Chapter 38

Amanda and Lee were pacing the Q Bureau when they got the call from Billy that Francine and Edwards had arrived. Holding hands, they rode the elevator down to Billy's office where his bellowing voice could already be heard through the closed door. Lee didn't bother to knock before entering, listening to Billy hollar, "Dammit, Desmond! I don't care what Dr. Smythe says, you two need to be at Senator Michaels' party no matter what!"

Francine was doing her best to calm him down, "Billy, he just said we needed to wait for Mrs. Frampton's ruling."

"Scarecrow! Amanda!" he barked then softened his tone, "Francine, can you get me more coffee, please? This whole situation has me on edge and Jeannie would probably kill me if she knew I'm exceeding the new recommendation to cut back on the caffeine."

Nodding sympathetically, Francine cast a glance in Lee's direction as she left the office.

"Sir, you should really listen to your doctor's advice," Amanda said quietly, trying to avoid eye contact with Edwards who was sitting on the couch.

"Yes, Mr. Melrose, my mother cut back on my father's caffeine by switching him to half decaf in every cup. Worked like a charm. He could drink as much coffee as he wanted without the jittery feeling all day," Edwards offered.

"Thank you, Edwards, for that enlightening suggestion. Let's hope Internal Affairs decides to keep you around long enough to test it," Billy replied, the corners of his mouth lifting in a small smile. Francine returned, handing Billy the steaming mug. "Thank you, Francine." Checking his watch, he announced, "This is it, people. We have fifteen minutes before the show begins. I just want to say… no matter what Internal Affairs say, no matter what they decide, you are some damn good agents."

"Thank you, sir," Amanda said quietly. She had sat in the chair closest to Billy's desk as far away from Edwards as she could without being too obvious.

Billy could see her clear discomfort each time Edwards spoke and not once did she even acknowledge his presence in the room, an act completely unusual for her. He made a quick decision to try to get to the bottom of things as he said, "Francine, Amanda, could the two of you help Edwards to the conference room. It's going to take a few minutes on those crutches. Scarecrow and I will meet you there."

Amanda stood and moved to hold the door as Francine stated, "Come on, Edwards, hobble your way over here." She stood near him as he carefully stood, wincing in pain. "It's not that bad, let's go," she rolled her eyes at him.

The trio slowly made their way across the bullpen as Billy looked on. Once they were out of view he turned to Lee. "What's going on with Amanda and Edwards? Is he still bothering her?" Billy asked pointedly.

"Amanda said he made a pass at her on Friday when she went to see him at the hospital and when she threatened to have him written up for inappropriate conduct, he blew it off like it was nothing. I don't know, Billy, he's young, smart… he could make a good agent one day but he needs to lose this attitude he has…." Lee replied thoughtfully.

Billy laughed loudly before answering, "I remember thinking the same thing about you about 10 years ago, young, smart… but if he would just stay away from the ladies…."

Lee looked at his friend before saying," I never went after a woman already involved in a relationship… knowingly anyway….or unless it was part of the job. I don't know what it is Billy… I think, he has some kind of hang up on Amanda."

"Let's get through this hearing then we can address this issue between Edwards and Amanda," Billy stated as they moved toward the conference room. They found seats around the table, Billy sitting between Francine and Edwards, Lee beside Amanda on the opposite side. As soon as they were seated, Mrs. Frampton along with three other agents from Internal Affairs entered. They sat at the opposite end, hands folded, just watching until everyone took their seats.

"I want to thank everyone for your continued patience while we complete our investigation. I won't beat around the bush. You must be some of the luckiest damn agents I've ever investigated," Mrs. Frampton stated.

Lee couldn't hide the shocked expression on his face with her candid comment. Billy spoke quickly, "Care to elaborate on that?"

"After a careful investigation, two witnesses turned over a security video from the Potomac Boat Club. A thorough scrutiny of the video as well as the eye witnesses audio accounts confirm Veronica Tucker was warned multiple times to drop her weapon and she fired unprompted at Edwards. After watching the video frame by frame, it was also determined that Ms. Desmond only fired in self defense. She didn't raise her weapon until after Ms. Tucker began her turn toward Mrs. King with her weapon outstretched. So our findings show, Mr. Edwards, Ms. Desmond and Mrs. King acted appropriately and you are no longer on suspension by this department, should Mr. Melrose choose to lift the Administrative suspension," the older agent explained.

"Thank you, Mrs. Frampton," Billy stated. He opened his mouth to continue but Lee cut him off.

