SMK: Too Close to Home – Chapter 27 Day 11, Friday evening

Outside the King House

"Lay the gun down and let go of my wife." Lee's tightly controlled voice dripped with the deadly self-confidence that came with knowing his ability to neutralize this vermin.

"Ah!" Tom turned, bringing Amanda around with him. "It's the hot-shot agent man come to save his damsel in distress."

Lee's jaw tightened, but his steely gaze never wavered from his target. "This is your only chance to walk out of this alive, Watson." He took several steps closer.

"You keep walkin', and I drop her right here in front of you."

The gun pressed harder against Amanda's temple. That had to hurt, and by the pinched look on her face, it probably did. Wanting to throw Watson off balance, Lee's eyes flickered to his wife. "I thought I told you to stay in the car?"

Amanda's eyes opened wider, but her fear didn't prevent her from playing along with Lee's misdirection. "I did stay in the car...I just...forgot to lock the door."

"Shut up!" Watson's nerves were on edge, and it was showing. "Just shut up!" He jerked Amanda back against his chest, using her as a shield. "I'll tell you what, Mr. Agent-man. You give me Jennifer, and I'll give you your wife. How's that."

Lee knew Jennifer would never make it out of Watson's clutches alive. "Not happenin', Tom. Now, let my wife go...gently."

Still standing behind the corner of Buck's house, Philip peeked around the corner watching the showdown between Lee and the guy who had a gun to his mom's head. It was all he could do to stay put, but he knew if he got involved, someone would wind up getting hurt or killed. Most likely his mom. As difficult as it was, for once he needed not to react to the emotions churning inside him. He had to stay put. Besides...he looked behind him at Jennifer...he had a job to do. He hadn't been able to save Melissa; he wasn't going to mess up this time.

His mom always said Lee was good at protecting her. He'd never understood what she meant before. Now, he wondered how many times the two of them had been in potentially deadly situations. Well, he sure hoped she was right. He couldn't help but notice Lee looked and sounded pretty wicked right now with that heater in his hands. It was a side of Lee he'd never seen before.

Glancing back at his mom, it dawned on him that the miscreant who held her hostage also had his baby brother or sister. A grudging desire to meet the little interloper came over him, taking him by surprise. Yeah. The guy was deader than dead if he hurt either of them. One thing he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt; Lee was feeling the same way.

"Come on, Tom," Lee continued trying to reason with the guy without giving away how much he knew about him. If Watson found out he had nothing to lose, Amanda and the baby were goners. "You know I can't let you take either of them."

"Wrong again, Agent-man. I'm taking at least one of them with me." He looked down at Amanda. "Maybe I could have a little fun with this one like I did with that lawyer broad. Of course, it looks like your lady would be a two-for-one deal."

The man's salacious grin curdled Lee's blood. His gut told him it was either Amanda or Watson. Given that scenario, there was no way Watson was going to leave here alive. He needed to get Amanda's attention.

"Valarie Collins was your work, was she?" Lee glanced over at Amanda thankful she was remaining calm and glad her eyes were trained on him. Using his supporting hand so it just looked like he was adjusting his grip, he tapped four fingers against his left hand once...twice and caught her eyes with his. She blinked twice; she'd gotten the message. "You know, we've been scratchin' our heads trying to figure that one out, Watson. Why'd Foster want his lawyer out of the way, anyway?"

"Are you kidding?" Watson's arrogant laugh scraped along Lee's nerves. "Foster always ties up his loose ends just in case people learn too much about his operation. I'm the only one he trusts with the whole thing."

"Sure. He compartmentalizes. I get it. So, what'd she know that got her killed?"

"She's the one who called me for the hit on Tania."

The jerk was so proud of himself that he was starting to brag, and a bragging man didn't usually know when to quit. Lee decided to keep him talking and push him for more incriminating information. "So that's her part, huh? Did she call in the hit on Benjamin Hoyt as well?"

