Checking her rear view mirror to be sure she wasn't being followed, Melanie nearly ran into a parked car as she sped back to the bakery and U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. After showing the salesclerk her badge, she was escorted once again to the rear of the bakery. Minutes later, she was in Don's office, surprised to see Katie sitting there.
"Don was right," both women said in unison.
"Of course I was, ladies. I'm always right."
Melanie couldn't help notice that Don had flashed her a slight grin.
"Katie just returned also," Stuart said. "She said she has something to show us.".
Katie opened her purse and placed a pile of papers on the consol.
"James gave me these finance reports that he got from his so-called best friend. He confessed everything. After Wyatt became James' campaign manager, apparently he started doing a bang-up job of fund raising. At the time, we thought the contributions were coming from the Gaynes' business contacts, and fund-ra
Katie was just finishing putting the last photo of the class of 1972 on the display board when Stuart entered the ballroom."Katie, this place looks fantastic. You really did a wonderful job.""Thanks, Stu. I heard there were about ten more people who checked into the hotel this morning, so that brings the total close to one-hundred and fifty, with guests. I guess high school reunions aren't so old fashioned as everyone seems to think. I'm almost finished and was just on my way home.""Then I'm glad I got here when I did. I need to take you back to headquarters for about an hour to go over the final details of what we're going to be doing tonight.""Now?" Katie said. "It's already four o'clock, Stu. I was going to sit in a hot tub for an hour before this craziness begins, and I'm not talking about your plan, or Wyatt's either which are both pretty crazy."Katie gave the room one last visual inspection, then, reluctantly, followed Stuart to his car.
When Melanie returned to her hotel room, she took a very long bath and an even longer nap. The two-hour time difference was beginning to catch up with her and she knew she wasn't going to be getting much sleep the next 48 hours. In the back of her mind, she was hoping there would be time for her to share some of those hours with Don.Melanie had packed an exquisite black and white Dior gown which accentuated her well-toned curves and created just the right amount of cleavage to be classified as elegant, sensual, and a little bit dangerous. Although she hadn't planned on making a Hollywood style entrance at the banquet, she was now officially on the hunt and wanted to make sure she was well armed.She was fairly certain that Wyatt wouldn't have cared what she was wearing as long as she offered to have him remove it. She also knew that his ego would be a great deal more inflated if he were seen with a classy woman wearing an expensive designer dress and a bit of bling. I
"Let's get the hell out of here."Wyatt whispered into Melanie's ear as they were dancing.She could smell the vodka on his breath and could tell by his slightly wavering stance that a great deal of the liquor served that night in the open bar had been consumed by Wyatt. She moved back a step and lightly brushed a bit of hair from his forehead"Where did you have in mind?""I want to take you back to my place and give you the grand tour," Wyatt said. "I want you, and only you, to see what I've really accomplished over the past twenty years.""Wyatt, you've already showed me your store. It's really nice and all, but I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come up to my hotel room where we could renew old acquaintances."Melanie paused for a moment and waited for Wyatt's reaction. Much to her surprise, it seemed as if he wanted to impress her more with his business than with his sexual prowess."Oh, we'll have plenty of time for that, b
Melanie wasn't worried that Wyatt wouldn't accept her invitation to return to her hotel room as much as she was concerned that she might not be able to fake her desire to spend the entire night with him. Good actors needed to believe the role and the character they were portraying in order to convince their audience. Bad actors never could pull it off. In order for Melanie to succeed in her deception, she knew a small part of her needed to believe it too.She decided to relax and get into the role for an audience of one. Wyatt was driving the car with his left hand on the wheel and his right dangerously close to her upper thigh. She gently removed it and placed it back on the wheel, then put her hand on the exact same position on his thigh."This is only a prelude to the symphony I have in store for us later, Wyatt. For now I think you should keep both hands on the wheel, and your eyes on the road. I wouldn't want to have to explain to the cops what we were going when
Although she hadn't been able to sleep for more than a few hours, Melanie was wide awake ten minutes before the alarm went off. Sneaking into the bedroom, she was relieved to see that Wyatt was still asleep. She dropped the robe on the floor and crawled into the bed. Lying her full naked body against his, she ran her fingers lightly over his chest, and whispered,"Wake up, sleepy-head."Wyatt opened his eyes and looked around the room trying to remember exactly where he was. Seeing Melanie lying next to him, he turned to kiss her, but she backed away."Let's not start something we can't finish, Wyatt. You said you had an important meeting, at seven remember?""Damn, girl. I don't remember anything. That must have been some champagne. What time is it?""Six-thirty. What do you mean you don't remember anything? Wyatt, you were fantastic!" Melanie lied."I was?" Wyatt was struggling to remember the events that hadn't happened. "Of course I was.
Chuck's desperate cries pierced through Melanie's retrospective, bringing her back to their present predicament."Once again, Chuck, we're not going to die. Would you please just shut up already?"Katie was continuing to feel for any cracks in the concrete."Dammit. If only that bastard hadn't taken our cell phones," he yelled."I doubt we'd be able to get any service from within these walls, anyway," Eric added. "We're so screwed. I never should have trusted Wyatt.""Eric, let's face it, Wyatt played us all from the start and we fell for it. We'll deal with him after we get out of here.""IF we get out of here," Charles cried."SHUT UP, CHUCK!" Melanie and Katie yelled in unison."Now I know why you followed us into Wyatt's offices. You two were playing spies, like when we were kids. You always did have quite an overly active imagination back then. No wonder you wanted to be an actress, Mel" Eric shot back."You tell he
As soon as he hung up the phone, Don wanted to call Melanie back and cancel their dinner. He didn't know what he was thinking. That was exactly the point, he wasn't thinking, just acting on his well-tuned instincts. There was something going on inside the agency and for the first time in his career, Don felt totally out of the loop.In all previous missions, when he and Stuart had worked together, Don was always the lead agent. It wasn't that he was more capable, or more experienced than Stuart, it's just that Stuart never asserted himself on any assignment, preferring to be the back-up rather than the point man. Don thought it a bit odd that his partner had volunteered to take charge of Wyatt's arrest, and although busting Wyatt and all of T.H.R.U.S.H. would have resulted in Don receiving huge commendations, if his friend and partner wanted to take some of the glory, Don was more than happy to let him.After the success of the morning's operation all Stu really needed
By the time Melanie arrived at the brunch a good number of reunion guests had already returned to their homes and their twenty-first century lives. Even though it was almost over, she was glad she was able to spend a bit of normal time in Abbeyville with people she knew she'd never see again. Unfortunately, one of those people had also decided to make a final appearance. "I can't believe you would show your face here after what you tried to do to us this morning, Wyatt!"It was all she could do not to slap his face, but that would lead to too many questions that she'd rather not answer."Mel, I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were heading back to Los Angeles," Wyatt said, then in a whisper added, "You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's all. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you.""The hell I do," She shot back. "That's all you've been doing since the day we met back in the sixth grade. After today, I never want to see or hear fro