Chapter 4

         Billy rubbed his temples as he listened to Lee finishing up his report. “So, what you’re telling me is that we have two suspects, one of which we know is armed, running around D.C. with stolen data and I have one agent dead.

         “That pretty much sums it up.”

         Billy grunted and closed his eyes.  He had been right with his earlier suspicions.  This case had definitely gone to hell in a hand basket way too fast.  Opening his eyes he took a deep breath and focused his attention back to the phone. “How’s your leg Scarecrow? Did you at least have the medics look at your wound before they headed off to the hospital with Brady?”

         “Umm…well no.  It’s just a flesh wound, Billy.  I’ve got a temporary bandage on it now, and I promise to have it looked at… once we find these guys. Damn...I really screwed up and underestimated these guys.  I figured there would be one, maybe two men, but I never figured that a computer geek would come in armed just to steal some software.”

         “And you have no clue as to which direction they went after they shot Brady?” Francine asked, leaning forward in her chair.

         “Johnson and Duffy are searching the area on foot now, but they didn’t arrive on the scene in time to see which direction they went.  So, the answer is no, I have no clue.”

         “Well the best we can do…hold on a minute Lee, my other line is ringing.” Billy pushed the hold button and then clicked on his other line. “Melrose.” His eyes grew wide as he listened to Amanda ramble on the other end, and before he could reply that Lee was fine, he caught wind of her abrupt change in topic.  He listened helplessly as he heard one of the suspects ordering her to get off the phone and then the line went dead.  Taking a deep breath, he looked at his assistant who was watching him with extreme curiosity and then took Lee off hold.  “Scarecrow…”

         “It’s about time. The longer I sit here on my hands the longer those goons have to get away.”

         Billy leaned forward in his chair and spoke directly at the speaker. “Scarecrow, relax, we found your guys.”

         “You did…where?”

         “Well I didn’t personally, but they have been located. They’re holding up the Marvelous Marvin’s on the 23rd, just down from K Street…” Billy took a deep breath as he began the next bit, fully prepared for his best agent’s reaction. “…and Lee, there’s something you need to know, the person who just called in the suspects’ whereabouts…”

         “Let me guess…Amanda.”

         Billy could hear the concern in his agent’s voice, and he was surprised the agent wasn’t reacting more strongly.  Then again, he couldn’t see the other man’s face, and chances were good that Lee’s expression said a whole lot more than was being conveyed in his tone. “Yes, Amanda.”

         “Did she sound upset or say if anyone was hurt?”

         Billy shook his head. “She didn’t have time to give me a lot of details, but she didn’t sound too upset. Why?”

         “I know she was taking the boys downtown, so there’s a very good possibility that Phillip and Jamie are with her…”

         Billy smiled slightly as he realized that Lee wasn’t just concerned about Amanda, but about her boys too, and despite the dire circumstances they were currently facing, it warmed his heart a little to know that Scarecrow might not be a confirmed bachelor for long. “She was discovered before I could ask or tell her anything.  She was able to give us the location and even the first names of the suspects.  She said the man named Herbie was in possession of a large pizza box which she was suspicious of, that’s why she called me, rather than the police.”

         “How does she do it?” Francine asked as she stared at her boss. “How does the little housewife always manage to wind up in the middle of an Agency case?  She can’t even stay out of trouble long enough to buy burgers for her sons.”

         “I’ll get Francine started on researching the list of employees the CEO of Strategic Software gave us earlier.  See if we can discover exactly who these guys are.” Billy picked up the piece of paper containing the list and handed it to the blonde.

         “Billy, there’s no guarantee that either one of them actually work for Strategic Software.”

         “I know, but it gives us something to work with, especially since one of them had to have a key card to access the building.” Billy pulled out his desk drawer and removed his copy of this weekend’s active duty roster. “While she’s doing that I’ll assemble a backup team to meet you a block from the Marvin’s.  I don’t want to spook them by having a whole bunch of cars show up.”

         “I suppose we should notify the local authorities.”

         “Might not be a bad idea. Besides they’ll be able to help you enforce some crowd control.” Billy nodded thoughtfully. “We probably want to find a way to keep anyone else from going inside the restaurant.”

