Anger
Disclaimer: The characters from Scarecrow and Mrs. King are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. I have borrowed the characters without the consent or knowledge of Warner Brothers or Shoot the Moon. I will return them shortly. The extra characters and story are mine.
Timeframe: Late Spring or Summer after season 2.
AGENCY: Field Section Bullpen
The agents and office personnel had stopped pretending to work. All of them had turned toward the brunette woman on the phone. Her normally quiet voice rose and fell in an apparent argument.
"Competition? … no … No … I' m already on the list? …Yes, I do know … I love you, too … No … I haven't been there in ages … That was for the boys … KISSES? … Yeah, kisses back … O.K. … O.K. … JUSTGETIT CLEARED!
Early on the bets had been placed on whether Amanda or Lee would win this round. Whispered comments circulated the room. "He loves her?"
"She loves him?" "Kisses?" "She lost?" "Pay up!" "Wait! It is a bad bet." "No kidding?" "No, I mean it isn't Scarecrow." "What?" Slowly all the faces turned from Mrs. King to the bullpen doors. Outside in the hall, Billy Melrose walked beside Lee Stetson.
The two men entered in time to see an extremely angry Amanda King slam down the receiver and shout "brothers!" Laughter erupted all over the bullpen. "Brothers." "Should have been obvious. She lost." "All bets are off!" Amanda looked highly uncomfortable having yelled on the phone with everyone watching.
Their section chief demanded, "what is going on here?"
A secretary informed their boss, "nothing important, just a bad bet."
"Get back to work, people," Melrose ordered. "Just what was this bad bet?"
"Um, well, sir," she looked very uneasily at Lee Stetson before returning her attention to her superior. Both men continued to study the woman, waiting for her story. "Well, sir. It was on who would win the argument; Mr. Stetson or Mrs. King. That is why it was a bad bet. It wasn't Mr. Stetson." The lady kept explaining, "it was an honest mistake, sir. We have never heard her yell at anyone else."
Mrs. King had her head down on her folded arms on the desktop, muttering dire threats against men who got her involved without consulting her first.
Finally Francine Desmond could not stand it anymore, "Amanda, are you O.K.?"
"Yeah," she replied bringing her head up slowly. "I am just fine! I am going to make them sorry! Anyone got a slingshot and some ball bearings? - Maybe not, ball bearings hurt to much - pecans? - no -Tomatoes! Where can I get old tomatoes?"
Confused, the blond agent demanded, "what are you talking about?"
Concentrating on her plan of retribution, Amanda planned aloud, "ball bearings would really hurt. Tomatoes, old cherry tomatoes would just make a mess. That's good! I need a slingshot and old tomatoes."
"Amanda, what is wrong with you?" insisted Lee.
"Jeff. I am going to get Jeff. I may have been roped into this job but I am going to get Jeff first," she promised.
Slightly apprehensive, Mr. Melrose asked, "who is Jeff? …What job?"
"West boy number 3. Big brother, Jeff. I will win his tournament but I will get him first," stated the agitated woman firmly.
"What job?" her boss asked again.
"That is need-to-know and my older brother did not bother to tell me. I am on the list, I'm signed up but I don't know who and where. Sound familiar, doesn't it." She glared at Scarecrow. "MEN" She made a visible effort to calm down, "I am sorry, Mr. Melrose. Someone will contact you to clear it, me being away, I mean. Excuse me but I need to make a purchase at Grandy's Sporting Goods."
Billy Melrose nodded to Lee to follow her as the angry woman stormed out of the bullpen. Fascinated observers watched the usually serene woman march out shadowed by her partner. "Think she can do it?" "At the moment she could take on the KGB and win." "I wouldn't want to be her brother."
Mrs. King carefully placed her badge on Mrs. Marsden's desk, politely wished her a good night and left the building, purposefully ignoring the tall man with her.
"Hey, Amanda! Wait a minute," he entreated her, placing a hand on her arm. She stopped, looked briefly at his hand, before glowering up at him and waited. Several people crowded together at their supervisor's surveillance TV to see how the famous 'ladies man' would succeed in turning her up sweet. Scarecrow swiftly removed his hand and stepped back, clearing the path. "What did he do to her?" "She may take them both on!" "Scarecrow won't win this one!" "Not a chance."
