Chapter Ten
Monday Morning, September 21st
Lee stood at the sink and looked out the kitchen window, a smile of contentment spreading across his face. Wrapping his hand around the handle of his coffee cup, he brought it to his lips and took a sip of the now cooling brew. He was enjoying the brief moment of quiet before the troops invaded the room. As he stared out into the garden, he realized just how marvelous it was to be able to be looking outside from within, rather than the other way around. He had learned a lot about Amanda's family during his casual surveillance through this window over the years, but there was just something truly wonderful about being a part of the daily chaos he usually only got to witness from afar. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the back door opening. Turning, he saw his mother-in-law entering. “You’re up early, Dotty.”
Dotty wiped her brow with a gloved hand. “Well I figured it was going to be a while before I could get into the shower, so I decided to get an early start on my gardening.” Pulling her gloves off, she laid them on the edge of the counter. “You know, I don't know which I dislike more, weeding or pruning. Have you ever noticed that if you give ivy an inch, it takes a mile?" She watched her son-in-law shake his head, and a small smile began to tug at the corners of her lips. "Oh, of course you wouldn't, what would a scarecrow know about gardening even if he is a spy?”
Lee quickly tightened his grip on his coffee mug as the color drained out of his face. He was very glad that at least his reflexes appeared to be working, because for the second time in two days, Dotty West had managed to take away his ability to speak.
Dotty chuckled. “I’ve done it again, haven’t I? Just how good a spy are you, Scarecrow, if I’ve managed to render you speechless twice?”
“Dotty…I, uh…you just caught me off guard.” Lee took a deep breath and looked towards the stairs, hoping that neither one of his stepsons, or Sydney for that matter, were within earshot of this conversation. He also silently prayed that his wife would appear any minute. He didn’t like being in the hot seat. “How did you figure it out?”
“Oh, I was clipping away some of the vine that has gotten a little out of hand at the bottom of the lattice around the gazebo when I remembered that I need to tackle the ivy that’s growing on the two trellises on the side of the house by the driveway, and I decided to get a start on it before the sun hits it and it gets too hot to work over there. Well, anyway, I was staring at the work that I’d cut out for myself, and I looked up at Amanda’s bedroom window and I suddenly remembered one of those federal agents yelling out something about Scarecrow and Mrs. King right before Amanda disappeared last year.” She moved into the kitchen and headed for the cupboard next to the sink. “I don't know why you two insisted on trying to climb down that trellis at the same time, goodness knows Amanda’s told the boys more times than I can count that that trellis wasn't very sturdy. Did you know that it came very close to hitting the neighbor’s window? Thank goodness the bushes next to the driveway were so high. It cost us a pretty penny to have the trellis reattached as it was, I’d hate to think what it would have cost if we had to repair any damage to the house next door, too.”
Dotty opened the cabinet and took down a mug, then moved over to the coffee pot and poured the brew into her cup. “Anyway, I figured that since I know Amanda ran off with you, and they didn’t say there goes Stetson and King, I made the logical deduction that they were referring to you.” Placing her cup on the counter, she opened the refrigerator and pulled out the creamer. “So, is Scarecrow a codename?”
Lee took a sip of his coffee and swallowed. He had a feeling that he was going to need the extra energy. Looking towards the stairs again, he made sure the coast was clear before responding. Satisfied that it was, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, it’s my codename.”
“It’s kind of an odd one isn’t it? How did you get it, and does Amanda have one too?” Dotty eyed him curiously.
“Do I have one what?” Amanda entered the kitchen and looked quizzically at her mother. As she headed in her husband’s direction, she noticed that he looked a little pale. “Oh, no. Mother, what did you do now?”
Dotty poured the cream into her coffee and then put the container back in the fridge. “I was just asking Lee where he got his codename, and if you had a one too.”
Amanda looked at her husband, who nodded. “Oh, well, no I don’t have one, and I’m not sure I want one. Not a lot of agents have them, and if they do, they don’t seem to be used very often. In fact,” she looked directly at her husband, “now that I think about it, you’re the only one who seems to be referred to by his codename on a regular basis.”
Lee just shrugged. “I know quite a few agents who have codenames, but you’re right, people do call me Scarecrow a lot, don’t they?”
“Yes, Scarecrow, they do.” Amanda walked over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.
“So, where did Scarecrow come from? Oh wait, let me guess it has to be from the Wizard of Oz, am I right?” Seeing both her daughter and son-in-law nod, Dotty grinned. “Ray Bolger made a great Scarecrow, but I think you’re a nicer looking one.”
“Uh, thank you, Dotty, I think.” Lee looked a little self-consciously at his mother-in-law. He pulled a mug out of the cabinet next to him and handed it to his wife. Before he could say anything else they heard the sound of one of the boys barreling down the stairs.
