SMK Chapter 23 - Still Day 14

"Are you crazy," David asked him over the phone. "Do you even realize all the things you've done to point the investigation back toward the Agency?"

Fred tried to form a rebuttal, but David wouldn't let him. "First the bug in Scarecrow's apartment – that no doubt was Agency issue. Then the bomb in the elevator that had to be placed by someone with access to the top-secret floorplans of the building. Then the magic dust on the phone in Mrs. King's house. Now, the video feed from the secret room to the monitor which you left in Scarecrow's apartment." Fred could hear the deep sigh through the phone receiver. "You got any more ingenious gimmicks up your sleeve?"

"Look," Fred explained. "We want this traced back to June, and she has access to the Agency and to the personnel at the Agency. Once we lure them to the hide-out, I kill June, Stetson, and Mrs. King. Problem solved."

"Yeah, until they run ballistics on the bullets and find they all came from the same gun."

"Give me some credit, will you?" Fred was in a phone booth but held down his frustration in case anyone was close enough to overhear. "I've got a plan for that." Fred felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he looked around. "I'll get back with you as soon as it's done, alright?" He hung up the phone before David could respond and started back toward the Agency.

It was going to be tricky for sure. The lab at the Agency was good; it was very good. He would have to time the deaths just right so that the actual times of death wouldn't contradict his story. He could feel his anxiety level heighten a bit. He wasn't going to go down for this; but David sure would. He would finally be free of him.

Leatherneck waited so he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Once Fred was far enough away, he turned the opposite direction to take a round-about way back to the Agency. He hadn't expected to find Fred, but after following June as far as he could without being obvious, he'd turned around to go back to the Agency and stopped at the little hole-in-the-wall fish taco stand for a late lunch. He just happened to be sitting there reading the newspaper when Fred showed up at the public phone ten feet away. He'd managed to get pictures with his watch camera, and he'd overheard much of the conversation. Finally, he had something worth reporting.

"You doin' okay, Scarecrow?" It was late in the afternoon when Billy's gentle question brought Lee's head around toward his office door.

"Oh, hey. Come on in, Billy." Lee waved him in. "Want some coffee?"

"Sure."

Lee filled one of the extra mugs and handed it to him. "Have a seat." He gestured toward a chair. "Any news?"

"You didn't answer my question." Billy took a sip of the hot brew.

Lee let out a rushed exhale. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that." He sat in the chair behind his desk and took a sip from his own mug before setting it on the desk. He blew out a breath. "Aw, Billy," he ran his hands over his hair. "I think you probably know how I'm doing."

"Probably, but let's talk about it anyway."

"I'm not sure I can and keep it together." He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his face. "Billy," he sat forward. "I think we're going to have to move on this more quickly than we thought."

Billy took another sip. "Yeah? Why's that?"

Lee stood and began pacing the small space. "They cut her this morning, Billy." He nearly whispered it because it was too painful to say out loud.

Billy stood suddenly. "They what?"

"They cut her..." He gestured to his own upper arm. "...on her arm. Two small cuts as clear as day." He looked up at the ceiling. "She could hardly breathe; I could tell she was trying not to panic, but she was crying, and she could barely breathe." He looked back at Billy. "I'm telling you, Billy; I don't know how much more of this she can take. Hell, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I know," Billy replied. "But if we're going to save her, you have to be professional about this. You're going to have to treat this like any other case, Lee."

"No," Lee shook his head emphatically. "I disagree. This desperation isn't going to make me careless; it's going to make me strong and resolute." He pinned Billy down with a pained look. "But I can't stay here and play the grieving guy who needs a shoulder to cry on. I've got to find her, and I've got to go get her." Billy just looked at him. "But I'll tell you what, Billy," Lee shook his head. "I honestly don't know if I can keep this up."

"You mean this role-play with June?"

"No, I mean this…" He gestured around the room. "I thought I could do it. I didn't think marrying her would change how I feel about her doing this job with me."

"But it has."

Lee looked Billy square in the eyes. "Yes; it has. Even more so now that she's expecting our baby."

"You know, Amanda might feel the same way about you," Billy reminded him.

"Yeah, I know she would. And I'm not trying to be a chauvinist here. She's saved my hide just as often as I've saved hers. But damn it, Billy, she's everything to me. I wouldn't be a man if I didn't feel the need to protect her, no matter what the women's libbers say."

"Well, I'm not sure she'd trust your safety with anyone but herself, Scarecrow." Billy shook his head with a smile. "Who'd have ever thought." He looked back at Lee. "Anyway, none of this needs to be decided right now."

"I know, I know," Lee walked back toward his desk. "It's just on my mind, and I needed to say it." He sat back down. "So, any news?"