"Nope. Try again, Smart-guy. Let's see how much you know."

"Ah. Hoyt was Hutchins's call."

"Ooh. Good guess. Impressive."

"So Valarie Collins must have called in the Peralta hit then?" Watson's lack of response told Lee he'd hit the nail on the head, but he still needed the man to verbally acknowledge it. "Did I hit the jackpot on that one, Watson?"

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Oh, I guess I'm just good at guessing." Lee took a step closer. "I'm assuming Tania's part was the girls and getting students hooked on the drugs? Hey..." He cocked his head as if trying to figure something out. "...how'd you get the mules, anyway?"

"Any way we could, man. There are plenty of runaways out there who need a place to stay. " The man took a step backward, throwing Amanda sightly off balance. "Then there are all the stupid parents who let their kids play outside alone."

"You kidnapped them, then." Lee nodded his head. "Just girls? Or did you grab some boys, too."

"Naw, man. Girls are much more fun to play with, if you catch my drift."

Lee caught his drift alright. With superhuman will-power, he bit back some choice words. He had to be patience. The guy was still talking, so he needed to squeeze as much information out of him as he could. Then, the rat needed to die. "You know one thing I haven't figure out yet is whose payroll you're on. Foster's? Or is it Hutchins?"

"Come on, Hotshot. Give me more credit than that. Man, I was double-dippin' and they didn't even know it."

"Hmm. That's pretty impressive. So what was Grant Hughes's part in all this?" Lee flicked his eyes to his wife to see how she was holding up. Okay, not great, but still hanging in there. He needed to wrap things up and end this quickly.

"Hutchins didn't want to be seen meeting with me. For obvious reasons, he likes to keep his hands squeaky clean. Hughes is just his stoogie to buffer him from us low-lifes."

"I see." Lee relaxed his grip just a fraction on his gun, and tightened his supporting hand. They were almost done. "So, which one paid you for the Peralta hit? Foster?"

Watson shot Lee an infuriating smirked. "Who else would it have been. Peralta was a wuss. Foster made bank on the school deal, but Peralta didn't want anything to do with it."

Glancing directly at Amanda, he caught her eyes and deliberately blinked once – get ready..."Yeah. It makes sense now that you say it." Lee took one more step. The closer, the better. "You do realize what you're telling me though, don't you, Watson?" At the man's confused look, Lee looked at Amanda and blinked again. Get set... "You know too much, man. You gotta know you're next on his list, right?"

Watson's eyes widened as the implications of Lee's words hit their mark. "No way, man..." Roughly, he jerked Amanda further in front of him and started walking backwards. "You let me go, and you have a chance of getting your woman back. But you gotta know; If you take me out, I still get a bullet into her brain, and you lose, Agent-man!"

From a distance, Lee heard the sound of sirens; someone must have called the police. It was now or never. He wouldn't get another chance. Catching Amanda's eyes one more time, he took deadly aim and tapped his supporting hand once, then twice.

Amanda dropped her weight only a fraction of a second before the muzzle of Lee's gun exploded. Its lethal projectile rocketed across the dark space between them shattering the man's skull and blasting the soft, gray matter inside it all over the pavement. He never stood a chance at squeezing the trigger.

With Lee's laser-sharp, all-consuming concentration fading, Amanda's screams began to register on his ears. "Philip, stay put!" Lee ran to Amanda just as the squad cars squealed to a stop. Cops jumping out of their vehicles descended on the scene, guns drawn, but they weren't pointed at him; they were pointed at Watson. Whoever called must have explained the situation. He'd have to thank Buck later.

Squatting down, Lee gently reached for his still screaming wife. Her arms had come up over her head as if searching for whatever shelter she could find, but blood and debris from Watson's head had still spattered all over her. "Sweetheart..." Heart pounding, he ignored the mess on the concrete and sat next to her. "You're okay. I'm here. It's okay..." Wrapping one arm around her back and resting his other hand on her head, he cradled her against his chest and pulled her face into the hollow beneath his chin.