“Lee, are you ready to go?” Phillip entered the kitchen, his backpack in hand.
Lee nodded. “I am, but I think you need to eat something first.” He glanced over towards his wife. “If I let you leave here on an empty stomach, your mom’s likely to give us a lecture on the importance of breakfast at dinner tonight.”
Phillip saw his mom nod in agreement with Lee. “Oh, okay.” Placing his backpack on the floor by the couch, he headed into the kitchen and walked over to the cabinets. He then took down a bowl and retrieved a box of cereal from another cabinet. Grabbing the milk from the fridge, he began fixing his breakfast. “You know, if I get a ride to school from you every morning, Lee, you can move in here permanently as far as I’m concerned.”
“Hmm…not a bad idea.” Dotty grinned knowingly. Heading over to the breadbox, she pulled out two pieces of raisin bread. “I don’t think Phillip’s the only one who’d like to see you move in here on a permanent basis.” She winked at her daughter, and moved over to place her bread in the toaster. Then, leaning closer to her son-in-law, she added in a quieter voice, “That was very wise advice, too bad you don’t listen to it.” She caught the raise of his eyebrows. “I’ve seen what you eat for breakfast, Lee, or rather, what you don’t. Maybe you should take a trip down the yellow brick road and see the Wizard, after all he helped the Scarecrow find his brain and anyone with a brain knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Humming ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ she moved over to the fridge to retrieve the butter.
Lee looked over at his wife, and shook his head. He caught her brief smile and knew that she was thinking the same thing he was. Dotty was going to have a lot of fun with this one.
“Okay, I’m done.” Phillip placed his bowl in the sink and bounded back towards the den to retrieve his bag.
Lee just stared at his stepson in awe. “What did you do, drink the food down?”
“Nah, three big spoonfuls is all it took.” Phillip headed for the front door. “Come on, I can’t wait to see the look on the guys’ faces when they see me in the ’Vette again.”
Lee shook his head and mumbled. “He better not get sick in my car after eating so fast.” Turning, he looked at his wife. “I really should get going, I don’t want to leave him alone with my car for too long, who knows what he’ll do to it.”
Amanda chuckled and patted his arm. “Don’t worry, I think you scared him off the last time he did something to the car, in fact, he seems to be much more protective of it now.” Wrapping her arm around his waist, she smiled. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”
Lee placed his arm around her and shook his head. “Tomorrow, I’m going to hide in my room until I know you’re downstairs.”
Amanda grinned and let out another little laugh. “Some spy you are. You can track down enemy agents and shoot a bull’s-eye miles away, but suddenly you’re afraid to be alone in a room with my mother.”
Reaching the door, Lee stopped and pulled his wife into a tight embrace. “I’m not afraid of facing your mother alone, Amanda. It’s just that I’d like to finish my coffee and be more awake, and better prepared for what she’s going to say.”
“Wasn’t it just last night that we said we had to be more prepared for what she might throw at us?” Amanda lifted her head and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
Lee deepened the kiss briefly before reluctantly breaking the contact. “Yes, we did, but I can handle her suddenly realizing there’s more to certain events,” glancing briefly at the stairs and not seeing any sign of Jamie or Sydney, he added, “it’s the shockers like her figuring out my code-name, that I’m not ready for.” Leaning down, he placed another kiss on her lips. As they parted, he sighed. “That should get me through the next hour or two.” He winked and then stepped out of the embrace.
Amanda reached over and opened the door for him. “I’ll see you at the school whenever you get done with your meeting.”
“Hopefully it won’t run too long.” Lee stepped outside, then turned and placed another kiss on her cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, too and please drive carefully.” She smiled as he nodded and waved her comment away as if to say ‘yeah, yeah I always do’. As she watched him head towards his car, she couldn’t get over how natural it felt to be saying goodbye to her husband as he drove their son to school. It was moments like this that made her wonder why she ever agreed to the stupid mystery marriage in the first place. Sighing, she closed the door and headed back into the kitchen.
Dotty was seated in the breakfast nook eating her toast. “I guess you’ll be heading out soon, too? Where are Jamie and Sydney?”
Amanda glanced back towards the stairs. “I suspect they’ll both be down soon. Jamie was just getting into the shower when I came down. He let Sydney use the bathroom before him.” She sighed and moved over to the counter. “I think Jamie may have a little crush on her. It’s hard to think of my boys growing up and becoming more interested in girls.”
“Yes, it is hard to watch your children grow up and move on with their lives, especially when they forget to tell you about important, life altering changes in their lives.” Dotty gave her daughter a knowing look.
Amanda picked up her coffee and, moving over to the table, sat down across from her mother. “I really am sorry about all the secrecy mother, you have to believe me.” She placed her hand over her mother’s.
“Oh, I do, it’s just hard when you find out that your daughter has been deceiving you for the last four years. I am curious about one thing though, did you really have your own pet sitting and plant watering business or was that just one big lie?”
