Billy’s Case Files
By Ermintrude
See part 1 for disclaimers
Part 31
Nightcrawler October 31, 1986
Billy was presiding over the meeting in the conference room. The joint task-force was planning on rounding up one of Addi Birol’s main lieutenants in the morning. He was building another Karbala strike force in DC and they meant to stop him. Again.
Yusuf of the ATAK team was speaking. “We will have people in several places in several guises. Scarecrow’s source—“ the Saudi nodded at Lee, “has told us one of Birol’s lieutenants will be at the airport. So we will be in place tomorrow morning to intercept her. Scarecrow will give the signal, no?”
“Yes. I’ll have Nightcrawler’s intel to pinpoint the lieutenant. Phyliss is her name.”
“Funny how most of Birol’s lieutenants are women.” Francine commented.
“He uses women as they are less suspect. And they can go more places than a man could in your society. It’s the coward’s way to hide behind women.” Yusuf took a puff of his ever-present cigar.
Billy took over. “Everyone has their assignments. We assemble at 0630 tomorrow morning—get into gear and head out at 0700. The mission is set for 0830. Any questions?’ The assembled group were silent. “Right. Dismissed then.”
As the people filed out, Billy spoke quietly to his best team. “Scarecrow—Amanda—wait up a bit.”
They nodded and stayed behind. When the rest had left Billy motioned for them to sit.
“Amanda—I know you’re only a trainee—but I’ve authorized your participation in this sting.” Billy smiled at her.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Billy, she’s done this sort of thing before—it will go down smoothly.” Lee smiled at his partner.
“Yes I know—but it took a bit of wrangling from Beaman to let her out of classes for this week. The planning and coordination have been key—and I especially appreciate your help in that Amanda.”
“Lee works his source—all I did was help put a few things together.” She shrugged off her work.
“Your work has made the planning run all the more smoothly. And I appreciate it. Now you realize you two will be under contact zero. You’ll be in proximity—but you won’t interact at all. For any reason.”
“No sir—I understand. I’m posing as a journalist—waiting to tape a story.”
“That’s right.” Lee replied. “It’s important to set you up as a journalist in case we need the cover of a TV crew. Birol has gone public before and if you’re already established—it will make it easier to use you again if the need arises.”
“Go home you two. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight Billy.” “Goodnight, sir.”
Billy returned to his office to find Edna DiAngelo sitting across from his desk.
“Hello Edna—to what do I owe this visit?” He smiled and greeted the woman from human resources.
“Hello Billy. I know you asked me to keep an eye out on your people—let you know if there’s any unusual requests from any of them or changes in status.”
“Have you got something?” Billy was intrigued.
“Stetson’s requested I refigure his pension totals and early retirement numbers. He also asked me to figure in a two salary hike and dependant breaks—for two dependants specifically.” She looked meaningfully at the section chief.
“I see. Have you given him this information yet?”
“No—it takes a bit of time—I have to contact our pension people and with the change in status—it will take a day or so.”
Billy nodded. “Will you send me a copy also—eyes only?”
Edna nodded. “I can do that. Sounds like someone’s planning on tying the knot—if I read the signs right.”
“And you’re the expert on that, Edna. Thanks—I appreciate the heads up.”
“Anytime—you’re a good boss—you keep tabs on your people and make sure they’re well cared for. Many bosses wouldn’t go the extra mile like that.”
“Happy employees are hard-working employees. We demand so much from our agents that we owe it to them to help them out as much as we can. Thanks again, Edna.”
Mrs. DiAngelo left Billy’s office. Billy sat back in thought. ‘I can hardly believe it—but congratulations Amanda! You’ve managed to get our Scarecrow planning on marriage. And unless I totally misread the signs—which I somehow doubt—you’re about to become Mrs. Scarecrow. What a difference from four years ago after Eric died. From lone wolf—hostile and practically suicidal—to happily and successfully partnered and half of my best team.’
‘But if anyone could do it, Amanda—I put my money on you from the start. He never realized what hit him. You played him like a pro right from the beginning. And he didn’t realize at all what you were doing! That’s the miracle here. We all got a gift from heaven the day you accepted that package from our boy. I’m just glad you have the stubbornness to stick around, Because we’re all a whole lot better off with you around these past three years.’
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The next day—after reading the president’s congratulations to the ATAK team—Billy was sifting through papers on his desk. He came across the bulletin from State about their job openings. Usually he just tossed those things—he wanted his people to stay put—but this time he looked more closely at it. ‘Admin 1—head of their Bureau of Intelligence and Research. It’s a big jump in pay from that of a senior field agent. I’d hate to lose my best team—but married people need safe secure jobs. And normal hours. It’s amazing how Amanda has managed all these years with her boys. Her mother has been a big help—but if they marry she’ll probably move out and the boys will need two reliable parents for them at home in the evenings and on weekends.’
‘If Lee takes it—he’ll be leaving at the top of his career. I wonder if Amanda will follow him? I’ll deal with it when the time comes—if the time comes. These things take months—and he might not want it. Still—I owe it to them to make the gesture. And if they decide to start a family of their own—Amanda’s only got a few years left—so they’ll have to hurry. With this job at State she could stay home with the baby and they would still have a comfortable living.’
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Billy, Lee and Dr. Quidd were in Billy’s office after Amanda had been kidnapped by Birol.
Lee was stressed. “I know exactly what I owe doc—and if I have to I’ll pay it back in my own blood.” He left the office.
Billy spoke while watching his agent cross the bullpen. “He thinks it’s his fault, Quidd.”
“There’s more going on with him than guilt—he’d got an emotional hangup and that’s not good.” The doctor replied.
“For an agent that can be bad. I remember when he didn’t have any emotions at all.”
