1
Scotch Thoughts
To Catch a Mongoose
Today had actually been a relaxing day. He had enjoyed sharing a real British tea with Amanda that afternoon and now Lee was sitting in his hotel kicking back with a glass of scotch. He could afford to relax now because the Mongoose was in the hands of Scotland Yard, and Amanda truly was safe and on a plane back to DC and her children. A few days ago however he had felt anything but relaxed.
He had been sent to London to work with the British Intelligence community to finally catch the Mongoose. It was a formidable task, but one he was eager to perform on his own without Amanda - alone representing the Agency and the USA and working once again with MI6. It had seemed like an amazing break for the case to hear that Billy had located someone who could personally identify the elusive Mongoose. He had wondered why Billy had failed to mention who that individual was when they had spoken on the phone, and he had been taken completely off guard when he had seen Amanda walking through the gate at the airport. Even thinking about it here and now on the couch he could feel the tension creep back in. It would not only be a formidable case, but it would be full of every kind of complication that could come with the inclusion of Amanda King. It was what he had been glad to avoid as he had set out on this overseas case in England.
Of course, the complications had begun almost immediately; the first one being the mix up with Amanda's luggage. Thinking about it now, he chuckled at the thought of the garment that Amanda had first pulled out of the bag. It was obvious that Amanda would need some other source of clothing. Taking a woman shopping was not something he cherished especially when that woman was as frugal as Amanda. He had to convince her that buying that white dress was not an over indulgence; she would need it for the case. Actually, he had been the one to pick it out. He thought it would be just right for her with its simple, classic lines and the way it swooped down her back…. He quickly put a stop to those thoughts and focused on the details of the case.
Conrad Walter Barnhill. Of course, some guy from Amanda's high school would get caught up in international crime. Why not? Amanda had gotten mixed up in counter-intelligence…what had they taught them at that high school? As Lee thought over the whole situation, he recognized that his reactions throughout the case really had been all over the place. It had been odd to compare his professional knowledge of the Mongoose with Amanda's more personal knowledge of Conrad. Why did it irk him when she called him "my Connie?" It was "his Mongoose" that they were trying to find. He didn't care what Conrad Walter Barnhill had been like back then; he knew what the Mongoose was capable of now. Wasn't it just the fact that Amanda wouldn't accept his professional opinion about the case that had irritated him? Why else would Amanda's personal knowledge of Conrad bother him?
But she had been right, he acknowledged. Conrad could never have been the Mongoose; he really was just "good old Connie." Lee realized he should have been glad about that break and moved in to catch his quarry, but instead the investigation had gotten a bit messy. Maybe including Amanda in the interrogation hadn't been necessary. The good guy/bad guy routine had been a fiasco. He should have known from the beginning that Amanda would have been able to get the information out of him with the way she fussed over him. Any lonely sap would fall for that kind of attention. Imagine telling her he loved her during an interrogation like that? It had been a bit embarrassing to listen too, actually. Well, it had made him uncomfortable at the time.
Taking a sip of his drink he had to ask himself why it had made him uncomfortable to hear Conrad's confession. He'd heard all sorts of strange comments come from interrogations. It wasn't as if he was jealous? Not of Connie. And it wasn't an odd thing that someone would love Amanda. Maybe it made him feel awkward because Conrad was free to express himself to Amanda. Maybe there was something about Conrad's ability to have the freedom to say what he felt. Maybe he was envious of that? He had never been trained to say what he felt, not in his upbringing or by the Agency, it seemed foreign to him.He'd even had a hard enough time saying "thank you" to Amanda as he put her on the bus later that day.
He should have known he couldn't simply put Amanda on a bus to take her to the airport and her waiting plane. All he had wanted to do was get her back home to her children, where she belonged. She had been very useful in getting Conrad to divulge his involvement with the Mongoose. Her part was finished, and Lee would be able to be single-minded and do his job instead of having to watch over Amanda as well. But, no, things were never that simple with Amanda involved. Why was he surprised when she hadn't made the flight? Once again, he would have to carry with him his concern for Amanda's life and her children's wellbeing into the mission. Of course, she had kept her head about her once again, and he had been able to capture the Mongoose. Once again they had accomplished their goal, together. Lee chuckled sarcastically to himself as he drained his glass. Once again, together, despite his best attempts at trying to be on a solo mission. Would he ever be Scarecrow the lone agent again? He didn't have an answer for that question at the moment.