"Actually, yes." Lee's head snapped up at Billy's answer. "Leatherneck followed June south on the Maryland 210 down to Charles County." Billy pulled a notepad out of his suit jacket pocket and looked down at the note he'd scribbled there. "She turned north on the MD – 227 and went four miles, then turned left on a street called Fenwick." He looked back at Lee. "He couldn't follow her after that; it was too rural, and he felt he couldn't stay inconspicuous."

"Billy, that's huge!" Lee stood up and went over to the map on the wall. "It gives us a descent search area." He looked at his watch. "If we calculate the time I saw June on the monitor and the time Leatherneck saw her turn off onto Fenwick, we can determine a pretty good area to pinpoint."

"That's not all, Lee." Billy's voice held a note of caution, and Lee turned and waited for him to continue. "When Leatherneck got back to town, Fred showed up at a phone booth close to where he was eating. He was close enough to overhear the conversation and got pictures of Fred using the phone."

"That's great!" Lee felt hope for the first time in days. "Phone company records should be able to give us the number Fred called! That should connect him with Davy. What did he overhear?"

"Fred is planning on setting up June and killing all three of you."

"Yeah, we kinda figured it might go down like that," Lee nodded his head. "Did Leatherneck overhear any kind of time-line?"

"No, but be on the lookout for any signals from June." Billy took a sip of his coffee. "If she wants to take you somewhere, play along. But make sure you keep us up to speed so we can be there to back you up, you got that?"

Lee nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I mean it, Scarecrow." Billy gave him a long, knowing look. "This is not a lone wolf operation. A lot of lives depend on us getting this right."

"I know," Lee nodded his head sincerely. "I know. I had Leatherneck set me up with a homing device on my belt." He reached for his coffee mug and took a sip. "Fred's going to be in on the back-up party?"

"Yes, I think that's the best way to go about it."

"That's what Francine and I were thinking as well."

Billy stood from the chair. "Alright, we've got a good plan. Let's work it."

Day 15

He knew June wanted to be there when they opened the envelope – the one with the pictures of Mrs. King. Not only was Mrs. King sporting those two cuts on her arm, but she had also acquired various bruises on her face. He needed to time things down to the last second. The video Lee had from the secret room implicated June, and Fred didn't want her to find out about it.

He'd arranged to have the video feed still going during the morning hours before June came into work. He'd known she wouldn't be able to resist driving down to torment Mrs. King during the early morning; but she thought the camera was only on when they were together. Geeze, she was gullible. Of course that was probably true for people who were delusional and thought they were on the brink of getting exactly what they wanted.

He planned to be part of the team that followed Scarecrow and June to the hideout. He was looking forward to seeing the look on Lee's face when he realized who was really behind all of this. Once he 'trapped' himself, Scarecrow, and June inside the secret room with Mrs. King, he'd let June take out Mrs. King. Scarecrow would go after her, and in her panic she would shoot him. Then he would kill June while trying to defend Scarecrow. Unfortunately, his shot would be just a fraction of a second too late. Poor Scarecrow.

He knew Stetson well enough to know the plan would work. He would be the lone survivor, and several journals would be found scattered throughout the house that exposed David as the one who'd enticed June into these actions. It would work; he knew it would.

Lee was sitting in the lunchroom hunched over the new pictures of Amanda that Billy had received from June. Of course, only a few people knew June was the source. The cuts and bruises made it difficult to look at the pictures, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

She was going to be okay; there was simply no other option. But he had no idea what was going on with the baby. They'd been giving her some kind of drug to keep her knocked out, and they'd obviously beaten her. He had no way of knowing if they'd only hit her on the face, or if they'd pummeled other places on her body. He also had no idea whether or not they'd given her food or fluids. He'd do anything to protect the life of his child, but Amanda came first.

A sound at the door brought his head up. June came in quietly, self-consciously. His hatred for her felt like a living thing with tentacles wrapped tightly around his heart. He hoped she couldn't feel it sluicing off him in waves. He looked back down at the pictures. Grief was something he didn't need to fake.

"Hello, Mr. Stetson."

Lee looked up again and nodded at her. "June."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Her soft voice grated on his nerves. "I'm interrupting something. I'll leave you to it."

Lee quickly slipped the pictures back into the manilla envelope. "No, no," he responded. "You're not interrupting anything." He stuffed the envelope into his inside suit coat pocket and looked up. "What can I do for you, June?"

"Well," she began softly, "It's more what I'd like to offer to do for you."

"I'm not sure what you mean, June."

"I would like to help you get your mind off things…"

Lee shook his head. "June, this isn't something…"

She held up a hand. "Just for a little while, Mr. Stetson." She smiled briefly. "I know you don't really want to take your mind off finding Mrs. King. I don't mean that. I just mean for a little while."

Lee sighed. Here went nothing. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, my grandmother has a house in the country – about an hour from here. I know that's a ways away, but there's a lake and it's peaceful and quiet. It's serene, really. I'd like to make you dinner."

