Billy’s Case Files
by Ermintrude
See part 1 for disclaimers
Part 19
Third season
After A Lovely Little Affair September 23, 1985
Billy reviewed the reports on the Allan Chamberlain case. Mrs. King handled herself well. Granted, making contact with Chamberlain was a fluke—but she managed to turn it into a useful relationship, and through that the Agency was able to apprehend Franco Necci and was well on the way to breaking up Red February.
He sat back and thought. In the two years since Scarecrow had picked her out of the crowd at that commuter station—Amanda had gone from a naïve sometimes inept helper to a solid reliable partner for his best agent—and half of his best team. Billy had seen the potential from the start—the woman had smarts, courage and amazing instincts. But she had also worked hard herself—to learn as much as possible. And she was finally handling herself well on the solo assignments Billy sent her on. He thought back to her two most spectacular mishaps—the white slavery case and her counterfeiting arrest in Munich. Both had led to bigger things—and all had ended well—but his stomach had not fared well during those cases—they really should not have been cases in the first place.
Still through all of that—kidnappings, poisonings, impersonation and the uneven temper of her volatile partner—she managed to survive and thrive. She was turning into a very good agent. Partly through the mentoring of her partner, but also due to her own considerable grit and determination.
Francine had also displayed similar determination in her early days at the Agency—but Francine was a well-prepared, highly educated, agent trainee. And she was hard as nails. Amanda King was determined—but in a sweet, disarming way. The woman had a core of solid steel—but her cheerful, helpful demeanor masked it well. People often underestimated her—and that was a distinct advantage in this business. Her solid grounding in ‘real life’ also made her a valuable asset to Billy’s unit and the Agency as a whole.
The relationship she had managed to forge with her partner was also a subject of gossip. Some people thought they were lovers. They definitely were not. Billy just knew they were not lovers. For one thing, Mrs. King’s moral code wouldn’t allow it. She felt she needed to be a good example for her boys, and so would conduct herself with propriety. Then there was Scarecrow. He was a playboy—a handsome dashing urbane man-about-town, who liked to play the field. A suburban housewife with two boys, a mother and a mortgage was definitely not his type. But Billy could see that facade was crumbling. He was more solicitous of her, he took her feelings into consideration and he was fiercely protective of her—in every way. Sometimes Billy wondered if the man realized what his actions signaled. All men at the Agency knew Amanda King was off-limits. The few that had ignored the warnings had learned—personally and up-close—just how jealous Lee Stetson was of his partner’s attentions. No wonder people figured they were lovers.
Billy knew Lee had a strong streak of survivor’s guilt, and some of his protectiveness stemmed from that. He had also recruited Amanda into the business—albeit reluctantly. His passing her that package had been meant as nothing more than a fast impromptu mule job. The fact that she had not passed the package to his contact—and had insinuated herself into the man’s career—and life—had been a source of constant annoyance for him from the start. It took nine months before Scarecrow volunteered to use her on an assignment—without prodding or coercion. Billy fondly remembered that day when Lee had suggested she accompany him on a weekend assignment at the Cumberland.
Reading the reports—Billy had surmised it hadn’t been all fun and Scarecrow had probably regretted his suggestion more than once. But they had solved the case and rescued Dr. Tucker—so yet another successful operation was chalked up to the partnership of Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
Now—over a year later, Lee was treating Amanda as something of an equal. He tolerated her rambling better—though she had toned that down somewhat—he respected her hunches and they were an effective team whose skills complimented each others’ shortcomings well. They still had their arguments—Billy suspected those would never go away—it was part and parcel of their dynamic—but they were fewer and less acrimonious. More like clearing the air between them.
Yes, he was very glad he had pushed Amanda King on Lee Stetson. It had been a battle at first, but now he knew Lee was happy to have her as his partner—and he referred to her as his partner. It had taken over a year—but he had finally accepted it. Miracles did still occur. Billy was grateful for that, and sent up another prayer of thanks to whatever guardian angel had sent Mrs. King to that train station that chilly October morning.
We’re Off to See the Wizard September 30, 1985
'So Paul Barnes is in town, and Scarecrow's girlfriends are being killed by Serdeyich. Poor Lee. Hopefully he knows what good friends he has in Francine and Amanda. Not many women would willingly help interview a man's girlfriends. Four black books! I knew the man was a heavy player—but four black books? That has to be some sort of record. He's 35—he can't keep up that pace forever. He has to slow down eventually and have a more normal life. Who am I kidding? This is Scarecrow here. He hasn't had normal since he was 5.'
'I wonder what Amanda's thinking about all of this. She masks her thoughts better nowadays. I know she was dismayed to discover just how many black books Lee had. But she's a trouper and devoted to her partner—so she'll help him in any way she can. And she can also see that Lee is being affected by all of this. We all hoped Serdeyich would fade away—but he's targeting Barnes and Lee. And now Amanda, as well. He couldn’t have possibly known about Amanda before he got to town, so he must be observing us all.'
'All this is bringing back Lee's memories of Dorothy. He still broods about it. And Amanda accessed his files. I'm not supposed to know about it—but I think it's good for their partnership if she is a bit better informed about some of Scarecrow's past cases. And Dorothy and Oz are very important in the chain of events that made Scarecrow what he is today. And maybe—if she understands what happened—she can help him work through it all. She has the best chance—because he certainly won't see the shrinks.'
'Even though this is a tough one—if they can manage to catch Serdeyich—or at least drive him back into the hole he crawled out from—this might do Lee some good—chasing away some of his old ghosts. And he has more than a few. Please do your best, Amanda. Your partner needs you on this one more than ever.'
After We’re Off to See the Wizard September 30, 1985
Billy sat back and read Dr. Pfaff’s report on his session with Scarecrow. ‘Just to have him come in is a miracle. How does that woman do it? I guess I don’t really care—as long as they get results—then I’m happy.’
‘Serdeyich was Tin Man—another mole. Damn—we have so many of those. And Amanda figured it out. It almost got her killed—and Barnes and Scarecrow—but everyone’s alive and Lee wasn’t hallucinating about Dorothy. Just the idea he was bothered by it—that it would be an effective tactic against him—shows he still has deep baggage over Dorothy. He saw Pfaff once—at Amanda’s urging—but I doubt there will be a repeat session.’
‘Hopefully this case has helped the two of them iron out a few things between them. Scarecrow is never forthcoming about his past—but this one made him tell her a few stories and she accessed his files to get a bit more information. That wasn’t quite kosher—but I think maybe I’ll hint she can read a bit more here and there if she’s interested. And I know she’s interested. She’s interested in anything about her partner’s past life—in and out of the Agency.’
‘Now hopefully Paul Barnes will leave the woman alone. I saw him eyeing her up. And Barnes was always in competition with Scarecrow for the ladies. I don’t need another fight on my hands. Because if Barnes decides to romance her—he won’t stop at a mere warning from Scarecrow. If anything that would just encourage him. Maybe I’ll warn Barnes off—make it an order—or better—he’s resigning—but that process can go smoothly or slowly—and I can see to it the wheels are greased if he cooperates. Yeah—I’ll set it up to expedite his retirement and pension with a few perks thrown in—all on the understanding that he leaves Amanda King strictly alone. That should do it. The man wants to get back to normal life—and nowadays Amanda has nothing like a normal life.’ Billy sat back with satisfaction. ‘Have to protect my best team.’
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