Amanda focused on the feel of Lee’s hand as he led her down the final incline into the tunnel opening.
“What does this run underneath?” she asked him.
“The canal.”
“A tunnel under a canal? I didn’t think you could do that safely.”
“Sure you can,” he replied. “They go under water all the time to make car tunnels. Which is what this used to be, before it was converted over. It was also a sewer culvert at some point, but I’m not sure if that happened before or after the car tunnel.”
That partially explained the tunnel’s cool interior, despite the fact that it was ninety-four degrees outside today. She took a deep breath, reveling in the quiet that surrounded them. “So this has been here a long time.”
“Fifty or sixty years, according to city records. The exact date they stopped vehicular access isn’t clear, but it wasn’t any later than about the 1950s.”
She favored him with a smile. “How do you know so much about odd little places like this?”
He shrugged. While she couldn’t see it in the dim light, she suspected he was also blushing a little. “I ask around. I go look things up. Keeps me busy, when there’s not a whole lot else to do but I need to stay close to the office.”
“Research for the fun of it?” She hadn’t imagined that Lee would be interested in something like that.
“I suppose.” He chuckled softly. “You’d be surprised how many Georgetown students have never heard of this place. I’ll bet they did when it was a car tunnel, but I guess student bodies have short memories.”
“Even though it’s right here?” She was intrigued. “You’d think this would be a great place for them to get into all sorts of mischief.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Are you suggesting we should be getting into mischief?”
She felt her own lips twitch in response. “Isn’t that why you brought us down here?”
“Maybe.” His lips brushed hers. “Maybe I just wanted to share with you.”
They’d slipped away from the office for a late lunch, knowing that it was too pretty a day to risk going anywhere very public, but also knowing they’d be pressed for time. Lee was due in a meeting in an hour, and by the time he was finished, she would be in the middle of the concession booth for the boys’ ball game. She’d somehow managed to pull concession duty for every game this weekend, which meant they likely wouldn’t have any time to themselves again until Monday.
Amanda returned the kiss, snuggling a little closer to him. “Well, thank you for showing it to me. How did you first find out about this place? Were you investigating a case, or looking things up just for fun?”
“Neither, actually,” he replied, and she felt his arms tense slightly. “I was, ah, with another agent, and we —”
“Lee-Lee?”
They froze at the sound of the new voice.
“This,” said Lee in a whisper, “isn’t fair.”
“What, that you brought me to a hideout where you used to meet an old girlfriend?”
Footsteps echoed closer to them. “Oh, my God. It is you!” The speaker was a co-ed who wore a Georgetown sweatshirt not unlike the pink one Amanda often wore to clean the house. She had black hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and a set of equally black eyes that crinkled and snapped with pleasure.
Lee peered for a moment, and Amanda felt his muscles flat-out stiffen. “Pipsqueak? Is that you?”
“Oh,” said the girl, and Amanda realized that she was far too young even for Lee’s former tastes in women. “You didn’t know, did you. I’m at Georgetown now. Who’s this?”
“This is —” he broke off, hesitating. “Um. Amanda King, this is Andrea Devereux.”
“Andie,” said the girl as she held out a hand. “Lee and my dad worked together.”
“Your dad?” Amanda was surprised. “Is he with —” she nearly said the Agency, but then remembered that she was far from the only employee who used the cover story with their families. “— IFF?”
“Well, he’s not anywhere anymore.”
That likely explained why she’d never heard the surname around the office. “Retired?”
Andie shuffled one of her feet. “Um. No.”
“Her father was my partner,” said Lee quietly. He sounded calm, but she could feel waves of anxiety radiating off him. Well, no wonder: aside from one careless comment on the day they’d first met, Lee had never discussed his former partner. “He, ah, he had a heart attack during a night shoot and…” he trailed off.
“Oh,” said Amanda after the silence stretched out longer than it should have. “I’m sorry.”
Andie shrugged. “It’s all right.”
Lee took a sharp breath before continuing the conversation. “Except you were always just a little slip of a thing. How’d you know about this tunnel? Did your dad bring you?”
“No. Like I said, I’m at Georgetown now. Word gets around.”
“You’re already in college?”
“I’m nineteen,” she replied. “That usually comes after eighteen, which comes after seventeen, and that comes after —”
“Sixteen,” finished Lee, although he was starting to relax into the banter. “Yeah, yeah. I know. What brought you down here right now?”
Andie crossed her arms. “I could ask you the same thing. Dad always said you had a way with the ladies.”
“Amanda is my partner.”
“Is that what you’re calling it? Because that kiss sure didn’t look like anything you ever gave —”
“Pipsqueak. Come on, now. Be nice.”
“Oh, don’t call me that.” Andie stuck out her tongue. “I’m staying in a dorm for summer school this year, but the air conditioning went down. I came here to cool off for a little while. But I think it might be better to head over to the pool instead. Call me sometime!” And with that, she was off.
“Well,” said Amanda quietly. Their previous mood had definitely been ruined.
Lee shoved his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels. “Yeah.”
“Why ‘Pipsqueak’?”
“She had a terrible schoolgirl crush on me,” he answered. “Treating her like I might treat a kid sister was a good way to handle it.”
“Does she…” Amanda trailed off. “It sounded like she doesn’t know how her father really died. Does she?”
“You heard me. We told her it was a heart attack on set. She knew about IFF, but not about the Agency.” He glanced at his watch. “Damn it. We need to get going if I’m going to make that meeting on time. This was a pretty lousy idea, anyway, especially since apparently the current students do know about this tunnel.”
“No,” she replied. “It wasn’t a lousy idea. I’m glad you brought me.”
He gave her a sideways look before trudging toward the tunnel entrance. “I didn’t do it to go wandering through verbal minefields. And now that I know this place isn’t as obscure as I’d thought…” he trailed off, shaking his head again, before continuing toward the tunnel entrance.
Catching up with him, Amanda pulled him around into a quick kiss. “I meant it. I am glad. Even if it didn’t end up the way you intended.”
He laughed softly but then offered his hand. She took it as they walked back toward the office.