Lucy, Robyn, Sandra, and I spent the rest of our time in the hotel getting packed, and ready for the trip to see Amy. We'd be leaving all our luggage, except for a single small overnight type bag each, in the hotel. The next morning, the luggage would be sent to the airport in time for our departure; all of our purchases would be carefully packaged up and shipped to us. The press, of course, would notice all the activity, but we'd already be gone to parts unknown.
At the appointed time, the four of us left the rooms, and took the elevator down a couple of floors. There, the maintenance people opened up the freight elevator for us, and took us down to the basement. There, each of us was hidden in a laundry cart, and wheeled onto a large delivery van from their linen supplier. The van would take the regular route to the linen service, but make a small detour a few blocks before it got there, where one of the FBI agents would be waiting to take us to yet another location to meet Amy, who would actually take us back to her apartment. While all this was happening, the remaining hotel staff and assorted agents would be doing everything they could to distract and confuse whatever media types they ran across. All along the way, we thanked everyone that helped us; their uniform response was that it was their pleasure to help us out, and thanking US.
The whole thing went off without a hitch. A couple of newspaper people followed the van for a little while, but when it became 'obvious' that it was just taking the regular route, they gave up and went back to the hotel. One of the TV people stumbled across us, but was quickly left behind by the expert counter-surveillance training the FBI people had. We were all by ourselves when the agent delivered us to Amy. All of us thanked him, and he just smiled, saying that it was worth it to put one over on the 'newsies'.
Amy did a few tricks of her own, taking us to her apartment, just to make sure nobody was with us. The place she finally took us to was a small cluster of a few duplex apartments of obviously varying sizes.
I think all four of us were surprised when she pulled up in front of one of the larger units, saying "Well, here we are – home!" She led us inside, and showed us where we could put our bags, before leading us into the living room – a rather sizeable one, with a fireplace in one corner. Lucy asked her about it, and Amy laughed, telling us that the owners had given her a break on the rent, figuring that having an FBI agent on the premises would reduce the amount of trouble from the other tenants. She grinned when she told us "They told me straight out: having a babe with a badge and a gun was bound to do*something* positive for the place. The only problem we ever had was with a guy that was living in one of the other apartments when I moved in. He found out fast enough that I was an FBI agent, and that didn't seem to bother him too much. But when he saw the weird hours I have to keep sometimes, I think he figured there was too much chance of getting caught at whatever he was up to, and he moved out. The people that took his place are a younger couple with the*cutest* baby. All my neighbors kind of watch out for each other, and they actually LIKE me having such weird hours – they figure it keeps the burglars and such away, not knowing when I'll be here and when I won't."
Robyn asked "Won't having all of us here cause you any problems?"
Amy told her "No, it won't. Actually they've learned what I do for the Bureau, and the news of the last couple of days let them know what was up when I told a couple of them that I was going to let some people 'hide out' with me tonight. They already know who you are, and they think I'm just being a good agent by keeping you here, away from the press. They positively think it's great – kind of like spy stuff, only not dangerous. Just don't be surprised if there are more than a couple of window drapes pulled back when you leave tomorrow – they won't be able to resist looking at who I've been hiding out. In the mean time, they won't bother anyone – they think this is 'business' for me, and they don't want to interfere."
When Sandra asked, Amy was happy to give us a tour of the place – a large living room that we'd already been in, a dining area, the modern well-equipped kitchen, a small laundry area, a positively HUGE bedroom, and adjoining large bathroom with spa tub. It was an apartment solely by virtue of sharing a kitchen wall with the apartment next door, a smaller version of the one we were in, according to Amy. We also met her cat, J. Edgar, who deigned to sniff at us before going back to sleep. Sad to say for the cat, there was a noticeable resemblance.
She asked if we wanted anything to drink, and I asked if she had any beer. She nodded, and Lucy said that it sounded good to her, too.
Robyn and Sandra expressed an interest, and when I nodded my approval to Amy, got one to share.
We headed into Amy's living room, where Lucy and I sat at opposite ends of the couch while Robyn and Sandra found places on the fireplace hearth. When Amy came in, she got surprisingly shy on us, and Lucy had to physically move her over to sit on my lap. When all I did was put my arm around her, she visibly relaxed. The five of us sat around talking for a good hour – mostly it was me, Lucy, and Amy talking, but Robyn and Sandra joined in occasionally, too. Finally, it was Robyn that dared to ask "Amy? We've been here over an hour, now, and you still haven't kissed any of us. Don't you still like us?"
Amy turned to look at Lucy, then me. I just told her "She's right. It *has* been over an hour. When you sat down, you acted like you were afraid I was going to suck your brains out through your ears or something. What's up?"
She hesitated a few moments, then admitted "The other day, after I was with you in your room, one of the other agents said something to me about what good friends we'd become. It came so close after what we'd done that it made me kind of jumpy; I still haven't shaken it, really."
"Didn't Tom Gallery say something to you even before that?" I asked.
Amy nodded, and said "Yeah, he told me that I looked like I'd had a pleasant day off. I knew HE knew, but he's Tom, and I know him pretty good. This other guy, he was somebody that's only been with us about six months, and I still wasn't sure about him."
"Is there any reason to believe that he meant anything by it? I mean, was he smirking or anything? Did he say it like he knew what you'd done? Or was it just a casual observation, like 'the sun is out today'?"
She thought back on it a bit, and finally admitted "No, it sounded just like a passing comment, like you said. He wasn't smiling or leering or anything like that."
"Then you've been nervous with us this evening just because of a passing comment by someone you don't think you know well enough; a comment that probably just came a little too soon after you'd enjoyed some pleasant time with us."
She finally grinned at me, and admitted "Yeah, something like that.
Okay, so maybe I'm just having a relapse or something, okay?"
Here, Lucy chipped in by saying "Well, Doctor Dan, if the patient is having a relapse, then the only solution is another treatment, don't you think?"
"Indeed it is, Nurse Lucy. Nurse Robyn and Nurse Sandra, prepare the patient, if you would!"
Robyn and Sandra both grinned as they got up and came over to where Amy was still sitting on my lap. First Sandra, then Robyn prepared her by giving her a kiss – full on the lips, and as inviting as they could make it. When they were done, I said "Nurse Lucy, I do believe the patient is beginning to respond. The next stage of the treatment, if you please."