         “Make sure they send plain clothes officers. I don’t want a lot of uniforms spooking them into shooting a hostage or two.”

         Billy shook his head in his assistant’s direction. “Thank you, Scarecrow, but I don’t get paid the big bucks for nothing.”

         “Sorry, Billy.  Look I’ll work with Johnson and Duffy, perhaps we can set up position on the corners near the Marvin’s and direct folks away.”

         Billy pulled his address book out of his top drawer and began flipping through it, looking for his contact’s number at the police station downtown. “Scarecrow, once the police show up and or the backup, depending on who gets their first, I want you to go down to the Marvin’s and go in as a customer.  This is your case, so I want you on the inside…”

         “Billy, I can’t go in. I’m still wearing the janitor uniform I used as a cover at Strategic Software, and even if you had someone bring me a change of clothes, there’s too great a risk that they’d recognize me, and the trigger happy goon will definitely decide to start shooting innocent bystanders.”

         “Point taken, Scarecrow.” Billy let out a frustrated sigh. “That probably means that there’s a chance they might recognize Duffy and Johnson, too.  Damn. I really want to keep this in our hands, I don’t want to turn it over to the police. They’re strictly to act as backup to help keep onlookers out of harm’s way.” He glanced over at his assistant as an idea instantly popped into his head. “Francine, I’ll have one of the skeleton crew down in research look over that list,” he nodded towards the paper in her hands. “I want you to head downtown, you can go in instead.”

         “Billy, Francine can’t go in there, she’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

         Francine had been ready to protest the assignment before Lee had interjected, but now she felt like she had something to prove. “I would not stick out.”

         Lee’s laughter came over the line. “Oh yes you would, Francine.  Aside from the fact that you don’t dress like someone who would go into a fast food joint, you hate those places.”

         “Hey, I can dress like a frumpy housewife,” Francine stood up from her chair as if Lee could see her and placed her hands defensively on her hips, “and may I remind you that I am a trained agent, and I can blend into any situation, at any location, just as well as…no, actually, better than half the agents in this place.”

         “Just don’t over do it this time Francine. Not all housewives are frumpy, nor do they all wear curlers, and the ones who do, don’t usually go into a fast food joint wearing them.”

         “Ha, ha, very funny Scarecrow.” Francine relaxed her arms and then stared curiously at the phone. “Just out of curiosity, are we talking about any housewives in particular?”

         “Francine, we’re wasting time.  Go get ready and get down here as fast as you can. I’ll meet you and anyone else from the backup team on the corner of K and 24th. Scarecrow out.”

         Francine glanced up at Billy as the dial tone echoed over the line and shook her head.  She knew that there were a lot of things she could use against her friend, but the one she enjoyed most was teasing him about his partner.  Glancing down at her current designer outfit, then back up at her boss. “I guess I should go visit wardrobe.”

         Billy waved her towards the door.  “Fine, fine, whatever, just do it now and get moving.  We can’t afford to waste anymore time, which means just choose an outfit, don’t spend an hour making sure everything matches.” He watched his assistant nod as she turned to leave and then picked up the phone to dial his buddy downtown.

*****  *****

         Amanda discreetly put a finger up to her lips as her youngest son started to ask her a question, and then turned her attention back on the two men holding them hostage. Fortunately for her, after Herbie had led her out of the back, one of the only available seats left empty now that all the Marvin’s employees were out front, was at the same table as Phillip and Jamie.  She turned her head slightly when the bigger of the two men glanced at her suspiciously.  Glancing out the slightly darkened window, she wondered if any of the few passers-by could see inside.  She didn’t know whose idea it had been to pull the restaurant’s sun shades down over the windows, but between them and the closed sign on the door, no new patrons seemed to be coming inside, which was probably a very good thing.

         Waldo looked away from the brunette and whispered to his brother. “What was she doing back there?”

         Herbie shrugged. “She was on the phone, supposedly with some suppliers. She’s obviously a manager, or something, I wouldn’t worry about it.” He sighed, he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure his brother or himself. “We have bigger things to worry about, like what we're going to do now, Waldo.  Are we just gonna hang out here, in this burger joint, holding these people hostage and hoping that the cops don’t show up or those federal agents don’t find us.  You do realize that they’ve got to be searching the area for us, don’t you?”

