Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Production Company. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is copyrighted to the author and may not be used without permission.
Synopsis: Amanda is attacked in a random act of violence that has repercussions for the entire family.
WARNING: Graphic violence against women is depicted. Proceed at your own discretion.
Author notes: Feedback is welcome, but if you hate the story and have to trash it, please reply with your concerns privately to my E Mail. This is a hard story to read as it concerns a topic that touches one in four women. Thanks to Beth for her Beta reading, suggestions and support.
Time: After the series is over.
"And The Truth Will Set You Free"
Part 1
"Mother," called Amanda as she hustled down the stairs. "Phillip, Jamie, hurry up. Mother!!"
"I am right here, Amanda," said Dotty emerging from the kitchen with a covered plate in her hands. "Now, here are the cookies. Phillip is waiting to drive you. Lordy, I am so glad you get to teach him and not me. Jamie and I will be along in time for the concert. Now, just go on along. I only wish Lee could be here to see Phillip tonight. Oh, well, such is the life of an international spy, I suppose."
"Mother," Amanda started, rolling her eyes heavenward. "You know better than to talk about that."
"Amanda, I was joking. Now, just calm down and enjoy your evening. It's not everyday your first born gets to perform with a jazz trio of such national reputation, and one with a King in it, of all things. King Edmund, well, I just can't get over it." Dotty shook her head as she went up stairs to change for the evening.
Amanda headed out to the car. Phillip was waiting to drive her to the local theater where tonight's charity concert was going to be held. A lot of Agency people were going to be there tonight, not just for security reasons but to hear Phillip play and she was nervous for him. Phillip was growing up way too fast. He was 16 already , edgy to get his regular driver's license, but Amanda and Lee had impressed on him the importance of being a good driver. They would not give consent for him to go before they knew he was ready to handle the responsibility. Unknown to him, Lee had planned to take Phillip next week. He and Amanda agreed that Phillip was ready and they wanted to surprise him.
So much had been going on in the last 6 weeks that Amanda would be glad when tonight's concert was over, all the refreshments clear away and she could go home and put her feet up. It was exciting to have Phillip chosen to play with King Eddie's trio as part of the "Jazz Up Our Schools" fundraising effort. Amanda was head of the refreshments committee. Phillip had given up the last 3 weeks of his summer vacation to practice all day, every day. King Eddie's trio was the headliner of the concert and the tickets had been sold out for weeks.
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Part 2
The concert was a resounding success and the bake sale/refreshments went over very well. Amanda and the other volunteers stayed after the rest of the crowd had left to do the clean up. Phillip had gone home with Dotty since tomorrow was a school day and Amanda didn't know how late she would be cleaning up. Billy had stayed behind to compliment Amanda on all her hard work. He was about to start helping clean up. Francine had to drag him away. The two had ridden together and Francine had to drop Billy by the office before she could get home.
Finally the last of the trash was emptied, the ice buckets dumped out and dried. The few leftovers were taken by Mr. Johnson to be put in the teachers lounge as a morning treat along with a note explaining their origins. Amanda sighed as she locked the door behind the group as they walked to their cars. Henry Johnson, one of the music teachers at the school, had stayed to help and he waited until all the women were in their cars and safely on the road before leaving the theater parking lot. Amanda Stetson, whose son Phillip had performed well tonight, waved as she turned left and he turned to the right, headed to the nearby all night grocery to pick up some ice cream for his pregnant wife.
Amanda got about 5 blocks before she noticed a strange thumping sound. Pulling over under a streetlight, she got out and circled the car. "Oh, great," she muttered to herself. "A flat tire is all I need. Maybe I can find someone to change it for me."
She looked up and down the street but it was deserted. A shiver ran through her but she dismissed the uneasy feeling and reached for the car phone.
"Mother, yes, I am on my way home, but, .. yes the concert was wonderful and everyone was so impressed, Mother…Mother, MOTHER, will you please let me talk?" Amanda loved her mother but was sometimes impatient when she rambled on and on like she did. Thank heavens she didn't suffer the same problem. "Mother , I have a flat. Yes, I am SURE it is flat. Well, I am going to change it of course. Yes, Mother, I do know how, it's one of those things they teach you in spy school ,you know. " She said, gently teasing her mother. "Well, I just wanted you to know I would be delayed. Is Lee home? No? Well, have you heard from him? No, ok, well ,I'd better get going on this or I'll never get home. Yes, I am always careful, you know that. I'm on Elm near Woodington. Yes, just past the new dress shop. Can you stay with the boy's until I get there? Thanks, Mother. Bye."