“Keep him on a tight rein, Melrose.”
“I will. Thank you doctor.” Dr. Quidd left Billy’s office.
Billy sat heavily in his desk chair. ‘Birol played us. He planned on getting Amanda all along. And now he’ll use her as leverage to get Nightcrawler and possibly Scarecrow as well.’
‘She’s still alive—otherwise he’d have no bargaining chip. That’s one good thing. But he’ll try to get her to talk and reveal Nightcrawler’s identity. And that she doesn’t know. On the one hand—that’s good. She can’t spill what she doesn’t know. But he’ll be rough on her—and I wouldn’t want to be in Scarecrow’s place—forced to sit on the sidelines while the woman he loves is in the hands of a ruthless terrorist. But I have to make sure Scarecrow stays put—otherwise he’ll go off half cocked and try a rescue—and if he gets captured or killed—it will be doubly worse. Because where Scarecrow could hold out against most anything Birol could do to him—he’ll fold if Amanda is threatened.’
‘This is my worst nightmare for those two. If they can manage to come out OK after this—alive—relatively unharmed and still together—they’re together for life. Nothing could split them up. But they still have to come through this one—and the outcome is still far from certain. If she dies—that’s the end of Scarecrow. He won’t recover from another blow like this. All I can do is pray and see my people do their best to get Amanda back.’
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Francine was in Billy’s office after her abortive attempt with Scarecrow to get Amanda back. She outlined the plan she and Lee had worked up to try to trade for Amanda.
“Face it Billy. The Libyans are paying top dollar for American hostages. It’ll work.”
Billy was disgusted. He should have anticipated Lee would pull something like this. “All right—I’ll help. Go to Yusuf and brief him on what you have. We’ll run it together and hope to hell it works. Because I don’t have any other plans now. Dismissed. Get out of here.” He waved his assistant out in exasperation.
‘Damn! I knew Scarecrow was still running Nightcrawler—but I had hoped Francine would be responsible enough to let me know if he was planning a hare-brained scheme like last night. Now I have two agents in Birol’s hands. At least the groundwork has been laid. Magda is back in with Birol, and Francine can do the impersonation.’
‘Birol is smart. He won’t execute either Lee or Amanda unless he gets something valuable in return. The money from the Libyans is a start—but he could get so much more for Scarecrow. And with Amanda as leverage—I shudder to think what that man is capable of. So we have to pray this sting works. Because we need Magda to lead us to Birol and hopefully Lee and Amanda.’
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After the takedown, Billy returned to the room where Lee and Amanda were paralyzed by the zap gas. They looked so peaceful—so in love. He shook his head. ‘Who do those two think they’re fooling?’
He looked around the room—and found the notepad Lee had written down his assets and the rest for Birol. As Billy read the list he was filled with a growing dread. ‘The man made a nearly complete list. With this Birol could fund himself for another couple of years. Did Lee realize he was signing his and Amanda death warrants with this?’
Billy looked again to the couple resting in each others’ arms. ‘Maybe he did at that. Birol would have executed them quickly and cleanly—Magda told us. At least they would have been beyond Birol’s reach after that. In these situations—sometimes a quick clean death is the best deal you can get.’
He pocketed the notebook. I’ll see if this needs to be turned in as evidence. If there’s no mention of it—it can quietly burn.
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Billy reviewed the debriefings of Scarecrow and Amanda after their rescue. It had taken a day for Mrs. King to recover enough to be even somewhat coherent. Birol had drugged her and combined with the sleep deprivation and then the aftereffects of the zap gas—most of what she remembered past the first day was mainly hallucinations. So her debriefing was essentially worthless with regard to any pertinent facts. That made Billy sigh in relief.
Scarecrow had been canny enough to see Billy wave the notebook at him—so he had wisely refrained from mentioning it during his debriefing. Billy had burned it in his fireplace that evening himself—and thoroughly sifted the ashes before cleaning them out with the remains of several previous fires. If Jeannie had suspected anything she had wisely kept her own counsel.
Billy thought about what Mrs. King had told the debriefing team. ‘She kept seeing Lee—he told her he was coming for her. He told her to be patient. He told her to hang in there—she wasn’t forgotten. That’s some powerful tie those two have. That was also good incentive for her to keep her cover—and from everything we have been able to discover she did keep to her cover story. She never admitted to Birol she was anything other than a news reporter. How she managed to do it—it’s a miracle. She never fingered Nightcrawler—she didn’t know and Birol apparently figured it out himself.’
‘Now I have a big problem. Lee won’t take that job at state. He wants to keep working with Amanda in the field. On the one hand—they’re my best team and I’m glad to still have them. But this case showed how vulnerable they are to threats to the other. Is this a liability I can live with?’
‘Face it—she’s been a liability for him from the start. Partners work together and get close and they can be used against each other. That’s why when one agent goes bad—usually the partner goes bad as well. Benson was an exception to that rule—but he set up his partner and had him executed. I know those two will never go bad. They don’t follow the rules all the time—but even when Lee committed treason to trade for Amanda—they managed to make it right and get more out of the bargain than we had in the first place. And they weren’t even involved then.’
‘She’s gotten a whole lot better since then—and she’s still in training so she’ll learn more yet. If she’s this good at resisting drugs and torture—think how invincible she will be after the drug series and developing a mantra. I won’t have to worry on that account. They still have their luck. I guess I’ll be able to live with the idea that they would possibly betray themselves for the other. But they will also sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Scarecrow proved that with Birol. And I think Amanda would also in a similar situation. So I’ll keep quiet about their involvement—and possible marriage—and do what I can to help them along. I owe them that much at least. I wonder if they’ll ever tell me about it? Time will tell.’
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.