"June," he shook his head. He couldn't make this too easy, but he didn't want to scare her off either.

"It's just a friendly gesture, Mr. Stetson." She smiled again. "Just give yourself a couple of hours to relax. Giving your mind a break might even help you think more clearly and help you find her in the long run."

He had to give it to her; she was playing this well. He sighed again. "I don't know…I've got so much work to do…"

"It's just one evening, Mr. Stetson." She took a step closer to him. "It can even be an early dinner so you can get back here before it's late."

Lee rested his elbows on the table and ran both his hands through his hair.

"Look," she continued. "I can tell you're frazzled." She grabbed a napkin from the table and looked around for a pen. Finding one on top of the microwave, she grabbed it and wrote an address on the napkin. "I have the afternoon off today." She handed Lee the napkin. "I'll go make dinner, and you can be there by, let's say four o'clock. An hour for dinner, and you can be back here by six – six-thirty at the latest."

Lee looked down at the napkin with a sense of wonder. He now had the address where they were holding Amanda. "June, I have to be honest with you," he said softly. "Amanda isn't just my partner. I'm in love with her, and I'm not looking for any kind of romantic entanglement. My sole focus in life right now is finding her."

Something flashed in her eyes, but only for a moment. "I understand, Mr. Stetson." She nodded her head. "Just let me fix you dinner. I'm sure you haven't been eating well with everything going on. I just want to be there for you – give you a safe space, even if just for an hour."

Lee sighed again. "Okay. A good dinner would be appreciated. Thank you."

"I've got the address!" Lee burst into Billy's office without even a knock. Under the circumstances, Billy didn't blame him at all.

"Alright, are you ready to do this?" At Lee's nod, Billy stood and went to his office door. He opened it and summoned the players. "Francine, Fred, Frank," they looked up. "I need you in here. Now." Billy walked back to his desk and exchanged a knowing look with Lee.

"Yeah, Billy," Fred was the first one through the door. "What do you need?" The other two filed in behind him, and Francine shut the door.

"We've got a line on the location where Mrs. King is being held."

Francine, playing her part like a pro, looked over at Lee. "Lee! That's great news!"

"Yes," he responded. "Now we just need to get to her before they hurt her any more."

"They?" Frank questioned.

"Well, we know for a fact of one person's involvement, but we don't think she could have pulled this off by herself, so we're assuming she has an accomplice," Billy explained.

"Okay," Fred looked back and forth between Lee and Billy. "So how does this go down? What do you want us to do?"

"I've got a dinner engagement at the house with June," Lee began.

"June," Frank exclaimed with surprise. "As in June Phelps who works here?"

"Yes…" Lee looked up at him. "…as in that June."

"You mean she's behind this?" Fred shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"We believe she is, yes," Billy responded. "We don't know who else is involved, or even if the other person will be at the house this evening. But we have a strong hunch Mrs. King will be there."

"So, what do you want us to do, Billy?" Francine asked, even though she already knew.

"I want you and Fred and Frank to head out there and stake out the place before anyone else arrives," he explained.

"Yes," Lee continued. "June wants me to come for an early dinner, but we think she has other plans besides the dinner." He paced across the room. "She said she's headed to the grocery store first, so that gives you all time to get into place before she arrives."

"Okay," Frank acknowledged. "So, where is this place and what's the plan once she arrives?"

"The home is down in Charles County," Billy explained.

"That's an hour away," Francine noted.

"I know," Billy nodded his head. "If you leave now, you'll have time to get down there and get into position."

"The map indicates the place is surrounded by trees," Lee continued. "So, take the proper tactical gear to help you blend in." He resumed pacing, eager to get to his wife. "I'll be there around four o'clock, and I'll see if I can get June to reveal something. Either way, I'll be in the house, and I can let one of you in. The other two can keep their positions to come in if anything goes wrong, or in case we need an assist."

"You'll have to go in quietly," Billy added. "If June finds you there, there's no telling how she might escalate."

"Yes, of course, Billy," Francine acknowledged. "I'm assuming once one of us gets inside we start searching the place."

"Yes," Lee answered. "I'll take a few minutes and try to get a layout of the house. Once I've pinpointed a secure location for an entrance and egress, I'll radio you and let you know where it is. The goal is to find a room that we think is in the basement based on a video feed we've had."

"No way," Frank pinned Lee with a look. "You've had a video feed?" Lee nodded his head and locked tortured eyes with him. "Oh, man, Scarecrow." Frank shook his head. "I can't imagine what that must have been like. I'm so sorry, man."

"Thanks," Lee responded. "But let's save the emotions for celebrating once we've got her back. Right now, they're best left in check." He looked around at the group. "Alright, let's go get her."

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