"Mom!" Just as a police officer approached them, Philip let go of Jennifer and ran toward the scene. From out of seemingly nowhere, Billy stepped into his path, preventing him from the gory sight of his mom covered in the remnants of Watson's head. Trying to escape, Philip yanked himself away, but Billy had a grip of iron. "I need to see my mom!" Philip lifted pleading eyes to Billy's. "Please, I need to see my mom!"

"I know, son." Billy pulled him toward a squad car, urged him to sit in the backseat, and squatted down in front of him. "Philip, listen to me." Billy waited for Philip's wild eyes to meet his own. "First, let us make sure she's alright. We can't do that if you're in the way."

"Mr. Melrose," Philip's wide gaze was wet with unshed tears. "Please, I need to see my mom."

"I promise you, Philip. Your mom is going to be okay, but you need to let us take care of her, alright? Can you do that? For her?" The tears finally spilled over, streaking down Philip's face, but he didn't try to get out of the car.

Billy motioned to a nearby police officer. "This is the lady's son. Stay with him, would you?"

"Sure thing, Agent Melrose." Billy stood, and the officer took his place.

Confident Philip was in good hands, Billy made his way over to where Lee still held Amanda in the middle of the street. The paramedics were there now, trying to work around Lee to check her vital signs. One of the paramedics stood and approached him.

"Sir," he took hold of Billy's arm and ushered him a few feet away. "We really need to get her into the ambulance."

"I'll take care of it." Billy patted the man's arm, stepped around him, and headed back toward Lee.

Squatting down, he laid a hand on Lee's shoulder and waited for him to look up. "Let's get her out of this mess, Scarecrow." Using his chin, he indicated the direction of the ambulance. "Come on. I'll help you get her to the ambulance."

Eyes still closed, Lee lifted his chin and rested it on top of Amanda's head. "Philip?"

"He's okay. He's with an officer. I'll have them bring him to the hospital."

"Jennifer?"

Billy smiled. With everything happening, Scarecrow was still on the job. "She's okay. Francine is here with her and will take her back to the Agency for safe keeping.

Releasing a long sigh, Lee opened his eyes and angled his head down toward his wife. "Sweetheart? Let's get you someplace warm, okay? You're shaking like a leaf." Loosening her grip on his jacket, she allowed him to help her up. Lee glanced at Billy and gestured to their clothing. "Any chance you can arrange for clean clothes to be brought to the hospital?"

"Sure thing, Lee. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Billy."

"I'm so sorry, Lee." Amanda swiveled her head toward him as he entered the back of the ambulance and sat near her while remaining out of the way of the paramedic.

"Her blood pressure is a bit high, Sir." The paramedic cautioned him. "We need to get it down."

"Yeah, okay." Lee stroked Amanda's face and pushed back her dirty hair. Smiling gently, he tried to talk around the beeping sounds of her heart and blood pressure monitors as well as the baby's. "Amanda, don't worry about anything right now, okay? I just need you to rest."

"I promise you, I really didn't get out of the car."

That almost made him smile. Almost. Lee leaned in closer to her. "I believe you, okay? Stop worrying. You're fine, I'm fine, Philip is fine, and Jennifer is fine. Everything is fine. I just need you to relax so you and Little Bit can stay fine. Alright?"

Amanda closed her eyes and sighed. "Well, at least you didn't shoot me this time."

Confused, Lee huffed out a half-chuckle. "Amanda, I think you're delirious. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Last time one of your bullets got that close to me, it went straight through a brand-new sweater." She opened an eye and smiled softly. "I'm awfully glad you're a better shot than I am."

Lee's laughter bounced off the walls of the ambulance. "That's not a difficult feat, Mrs. Stetson."

She reached up with her free hand and stroked his face. "You're the best, Scarecrow. Thank you for being my hero."