The Whole Enchilada
Set in Season Three – Immediately Before Over the Limit.
Synopsis: Francine and Amanda come to an uneasy truce when forced to work together at a Taco Stand. Complications between Lee and Amanda ensue (Don't they always?).
Disclaimers and Caveats: Scarecrow and Mrs. King was created by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, and is a production of Shoot The Moon Enterprises, in conjunction with Warner Bros. Studios. Shoot The Moon Enterprises, Ltd. is owned by Kate Jackson. Scarecrow and Mrs. King was filmed at the Burbank Studios and surrounding areas in Burbank, California. Stock footage filmed in Washington, D.C. during the first season. Regrettably, I still do not own the characters, but I did take them out for another spin. Also very regrettably, I will not receive any remuneration – this was also just for fun.
Warning (especially for purists): For the story to make sense you will need to suspend disbelief and imagine that the Wrong Way Home takes place before Over the Limit. Also, Amanda offers Francine chocolate in this story - but only because virtually all women like chocolate.
This story sequentially follows my previous story Highland Fling. Reading that will help provide background, but is not essential to this story. As one reader pointed out about Highland Fling – What about Leslie? Hopefully this story provides that missing link!
The Whole Enchilada – Chapter One
"Somehow, I just can't picture you serving Chaco's Taco's with a smile, Francine." Lee quipped, leaning back in a chair in Billy's office.
"As a professionally trained agent," Francine shot Amanda an underhanded look, "I can assume any role necessary."
"Have you ever eaten a taco, Francine?" Amanda asked dryly, knowing she was treading on dangerous ground.
"I've been to Acapulco on vacation." Francine responded with a lift of her chin, evading a direct response to the question.
"Burrito, Chimichanga, Enchilada….refried beans?" Lee countered with suppressed laughter in his voice.
"If you two have quite finished your Abbot and Costello routine, some of us need to focus on work here." Francine responded starchly.
"All right, children," Billy interjected, "Lee does have a point, Francine. As a professionally trained agent and my assistant, there are many roles we can use you in for this assignment. I know we can depend on you…", he placated her.
Francine nodded stiffly and rose, turning sharply to the door; her notepad held as a shield in front of her chest. She did not appreciate being their figure of fun and did not need to waste any more of her valuable time this morning.
As Francine all but slammed the door behind her, Lee bent over in laughter that could no longer be contained. Even Billy had a subtle smile as he attempted to regain his composure by reading his notes from their briefing.
Amanda scolded them. "Lee, she'll hear you!….And sir, I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm sure Francine would be just fine serving tacos…." She sighed in exasperation as Lee went off into peals of laughter and even Billy chortled. "But sir, if there is anything else that she would be more comfortable doing, I have had to make Spanish rice, beans and tacos for Jaime and Philip's international banquet this past year. It might be more up my alley…."
She broke off, looking nervously over her shoulder at the door. Francine would be sure to overhear this, and if she didn't everyone else in the bullpen would and the news would make a lightning fast rounds to Francine Desmond's highly trained and attentive ear. If there was one thing Amanda had learned over the past two and half years at the agency, nothing got past Francine Desmond. She also knew that while Francine might be annoyed with Billy and Lee for their responses; she would take it out on Amanda for having been the one to witness it. Amanda sighed again, she really didn't need any more complications in her life.
"Actually, Amanda. I suspect I will need you both working at the Taco stand. It is the only place that we know is a consistent drop. I'd want someone there with you as backup….And I suspect Francine will need assistance with the taco assembly, as well." Billy finished with a slight smile.
Amanda nodded quickly in acquiescence, her eyes bright with curiosity. "Just who are we tracking, sir?"
"It's a splinter guerrilla organization, Quetzal Sun. We think they're smuggling state of the art anti-aircraft weapons and portable surface to air missiles from sites all over the country. But the ringleaders we believe are right here in Maryland."