Mr. Melrose said in a deceptively calm voice, "I would like my office back. Now."
Listening under the kitchen window, Stetson tried to find out how much trouble he was still in. Why wouldn't hurt either.
"I am going to take him down, Mother. How dare he do that to me? Maybe I should have gotten eggs. He would have to wash that car really, really fast."
Lee's eyes widened as he recognized the threat to his beautiful silver sports car. Dotty's soothing voice floated through the open window, "now, honey, I know Jeff should have talked to you first. We all know that you would have agreed to help. What is wrong?"
"MEN!"
"Your brother and … men at work?"
"Yeah, him, too!"
Turning away to hide a triumphant smile, her mother commented, "at least you are planning to use cherry tomatoes. Ball bearings on the other hand .."
"Got me the worst spanking of my life," concluded the angry young woman.
Lee continued to eavesdrop on the conversation. After a while he heard Mrs. West climb the stairs as Amanda finished cleaning the kitchen. "Amanda?"
"Go home!" she ordered spraying him in the face with water from the sprayer, then she slammed the window closed. Lee stood looking through the closed window at a very angry but highly surprised Amanda. Suddenly she turned and screamed "Mother". She went to the island and started hunting franticly through an address book. Soon she was dialing the phone. "Chaplain … Amanda King …"
Dotty raced into the kitchen, Lee backed out of the light but still watched intently. Amanda focused her attention on her mother as she spoke into the phone. "I am in serious trouble here. Pray for me, Chaplain … I am getting angrier and angrier. … No … I have to get to Medic."
It seemed to the agent that he could see the rage building in her. The brunette handed the phone over to her mother. "Mother, please talk to him. I can't, he's male," requested the agitated daughter. "I have to get out of here. I could become dangerous to the boys. I am going to pack."
Both Dotty and Lee jumped when Amanda stepped out the front door and yelled "STETSON". Scarecrow ran around the house to find her standing on the front steps with her eyes blazing. "Stay back. Something is terribly wrong. If you want to help stay … or leave. It is not going to be pretty."
The phone rang in the house and moments later her mother appeared at the front door. "Medic says that there will be a helicopter on the north side of Peppertree Mall in fifteen minutes. He is sending someone in shortly for us."
"How dare he?" Amanda began angrily. "Yes, Mother. I love you, Mother, and I love the boys."
A patrol car pulled up to the curb and two officers got out. "Mother, would you go talk to Fred? Lee, put my bags in the wagon! Sylvia, please join me in the house," Amanda turned and went into the dining room. "Don't touch anything, Syl. I don't know what is wrong."
"Who was the man in the shadows?" Officer Sylvia Hollands asked.
Mrs. King sighed, "some times he's a friend. He came over tonight to check-up on me. It made me so mad. Syl, that's the problem. I am so mad at men. No good reason. Lee will take me to a MedEvac chopper."
"Amanda?" Lee inquired quietly.
Controlling herself with obviously tremendous effort, she said, "it is getting worse, Syl. I have to go." Amanda brushed past him, picked up her purse, the keys and a scarf. She tossed the keys to him. "Lee, put your cuffs on the roof, passenger side, please," She ordered forcing the please past unwilling lips.
The agent and the officer exchanged looks before he hurried out ahead of the women. "Tell the boys, I love them and I love you, too, Mother," the angry woman called across the lawn.
Amanda placed the scarf in her mouth and tied it tightly before grabbing the handcuffs from the top of her car. She secured one wrist and got into the rear seat, fastened her seatbelt and finished securing her hands behind her back.
Opening the driver's door, Stetson prepared to enter when Sylvia ordered "stop." She trained her flashlight on a tiny shimmer of light. Upon close inspection it proved to be the top of a needle. The agent pull a penlight out of his jacket's inside breast pocket to look under the driver's seat.
"I need an evidence bag and gloves if you have them," he requested of the officer. "Will you take us to the chopper at Peppertree Mall? I think the lab boys had better check the car before we move it." The agent raced into the house and placed a call, setting the proverbial ball in motion.
