Billy’s Case Files part 10
by Ermintrude
See part one for disclaimers
Between First and Second seasons
June 9, 1984
Billy Melrose sat at his desk reviewing expense vouchers. Some of the things his agents tried to slip by as job related.... Francine's designer gowns—well she did wear them to embassy parties—but her regular hair salon appointments—definitely not! Still, he had to give her points for trying.
Then the phone rang. "Melrose here."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Melrose. I trust things are well with you and yours."
"Emily Farnsworth—good to hear from you! To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"I rang Lee up but he's not answering—is he somewhere I can contact him?"
"Sorry, Mrs. Farnsworth, but Lee is out of the country at present—contact zero."
"Oh bad show. I'm in town for a week or so and I had so looked forward to catching up with him. Did he go alone on this assignment?"
"Yes, he usually works solo when out of the country."
"So his ... partner ... is still in D.C?"
Billy chuckled. "What have you heard, Mrs. Farnsworth?"
"Only that Scarecrow has a new partner, and she's quite different to any other agent working there at the Agency."
"Well yes, Mrs. King is certainly different. But she works well with Scarecrow and they have a great solve rate."
"Indeed! Could you arrange for me to meet her? Informally, of course. I'd like to be able to size her up myself and see just what kind of woman is able to keep our Scarecrow in line."
Billy laughed. "You've got that right! You should hear them argue, but they get the job done, and that's what counts. I tell you what; Mrs. King is a civilian auxiliary..."
"She's not a full agent?"
"No, she's not. But she has amazing instincts... She can 'show you around D.C.' Wife of a foreign dignitary sort of thing. I'll have her pick you up at the embassy and you can spend a couple of days 'sightseeing' together. How will that be?"
"That will do just fine Mr. Melrose. I'll expect her at 9am tomorrow morning. I do look forward to meeting this amazing woman. It sounds like she's good for Lee."
"You have no idea, Mrs. Farnsworth."
After Operation Sandstorm June 20, 1984
Billy Melrose rubbed his eyes and tried to chase away his anxiety and weariness. It didn’t help. At least the operation hadn’t been totally blown. And really, it was a total coincidence that Amanda King had managed to walk right into the middle of a delicate exchange.
Unfortunately, things had gotten way too public for Billy’s or Dirk’s taste. Billy had spent time in the director’s office, listening to the man detail the favors he had called in to smooth things over with the ATF and DEA. And to ensure the story the newspapers and TV got was appropriately innocent and didn’t have anything to do with the Agency. ATF and DEA were now officially ‘owed favors’ by the Agency, and in the eternal game of intra-governmental politics, that was not the position the Agency wanted to be in. It was better to be owed, than to owe favors to others. Billy had used his own contacts to work the DC police. Otherwise the fallout might have been worse. As it was, Billy was able to keep Mrs. King employed, something that Dirk had been strongly against ever since the Rostov incident. But Billy thought Dirk wasn’t long for his job, which is why he had yelled so loud and long. Billy had just stoically waited out the tirade, secure in the knowledge that 'this too, shall pass.'
Billy thought back to Lee’s statement, that Amanda could get into trouble just by breathing, if it was possible. He had thought at the time, the man was being unduly harsh on his partner, but maybe Billy needed to revise his opinion. It was totally a coincidence. There was no way Amanda could have known about the Operation. Just a string of bad luck all around. So why did it always happen to Amanda? ‘Now I’m starting to sound like Scarecrow.’ Billy thought.
All’s well that ends well, and there would be no more fallout from the blown operation. It was history, and hopefully everyone could go back to their jobs and forget about it. Give it a month or two, and nobody would have any reason to recall the incident. Ever again.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.