Billy’s Case Files part 6
by Ermintrude
See part one for disclaimers
I Am Not Now … Nor Have I Ever Been … A Spy January 30, 1984
The morning meeting of the field unit of the Agency ran as usual. Billy Melrose—the section chief—presided.
“One more thing, people. Polo DeGregorio of San Cardenza is due here tomorrow. We need to find out the parts of his itinerary he isn’t disclosing to us. We also need to get more on that group of San Cardenzan exiles headed by El Lagarto. We need to know what they are planning for their President’s visit. Martinez is our man on the inside there—Scarecrow, you’re his contact—anything?” Billy addressed his top agent.
“No Billy. I have a meet set up with another contact—and Martinez is due for a drop today.”
“What about your other contacts, can they give you anything?”
“Billy, I can only make those two meets this morning…” Lee spread his hands in a gesture of futility.
“Then use Amanda. Surely she can make contact with a couple people before lunch.”
Lee shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Yeah, I suppose…” he replied in a less-than-enthusiastic voice.
Billy nodded. “Good. Then have her make whatever contacts you can arrange this morning.” He turned and addressed the whole room. “People, we need everyone on this—let’s beat the bushes—make those extra calls—we need to solicit information—this time we can’t afford to wait for it to come to us.” He turned to his assistant. “Francine, you’re in charge of the itinerary—Scarecrow get whatever you can and hopefully Martinez will be able to get you something useful. Get going, people. Report to me or Francine as soon as you have something.”
As the meeting broke up, Lee stopped Billy. “Look, are you sure Amanda can handle this? Going in alone to pick up information?”
“That depends on what you can arrange for her. She can certainly manage picking up information at a drop—all she needs to know is where to go and how to pick up the message.” Billy sounded helpful.
Lee ran his a hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah…” he agreed reluctantly, “but you know Amanda—if anything can go wrong—it will.”
“Then make sure it won’t—but use her. We need as much information we can get as fast as we can. Do it, Scarecrow, that’s an order.”
“OK, Billy. I hear you. I’ll make the calls.”
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Billy was at his desk around lunch when his phone rang. “Melrose—What?” He talked to Scarecrow for a couple minutes, but their call was ended abruptly. He shook his head, replaced the receiver and waited for his agent to call back.
A few minutes later, the phone rang again. “Melrose. Scarecrow—what happened?” Billy went right to the point.
“Amanda was grabbed by two goons while I was on the phone with you. I wasn’t able to stop them, but I got the license and make of the car.” Lee relayed the information to his section chief.
“I’ll run this immediately.”
“Billy—they have Amanda—I tried…”
“Get back here, man. Hopefully by the time you’re back we’ll have something for you to follow up on.”
Lee nodded dejectedly. “She has to be OK…”
“We’ll do all we can. Now get back here.”
“OK Billy, see you soon.”
Billy hung up the phone, then he called out. A moment later, Francine entered his office. “Run this information—two guys using this car grabbed Mrs. King from the drop. Scarecrow’s coming back in and we can coordinate from here.”
“Got it. What is it about that woman? That was supposed to be a safe drop.” Francine commented as she left the office.
“Obviously it isn’t safe any more. Get what you can, and get it to me with copies for Scarecrow.”
Francine nodded as she left.
Billy sat back in his padded chair. ‘Lee was right—if Amanda hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t be looking for her right now. We don’t need this—I need my manpower concentrating on those San Cardenzan exiles—finding out their plans.’ He sighed. ‘She’s come through for us so many times—we owe it to her to do our best to get her back.’
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An hour later Billy had called Lee into his office—their discussion was interrupted by a phone call. After he hung up he addressed Lee. “Martinez has surfaced.”
Lee looked up at Billy. “Where?”
“The Potomac.” Billy said with finality. They were silent for a moment.
“Billy—these guys have Amanda—we’ve got to—“
Billy cut him off. “Scarecrow, we’re doing all we can. You can go back there and continue beating the bushes. Any information we can get will help us find Mrs. King, OK?”
Lee rose to leave, but turned back to the section chief. “You tell me the minute you get anything. And I mean anything.” He left.
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A couple hours later, Lee was back in Billy’s office, discussing the results of Martinez’s autopsy…
“Lee that drop has always been safe. There’s no way you could have known.” Billy was trying to assuage the agent’s guilt.
Lee rose to leave, and Billy tried to help. “There’s a copy of the Martinez file on your desk, if you’d care to look through it again.”
Lee nodded, and left to check it out.
Billy waited for the door to shut, and then picked up his phone. “Francine, run a check with the police and the local hospitals for anyone matching the description of Amanda King. And if you get anything—tell me first—let me deal with Scarecrow. Got it?”
“Oh yeah—gladly.” Francine replied.
