SMK Chapter 27 - Day 18

Lee ushered Amanda into their apartment and helped her to the couch. "Can I get you something to drink, Sweetheart?" He headed toward the kitchen.

"Lee," Amanda sighed. "I'm pregnant; I'm not an invalid. I can get my own drink."

"Amanda," He mocked her tone of voice and rolled his eyes, "I was going in the kitchen anyway. Now, what would you like? Water? Juice? Milk?"

Amanda acquiesced and sat back into the sofa. "Milk would be great, thanks." She heard Lee open and close the refrigerator door. "You know, it feels like I've lived a whole lifetime since the last time I was here."

"What's that?" Lee called from the kitchen.

Amanda waited for him to come back into the room. "I said, it feels like forever since I've been here – almost like it was another lifetime ago."

"Yeah." He handed her the drink and shook his head. It would take a while for him to process what they had just been through. He sat on the couch next to her, put his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her closer to his side.

"Do we know who the fake paramedics were yet?"

"Yeah, Fred spilled the beans on that one." Lee ran his hand up and down her arm. "The dispatcher was actually a buddy of Fred and Davy's from the children's home."

"Noooo…"

"Yeah," Lee huffed. "As soon as the dispatcher got the call and knew we were involved, he sent out a couple of hand-picked paramedics who owed him a hefty amount of money."

"Oh my gosh."

He rubbed her arm again and looked down into her eyes. "I prayed for you, Amanda." He chuckled. "Do you know how long it's been since I prayed?" He shut his eyes at the memory. "I felt more helpless than I did when you were in the hospital in California. At least there I knew you had doctors looking out for you. This time, there were only crazy people around you, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop them."

"But you did, Sweetheart. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Amanda," Lee sighed. "I don't know if I can do this anymore."

"Do what?" She sat up as she felt him shift forward on the couch.

He stood and walked across the room to look out the window. After a moment, he turned to face. "I don't know if I can watch you walk headlong into danger, Amanda. I simply don't think I can do it anymore."

"Lee…"

"No," he put his hand up in the traditional 'stop' gesture. "Hear me out."

"Okay," she conceded. "I'm listening."

Lee pulled the armchair closer to the couch so he could look her in the face.

"Amanda, I love you so much." He brushed her cheek with his hand. "I had no idea I could love someone like this." He dropped his hand and held onto hers. "The thought of losing you…of losing our child…" He shook his head. "Amanda, I just don't think I can put you in dangerous situations anymore. This was just one too many."

Amanda looked into the intense hazel eyes she loved. She could read the fear and worry in them. This latest…adventure…had certainly taken a lot out of them both.

"I prided myself on being so good at what I do that as long as you were with me, you'd be okay because I could take care of you. But Amanda, I was helpless. I sat here, and I watched them torture you, and there was not one damn thing I could do to stop them." He looked down and shook his head.

Amanda used her index finger to lift his chin back up. "You prayed for me."

"Yeah," Lee offered her a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah, I did."

"Then, Sweetheart, you did the one thing you could do."

Lee shook his head. "It wasn't enough, Amanda."

"Can I tell you a story, Lee?"

"What? Now?" He looked at her incredulously.

"Well, it's not a story story," a lopsided grin adorned her face. "When June told me her plan, I could feel myself start to panic. But then I heard your voice telling me I was going to be okay." His eyes widened. "I don't know why you're surprised; it's not like this is the first time something like that's happened with us."

He frowned and nodded his head. "Addi Birol."

"Yeah." She nodded her head. "But then, we were outside in my garden, and you were helping me calm down. I could feel your arms around me, holding me." She touched his cheek. "I think God answered your prayers, Lee, and saved my life."

Lee smoothed her hair back from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "Yeah," he whispered. "Just maybe He did. But what are you trying to say, Amanda?"

"I'm saying you don't control life and death. I could get hit by a car on the way to the supermarket to get groceries for dinner and there wouldn't be a single thing you could do about it." She touched his face. "At some point, you have to take that load off your shoulders and trust it to Someone bigger than you."

Lee sighed and stood again. "I hear you, Amanda, but there's a difference between a freak accident and purposefully walking into a deadly situation."

