Billy’s Case Files
By Ermintrude
See part 1 for disclaimers
Part 37
April 13, 1987
Billy was up in the Q Bureau, putting candles on a cake. It seemed silly, putting candles on a graduation cake—but he thought Amanda deserved the very best. And she had been at the Agency for over three and a half years, so he was proud to put four candles on her cake. It was early—but he had managed to gather several of their co-workers who were hiding in the vault. Lee was bringing her up—and he was waiting to surprise her on her first day back at work after the shooting. And her marriage.
As he waited he thought about his best team. ‘They were married two months ago today—and despite repeated opportunities and some pretty big hints, neither has breathed a word to me about it. I guess they plan to keep it a secret. I wish they’d at least share it with me—I do know how to keep a secret or two. And I could help them—unofficially of course—if they needed anything. They’re making it awfully difficult for themselves—and the shooting didn’t help that at all.’
‘But they’ve survived an awful year. First Stemwinder—going on the run accused of treason; then Birol and what he did to Amanda; then Doneck and PD2—Lee nearly didn’t make it there. And after all that they still got married. Then Amanda is shot on their honeymoon and nearly dies. That one was closer than any of the others. But she survived—and she’s made a remarkable recovery—and now she’s back at work on light duties. But in two weeks she will be cleared for field duty again—and their partnership will continue.’
He heard footsteps outside the door and he positioned himself in front of the cake. The door opened, and Billy greeted his favorite team. “Good morning, you two. Welcome back, Amanda. We’ve all missed you.”
“Thank you sir. I’m really glad to be back.” She smiled and gave her boss a hug.
“Surprise!” everyone shouted and poured out of the vault.
“Oh my gosh—what’s this?” Amanda looked around in surprise.
“This is a graduation party. Congratulations Amanda, you are as of now a fully-fledged field agent.” Billy was beaming.
Beaman handed her a certificate. “You graduated top of your class.”
“Wow! Thank you Ephram. You are a very good teacher.” She took the certificate.
“Don’t kid yourself, Amanda.” Francine replied. “You drove him crazy. But maybe it’s something he needed.” She smiled at him and he looked a bit surprised about it. “Congratulations. You’ve earned it.” Francine shook Amanda’s hand.
“Thank you Francine—that means a lot to me.”
“Congratulations, Mrs. King.” Leatherneck came to shake her hand and she pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you for all your help Leatherneck. I really appreciate it.” She smiled at him.
Several other co-workers swarmed around Amanda and offered her their congratulations. Soon the candles were lit, and Billy asked her to make a speech.
“Um, I guess all I have to say is thank you to you all. I couldn’t have done it without all of you. I appreciate all you helped me with over the years. And your patience with me in the early days. When I took that package from Lee, I never thought I’d end up becoming a field agent. I guess I’ve come a long way since then.” She shrugged. “Thank you everyone.” She smiled at the group.
“Now make a wish and blow out the candles. Then we can have some cake.” Lee encouraged her.
“Make a wish?” Amanda sounded incredulous.
“Just do it, huh?” Lee was a bit impatient.
“That’s our Scarecrow!” Francine quipped.
Amanda rolled her eyes, and thought a moment—then blew out the candles. Everyone cheered, then they got down to eating the cake. It was over in a few more minutes, and people dispersed to go about their jobs. Finally only Billy, Lee and Amanda remained.
Amanda turned to her boss. “Thank you Billy, for everything you’ve done for me. I know if it wasn’t for you I’d never have gotten here. You have been on my side from the start, and I really appreciate it.” She embraced him and kissed him on the cheek.
“Amanda, I only helped you realize your full potential. You did all the hard work yourself. You should be very proud. Welcome back to work. And in a couple weeks, you should be cleared for field duty.”
“I hope so, sir. Thank you—for everything.” Her eyes shone brightly with tears of joy.
Billy waited a few moments—would they finally tell him what he had hoped to hear? When nothing was forthcoming, he cleared his throat. “Well I have a field unit to run, and you two have a mountain of paperwork to get through. I’ll just let you get to it.”
He left and made his way downstairs. ‘Amanda’s finally back to work. It’s like someone opened the shades and let the sunlight back in. She brings a radiance that’s all her own to this place. Good thing, as we have enough dark issues to deal with. Amanda King’s own brand of sunshine helps all of us get through the days a little less the worse for wear.’
One Flew East April 30, 1987 (originally aired February 27, 1987)
Billy hung up the phone. ‘I know my direct line to the White House has helped Lee and Amanda—but that sort of thing works both ways. Now I have to spoil their weekend. I need them to check out Laura Mayfield’s allegations—but quietly and unofficially. I hate playing the politics—but it’s a fact of life in this town. And these contacts help grease the wheels. And if they finally decide to let us all in on their secret—I will need every contact I’ve cultivated to keep them together and in the field. So now they get to reap the downside of their little secret. Maybe they’ll thank me some day.’