Billy replaced the phone and looked out into the bullpen—then sat back at his desk. He rubbed his temples. ‘Amanda, if you have any luck—you need it now. Those people who grabbed you are killers. I hope you can get out of there in one piece. Because I don’t want to have to put Scarecrow back together again—after losing another partner. I don’t know if he can get through that again. Hell, I don’t know if I can get through that again.’ He sighed deeply, and returned to his work.
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A half-hour later, Billy picked up his phone, it was Francine. “Billy, I have Georgetown General on the line—here’s the nurse in charge of the ER.”
“William Melrose here, do you have anything on our missing person?”
“Yes, sir. A woman answering that description came in a couple hours ago—a car accident. She was unconscious at first—then later came to. She knew her name—Amanda King—but she had no memory of the car accident that injured her. We called her home, and her mother is here. Was that OK?”
“Yes, thank you. What’s her prognosis?”
“She has a mild concussion, bumps and bruises, but otherwise she’s OK.”
“Thank you. I’ll send one of my people down to talk to her.”
“Should we hold her?”
“No, just let us know when she leaves. Thank you for your help.”
Billy hung up the phone and called out the door. “Scarecrow—in here—now!”
Lee came into Billy’s office quickly. “You hear anything?”
Billy nodded. “She’s at Georgetown General—alive. She was in a car accident—a bit banged up—but otherwise OK. Get down there and talk to her. See if you can get information about this group, who kidnapped her, and where she was held. It may be the lead we’ve been looking for.”
“That’s great, Billy. I’ll get right down there. Thanks!” Lee bounded out of the office.
Billy sat down heavily. ‘Yes, it’s great today. But one day she may not be OK—or even alive. How will he react to that? But I can’t split them up—they’re my best team.’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t play ‘what if’. Just take it as it comes. That’s all any of us can do.’
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“Billy, she’s gone!”
Billy tried to make sense of what Lee was trying to tell him on the phone. “What do you mean—she was just there.”
“I got off the phone with you, I went to check on her—and she was gone. The window was open, so she must have left by the fire escape. I looked everywhere, but she’s gone.” Lee was pacing as he talked.
“What do you want to do?”
“I’ll look around here some more. Maybe she’s walking home. I can try to drive along the route.”
“That sounds like a plan—but don’t take too long. If you don’t find her soon—come back in. We can coordinate from here.”
“Those guys are watching her house—if she goes back there…”
“Do what you need to, but find her.” Billy hung up. ‘One minute he’s trying to convince me he can adapt to anything, and offering to re-train her. The next he’s frantic because she’s disappeared. She’s definitely gotten under his skin. I wonder if he realizes how hooked he is. I don’t want to fire her, and I suppose I was a bit harsh suggesting it. She still can type 90 words a minute, and do the transcriptions and expense reports. But will she be able to be Scarecrow’s partner if she doesn’t regain her memory? Time will tell.’
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Late that evening, Billy was wrapping up the paperwork on the group of exiles they had rounded up. All in all it had been a satisfying, if nerve-wracking day.
‘Amnesia. If anyone would have it—it would be Amanda King. The doctor said she might repress anything that was emotionally complicated. And after today’s roller coaster, its obvious Lee Stetson is emotionally complicated for her. She’s over her first crush—her hero worship. She’s managed to tone it down—and they work effectively together. Just having this double life is probably emotionally complicated for her as well. Certainly it must be difficult when dealing with her family.’
He sat back and thought further. ‘It’s also emotionally complicated for Lee Stetson, though he probably doesn’t realize it. He’s protective of her—he wants to keep her safe—and he feels massively guilty if something happens to her. That’s the survivor’s guilt. I know I’m playing with fire here—if anything does happen to her—Stetson may not be able to bounce back once again. Could he be in love with her? If so, he doesn’t even realize it yet. He has strong feelings for her—and they seem to go beyond just that of partners. They do connect on a very deep level. They have a rapport that few teams ever achieve. It’s a great asset—but it can also be a liability if one is ever used as leverage against the other.’
‘Still, Mrs. King has her boyfriend, and Stetson is as active on the circuit as ever. They aren’t a couple, for which I’m grateful. That little development would add complications none of us need. But why am I worrying? She’s not his type, and he’ll never settle for what Amanda King will demand he give her in a relationship. Scarecrow in a relationship? Never in a million years. Still, I can hope…’
‘But they’re my best team. They get the job done. And Mrs. King is one in a million. I wish I had a few more employees like her. She’s endlessly cheerful, she’s always enthusiastic and does a good job every time. She doesn’t argue or complain—she takes whatever assignment I give her and does it quietly and efficiently. And she can calm Scarecrow down in a second. Of course, their arguments are also legendary. They keep the betting pools going.’
He sighed, and returned to his paperwork. ‘The case ended well. Martinez died, but nobody else did. We broke up the exile group, and saved Arlington from nerve gas. All-in-all we gained more than we lost. And that’s the best we can get, some days. And tomorrow, we start all over again.’
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