Amanda glanced out the window and swallowed hard. “No, Mother I didn’t really have my own business, although I did take care of Lee’s fish and plants one time, although, I don’t know how much care I really gave them considering I wasn’t there very long.” She looked down at her coffee cup. “You can bet that I’ll never answer ‘yes’ again when someone calls looking for Scarecrow.” She mumbled to herself.
“Why what happened? Did someone mistake you for Lee?” Dotty eyed her daughter curiously, wondering what kind of answer she’d get.
Amanda looked up at her mother, her eyes just a bit wide. “I didn’t think I said that loud enough for you to hear.”
Dotty nodded slightly. “I’m afraid, darling, that you did. I guess that’s one of those things you never planned on telling me. Did something terrible happen to you because someone thought you were Lee? I find it a little ridiculous that anyone could mistake you for him. Lee’s so much taller than you, he’s devilishly handsome, and, not to mention, a man.”
Amanda laughed self-consciously. “That’s the same thing I thought, well the part about him being taller than me.” Then turning serious, she shook her head. “No, Mother nothing happened to me, Lee saved me, but I can’t go into details about that. So, how did you figure it out, Mother? I mean about the name Scarecrow?”
“I just remembered hearing it somewhere.” Dotty sighed. “I guess I’m going to have to get used to only knowing tiny bits of information, at least getting some of the details is better than being kept in the dark completely.” She then looked her daughter straight in the eye. “You know, missy, our lives would have been a lot less complicated a year ago if we had known the truth about your job. Well…maybe not less complicated, but at least I would have had more of an idea of what was going on. I still wouldn’t have liked being under constant surveillance, and not being allowed to go anywhere without, what do you call them, babysitters, but at least I would have understood and I wouldn’t have accused your Mr. Melrose of wasting taxpayers’ money chasing after a couple of filmmakers. I don’t suppose you can tell me what really happened, can you?”
Amanda traced the rim of her cup, and sighed. “Do you remember how I told you that they thought Lee gave away some things that he shouldn’t?” She looked up and watched her mother closely. “Well, that was the truth. Mr. Melrose and the rest of the Agency thought that he had given secret documents to the Russians. Only it wasn’t true, and I knew it, but because I was with Lee when they said the documents were stolen, they suspected I was involved, too. The only chance we had to prove them wrong was to go into hiding, and try and clear our names.”
Dotty eyed her daughter with a renewed sense of respect, mixed with a twinge of worry. “So, I’m guessing that since we’re having this conversation today, you two managed to find the person who was really responsible?”
“Yes, we did.” Amanda gave her mother a small smile. “And that man is behind bars for good. It’s also because of how well Lee and I worked together to apprehend him that I’m now a full-time employee of the Agency, and officially Lee’s partner.”
Dotty shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand exactly what it is that you see in this Agency of yours. I’m sure it seems romantic and exciting, but if it’s anything like what I’ve read in my spy novels, or seen on TV, it can be a dangerous business. It also sounds like this Agency of yours will turn on their agents at the drop of a hat. Why would you want to work for a place that would so easily turn on one of their own?”
“Oh, Mother, I can’t explain it. The Agency is a huge part of who Lee is, and although they may turn on you, they only do it because they are trying to protect the government’s secrets.” Amanda glanced towards the stairs as she heard the sound of Jamie and Sydney chatting about the chess tournament, and then turned her attention back on her mother. “We’ll have to finish this discussion later.”
Dotty let out a sigh of resignation. “I suppose so, but don’t think you’ve been saved by the bell, Amanda. I plan on finishing this discussion with you at some point.”
“I’m sure you will, Mother, I’m sure you will.” Turning towards the two youngsters, Amanda rose from her seat. “What can I get you two for breakfast?”
“Cereal’s just fine for me, thanks.” Sydney answered as she took a seat at the counter.
Jamie nodded as he sat down beside her. “Me too, Mom, but I can get it, it’s not like it’s really hard to make.”
“Nonsense, I’m already up, but if you want to help you could get Sydney and yourself something to drink.” Amanda moved over to the cabinets that housed the bowls and cereal, and, as she began fixing their breakfast, she smiled when her son moved over to the cabinet to get down two glasses.
Dotty picked up her dishes and brought them over to the sink. Placing them in the soapy water, she headed towards the stairs. “Now that the shower is free, I’m going to go up and get ready myself. I’m going to call Edna and see if she’s interested in going to the garden shop with me today, since we didn’t go on Friday.” She turned and gave her daughter a knowing glance before heading upstairs. “Have a good day, you three.”
“You too, Mother.” Amanda called over her shoulder as she grabbed two spoons from the silverware drawer. Then, moving over to the counter, she placed the bowls in front of Jamie and Sydney.
