Chapter 4

Well, this was certainly a miserable day! Billy Melrose thought to himself as he sat at his office desk, popping his third antacid tablet of the day and a glance at his watch confirmed he'd only been at work a mere three hours. Yet, they had been the longest three hours he'd had in a very long time. Dr. Smyth and several of the department heads had cooked up this plan to take down the Spanish Cartel. The plan was proving even more difficult than they'd expected but then again wasn't that almost always the case with these situations? Besides allowing Lee to be captured and allowing a civilian to work undercover; Billy's other ace up his sleeve was proving to be difficult. At the time this plan was developed, it appeared to be seamless, but as the hours passed, Billy's gut was telling him that they needed to escalate the situation. If this didn't get resolved soon, they would end up with two compromised agents and several other individuals and Billy was not willing to have anyone involved harmed.

A knock at the door and a glance outside the window revealed that his problem was heading his way. Accompanied by two MPs, his hands tightly secured; Carlos Perez; a young man in his early 20s with rich black curly hair pulled back into a ponytail; stepped into his office after Billy said to enter, looking none too pleased. Well, that made the two of them.

Billy turned to the guards and said, "Thanks. You two can wait just outside the door. I will let you know when you can take him back."

"Yes, Sir!" was said simultaneously though the senior MP looked skeptical, he left nonetheless.

"Take a seat!"

"I stand!" Ricardo replied as he pulled himself up to his full height of 5' 2".

"Suit yourself!" Billy answered with a shrug. "Now what can I do for you?"

"Is it really necessary for me to be handcuffed like a common thief?" Ricardo said, his words heavily annunciated by his thick Spanish accent.

"Isn't that what you are, a thief?"

"Thief, yes; but common no!" Carlos replied indignantly. "But you need me no?"

"Yes, we need you and we need to keep you safe as well."

Surprisingly, he seemed to accept Billy's explanation. "But how much longer is your government going to play with my life in this mouse and cat game you is playing?"

"I don't know as long as it takes. And this '"cat and mouse" game you call is actually a whole host of well-trained agents who know how to get the job done.

"That is no concern for me," Ricardo replied. "I just want to get this whole stinking business over with so I can go back to Mexico where I belong. I regret the day I came to this stinking country."

"Well, it better be a concern for you because our plan hinges on you continuing the charade that we've created," Billy said, pulling up to his full height and looking Senor Perez in the eye. "But now that you are here and you have done things that you shouldn't have, and you got caught, you want to go home. You keep playing ball with us and I will personally see that you get back on a plane to Mexico." Billy paused, then questioned; "You got me?"

Carlos nodded.

Billy tapped on the window to alert the MPs that his conversation was now done.

"Take him back to lock up."

***SMK***SMK***SMK***

Amanda sat in the steno pool, her fingers poised on top of the keyboard, all ready to transcribe her latest assignment from the headset yet her mind kept wandering; as her eyes kept shifting towards Mr. Melrose's office every time she heard a noise by his office door. When she wasn't doing that, she was glancing towards the elevator or snatching up the phone every time the phone rang. It had been several days since Lee had left her house so abruptly with the promise of returning and yet not only hadn't she heard from him; he had not been in the office.

She'd been keeping her ear to the ground, listening out for any little tidbit of information she could find out, hoping for some kind of news about Lee, anything to tell his activity but so far she hadn't been able to learn a thing. Good news, bad news, any kind of news would be good but so far; she'd not heard anything.

She would ask Francine, but she seemed somewhat occupied; more so than usual. Almost, as if on cue, Francine proceeded through the double doors with a load of files and unceremoniously plopped them on Amanda's desk without even a word and headed back the way she came. That was rude, even for Francine. She was about to call after her when she realized that two MPs were leaving Mr. Melrose's office with a man in handcuffs. When had they gone into his office and how long had they been there? It must've been when she stepped away to go to the ladies' room. Amanda turned back towards her work, hands poised to type when Mr. Melrose himself stepped out and headed out towards the double doors; his briefcase in hand.

So far she'd avoided asking outright about Lee's assignment and she knew she needed to get back to work, but on the other hand, when would she be able to catch up with Mr. Melrose? "It was now or never!" With a last glance at her typewriter, Amanda stood up and rushed towards the double doors so she could catch up to him before the elevator opened.

"Hi, Mr. Melrose, do you have a moment?"

"Hi, Amanda," Billy glanced down at his watch. "I'm in a hurry but what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering about Lee, I mean Scarecrow. I know he had to rush out on a secret assignment but that was over three days ago and I was just-"

"Lee is okay Amanda. There's no need to worry. Now, if that is all, I'm sorry, I really do have to go."

"Okay, Sir!"

At the look on Amanda's face, Billy stepped back from the elevator and pulled Amanda to the side. "Amanda, I promise. You have nothing to worry about. Lee should be back before long, and you can finish where you left off."

"Sir?"

"I mean, you know, being the best partnership I've ever had."

"Yes, Sir! Thank you!"

***SMK***SMK***SMK***

That was a close call. With Amanda, even as a retired seasoned agent himself; it would be all too easy to tell her what exactly was going on behind Lee's disappearance, especially now that Lee had revealed or was very close to revealing his true feelings to Amanda. The situation may cause complications of their own but for now, he was rooting for them.

"Hi Mavis," now in the foyer, Mr. Melrose said, "I'm heading out for a while. I am not sure when I will be back."

"I was just about to send this up for you."

Billy glanced at the large pizza in Mrs. Marston's hand and raised an eyebrow.

"When did this come? Do you know who delivered it?"

Mrs. Marston shrugged her shoulders. "About five minutes ago. A young man, a college student no doubt. Why?"

"No reason."

"Didn't you order a pizza?"

"Yes, of course."

Billy rushed outside with his briefcase and pizza in tow. Once safely in the limo, Billy moved aside the pizza slices to reveal a slip of folded paper. After reading it, Billy torched it with the car lighter. Now, we are getting somewhere!

"Okay, Marvin, you can go, and please make it snappy," Billy said to his driver.

"Yes, Sir!"

***SMK SMK***

After her talk with Mr. Melrose, Amanda realized that part of her trouble with concentration had to do with the fact that she'd not eaten anything that morning for breakfast, so she asked the floor manager if she could take her break early. She figured she'd stay late to make up for the time she had lost earlier.

Several minutes later, Amanda was at Richmond's Department store, where she'd exchanged Jamie's pants for a bigger size and was now in line at their lunch counter. They had the best roast beef sandwiches (besides hers, of course) and the second-best apple pies. Theirs were pretty comparable to the ones her mother could make- -but she would never tell her that of course! Amanda couldn't exactly say that Mr. Melrose's words soothed her completely but at the very least he had given her some hope that Lee was safe and she could only hope that he'd be back soon so that they could—So, they could what? Clear up things. Besides the obvious, that she wanted Lee to be safe, why was she in such a hurry for them to talk? What was she going to say about how she felt? She told herself that was beside the point. The main thing was that she wanted him safe and also she wanted things to be back the way they used to be. And how exactly was that?

She had her tray in hand and was headed towards a table when she heard a familiar male's voice just behind her.

Thank you for reading.

To be continued...