"What about my suspension?" Lee questioned.

"Well, Mr. Stetson, you're no longer under suspicion for the shooting of Veronica Tucker however there is another matter we haven't completed investigating yet," Mrs. Frampton began to explain.

Amanda's eyes widened as she asked, "Mrs. Frampton? Mr. Stetson was right there with us. What else could there possibly be?"

Mrs. Frampton looked at each of them, her eyes settling on Lee's face as she said, "Conspiracy Entrapment."

Lee clenched his jaw, the muscles twitching wildly as he rolled his tongue across his teeth fighting the urge to yell. Rubbing his face several times, he finally said slowly, "And how did you come up with that? Did Dr. Smythe give you that idea?"

Mrs. Frampton wrung her hands together before replying. "No, Mr. Stetson, this committee has spent a long time trying to decide how liable you are. You knew Ms. Tucker was following you. You called Mr. Melrose yourself, did you not?"

"Yes, he did," Billy answered quickly.

"And you were aware of your surroundings at the time, Mr. Stetson?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I knew where I was and I knew I had to get Veronica to follow me to a place where, if something were to happen, she could cause the least amount of damage. You forget, Mrs. Frampton, I've dealt with Veronica Tucker before. I saw what she did to three agents before I put a bullet in her shoulder," Lee spoke harshly. Amanda slipped her hand under the table to rub his knee, trying to calm him.

"Yes,you are correct, Mr. Stetson, you have dealt with her before. And if the reports I read were correct, you also had a sexual relationship with Ms. Tucker," Mrs. Frampton pulled the original shooting report out of the folder before her.

"Yes, ten years ago, I did. That was before I found out who she really was and what she was really capable of. But that doesn't mean I lured her anywhere to forced her into a situation where she would shoot someone again. I tried to keep her away from innocent bystanders. I called for backup thinking maybe, just maybe, we could get her to surrender without an incident," Lee started to stand in anger before he felt Amanda's hand tugging on his elbow. Sitting back down in his seat, he crossed his arms defiantly.

Mrs. Frampton leaned forward on her elbows before stating, "Mr. Stetson, this committee sympathizes with your situation. We truly do. We understand it's a judgement call and in this case, that call cost Ms. Tucker her life."

"And I took a bullet in my hip for that. Do you know how much that hurts?" Edwards interjected.

Francine narrowed her eyes and looked at him. Between clenched teeth she said, "And you'll feel more pain if you don't shut up now, Edwards."

"Mrs. Frampton, I'm sure you can agree that Lee…. Mr. Stetson has had an excellent record the last few years and during that time, he has never done anything like what you are suggesting now," Amanda said, gestured at Lee as she spoke. "Ms. Desmond, Mr. Edwards and I were all there a few minutes ahead and Mr. Stetson was doing his best to stay out of her line of fire and keep her talking. She was saying some pretty awful things."

Shaking her head, Mrs. Frampton answered, "Mrs. King, we are not saying that Mr. Stetson lured her there under the pretense of murdering Ms. Tucker, we just need to be sure he didn't trick her into drawing her weapon, therefore causing the domino effect."

Francine turned toward the end of the conference table and stood slowly as she began, "Mrs. Frampton, I know you read our reports and you saw the video and heard the witnesses but you weren't there. Lee was barely out of his car when Veronica tried to run him over. He was hiding behind a van as she started firing shots at him. Can you honestly tell me you think he tried to … to…. set her up? She admitted she killed Noves, she admitted she was after Dr. Schavesky. So, how can you say Scarecrow lured her there for anything other than to try to take her into custody as quietly and safely as possible?"

Standing, Mrs. Frampton gestured for the other agents to follow her. "You'll receive our findings in another day or two," she said as she left the conference room.

As the door softly closed, Amanda patted Lee's arm and said, "I'm sorry. I tried. I just thought maybe she would understand."

Covering her hand with his, Lee replied, "I know you did. Thank you. I don't know if she would have listened to any of us right now."

"I don't know who that woman is, but she scares me," Edwards piped up.

"Just shut up, Edwards, okay? You don't have any clue how lucky you are right now that you are sitting in front of that woman with us because I'll tell you, she can give a whole new meaning to the word miserable," Francine declared. "Now, do you want me to drive you back to your apartment now or do you want me to call you a cab?"

Edwards looked at Francine then at Amanda and said, 'Well, I was hoping maybe Mrs. King wouldn't mind driving me home."