Dotty stared at her daughter in the back seat of the squad car barely registering the reassuring squeeze on her shoulder or the keys placed in her hand as the unknown man past. And then they were gone. Mrs. West entered the house and looked at the kitchen clock. "Not even 10 p.m. yet.'
ARMY BASE HOSPITAL
The white sterile walls could have been in any hospital in the country. Stetson sat wearily in a chair at a small conference table. "I don't know, Billy. The lab results aren't back yet. … We used her car all afternoon … Yeah, she drove …I know … They have her isolated, only female attendants … If it had been me, I would have punched somebody out … She told her mother she did. She has a bag filled with cherry tomatoes. Got to go. They are calling me." Stetson accompanied the technician down the hall and into a laboratory.
"Hey, Stetson. You up for a little experiment?" asked Colonel Doctor Miller. "Come with me. Amanda's testosterone level is off the chart and her adrenaline is sky high. I don't know yet what is in the syringe but a man probably would have killed by now." Medic led Scarecrow to a smudged one-way mirror. Inside the room, the enraged woman was firing cherry tomatoes at a large plate glass window, and then suddenly one splattered on the mirror they were looking through. "I need to find out if she is angry with all men or Jeff and you, more specifically. Can this formula point the victim to a certain person or people? Is everyone at risk?"
"How can I help?" asked Stetson.
"We are going to let her fire at you - and Jeff." Both men looked through the mirror again before heading down the hall. "Jeff, you remember Lee Stetson."
"What did you do to her?" demanded her older brother.
"What did I do? - I called her Baby," Stetson replied. "What did you do to her?"
"I told her that she was competing -" Jeff stopped and looked to Medic.
"Gentlemen, go be targets," instructed the doctor, motioning them into a small observation room.
"In case she runs short of ammunition; after she decided against ball bearings, she chose old tomatoes for their bigger mess value," Lee informed the M.D.
Over a speaker into the locked treatment room, Medic said in a soothing manner, "Amanda, we need another blood sample. Let Max clean your window for you and we will let you shoot tomatoes at Jeff and Lee."
"Let me the man says. I need more tomatoes or big grapes," she instructed, "bbs!" she shouted with great joy.
"Sorry, I can not let you shoot bbs at Veronica's glass window," her cousin protested.
"Sorry, Veronica. I didn't know it was yours," Amanda apologized to the young lady.
"That's o.k.. Just shoot fruit. Max is a nice man and can keep cleaning so you can see your targets," the young lab tech said agreeably.
"O.k., thanks," smiling gratefully, Amanda squinted at the empty room. "Where are they?"
"Wait until Max vacates the area. Max is not your target," the calm voice assured her, then he released the button so she could not hear him. "Call her 'Baby', Stetson. Jeff tell her she is going to compete. Let's go," Medic instructed as he watched from the back corner.
Jeff stepped further into view and said, "I entered you to compete, Baby." A projectile hit the window at face level. "Thank you for choosing tomatoes this time."
"I can't use bbs on Veronica's window. Ball bearings hurt too much. I remember," she acknowledged.
"Yeah, they do. I had bruises for weeks," her brother reminded her.
"Who cares about your bruises? I couldn't sit down for ages," she yelled back lobbing tomatoes at him.
"She is still mad. Your turn, Stetson," advised Medic.
The agent strode out confidently, confident that she couldn't hit him. "Calm down, Baby!"
Tomato after tomato, many tomatoes hit the glass in rapid succession. "Don't you ever call me Baby and I am never going to wait in the car again. I am going with you. DO YOU HEAR ME?" she screamed.
Startled, Lee replied, "I imagine that everybody hears you." Looking over at Medic, he told him, "I think I said, 'stay in the car, Baby'." The barrage of fruit kept hitting the window. Most of it was aimed at Lee but enough was aimed at Jeff that he knew he was still in trouble.
Medic spoke into the speaker, " Amanda, calm down, Sweetheart. Veronica needs another vial of blood. Let Max clean your window for you. More ammo is on the way."
Sullenly, she said, "o.k., Veronica, can I lay down until my ammo gets here?"
"Sure you can. Rest your arm."