“Mom,” Jamie pushed his glasses up further on the bridge of his nose. “You won’t forget to talk to Principal Dennis about the tournament, will you?”
Amanda closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “Jamie, I promised that I would talk to her and I will, but if you ask me again there’ll be no point in me speaking to Principal Dennis because neither one of you will be allowed to go, end of story." She looked from Jamie to Sydney and then back at Jamie. "Is that understood?" She watched as they both nodded and then glanced down at her watch. “Good, now eat up, we have to leave in fifteen minutes.” Putting the cereal back in its cupboard, she silently prayed that one of them would ask her again before they made it to school, because then she wouldn’t have to come up with a clever ruse to keep them away from the tournament after all.
Picking up the coffee cup Lee had left on the counter, Amanda moved over to the sink. While she waited for Jamie and Sydney to finish their breakfasts, she began washing the dishes. In a small way, she realized she couldn’t wait till her sons knew the truth about her job. That way if the situation was too dangerous, she would be able to give them a straight answer when it came to why they couldn’t do something. Then again, if her mother’s curiosity was any indication as to the type of questions that would be coming their way, it was going to be a long road ahead. However, she had a feeling that her two sons would be a little more direct with their questioning. She knew one thing for sure, life at 4247 Maplewood Drive would never be dull again, not that it ever really was.
SMK a SMK a SMK
Billy opened his office door as he saw Lee entering the bullpen. “Nice of you to join us Scarecrow.” He glanced down at his watch.
Lee approached his section chief and shrugged. “Sorry, Billy. I dropped Phillip off at the high school, and he begged me to pop the hood on the ’Vette. My car seems to be a big hit with the Junior Varsity football team.”
Billy stepped aside and chuckled as Lee entered the office ahead of him. “Actually I know all about it.” Closing the door, he smiled as his agent turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. “The babysitters at the high school called in. They were quite amused at the sight of you, the ‘mighty Scarecrow’, standing amongst a bunch of teenagers while they looked under the hood of your car. They’re a little concerned that you’re going soft, and that it’s a direct result of you spending too much time with your partner and her family.”
Lee rolled his eyes. “Great, as if my name isn’t being dragged through the water cooler gossip enough. Speaking of babysitters, Billy, any word on the team at Maplewood?”
“Actually, I have some good news on that front.” Billy walked over and leaned back against the edge of his desk. “We’re pulling the phone company van out, and Beaman’s arranging to have Maplewood Drive repaved a small section at a time. It should take them at least a week to finish. I don’t know why we didn’t think to do that in the first place.”
“Maplewood Drive has got to be the best maintained street in the entire neighborhood.” Lee chuckled as he sat down on the couch. “Heck, it’s probably the best-kept street in all of Arlington.” Stretching his legs out in front of him, he leaned back and linked his hands behind his head. “Okay, paving the street will definitely keep the neighbors from suspecting anything out of the ordinary, although they probably won’t be happy that the street is suddenly being worked on without any advanced warning.” He shrugged, and then looked at his boss, a curious expression on his face. “Since, it’s only crews working on major roadways that get away with working at night, our crew will be working during the day, right? So, where will the babysitters on the night shift be hiding?”
“That won’t be a problem. Haven’t you ever noticed the abandoned work vehicles on the side of the road when the road crews aren’t working?” Billy watched as his agent nodded. “Well, we’ll just leave a vehicle behind at night when the paving crew isn’t working. No one would suspect that there would actually be someone inside the vehicle, so we’ll still be able to keep Amanda’s house under surveillance.”
Lee removed his hands from behind his head and leaned forward. “Yeah, that should work. We can always curb any curious neighbors questions about the vehicle by reminding them of the same thing you just did: that road crews leave vehicles behind all the time.” He stood from the couch and started pacing. “You know, Billy, I’ve been thinking. Dotty’s mentioned several times in the past few days that the Cooperman house, the house I rented a couple of years ago, is still available. They haven’t had much success in renting the place, so maybe we can make them an offer to buy it. It would make a perfect safe house; besides, with Amanda’s family constantly needing to be watched, it’d save on resources and the need to come up with new things that Maplewood needs to have done.”
Billy raised an eyebrow, considering the idea. “Hmm… that idea has merit, a lot of merit. But what about the famous welcome wagon that Amanda’s always talking about?”
Lee stopped in front of the window to the bullpen and, turning to look back towards his boss, leaned his back against it. “We furnish the house so that it looks lived in, so that any nosey neighbors who decide to peak through the windows don’t grow suspicious. No one has to actually live there. We just arrange to have a landscaping service come once or twice a month to maintain the yard, which we do at all our other safe houses, anyway. Then, to make everyone happy, we have Amanda and Dotty mention to some of the neighbors that they were the welcome wagon. They can make up some cover story. Perhaps the new owners are a newly married couple, which would explain whey there aren’t any children around, and that they both have jobs that keep them traveling, which would explain why no one sees them very often. Then, if we need to keep watch over Amanda’s family, the occupants are home.”
