Billy’s Case Files
By Ermintrude
See part 1 for disclaimers
Part 33
The Man Who Died Twice November 21, 1986
Billy was in his office after the discussion of the Chinese Trade Fair. Lee had showed Billy a newspaper with house listings. He had asked Lee if they had a few too many zeroes in the price. Then he had laughed out loud at Lee looking at real estate. ‘Studying architecture indeed! The man is nest building. It’s such a change—so weird to see him all excited about buying a big house with room for horses…’
‘He seems to be all excited about moving in with Amanda and her family—the whole package all at once! I wonder if he’s thought it through. That’s a lot to take on at once. He and Amanda are solid partners—they’ll do fine. But he hardly knows her family. He only officially met Dotty during the Birol case. She’s a good woman and she would welcome Lee into the family with open arms, but would Lee be able to deal with all that open affection? His mother has been dead for over 30 years—the man doesn’t know how to relate to a mother.’
‘And her boys—there might be a bit of resentment there. Their father has been back in town almost a year now. He sees the boys every other weekend—but Amanda has said he cancels fairly often, too. Will those boys welcome a new man into their life? Maybe they would do well to take it a bit more slowly. He needs to get to know her family—and they need to get to know him. He’s been a loner for so long—it will be a big adjustment on everyone’s part.’
‘What am I thinking? Amanda will straighten him out pretty quick. She loves the man—and would give her life for him—but she also loves her family and always puts their welfare uppermost in her mind. She will understand how the boys might not welcome their mother marrying a new man in their life. She’ll slow him down—and they’ll take it one step at a time. They will date—and he’ll come to the house and meet them before taking her out. He’ll probably start coming over for meals—maybe a few afternoon family outings. He already watches the boy’s games after school. Scarecrow thinks we don’t know—but the random surveillance has pegged him at Bombers’ games on more than one occasion. All that takes time—and it’s good. Still—I’ll have to try to work the surveillance so they miss the family interactions with Scarecrow. It’s a tightrope dance—but my best team is certainly worth it.’
Need to Know December 5, 1986
Tri-Tanium hoax uncovered. Billy read the newspaper headline that featured Charlie Benton’s story of the hoax and takedown of his boss—Raoul Nesbitt publisher of the Washington Telegram.
‘We got very lucky on this one. Charlie called in Lee and Scarecrow took him seriously. If Nesbitt had managed to get that plutonium into the US supply of tri-tanium—the Star Wars defense plan would have been scrapped. And we’d be back to the old cold war without a chance at supremacy for another decade.’
‘Lee killed Derek Fouts—that’s another scum bag we can count out of the game. How the man managed to get ahold of plutonium… What am I saying? If there’s a buyer and enough money—it’ll come up on the market. It’s our job to keep all that stuff secure. Now all I have to do is get Lee’s arrests scrubbed from metro PD’s records. Twice in one day! That’s a record—even for Scarecrow. I thought Amanda was helping tone him down! But she wasn’t there—so I guess it isn’t anything she could have stopped.’
‘Now what has happened to Lee on the personal front? He hasn’t talked about houses any more—he’s been all business lately. Well—except for Francine catching him and Amanda fighting over something up in the Q Bureau—in a very compromising position if her verbal report is to be believed. And they didn’t bat an eye—either of them.’ Billy shook his head. ‘I guess they figure they don’t need to pretend with us anymore. But no more house hunting. That’s not a good sign—or maybe it is. Maybe Amanda managed to talk some sense into the man—make him slow down a bit.’
‘Hopefully they can ease into her family situation slowly—Amanda knows Lee. She knows he needs to get used to the family lifestyle bit by bit. Not all at once like the man supposedly thinks he can do. His energy and enthusiasm are good traits for the job—but for family life he needs to learn to tone it down a bit. She’ll help him. She has every reason to make it work. I’m rooting for you Amanda—you can do it.’
Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag December 19, 1986
Billy was reviewing the reports from the Titan Toys case. ‘A major toy manufacturer was designing weapons-grade armaments right under our noses. And planning on selling them to the East Germans. I guess toys are much more than trucks and rubber dolls nowadays. With the new technology—the kids want their high-tech toys. But we have to make sure the country is secure. So now we have to start reviewing and investigating all the toy companies for any more setups like the one we busted at Titan. That will add a lot to our workload. But that’s what we do. And all this computer technology is making it a whole new world for everyone.’
‘We’re just lucky Lee Stetson hates Christmas. If he hadn’t been trying to duck out on all the holiday cheer he would have blown Bernie Jakes off. And Bernie was the in we needed to discover just exactly what Maxwell Falcon was doing there. I hope the judge is a bit lenient on Engel—the man is a spy and was trying to get technology that we restrict—but he could have shot Scarecrow while he was in the middle of all those kids—and he didn’t. I guess some East Germans still respect Christmas.’
‘Now if Lee can finally come to understand what the rest of us see in the holidays. He’s spending Christmas with Amanda and her family. If anything can make him see it—it’s Amanda. I’m pleased he’s finally easing himself into her family. They can get to know each other and become comfortable. That’s the way to do it.’
