Scarecrow and Mrs. King
“The Hand We Are Dealt”
Written by Anne Riener
“The Hand We Are Dealt”
Written by Anne Riener
Amanda King took a deep, cleansing breath of the crisp fall morning air as she walked with her mother through a local farmer’s market admiring the many vendor booths.
Dotty stopped to pick up a fresh bouquet of sunflowers, blue delphiniums, red spray roses, and brown chrysanthemums. She inhaled the sweet fragrance. “I just love the farmer’s market, don’t you, Amanda?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“You never know what surprises you might find.”
“Can I wrap those up for you?” Amanda heard a familiar voice ask.
Looking up, she leapt back when she saw Lee standing at the flower booth wearing a green apron and matching bow tie. “Oh, my gosh.”
“What, Dear?”
“Mother, I think I see some fresh cantaloupe other there.” Amanda pointed to another booth further down the street. “Let me pay for these flowers and could you get us two melons?”
“Of course, Dear.” Dotty turned and walked down the sidewalk, pulling the basket cart behind her.
“What are you doing here?” Amanda said in a somewhat irritated tone to Lee, after seeing her mother was a safe distance away from them.
“I need you.”
“You need me?” Amanda staggered back, slightly stunned.
“This was Billy’s idea, not mine.” Lee said, wrapping the flowers in waxed tissue paper.
“Oh, you need me for a case.” Understanding dawned on her features.
“Of course, what else did you think?” He glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Umm. . . nothing.”
“We need you for a simple courier assignment. At 2:00pm this afternoon, we need you to go to the gift shop on the corner of 13th and Jackson and buy some postcards.”
‘Postcards?”
“Yes, postcards.”
“Any particular postcards?”
“No, Amanda, just postcards.” Seeing the confused expression on her face, he continued, “When you check out, the storekeeper will slip you the information I need, got it?”
Amanda nodded her head in understanding.
Lee then gave her the bouquet of flowers. “That will be $2.50.”
She took out her faux-leather coin purse, and grabbing three one-dollar bills, she handed him the money.
“After you are done with the exchange, meet me in the alley behind the store,” he told her, handing her the change back.
She clicked the coin purse closed and placed it back into her purse, she had draped over her shoulder. “Got it. Lee?” Amanda looked up, but he was gone. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I hate it when he does that.”
*****
Amanda entered the D.C. Gifts and Souvenir Shop and couldn’t help but notice it was your typical overpriced gift store with shoddy, cheap souvenirs made in Taiwan and India. She first browsed the t-shirt section, then ball caps, snow globes, and finally wandered toward the rack of postcards. She turned the rack stand. It squeaked as it rotated. Not wanting to make any noise or to attract any more attention than what she was already making, she quickly grabbed five postcards and hastily walked up to the register at the front of the store.
An Asian man, with graying temples and dark brown eyes, rang up her purchases. He kept looking up at her and then glanced around the store nervously. “Could I interest you in anything else?” He pointed to the corner in front of him. “AA batteries or a pack of gum? Maybe a deck of cards?”
“No, the postcards are fine.”
“The playing cards all have pictures of famous landmarks around Washington, D.C.”
Amanda nodded her head and opened her coin purse. “I don’t think I have enough money for the deck of cards. See, I was at the farmer’s market earlier with my mother—”
“No problem, they are on the house. Here, take a pack of gum, too.” He quickly tossed all her items inside a brown paper bag. “That will be $1.20.”
Amanda handed him the money. Then taking the bag off the counter, she shoved it into her purse.
“Have a great day.”
“Thank you,” Amanda answered back as she exited the store. She then hurriedly walked around the corner of the gift shop and headed toward the alley.
“Psst, Lee.” She scanned the alley looking for him. The alley was littered with trash, compost, and putrid smelling garbage bins. The place reeked of spoiled food, decay, and urine. “And he tells me I know all the hot spots.” She rolled her eyes, then checked her watch, and tapped her foot impatiently. A moment later, someone touched her on her arm. “Thank goodness, Lee—” she didn’t have a chance to finish her thought when she suddenly felt cold steel pressed into her side. She looked down and noticed the gun, then looked at the man holding the weapon, then back at the gun, swallowed hard and halfheartedly held up her hands.
Meanwhile, a few blocks down the road, a silver Porsche idled at a stoplight. Frustrated, Lee banged his hand against the top of the steering wheel. 'Why today of all days, do I get stuck in traffic?' he thought. Well, at least Amanda is at a safe drop site. Even she couldn’t mess this one up. He drove through the intersection and pulled off toward the curb, when from the corner of his eye, he saw a beefy man dressed in a dark brown business suit, shove Amanda into a cargo van.
“Damn!” He thumped the steering wheel again. “I don’t believe this.” Then seeing the van pull into traffic, Lee followed from a safe distance.
