SMK: The Ties That Bind – Chapter 8
Billy's Office – Day 2
"…and in your hazel eyes I see the echoes of eternity." Amanda finished reading the strange poem June had left in the corridor outside their office.
"Just because someone is keen on you doesn't make them guilty of whatever evil plot our perp is working, Lee." Francine's dismissal wasn't meant to sting; she was just stating a fact. Lots of women were attracted to her long-time friend – even herself.
Billy took the paper from Amanda to examined it. He looked over at Lee. "Didn't you tell me that she'd acted a little strange with you a couple years back?"
"Yeah, I did. Remember Sylvia Sampson?"
"Of course I remember Sylvia. How could anyone forget?"
"Yeah." Lee nodded his head. "Well, I'm pretty sure those Shadow Files and Active Personnel Files got mixed up when June dropped them because she was staring at me."
"Are you implying she's been stalking you? For three years?" Francine asked incredulously. "Come on, Lee. You're cute; you're not that cute." She was just joking, of course – deflecting, really, because she had yet to come to grips with the fact that he was permanently beyond her. She glanced over at Amanda. What was it about her that captured Lee's attention so...completely?
"Really, Francine," Amanda sounded a bit annoyed. "Cuteness rarely has anything to do with whether or not someone is stalked."
Lee tossed Amanda a wounded look. "What? You don't think I'm cute?"
"Well, of course I think you're cute," Amanda gave the purposefully back-handed compliment almost under her breath. Lee winked at her and smiled.
Francine had watched them do this kind of thing for nearly four years now. They had this weird way of having on-the-side conversations right in the middle of other conversations.
Over the years she'd tried to banter like that with Lee, but once Amanda came on the scene, it never connected in quite the same way. She was still jealous over that. After all, she'd known Lee years longer than Amanda had; they'd shared the same kind of job, the same kind of priorities, and the same disdain for civilians. But then Amanda showed up, and everything changed - including Lee. She hated to admit it was for the better.
Of course, these days it was difficult to not like Amanda; she found herself having to work at it. Still, the way Amanda had just waltzed into the Agency and latched on to Lee was infuriating. Francine glanced at Billy; it was partly his fault. He'd been pushing Amanda into Lee's path right from the start.
"What's the matter with you, Francine? Why are you scowling at me?"
Francine startled. "What? Oh, uh, I was just thinking..." She glanced self-consciously at the others in the room. "It, well, it is rather strange that June's file is incomplete, especially when you consider the kinds of forms and reports that are missing."
"Yeah," Amanda concurred. "It doesn't seem random."
"Agreed," Lee nodded toward the paper in Billy's hand. "And when you add that to this creepy little poem…"
Amanda turned to Billy. "...and you can add to that the letter Lee got in an inner-agency envelope which she delivered in our stack of in-coming mail." Amanda opened it again and read it out loud. "Either you get rid of her, or I will."
Billy handed the poem back to Amanda. "Then either these two pieces of paper are separate issues, or they're related."
"In which case the poem she hid may be a distraction to throw suspicion off her for putting the other note in my in-box."
Billy leaned his hip on his desk and shook his head. "This is getting too confusing. Alright, people. We need to find this missing information from her file, and we need to know why it's missing. Was it just never completed? Was it completed and later removed? If so, when...and who did it?" Billy turned to look at Francine. "Francine, I want someone watching June. Is there anyone you can think of who we can absolutely trust to do that?"
Francine nodded her head. "Sure. What about Fred Fielder? He's been around a long time."
Amanda swiveled her head toward Francine then back toward Billy. "Uh, excuse me, Sir, but I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not, Amanda?" Billy asked as Francine tossed a defeated hand into the air and rolled her eyes.
"Sir, I know this may not seem to make sense on the surface, but ever since that time when Lee pretended to leave the Agency and go work for Edson Ballon, I've had a really difficult time trusting him."
"Reasons?"
"Well, it's just that he seemed very eager to put Lee down and talk badly about him."
"Amanda," Francine rolled her eyes again. "Fred thought Lee had sold out. Can you blame him for talking that way?"
"No, I get that. But none of the rest of you did it." Amanda shrugged as she looked around the room at the three of them. "Look, I'm sorry. But it's just this gut feeling I have. I think he's jealous of Lee."
Lee watched her closely then turned back to Billy. "You know, Billy, one thing I've learned about Amanda over the last four years is that her intuition about people is usually dead on. If she's not comfortable with Fred Fielder, then I'm not comfortable with Fred Fielder."
"Great," Francine grumbled. "Here we go again letting an average suburban housewife with minimal training decide our strategies."
Lee took a breath to speak, but Amanda stopped him with a gentle touch. "Francine," she said not unkindly, "this average suburban housewife with minimal training was the one who convinced Lee to tell you everything...because her gut said you're a trustworthy person and a good friend."
"Okay," Billy interrupted the awkward moment. "If that's how you feel about it, you two, I'll go along with your gut instincts. But we need to find someone to keep an eye on her."
"What about Leatherneck?" Amanda proposed.
"Leatherneck? Are you serious?" Francine argued, annoyed all over again. "He's not an agent."
Amanda turned to Lee for moral support. He studied her again for a moment then nodded his head. "But he is a former Marine." He turned to look at Francine and Billy. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea? Think about it. An agent showing up repeatedly on June's rounds would be suspicious. But Leatherneck? He works with mechanical stuff all over the Agency. He can be anywhere without suspicion."
Billy glanced at Francine. "You know, they have a point..."
Francine knew she'd been outnumbered. And honestly, Amanda did make a really good point. "Yeah, you're right. They do."
"Lee, have you two made that list of people who could potentially hold a grudge against you?"
"Well," Lee tapped his fingers on the desk. "It's a pretty long list when you consider both foreign and domestic possibilities."
"I may be off on this..." Amanda interjected. She held up the letter June had delivered in the stack of mail. "...but this seems personal to me." She looked down at the note and read the whole thing out loud. "There's more than one way to un-stuff a Scarecrow. All you've done is put a larger target on her back. Either you get rid of her, or I will." She looked over at Lee. "That sounds like someone domestic in my mind. Besides, someone had to have access to Encryption in order put that...uh..." She glanced nervously at Francine and Billy and cleared her throat. "Well, uh, they had to have access to Crypto."
"True." Lee reached out and gently squeezed her arm. "Okay, then I suggest we start here at the Agency. If we don't find anything, then we can move over to the other possibilities."
"Alright." Billy nodded his head. "Scarecrow, go have a conversation with Leatherneck and tell him what you want him to do. He doesn't need to know all the details if you don't want him to.
"Sure thing, Billy."
"Francine and Amanda? Go back to the Q-Bureau. See if you can find any information on June. Oh, and keep looking through those files."
"Yes, Sir," Francine answered. "What are you going to be doing, Billy?"
"I've got an appointment with Dr. Smith."
Lee nearly growled. "Billy..."
"Don't worry, Scarecrow. I've just got some things I need to talk over with him. I'll meet you all back here in my office at nine o'clock in the morning for progress reports."
Lee sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright." He looked at Amanda, gave her hand a gentle squeeze, then headed toward the door. "I'll go see Leatherneck right now. Francine," he turned to look at his long-time friend, "please take good care of her for me."
Francine nodded her head. Knowing what she knew now, she felt all the emotional weight of that request.