Amanda knew how to change a tire. She had known before joining the Agency but they really had taught that in basic training. She just didn't have to do so often and was not looking forward to the task. Muttering under her breath about "stupid tires and flats and where is a husband when you need him", she got down to work. Amanda had the jack out and in position and was trying to loosen the nuts when she got that crawling feeling down her spine that meant something was not right.
Amanda stood and turned to find a man standing about 10 feet behind her. Holding the tire iron in front of her she asked "Can I help you?"
"Well," he began, "maybe you're the one who needs help. Shall I change that tire for you, ma'am?" he asked.
"No, thanks, I have it under control. My husband is on his way, " she instinctively lied. Something about this guy made her uneasy. But, hey, she was trained by the Agency to take care of herself. She could do this.
"Really, please let me help," the stranger insisted, drawing closer. "I can loosen those nuts much easier than a little thing like yourself. Man, I think they use super glue to put them on with at the shop, don't you?"
Amanda backed up against the car. "No," she insisted, "Thank you but I'm fine. If you wouldn't mind going down to see if my husband is almost here, that would help." She said the last with a smile as the man nodded politely and turned to walk to the end of the street. She watched him standing at the corner, peering both directions and turned back to the car. Succeeding in loosing the stubborn nuts, Amanda jacked up the car. She had glanced up to see the stranger still standing at the corner then turned back to wrestle the tire off the axle.
Amanda had just put the flat tire in the trunk when that creepy feeling came back over her. Her hand closed around the tire iron and she swung around as the stranger tried to grab her from behind. The tire iron hit him on the forearm and he swore in pain. Amanda drew her arm back again for another strike but his fist lashed out at her. She ducked, missed her swing and was trapped against the trunk. Pushing backward, searching for a way to escape Amanda felt the car rock on it's shaky jack. Pushing harder against the trunk, Amanda succeeded in knocking the car off the jack and it fell with a loud crash. In the deafening silence that followed, Amanda screamed at the top of her lungs.
The man cursed, swinging his fist towards her again, connecting with her shoulder. Amanda scrambled for room to fight, her weeks of unarmed combat training coming back to her. But the assailant was giving her nowhere to run. She was pinned against the car. Desperate, she feinted to one side and tried to dash out the small opening the man left on his right side. She almost got through but he grabbed her sweater.
Quickly pulling her arms out of the sleeves, Amanda kicked off her heels and began to run into the bushes ahead of her. The man gave chase, he was right behind her. Amanda tripped in the dark over a large rock and went down on the ground. The stranger threw himself on top of her and put his hand over her mouth as she drew breath to scream once again. Amanda struggled but had struck her head in the fall and was dizzy. She succeeded in raising her knee to his groin and heard a muffled yelp when she felt it connect. But the assailant did not let go.
"So, you want to play rough?" He drew back his hand and struck her face repeatedly until Amanda was barely conscious. "Now, " he said with savage satisfaction in his voice, "Now, let's have some fun."
Part 3
Lee arrived home disappointed that his flight from New York had been delayed. It had caused him to miss the concert. He knew that Phillip would understand but he also knew that the boy would be disappointed that his step-father had missed seeing the crowds reaction.
Lee knew that the Agency would have video taped the concert for security reason and vowed to get hold of the tape, suitably edited, for the family to keep. Well, being the senior agent did entitle him to some perks after all.
Lee was surprised to find Dotty at the house and Amanda not returned home yet. It was almost midnight and Amanda was not given to staying at these charity things that late.
"Hey, guys, I'm home," he called as he entered the back door, smiling to himself. Even after all these years, he still preferred entering the house that way. Tromping footsteps announced that neither Phillip nor Jamie was in bed
"Lee, hey, great you're home. Man, the concert was so great. You should have been there. King Eddie rocks!! He invited me to visit him next summer, do you think I can?" Phillip rambled on. He was so like his mother.
Dotty entered the kitchen as Lee had just finished hugging Jamie. She made a bee line for him and enfolded him in her arms. "Oh, Lee, welcome home, how was your trip? Are you hungry? I think there is some leftover Beef Wellington in the fridge. Let me warm it up for you. Now what are you two scamps doing still up? Get, get, get, back to bed, both of you. Your mother will have my hide if you're still up when she gets home."