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Billy was back at his desk reading the final paperwork on Rollins’ little covert operation. He slammed his fist on his desk in frustration. ‘Damn it all! Another black op from inside the Agency! When will this sort of thing stop? When we got rid of Rollins—it was with the clear understanding he would retire—for good. I know we don’t do the CIA retirement—with a bullet—but this makes me understand why they do things the way they do. Now we have yet another dirty cleanup job.’
‘Rollins has been operating his little sanitarium since he retired. That is years of activity to trace—check out—and clean up. At least we can paint Justice with this brush as well. Donaldson was helping Rollins since we cut off his Agency contacts. I guess he moved over to Justice for his contacts. But Rollins was one of ours—so it’s our mess. Smyth will be especially vindictive about the matter. He was brought in to stop this sort of thing—and it hasn’t stopped.’
‘Rollins will be going away for a good long time. He should have before—but we didn’t want the bad publicity and he did have sanction—then. Hopefully he won’t bring down too many of ours with him. That’s for the boys in Legal to deal with. Why can’t these ultra-conservative groups let us do our jobs? They think we’re too soft—that we let too many bad guys get away. We manage to catch quite a few—and we don’t trample the Constitution. Ironic as these nutcases think they’re upholding the country and all it stands for—yet invariably they manage to trample the Constitution in the process.’
‘Chalk another one up to Lee and Amanda. Though I used my phone company contacts to get us Chip’s services—the bass boat and gear are a small price to pay for cleaning all this up. And if Justice does manage to find our traces—their man on the inside of this makes it totally justifiable. Not that I’m going to tell them. It will be nice insurance—just in case. But Scarecrow was on the edge here—tapping the phones of Justice and a Congressman.’ Billy shook his head. ‘They solved the case, so as long as their record stays good—I can live with Scarecrow’s sometimes over-the-top methods. I just don’t know if my stomach will survive. Maybe I should let them know I know about their marriage… It would be payback—and fun to watch their faces.’ He smiled as he imagined the scene. ‘No, I’ll wait them out. But maybe I can drop a few hints now and then…’ He laughed out loud at the fun he would have jerking Scarecrow’s chain.
All That Glitters May 7, 1987
Billy entered his office on Monday morning to find his desk chair occupied by Dr. Smyth.
“Morning, Melrose.”
“Good morning, Dr. Smyth. How was your weekend?” Billy was wary—finding the Agency’s Director at his desk was never a good sign.
“I’m taking one of your agents—I need his particular… skills… and contacts to get to the bottom of a little double mystery that came to my attention over the weekend.”
“And what would that be?”
“At Elissa Danton’s birthday party an anonymous admirer gave her an earring.” Dr. Smyth produced an elaborate ruby and diamond earring from his suitcoat. “It’s part of the Hale collection that went missing back in ’83 during the Grenada Operation. Also stolen at the same time was a diplomatic pouch with the Sandpebbles list. Now Elissa is to be on the lookout for her secret admirer with the mate to this.” He dangled the earring in front of Billy’s face. “And at the same time we are intercepting smoke signals that the Sandpebbles list is on the market to our friends south of Florida. Sandpebbles is our list—our people operating in that area and while four years out-of-date there’s still enough damaging information there to make life very difficult—if not terminal—for too many people. We can’t afford to let that list go to the man with the cigar—and so I’m giving the job of tracing the other earring to Scarecrow.”
“I agree. He’s not currently assigned to anything big—so I’ll brief him.”
“No Melrose—this is my operation. The man up the street delegated me to deal with this matter personally. So I’ll tag Scarecrow and hand this off to him and he can follow up. Besides—his history with Elissa will give him an inside track for any private information we might need to get from that quarter. He’s a natural for it.” Smyth smiled thinly and pocketed the earring. “I’ll keep you informed on the operation.” He stood and breezed out of Billy’s office.
Billy left the door open to allow the office to air out. He sat at his desk and thought about Smyth’s ‘assignment’.
‘He’s meddling in my field unit more and more lately. First Stemwinder—and that little fiasco won’t be forgotten for a long time. I wonder if he realizes how much he damaged his rep with the rank-and-file people? Probably not—and he wouldn’t care if he did. Then Birol—then Amanda’s letter—he wouldn’t even consider putting in a good word for her. Then there was the interference with TP Aquinas—he was willing to let the man die to get Ramon Peralta. He was thankfully out of the loop with Doneck and PD2. He was steamed outwardly—but he was also just as happy as the rest of us to get an antidote to PD2 and discredit Doneck. Still the man is taking way too much of a personal interest in Scarecrow and Mrs. King—correction, Mrs. Stetson. And now he’s personally pushing Lee onto Elissa Danton. Were it a year ago—I might be more worried. I’m still a bit worried—but he’s safely married and Amanda is back on full-duty status.’
