Across town, Melanie was staring at the card in her hand and wondered if she would have the courage to make the call. For some reason her heart was pounding and her palms were beginning to sweat. It was one thing feeling confident while she was leaning against Don's firm warm body, especially when that body was also holding a .45 caliber pistol, it was quite another standing in the bright sunshine all alone.
Her physiological response to Wyatt was completely illogical, and she had to force herself to ignore the danger signals her body was sending. Taking her cell phone from her purse, Melanie forced her trembling fingers to press the buttons that corresponded to the numbers written on Wyatt's business card. For a split second, she half-hoped he wouldn't answer. That second ended the moment she heard his voice say "Gaynes here".
"Wyatt? It's Melanie."
"Mel! What a nice surprise!"
Yes, I suppose you would think that.
"It really was nice to see you ag
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
The obituary that appeared in the Abbeyville Newspress reported that the brother of Jack Gaynes, Wyatt William Gaynes, was killed in an accidental fire at his downtown stationery store.Even after his supposed death, Jack received top billing, and Wyatt's name was mentioned second. Jack led the memorial service which was short and sparsely attended. Brenda chose to stay home.James O'Brien turned over all of his financial statements to the FEC, and after paying several thousands in fines, was completely exonerated. He re-introduced the bill to ban the toxic dye, which pasted unanimously, and his continued work on environmental issues further helped his political career.James was offered the choice of running for Governor or U.S. Senate, but Katie made it quite clear that she neither wanted to move to Washington, nor have a part-time long distance husband. Eighteen months later, she and her family moved into the Governor's mansion in St. Paul.Charles Hau
Back at U.N.C.L.E. headquarters, Don was able to find Melanie a blouse from the undercover agent's wardrobe. She changed her top and waited, alone, as Don took Wyatt into the interrogation room. Whenever the front door opened, she half expected to see Stuart walk in, then she sadly remembered that he wasn't going to be walking into any room ever again. She hoped that someone from the agency would contact his sister and brothers and that they would tell them that he died saving her life and omit the part about him being the one who had put that life, and others, in jeopardy in the first place.Melanie was exhausted. Even though it was just past nine, she felt her eyes close. Just as she began to doze off, Don entered the room. In spite of what they had shared on the boat, Melanie couldn't read anything in his expression. She had no doubt that he was well trained in concealing his emotions, even from himself."What's going to happen to Wyatt?" Melanie asked
When Melanie saw Don's face, it was all she could do not to jump straight into his arms. Instead, she calmly took hold of his outstretched hand, climbed out of the sub and onto the deck of the speedboat."How did you find us?"She said, once she was safely on his boat."I followed the signal from your communicator pen. Once I saw the sub surface, I hit the gas, so to speak.""Just like my knight in shining armor on the white horse I dreamed about, only your white horse is a white speed boat.""Horses don't do that well on a lake, don't cha know," Don laughed. "I'd love to hear the rest of that dream, Mel, but right now I have a big fish to pull out of that little submarine."Don reached into the hatch for Wyatt's hand, but Wyatt didn't move."I'm not going anywhere with you, Mr. U.N.C.L.E. agent," Wyatt said."That's fine with me. I'm more than happy to leave you here to wait for your friends to catch up with you."Don p
Five nautical miles from where Melanie and Wyatt were submerged, emergency sensors at U.N.C.L.E. headquarters were tracking their route. The moment he had received the signal from Stuart's communicator pen, Don immediately called his team to inform them that "Sunday in the park" with their families was cancelled.Alarms were going off in every corner of U.N.C.L.E. headquarters. Every agent within a twenty mile radius had responded to the emergency call. Not a single one complained about having to cut short their one day off. The U.N.C.L.E. network was stronger than any other ties. Nothing, not family, not friends, not even the birth of a child, was more important than the life of a fellow agent. They all knew that if any one of them were in a similar situation, every other agent would do the same for them.No matter his suspicions, if Stuart was in trouble, Don was going to do whatever was necessary to come to his assistance. As soon as he received the signal from Stua
Wyatt, took hold of Melanie's hand and the two started moving toward the rear exit. With their backs turned they didn't see one of the wounded T.H.R.U.S.H. agents lift his arm off the floor, pick up a gun and aim it directly at Melanie's back.With no time to warn her, Stuart jumped in-between the bullet and its intended target. Wyatt pulled out his weapon and got off one more shot, ending the threat of the wounded assailant right after the bullet entered Stuart's solar plexus."Stuart, NO!"Melanie screamed and ran to where Stuart had fallen. His shirt was already covered with a deep red stain that was growing larger by the second. Knowing he didn't have more than a few moments of life, Stuart reached into his shirt pocket and handed Melanie his communicator pen."It's working now," he coughed slightly. "Call Don. And tell him I'm sorry."Melanie took the pen from Stuart. Her tears streamed down her face, landing on Stuart's lifeless body. W
Melanie entered her birthday code into the touch pad on the side of the door leading to the Wyatt's base of operations. She cautiously removed her heels, so her footsteps wouldn't make any sound just in case he wasn't alone. She found him in the control room, his back toward her. He was talking on the phone and didn't hear her enter. Once she noticed that he was alone, she began to run toward him. Startled, Wyatt grabbed his gun, but when he saw who it was, put it back in his holster and put his finger to his lips in a motion to signal her to be quiet, then motioned that he'd be off the phone in a second."Mel? What on earth are you doing here?" he asked when the call ended. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again after what you said at the brunch. I guess I was right about us.""Wyatt, listen to me!" Melanie yelled, "This has nothing to do with us, or not us. DAMMIT, Wyatt there is no us!"Ignoring her, Wyatt moved to pick up the phone."Mel, as much as I
Melanie said her final good-byes to the remaining classmates and returned to her room. She was relieved that Wyatt had left before her. As far as she was concerned, her last good-bye to Wyatt was definitely her last and final good-bye.Her date with Don wasn't for another few hours, so Melanie decided that now would be a good time to catch up on some much needed rest. This time, she made certain that both the safety bolt and the chain link latch were secure.With so much on her mind, Melanie didn't think she would be able to sleep, but she was out the moment her head hit the pillow. Her dreams were a mixture of Wyatt back in high school, Wyatt's hand holding a gun to her face, Wyatt turning into a fire breathing dragon, and then Don riding in on a white horse to slay the dragon and rescue the maiden in distress. She woke up just as the dream had them riding off into the sunset. She laughed aloud at the way her mind put her into so many scenes she had read in scripts, b
The last few members of the class of '72 said their good-byes, exchanged e-mail addresses and made promises to keep in touch that none of them intended to keep. The pleasantries were as phony and the promises as empty as the end-of-high-school greetings each had scrawled to one another over their yearbook photographs thirty years ago.Everyone had been so very happy to see Stuart at the reunion. No one seemed to remember that they never signed his yearbook, or question why he hadn't graduated with the rest of the class. Those that did were too polite to ask, and Stuart wasn't about to satisfy their curiosity, not now, not ever. It was enough that he had returned to his hometown with a mission to finish. A mission that had begun long before he joined U.N.C.L.E.Stuart got into his car and waited until he saw Wyatt pull out of the parking lot before starting the engine. Keeping at a safe distance, he followed the black Mercedes as it proceeded through the streets of Abbe
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