Lee butted in, "Billy, are you sure it should be Francine with Amanda, what about…"
Billy cut him off, "I'm sure, Lee. We are planning on having you go undercover into Quetzal Sun. Francine and Amanda will be your contacts, by keeping them at Chaco's Taco stand, it will be in keeping with their already established routines." Billy pointed to the file in front of him, as he gazed urgently at the pair of agents. "We're getting a lot of heat on this one from the Pentagon."
"Not just from the picante sauce, eh, Billy?" Lee riposted. His tone became serious as he reached over to take the file from Billy's desk. "Joking aside, Billy….we get it. We'll nail this one." He reassured his boss. Billy nodded, wearily, the weight of the country seemed to rest on his broad shoulders.
No one person should have to shoulder so many burdens, thought Amanda as she took her cue and rose gracefully from the opposing chair. She often worried about her superior whose kindness and solid common sense they all relied on. She looked back over her left shoulder at him, concern wrinkling her forehead .
Lee's hand rested on the small of her back as he gently guided her from the office. If there was one thing he understood, it was when a man needed to be alone with his thoughts. And, after all, they had a job to do….
--
"Are you ready yet?" Lee called impatiently from the bottom of the stairs. He paced impatiently from Amanda's living room to her kitchen and back. He just couldn't understand women and packing. How long did it take to throw a couple of jeans and shirts into a bag?
Amanda rushed down the stairs, clad in jeans and a pink t-shirt with an overnight bag looped over her shoulder. She quickly patted down her hair, adjusting the headband across her forehead. "Ready! Sorry, I couldn't begin packing until Joe picked up the boys and Mother went to the hairdresser. She wants to dye it red and asked me what I thought. I mean what do you say when someone asks you something that you just know will be a really bad choice? I had to figure "Is she asking because she wants my opinion or is she asking just because she wants me to agree with her?" I never do know how to answer those questions. You're bound to make a mistake either way, you know? Anyway, she decided to stay as a blonde because blondes have more fun….which I think might have been a comment on my social life, but I chose to overlook it." She paused for breath, "So, do I look alright?" she asked brightly, looking up at Lee.
He swallowed, commenting on Amanda's appearance had begun to make him nervous ever since he had started paying attention to it in the past few months. "Well that depends, are you looking for my opinion or do you want me to agree with you?" Amanda looked startled and he revised with a quick smile. "Just joking, Amanda, Yeah, um…you look just fine." She looked better than fine. Fresh and sunny, and good enough to eat. Amanda looked lovely in the slim evening gowns she favored, but he had to admit he liked her best just as she was right now. She was beautiful without being fussy. He cleared his throat and looked away. "Speaking of blondes…you going to be OK paired up with Francine?"
Amanda lifted one shoulder in a small shrug, and gave a quick smile but looked away from Lee as she responded. "It's just a long weekend…how bad can it be?"
"Hey there….don't let her rattle you." Lee gently grasped Amanda by both shoulders and leaned back and cocked his head to catch her eyes. "She's more nervous about this assignment than you are, anyway."
"Fearless Francine, nervous? I don't think so, Lee" Amanda laughed, but without much humor.
Lee gently rubbed her upper arms. "Francine cooking?! She doesn't have a good history with that Amanda! And she is never quite as confident as she looks, remember that!"
Amanda nodded quietly; she took in his darkened hair and olive drab fatigues. "So, it looks like you're in character then?"
"Yeah, Miguel Santiago, at your service. Dealer of arms, jack of all trades…" He gave her a jocular smile and a mock bow.
"You'll be careful, won't you?" Her fingertips rested lightly on his chest as she looked searchingly into his hazel eyes.
"I'm always careful, Amanda."
Amanda snorted delicately in response. "Sell it to someone who's buying, Scarecrow."
"All right, all right." Lee pulled her in for a light hug and brushed a quick kiss across her forehead. "I'll be even more careful. You ready to go?" He released her reluctantly.
Amanda nodded, a little surprised at his affectionate gesture, but loving it all the same. "Ready to face the dragon."
