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

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.

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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.

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"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.