The exhausted woman lay down on the cot cuddling her slingshot and slept.
"She is going to need a blanket," Stetson pointed out, "Doubled".
Her brother and cousin exchanged looks prior to Medic giving the order.
Back in the conference room, Scarecrow said, "They don't know yet … Yeah, she's asleep … I never considered old cherry tomatoes dangerous. I guess anything can be dangerous with Amanda … She did at some time - and got her backside paddled good and proper … We need to find out if it was meant for Amanda or me … Her cousin says her adrenaline and testosterone levels are dropping … What did they find in her car? …I used my car in the morning, she was at her desk. We used hers all afternoon …sounds like it … I will call you back."
"West, what did you get her into? Either someone is after your sister or they are using her to get me," demanded Scarecrow.
"Why would anyone want to hurt her? For that matter why would they want you?" demanded Jeff.
"What did you get her into?" demanded Stetson again.
Medic entered the observation room. "Quiet down! I want her to sleep, not crash. Jeff, what did you commit her too?"
"Just the shoot, Medic. We want to win. Charlie is out of the country. So Jason and Willy Bishop, Jim, Shelly and me. Five man teams, nothing serious," Jeff replied.
"Who has the list, Jeff? We need to know who's in," Medic stated.
"Chad has it as far as I know. I would never endanger Shelly," protested her brother.
Stetson studied the two men, "what shoot?"
"Skeet tournament," Medic answered. "Unless there is some connection to the list, it must be -"
"Someone wants us both. We both drive her car when we are working."
Splat, splat, splat.
Lee nonchalantly got out of his chair and walked over to the speaker switch. "Did you have a nice nap, Baby?"
"Don't call me Baby. Sweetheart."
"That's better, Turtledove. Love-y?, Sweetling?" Lee told her approvingly.
"Give it up, lover boy. Casanova!" she hollered with a groan.
"Heart's delight, can you use that thing left handed? It might give your right arm a rest. … Go on; try again …Do it again. That's better," Lee encouraged her.
"Amanda, Veronica is coming in. Can Max come in also?" said Medic.
Hours later Medic told them, "Amanda is doing better. Most of the people here are safe. You two are still targets … Stetson, if you had gotten the full dose in one sitting as it were, you would most likely have killed Amanda and who knows how many others before someone had to take you out. Even if the overload of adrenaline didn't."
"What do you mean he would have killed Amanda?" demanded Jeff.
"She was right beside him when the drug started working. Had he been driving, she still would have been there. If the delivery system was based on weight, you have go what - 60 to 80 pounds on her?"
"Yeah, I do. She said something about a seat spring jabbing her a couple of times," agreed the secret agent.
"The whole dose at one time would have acted faster," Medic speculated."
A cute, dark haired, young tech poked her head in the doorway saying, "Mr. Stetson, Mrs. King is calling for you."
"Is she missing her target practice?" asked her brother in defeat.
"Let's go," said Medic and Scarecrow together.
Lee entered the observation room. "What can I do for you?"
Amanda seemed to be working to hold her emotions in check. "Lee, I am still really angry with you. I am better with Jeff. I want to see all of the lists, all the changes. Stetson, meet me at the door!"
As the agent went to meet her, Jeff questioned, "he takes orders from her? I thought she works for him."
"She does. They work together. He takes care of her when he can and right now your sister needs him," replied Medic.
Cautiously Lee opened the door to the treatment room. "Yes?"
"Lee, it is important. Someone is after me! Maybe they are after us. It was my car. No one could be sure that you would be in my car. They can only be sure that I would be driving my car. All the skeet lists from the beginning, all the changes. There is a connection." She grabbed his shirt firmly in both hands and demanded, "I want Jeff in here - with me. Help me."
"Tomatoes?" he inquired.
"To-ma-toes!" she confirmed. "I have a promise to keep." Suddenly her furious gaze jerked to the freshly cleaned observation window. The voices were clear from inside that room. She forced herself to release her tight grip on his shirt, first one hand and then the other. "You had better close the door and -and back me up."
"Jeff, dear, will you come here, please?" his younger sister requested in a deceptively soft tone while rage blazed in her eyes. She listened to the conversation deciding if Jeffery West would comply.
