Chapter 9

Lee allowed his eyes to dart towards Amanda. In that split second he took in her crouched form and the wide frightened eyes staring at the gun that was trained on her. Her face was white except for the still reddened handprint on her cheek.

"Don't listen to him, Lee." Amanda spoke with only the faintest tremor in her voice. "I might still be a civilian but I know what the risks are. We can't let the David Riley's of the world win."

"How noble of you, Mrs. King but it isn't up to you. The choice is Scarecrow's. What's more important to him? His integrity? His sense of duty and loyalty to the Agency? Or is it you? His partner and, dare I presume, lover?"

Riley ran his eyes insolently over Amanda, as if undressing her in his mind. Lee's jaw tightened. Just the thought of that man looking at her made his blood boil.

Tauntingly, Riley continued. "I know your reputation, Scarecrow. I can't believe you haven't sampled the delights of this particular dish. What's she like in bed? Is she worth it? Would you sacrifice your career for her? How much does she really mean to you?"

Lee swallowed hard. His eyes shifted from Riley to Amanda to the gun pointed at her head. Slowly he loosened his grip on his weapon and began to lower his arms.

"Ahh—just as I suspected. I'm a very good judge of people, you know. Marcus made the same decision. My sister and her brat proved to be excellent leverage over him. The idea that I might hurt them had him quickly falling in with my plans. It's amazing what a man will do for so called 'love,' though I must confess I was surprised when he ran off with you. I didn't think he'd abandon the oh so sweet Susan for the likes of you quite so quickly—"

"I didn't abandon her, Riley." Marcus suddenly spoke from the front entry way. All eyes swung to face the newcomer. "I simply found another way to keep her safe. Once you're behind bars, she'll be out of danger."

"But I won't be behind bars, Marcus. Now that I have the key, I'll gather the evidence you have against me and destroy it. Then I'll move on and set up business somewhere else. Now, since you're almost family, I'll give you the opportunity of working for me again. I'll even forgive this most recent indiscretion. Same terms as before. You do what I say and Susan is safe."

As Riley spoke, he momentarily allowed his gun to waver so it was pointing at the wall rather than Amanda's head. Lee seized the opportunity and fired, hitting Riley in the shoulder. At the same time, Amanda dropped to the ground. Riley's hand jerked as he fell back and his gun discharged, the bullet imbedding itself in the back of the sofa just a foot from where Amanda's head had been.

Lee kicked the gun away from Riley. Keeping his eyes trained on his fallen adversary, he spoke over his shoulder. "Amanda, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered slowly getting up from the floor.

After ensuring that Riley was alive but unconscious, Lee addressed Marcus. "Coming in here unarmed was a damn fool thing to do—but I'm glad you did."

"Yeah—well, when you didn't come back out, I called Billy like we planned and then I thought I'd just check what was going on inside. I found a lock pick in the console of your car and got out of the handcuffs, then crept up onto the porch. Riley was doing the same number on you, that he did on me. Threatening people you care about to get you to fall in with his plans... I figured if I appeared, it would distract him enough to allow you to make a move."

"Well, it worked—thanks." Lee hesitated and then reached out and shook Marcus' hand. Before this afternoon, he couldn't understand why Marcus had made the choice that he had. Now it seemed a lot clearer...

Amanda was busy helping Mrs. Simms up off the floor. "Oh my goodness, Marcus! Whatever was that all about?" Mrs. Simms said shakily.

"Umm...Well..." Marcus stammered.

Amanda jumped in. "You see Mrs. Simms, Mr. Riley works for a competing film company and that's why Susan left—she felt it was a conflict of interest. You see there was this big argument over the rights to a manuscript. Marcus locked it up for safe keeping in his post office box and Mr. Riley found out and wanted the key. Marcus told me he had hid the key in plain sight but I didn't realize what he meant, though I guess I should have known that in such a neat house, a messy pile of magazines really stands out and could be considered to be 'in plain sight.' Anyway, then..." Mrs. Simms' snort of derision stopped her in the middle of the convoluted explanation.

"Now Amanda, that's enough. I may be old but I'm no fool. Film company my foot! I couldn't follow all of the conversation but I can put two and two together. I've watched those James Bond movies. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that Marcus is some sort of top secret government spy." She toddled over to Marcus and patted his cheek. "Don't you worry dear, I won't tell a soul. Now I'm going to go home and finish my gardening. After that, I think I'll have a cup of tea and take a little nap. I'm too old for this espionage business."

The three agents stood in shocked silence for a moment. As the door clicked shut behind Mrs. Simms, they all began to laugh. "I guess I wasn't fooling her with all of my tall tales." Marcus chuckled.

"Hmm...Makes me wonder about my mother. Does she really believe all those stories I tell her?" Amanda mused.

Lee gave Amanda a one armed hug. "Do you really want to know?"

Amanda shook her head.

On the ground, Riley groaned which reminded them all that there was still quite a bit to be done. Lee called Billy and found out that a team was only moments away. He looked at Marcus. The man had been instrumental in saving Amanda and himself twice now—to be sure he'd also been aiding the enemy but, with extenuating circumstances. Lee shifted uncomfortably. Just an hour ago, 'extenuating circumstances' had had no meaning to him but now.... Lee waged an ethical battle with himself. What he was about to say felt wrong but not saying it also felt wrong. He cleared his throat, hesitated briefly and then spoke,

"Uh, Marcus, a team will be here in just a few minutes..." He paused, rubbed his neck vigorously then opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. He swallowed hard, shoved his hands in his pocket and started again, looking everywhere but at the man to whom he was speaking. "I suppose I could—

"Don't say it, Stetson." Marcus stopped him before he even started. "A life on the run isn't for me. I could have left the area anytime I wanted over the past week but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I want to deal with this and then move on. I'm not leaving and I won't let you compromise your principles by suggesting something you'll regret later."

Lee finally looked at Marcus. "I was going to make the same choice that you did—"

"You don't know that for sure. I came in before the scene played out."

Lee started to speak but then stopped, unsure of what he was even planning on saying. The sound of cars pulling up in front of the house ended the conversation.

An EMS team came in and dealt with Riley while other agents swarmed the house, gathering evidence and asking questions. As Lee walked Amanda to her car, he looked up and saw Marcus being led away. Marcus turned and for a moment their eyes met before he was urged on his way. Lee stood grimly watching the car leave. He felt his hand being squeezed and looked down to see Amanda watching him with a concerned expression.

"Lee, are you all right?"

He mulled the question over for a moment before answering. "I don't know...I'll have to think about it."