Best Laid Plans...
Chapter 1
By Lori Cona
**Disclaimer** Scarecrow and Mrs King is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot
the Moon Production Company. The story however, is copyrighted to the author. This
story is for entertainment purposes only and cannot be redistributed without the
permission of the author.
Timeframe: A few months after Lee and Amanda's wedding.
Synopsis: Lee and Amanda's weekend plans are interrupted...again.
Amanda looked up from her desk as the door to the Q Bureau opened. "Oh, hi," she said
brightly, leaning back in her chair.
Lee meandered over to her desk and casually propped a hip on one corner. "So, anything
new this morning?" he asked, a half-smile playing across his lips.
Amanda gazed up at him wryly. "Not yet. What's up? You look like the cat that ate the
canary."
"Well, I guess you could say that," he smiled, leaning toward her conspiratorially. "I've
got plans to spend a whole weekend alone with my wife. Starting tonight. A little cabin
in the Poconos, crackling fire, a nice Cabernet..."
Amanda feigned indignation. "Are you telling me you've been married all this time? I
can't believe I've been carrying on with a married man! That's it, Stetson," she
threatened, standing up and poking one long finger into his chest. "It's either me or her.
Time to choose."
Lee stood up and pulled her close to him, linking his hands behind her back. They smiled
into each other's eyes. "I have to say that I made that choice a long time ago. Or should
I say I had it made for me?" he murmured, dipping his head to touch her lips with his.
At the sound of a knock at the door they sprang apart guiltily. "I'm getting too old for
this," Lee muttered, running a hand through his hair. Amanda hid a smile behind her hand
as he strode to the door and jerked it open. A frustrated frown marred his brow as he
glared at the man waiting patiently in the hallway.
Billy stood on the other side of the door, an innocent smile creasing his face. "May I
come in?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
Lee stepped back and pulled the door open wider. "Um, sure, Billy, we were just..."
"Working, yes, I know. I've noticed that you two have had a lot to work on lately," Billy
smiled, coming into the room and facing his two best agents. "And I'm happy to see you
'working' so well together." Lee and Amanda exchanged abashed glances.
Lee rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, well," he began, "we -"
Billy held up his hands. "I didn't come here to get into that. We have a minor problem,
and I want you and Amanda to handle it."
Amanda snapped to attention. "Yes, sir. What is it?" She moved over to stand beside
Lee in front of her desk.
Melrose handed them a thin file. "Lee, do you remember a few years back, a man by the
name of Rhodes? He had his fingers in some pretty nasty pies, but always managed to
pull them out before we snapped the trap on him."
Lee skimmed the file thoughtfully, his index finger tapping a grainy black and white
photograph of Raymond Rhodes. "Yeah, now that you mention it, he was slippery. Just
a two-bit con, wasn't he? I still don't understand how he managed to outsmart some of
the best-trained field agents we had. He didn't come across as all that bright," he said
derisively. He glanced at Amanda. "This was before you really became involved with the
Agency."
Amanda leaned over to look at Rhodes' picture. "What is it that you need us to do, sir?"
Billy wandered over to Lee's desk, studying the items littering the surface. As usual,
everything was in disarray, the complete opposite of Amanda's orderly desktop. His gaze
came to rest on Scarecrow's open day timer and he paused. "Not too much, just some
casual surveillance. Some things have been popping up here and there, things that seem
to have Rhodes' particular touch. We don't have much to go on." Billy turned to face
them, beaming. "Should be a snap." He ambled over to the door of the Q Bureau and
opened it, looking back over his shoulder. "Rhodes turned up in the Poconos the day
before yesterday, and all you two have to do is bring him back here by Sunday night. You
can mix business with pleasure." With that, he slipped out the door, closing it in his
wake.
"Billy!" Lee shouted, ripping the door open. "Damn it, Billy, get back here!" Lee turned
back into the office, teeth clenched in frustration and anger. "How does he do that?
Every single time we get a chance..." He slammed the door shut again and threw his
hands in the air. "I'm beginning to think he has supernatural powers or something," he
grumbled, looking over at Amanda helplessly. She stood behind his desk, holding his day
timer in her hands.
"This time I think it has something more to do with his powers of observation, Lee. Your
date book was open and our trip was written in today's space." Amanda tossed the book
onto the desk and gave an exasperated half-laugh. Their eyes met across the room.
"Here we go again."
End of Chapter One
Chapter 2
Lee shouldered his garment bag and turned to take Amanda's skis. "Do you need help?"
he inquired solicitously. "We could take this stuff inside the cabin and I'll come back for
the rest." He smiled at the picture Amanda made in her bright red ski jacket. He had
always loved her in red.
"I've got it," Amanda replied, groaning a little under the weight of the combined luggage.
"How many days are we going to be here...and what do you have in this duffel bag,
anyway? Feels like a ton of bricks," she laughed, trying to straighten up under her load.
As she shifted the burden she heard suspicious clinking sounds coming from one of Lee's
duffels. Amanda gave him a look, and he grinned sheepishly.
"It's only a couple bottles of wine," Lee told her. "I don't care if we are on part-time duty,
I intend to ply my wife with alcohol and have my way with her," he teased. Reaching the
front door of the cabin, he dropped his left shoulder and let the two pairs of skis slide to
the deck. After carefully leaning them up against the wall, he reached back to help
Amanda with the extra duffel she had been carrying for him.
"Here, Amanda, let me get that. I'll just unlock the door," he said, suiting action to
words.
The door swung open and she preceded him inside, dropping the bags in relief. "I think
I'm going to need that wine to get the kinks out of my back, Mr. Stetson," Amanda
groaned, rolling her shoulders.
