Billy’s Case Files
by Ermintrude
See part one for disclaimers
Part 26
Wrong Number March 3, 1986
Billy was back in his office while the others had a welcome home celebration for Francine—after he had chewed her out for going undercover without authorization or notification. It sure felt good to have gotten the best of Gregory again. The man’s arrogance galled him. He was familiar and comfortable! Nobody should get familiar or comfortable with the other side.
He had to credit Gregory with a masterful plan. They wanted Towne—and they went to a lot of trouble setting him up. They spent months doing it with the condo and the double, Popovich/Wally Tuttle. Apparently the milk run Abernathy had been scheduled to go on had been compromised. And unluckily for her—Francine had fallen into the trap. ‘For once it wasn’t Amanda who got into trouble—maybe her ‘luck’ is catching and Francine got a dose of it. That’ll teach her to do ‘favors’ without approval. And suddenly Gregory had a whole lot more to trade for. That was his luck, though we would have traded for Abernathy also. As it is, now we have to yank him and put someone new in there. Damn—this is getting to be a bigger pain than we had anticipated.’
‘Still—Amanda was able to prove they were setting Towne up with a double. I’m amazed those two still fight like that. Partners for well over two years and they still can go at it pretty hard—and in front of me—like they didn’t have a care in the world. They haven’t had that big a fight in quite a while—correction—that big a fight that anyone’s witnessed. I guess giving Scarecrow the Q Bureau has bought us all a measure of peace and quiet. But once she proved Towne was genuine and it was a setup—Scarecrow backed down and actually credited her as the agent of record. That’s a big admission on his part. It took him over a year to admit she was his partner—now he’s admitting she’s the equal of any agent.’
‘I think this is the last we’ll see of Gregory. Even those videotapes won’t save him this time. Once he gets out of the Lubyanka—if he ever gets out—he’ll probably end up in Finland or some other ‘glamor’ assignment. He won’t see DC again—at least in any official capacity. It sure feels good after all the defection fiascos to score a big one for our side. Not that it will stop them. They’ll just send someone else, and the game will begin again. That’s what we all signed up for—so we just keep on doing the job.’
The Boy Who Could be King March 10, 1986
Billy played with King Eddie and his band. It was good to get back in the saddle again. He realized he missed playing his sax. But the life of a musician was not one a married man with a family could easily pursue. And he’d been Billy Blue Note only in conjunction with his undercover work at the Agency—and he was long past his field work days. No, he realized it was a fun vacation—but he was an administrator—and a damned good one—and that was where his skills and future lay. That until retirement—which was probably closer than he cared to think about.
He relaxed into the easy give-and-take of the music and studied the crowd. Playing backup allowed him the luxury of observing the audience. You could learn a lot by watching an audience. And one thing he was learning was that Lee Stetson and Amanda King were in love. With each other. Just the way they sat together while they listened to the music spoke volumes. ‘Who do those two think they’re fooling? Probably only themselves.’
‘It’s strange—Scarecrow is my top agent—they’re my top team and yet they’re totally oblivious to what’s right under their noses. Amanda has been in love with the man for a long time—maybe from the start. Stetson has been strongly drawn to her—even when he was still fighting working with her—his protectiveness over her spoke volumes. And the way he allowed her to manage him. He might not have known consciously—but underneath—if he’d truly objected he’d have gotten rid of her right at the start.’
‘But he didn’t. When he committed treason to rescue her—I knew then it was too late. How they managed to develop deep and binding ties in such a short time is beyond me. I guess that’s why people talk about soul mates. I always thought it was malarkey—but look at them. They are the perfect picture of two people in love. Now if he’d only make a move… She is waiting for him to make the move.’ Billy was hit by a revelation. ‘Maybe that’s what happened out in that swamp. He made some sort of a move—and he finally realized there was something between them.’
Billy continued to play. ‘I guess it’s only a matter of time now. Good. Scarecrow needs something a bit more normal and stable in his life, and Amanda King is both. Hopefully they will confide in me so I can help run interference with Symth. I’m not above bending—or even breaking—the rules if it benefits my unit and the Agency as a whole. And those two are my best team—and well worth keeping for the long hall.’
Dead Men Leave No Trails March 31, 1986
Billy returned to his office with a smile on his face, after assigning Scarecrow to the orientation lecture. ‘I shouldn’t enjoy this so much—but it will be good to have the man deal with those hotshot new agents. They’re all done with training and think they know everything. Not unlike someone else around here. Scarecrow is my best agent—half of my best team—and he has over a decade of experience in the field—but sometimes even he has to admit he needs to learn something new.’
‘I know he’ll get Amanda to write the speech for him—and that’s fine with me. That way she’ll be reviewing the material and so she’s getting the information in a back-door manner. If she was in the training program—she’d get it. But she isn’t and she needs this information. So once again—I can manage to get it to her in unorthodox ways. It sure keeps me on my toes.’
‘I do wish I could be there to watch him give the talk. He should have an interesting time with the questions. Jack Sowaski says he always gets at least one he’s never heard before and that it throws him. It will be good for Scarecrow to have to be on his toes. It’s a different situation for him—and he needs change and new things. The man doesn’t operate well if he’s in a rut. Some agents thrive on routine—but not Scarecrow. He’s finally used to and comfortable with his partner—so he needs new things to occupy his mind. Otherwise he’ll find something himself—and I don’t want that.’