"I'm gonna tell her you said that!" Lee taunted.
"Lee Stetson, don't you dare!" Amanda replied, closing the door behind her. She didn't need even more trouble with Francine, especially if they were going to spend the next three days together.
--
Francine gazed with dismay at the trailer that she and Amanda would be sharing for the next three days.
"Oh this is just great, Mr. Chaco." Amanda enthused, "Frannie and I didn't know it would be so close by. It has a great yard. It's even better than the photo we saw." She gently elbowed the blonde next to her. Francine turned a glacial look on her, was Amanda getting soft? How could she manufacture such enthusiasm for trailer park housing?
"Just great, Mandy." Francine ground out as she gingerly entered the single-wide trailer.
"Girls, girls….call me Chaco.! Nice that you're best friends if you're going to be working together. Drop off your stuff and I'll take you on a tour of my Taco Kingdom."
Behind his rotund figure, Francine rolled her eyes. Amanda glanced through the trailer. Worn, but serviceably clean. It could have been a lot worse. "Now girls, there's just one bed, but this here is a pull-out sofa." He kicked the sofa covered in avocado and brown plaid tweed. "The television works a treat for channels 8 and 13, otherwise the picture's a might fuzzy." He turned around to look up and down the two attractive slim figures facing him. "I know you're both gonna be mighty popular around here!" He laughed suggestively.
Amanda smiled uncertainly, but pulled back on Francine's elbow as the broad man turned his back. The last thing they needed to insure the success of this mission was the petite blonde drop kicking her new boss into next week.
"You know you two were the only ones to respond to my ad?" He called back to the two women following him only a short walk to the food service trailer proudly emblazoned with "CHACO's MIGHTY TACOS" in yellow and red on the side.
"Imagine that!" Francine commented sourly, following him into the trailer. She knew the agency had made sure that their response was the only one he would receive. Lucky her. Sometime in her childhood, she must have done something very wrong and she was being cosmically punished by this assignment.
In the narrow confines of the trailer, Chaco instructed them in the daily routine and the assembly of his "mighty taco". In addition, the trailer served as a small kind of general store, selling cigarettes and fish bait, as well. Francine shuddered inwardly as each new undignified chore was demonstrated. It was just her luck to be assigned with Miss Congeniality, who wore a sunny smile as if this was just a slice of heaven being presented to her on a crystal platter.
She pointed to the brass medallion hanging from a black cord on the cork board tacked up over some grease spattered notes and phone numbers. "Your good luck piece?" she asked.
"Well, now, little girl….you might just say that." Chaco laughed briefly. "I have a special service for a very special customer. He's a private guy and he trusts me to get some…messages…out to his friends. When we have customers wearing a red bandana stuck through their belt, we sometimes a get a message to pass on for my friend. You'll keep the message right here." He showed them a narrow drawer that slid almost invisibly from below the counter. "When a guy wearing a necklace just like that one comes, you slip the message in the napkin for his order." He lay his finger against the side of his nose and winked suggestively. "These are good guys to be friends with, girls! And they sure like company from the likes of you." He positively leered.
Francine heard Amanda quietly gasp behind her. She smiled at Chaco and replied with sugary sweetness. "Aren't we just so lucky, Mandy?"
Amanda responded with a noncommittal murmur. "So when do we start…Chaco?"
"Now's as good a time as any." He responded and passed them each a red and yellow garish apron. Amanda fastened hers quickly in a business-like fashion and set to preparing the bins of chopped lettuce and tomato. Francine lowered hers slowly over her coiffed blonde hair. This could be the longest three days of her life.
A few hours later, she sank into the thin cushions of that detestable sofa and groaned. She no longer wondered. This would be the longest three days of her life. She lifted an incredulous glance at Amanda who was bustling about the kitchen just beyond her. "What are you doing?" she inquired.
