PART THREE
Billy's Office, 1:15 pm
The clock read one-fifteen when Lee and Amanda entered the bullpen. Billy saw them and beckoned them into his office. "Francine!" he yelled, and she also followed them in. They took the same seats that they'd had during the morning's briefing.
"Well?" asked Billy, "did you get anything?"
"A whole wad of cash," said Lee, glancing sideways at his wife who smiled back innocently.
Billy and Francine just looked at them blankly as Lee reached into his pocket and pulled out the photographs Auggie had given him.
"That's Eduardo Cadiz." Lee pointed to the photograph of a swarthy looking man in his forties. He had short black hair and brown eyes. His nose looked like it had been broken several times. "It seems he's heading up the operation." He passed the photograph to Billy. "He's in the country illegally and has infiltrated a group of Cuban freedom fighters down in Miami. What they don't know is that he's actually working for a group connected to Castro, he's the nephew of one of Castro's lieutenants in fact. Cadiz disappeared from Cuba three years ago and it was assumed he was dead, until this picture turned up."
"And who's he trading with?" asked Francine.
"A guy called Jesse Martinez. His picture portrayed a man in his fifties with thinning brown hair and a moustache. He was wearing sunglasses so they couldn't see his eyes but they could see a gun in his hand. "Martinez came from Cuba to Florida on a raft twenty-five years ago, after the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He's always sworn to reclaim his country for democracy, but we've never been able to pin anything illegal on him. We know he's connected with Alpha66, but that's all."
Billy asked, "So why is Martinez dealing with Cadiz? Doesn't he know he's pro-Castro?"
"I guess not."
"Do we know anything about where or when the deal's going down?" pursued Billy
"According to Auggie, the deal's going down late on Tuesday night after the park is closed. We don't know where though. We do know that Cadiz and Martinez have arranged a meeting at a café in the park at one o'clock tomorrow, so we need to make sure we're there for that. Other than that we'll just have to let it play out and see what happens. "There's no time to infiltrate their outfit so I think we should go down and see what a little discrete surveillance can uncover. If we can find out the location of the deal, maybe we can stake it out in time for the action."
"Francine?" Billy turned to his assistant.
"Senator Hume has insisted we go in quietly. His brother-in-law is a senior exec over at DisneyWorld and they are concerned that if guns are found in there, it'll have a severe affect on the tourist trade. They don't want to be hit by an arms dealing scandal, so you're in, but you've got to be low key. The Senator insisted we only send one agent and Smyth agreed – they're buddies from the Club, apparently - so Amanda, you'll be going as Lee's assistant. Officially at least," she added quickly as she saw Amanda open her mouth to protest. She held up her hand. "Unofficially, we all know you're a full agent, it's just easier if we don't tell Hume that, okay?"
Amanda nodded her consent. "Okay."
"Your cover's been set up as a couple of new cast members, as they call their employees. That way you'll be inconspicuous." Francine smiled smugly as she looked at Scarecrow. "You might have to dress up as a big mouse or something." Francine grinned at the mental image she had conjured up and soon Billy and Amanda were obviously doing the same.
Lee was a little irritated at their response. "That's fine. I've dressed up for a cover before." In an attempt to change the subject, and to stop a room full of inane grinning, he said, "When do we leave?"
Francine regained her professional composure, albeit with a wicked glint in her eye. "You're booked on the eight-thirty out of Reagan. Once you've checked into your hotel, you're to go straight to Disney's Operation's Center and ask for Security Chief Mike Bannon. He'll be expecting you. I spoke with him this morning, so he's already been briefed."
"Right then, people," Billy said, standing up. "Let's get moving."
Taking their cue from the Section Chief, the agents all stood up. Lee and Amanda sought each other's eyes to question the other thing, the secret marriage. Did Billy have any news? Francine was standing right there, though, so they kept silent.
All three of them headed towards the door, when Billy spoke up again. "Oh, Mrs. Stetson?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye.