         Waldo glared at his brother. “Shut up Herbie! I need time to think because I have no idea what to do.  I didn’t plan any of this.”

         Herbie glanced down at his watch. “You do realize that unless we come up with something soon, we’re never going to make that meeting with your contact.”

         Waldo spun on his brother. “Don’t you think I know that?”  He let out a frustrated groan as he began walking back and forth in front of the double glass doors.

         Phillip leaned over and whispered to his brother. “You know the one named Herbie reminds me more of that dude from those books, than his brother Waldo does.  I think their mom got their names mixed up when they were born.”

         Jamie chuckled silently. “Oh yeah, ‘Where's Waldo’, I love those books.”

         Phillip nodded. “No kidding dorkus. I’ve known you to spend hours with your nose pressed to the pages just trying to find the guy.”

         Jamie narrowed his eyes. “Hours, ha, that’s a good one, lamebrain. I can find Waldo in no time at all. You're just mad ’cause you can never find him.”

         Amanda stared at her sons and whispered between clenched teeth, “Knock it off you two.” she glanced briefly at the two men holding them hostage, making sure that her sons’ banter hadn't been overheard, then, assured that neither man was looking their way, she turned her attention back on her sons. “We’re in enough of a situation as it is without you two starting on each other and making it worse. Now keep quiet.”

         Jamie looked at his brother and then, along with Phillip, nodded.  He then leaned across the table towards his mother, “Mom,” he whispered, “what were you doing in the back?”

         Amanda shook her head. “Not now,” she replied under her breath, barely moving her lips when she noticed that Waldo was once again looking in their direction. Not wanting to make any kind of eye contact with the large man, she quickly looked away from her son and out the window. Catching sight of the back end of a familiar silver corvette parked around the corner, she felt a wave of relief flow through her.  She knew instantly that Lee was okay, and that he was out there, most likely commanding the rescue team, and she knew that everything was going to turn out okay.

*****  *****

         Lee hobbled as best he could with his injured leg to the corner, stopped, nodded briefly at the plain clothes officer working that corner instructing passers-by not to go into Marvin’s and then looked one way, then the other. Not seeing any sign of the familiar red car, he let out a frustrated groan and ran his hand through his hair.  Glancing at his watch, he checked up and down the street one more time and growled as he turned to head back towards Duffy and Johnson. “What the devil is taking her so long?  The cops have been here for twenty minutes and there’s no sign of Francine or the Agency backup.” 

         Duffy took one look at Scarecrow’s face as he approached them, and abruptly looked away.  His partner, on the other hand, wasn't used to dealing the highly excitable agent, and before Duffy could warn him, he had opened his mouth and inserted his foot.

         “If they don’t get here soon, one of us is going to have to go in to Marvin’s or risk losing the suspects and the software.” Johnson glanced at his watch and then back at Lee.

         The vein in Lee's neck began pulsing and as he was about to rip the young agent a new one, he caught sight of Francine rounding the corner, and limped off in her direction.

         Duffy turned towards his partner and shook his head.  “Remind me, later, when this case is over to give you the low down on working with Scarecrow.”

         Johnson looked at Duffy with a very confused face. “I was just telling him like it was.”

         Duffy shook his head. “Rule number one, you never tell Scarecrow anything, especially the obvious.” He then turned to watch the scene that was taking place just a few feet away.

         “What the hell took you so long?” Lee pointed towards his watch as he approached his friend. “Do you realize that any number of things could be going on in that restaurant, and other than knowing that our suspects are in there, holding a bunch of innocent people and one agent…”

         “First off, I had to find a place to park, and the closest I could find, I’ll have you know, was about five blocks that way,” Francine pointed in the direction she had just come, “and secondly, Amanda is not an agent, she just barely qualifies as civilian auxiliary.” She glared at Lee. “But knowing how protective you are of her, I'm surprised you haven't gone in there with guns blazing.”

         “She’s my partner Francine…” Lee gritted his teeth and then, as he took in the blonde's attire for the first time, his expression softened and he did his best to suppress a grin. “What are you wearing?”

