The Ties That Bind: A Scarecrow and Mrs. King Continuing Story Book 1

Chapter 12

Day 4 - Lee Federal Penitentiary

"So, you fouled it up again." His contact uttered the words softly and with utmost disdain.

"Look, you know Scarecrow," he quietly defended himself. "It's like he was born under a lucky star or something." He looked around to make sure no one seemed to be paying undo attention to their conversation. "You add Mrs. King to the mixture, and he might as well be Superman."

"I told you that you were underestimating their connection." His contact's gaze pierced right through him. "You don't ever underestimate anything, you idiot." He shook his head in disgust. "No wonder you can't stand Scarecrow. He makes you look bad at every turn."

He looked at the gray walls, metal doors, bars, and Plexiglass windows around them in an overly exaggerated manner. "I guess you would know all about that..." he swung his gaze back to his contact on the other side of the Plexiglas and raked his eyes up and down the orange jumpsuit. "...wouldn't you? Now, can we stop psychoanalyzing me and figure out our next move?"

His contact just looked at him, not flinching, not blinking, no emotion. It was unnerving. "Yeah. Sure." The reply held no inflection whatsoever.

"Maybe we should just get rid of them, quick and easy."

His contact leaned back in his chair and studied him. "No...no..." he leaned forward again, propped his elbows on the counter in front of him, clasped his hands together, and leaned his chin into his hands. "No, the girl has to take the fall. Then she dies in the act."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Come on, Bro. I've been doing the thinking for you ever since your first day at the children's home when you were eight. Can't you come up with something...interesting?"

He didn't like being reminded of those days, and his contact knew it. Even then, being protected by the older boy had come at a cost. Seemed like he'd always been the one stuck doing the dirty work. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, man! The chick is whacked, don't you think? Surely that can come in handy."

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. His time was almost up; he needed to shore up some plans quickly. "Yeah, I guess it could. In a 'he said/she said' situation, who would really believe a woman insane enough to do what she's doing, huh?"

"Now you're thinking." His contact actually smiled. It was a rare enough occurrence that it was a bit frightening. "Keep letting her call the shots, Bro. You can put ideas into her head if you think you need to, but let her keep thinking she's the one in control and you're just doing her bidding." He tapped his fingers on the counter. "She'll do our dirty-work and hang herself in the process."

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Q-Bureau Safe House

"Alright, let's look back at the files of the employees who were at the bombing...just to see if there's something we missed yesterday." Lee sat on the sofa, Amanda was back in her spot on the floor leaning back against the sofa, and Francine was sitting at the table in the kitchenette.

"Okay," Francine flipped through the files and pulled out a few. "I've got Leatherneck's, Dane's, Frank's..." she flipped some more. "Aha. And here's Fred's." She handed those to Lee.

"I've still got June's here," Amanda interjected. "I think I'll keep doing a deep probe on her."

"Great," Francine searched through the files some more. "I'll grab Mark's, Mrs. Marsden's, and...Judd's."