Chapter 2 - DEADLY INTENTIONS
**Agency Fabrication Dept.
Friday - 4:15PM**
Junior Agent Janice Bigelow leaned over her desk, staring down at a Russian Passport through her giant magnifying glass. Making some final changes, she sat back with a deep sigh.
"Even Gorbachev himself couldn't tell the difference," her visitor heard her mumble.
"Good job."
Janice looked up. "Thank you! I've been working on it all afternoon. It's for an upcoming mission Mr. Melrose is planning."
The new person nodded. "It'll work out fine. I have something else for you to work on. It shouldn't take nearly as long."
Janice took the envelope offered to her and opened it, removing the information inside. She nodded as she read it over. "This shouldn't be a problem. Mr. Stetson and Mrs. King have had similar documents made up before."
"This is top priority and need to know only. You are to speak to no one about this but me. Understood?"
Janice nodded. "Sure thing. When do they need it by?"
"This is to come to me only. I need it immediately."
She nodded. "Sure thing. I'll get right on it."
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**King House
Sunday Afternoon - 2:33PM**
"Amanda!" Lee shouted from the backyard. "Amanda, I need a plate before these steaks burn!"
Phillip bolted out the back door, a large platter in hand. "I got it, Lee."
"Thanks, buddy." Lee took the plate and moved the ribeyes from the grill onto it. "Why don't you go make sure your mom is done with the potato salad?"
"Sure," Phillip said, heading back to the kitchen door, slapping Jamie up side the head as he passed.
"Hey!"
Lee shook his head and closed the lid to the grill. He walked to the picnic table where Jamie sat and put the platter down. Jamie was engrossed in a book on photography Lee had picked up for him at the gallery the day before. The young man never looked up as Lee retrieved a can of soda from the cooler on the ground and sat down beside him. He leaned over and glanced at a page over Jamie's shoulder.
"Interesting book, huh?"
Jamie jumped and scrunched his nose, shifting his glasses on the bridge. "Oh. Yah, it is. I'm reading about using black and white film to create more contrast."
"I'm glad you like the book."
"I do. Thanks, Lee."
Jamie went back to his reading, and Lee popped open his can of soda with a smile. He finally felt like he had found a connection with Jamie, and he liked it. Phillip had been easy. He was just like Lee at that age - athlete, cocky, well liked by the girls. Jamie was just the opposite. He was still in his awkward stage, and the braces and big glasses didn't help. Maybe he could broach the subject with Amanda about getting the kid some better frames, or maybe even look into contacts. It'd help with his self- confidence, Lee was sure of that.
He was brought back from his musings by Amanda, Phillip and Dotty coming through the kitchen door - each carrying something to set on the table. A warm sensation wrapped around Lee's heart and he smiled when Amanda's eyes met his. This was what he wanted: backyard cookouts with his wife and sons. His sons. Just thinking it felt good. The one thing missing was the truth. Lee felt like he was play-acting, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up without slipping. What if he showed up at work one day still wearing his wedding band - which he always put on when they were alone. What if he referred to Amanda as his wife? Or the guys as his sons?
"How are those steaks?" Amanda asked as she took the space beside Lee.
"Not too charred," he said as he kissed her. Her hand touched his thigh beneath the table and Lee had to fight the groan.
Just as they were about to cut into their steaks, the phone inside rang. Dotty huffed and rolled her eyes.
"It's always in the middle of dinner," she mumbled.
"I'll get it," Amanda said as she stood, her hand resting on Lee's shoulder.
Lee watched her go inside and listened as she picked up on the third ring. Just by the way her voice changed, and the way she addressed the caller, Lee knew who it was. He was on his feet before she came back to the door. She motioned him inside.
"It's Mr. Melrose," she whispered as she handed him the phone.
"Hi Billy," Lee said as he took the phone.
"Scarecrow, I need you and Amanda here pronto." Billy's voice was stern and Lee recognized the edge in it.
"What's up? Did they find something at the warehouse?" Lee asked as he glanced first at Amanda then over his shoulder to their family outside.
"No, this is something different. Get here now."
"Billy!" Lee said in frustration. "What the hell is going on?" Amanda's hand touched his arm when he cursed and he mouthed a quick apology.
"An agent has been killed."
"We'll be there in twenty minutes."
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**Agency Parking Garage
Third level Sunday Afternoon - 3:48PM**
Lee and Amanda walked hand in hand through the nearly empty parking garage. They had arrived in the Georgetown Foyer, only to be directed by an MP that Mr. Melrose would meet them in the garage.
"Mr. Melrose didn't tell you who it is?" Amanda asked as they walked toward the small huddle of people in the far corner. She could see Mr. Melrose speaking with some other agents whose faces she recognized, but their names escaped her at the moment.
"No," Lee said, his voice low and rough. "He just said an agent had been killed."
Amanda nodded, not knowing what else could be said until they knew the situation. They released each others hands as they neared the group, and Amanda shoved hers into the front pocket of her jeans. Mr. Melrose saw them approach and stepped away from the other agents. He touched Lee's arm and led them several paces away.
"This isn't a good situation, Scarecrow, and I wanted to speak to you before brass got down here."
"What are you talking about, Billy? Who's the agent?"
