Too Close to Home: A Scarecrow and Mrs. King Continuing Story - Book 2

Chapter 21

Day 8, Tuesday, 11:30 p.m.

Undisclosed Location:

The phone rang once and then went silent; she knew what that meant she was supposed to do. Unexpected anxiety hit hard, making her stomach roil and a slight sweat break out on her brow. It was either obey or accept the alternative... and the alternative was unthinkable. She picked up the phone and dialed the number she'd memorized. It rang and rang again. She hoped he would answer because if she didn't make this happen, there wouldn't be any opportunity to explain that she'd tried. Tried was simply another word for failed.

"Yeah." The voice on the other end of the line sounded surprisingly normal.

Her eyes slid closed, and she let out the breath she'd been holding. "It's a go." The man didn't reply; he simply hung up the phone. Eyes still closed, she braced her hands against the console table and hung her head between her arms. A tear slipped out from under her eyelashes as she shook her head. Wishing she'd never taken the life-path that had brought her to this place and time would do her no good. No good at all.

Trying to cleanse her mind, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Nothing could change what she'd just set in motion. The best way to get past it was to think of other things like...

...her feet were killing her. She'd been in these heels since her meeting with that surprisingly good-looking agent at the prison this morning. Never before had she run into an agent who pulled off the improbable combination of a Cop/Bond/Bad Boy/Boy-Next-Door vibe. She smiled despite herself. Too bad he hadn't bitten; that could have been fun. Still, best to daydream about things like that rather than dwell on situations too inconceivable to imagine. Besides...she slipped her shoes off and headed up the stairs to the master bathroom for a much deserved, long, luxurious bubble bath...as much as he'd quickly covered it up, she'd seen the look of surprised interest in his eyes when she'd first entered the room. Regardless of the gold band on his left hand, maybe she could turn it into something fun after all.

Q-Bureau Safe House

The phone ringing tugged him out of a deep sleep. Lee forced his eyes open and looked over at the clock, trying not to disturb Amanda who was still asleep in his arms. Two o'clock? Lee bit back a groan. These wee-hour-of-the-morning calls were never good.

Amanda sighed and rolled over as he gently disentangled himself from her. He turned on his side and picked up the phone, saying nothing.

"Peek-a-boo," the gravelly voice was so soft Lee could barely hear it.

"Troubadour." The word indicating he was alone and the line was clean tumbled out of his mouth like a well-honed reflex.

"Scarecrow?"

"Yeah?" Lee rubbed his eyes trying to get his brain to wake up.

"Marco. Look, man. There's a problem. I've got to see you."

Lee looked over at Amanda. He so didn't want to leave her. "Is tomorrow soon enough?"

"I hope so, Buddy. The earlier the better."

"I've got a meeting with Billy around ten a.m. and a funeral I need to attend at one. How early can we meet?"

"Nine o'clock, the supermarket on 11th Street, downtown." Which actually meant seven o'clock, at the coffee and hotdog stand near the Department of Agriculture.

"I'll be there." Lee hung up with a sigh. Yep. Wee-hour-of-the-morning calls were never good.

Wednesday morning – Day 9: 7:00 a.m.

Downtown DC near the Department of Agriculture

A cool morning breeze whipped up around the coffee stand ruffling the hair at his temple and causing his overcoat to flutter frantically behind him. Lee laid the change in the cashier's hand and grabbed his coffee without looking up. "Keep the change." It wasn't too much; just enough to seem normal and not make him memorable if anyone came asking.