After Dead Men Leave No Trails March 31, 1986
Billy read the reports on the Sallee case. ‘We got very lucky on this one. And to think I almost pulled Amanda off Millicent’s murder. She got a lot of good information from that diary—a lot more than our people in crypto could. They were looking for codes—but maybe we need to broaden their scope. The way she used it to make the zones and routes—she was able to pinpoint Sallee’s job within a few blocks in all of DC. That’s amazing detective work.’
‘And we need to broaden our scope in our security operations. The janitorial staff was not checked out because they were privately contracted—and we assumed because they wouldn’t be in the room with the dignitaries—they didn’t need background checks. That changes now. It will mean more work—but after this near-disaster—I think we’ll manage to get the additional funding. Something about almost losing the Vice-President does tend to get the necessary attention.’
‘Poor Francine—she did everything by the book—and more. I can’t fault her work—she’s a consummate professional and always delivers. But it was Amanda who spotted the light bulbs. We’ll have to devise some sort of test for that sort of thing. I’ll get Leatherneck on it—maybe he can come up with something.’
‘At least we have a body—and can definitely say Sallee is dead. That’s the thing with big explosions. What you have left won’t fit in a teaspoon, if you can manage to find it. So how do you decide if the guy is dead? Usually we’re right—but this time—we blew it big time. And for the last two years Sallee has operated with impunity because we thought he was dead. Now he is—and we have the body—so we can finally close the book on him.’
Three Little Spies April 7, 1986
Billy was at his desk making a final check of the arrangements for the task force the Agency was putting into effect. ‘Finding those nuclear detonators is a top priority. I don’t like the idea of making my people work with agents from the other sides—but the President has issued an order—so I have to follow it.’
‘Scarecrow is a great agent—and if anyone can get to the bottom of this he can—but he’s locked horns with Petrovich more than once—and he’ll feel competitive. We don’t need competition on this one—we need cooperation. And Scarecrow isn’t big on cooperation.’
Billy went out of his office and poured himself another cup of coffee. He surveyed the people in the bullpen, mentally cataloguing their skills and abilities. Once he was back at his desk—he resumed his thoughts.
‘I need someone with the man who will help keep him on track and calm.’ He shook his head. ‘Why do I even worry about it?—I’ll send Amanda. The way she can manage him is amazing. And she’s a natural peacemaker. I hope she’s up for this assignment—because it’s an international disaster if they fail.’ He sighed. ‘I’m putting a lot on her shoulders. Maintaining world peace, and making sure a nuclear war doesn’t break out. We know Pakistan has been trying to get the bomb—maybe for decades—but we had no idea they were at the stage where they could use detonators. Or maybe they’re just taking advantage of the situation and salting them away for the future. We need to get a few more people in that area of the world to nose about. I’ll make a note to check who has good contacts there—because this blindsided us—and we’re not supposed to be blindsided –ever.’
‘Whatever it is—we don’t need this. India is sure to want to get in on the game if we don’t work quickly. So we go with what we have—three Agents—one from Russia, one from China and Scarecrow. And now Amanda—if anyone can manage those people—it’s her. Thank God we have someone like her we can use. This might be her most important assignment yet.’
After Three Little Spies April 7, 1986
Billy was taking extra care with the report on the Food for Flight case. He knew this report was going to be reviewed at the highest level—the president himself. He made special care that the summaries from his people were as professional and dispassionate as possible. He included the briefs that Petrovich and Chang had sent. No doubt those had been thoroughly sanitized before being released to him.
But he also made sure that credit was given where it was due. Scarecrow was a great agent—and his part was fairly obvious. That of his partner was less so. Amanda’s skills in managing her partner—her natural peacekeeping skills and her good morale and upbeat nature—all had contributed to keep things running smoothly—keeping the agents from competing or fighting—and allowed the group to work smoothly together and find the detonators. But how do you illustrate that without pointing out the obvious flaws built into this operation? He knew the President had no choice in allowing the Russian and Chinese agents a part in the case. Once he had shared the information about the stolen detonators—he had to allow their participation as a peacekeeping gesture. It was the US’s fault that the detonators had been stolen—so they had to take a hit for that.
Amanda’s presence—and probably also Nadine and Zhin Shan—had helped as well. It was funny—each country had agreed to send only one agent—and an assistant. Zhin Shan was a Colonel in the Chinese military and therefore not an agent—but she was Chang’s superior. That was not the type of ‘assistant’ they had meant. Nadine’s status was less clear—but it was obvious that Amanda King—as a ‘mere’ civilian auxiliary—was the lowest ranked person on the team—and she may have had the greatest influence in solving the case. He could relate how her charity work made her a natural for infiltrating the group and discovering Pam Jentry’s influence and her changes to Randall Skyler’s plans. And she had seen Petrovich plant his bomb—that would have been difficult if that had gone off. It probably would have alerted Jentry that they were being watched—and then the whole case would have been blown.
Yes, Amanda made several concrete contributions to the case. Not to mention saving the Vice-President the week before. Might as well include that as well. And if Billy managed to subtly emphasize her contributions on this case—and maybe hint at the other skills she had—it would only help with Smyth in granting her agent training—despite her failing Station One.
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