Amanda glanced into the far corner of the garage as they passed. Her stomach immediately flipped when she saw the dark spatterings of blood and gore on the cement walls. All she saw of a body was one arm and part of a torso. It was a woman. Her clothing was covered with blood.
"Agent Junior Class Janice Bigelow."
Lee shook his head. "I don't know her."
"Doesn't she work in Fabrication?" Amanda offered.
Billy nodded. "She did. Our forensics guys put her death sometime late Friday night."
Amanda's gut clenched and she pushed her hand against her abdomen. "How terrible," she whispered.
"Are you sure you don't know her, Scarecrow?" Billy asked again.
Lee shook his head again, placing his hands at his hips. "No, I don't. I might have spoken to her once or twice, just coincidently on a case. I went to Fabrication all the time. Who are you asking me?"
Mr. Melrose held out a plastic evidence bag with a piece of paper inside. Lee took it and turned it over to read the writing. Amanda leaned over his arm to read it with him.
**Sweet Janice**
**I need to see you. I'm ending it with Amanda this weekend, and then we can be together. Just as I promised. Meet me tonight in the parking garage - level three. No more hiding. No more games.**
**Scarecrow**
A cold wave washed over Amanda. It was his handwriting. The same slanted scrawl she had learned to decipher years before. But it couldn't be true. She looked up at her husband, who's confused hazel eyes looked down at her. A muscle jerked with tension along his jaw.
"Can you explain this, Scarecrow?"
"No," Lee forced out, his voice strained. "I didn't write it. I don't know where it came from. And I don't know Janice Bigelow."
"This doesn't look good, Lee. Smyth has already gotten wind of it and he wants a full investigation."
Amanda took a step back and crossed her arms over her body. A frightening sense of dread sank into her bones. She had felt this before. A frame. A set-up. Conspiracy. Whatever word you wanted to use, it all came down to the same thing. She knew her husband. She knew the note wasn't written by his hand. That could only mean one thing.
"Do you have an alibi for Friday night? About ten o'clock? That would be a start."
Lee looked in her direction. She nodded once, slowly, letting him know if there was ever a time to be honest it was now. Lee nodded his head and turned back to their boss, handing him the plastic bag.
"I do."
"Well, where were you, man?"
"He was with me," Amanda said, hearing her own voice crack.
"Where? A restaurant? A movie?"
Her husband's hazel eyes met hers for a brief moment before dropping away. "No. My apartment."
"Did anyone see you arrive? Did you arrive together?"
Lee nodded. "Yes, we arrived together. The doorman would have seen us, I'm sure of it. I remember speaking to him briefly."
"What time was that?"
"Between nine-thirty and nine-forty-five. I don't remember for sure." Amanda heard the tension in Lee's voice. He was sharing more than he wanted to, and she didn't blame him.
"Damn!" Billy cursed. "That's too damn close to the suspected time of death. The coroner will narrow it down for us, but right now I don't like the numbers. What time did you leave, Amanda?"
Lee raked his hair with his fingers and looked at Amanda again. She stepped closer to him and laid her hand on his arm. His fingers covered hers and squeezed gently.
"It'll be okay," she whispered to him before turning to Billy. "I left just after midnight."
Mr. Melrose motioned them further away from any other ears that might pick up on their conversation. The bubbling fury behind his eyes was an expression Amanda had seen many times, and she didn't like it. It didn't bode well.
"I've asked this question before, and I damn well better get a straight answer this time. What exactly is going on between you two?"
Lee stared down at her, and for the first time since she could remember, Amanda couldn't find any words. What could they say? Could they blow the cover of the marriage they'd hidden for two years over a forged note found in a dead woman's hand?
"Scarecrow!"
"What do you want me to say, Billy?" Lee snapped back, his voice echoing through the empty garage. "You've said yourself you didn't get to be section chief by being blind. What do you think?"
Billy nodded and ran a hand over his bald head. "Who else knows about your relationship?"
"No one, sir." Amanda finally found her voice.
"No one but Barney," Lee added under his breath.
"Looks like the great Scarecrow is spreading around his straw," said a voice from behind them. Amanda immediately recognized it as Austin Smythe, and she pressed her eyes closed as he approached. The stench of his cigar wrapped around her. "Rumor was you were off the playing field, son. Sounds to me like you're playing more than one game. Or maybe just hitting more than one home run?"
Lee clenched his jaw, and the muscles along his jaw jumped with the tension. "Can we drop the word games, Smythe?"
Dr. Smythe puffed on his cigar and blew the smoke in Amanda's direction. She fought not to choke on the cloud.
"All we have is a note Lee says he knows nothing about and no physical evidence putting him here. He has an alibi. Let's just wait, Dr. Smythe, and see what other route we can take on this," Billy interjected.
"Tell me, Mrs. King, did you know your rooster was visiting another chicken coop?"
"That's enough!" Lee snapped and took a threatening step toward Dr. Smythe, his fists clenched at his side.
"Lee," she cried, pressing her hands against his chest to hold him back.
He turned away from Dr. Smythe and Mr. Melrose, his arm circling her waist. "Billy, let me know when you have something substantial. We're leaving."