"Getting dinner on." Amanda called out over her shoulder. "Hamburgers and potato salad, unless you want a taco." Her voice had a teasing note.
"I don't want to think about tacos, touch one or smell one for the rest of my life." Francine shot back.
"Can't say I blame you, there!" Amanda replied with rueful humor.
Francine shook her head. At least Amanda wasn't a whiner. If anything, the woman was indefatigable. She reluctantly said, "Need any help?"
"No, all set!" Amanda cheerily replied
"OK, then!"
"Until it's time to wash the dishes, anyway."
Oh. So there was a catch. She had learned a bit about the housewife from Arlington today; there was a tough core to that woman. Reluctantly, she had to admit, she wasn't all bad. Amanda had taken quickly to the routines of making and serving the tacos. She had shouldered the lion's share of the work and hidden Francine's ineptitude in food preparation from Chaco's intermittent observations. Amanda had coped with the leering and the flirting of most of Chaco's customer base with a small smile and quiet banter of her own. She would have figured that Amanda would have been overwhelmed by the rough and tumble crew of men she had faced, but she had stood her ground. And, after all that, she was preparing dinner while Francine was ready to go down for the count. Go figure. She rose and wearily made her way to sit in the kitchen while Amanda browned the burgers and mixed the cooked potatoes with mayo.
"You had some admirer's there today, Amanda."
Amanda shrugged quickly, she would have rather forgotten most of them. "There was that one who was kind of intense…the wiry shorter one with the gold ring. I think he was pretty interested in you." Amanda responded.
Francine sighed, but preened nonetheless. "That was Jose Rosado. I was able to ID him from agency photos. He's the leader of their merry band of men. It wouldn't be a bad thing to see if I could soften him up a bit."
"Did you see Lee today?" Amanda asked hesitantly.
Well there was no surprise, Amanda's thoughts were never very far away from him. "No. But I overheard some of them talking about the new hotshot, Miguel. He must be making some kind of impression. Lee's fluent in Spanish, and he can negotiate with the best of them. I'm sure he's doing just fine, Amanda." She found herself reassuring Amanda.
Amanda shrugged and gave Francine a quick smile as she slid the filled dinner plate in front of her new roommate. "Thanks, Francine."
Francine took a grateful bite of hamburger and swallowed. "Honest to goodness American food. Thank you, Amanda!"
Amanda laughed softly, "Well, it isn't haute cuisine, but I'm glad you like it!" She never would have guessed that she and Francine would have such an easy camaraderie.
"Want to watch TV after supper?" Francine asked.
"Sure, do we know what's on channel 8 or 13?" Amanda laughed.
"With our luck it will be wrestling or a rodeo, but at least we could check out the cowboys." Francine cracked.
It turned out to be a soppy, made for TV romance. They finished half a box of tissues between them as they both curled up on the lumpy sofa.
As the credits rolled, Francine said "You know what I really need right now?"
Amanda searched through her purse and produced a Hershey bar "Chocolate?"
Francine laughed out loud, "Yes!! Amanda you are the best roommate of all time!"
Amanda laughed, surprised at the playful banter between Francine and herself. She had pictured a far more difficult situation. "You only get half!"
"What if I tell you about the time that Lee ended up being arrested in Monaco?" she asked craftily. She had negotiated herself three quarters of a chocolate bar by feeding into Amanda's insatiable curiosity about her partner.
They chattered fairly amicably for another hour, though Francine managed to get in a few barbs which Amanda chose to ignore. Amanda offered to take the sofa and Francine gratefully headed off to the relative privacy of the tiny bedroom. All in all, she reflected, she could begin to understand why Lee so liked working with Amanda, after all.
--
The truck wheeled quickly into the dusty parking space near the taco stand, and four men spilled out of the bed of the truck and headed for lunch.
Two men in fatigues with red bandanas threaded through their belt loops climbed out of the cab and followed at a slight distance.