Automatically Amanda turned around. "Yes, sir?" Instantaneously, her face glowed bright red as she realized what she'd just done.
"What?" exclaimed Francine. "What did you say?"
Billy held out his hand to Amanda to shake hers. "Welcome to the Agency, Mrs. Stetson." He grinned.
Amanda looked at him, disbelieving. "Really?" she whispered.
"Now wait a minute," interjected Francine. "Mrs. Stetson?" She emphasized the first word, looking like she'd just sucked on a lemon. "But- but-" She'd forgotten how to formulate a sentence.
"What's the matter Francine," asked Lee, obviously enjoying Francine's reaction, at the same time reaching for Amanda's hand. He held up their interlaced fingers for Francine to see. "Let me introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Lee and Amanda Stetson." Lee laughed.
Francine still wasn't saying anything but the color of her face had changed – from white with shock to a red, almost purple look of anger. Finally, her words came. "And no one bothered to tell me?" she said acerbically.
Amanda smirked, enjoying getting the upper hand. "You didn't have a need to know, Francine."
Francine then turned on her boss, "You…Did you know about this?"
"Well," Billy said, trying to keep himself together and not laugh out loud at Francine's obvious discomfort at being so well and truly kept out of the loop. "I knew there was something going on between these two," he nodded their way, "but no, I only found out about their mystery marriage this morning."
"So, Billy?" began Amanda.
Again Francine interrupted. "Billy" she said as she remembered this morning's conversation. "I knew something was going on. That's why Amanda called you Billy. You were in on their little secret. Well, I'm glad you considered me such a good friend that you couldn't tell me!" Her voice quavered at the last sentence, and she stomped out of the office with such vehemence that people stepped out of her way, like she was parting the Red Sea.
"She'll come around," said Billy. "She just hates to think she's missing out on anything."
"So, this means it's okay with Dr. Smyth?" Lee asked the Section Chief.
"Well …" Billy still didn't have a handle on that morning's conversation with the Agency Director, but he had received approval. "Yes. He didn't really say why, but this time he's going to bend the rules."
"Dr. Smyth?" Lee asked incredulously. "Mr. Rule Book?"
"You're telling me," Billy said. "He just spoke out against public displays of affection and virtually threw me out of the office. I thought I should quit while I was ahead, so didn't ask many questions."
"Wow!" Amanda exclaimed and grabbed Lee's hands with hers again. Lee extricated one of his hands from hers and put his arm around her shoulder, hugging her towards him.
"I don't know what he's up to," Billy mused, "but I'm sure, some time, there'll be a reckoning and that's something I'm not looking forward to." He took a deep breath and looked up at his best, and favorite, agents. "Look, you need to prepare for tomorrow and I guess you might want to talk to your family, so why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
As they started to leave, they separated. "Thanks, Billy," Lee said, as they shook hands and patted each other on the shoulder with the other hand. "We really appreciate everything you've done for us."
"Everything," agreed Amanda, suddenly remembering the first time she ever met Section Chief William Melrose. "We really do."
As they turned to face the bullpen, from behind Billy's office door, Lee held out his left hand towards Amanda's right. "Care to, Mrs. Stetson?"
"Love to, Mr. Stetson."
As they opened the door and stepped into the bullpen, the cheering and clapping started. They walked across the office to a myriad of calls of, "well done," "congratulations," and the occasional, "I never thought I'd see the day." There was also backslapping of Lee and hugs for Amanda from their fellow agents.
In the midst of it all, Amanda looked at Lee. "Francine," they both said simultaneously and grinned.
~
Georgetown Foyer, 2:20
Lee and Amanda stepped from the closet-elevator and headed up the stairs for the Q-Bureau. Lee was leading the way, but turned to look back over his shoulder. He had a feeling that he was being watched. He looked back over the railing and saw Mrs. Marston looking at them with raised eyebrows, as if she expected something from them. They'd already given the password for the day, so it wasn't that. Amanda, who had nearly run into Lee when he stopped so abruptly, followed his gaze and saw Mrs. Marston's questioning stare.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Amanda asked her politely.