Amanda was pushed along by his momentum, but didn't dare look back. Lee didn't say a word as they left the garage and walked to where the 'Vette was parked in front of the building. He opened her door and offered his hand as she slipped inside, and marched around the front of the car. His door closed with a slam and the tires squealed as he pulled away from the curb.
Lee remained silent until they were nearly back at Maplewood Drive. Then when he spoke, Amanda jumped.
"You know I didn't write that note," he snapped.
"Yes."
"I would never betray you like that. Never! I love you too much to even **think** about another woman. I don't know who she was, or why someone would try to make her look like my lover, but she wasn't, Amanda."
She grabbed his hand where it rested on the stick shift. "Lee."
He slowed the car and parked in front of her house. He was breathing hard and his grip on the shift whitened his knuckles. Amanda leaned across the car as best she could and rested her other hand on his shoulder, her fingers brushing his cheeks.
"Lee, I know. I trust you with my heart, my life, and my children. It never occurred to me, not for one second, that you wrote that note. We'll figure this out. We'll find out who killed that poor woman, and why, and why they want you blamed."
The lines around Lee's eyes softened and he leaned over to kiss her. "I guess I'm still not used to having someone believe in me the way you do."
"And I do believe in you. I love you."
"Thank you for loving me, Amanda."
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**Office of Anthony Mancini
Tuesday Morning - 11:23AM**
Anthony Mancini sat behind his desk, a date book in front of him and a phone nestled against his shoulder.
"The M-16 shipment will be ready to leave this Friday. It will be out of DC by midnight. I assume your payment will be received no later than Thursday at noon."
He listed to the client on the other end of the line, and nodded. "Good. It has been a pleasure doing business with you." With that, he hung up the phone.
A knock at his door drew his attention. "Come in!"
One of his long time employees entered the room. "Mr. Mancini, we got a delivery this morning from your contact at the Agency. I thought you'd want to see it right away."
"Thanks, Jimmy," Mancini said as he took the proferred envelope. Once alone again, he opened the clasp and slipped out the documents inside. As he read over the information provided, and the plan his contact proposed, a smile stretched across his face.
"Very interesting," he said to himself as he leaned back in his chair. "Very, very interesting."
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**The Agency
Sub-level Three Wednesday Afternoon - 3:17PM**
Amanda walked through the pristine halls of the Agency, her eyes on the document in her hands but her mind was some place entirely different. Her thoughts were with her husband, and the strain current events were putting on him. First, it was Mancini and the fact he managed to slip through their fingers again. And now, the death of Agent Janice Bigelow with evidence that seemed to point at him.
A paper slipped from her folder, and Amanda crouched down to pick it up. As she did, the voices of several women drifted around the corner. Amanda paid no attention until she caught her husband's name.
"This was before you started here, Jolene, but Lee Stetson used to be seen as a real ladies man around here. He dated just about every eligible skirt in the place!"
Amanda tried to place the voice, but couldn't. They were probably some of the girls from the steno pool or secretarial.
"So, what happened?"
"Amanda King happened."
"She's his partner, right?"
"Partner is a good word for it. I mean, nothing **official** has ever been found out - but anyone who pays attention just knows those two are a thing. By what I hear, the first couple of years she was with the Agency, he did his best to avoid her, which was tough since he was the one who brought her in. Being the romantic that I am, I think it was because he wanted her."
"Anne Marie!" another voice said in shock.
"Well, it's almost the nineties for goodness sake! Don't act so shocked."
"But I heard someone say there was a note with Janice. From Lee Stetson. Was she seeing him?"
"Not that I know of. But he's kept his affair with Amanda King under wraps for years, it would stand to prove he'd hide an affair going on behind her back."
Amanda stood, frustrating tightening her chest. The gossip mill had already begun to grind out stories about Lee and Janice Bigelow. But how did anyone find out? Mr. Melrose swore it all would be kept under wraps - eyes only - until the mystery was solved. Somehow, someone found out.
"Maybe this means the Scarecrow is back on the market? He's older, but he's very attractive. And besides, you know what they say about mature men."
"Jolene, they think he **killed** Janice!"
Amanda couldn't listen anymore, and pushed her palm against the wall to move away. This was the part of working here that she hated. She couldn't count the times her name, or Lee's, or both had been pulled through the wringer. Either because someone was setting them up, or taking revenge for some long past wrong, or just because the rumor mill was quiet and someone decided to liven it up some. She knew there was no workplace where whispers and stories weren't carried, but here, in the business they were in, lies could be deadly.
"Amanda! I'm glad I caught you!"
Mr. Melrose's booming timbre snapped Amanda from her thoughts and she turned back to the doors of the bullpen, which she had just passed.
"Yes, sir."
"I was just going to my office to call up to the Q Bureau. I have something I need you to take care of for me tomorrow."
"Certainly, sir."
Amanda fell in step with Billy Melrose as they headed to his office. As they walked, he filled her in.
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**Q Bureau
Wednesday Afternoon - 4:05PM**
Lee stood at one of the two windows behind his desk and stared down into the street below. The trees were budding and flowers bloomed with springtime sun. He took a sip of his coffee, grimaced at its bitter taste, and set it down on the file cabinet beside him.
Nothing new had developed from Janice Bigelow's death. There was no other evidence. No fingerprints. No weapon. No other forensic trace other than the note found in her purse. Lee didn't like it. He had been set up before, and this tasted just about the same.
