Billy’s Case Files
by Ermintrude
See part one for disclaimers
Part 18
After Burn Out April 8, 1985
Billy returned to his desk after debriefing Scarecrow and Mrs. King following their return from the Mill Creek reservoir. Travis Wayne had been a great help, and Billy planned to get him a certificate of thanks for his help in nailing Brackin. He mused for a few minutes.
'This was a hard one for Amanda. She was obviously hurt by Lee's actions—yet she stuck by him and defended him to me—she even did as much of his work as she could manage to try to cover for him. I could see my remarks about Lee's 'downslide' hurt her as well.' He sighed. 'It's all part of the job—playing the game—playing the cover. Lee admitted she saw through his ruse after he followed her. I should have figured on that. She's so tuned in to the man. I wonder if he realizes it?'
Billy shuffled some papers as he thought some more. 'She really came through on this one. Allowing Lee to shoot her and then playing dead. That's a level of trust few partnerships ever achieve. She's closer to the man than I think anyone has ever been in his life. And all of that after he treated her so shabbily. He admitted he hit her, and I could see it's gnawing at him, big time. Scarecrow may be ruthless, and kill when necessary, but he also would never deliberately hurt a woman unless she was threatening someone he was protecting or cared about. The fact that he hit Amanda—even though he was playing his cover—that’s something he won't ever forget—or possibly forgive himself for. She has already forgiven him—I know it.'
'Now will she forgive me?' He rubbed his tired eyes. 'She's still an innocent in so many ways—that’s why it's so hard to put her through all this. Now, I'm feeling guilty. And I'm the one who gives the lectures about objectivity. Maybe I can get her a commendation for her actions. She certainly deserves at least that. And maybe it will help make it up to her. And, be honest with yourself Melrose, help assuage my guilt as well.'
After Murder Between Friends May 8, 1985
Billy sat at his desk reviewing the revised budget allocations for his field unit. Yes, a few dollars from here, a few from there and he and Lee managed to get Amanda King rehired with a nice raise. Billy was amazed at how Amanda managed on her previous salary. He didn’t blame her for going to work for Byron Jordan’s security firm. The Agency couldn’t match that salary. But they sure had gotten creative in order to give her a nice raise.
When Lee was on his burn out assignment only Amanda wasn’t willing to give up on him. That nearly got her killed, but once again she managed to be where she was needed and they solved the case. Again. Billy was glad he had pushed for her to get the commendation. It looked good in her file. Now if only Billy could get Mrs. King hired full-time as a field agent, he would be really happy.
Maybe he could slip in some training here and there. Leatherneck was a good teacher. Maybe a little lock-picking, a little shooting on the range. Amanda hated guns, but she really should have some of the basic skills.
Then there was the growing awareness in the intelligence community of her link with Scarecrow. A few weeks ago, Gordon Redding had used a double of Amanda to kill two agents and almost got Scarecrow and Amanda killed as well. Seeing Amanda’s double lying dead had been quite a shock. But she was acknowledged as Scarecrow’s partner, so she was a target as well as a way to get to Lee. She needed more training and Billy was going to see she got it—officially or otherwise.
Yuri Valov had used her to connect with Lee on the Krushchenko case; and Alan Squires—The Artful Dodger—also used Amanda to get to Scarecrow and the Agency. Yes, she needed to be able to spot those contacts. Because sooner or later she might be used as leverage to get Scarecrow to do something he shouldn’t. Well, she had already—remembering the Rostov case—but that was an accident. The next time it could be deliberate and not end as well. So for everyone’s sakes she needed agent training.
Scarecrow was certainly mentoring her, and she learned quickly. Scarecrow’s protégé was one of the more polite phrases used in the gossip circles. Scarecrow’s pet, Scarecrow’s handler or Scarecrow’s trainer were far less complimentary to the both of them.
But the rumors coming in from the other agencies and overseas were most telling. Scarecrow and his amazing partner—unbeatable—they always get the job done. Of course outside gossip always had Mrs. King as a full agent. If they only knew…
Well, Billy’s job was to keep the unit running smoothly and all the agents—and civilian auxiliaries —happy, healthy and doing their jobs well. Which meant getting more formal training for Amanda King—however he could accomplish that. Maybe another try at Station One? This time without Scarecrow or a mole. Could he get her to audit some freshman agent training classes? Billy would have to sound Beaman out. But one way or another, Mrs. King would get more training.
Vigilante Mothers May 13, 1985
Billy sat at his desk, reviewing the strategy for recovering the C-12 canister. Once again Mrs. King’s suburban life provided them with an instant in to a difficult case. And that meeting in his office…
“We could go to dinner. You don’t have to move down the street.” Was how Amanda had responded to Lee’s query about renting a house in her neighborhood. What a gaffe! He knew she had feelings for the man—that was obvious to anyone who spent more than 10 minutes in their company. But now she saw that there was a possibility that he might have feelings for her. And he just dismissed her comment and responded he needed to get close to Dr. Leonard Fletcher. He didn’t blow up—he didn’t protest—he didn’t even acknowledge her statement. He just replied with his real reason for moving in. That was more telling than her comment. He accepts her feelings, and he is comfortable with them. Good for you, Amanda! There may be hope there yet!
