for him.”

“Hmm.”  Lee looked at Pruitt’s unconscious body.  He
pushed the stationary chair around, not once, but
twice.  “I wonder what he wanted in Varsovie’s
office.”

Scott gave the chair a final push as the shaft of
light from under the door grew.  Lee quickly retrieved
his gun and was ready to aim at the unexpected. 

“Scott Sherwood!”  The voice was perturbed.

Scott shielded his eyes from the bright light.  He
tried to make out the petite silhouette, “Rita?”

She moved into the darkness, “You were suppose to meet
me at your car five minutes ago!”

“I’m sorry, Rita.  Things took longer with Pruitt than
expected.”

With crossed arms, Rita observed the disheveled office
and the comatose Rollie Pruitt.  “Well, I’ll forgive
you this time.”

Scott sighed heavily in disappointment, but the sad
puppy face was not working on Rita.  She just rolled
her eyes.

“C’mon, Sherwood.”  Lee grabbed the mysterious file
and Hammond’s files.  “I think Mr. Hammond knows more
than Varsovie.”

Rita and Scott both looked on quizzically “What makes
you say that?”

Lee opened the file he found in Varsovie’s desk and
revealed Michael Hammond’s signature on release forms
for masses of unknown material to Russia.  

“Well, what are you waiting for?”  Scott asked.  Both
men quickly moved toward the door.

“Hey!”  Rita was sprinting after them in her Betty
outfit.  “What about me?”

Lee looked in disbelief.  He did not need a
tag-a-long.

Scott looked at him seriously “We better let her go,
Scarecrow.  Rita’s a tough broad.”

Rita gasped in disgust.  Lee nodded forward,
instructing her to follow.  

As they disappeared down the hall, Rita called out,
“The correct term is young lady, Sherwood!  Young
lady!”

~*~

A modernly decorated living room – simple yet cozy –
was illuminated only by the warm, amber glow coming
from the fireplace.  The muffled voices of two people
were the only sounds heard above the crackling of the
burning wood.  Then there was a clinking of champagne
glasses and an abrupt “Achoo!”

“Bless you” a man chuckled.

Michael Hammond and Lisa Adair were wrapped up in
terry cloth robes, towels, and quilts.  Lisa’s hair
was drenched.

“Thank you” Lisa dabbed her nose with a tissue. 
“Thank you for everything – dinner, the moonlight
stroll, this cold.”

Michael laughed heartily “Well, you shouldn’t have
tripped and resisted my life saving assistance.”

“Michael it was less than two feet of water,” Lisa was
laughing now “I could have stood up by myself.  And it
would have saved both of us from being drenched!”

Michael’s face formed into an uncomfortable grimace
“ACHOO!”

They fell into each other’s arms with uncontrollable
laughter.  Lisa looked deep into his eyes.  In the few
hours they had spent together, Lisa had noticed
Michael’s entire personality soften.

She ran her fingers through his soft, brown hair;
then, they kissed.

~*~


“The Cards?!”  Ashley exclaimed as Tony tried to act
modest “Oh, Philip and Jamie will love to hear about
this!  Won’t they Aunt Amanda?”

“Oh, yes, they will.”

Ashley suddenly remembered Varsovie and looked over to
the corner he had solemnly occupied alone for over
fifteen minutes.  She excused herself from the
conversation.  The last thing she needed was for
Varsovie to get antsy and uncooperative.  

As she made her way to the table, Ashley saw Pruitt
and another unidentified man approach Varsovie.  She
raised a suspicious eye and began to walk slower.  The
men were fluidly explaining something to Varsovie, but
Ashley was out of hearing range and could not hear a
single word.  Suddenly, Pruitt left through the main
entrance, and the mysterious man disappeared into the
crowd.  Before she knew it, Varsovie was directly by
her side.

“It’s about time for that dance you promised me” he
took Ashley in his arms and began dancing without her
consent.

“My aunt just bumped into an old friend of hers”
Ashley tried to explain “I’m sorry it took so long,
Rome.”  She had to get back on his good side.  She
still had to get a lot of information from him.  The
plot had only thickened now that Pruitt was involved.

Varsovie replied coldly “Your aunt will soon be in our
company.”

“Oh?”

“Yes” he tightened his grip around Ashley’s waist “if
she knows what is good for the both of you.”  Ashley
tried to force herself out of his hold.  “I wouldn’t
try that if I were you, darling.”  Varsovie danced
their way to the door where Ashley’s back met the
barrel of Pruitt’s pistol.

They escaped the club unnoticed by anyone.

The enigmatic man approached Amanda from behind.  With
a kind tap on the shoulder, he introduced himself,
“Mrs. King?  I am an employee of Mr. Roman Varsovie. 
He would like for you to join him and your niece for
drinks on the Veranda.”

“Oh.  Okay.  I’ll be there in a few moments.”  She
turned back to her friend to end an amusing story
about her mother and dismiss herself, but she was
interrupted by a gun shoved into her back.

In a weasel-like voice, the man insisted “Mr. Varsovie
is very anxious to discuss your niece’s future with
you.”

Amanda’s entire persona stiffened, but she remained
calm.  “Oh, I, um, I understand.  Angela, Tony, I hope
to see you again.”  She was practically being dragged
away.

“You can count on it!”  Angela called to her.

Amanda smiled warily and her voice cracked “I hope.”

~*~

The front door of Hammond’s magnificent house was
kicked down startling the occupants.

“Hey!”  Michael jumped up from the floor in anger. 
“What’s going on here?!”  Amanda and Ashley were being
forced into the house when he saw Varsovie.  “Rome,
was it necessary to kick down my door?”

Each step Varsovie took resounded with power.  He
completely took notice of his surroundings being
cautious of the suspicious.  Slowly, he pivoted on his
right floor and sauntered over to Hammond, “Michael,
ol’ boy, we’ve been waiting for you to answer the door
for over a minute.”  Varsovie roughly patted Michael’s
face.

The weasel man, known as Bob (Amanda was able to coax
a name out of him), flipped on the light switch while
Pruitt blew out a candle in the hallway.  

“I do hope we did not interrupt something important,”
Varsovie said sarcastically as he studied his
reflection in a mirror.  “We ran into a couple of
problems at the club.”

“Oh really?”  Michael leaned in the doorway of the
living room.

Varsovie looked over Michael’s shoulder and continued
“Yes, Mrs. King, Ms. McCall, and some of their friends
thought they would try to change our plans.”  And that
was when Varsovie noticed Lisa.

In a split second, Ashley, Amanda, and Lisa were tied
together and sitting in the middle of Mr. Hammond’s
living room.  Ashley leaned back in disgust, “Why is
it always the women that are kidnapped?  Do we ever
hear about Lee Stetson taken hostage? Nooooooooo. 
Just his faithful partners.  Honestly, Amanda,
something’s going to have to change.”

Amanda agreed with a smirk and a nod.  Then she
sighed, “But you know, Ashley, Lee always saves the
day.”

Ashley rolled her eyes, “I know.  I know!”  She mocked
in an announcer’s voice “Lee Stetson, Agent Scarecrow,
always saves the day! … But, Amanda, you have to
admit, Lee isn’t as young as he use to be.  And his
timing is off.”

“What makes you say that?”

Ashley squirmed in discomfort, “Because I’m losing the
circulation in my arms.”

                         ~*~
REPORT TO BE CONTINUED