He knew the basic truth: that he didn't know Janice and had nothing to do with her death. He hadn't been having an affair. But it dug at him all the same. Lee worried what Amanda thought about it. She told him she trusted him, but it was hard to look away and not think about it. Perhaps, in this situation, it was better no one knew of their marriage. Amanda was at least spared the humiliation of rumors that her husband was having an affair behind her back.
As if manifested by his thoughts of her, the door opened and Amanda came in. Her eyes met his, and her smile immediately lightened his heart and warmed his skin. His Amanda. She was the first person he ever felt he could say belonged to him. He couldn't remember enough of his parents to say they belonged to him. And he was his uncle's responsibility. That was different than belonging. But Amanda. Amanda belonged to him, purely because he knew he belonged to her just as much.
"Hey, pretty lady," he said as she walked toward him.
"What are you doing up here all by yourself?" she asked as she came around the desk to stand beside him.
"Waiting for my wife," Lee whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. He pressed his lips against her hair.
Amanda hummed, deep and low in her chest, and rested her cheek against his lapel as she slipped her arms beneath his jacket. "Will she be here soon? Maybe I should leave so we don't get caught."
Lee laughed and held her tighter. It was a wry laugh, because her teasing words were too damn close to the truth. She shifted against him and he worked his hands up and down her spine, feeling the soft yarn of her sweater shift beneath his palms.
"I've missed you," Amanda whispered, so low he almost didn't hear her.
The tone of her voice, tighter and more restrained than usual, set off alarms in Lee's head. He tightened his hold, knowing immediately something was up.
"Amanda, talk to me. What's wrong?" he said against her hair.
"Just what I said, Lee," she said, not looking up. "I miss you. I miss you so much. I miss everything I don't have."
Lee sighed. "Amanda . . ."
"I know. I know. We've talked about this so many times, and I know this was the best way to do things and still be together. I know we decided this was the best way to keep our family safe."
She was rambling in that way Lee had fallen in love with so many years ago, but this was a different kind of ramble. It was a side of Amanda he rarely saw. She was talking fast and furious, and Lee knew it was to keep from losing the slipping grip she had on her emotional control.
Lee pulled back enough to press his palms against her cheeks and make her look up at him. He brushed his thumbs across her skin to dry the tears and leaned in to kiss her lips.
"Amanda, I promise you that this won't be for the rest of our lives. I couldn't do it any more than I could ask you to. We'll figure it out. I promise you."
She touched his cheek and Lee pressed his eyes closed at the tenderness of it. Of all the women he had ever known, he had ever been with, none seized his heart with the sheer force of their gentleness the way Amanda did. She touched him in a way that made him feel precious, which was an odd feeling for him. Not since he was a small boy, memories that were vague shadows to him know, did he remember feeling safe with another human being.
Her fingertips silently urged him down until their lips touched. He tasted the salty tears and pulled her closer. Amanda leaned into him and her fingers curled into his shirt, a soft moan reverberating against their joined lips. Lee wasn't sure if the sound came from his wife or from deep within his own chest.
"Amanda," he whispered as he trailed kisses down her throat.
"Mmmmm," she hummed.
"Did you lock the door?"
Her eyes opened and their gazes locked. A slow smile bowed her lips. "Yes."
Lee smiled back, and with a low chuckle, swept the slight form of his wife into his arms and rounded his desk toward the couch on the other side of the office.
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**Streetside - Georgetown Entrance
Wednesday Afternoon - 5:12PM**
Lee Stetson and Amanda King came out the door of the Georgetown foyer, hand in hand. From his vantage point across the street, their watcher could plainly see the sparkle in Mrs. King's eyes as she smiled up at her partner. Stetson said something and she shook her head slowly, her smile widening, and pressed her free hand against his chest.
**"Disgusting,"** the watcher mumbled and leaned against a nearby tree.
Mrs. King's car was parked right along the curb, and Stetson walked her to the driver's door. They were still talking, smiles on their faces like two teenagers in love. Before she opened her door, Stetson lifted her hand to his lips and placed a long kiss on her knuckles. He glanced around quickly, and leaned in for a prolonged kiss. Finally, Mrs. King opened her car door and slipped behind the Wagoneer's steering wheel.
Scarecrow stood on the curb, lifting his hand in a farewell wave until she disappeared around the next curve. The watcher grimaces at the satisfied grin on Scarecrow's face as he tossed his keys in the air, caught them, and headed down the sidewalk to where his silver Corvette was parked.
"Go ahead, Scarecrow. Enjoy your peaceful little existence tonight. By this time tomorrow your life will be falling apart like the walls of Jerico. Then we'll just see what happens to the **best team in the Agency** then!"
If Mancini used the information provided the way their saboteur hoped, it would be quite a show. And several birds will be taken down with a single stone. Mancini's biggest shipment ever will leave DC without a sideways glance from the Agency. His biggest threat for shut down - the team of Scarecrow and Mrs. King - will be a nuisance finally out of the way. Which would in turn, solve another problem. With Stetson and King out of the way, perhaps some light could be shed on other 'not so well recognized' agents - their watcher included. And the enjoyment of watching them try to squirm their way out of the web of lies that was about to fall down around them would be the sweetest satisfaction of all.