“Hmm. Not bad, not bad at all. I’ll have someone in scenarios do some research and contact the Coopermans, see if they’d be willing to sell.” Billy pushed off his desk and began walking around to the other side. Reaching his chair, he sat down and fixed his best agent with a questioning stare. “Speaking of Amanda’s mother, do you want to explain to me exactly how she found out about your association with the Agency?” He put a hand up when he saw Lee begin to open his mouth and protest. “Don’t try and deny the truth, Scarecrow. I’ve grown accustomed to deciphering Amanda-speak, maybe not as well as you have but well enough, and it’s obvious from my brief conversation with Mrs. West last night that Amanda’s interesting conversation habits run in the family. Based on Mrs. West’s comments about Harry Barrigan, I came to the conclusion that she knows the truth about your jobs. Do you want to explain to me how she found out, and exactly how much she knows?”
Clearing his throat, Lee pulled on his collar and looked at his boss sheepishly. “It’s kind of a long story.” He pushed away from the window and moved over to the chairs in front of his section chief’s desk. Sighing, he sat down in the chair closest to the window. “But the long and short of it is that Dotty overheard a conversation between Amanda and her ex-husband. I’m sure you’ve read the Maplewood team’s daily log report from Friday that Joe stopped by the house.” He stopped and slapped his hand against his leg. “Why didn’t we think to check Friday’s logs? We would have found out when Dotty left, then again, we weren’t really concerned with when she left, just the why.” He muttered to himself.
Billy cleared his throat. “Do you care to explain any of that to me? Maybe your fellow agents are right, you have been spending too much time with Amanda. You’re starting to pick up some of her quirks, except when Amanda goes off on a tangent, it usually has some bearing on something we’re working on. We may not always be able to decipher what she’s saying but it’s usually relevant. What you just said made absolutely no sense, whatsoever.”
Lee chuckled and smiled good-naturedly. “Sorry about that, Billy. You see, when we got home after school on Friday, we found out that Dotty had taken an impromptu trip. Amanda had been suspicious about her mother’s sudden disappearance, but we didn’t have any real reason to suspect that Dotty left for any reason other than to spend the weekend with one of her gentleman friends. Well Dotty returned home Sunday, while Amanda was out running an errand with Phillip and, well I guess you could say, she cornered me. She demanded to know what type of career I had gotten her daughter into. She apparently had discovered quite a bit from Amanda’s conversation with Joe, and had a ton of questions. I tell you, Billy, the KGB has nothing on the interrogation skills of Amanda’s mother.”
Billy shook his head and laughed. “She must be good, because I know it takes a lot to make you crack, Scarecrow.” He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “So what did you tell her?”
“I answered as many of her questions as I could without giving away any secrets relating to national security.” Lee ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “She knows that I.F.F. is really a cover for the Agency. She knows how long Amanda’s been associated with the Agency, and she knows that Sydney isn’t just a houseguest.” He caught the raise of his boss’ eyebrows and shook his head. “Don’t worry, all she knows is that Jack was concerned for Sydney’s safety, and that’s all. We explained to Dotty that we couldn’t tell her anything more than that. I’ll tell you what though, now that Dotty knows the truth, it’s become very interesting. She’s putting a lot of pieces together, trying to make sense out of all of Amanda’s strange behavior since she started working here.”
Billy nodded in understanding. “I guess that’s where the conversation from last night came from. She finally made the connection between Amanda and me.”
Lee nodded and laughed. “And that’s not all; you know what they say about women never forgetting, let me tell you Dotty West is living proof of that fact. Last night, after getting the boys and Sydney down for bed, we came downstairs to find Dotty staring at a painting in the den. When we asked her what she found so fascinating, she responded by asking me if I would have actually shot that man in front of everyone in the audience. Once we asked her what she was talking about, she explained that she had taken the boys to the opening night performance of ‘Parisian Intrigue’, you remember that totally absurd play by Tony Martinet.” He watched as Billy nodded. “Well apparently Dotty and the boys had helped Amanda rehearse, so she knew our little performance wasn’t part of the show. She did say it was the highlight of the play, though. Anyway, she remembered Amanda running on stage yelling something about the Gestapo after Krutiov tried to get the cassette, and how I ran on stage with a gun in my hand. I assured her that I would only have used deadly force if someone’s life had been in danger.”