Billy thought back to the Connie Beth case—Scarecrow’s and Mrs. King’s first official case together. They had moved into the suburbs together that time, too. But then Lee had protested and railed and finally Billy had to make it an order—work with Mrs. King because one of them should be familiar with the suburbs and how life goes there. And they managed to find the smuggled weapons, close down the pipeline and find Betty Bodine’s killer. Of course there had been arguments and snags—and Amanda had been apprehensive about the late nights alone with Scarecrow. But they worked it out by themselves, and they had stayed partnered ever since.
This time, the idea to move into the suburbs was Lee’s alone. He knew Dr.Fletcher lived a few streets from Amanda, and also that there was a house for rent at the end of her street. Funny how he’s so well-informed about her immediate neighborhood. I know he drops by her place fairly often—maybe more often than I know. And despite his denials, he listens to her when she talks about her family and her neighborhood. Now he’ll get another big dose of suburban life. Billy chuckled inwardly. He doesn’t know what he’s in for. Yard work, kaffe klatches, kids running around everywhere. It should be quite a culture shock for our swinging bachelor. But Amanda will be there, and she’ll help him over the rough spots. They’ll solve the case—I have confidence in those two. There never was a more unlikely partnership—but it works and they have a great solve rate. Well worth the ‘growing pains’ both of them have been through. They’re finally hitting their stride—and I expect great things from them as time goes on.
June 26, 1985 Between second and third seasons
Billy Melrose was sitting in Larry Crawford’s chair in the Q Bureau. Mrs. Marsden had just called to let him know Larry Crawford was coming up.
The door opened, and Crawford entered, put a box in the corner—and straightened. He started to see his boss sitting in his chair.
“Hello Billy. To what do I owe this visit?” He tried for cheerful, but ended up sounding suspicious.
“Crawford, do you remember that little meeting we had at the end of March?”
“Yeah.” Crawford wasn’t going to give Billy anything.
“It’s three months later. So I have tried to get ahold of you for the past two days. And guess what? You’ve been unavailable all that time.”
“I’ve been out of town.” Billy was silent. Crawford continued. “In New York.” Billy stayed silent. Crawford plowed gamefully onward. “I was checking out a few things at the UN.”
“Crawford—we have a New York office—it’s THEIR job to monitor anything that may go down at the UN. Why didn’t you give whatever information you had to them?”
“Because I was following someone from DC—and they ended up at the UN. It’s a DC case—the guy just happened to go to the UN for a few days. So I followed. Simple as that.”
Billy shook his head. “I see you haven’t managed to make much headway cleaning up this place.” He gestured to take in all the piles of files and information that was strewn all over every available surface, and had started taking over the floor.
“It’s better than it was. I got the place cleaned up after we talked—didn’t Ragmop say anything about that? Or does he only report the bad boys and girls?”
“I haven’t heard anything from Ragmop about you lately. I’m just using my eyes.” He looked around the messy office.
“Look—things have gotten a little out of hand, I’ll admit. Maybe I can borrow someone to help with the filing. Some days I could spend half my time filing. But filing doesn’t clear cases. And you want me to clear cases.”
“I want you to do the paperwork AND clear cases.”
“Look, I’ve got a line on a highly placed Russian—KGB guy—he’s working some weird contacts—and I think maybe we might have a leak here. A double agent.”
“What exactly do you have?”
“Nothing I can use as evidence. Yet. I’m working on it. You know these things take time.”
Billy sighed. Why did he think the guy was giving him a snow job? “All right. Follow your leads. But I also expect this place to get cleaned up, too. Spend a weekend here if you need to—but get the place in order. Other people use those files in that vault. Right now, I don’t think there’s much anyone could easily find, do you? And keep me informed about what you’re doing. I expect a briefing sheet on your surveillance—names, places whatever you’ve got. If we do have a double agent, I don’t want to be blindsided by it. I need to know whatever you know. Soon, got it?”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on it.”
Billy stood and made for the door. “I’ll leave you to it then. And I expect that briefing sheet by tomorrow afternoon, got it?”
“Right Billy. You’ll have it by then.”
Billy shut the door of the Q Bureau behind himself. ‘Why don’t I think I’ll get that briefing sheet? Crawford may be on to something—but he’s also hiding something. Probably a girlfriend or something unsavory. Maybe I’ll run a checkup on the man. It’s not time for him—but I do want to know what he’s doing with his time. Now I’m spending my resources shadowing my own people. If he doesn’t shape up—I’ll have to scooch him. I hate doing it—but I need everyone working at full capacity. Not goofing off in New York.’
‘But if I do end up scooching the guy—who will I get to take over the Q Bureau? That’s something I need to think about.’ BiIly went back downstairs to his office.
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.