**Agency Fabrication Dept.
Friday - 4:15PM**
Junior Agent Janice Bigelow leaned over her desk, staring down at a Russian Passport through her giant magnifying glass. Making some final changes, she sat back with a deep sigh.
"Even Gorbachev himself couldn't tell the difference," her visitor heard her mumble.
"Good job."
Janice looked up. "Thank you! I've been working on it all afternoon. It's for an upcoming mission Mr. Melrose is planning."
The new person nodded. "It'll work out fine. I have something else for you to work on. It shouldn't take nearly as long."
Janice took the envelope offered to her and opened it, removing the information inside. She nodded as she read it over. "This shouldn't be a problem. Mr. Stetson and Mrs. King have had similar documents made up before."
"This is top priority and need to know only. You are to speak to no one about this but me. Understood?"
Janice nodded. "Sure thing. When do they need it by?"
"This is to come to me only. I need it immediately."
She nodded. "Sure thing. I'll get right on it."
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**King House
Sunday Afternoon - 2:33PM**
"Amanda!" Lee shouted from the backyard. "Amanda, I need a plate before these steaks burn!"
Phillip bolted out the back door, a large platter in hand. "I got it, Lee."
"Thanks, buddy." Lee took the plate and moved the ribeyes from the grill onto it. "Why don't you go make sure your mom is done with the potato salad?"
"Sure," Phillip said, heading back to the kitchen door, slapping Jamie up side the head as he passed.
"Hey!"
Lee shook his head and closed the lid to the grill. He walked to the picnic table where Jamie sat and put the platter down. Jamie was engrossed in a book on photography Lee had picked up for him at the gallery the day before. The young man never looked up as Lee retrieved a can of soda from the cooler on the ground and sat down beside him. He leaned over and glanced at a page over Jamie's shoulder.
"Interesting book, huh?"
Jamie jumped and scrunched his nose, shifting his glasses on the bridge. "Oh. Yah, it is. I'm reading about using black and white film to create more contrast."
"I'm glad you like the book."
"I do. Thanks, Lee."
Jamie went back to his reading, and Lee popped open his can of soda with a smile. He finally felt like he had found a connection with Jamie, and he liked it. Phillip had been easy. He was just like Lee at that age - athlete, cocky, well liked by the girls. Jamie was just the opposite. He was still in his awkward stage, and the braces and big glasses didn't help. Maybe he could broach the subject with Amanda about getting the kid some better frames, or maybe even look into contacts. It'd help with his self- confidence, Lee was sure of that.
He was brought back from his musings by Amanda, Phillip and Dotty coming through the kitchen door - each carrying something to set on the table. A warm sensation wrapped around Lee's heart and he smiled when Amanda's eyes met his. This was what he wanted: backyard cookouts with his wife and sons. His sons. Just thinking it felt good. The one thing missing was the truth. Lee felt like he was play-acting, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up without slipping. What if he showed up at work one day still wearing his wedding band - which he always put on when they were alone. What if he referred to Amanda as his wife? Or the guys as his sons?
"How are those steaks?" Amanda asked as she took the space beside Lee.
"Not too charred," he said as he kissed her. Her hand touched his thigh beneath the table and Lee had to fight the groan.
Just as they were about to cut into their steaks, the phone inside rang. Dotty huffed and rolled her eyes.
"It's always in the middle of dinner," she mumbled.
"I'll get it," Amanda said as she stood, her hand resting on Lee's shoulder.
Lee watched her go inside and listened as she picked up on the third ring. Just by the way her voice changed, and the way she addressed the caller, Lee knew who it was. He was on his feet before she came back to the door. She motioned him inside.
"It's Mr. Melrose," she whispered as she handed him the phone.
"Hi Billy," Lee said as he took the phone.
"Scarecrow, I need you and Amanda here pronto." Billy's voice was stern and Lee recognized the edge in it.
"What's up? Did they find something at the warehouse?" Lee asked as he glanced first at Amanda then over his shoulder to their family outside.
"No, this is something different. Get here now."
"Billy!" Lee said in frustration. "What the hell is going on?" Amanda's hand touched his arm when he cursed and he mouthed a quick apology.
"An agent has been killed."
"We'll be there in twenty minutes."
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**Agency Parking Garage
Third level Sunday Afternoon - 3:48PM**
Lee and Amanda walked hand in hand through the nearly empty parking garage. They had arrived in the Georgetown Foyer, only to be directed by an MP that Mr. Melrose would meet them in the garage.
"Mr. Melrose didn't tell you who it is?" Amanda asked as they walked toward the small huddle of people in the far corner. She could see Mr. Melrose speaking with some other agents whose faces she recognized, but their names escaped her at the moment.
"No," Lee said, his voice low and rough. "He just said an agent had been killed."
Amanda nodded, not knowing what else could be said until they knew the situation. They released each others hands as they neared the group, and Amanda shoved hers into the front pocket of her jeans. Mr. Melrose saw them approach and stepped away from the other agents. He touched Lee's arm and led them several paces away.
"This isn't a good situation, Scarecrow, and I wanted to speak to you before brass got down here."
"What are you talking about, Billy? Who's the agent?"