         Francine glanced down at her sweatshirt and jeans. “Hey, I'm blending in.”

         Lee choked back a laugh has his gaze fell on her Levi jeans. “Didn’t think you owned anything that didn't have a high profile designer label on it.”

         Francine narrowed her eyes at her co-worker. “Can it Scarecrow.” Turning she started walking towards the other two agents. “So what is the plan? Or have you three just been shooting the breeze waiting for me to show up?”

         Lee followed after her, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg as he increased his speed to keep up with her. “We’ve been discussing our options.”

         Duffy shook his head and let out a short laugh. “Don’t believe a word he’s saying, Desmond. Once the cops showed up to man the corners around Marvin’s, Scarecrow spent the rest of the time hobbling from one end of the block to other, waiting for you to show up.”

         Lee glared at Duffy, then turned his attention back on Francine. “Okay, fine, we haven’t done anything other than twiddle our thumbs.  There wasn’t any real point to putting a plan together, since none of us can go in there, He glanced behind the blonde, searching for the rest of the backup team. “Where’s the Agency backup?”

         Francine waved her hand in the air. “They’re not far behind me.  Billy had some last minute instructions to give them.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly. “You know how he gets, but he told me to head over to make sure that you didn't go in and try and rescue Amanda and everyone else single-handedly.”

         Lee glared at the blonde. “I am a professional, Francine. If I’d wanted to go in on my own, I wouldn’t have agreed to wait for you to arrive. But I know exactly what’s at stake that’s why I told Billy I couldn’t go in, in the first place.  In case you haven’t noticed,” he motioned towards his overalls. “I do stick out just a little so I really didn’t want risk innocent lives just so I could play the hero.” Truthfully, he wasn’t so much worried about the two goons recognizing him, as he was about letting Phillip and Jamie see him.  Although he wanted a relationship with Amanda, he wasn't ready, nor did he think she was ready for him to be introduced to her sons. And even when they were ready for that step, he definitely didn't want to meet them for the first time in the role of an agent; that would let her secret life out of the bag, big time.  He was fortunate that the boys had been too excited to see their dad, to pay too much attention to him that day in the gym when he’d helped save them from Prescott, but he didn’t want to take a chance that they might recognize him now. Turning his attention back on Francine, he handed her one of the little mini-mics his team had been using. “Put this on, and do your best to keep me posted.  I want to know if there are any casualties, and then let me know the minute we can come charging in.”

         Francine took the device and pinned it on the underside of her collar. “I promise to let you know your partner’s condition as soon as I get in there.” She smirked and then turned and began walking in the direction of Marvin’s. “Wish me luck.” She commented over her shoulder as she pulled a few strands of hair out of her ponytail, giving her hair a more ‘harried’ look.

         Lee watched as she turned the corner, and though he had a strong desire to follow her and find out for himself if his partner was all right, he knew that it could jeopardize too many lives if he did that. Instead, he turned towards the other two agents. “Let’s discuss strategy. I want to have a plan ready when the backup arrives,” he glanced at his watch, and then up and down the street, “if they arrive, and I want to be ready to move in the minute Francine gives us the all clear.”

*****  *****

         Amanda’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the blonde woman approaching the front doors and she quickly looked away, hoping that Waldo and Herbie wouldn't catch the look of recognition on her face.  Assured that her game face was safely in place, she glanced back towards the doors and silently groaned at her friend’s attire.  Francine was wearing an oversized red UVA sweatshirt, a pair of Levi’s that were one size too big and a pair of red tennis shoes.  However, what had really made her cringe was the frazzled ponytail tied with an orange scrunchy.  All but that last item could be overlooked, but even Francine had enough fashion sense to know that orange and red clashed. What was she thinking?  When this was over, she was going to have to have a very serious conversation with Francine on what the ‘average’ housewife really wore.  She sighed to herself and shook her head slightly; at least the blonde’s current attire was better than rollers and a head scarf.

         Waldo turned as he heard the door behind him open and glared at the blonde woman who had just entered. “Can’t you read lady, the sign on the door says ‘closed’. Oh well, it’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention,” he said with a smirk as he aimed his gun directly at her chest. “You really should have chosen somewhere else to eat, but since you’re here, you can join the rest of the hungry burger lovers.” He waved his gun in the direction of everyone else seated at the various tables. “There’s an empty seat next to the brunette, take it.”