Lee studied the slightly older man. "I went when she asked me. Of course, if you are afraid … Amanda, it seems like he's scared. Will I do?"
Amanda deigned him, "NO, you can not replace my brother."
"Alright." Lee offered the other man, "I could go with you for protection."
"I do not need protection from my baby sister. She's just a woman, a housewife - what can she do?"
"Go on then," Scarecrow encouraged. Jeff left the room. Lee gave a thumbs up to the caged woman and informed Medic, "many is the bad guy with just that mindset. What can she do?"
The isolated woman flashed an approving smile to her temporary accomplice through the glass as she waited beside the door. Not knowing his sister well enough, Jeffery West opened the door widely and stepped in. "Come on, Jeff. I am just a woman, what could I do to you?" she purred. He moved a few feet and she slammed the door closed, effectively trapping her brother. Swiftly backing up, she aligned her slingshot and splattered him with a very old cherry tomato on his shirt pocket. He retreated under the onslaught of mushy fruit. "How dare you call me just a housewife? Just a mother? Just? Can't do much? I can take you down with anything you name!" She yelled, still lobbing in tomatoes, using her left hand on her weapon of choice. "Can't even be in the same room with a gun? I'm a scaredy cat? Shake when I see one? That was a long, long time ago. Show him, Lee! - Stetson!"
Stetson unholstered his pistol to hold it flat against the glass and mouthed, "you do still hold it with two fingers by the trigger guard." The next tomato hit the glass at chest level.
Jeff watched the interaction between his sister and Mr. Stetson. "O.k., so you can look at it through a window from ten feet away. That is better I admit. Wait, why does he carry a gun?" Hit again, his own anger showed. "Amanda, stop it!"
"Or what?" she charged him, splattering two more tomatoes together on his chest.
Her big brother angrily said, "I will make you stop. Come here."
"You would not dare touch me!" she challenged, hitting him in the face with an exceptionally rotten tomato.
Jeff started to her with his hand raised.
"Don't touch her," warned Stetson before running out the door. Her brother continued forward. Amanda fired a pair of tomatoes hitting him prior to Lee's entrance. "West, stop right there. I will deck you before you get close."
Splat, splat, splat.
The men studied each other. "Amanda, I swear -"
"He will you know. I have heard that he has a killer right. You haven't the slightest chance of reaching me," she calmly told her older brother as she selected and launched additional rotten fruit.
Grinning in the belligerent woman's direction, "still trust me to protect you?" Lee asked.
Idle-ly selecting a small tomato, she placed it in the sling, "I always do and even if I didn't," she drew back, then let fly at the fleeing man, "he is no threat," she assured him.
Lee stood still, watching her, "He escaped, you know."
"About time, I grew weary of hitting him. I am fatigued, tired of being in a rage. It is exhausting." A small snort was heard, "at least he didn't ask how I know that you are packing." She selected a firm, slightly green tomato and gently inserted it into the sling. "You had better go, Lee," she suggested, firing the fruit at him.
Stetson easily caught it and tossed it to rejoin the others. "I am leaving."
Spinning around she shouted, "Medic, fix me! Do - something!"
Sitting in a chair beside the bed, the handsome agent studied the files on his lap. The lady stirred in her hospital bed, "Lee?"
Reaching for her hand, he stood up, "I'm here. You all right?"
"No, no, I'm not," she whispered with the sound of tears in her voice. "What does Medic say?"
Entering the room, her cousin stated, "Medic says that you should be back to normal soon. Your adrenaline level is almost back to normal. The testosterone level is taking more time. It is alright, Baby."
"Is Jeff o.k.?"
"Sure he is. Do you want to see him?
"We could never persuade him to come in here now. He probably won't want to be near me at the shoot. The shoot - Do you have all of the lists?"
"Yeah."
"I need to get a shower and change. Maybe something to eat. We need at least two copies of everything. I want a table. There is work to do. "She sat up slowly and asked, "is that 'Kittyhawk'? I need a copy of it as well."
A number of people waited in the observation room for Mrs. King and her female MP escort to return. "Lee, may I have your pistol, please?" her voice suddenly asked from the doorway.