"Hey Miguel, Rosado said hands-off the blonde, she's his. But the brunette is 'bellisimo' and ripe for the taking, if you know what I mean." The man named Diego adjusted his clothing and laughed. "We'll have to see if you're the ladies man you bragged you are. I bet you can't get her to go out with you tonight."
A slow smile lazed across Lee's face. "I'm a betting man. How much would you like to wager, Diego?"
"Hey, she wasn't easy, you know. All of us tried yesterday." Diego looked with a calculating glance at the trailer. "I bet you fifty if you walk right up now and ask her she'll say no."
"How much time do I get?" Lee hazarded. It always took Amanda a few minutes to be talked into anything.
"Fifteen minutes, man."
"Deal!" He turned and winked at the tall guerrilla before striding toward the Taco stand alone.
--
Lee waited until the men had their lunches in hand and were lounging in the shade of a far oak tree.
"Hey blondie, you look cute in an apron!" Lee called through the window.
Francine glared at him. "Can I help you?" she asked him with saccharine sweetness.
"I'd like two tacos, extra hot with sour cream. A coke and smile, Hot Stuff." Lee gave a cocky grin.
Francine began loading his tacos from stem to stern with jalapenos. She'd give him hot stuff, all right.
Amanda began systematically removing the jalapenos as she added them. "Francine, honey, remember we have be nice to the customers." Francine sniffed and turned away to fill the soda order.
She whispered out the window "Stop trying to antagonize her, Honestly! You think it's easy working in this hot trailer all day?"
"Well, now, no, I don't imagine it is, maybe I could take you away from all this tonight. Want to go for a ride in my truck and grab a couple beers after work?"
"What?!" She hissed disbelievingly.
"Amanda," Lee murmured, "Smile at me and look like you're happy, OK? I need to connect with you tonight and this is the only cover we can get. Besides if you don't go out with me, there's a dozen guys ready to break down your trailer door this evening, instead."
"They only are interested in Amanda?" Francine looked affronted as she passed him his cola.
"No Francine," he placated her. "They just know they'll get their fingers broken by Rosado if they approach you. He's taken quite a fancy to you….Look Francine, can Amanda take a quick break so we can make this look real?"
"Well, of course….Miguel. How could a lady refuse you.?" Francine's tone dripped sarcasm.
Amanda slipped out the side of the retro silver trailer. She leaned her back against the side of the trailer, and Lee rested his forearm against the trailer just over her head as he leaned in to speak confidingly to her. To all appearances, they appeared to the other customers like a case of instant attraction. Amanda could feel her pulse begin to flutter as it always did whenever Lee was this close to her.
She looked beguiling, he reflected. Just hesitant enough, to be believable. But her smile lit up her face as she talked to him. She was skilled at dissembling, her talent might exceed his own. He found it very hard to playact attraction to Amanda when he was swamped with the real thing.
"Do you have a message to pass on to us?" Amanda whispered to him quietly.
"Not from Rosado." Lee scanned the surroundings with a casualness that was deceiving. "I'm pretty certain that he gave one to Diego there," he nodded toward the man at the counter with Francine. "You'll need to copy it quickly before the pickup arrives. See if you can establish any pattern to the time of the pickups. We think there's only a one time per day pickup, but we're not sure. Speaking of pickups, it's important that you agree to come with me tonight, Amanda. Honestly…for your own safety. It's better if the men think you're spoken for."
"Am I?" she hazarded.
"What?"
"Spoken for?" she whispered with her fingertips lightly tracing her own collarbone in unconscious flirtation.
"Yes!!" he spoke fiercely and pulled her up a quick claiming kiss that was as effective as stamping a brand on her to all the men who observed from a distance.
"Well, um….OK, then….what time should I expect you?" she asked, her cheeks coloring slightly.
"How about eight?"
"Eight." She nodded.
Damn, he felt good. An evening with Amanda and fifty bucks to collect from Diego. A cocky smile hovered around his lips as he returned to Diego under the shade of the oak tree across from the Taco stand. Life was good.