Lee let out a little chuckle. “She commented that she was somewhat relieved to find out that Amanda’s role in that play had actually been a cover because she couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly be in a play that made absolutely no sense. Amanda was quite offended by that comment, and wasn’t thrilled that I agreed with Dotty, either.” Catching the curious glance his boss was giving him, he shrugged. “Billy you read that play, it wasn’t until we found out about Krutiov’s involvement that the fact that it even got produced made any sense. You know how Amanda puts her heart and soul into everything she does. Anyhow, Amanda tried to convince Dotty that even though it had started out as part of a case, she had been excited about being in the play. She went so far as to remind both Dotty and myself about her brief acting career in college.”
“Sounds like you have your hands full.” Billy laughed heartily. “I know from the few encounters I’ve had with Amanda’s mother, that Mrs. West can be quite a handful.”
“You have no idea.” Lee shook his head slowly. “Last night’s revelation wasn’t the only thing she suddenly remembered, and we know it won’t be the last.” His thoughts drifted back to the conversation from this morning. “At least she waits until the kids aren’t around to spring her comments on us.”
Billy chuckled, and then put on a serious face, pretending to be pondering an idea. “You know, if Dotty West can get you to divulge secrets related to national security, and I’m not just referring to her sudden memory of things that happened in the past. Face it, the fact that you and Amanda are secret government agents is, in my book, something that shouldn’t be broadcast to the world, maybe we should hire her to work down in Interrogation.”
Lee’s eyes grew wide, and he studied his boss’ face, trying to discover whether his friend was joking or not. “Although I suggested the same thing to Amanda, jokingly of course, I hope you’re only trying to be amusing. If you were even slightly serious, Amanda would wring our necks. Besides, as I told Amanda, one West woman working for the Agency is more than enough.”
A smile spread across Billy’s face and he let out a belly laugh. “Relax Scarecrow, I’m only kidding. We were lucky enough to get Amanda cleared and given permission to go through all of the Agency training considering the fact that she wasn’t someone we normally recruit. I realized from our first encounter with Amanda that she’s got great instincts and was just what you needed, so I pushed her through. Face it Scarecrow, before Amanda came into your life, you were a loose cannon, living on the edge with no one but yourself to look after. Now you’re a better agent and you don’t give me as many gray hairs as you used to.”
“Gee thanks.” Lee rolled his eyes, and then smiled. “You’re right, though. A few years ago, I’d be denying it up and down, and telling you that you were crazy. But not anymore; I wouldn’t change my life as it is now for anything in the world.”
“Glad to hear it. But I don’t think you or Amanda have anything to worry about; other than Mrs. West’s ability to get you to talk, which probably had more to do with the fact that she’s Amanda’s mother, I don’t think Mrs. West would really fit into to the Agency as well as her daughter does. Then again Amanda, didn’t have the usual qualities we look for in an Agency candidate, and look how well that turned out, she’s been an incredible asset to this organization, and to you, so who knows…” A thoughtful grin spread across his face.
“Billy…” Lee drew out his friend’s name. Then, noticing the time on the clock behind the desk, he decided it was time to get back down to business. “I think we’ve discussed Amanda’s mother enough for one day, don’t you? Besides, I don’t want to leave Amanda alone at the school for very long, especially with the possibility that the KGB might show up at anytime. Were you able to find out anything about this kid that’s going to be at the tournament and if his protectors are going to be KGB or not?”
Billy reached over and picked up a folder from his desk. Nodding, he handed it to Lee. “Yeah, and you’re not going to like what I found out. The champion that the winner of the tournament gets to play is a ten-year-old boy named Aleksandr Molinkof. He’s going to be traveling throughout the United States playing in one tournament after another, and the one at the middle school is his first stop. Since he’s Russia’s newest pride and joy, they’ve assigned their best agents to protect him.”
Lee opened the folder he had just taken from his section chief, and started scanning the contents within it. His eyes grew wide as he saw the names of the agents assigned to Aleksandr, and he jumped to his feet. “You’ve got to be kidding me. The Magician?” He threw the folder back down on the desk and ran a hand through his hair. “Could our luck get any worse? The one KGB agent who could very well recognize Sydney, and we put her right in his path. We sure as hell can’t pull her out of school now without raising all sorts of suspicion.” He started pacing back and forth between the chair and the window. “Damn! Why couldn’t we have known all of this earlier? We could have told Sydney that the school wouldn’t let her visit. Now we really have to come up with a good excuse as to why she can’t attend the tournament.” He stopped when he reached the chair for the third time and looked towards his boss. “Even if we manage to keep Sydney away, I think it would be a good idea to get a few more agents inside the school, ironically the tournament can provide a good cover. Can you arrange to have a few agents attend as spectators?”
Billy nodded. “That’s a great idea, Scarecrow. The team at the school already reported seeing a few flyers advertising the event posted around the school, so it shouldn’t be a problem to have a few of our people walk in off the street. I already put a team at the Embassy, they’ll follow Aleksandr and his bodyguards to the school, and we’ll buzz you when we know he’s in the building.”