After a brief hesitation, Stetson handed it over. The lady took it and ejected the clip. Placing both gun and clip on the small table, she leaned tward her brother. "I was five years old, Jeff. We were at the range, guns going off. Daddy's revolver wasn't even loaded. I was pulling the trigger when Jase Donaldson had a heart attack and died. It wasn't my fault." Reloading the clip into the butt of his gun, she handed it back to her spy. "I still don't want to shoot anyone. We have work to do."
A young resident doctor sat beside Jeff West watching Amanda through the glass.
"Lee, on list one, page two, the Merriman team; do we know why Sal was replaced by Will?"
"No."
"What about page six of list two; Allons, Benny for Kenny?"
"No."
"Do you suppose that Medic has any kids? - Like Beaman's kids. I really need to know … Jeff, why did Thad Zimmerman drop out in favor of Dennis?" - "Come on. Help us out here," insisted his sister.
Jeff finally answered, "I heard that Thad was in an accident."
"Thanks," she said before burying herself in her papers. "Lee, it's the alternates. There are too many changes," and a tomato hit the glass.
Hours and several tomatoes later, Amanda looked up. "Lee, Vaughn on list eight, page -"
"Wait a minute, I am coming in there," he stated.
"I don't know that it would be safe," she cautioned.
"I suppose to change into scrubs would be cheating?"
"Definitely cheating," she agreed.
"See if you can avoid getting tomatoes on the reports," Lee mentioned. "What about Vaughn?"
Jeffrey sat watching his sister conferring with her boss and occasional 'boyfriend'. Lee jumped, looked down, then at his companion's serene face. He lifted a crushed tomato from the side of his shirt and dropped it in a trash can beside him. Jeff concluded that his sister could use her slingshot under the table. Seated beside each other at a table the partners worked steadily over the lists' ever changing contestants. Periodically Amanda questioned her brother on his knowledge of the team members.
"Szymanski, Jaden Szymanski; where have I seen that name?"
"You pulverized him three years ago," Jeff reminded her.
"Was that him? Yea, I guess it was," she agreed thoughtfully.
"What happened?" inquired the undercover operative.
"Szymanski challenged her. That was a mistake," replied Jeff from the safety of the observation room. "Said she was 'just' a woman."
Although she continued to work, giggling was heard with increasing frequency. Intermittently Stetson picked bits of tomato from his shirt and trousers, and dropped the offending fruit in the trash can beside him. "Amanda, are you aware that that tomato is green?"
Immediately contrite she asked, "did it hurt?" Placing the slingshot on the table, she reached for his hand. "I am so sorry, Lee. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He patted her hand and assured her, "it is alright, Amanda."
"Lee, do you think silliness is a side effect of the drugs?" "Lee, that's it. All of these changes reduce the ability of the teams. Lower their scores." Looking up, she spoke to her brother, "Jeff, Charlie is - out of the country. If I was - gone, out for any reason, what would you and Jim and the Bishops do?"
Jeff looked thoughtful for a moment, "if you were just sick, I guess Stan is next. If you had died, we would drop out entirely."
"It doesn't make any sence," she insisted. "Accidents, jobs, sickness. Accident, why not arrange an accident for me. An accident would get me off the team. What are we missing?"
"Why put that much effort into fixing a skeet shoot?" Lee wondered.
"I can't imagine who could be pulling the strings," said Jeff.
The brunette's eyes widened, "where is the 'Kittyhawk' file?"
Stetson stood up to reach across the table to the hospital tray table they were using to hold extra files. Quickly the lady removed all the firm green tomatoes from a large bowl and put them on his chair seat. Lee sat down to find his trousers saturated with tomato pulp. Jeff, young Dr. Marsh and a tech were in the observation room laughing uproariously.
"Amanda?" Lee asked quietly.
"Yes?" she answered innocently.
"Are you having a good time?"
"Yes," she snickered into her hands, nodding merrily.
Resignedly he asked, "do you have any left?"
"Just squishy ones."
"Would you care to use them up? Or are you tired of this?" Waiting, he suggested, "go ahead,"
Amanda picked up her last five pieces of ammunition. Standing up, she swayed slightly, her balance off. She leaned against him, her arms slid around his neck where she rested fully against his back.