         “Oh, oh my, you’ve got a gun.” Francine put on a nervous face, and seeing the wild eyes of the big man waving his gun wildly in front of her, she slowly walked over to Amanda’s table. She hoped her little act was convincing and that she hadn’t overdone it. She was trying very hard not to appear too confident, and make either of the two men suspicious. As she sat down in the empty chair next to the brunette, she glanced around and noticed the frightened faces of the various employees and patrons.  Adjusting her purse strap on her shoulder, she pressed gently on the mic she’d hidden under her collar. “No casualities, just a lot of scared people.” She spoke in a barely audible voice as she leaned close to Amanda. “Francine Diamond.”

         Amanda picked up the hint as she noticed the blonde’s gaze glancing down at her purse strap and realized that Francine was talking to the rescue team, and knowing that Lee was out there, probably worrying about her, she smiled slightly and nodded. “Amanda King.”  Then, noticing the fact that the blonde’s face was almost devoid of make-up, she had to stifle a laugh.  She didn’t think she’d ever seen the blonde agent so dressed-down.

         Waldo stormed over to the table. “When I told you to sit down, Blondie,” he aimed his gun directly at the newcomer, “that wasn’t an invitation for you to strike up a conversation.  Now keep your trap shut.” Hearing a little girl behind him start to wail, he spun around and glared at the woman he assumed was the toddler’s mother. “Shut that kid up, Lady.”

         Herbie walked over to his brother and placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Waldo, she’s just scared and you hollering and waving your gun around isn’t making things any less frightening.”

         Waldo took a deep breath and then glared at his brother before turning his attention back to the two women at the table. “You,” he pointed towards Amanda, then turned towards another gentleman wearing a red blazer, “which one of you has a key to lock that front door? I don’t want anyone else coming in.”

         Amanda glanced towards the man she knew was the real manager, and hoped that he did have the key, because she knew that she didn’t.  She also hoped that he didn’t happen to mention the fact that she wasn’t really a member of the staff.  She had been lucky so far, that neither her sons, nor any of the other patrons and Marvin’s staff had mentioned that fact, and prayed that they were all too scared to really notice or were just choosing to keep that little tidbit to themselves. Whatever the reason, she hoped that her luck continued to hold out.

         “I…h..have..have..it.” The brown-haired manager stammered nervously as he stood up slowly and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. 

         “Good, bring it here and let’s lock the front door, then you’re going to show me where the back door is and we’re going to make sure that one’s locked as well.” Waldo watched the nervous manager fumbling with the keys and groaned audibly. “How hard can it be to lock a door?” He reached out and grabbed the keys from the man. “Just show me which key.” 

         “It’s this one.” The frightened manager pointed to the requested key. “Are…are you going to give…give me those back? I’ll get fired if…if I let anything happen to…to them.”

         Waldo locked the door and then, ignoring the other man turned towards his brother. “We’re going to the back, do not let anyone talk or get up, just keep everyone quiet while I’m gone. Do you think you can do that?”

         Herbie nodded as he watched his brother pushing the scared manager towards the back.  He looked around the room at the faces of their hostages and wondered how things had gone so wrong so fast.  He had always been an upstanding citizen. He paid his bills on time, helped old ladies cross the street, fed stray cats that found their way to his fire escape, and most important of all, he never stole.  His eyes fell briefly on the pizza box on the counter and sighed, until now that was. It was bad enough that he had allowed his brother to talk him into stealing the targetting software, but now he had been bullied into holding up a burger joint, of all places.  He had always been the level-headed one of the family, and his brother, although he had a gambling problem, had never used a gun, let alone killed anyone before, at least not to the best of his knowledge.  Noticing his brother returning with the manager, he saw the haunted look on Waldo’s face and began to suspect that maybe this wasn’t exactly new territory for his brother as it was for him.

         “Can I have the keys back, please?” The manager begged the big hulking man.

         Waldo sneered at the dark-haired frightened man. “I don’t really have a need for them, sure.” He threw the keys at the manager as he shoved him back towards the tables. “Now, go sit back down and be quiet.” He then walked back over to where his older brother was manning the door.