It was Amanda's turn to sigh. "Okay, yes. I hear you, too." She stood and walked over to him. "We don't have to figure this out right at this moment, do we?"

Lee blew out a breath. He reached for her and locked his hands behind her back. "No. We don't have to make any decisions right this moment; but we do need to keep thinking about it and talking about it."

"Alright. I can handle that." She reached up to give him a peck on the lips. "And now, I'm really tired; I need a nap."

"Your wish is my command, Darling."

Day 18

"David Benson," the prison security guard woke him from a deep sleep, and it took him a moment to come fully awake.

"Yeah?" He sat up on his cot, rubbed his eyes, and looked up at the guard who was in the process of unlocking his cell. He glanced around; several guards were standing by. This couldn't be good. "What's going on?"

"Come with me." the guard's cryptic reply was not reassuring.

"Where are we going?"

"Hold out your hands." He held his hands out and waited for the guard to cuff him. Okay, that was standard procedure when they were moving prisoners from one place to another, but something felt…off about this.

"Where did you say we're going?"

"It's been requested that we move to you the general prison population, Benson."

Panicked, David tried to pull away but was unable to. The guard had him securely in hand, and the others were there as backup in case he did somehow managed to get the upper hand. "What are you talking about, man?" Terror laced his voice. Any cop in general population didn't stand a chance of living more than a month or two.

The guard kept leading him down the corridors of the prison. Only one thing could have prompted this. Fred must have blown the whole operation and then squealed on him to save his own skin.

He was led through a solid steel door into a room that was bare except for a metal table, two metal chairs, and a wall clock that loudly ticked the seconds of his life away. The fact that there was no mirror in the room made him nervous. It meant no one was watching. He looked around for any sign of a camera and found none. Anyone could do anything in here and no one would know.

The guard placed his hand on Davy's shoulder, forced him to sit, and chained the handcuffs to a U-ring on the table. The other guards clamped cuffs on Davy's ankles; he wouldn't be going anywhere.

The guards left, and he sat in silence for a full five minutes. Finally, a door opened. Not the one he had come in, but a hidden door in the wall that he never would have seen. A masculine figure entered and paused in the shadows.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

The strike of a match and the glow of a cigarette were the only answers he received. Two more minutes ticked by before a familiar voice spoke from the shadows. "Fred Fielder gave you the royal shaft, Benson." The apparition took a drag from his cigarette. "He's been squealing all over the barnyard, and his favorite slop trough has your name on it. Ain't that a bite?" He took another drag. "So? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Davy sat still and said nothing. "No matter," the apparition continued. "Suffice to say this not so little SNAFU is gonna' land you in some – let's say – less than ideal digs."

"You can't do this," Davy shouted. "Not without due process!"

"Oh?" The big man took another drag; the smoke looked almost white curling into the shadows. "Watch me. Solitary's gonna feel like fat city compared to your next destination." He paused to let that sink in. "In fact, I'd say the only way you'll come out of there is in a wooden overcoat. Anything you want to say before you have to beat it?"

Built up rage boiled over and spewed from David's mouth. "I'm not going down for this alone!" Forgetting he was chained to the chair and the table, he tried to stand but ended up nearly slamming his face into the tabletop. "Fred hated Scarecrow, and June hated Mrs. King. This was all their plan!" He took a breath. "Sure, I gave them some advice; I admit it. But they came up with everything!"

"Oh, don't you worry about them, Sonny. The girl's been carted off to the Funny Farm. They assure me she'll be there for a long time; she really cracked." Another drag. "And poor Fred. Well, he always was in your shadow; I think he hates you as much as he hates Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Anyway, he'll be doing all day and a night." The apparition chuckled. "But thanks for clarifying that you were involved; packages wrapped up neat and pretty make for the best presents, don't you think?"

The man turned and opened the hidden door. "Wait a minute!" David yelled. "You can't just leave me to get killed in gen-pop! That's murder!"

He turned back and blew a puff of smoke. "Catch ya later, Bupkis," and then he disappeared.

The guards came back in and unshackled him from the chair and the table. Totally ignoring his yelling, they man-handled him out of the room. Moments later, they tossed him into an already occupied cell. "Here's a Fed for ya, Valdez."

One of the last things David heard was the clank of the cell door.