Lee crossed the room to her, shrugging out of his jacket. He came up behind her and
reached around to the front of her parka, slowly pulling down the zipper and nuzzling her
neck. "Wine might help, Mrs. Stetson," he murmured, tugging the jacket down her arms
and tossing it aside. "But I seem to remember telling you once that I had magic
fingers..." He nibbled down the side of her throat, causing delightful shivers to race
down her back. He smiled as he felt her tremble.
"Something about an indelicate offer from a member of a royal family or something,
wasn't it?" Amanda groaned softly, eyes closing, as Lee massaged her sore shoulder
muscles. "I've got an indelicate offer for you," she smiled, rubbing her cheek against his
hand. She heard his deep chuckle from the vicinity of her left ear and slowly opened her
eyes. Directly across the room from them was a mirror that reflected them perfectly.
What she saw filled her with horror.
"Lee, watch out!" she screamed, lunging for the safety of the couch.
He took a rolling dive, coming up on one knee with his gun drawn. "Who are you?" Lee
bit out. "What are you doing here?"
The man, who had thrown himself to the ground, covered his head with both arms and
squawked, "Don't shoot, I'm unarmed! Please!" Peering up at Lee from one eye and
seeing that he was safe for the moment, he whispered fervently, "Thank God it's you! I
thought I was a goner there for a minute." He slowly sat up, hands raised to show that he
was indeed unarmed.
Lee swore under his breath as he lowered his gun. "This has got to be a nightmare." He
stood and brushed himself off, keeping one eye on the intruder and reaching a hand out to
Amanda who had reappeared from behind the sofa. "Amanda, this is Ray Rhodes. Our
assignment for the weekend," he grimaced.
"Well, when Mr. Melrose said it would be an easy assignment, I didn't figure it would be
this easy," Amanda said skeptically. She crossed over to Lee and he wrapped his free
arm around her.
"You okay, Amanda?" he asked, settling her against his side.
"Yeah, fine, just fine. A little confused, though, at what is going on," she said, irritated.
"I'd like to know the same thing, Rhodes. What are you doing here, and by the way, how
did you get in?" Lee demanded sharply.
Rhodes grinned weakly, getting to his feet and dusting off the knees of his worn jeans.
"You wouldn't want me to incriminate myself, would you, Scarecrow?"
"Oh, wouldn't I?" Lee replied, raising a brow. "You could just wrap yourself up in a nice
tidy bow of red tape for me so that I could get on with my weekend. I have better things
to do than deal with lowlifes like you," he finished, disgusted with the situation. He
walked cautiously over to Rhodes, gun raised. "Up against the wall and spread 'em,
Rhodes. You should know the drill by now." Lee patted the man down, found a small
revolver, and thumbed open the chamber. He snorted. "Don't you know better than to
play with guns, Ray? A gun is useless without bullets," Lee griped, tossing the weapon
to Amanda. "Put that somewhere safe, would you, Amanda?"
Amanda grimaced and took the firearm into the bedroom, wrapping it in one of the extra
blankets she found in the closet and pushing it as far back on the top shelf as it would go.
She still hated guns, hated handling them, and most of all, hated the fact that she knew
how to use one. Shuddering with distaste, she returned to the living area, where she found
their unwanted guest seated on the overstuffed easy chair. He looked quite at home.
Lee seated himself on the couch opposite the chair. "So, Ray, we're waiting for some
answers. Tell me why I have a feeling this wasn't a coincidence," he questioned mildly,
leaning back and spreading his arms along the back of the couch. Amanda settled herself
next to Lee, and they locked gazes for an instant, smiling slightly. His hand dropped to
the nape of her neck and toyed with the soft brown curls resting there.
"I'm really glad it was you they sent after me, Scarecrow," Ray said with a rakish smile.
"Anyone else would have shot first and asked questions later. Speaking of which," he
continued ruefully, rubbing his left upper arm, "how's that blonde agent - Francine, right?
- doing these days? Shoot anyone else lately?"
Lee scowled, tensing. "Look, Ray, I'm starting to lose my patience here-"
Ray abandoned his nonchalant air, running both hands through his curly black hair.
He stood up and paced agitatedly. "I need your help," he muttered, casting a sideways
glance at Lee and Amanda.
Scarecrow looked back in disbelief. "Yeah, right. We're going to help you right back to
D.C. tomorrow morning. There are some people who have a few questions for you," he
added with satisfaction.
"No," Ray groaned in frustration, "you can't take me back yet. There are people who
would rather I go back to Washington in a wooden box, if you get my meaning. I...know
some things, about some people...Let's just say they're not crazy about me having the
information, all right?" He sat back down in the chair heavily. "I know that I'm not
exactly reliable," he looked up as Lee made a rude noise, "but I really do need your help.
I'll give you the information I have if you can guarantee me safe passage to...well,
wherever I want to go."
Lee leaned forward, bracing his elbows on widespread knees. "Just what makes you
think I'd be interested in your information? And why should I guarantee you anything?"
he asked reasonably. "It looks to me like I'm holding all the cards. All I have to do is
take you back to D.C and let you hang yourself."
Ray smiled confidently. "It just so happens that I have one little ace in the hole. You
forget, I deal in information, and I happen to have some on the two of you. So," he
continued, rising from his seat and ambling toward the darkened window, "we could
make a trade of sorts." He looked over at the two of them, seeing the beginning of
understanding dawning on their faces. "Your guarantee for my silence, MR. and MRS.
STETSON."
End of Chapter 2