‘I wonder if Beaman made any headway with Francine? They went off for a talk—and they were gone an awfully long time. It would do her a world of good to finally hook up with someone reliable. Look at me—I’m becoming an old romantic. I guess Amanda King does that to me. She is so different from the rest of my agents here—and we’re all lucky she is, too.’
Any Number Can Play January 2, 1987
Billy got off the phone with the CIA. ‘The Berlin Shipment went off without a hitch. That’s good. We weren’t supposed to be involved—but when Amanda’s mother gets mixed up in the case… Amanda’s mother. In the middle of a case—again! It must be in their genetics. Good thing Amanda was able to get her to call me in—and we managed to set up the sting to catch Miles Trent, Eddinger, and the rest of his goons. That was a real neat setup there—blackmail for juicy information. Eddinger was selling to whoever would buy—but mostly the Soviet block. I was happy to help—Amanda’s done so much for us over the years—it’s nice to be able to repay that a bit.’
‘That’s a big leak we’ve managed to plug. With Eddinger and Trent talking they have tipped us to over a dozen other blackmail cases they ran. Everything from straight extortion for cash to vote peddling to espionage. I guess they took up where Rita Holden left off. Once the woman was in jail, there was a big hole in the blackmail market in DC. It never ends. In a town rife with politics, power and money it will never end. One group is stopped, and another springs up to take their place. It’s job security for sure.’
‘Amanda manages to balance her life at home and with the Agency very well. And now Lee is involved in that. Should make it easier for her—but it will be a challenge for Scarecrow. He’s not had to sustain long-term relationships with anyone outside his contacts. Ever. Now he will participate in misdirecting Dotty and Amanda’s boys. The IFF cover is a good one—and they can stick to that. Hopefully Lee won’t treat it like a deep-cover mission. This is real life—and he needs to learn to deal with that.’
Promises to Keep January 9, 1987
Billy looked over the thick file provided by TP Aquinas. It was filled with dates, timetables, copies of information he had passed to Ramon Peralta. On the one hand—he was impressed with the scope and detail. On the other hand—he was ready to tear his hair out—what little he had left.
‘It’s bad enough we have to keep tabs on all the Agency employees—now it looks like we’re going to have to keep tabs on all their friends and informants as well. How TP Aquinas managed to pull all this off—over five years—right under all our collective noses! Only this past week DEA managed to get a photograph of him with Peralta. Otherwise he’s been operating totally under the radar.’
Billy sighed deeply. ‘The man has been planning and executing this for longer than the five years he was in contact with Peralta. The death of his wife and son was tragic—the sort of gangland related collateral damage that occurs all-too-frequently these days. It’s a hazard of big-city life sometimes. I would never have pegged Aquinas as the type to go for revenge in this way. He was a great instructor when he was with the Agency. His analyses and research were unparalleled. And he’s been a valuable source for Scarecrow and this Agency since he quit.’
‘So somehow he went from a researcher and analyst to a front-line player. We managed to get the review board to clear him—justifiable homicide. That took a bit of wrangling—with that bomb he managed to rig it was a clear case of premeditation. And Aquinas was all too willing to take whatever punishment he was given. That’s a pretty heavy obsession. But everybody was so happy to be rid of Jordan once and for all—and we managed to capture Peralta and Foster as well as a few of their goons. The DC drug trade will be diminished for a long time. So Aquinas skates scot-free with justifiable homicide. I guess there is justice in the world.’
‘Now what do I do about Smyth? He’s been sticking his nose in my unit’s operations way too much lately. First Stemwinder, then Birol, and now this—and he’s been interfering on other cases as well. Maybe it’s time for me to go up there and have it out with the man one-on-one. Either I run my field unit—or Smyth does. These parallel operations are going to blow up in our faces one of these days. On second thought, I’ll think about it some more. Taking a lesson from Aquinas, I’ll wait and have a good solid plan before I act.’
Rumors of My Death January 23, 1987
Billy checked over the stolen ISP for Lee Stetson. It was perfect in every detail—except one. ‘I guess when Spickens made the duplicates—he couldn’t go all the way.’ Billy accessed the files for the four other ISP’s Spickens had made. ‘Sure enough—each differed in one small detail. One had a wrong digit in the social security number. Another had a different middle initial. And on Lee’s he had a wrong birthdate. So Spickens had a way of telling the false ISP’s from the real ones. Too bad we didn’t notice that before.’
‘Of course—just having the duplicate ISP floating around is enough to ground an agent. Stetson got very lucky on this one—actually he got lucky in the first place. If Spickens had managed to deliver those documents Scarecrow’s wings would have been clipped six years ago.’ Billy thought over the past six years. ‘A lot of water under the bridge. Eric Jarvis might still be alive. Of course a lot of other good people would be dead if Scarecrow hadn’t been there for them. That’s a lot of cases that would have been different. And we wouldn’t have Amanda King either.’
‘Scarecrow without Amanda? Unthinkable—now. Sometimes one little thing can make a big change. Like a package that didn’t get passed along.’ Billy smiled. ‘They have amazing luck—and I hope it never runs out. Because this Agency—and my unit—would be worse for their absence.’
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.