He continued to follow the van for several more miles. The Porsche’s high-performance tires hummed along the blacktop. When the van pulled onto a gravel road in a rural part of northern Virginia, he pulled off the side of the road into a large outcropping of red cedar trees. Then he keyed up the CB radio. “Mother Hen, this is Scarecrow. Do you copy? Scarecrow to Mother Hen.”
He was met with nothing but static.
Disgusted, he threw down the microphone and opened the car door. Lee stepped out of the car. He readied his handgun, checking the magazine and sliding the chamber with a click, and then holstered his weapon. He scanned the area and then stealthily headed through the trees toward the property.
Crouching behind a large boulder, Lee scoped the place out. There was an older two-story farmhouse, with a large country porch, several yards off the roadway. The house was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint and weeds and brush had long taken over the yard, while moss grew on the roof. Lee snuck up to the only window with a light on. He hoped he could get a clearer picture of what was going on inside. Peeking through the grime-streaked window, he could see Amanda sitting in a chair, her hands tied behind her back, her face crestfallen. Lee dropped back onto the ground and was about to head back toward his car when he heard the familiar sound of a gun cocking from behind his head.
He rolled his eyes and put up his hands. This really was turning out not to be his day.
Lee was then led into the same room as Amanda. She turned around, surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you.” Lee cleared his throat and straightened his tie. This is starting to become a habit, Amanda King.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the infamous Scarecrow,” he heard a voice behind him say. Lee turned slightly to see who was talking to him. He immediately recognized who had captured him. “Leave her alone, Viktor, she has nothing to do with this.”
Viktor turned to face Amanda. “And I was actually starting to believe your story.”
“No, it’s all true. I am a housewife from Arlington, Virginia. I have two little boys. Phillip is ten and Jamie is eight. You have already searched my purse. Look in my wallet and you will see this year’s school pictures. Of course, Jamie doesn’t like his. He thinks his smile is goofy, but I love it.”
Lee coughed again, grabbing her attention and stopping her rambling.
Viktor leaned over Amanda, until he was just a few inches from her face. “You are a spy.”
“I’m not a spy.” She bit her lip and blinked a few times trying to hold back frightened tears. In a small voice, barely above a whisper, she said, “I don’t even own a trench coat.”
“What do you want us to do with them, Boss?” The man who had brought Lee into the house asked.
“Put them in the cellar for now until I figure out what to do.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He pointed a gun at Lee, then helped Amanda to her feet, and led them toward the pantry. Still with the gun trained on Lee, he kicked a rug out of the way, and lifted a handle to a door under the floor. He had Lee go down the stairs first, and then after untying Amanda, he watched her climb down the stairs. Next, he closed the door tight making sure it was secured.
The cellar was dark, dusty, and bare, except for two cots in the corner and a wooden table and two chairs in the center of the room. Everything was covered in cobwebs. Amanda sneezed and rubbed her eyes.
“Look for something we can use as a weapon,” Lee told her.
They both quickly examined the room. Amanda walked over to some empty shelves built into the wall, but came back empty handed.
Taking inventory Lee told her, “Well, we have a lantern for light and one flannel blanket. You can have the blanket.”
He handed her the blanket, which she took, and then wrapped it around her shoulders. “Thanks.”
Lee then hung the lantern off one of the support beams. Very little light illuminated them. “It’s battery powered, so if we conserve, hopefully there will be enough juice to last.”
Amanda nodded her head, then crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked to the floor.
Lee placed his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, none of that.”
Amanda did not lift her eyes. “Are we in big trouble or average trouble?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Who has us and what does he want?”
“His name is Viktor Popov. He’s KGB. I tried to kill him five years ago, but obviously I missed.”
“Is he after you?”
Lee shook his head. “No, I think he’s after the microdot, which he obviously must not have; otherwise, he would have killed us already.”
“The what?”
“The microdot,” he repeated, sounding condescending, as if he were speaking to a child.
Amanda shrugged her shoulders and shook her head not understanding.
“It’s a tiny black dot which intelligence agencies use to pass messages.”
“And what was on this microdot?”
He ran his hand roughly over his face. “I can’t tell you.”
Her head shot up and she glared at him. “Quit patronizing me.”
“I’m not! Amanda, for your own safety – I can’t tell you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Ohhh.”
“What I don’t understand is the gift shop was supposed to be a safe, secure drop site. You must have done something for them to suspect you.”
“Leeee,” she dragged out his name. “I did exactly what you told me to do.”
He balled his hand in a fist and took his frustration out on the table. The table hopped when he made contact. “Do you realize what you got yourself into? This is exactly why civilians should never be involved in the spy business.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “What I realize?” she parroted. “What I realize is I have been kidnapped and will probably never see my boys or Mother again.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “What I realize is since you suddenly appeared in my life just two short weeks ago; my whole world has been turned upside down.”