In response, Mrs. Marston just allowed her eyes to drift from Lee to Amanda, then back to Lee. Realization dawned on Lee and Amanda at the same time. They knew their little slip up earlier that morning would not have been missed by the eagle eye of Mrs. Marston. After all, she was very good at her job as an Agency watchdog. Too much depended on her ability to carefully screen anyone who came through the doors of the Agency, and an eye for detail was an important part of her job.
Lee was curious so he asked, "So you saw the rings?"
She nodded.
"So the grapevine has already traveled this far?"
Mrs. Marston nodded again and Lee saw the beginnings of a smile.
Lee and Amanda both returned her smile and began to turn back toward the second floor, when Lee turned back. "Thanks for keeping our secret until we had a chance to talk to Billy."
She smiled and turned back to her desk. Lee and Amanda continued up the stairs. As they reached the top, they were startled to hear Mrs. Marston call up the stairs to Lee. "You take good care of her, Scarecrow."
They knew that Mrs. Marston was usually a woman of few words, so they were surprised at her admonition. For this reason, the words were so much more meaningful to the newly revealed couple. Amanda had endeared herself to Mrs. Marston over the years, as she had to everyone else at the Agency, except maybe Francine, and like every other woman in the Agency, Mrs. Marston had long ago developed a soft spot for the Scarecrow. Mrs. Marston had seen the changes in Lee Stetson over the last four years under the influence of Mrs. King and she was pleased that these two had finally admitted to what they had found in each other.
She knew that message had been understood when Lee flashed her his most disarming smile, complete with dimples and a wink. As he turned out of sight at the top of the stairs, he tossed a "You can count on that!" over his shoulder. Amanda hung back for a second to send her a smile of gratitude and understanding.
Mrs. Marston turned back to her desk with a grin thinking, who had those two thought they were fooling anyway? She had seen the spark between them for the longest time, but she was really pleased with how it had all turned out.
~
Q-Bureau, 2:35
As they reached the Q-Bureau, Lee was immediately suspicious to find that the door was open. They entered and saw Francine sitting at Amanda's desk. She stood up and saw that the couple was holding hands.
"Well, Scarecrow," Francine said, smiling, "I never took you for the marrying kind. You really surprised me."
"I think we surprised everyone," said Amanda. "Well, except maybe Billy." She smiled at Francine.
"And Dr. Smyth is okay with this?" Francine asked, amazed. "You're still here? Not stranded on a distant desert island or something? I don't believe it."
"It's true, Francine," Lee responded. "Apparently he's known all along."
"How long is all along, exactly?"
"Oh, about four months," Amanda answered.
"And two days," added Lee, letting go of Amanda's hand to reach around her shoulder and hug her to him again.
Francine was beginning to feel like she was intruding. "Well, I won't keep you, but I wanted to congratulate you, properly." She smiled. "And I apologize for my outburst, down in the 'pen."
"You don't have to apologize, Francine. We're friends. We're sorry our secret hurt you but we thought it would be for the best. My family doesn't even know."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really," Lee said. "I think we need to head over there next and break the news."
Lee and Amanda separated as Francine stepped towards Amanda and hugged her. "Congratulations, Amanda. I really am happy for you." If Amanda hadn't known better, she would have sworn Francine's eyes bore the traces of moistness. Nodding towards Lee, she said, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to him." She released Amanda and turned to face her old friend. "And you," she pointed a finger at Lee, "had better not do anything to mess this up, or you'll have to answer to me."
As she hugged Lee, he looked over her shoulder at Amanda. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Ya got me," Amanda laughingly replied.
With pure love for his wife in his eyes he returned, "I certainly have."
~