"Speaking of my wife," Lee still felt a warm glow whenever he could say those words in front of his new family. "Where is she? I thought she'd be home by now."
"Well, she called about 10 minutes ago. Seems like she has a flat tire and had to stop and fix it. I don't know why she hasn't bought those new tires that don't go flat…Well, listen to me ramble on. Anyway, she was changing the tire and asked me to stay until she or you got home."
"I'll just give her a call, see if she needs any help. You know how these 'weak, helpless females' are," Lee said with a wink to the boys as they grinned back at him. "Now, your grandmother is right, you two, get back to bed and go to sleep or at least make your mother think you are when she gets home, deal?"
"Yeah, right. Wouldn't want to upset Mom," they agreed, saying goodnight to their grandmother and going back to their rooms.
Lee crossed to the phone and punched in Amanda's number. It rang and rang as Lee listened, growing concerned.
"There was no answer?" Dotty asked. Lee shook his head, digging his keys out of his pocket. "Well, she said she was on Elm near Woodington."
"Thanks, Dotty, I'll just go see if she needs any help." Lee answered and, whistling, headed out to surprise his wife.
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Amanda struggled to keep calm. It was clear what the man wanted and if she could just stay calm, Amanda knew that she had a good chance of getting away with little more than a scare. His hands groped her body and began to kiss her lips. She forced herself not to react. Let him think she was stilled dazed; it would lower his guard. She felt his weight lift off hers for a moment but even as a plan began to form in her mind he was back. He was grabbing her face again.
"Oh, God," thought Amanda sickly, "he's not… "
But he was. He pushed her mouth open and pushed himself inside of it. Amanda gagged and then opened her mouth as far as it would go. The man smiled in pleasure. "See, just enjoy and it will be good for both of us," he moaned. Pushing deeper for a moment he pulled back, intent of on making her caress him at the same time. Her hands came up willingly and cupped his balls. He began to push forward again when he felt a searing pain. The little bitch had bitten him!! He pulled out of her. That act was followed by another agony as she twisted his balls like she was trying to tear them off while she screamed like a banshee. Angered beyond reason, the man grabbed her by the throat and squeezed until she lay unmoving under him.
Now he was mad. "Stupid little bitch," he thought. "All I wanted was a bit of fun and she just about castrated me. Well, she's gonna pay now. I'm gonna hurt her."
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Lee arrived at Amanda's car to find it deserted. It had fallen off the jack and his first though was that Amanda was trapped underneath. He grabbed the flashlight and peered under the car but saw no sign of her. Looking around he spotted her sweater on the ground and the tire iron laying nearby. Lee began to get a bad feeling about this scene. Looking in the front seat he saw that her purse was still there and the keys were on the seat beside the phone.
Lee returned to his car and put in a call to the agency for a response team. It looked like Amanda had been abducted. He pulled his gun and looked around. Standard procedure in this case was to wait for back up but Lee Stetson had never obeyed the rules in his life and wasn't about to start now. He went looking.
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Amanda groggily shook her head. She felt the cool night air on her legs. As awareness returned fully, she remembered where she was and what was happening. The stranger had pushed her skirt up around her waist and was pulling her undergarments down. She struggled to escape him but he struck her again. Dizzy, Amanda knew that she had to keep fighting. She knew that if she didn't get home soon that Mother would come looking for her. Amanda scooted back, trying desperately trying to put space between her and her attacker. If she could get to her feet, maybe she could find a weapon, a branch or a rock. At this point she would settle for a handful of dirt but the ground they were lying on was hard packed and nothing would scrape up.
The attacker turned back and caught at her ankle, pulling her back towards him with a snarl. "You are not getting away from me, you little witch." He pushed her down and threw himself on top of her, intent on inflicting injury and agony.
Amanda drew a deep breath, disregarding the agony in her throat. She screamed again and again with all her might. The attacker casually back handed her across the face and prepared to enter her. Amanda's cries dwindled to heart breaking sobs, calling for Lee.
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Lee heard a rustling in the underbrush, he paused trying to locate the sound. He heard the sound of a blow and then Amanda's scream. He tensed, not knowing which way to go, the sound having echoed off the building surrounding the area causing him to have trouble tracking the direction.