         Herbie didn’t like this side of his brother at all and, as he began wondering exactly what else Waldo might be capable of, he started to fear for the safety of all these innocent people.  His thoughts strayed briefly to the memory of the agent they’d left for dead on the sidewalk only half an hour ago and he knew, as he glanced around at all the young children, that he needed to come up with a solution to get his brother as far away from here as possible and soon, before someone else got hurt.  “I think we need to start figuring out how we’re going to get out of this.”

         Waldo glared at his brother. “Don’t you think I know that? Do think I’m not aware of the mess we’re in.” He threw up his hands in the air in frustration and then brought the hand holding the gun back down and waved it towards the counter. “We’ve got a hot computer disk, the feds are looking for us, a terrorist is waiting for something he might never get,” he pointed the gun towards the hostages, “and a room full of people who don’t want to be here any more than we do.”

         Herbie took a deep breath and looked at his brother calmly. “Which is exactly why we need to figure out what our options are.”

         Waldo grunted and turned to glance out the double glass doors. “Our options? You think we have options.” He turned back around and stared at his brother disbelievingly.

         Herbie nodded. “Yes, Waldo, we do. The way I see it, we have two choices.  We can either take the software, slip out the back and try to get away before the feds can find us, or,” he shrugged his shoulders non-committally, “we can stay here, holding all these innocent people hostage, and be sitting ducks.”

         Waldo let out a sigh and looked once at the disk, then at all the scared faces in front of him and then back to his brother. “I don’t know Herbie, all these people have seen our faces and if we go with your first option and slip out the back with the disk, one of these so-called innocent people is going to be on the phone to the cops the minute we’re out the door. I agree with you, we need to get out of here, and the sooner the better, especially if we still want to meet up with Mr. Birol’s man, but we need some sort of insurance policy, something that’ll ensure us safe passage, especially if we run into the feds…or the cops.”

         Herbie could almost hear the wheels turning in his brother’s head and he had a feeling that he knew exactly what type of insurance policy Waldo had in mind.  Closing his eyes briefly, he looked back at his brother and replied, hesitantly, “I suppose we could take one of these folks along as a hostage.”

         Francine saw this as her cue, and knew that if anyone should be their hostage, it was her. Clearing her throat, she slowly stood up. “If I could make a suggestion?”

         Waldo spun around and glared at the blonde. “A suggestion,” he looked the woman up and down and wondered if today was just her laundry day, or if she needed some serious help in the clothing department, “from some grad student with absolutely no fashion sense, sure go ahead.  I can’t wait to hear this.”

         Francine glanced briefly down at her attire.  She knew that it wasn’t the best outfit, but she hadn’t had a lot of time to rummage through the racks back at the Agency, and this had been the first thing she’d found that enabled her to ‘blend in’. So, doing her best to ignore the barb about her lack of fashion sense and avoiding looking at Amanda, who was most assuredly smirking, she looked hesitantly back at Waldo. “Well, I don’t really have any place to be, and most of these people look like they have children to look after or restaurants to run, why don’t you take me as your hostage?”

         Waldo looked at the blonde suspiciously, and then down at the brunette manager sitting beside her.  She was the woman that Herbie had found in the back, and who he could have sworn had been standing at the counter with the two boys now seated in front of her when they had come in.  He had a feeling that if anyone were going to call the cops on them, it would be her.  He glanced back at the blonde and shook his head. “Good suggestion, Blondie, but I think we’ll take her instead.”  He’s eyes focused on the brunette as he moved menacingly towards Amanda, his gun aimed in her direction. “Up, nice and slowly, Mrs. Manager, you’re going to join my brother and me on a little adventure.”

         Amanda watched this man advancing towards her table, with his gun aimed very close to her sons’ heads and slowly rose from her seat.  She briefly smiled at her two boys, hoping to convey to them, without words, that she was going to be okay. Without another moment’s hesitation, she moved around the table and allowed herself to willingly be taken as a hostage.  She knew that Lee was outside somewhere, and that Francine had a way of communicating to him, and that neither the blonde nor her partner was about to let anything bad happen to her.