Amanda glanced into the far corner of the garage as they passed. Her stomach immediately flipped when she saw the dark spatterings of blood and gore on the cement walls. All she saw of a body was one arm and part of a torso. It was a woman. Her clothing was covered with blood.
"Agent Junior Class Janice Bigelow."
Lee shook his head. "I don't know her."
"Doesn't she work in Fabrication?" Amanda offered.
Billy nodded. "She did. Our forensics guys put her death sometime late Friday night."
Amanda's gut clenched and she pushed her hand against her abdomen. "How terrible," she whispered.
"Are you sure you don't know her, Scarecrow?" Billy asked again.
Lee shook his head again, placing his hands at his hips. "No, I don't. I might have spoken to her once or twice, just coincidently on a case. I went to Fabrication all the time. Who are you asking me?"
Mr. Melrose held out a plastic evidence bag with a piece of paper inside. Lee took it and turned it over to read the writing. Amanda leaned over his arm to read it with him.
**Sweet Janice**
**I need to see you. I'm ending it with Amanda this weekend, and then we can be together. Just as I promised. Meet me tonight in the parking garage - level three. No more hiding. No more games.**
**Scarecrow**
A cold wave washed over Amanda. It was his handwriting. The same slanted scrawl she had learned to decipher years before. But it couldn't be true. She looked up at her husband, who's confused hazel eyes looked down at her. A muscle jerked with tension along his jaw.
"Can you explain this, Scarecrow?"
"No," Lee forced out, his voice strained. "I didn't write it. I don't know where it came from. And I don't know Janice Bigelow."
"This doesn't look good, Lee. Smyth has already gotten wind of it and he wants a full investigation."
Amanda took a step back and crossed her arms over her body. A frightening sense of dread sank into her bones. She had felt this before. A frame. A set-up. Conspiracy. Whatever word you wanted to use, it all came down to the same thing. She knew her husband. She knew the note wasn't written by his hand. That could only mean one thing.
"Do you have an alibi for Friday night? About ten o'clock? That would be a start."
Lee looked in her direction. She nodded once, slowly, letting him know if there was ever a time to be honest it was now. Lee nodded his head and turned back to their boss, handing him the plastic bag.
"I do."
"Well, where were you, man?"
"He was with me," Amanda said, hearing her own voice crack.
"Where? A restaurant? A movie?"
Her husband's hazel eyes met hers for a brief moment before dropping away. "No. My apartment."
"Did anyone see you arrive? Did you arrive together?"
Lee nodded. "Yes, we arrived together. The doorman would have seen us, I'm sure of it. I remember speaking to him briefly."
"What time was that?"
"Between nine-thirty and nine-forty-five. I don't remember for sure." Amanda heard the tension in Lee's voice. He was sharing more than he wanted to, and she didn't blame him.
"Damn!" Billy cursed. "That's too damn close to the suspected time of death. The coroner will narrow it down for us, but right now I don't like the numbers. What time did you leave, Amanda?"
Lee raked his hair with his fingers and looked at Amanda again. She stepped closer to him and laid her hand on his arm. His fingers covered hers and squeezed gently.
"It'll be okay," she whispered to him before turning to Billy. "I left just after midnight."
Mr. Melrose motioned them further away from any other ears that might pick up on their conversation. The bubbling fury behind his eyes was an expression Amanda had seen many times, and she didn't like it. It didn't bode well.
"I've asked this question before, and I damn well better get a straight answer this time. What exactly is going on between you two?"
Lee stared down at her, and for the first time since she could remember, Amanda couldn't find any words. What could they say? Could they blow the cover of the marriage they'd hidden for two years over a forged note found in a dead woman's hand?
"Scarecrow!"
"What do you want me to say, Billy?" Lee snapped back, his voice echoing through the empty garage. "You've said yourself you didn't get to be section chief by being blind. What do you think?"
Billy nodded and ran a hand over his bald head. "Who else knows about your relationship?"
"No one, sir." Amanda finally found her voice.
"No one but Barney," Lee added under his breath.
"Looks like the great Scarecrow is spreading around his straw," said a voice from behind them. Amanda immediately recognized it as Austin Smythe, and she pressed her eyes closed as he approached. The stench of his cigar wrapped around her. "Rumor was you were off the playing field, son. Sounds to me like you're playing more than one game. Or maybe just hitting more than one home run?"
Lee clenched his jaw, and the muscles along his jaw jumped with the tension. "Can we drop the word games, Smythe?"
Dr. Smythe puffed on his cigar and blew the smoke in Amanda's direction. She fought not to choke on the cloud.
"All we have is a note Lee says he knows nothing about and no physical evidence putting him here. He has an alibi. Let's just wait, Dr. Smythe, and see what other route we can take on this," Billy interjected.
"Tell me, Mrs. King, did you know your rooster was visiting another chicken coop?"
"That's enough!" Lee snapped and took a threatening step toward Dr. Smythe, his fists clenched at his side.
"Lee," she cried, pressing her hands against his chest to hold him back.
He turned away from Dr. Smythe and Mr. Melrose, his arm circling her waist. "Billy, let me know when you have something substantial. We're leaving."
Amanda was pushed along by his momentum, but didn't dare look back. Lee didn't say a word as they left the garage and walked to where the 'Vette was parked in front of the building. He opened her door and offered his hand as she slipped inside, and marched around the front of the car. His door closed with a slam and the tires squealed as he pulled away from the curb.