A shadow of remorse crossed his features and he placed a comforting arm around her and pulled her to him.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “What do we do?” she squeaked out, while darkness began to creep over the place and them.
“For now, we sit and wait and see what our captors want. There’s not much we can do tonight, so why don’t we try and get some sleep?” He led her toward one of the cots.
She laid down and Lee covered her with the blanket. “Goodnight, Lee,” she whispered in the shadowy gloom of the room.
“Goodnight, Amanda.”
Lee then toed out of his shoes and took off his jacket, rolling it up for a pillow. A little light filtered into the room from cracks in the floor slats. Illuminated by the soft light, he watched her sleep. Worry was still evident on her face. In turmoil himself, he agonized about how he was going to get him and her out of this one. Lee then closed his eyes and drifted off into a fretful sleep.
*****
The next morning, Lee blinked a few times trying to sweep away the last vestiges of sleep. He lifted his head and saw Amanda standing over him. “Hello,” he replied.
"Hello, yourself! Did you sleep well? How are you today?" she answered back, with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
Lee sat up and draped his long legs off the edge of the cot. He saw that Amanda’s fingers were stuffed into the front pockets of her jeans and she was rocking back and forth on her heels.
“Any word from our captors?” he asked, running one hand through his unruly hair.
She shook her head. Suddenly the room was flooded with bright light.
“Anything you want to tell Viktor this morning,” he heard a voice holler from the top of the stairwell.
“Yeah, tell him the room service here sucks!”
Viktor’s henchman grumbled and then he closed the trapdoor. At that moment, Amanda’s stomach protested.
She placed her hand on her stomach. “I guess I’m hungry.”
Light flooded the cellar again and the henchman placed a tray at the top of the stairs, then he quickly closed the trapdoor again.
“The manager of this establishment must be apologetic for the substandard accommodations, Dear. Looks like it's breakfast in bed for us.” Lee stood up and walked up the stairs. He grabbed the tray and then walked over to the small wooden table. Sitting down in one of the chairs, he studied the food and plastic silverware.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Amanda asked him, sitting down in the other chair.
“Yeah, just blini. They're like pancakes, but it appears we get to eat them dry.” He then took a swallow of the hot liquid in the mug. “Black tea.”
Amanda nervously nodded her head. She then took a sip of the tea and placed the cup down. “Lee?”
“Hmm?”
“What are they going to do with us?”
He put his fork down on the table and placed his elbows on the table. “Question us, most likely.”
“I don’t know anything.”
Looking up, he saw her biting her lip. He reached out his hand and grabbed hers, gently squeezing it.
“I’m scared.” She trembled nervously.
“Hey, now. I have been in a lot worse scrapes than this one.” 'Just a little white lie,' he thought. He didn’t want to frighten her.
She turned away from him. At that moment, the trapdoor opened again and two of Viktor’s men stood looking down on them.
“Mr. Stetson,” the bigger of the two men said. He was muscular, had huge forearms, and no neck. “Come with me.”
‘I know. Nothing personal, right fellas?” Lee replied, heading up the stairs. “Oh, Amanda, be sure and redecorate this place while I’m gone.”
The door closed again with a bang and damp tears silently rolled down Amanda’s cheeks.
*****
Several hours later, one of the henchmen dragged Lee’s body toward the cot and laid him down. Amanda thought Lee looked like death-warmed over.
“What did you do to him?” She let out a high-pitched shriek.
The man just smiled, then turned on his heels and left the two of them alone.
Amanda rested her cheek on his forehead.
“I feel terrible,” Lee moaned.
“Lee, what have they done to you?”
“Truth serum, but I didn’t break.” He shook his head slightly, but a wave of dizziness hit. He breathed slow and shallow and the nausea soon passed.
Reaching out toward him, she took his hand and caressed it. A warm tingling sensation coursed through Lee’s body. He looked down at their joined hands and then immediately dropped his hand to his side and cleared his throat. A big, burly man then appeared in his peripheral vision. “Honey, we’ve got company.”
Amanda let out a startled yelp.
“Let me formally introduce you to Boris.”
Boris bowed his head slightly. “Come with me, Lady.” He grabbed her by the forearm and led her toward the stairs.
“Don’t let them scare you.” Lee’s eyelids began to droop. “You are a brave woman, Amanda King,” he said before succumbing to slumber from the effects of the drugs.
*****
Boris led Amanda into what she thought, once upon a time, had been the parlor room. The walls were grey with inattention and peeling flowered wallpaper. The man Lee had called Viktor sat at an old writing desk. Not even looking up, he said, “Sit.”
“No, thank you.”
He looked up and saw her standing ramrod straight. “Suit yourself.” He sipped his tea, then placed the mug down and drummed his long fingers against the oak desk.