"Lee, Lee, oh, Lee, please help me!!" he heard the soft cries coming from his left. Circling around he broke through the screen of bushes and encountered a gruesome sight. There was Amanda and some scum on top of her, trying to rape her. Lee hurled himself across the intervening space and drug the man off of Amanda, throwing him backward. He spared a glance for Amanda, seeing her disheveled condition and rage ran like a fire through him. Kneeling beside her, he tried to comfort her but she was too disoriented to register his presence and tried to push him away.
Lee turned to see Amanda's attacker getting up. He crossed to the creep and began to hit him. The man tried to defend himself but he was no match for Lee's fury and training. The sight that had greeted Lee as he entered the clearing filled his mind and he wanted to beat the man who had dared to touch his wife to a bloody pulp. The man soon collapsed to the ground and Lee straddled him, continuing to strike repeatedly, filled with rage.
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"Lee, Lee…LEE, stop, stop!" Lee felt hands pulling him back and realized that he was no longer alone in the clearing. Francine was standing next to Amanda, covering her with a blanket. For one heart stopping moment, Lee thought he had been too late, that Amanda was dead. But Francine was helping Amanda sit up, using the blanket to cover her torn and bloody clothes. Billy had pulled Lee away from the man on the ground. Leading Lee away, Billy started to speak but Lee interrupted him.
"Wait, Billy, we've got to cuff him, don't let him get away," Lee began.
"OK, Scarecrow, it's ok. He won't get away." Billy spoke soothingly to Lee. He led Lee out to the street where an ambulance had just pulled in. The paramedics headed to Lee but Billy jerked his head back to the clearing. "Back there," he said. "Rape victim, one of ours. This is her husband."
Two paramedics continued the journey towards Amanda while the other sat Lee on the back step of the ambulance and began to tend to his hands. Lee just now was noticing that his knuckles were battered and bloody, the skin broken in many places. It felt like he may have broken a couple of bones as well. He sat numbly while the paramedic tended to his wounds.
Soon the other paramedics emerged from the underbrush with Amanda on a stretcher. They had an IV in her arm and Lee tried to jump up to go to her. Billy held him back, "Let them do their job, Scarecrow. Francine is with her." Lee shook him off and lurched over to his precious wife, the light of his life. She was battered and bruised, her face puffy from the blows that had been inflicted and her throat was a mass of red marks. It looked as if the attacker had tried to strangle her.
Lee held out his hand and the paramedics stopped beside him. He took her hand in his, looking at his fragile flower of a wife. She barely raised her eyes to his but whispered. "I knew you would come for me. You always do." And then she fell silent. The paramedics motioned him back and he let go of her hand with a lingering kiss as they placed her in the ambulance. Francine climbed in behind her and sirens wailing in the night, they whisk her away from him.
Lee turned to Billy, cold fury radiating from every nerve. Another ambulance had arrived as well as the police. The paramedics approached Billy who again gestured with his head to the underbrush. With a questioning look, they began gathering their gear when Billy stopped them with a hand. Slowly shaking his head, he indicated that it was not needed. Leaving the stretcher behind one of the paramedics entered the woods while the other approached the police officer headed their way and quietly conferred before disappearing into the woods with his partner. He soon returned with his partner and drove off.
"Billy, what's going on?" Lee demanded. "I know that creep is going to need medical attention. Why did they leave?" The detective approaching him distracted his attention.
"Stetson, Melrose, " he acknowledged them with a nod. Lee and Billy had worked with Castleberry in the past and knew he was a good man to have around. "Like to tell me what's going on?"
Quickly Lee opened his mouth to explain only to be stopped by Billy's hand on his arm.
"Stetson's wife was attacked on her way home." He stated baldly. "Lee came looking for her and caught the man in the act of raping her. He stopped the attack and ended the threat."
"Oh, really," replied Castleberry. "That must have been tough to walk in on. You OK, Stetson?"
Lee nodded. Suddenly he couldn't talk and felt sick to his stomach. "Billy," he began. "Why didn't they bring him out of the woods? Don't tell me he got away."
Billy and Castleberry looked at him with pity in their eyes.
"No, Lee," said Billy. "He didn't get away."
"Then what? Billy," Lee demanded, his voice harsh with fear. "Tell me!"
"He's dead, Lee." Billy said bluntly. "You killed him with your bare hands."
To Be Continued.