“Good. Once we know he’s in the building we’ll find a way to keep a closer eye on Sydney.” Lee moved away from the desk and started pacing again. “Maybe Amanda can come up with a reason to shadow Sydney and Jamie to each of their classes. And with a few agents actually keeping an eye on the Magician, we may get very lucky. However, since the tournament is going to last for three days, we’re going to have to do some fancy footwork to keep the Magician from accidentally crossing paths with Sydney.”
“Scarecrow, sit down or find a place to stand because you’re making me dizzy.” Billy leaned forward in his chair and stared at his agent. “Besides, they just replaced the carpet in here last week, and I don’t need you wearing a hole in it so soon.”
Lee stopped his pacing, and placed his hands on the back of the chair he had vacated a few minutes before. “Sorry Billy, bad habit.” He let out a deep sigh and looked intently at his boss. “Do you ever feel like we’re pawns in someone’s game, and right now he’s laughing at us because he’s cornered our king, and we have to figure out our next move in order to secure the king’s safety once again?”
Billy let out a low chuckle. “I think you’ve got chess on the brain, Scarecrow.”
“Okay, so maybe that explanation was a little to chess-oriented, but think about it, Billy, doesn't it seem just a little too coincidental that the Magician is going to be at the same school where Sydney Bristow is? Children are supposed to be safe at school, aren’t they?” Lee let out an exasperated breath.
“Yes, they are, and we’re doing everything we can to make sure Sydney stays safe. And although it does seem very coincidental,” Billy shrugged as he looked at his agent, “that’s all it is, Scarecrow, a coincidence. Don’t go reading any conspiracy theories into this.”
Lee ran a hand through his hair. “I know. I know. Especially since Jack’s too cautious a man to put his daughter deliberately into a potentially dangerous situation. He brought Sydney here because he figured she’d be safer three-thousand miles away from home.” He let out a sarcastic laugh. “Little did he know…”
“The best laid plans of mice and men…” Billy rose from his seat and smiled. “Anyway, to get back on track, since I don’t want to keep you away from the school for too much longer, I thought you’d like to know that, before you suggested the tournament angle, I had already made arrangements for someone else to be present at the school, to serve as extra on-sight backup for you.”
Lee tilted his head and looked curiously at his boss. “Really? Who?”
Moving around his desk, Billy walked over to the door and opened it. “Desmond! My office now!” Leaving the door ajar, he headed back over to his desk.
“Billy, what are you up to?” Lee eyed his boss suspiciously. He’d only been joking when he made his suggestion about Francine to Billy on the phone last night.
“I took you up on your advice. She’s the perfect candidate, especially since she’s trained dozens of recruits at Station One, and she knows about Sydney.” Billy grinned as he leaned back against his desk.
Lee watched as his friend walked through the bullpen in their direction. “You’re not going to tell her it was my idea,” he turned to look at his boss, “are you?”
“Only if she threatens retribution.” Billy laughed, as Francine entered and shut the door behind her.
“What did you do now, Stetson? Billy was in a good mood before you got here.” Francine looked Lee up and down. “Nice outfit, is that what passes for casual in the suburbs?”
Lee self-consciously glanced down at his attire, and then back up at his friend. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? I’ve worn jeans to the office before.”
Francine shook her head. “It’s not the jeans, it’s the flannel shirt. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never worn flannel, and to make matters worse, it’s checkered. Amanda’s lack of fashion sense is starting to rub off on you.”
Billy cleared his throat. “Before this gets out of hand, I called you in here Francine because I need to give you an assignment.”
“Oh, come on, Billy.” Francine groaned. “Don’t you think you’ve given me enough to do? Between assisting you and running the Q-Bureau,” she glared briefly in Lee’s direction, “I barely have enough time to have a social life. Now you want to throw an actual assignment on top of that. Goodbye life.”
“That’s enough, Francine.” Billy growled and put a hand up to stop any further comments form his assistant. “I’ll admit that you’ve had a lot on your plate lately, but I thought you could handle it; obviously I was wrong. Therefore, while you’re out on assignment I’ll arrange for someone in the steno pool to take over your assistant duties. As far as the Q-Bureau goes, I’ll talk to Beaman and get him to assign one of his junior agents up there temporarily. The situation with Sydney has gotten more complicated and I need you on this, or would you rather take a two week vacation?” As his assistant’s face brightened, he added. “Unpaid of course.”
Francine’s shoulders slumped in resignation, and she let out a long drawn out sigh. “No, I’ll take the assignment, but if you could get someone from steno to handle some of your paperwork that would make my life a little easier; and you don’t need to have Beaman assign someone to the Q-Bureau.” She looked in Lee’s direction. “I don’t need Beaman owing me any favors.” Turning her attention back on her boss, she asked, “So what do you need me to do, hang around Sydney and teach her proper fashion etiquette?” She glanced at Lee’s shirt again and chuckled.