"You are the sweetest thing," she murmured as the tomatoes in her right hand dropped into his lap. After a moment, she put her hands on his shoulders to push herself upright smearing the final two cherry tomatoes onto his shirt.
"Is that all?"
"Yes. - Lee?" she whispered woozily.
He stood and crossed to stand on the plastic paint cover that protected
the floor by the window. Removing his shirt and brushing off his trousers, the agent looked into Jeff West's eyes. A reflection in the glass caused him to spin around at the same time that the resident and Jeff jumped out of their chairs.
Trembling and swaying on her feet, Amanda King reached out, whispering "Lee?"
Only three steps separated them. He swept her into his arms before depositing her on the bed. "Lee?"
"I'm here. Let them take care of you."
As medical people seemed to swarm about his partner, someone pressed a wet cloth into Stetson's hand. Jeff joined him and suggested, "you might want to remove the tomato juice from your shoulder."
Absently Lee brushed the hand towel against his skin, never taking his eyes from the scene before him.
Groggily Amanda whispered, "Lee?"
"Honey, its Jeff. How are you doing?"
"Hi, Jeff. - I am so sorry for everything. - Where is Lee? - Need to tell him - puppet - tell him K - K". When she trailed off he realized she slept.
Somewhere in the distance she heard his voice. Other voices interfered as she concentrated on getting to him. She knew that she had to tell him something, something important. "Lee?"
"I'm here. Someone tell Medic she's coming out of it."
"Lee, K - Kittyhawk - Puppeteer - his name is Szymanski - that is the connection.
"She did it again, Billy… The connection must be there … Kittyhawk … The Puppeteer's name is Lenard Szymanski … She beat Jaden Szymanski in a tournament three years ago … Army Intel is looking for the relationship between Lenard Szymanski and Jaden Szymanski. … Yeah, I am using Army resources … What ever this stuff is, everybody needs-to-know. We all need an antidote … and this is an Army facility …Amanda is the only victim that we know of so far … Even barely conscience she's good … sure I will tell her … I should be back tonight."
Jeff walked into the conference room from his listening post beside the door. "She wants you."
From her hospital bed, she held out her hand to Scarecrow, "I am so sorry, Sweetheart," she said, holding his hand.
Lee nodded slightly, "don't call me Sweetheart, Baby."
"Don't call me Baby, Casanova."
"Sorry, Dumpling, Darling? Dearest?"
"Lee, you have to go. Go get the Puppeteer. Stop him! I won't be much use right now … I can't be there to guard your back. Please use backup. Take Murray or someone."
Jeff West interrupted, "what are you talking about? Who is the puppeteer? How could you back him up?"
Lee leaned over and kissed her forehead, then said, "tell Jeff and Medic about the man in the red hat."
The afternoon was beautiful; a steady breeze blew the flags at the skeet range. "Pull," and she fired, the shotgun felt heavy in her hands but the birdshot broke the clay pigeon. "Pull", "pull", "pull", "pull", "pull," each time the flying disk broke. "Let's go back, Patty. I am too tired to continue."
"That was great shooting," the young MP complemented Mrs. King. "We can come back later if you want, Ma'am."
"We had better. Tournament is on Saturday."
VAN IVES COUNTRY CLUB, VA Saturday
The temporary stands were packed full of people. Twenty five-man teams clustered together. "Team Baxter is first. David Baxter is our first shooter …" said the announcer over the speaker system.
"Pull" called David Baxter.
Security was tight, personal body guards, the clubs private security force, Army and agents. All were watching for trouble; threats against their employers, the crowd, or the contestants; unseen threats against the country. Eyes followed Jaden Szymanski, alertly watching for his uncle, Lenard, waiting for the Puppeteer to show himself.
"Team Gordon had made an excellent showing here today," commented the announcer.
Amanda King was surrounded be her family. They had her seated in a canvas captain's chair shaded by umbrellas. Catching Scarecrow's eye she smiled at him.
"Team Pole alternate Jaden Szymanski made another perfect score today." Jaden waved a hand at the crowd before embracing an older man in victory.