‘So I get to sit on the sidelines on this one. Well—maybe I can put a bug in Francine’s ear about Lee and Elissa. She’s finally come over to Amanda’s side so she’ll give Scarecrow grief about Elissa. And if I get an opportunity myself I’ll help Lee to see just what a good deal he has—and remind him not to blow it.’
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Billy was at Raymond’s finishing his lunch. He looked up to see Elissa Danton approaching his table with a determined look in his eye. She engaged him with little small talk and got right to business.
She looked chagrined. “A lot of help Lee Stetson was—he’s so starry eyed about that woman he’s involved with, he can’t see straight. Humor me Billy—what’s she like? Young, glamorous, sexy, rich?”
‘Well, well, well. Elissa Danton is fishing for details about Amanda. Leave it to a woman like her to immediately figure it out. She probably wanted Lee for herself—but he wasn’t going to commit to any woman—even Elissa Danton. And now she’s determined to check Amanda out for herself. Well she isn’t going to learn anything from me.’ He put a pleasant smile on his face and answered her sincerely. “Not really she’s just a lovely woman. I don’t think Lee could have done better than—this particular person.”
Elissa wasn’t put off. “And who is this particular person?”
Billy was enjoying this immensely. “You’ll have to ask Lee, Elissa. I get the feeling that that’s still ‘classified information.’”
“If he’s not going public, then he’s still a free agent.”
“I think you’re wrong.” He said with conviction. ‘I know you’re wrong.’ He thought with deep satisfaction.
“Billy, you’re talking to Elissa Danton—I’m never wrong about this sort of thing. In the circles I travel—I can’t afford to be.” She left abruptly.
‘Sometimes it’s very satisfying to know something that nobody else knows you know. And this is one of those times. Lee Stetson is in for one hell of a test. Personally I think he’s up for it—but he still has to face Elissa—and then Amanda. It won’t be an easy or comfortable few days for Scarecrow. This should be fun to watch.’ He finished his lunch with a grin that lasted through the afternoon.
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Later that afternoon Billy saw Lee in the bullpen checking out information. He decided to have a bit more fun with the newlywed.
Billy cornered Lee. “Elissa slid up next to me at lunch, Scarecrow with a trout line in the water. Every hook is baited and waiting for you Scarecrow.”
Lee was taken aback. “Look, you’re the second person that has come up to me and warned me to watch my flank. Why is everyone so concerned?”
“This is Elissa Danton, Scarecrow—you two have a pretty steamy history—Elissa has a memory like an elephant.”
“Well thanks for the caution Billy. OK. But remember one thing, I’m not a freshman agent anymore. I can handle myself.”
“Maybe, but—I’d suggest you just stay away from the oysters.” Billy tried to give Lee a knowing look. ‘Gotcha! If you two won’t come clean—at least I get to have some fun with you about it. Give me some credit Scarecrow—I wasn’t born yesterday. I was out working in the field when you were moving from base to base with your uncle. You have one hell of an evening ahead—Elissa will be going all-out to get you back in her bed—and you will be doing all you can to get her help and cooperation while doing everything you can to stay out of her bed. That’s a masterful tightrope walk. I wish I could be there to watch.’ He chuckled inwardly.
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Billy was up in Dr. Smyth’s office.
Smyth was direct. “Scarecrow managed to uncover our thieves and the traitor who was peddling our list to Castro. I’m satisfied the case is closed.”
“That’s good. I’ll let him know you’re satisfied with his work.”
“Melrose—what is going on with Scarecrow? Elissa told me he wasn’t interested in anything but business. Is our boy losing his touch?”
“I thought it was always ‘agent’s discretion’ whether he follows up on an invitation or not.” Billy tried to sound neutral about it.
“This is Elissa Danton, we’re talking about. The two of them were quite an item a few years ago. Now he’s not interested.”
Billy shrugged. “People change. He did return and save her from the fire. If he hadn’t she might have been severely injured. She’s in the hospital as it is.”
Smyth stared narrowly at Billy. Billy was an old pro—his mild expression never wavered. He knew exactly what was at risk should be give anything away.
Smyth finally spoke. “Scarecrow and his partner are an effective team. As long as they get the job done I guess I shouldn’t be too concerned about their methods—as long as they follow the rule book. Now that Mrs. King is a full agent she’s subject to the same rules and regulations as all the rest of the agents here. And the same penalties should she break those rules. And so is her partner. You’ll communicate that to them—won’t you Melrose?” He asked with a warm smile—that didn’t reach to his eyes.
“Of course, sir. I always communicate your messages to the agents in my field unit.” Billy replied. At Smyth’s dismissive gesture, he left the head man’s office.
He mused as he rode the elevator back to his floor. ‘I don’t think Smyth knows anything—otherwise he’d be all over the both of them. And they’d be out immediately with no chance of reprieve. Which would be a great loss for me, my unit and this Agency. Why can’t that man let people live their lives in peace? They did sign up for the job—but they’re entitled to a private life, too. Hopefully Lee and Amanda will be careful and we’ll deal with their marriage when they do finally decide to come clean.’
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.