“No, Francine, Amanda and I are doing just fine with Sydney. Billy’s assignment for you is something that’s right up your alley.” Lee grinned from ear to ear as he turned his attention on his boss.
“Lee’s right. I need you to change into your Station One outfit and head over to Arlington Middle School.” Billy tried to keep the humor out of his voice at Francine’s curious glance. “You’re to report to the gym, you’ve just been hired as the new assistant gym teacher.”
Francine’s mouth dropped open and she glared at Billy, then turning slightly, she pointed a finger at her co-worker. “You had something to do with this, didn’t you?” Her face took on a reddish hue as Lee shrugged and appeared to be trying very hard not to laugh. She then turned back to her boss. “Come on, Billy. Isn’t there someone else you can send? Haven’t I put up with enough torture this past week? Being an instructor at Station One isn’t exactly ideal, but it’s better than being ogled by a bunch of adolescent teenage boys.”
Billy shook his head. “Sorry, Francine, but there is no one else. With the exception of Amanda and Dr. Smyth, no one outside this room knows about Sydney. The Magician is going to be chaperoning the Russian prodigy at the chess tournament and we need all the backup we can get inside the school, without attracting a lot of attention.”
Francine rolled her eyes. “Fine, but I don’t have to like it.” She turned on her heels and headed towards the door. As she opened it, she turned back and glared at Lee. “You better watch your back Stetson, I will get even with you for this.” Not giving her co-worker a chance to respond, she exited out of the office and slammed the door shut behind her.
Lee stared at the now closed door. “Guess Amanda was right. I have a feeling I’m going to live to regret this one.” He then turned back to look at his boss, who was no longer holding his laughter in. “Have a good laugh, Billy because I have a feeling she’ll find away to get even with you, too.”
Billy wiped a tear of joy from his eye. “You’re probably right, and I feel a little guilty doing that to her, but boy will it be worth it in the end.”
Lee smiled and shaking his head slightly, let out a chuckle. “I know.” Glancing down at his watch, he realized he had spent way too much time in his boss’ office. “I should probably get going. I need to bring Amanda up to speed on all of this and make arrangements for something exciting to do after school today that will keep both Sydney and Jamie’s minds off of the tournament.” He turned to head out of the office. “Oh, has the team at the middle school been briefed on the Magician yet, or do you need me to do that?”
Billy shook his head. “I took care of it already, I had them meet here extra early this morning and filled them in before they headed over to the school.”
“Great.” Lee nodded at his boss. “Oh, one more thing, have you heard anything from the CIA about Jack?”
“They said he’s making his check-ins, and when I asked if he was on a contact zero assignment, they said he wasn’t.” Billy walked behind his desk. “So I have no idea why he hasn’t called his daughter or even checked in with us to make sure everything’s still quiet. The man’s a mystery.”
“You can say that again.” Lee headed for the door. “Keep in touch if you find out anything new and I’ll try and check in with the teams as much as I can without arousing too much suspicion. If anything urgent happens Amanda and I have our vibrators.” He chuckled. “Leatherneck really could have come up with a better name for these things.” He pointed to the device clipped to his belt.
Billy shrugged his shoulders and sat down in his chair. “Oh, Scarecrow, before you leave, I’m curious about one thing. And this is completely off the record, but did any of your inquiries into Project Christmas pay off?”
Lee kept his face neutral as he put his hand on the doorknob. “Maybe they have, and maybe they haven’t. I’m pleading the fifth.” He shook his head as he saw his boss open his mouth to comment. “Billy, even though you’re asking off the record, I wouldn’t tell you because I don’t want to put you in a position where you’d have to choose between our friendship and doing your job. I really need to get going. I’ll check-in with you later.” Turning the doorknob, he walked out into the bullpen.
Billy shook his head and smiled. He knew Lee Stetson well enough to know that the young man would stop at nothing to get to the bottom of something. Lee’s evasiveness just now had confirmed his suspicions. His top agent had indeed uncovered information on Jack’s secret project.
As he watched his best agent head out of the bullpen, Billy sighed and moved back around his desk. Sitting down in his chair, he picked up a folder from his inbox and wondered, once again, what could be so important about Project Christmas that a twelve-year-old girl might be the key. Sighing, he realized that he’d just have to wait until this whole affair was over before he could get Scarecrow to spill the beans, and Scarecrow would indeed be briefing him on his findings about Project Christmas when all was said and done. Dotty West may be able to give the KGB a run for their money, but he had known the brash young agent a lot longer than she had; and if his friend refused to crack, well he still had a few cards up his sleeve that might do the trick. Opening the file in front of him, he decided to try and get through some of the other issues awaiting his attention before all hell broke loose, and with the way the deck was currently stacked, disaster was definitely in the cards.
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