"The boys of Team West have made a wonderful showing today. Amanda King is recovering from a serious illness but she is still here. She has always been a fierce competitor; some of you may remember the shoot off between Jaden Szymanski and Mrs. King three years ago. Now let's see how the lady does today.
"Pull!"
"And we have another perfect score. Give the little lady a hand. … Team Yarro is our final entry."
"Teams Pole and West are tied. We will have a tiebreaker in just a few minutes," the announcer said over the speaker. Lenard Szymanski felt the muzzle of a gun against his back. "Hand it over slowly," ordered the tall agent behind him.
Seeing his guards in custody and himself surrounded, Lenard Szymanski carefully handed his pistol over his shoulder. "How did you find me?"
"You missed and she figured it out," Stetson told the Puppeteer.
"What do you mean I missed?" questioned the man.
"I mean that your stuff didn't kill her. It made her furious but she made the connection anyway," said Agent Stetson, tightly leashing his rage,
but proud of his partner.
"Why would I go after some woman? You got nothing on me," the Puppeteer stated.
"Oh, you are so wrong. We have got you dead to rights." A laugh escaped the agent. "You shouldn't have tried so hard to fix this tournament. So she beat your nephew three years ago, so what?"
"You think I wasted time to fix a skeet tournament?" Lenard Szymanski suddenly turned his attention to his nephew. "I am not going anywhere, Stetson. You said she won."
"Three years ago, she won .."
Jaden Szymanski taunted Amanda King, "I see you used a shotgun."
"It was in the rules," she pointed out.
"Congratulations, Mrs. King, to you and your family," said Szymanski taking her hand.
Looking behind the man in front of her to the protective agent behind him, Amanda said, "thank you, sir."
"Mama, you were great," called her boys from the other side of the barrier. "Congratulations, Darling," said her mother.
"Thank you, boys, Mother," she replied as she saw Lee Stetson try to faded into the crowd while not losing his captive.
"Your family, Mrs. King?"
"Yes, sir. Mother, boys, this is Jaden's uncle, Lenard Szymanski. Mr. Szymanski, my mother, Dorthea West and my sons, Phillip and Jamie King." A grin fought for place while Amanda tried to remain composed.
"A-man-da," Lee admonished.
"I'm sorry. I just never introduced Mother to a - a suspect?"
"Certainly not, Mrs. King," agreed the suspect in question. "I heard that you beat my nephew in a contest of some kind."
"Yes, sir. Three years age," she replied.
Three men said at once, "If you will accompany me." "Uncle Lenard, please?" "Are you up for a rematch?"
"Well, sir, I am just recovered from a nasty drug, but I am more than willing to try," she agreed pleasantly.
"Same rules as before, ma'am," asked the uncle.
"Suits me," she replied. "Jim!"
The match was speedily arranged.
"Ladies first," suggested Szymanski.
"Losers first," Mrs. King stated. "Need a shotgun, Jaden?"
"No," stated Jaden Szymanski, pulling a rifle from its case.
The lady pulled her 30.30 out of its case.
"Pull," he called, pulled the trigger and clipped his clay pigeon.
Taking her stance, Amanda said "pull," and her disk shattered.
Jaden ordered, "pull."
"It would seem, nephew, that the lady is the much better shot," the uncle pointed out."
"She should have died. They both should have died," Jaden retorted.
"Why?" his uncle asked.
"I used the new formula from the research lab. She should be dead," Jaden replied.
Amanda smiled.
"Nothing in that lab is ready for human testing. It is much too dangerous," Szymanski senior informed his nephew.
Jaden said, "it had to be tested sometime. What better than to use it against our enemys?"
"Jaden Szymanski, I here by place you under arrest for the attempted murder of Amanda King. You have the right …" said one of the officers who had been observing the contest.
"Well played, sir. You truly are the Puppeteer. Lee, your suspect."
Amanda King was surrounded by well wishers who were stunned that Jaden Szymanski would go to such lengths to win a skeet tournament.
"So my little bullet, Shelly, you really are a spy?" asked Jeff softly.
"Yeah! I am a civilian but yeah, I am a spy," she returned happily.