Lee remained silent until they were nearly back at Maplewood Drive. Then when he spoke, Amanda jumped.
"You know I didn't write that note," he snapped.
"Yes."
"I would never betray you like that. Never! I love you too much to even **think** about another woman. I don't know who she was, or why someone would try to make her look like my lover, but she wasn't, Amanda."
She grabbed his hand where it rested on the stick shift. "Lee."
He slowed the car and parked in front of her house. He was breathing hard and his grip on the shift whitened his knuckles. Amanda leaned across the car as best she could and rested her other hand on his shoulder, her fingers brushing his cheeks.
"Lee, I know. I trust you with my heart, my life, and my children. It never occurred to me, not for one second, that you wrote that note. We'll figure this out. We'll find out who killed that poor woman, and why, and why they want you blamed."
The lines around Lee's eyes softened and he leaned over to kiss her. "I guess I'm still not used to having someone believe in me the way you do."
"And I do believe in you. I love you."
"Thank you for loving me, Amanda."
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**Office of Anthony Mancini
Tuesday Morning - 11:23AM**
Anthony Mancini sat behind his desk, a date book in front of him and a phone nestled against his shoulder.
"The M-16 shipment will be ready to leave this Friday. It will be out of DC by midnight. I assume your payment will be received no later than Thursday at noon."
He listed to the client on the other end of the line, and nodded. "Good. It has been a pleasure doing business with you." With that, he hung up the phone.
A knock at his door drew his attention. "Come in!"
One of his long time employees entered the room. "Mr. Mancini, we got a delivery this morning from your contact at the Agency. I thought you'd want to see it right away."
"Thanks, Jimmy," Mancini said as he took the proferred envelope. Once alone again, he opened the clasp and slipped out the documents inside. As he read over the information provided, and the plan his contact proposed, a smile stretched across his face.
"Very interesting," he said to himself as he leaned back in his chair. "Very, very interesting."
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**The Agency
Sub-level Three Wednesday Afternoon - 3:17PM**
Amanda walked through the pristine halls of the Agency, her eyes on the document in her hands but her mind was some place entirely different. Her thoughts were with her husband, and the strain current events were putting on him. First, it was Mancini and the fact he managed to slip through their fingers again. And now, the death of Agent Janice Bigelow with evidence that seemed to point at him.
A paper slipped from her folder, and Amanda crouched down to pick it up. As she did, the voices of several women drifted around the corner. Amanda paid no attention until she caught her husband's name.
"This was before you started here, Jolene, but Lee Stetson used to be seen as a real ladies man around here. He dated just about every eligible skirt in the place!"
Amanda tried to place the voice, but couldn't. They were probably some of the girls from the steno pool or secretarial.
"So, what happened?"
"Amanda King happened."
"She's his partner, right?"
"Partner is a good word for it. I mean, nothing **official** has ever been found out - but anyone who pays attention just knows those two are a thing. By what I hear, the first couple of years she was with the Agency, he did his best to avoid her, which was tough since he was the one who brought her in. Being the romantic that I am, I think it was because he wanted her."
"Anne Marie!" another voice said in shock.
"Well, it's almost the nineties for goodness sake! Don't act so shocked."
"But I heard someone say there was a note with Janice. From Lee Stetson. Was she seeing him?"
"Not that I know of. But he's kept his affair with Amanda King under wraps for years, it would stand to prove he'd hide an affair going on behind her back."
Amanda stood, frustrating tightening her chest. The gossip mill had already begun to grind out stories about Lee and Janice Bigelow. But how did anyone find out? Mr. Melrose swore it all would be kept under wraps - eyes only - until the mystery was solved. Somehow, someone found out.
"Maybe this means the Scarecrow is back on the market? He's older, but he's very attractive. And besides, you know what they say about mature men."
"Jolene, they think he **killed** Janice!"
Amanda couldn't listen anymore, and pushed her palm against the wall to move away. This was the part of working here that she hated. She couldn't count the times her name, or Lee's, or both had been pulled through the wringer. Either because someone was setting them up, or taking revenge for some long past wrong, or just because the rumor mill was quiet and someone decided to liven it up some. She knew there was no workplace where whispers and stories weren't carried, but here, in the business they were in, lies could be deadly.
"Amanda! I'm glad I caught you!"
Mr. Melrose's booming timbre snapped Amanda from her thoughts and she turned back to the doors of the bullpen, which she had just passed.
"Yes, sir."
"I was just going to my office to call up to the Q Bureau. I have something I need you to take care of for me tomorrow."
"Certainly, sir."
Amanda fell in step with Billy Melrose as they headed to his office. As they walked, he filled her in.
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**Q Bureau
Wednesday Afternoon - 4:05PM**
Lee stood at one of the two windows behind his desk and stared down into the street below. The trees were budding and flowers bloomed with springtime sun. He took a sip of his coffee, grimaced at its bitter taste, and set it down on the file cabinet beside him.
Nothing new had developed from Janice Bigelow's death. There was no other evidence. No fingerprints. No weapon. No other forensic trace other than the note found in her purse. Lee didn't like it. He had been set up before, and this tasted just about the same.
He knew the basic truth: that he didn't know Janice and had nothing to do with her death. He hadn't been having an affair. But it dug at him all the same. Lee worried what Amanda thought about it. She told him she trusted him, but it was hard to look away and not think about it. Perhaps, in this situation, it was better no one knew of their marriage. Amanda was at least spared the humiliation of rumors that her husband was having an affair behind her back.
As if manifested by his thoughts of her, the door opened and Amanda came in. Her eyes met his, and her smile immediately lightened his heart and warmed his skin. His Amanda. She was the first person he ever felt he could say belonged to him. He couldn't remember enough of his parents to say they belonged to him. And he was his uncle's responsibility. That was different than belonging. But Amanda. Amanda belonged to him, purely because he knew he belonged to her just as much.
"Hey, pretty lady," he said as she walked toward him.
"What are you doing up here all by yourself?" she asked as she came around the desk to stand beside him.
"Waiting for my wife," Lee whispered as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. He pressed his lips against her hair.
Amanda hummed, deep and low in her chest, and rested her cheek against his lapel as she slipped her arms beneath his jacket. "Will she be here soon? Maybe I should leave so we don't get caught."
Lee laughed and held her tighter. It was a wry laugh, because her teasing words were too damn close to the truth. She shifted against him and he worked his hands up and down her spine, feeling the soft yarn of her sweater shift beneath his palms.
"I've missed you," Amanda whispered, so low he almost didn't hear her.
The tone of her voice, tighter and more restrained than usual, set off alarms in Lee's head. He tightened his hold, knowing immediately something was up.
"Amanda, talk to me. What's wrong?" he said against her hair.
"Just what I said, Lee," she said, not looking up. "I miss you. I miss you so much. I miss everything I don't have."
Lee sighed. "Amanda . . ."
"I know. I know. We've talked about this so many times, and I know this was the best way to do things and still be together. I know we decided this was the best way to keep our family safe."
She was rambling in that way Lee had fallen in love with so many years ago, but this was a different kind of ramble. It was a side of Amanda he rarely saw. She was talking fast and furious, and Lee knew it was to keep from losing the slipping grip she had on her emotional control.
Lee pulled back enough to press his palms against her cheeks and make her look up at him. He brushed his thumbs across her skin to dry the tears and leaned in to kiss her lips.
"Amanda, I promise you that this won't be for the rest of our lives. I couldn't do it any more than I could ask you to. We'll figure it out. I promise you."
She touched his cheek and Lee pressed his eyes closed at the tenderness of it. Of all the women he had ever known, he had ever been with, none seized his heart with the sheer force of their gentleness the way Amanda did. She touched him in a way that made him feel precious, which was an odd feeling for him. Not since he was a small boy, memories that were vague shadows to him know, did he remember feeling safe with another human being.
Her fingertips silently urged him down until their lips touched. He tasted the salty tears and pulled her closer. Amanda leaned into him and her fingers curled into his shirt, a soft moan reverberating against their joined lips. Lee wasn't sure if the sound came from his wife or from deep within his own chest.
"Amanda," he whispered as he trailed kisses down her throat.
"Mmmmm," she hummed.
"Did you lock the door?"
Her eyes opened and their gazes locked. A slow smile bowed her lips. "Yes."
Lee smiled back, and with a low chuckle, swept the slight form of his wife into his arms and rounded his desk toward the couch on the other side of the office.
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**Streetside - Georgetown Entrance
Wednesday Afternoon - 5:12PM**
Lee Stetson and Amanda King came out the door of the Georgetown foyer, hand in hand. From his vantage point across the street, their watcher could plainly see the sparkle in Mrs. King's eyes as she smiled up at her partner. Stetson said something and she shook her head slowly, her smile widening, and pressed her free hand against his chest.
**"Disgusting,"** the watcher mumbled and leaned against a nearby tree.
Mrs. King's car was parked right along the curb, and Stetson walked her to the driver's door. They were still talking, smiles on their faces like two teenagers in love. Before she opened her door, Stetson lifted her hand to his lips and placed a long kiss on her knuckles. He glanced around quickly, and leaned in for a prolonged kiss. Finally, Mrs. King opened her car door and slipped behind the Wagoneer's steering wheel.
Scarecrow stood on the curb, lifting his hand in a farewell wave until she disappeared around the next curve. The watcher grimaces at the satisfied grin on Scarecrow's face as he tossed his keys in the air, caught them, and headed down the sidewalk to where his silver Corvette was parked.
"Go ahead, Scarecrow. Enjoy your peaceful little existence tonight. By this time tomorrow your life will be falling apart like the walls of Jerico. Then we'll just see what happens to the **best team in the Agency** then!"
If Mancini used the information provided the way their saboteur hoped, it would be quite a show. And several birds will be taken down with a single stone. Mancini's biggest shipment ever will leave DC without a sideways glance from the Agency. His biggest threat for shut down - the team of Scarecrow and Mrs. King - will be a nuisance finally out of the way. Which would in turn, solve another problem. With Stetson and King out of the way, perhaps some light could be shed on other 'not so well recognized' agents - their watcher included. And the enjoyment of watching them try to squirm their way out of the web of lies that was about to fall down around them would be the sweetest satisfaction of all.