“I don’t understand why you are holding me against my will. I am just a housewife from Arlington, Virginia—”
Cutting her off, he said, “With two little boys, Phillip and someone or another. Yes, I heard it all before, Mrs. King.” He waved her off.
“Kidnapping is a very serious crime in my country.”
“Oh, this I know.” He leaned forward. “You and Mr. Stetson will be free to go once I receive the information I require.”
“Honestly, I don’t know anything,” she pleaded with her capturer.
Viktor sized her up. “Alright.”
Amanda blew out her breath. She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until she slowly let it out. “Good. Then we can leave.”
“No. You will continue to be my guests for now.”
“Please, may I call my mother to let her know I am okay and that I love her?”
He smiled, but shook his head.
She looked around the room and spied her purse on a corner table. “May I have my purse, please? My family’s pictures are in it.”
He looked over at the table, stood up, and walked toward the purse, then held it out for her.
She took a couple tentative steps toward him and then reached out and grabbed it. “Thank you.”
Viktor dismissed her and Boris led her back to the cellar.
*****
“Amanda?” Lee moaned.
“Oh, good you're awake.”
“How long have I been out?” His head pounded, sharp and heavy.
Amanda answered with a shrug, “Not sure. I don’t have a watch. Are you hungry? Boris brought down a couple sandwiches.”
“Yeah, I think I can eat.” With Amanda’s assistance, Lee slowly stood up and she helped him to the table. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he asked, concerned.
She shook her head firmly. “Viktor just asked a couple questions and then told me we are to stay until he gets what he wants.” She fingered the gold cross pendant on her necklace. “Help is not on the way, is it?”
“No.” Lee kept glancing up to look at her as he ate his sandwich. After a couple of bites, he pushed his plate away. “I’m sorry I got you involved in all this mess.”
She did not reply, but rummaged through her purse. Then she took out the deck of cards.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you want to play gin rummy, old sledge, or something?” She spread the cards out face down. Next, she slid them around and over each other, then gathering them up, she did a rapid shuffle.
“A-man-da.”
“What? I’m nervous. I need to do something.”
Lee rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“Fine. I’ll just play solitaire.” She shuffled the deck into the standard solitaire arrangement and then began placing the cards into their correct position.
Lee walked back to his cot and laid down, covering his eyes with his arm.
Amanda continued to play solitaire. She suddenly stopped and held up one of the cards to the light. “Lee?”
“Huh?”
“I think there’s something odd here.”
A growl of frustration rumbled from deep in his throat. “Amanda.”
“No, look at the picture of the Lincoln Memorial on this three of clubs, to the right of the statue.”
“The card has a flaw, so what?”
“No, really, I think I see something.”
"Of all the stubborn, frustrating, troublesome women. . .” Lee grumbled while standing up to walk toward her.
She tilted her head sideways. “I think it’s a dot.”
“What?” Lee looked over her shoulder.
“See? Right there next to the center column.” She raised a pointed finger, showing him what she had been looking at.
Lee took the card from her and held it up to the light, too. “This is good, Amanda, really good. You found the missing microdot.”
“We’re not going to give it to Viktor and his goons, are we?”
“Of course not; however, if we play our cards right, I think I have a way for us to get out of here.”
*****
“Boris! Boris!” Amanda cried out. “Please, I need to get out of here. I want to go home.” She pounded fiercely on the trapdoor.
The door creaked open. “What’s going on?” Boris inquired.
“I’m ready to tell your boss everything I know. Please, I want to see my family.”
“No, Amanda,” Lee begged, forcefully grabbing her arm, he pulled her back.
“Hang national security! I want to see my mother and boys.” She shoved Lee hard, and he fell to the ground hitting his head. He was knocked unconscious.
“I think I killed him,” she gasped, frightened.
Boris came running down the stairs to check on Lee. As he leaned over him, Amanda snuck up behind Boris and hit him on the back of his head with one of the wooden chairs. The chair splintered in half and Boris collapsed to the dirt floor.
“Oh dear, I think I really hurt him.” Amanda put her hand to her mouth and cried.
Lee quickly leapt up and grabbed Boris’s gun from the man’s holster. Suddenly, a bullet whizzed past Lee’s head and lodged into the cellar wall. He rotated quickly, shooting the second henchman. Viktor’s man dropped his gun and grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t move,” Lee threatened. Keeping the gun trained on the second man, Lee walked up the stairs with Amanda following right behind. He then picked up the gun and placed it in the waistband of his pants. “Down the stairs, now!”
The man grumbled, but complied. Lee locked the trapdoor behind them.
“Lee, he’s been shot. He needs medical attention.”
“His injury is not life threatening and we’ll call for an ambulance soon.” Lee gently pushed Amanda up against the wall and peeked around the corner, looking for Viktor. He then saw Viktor coming down the stairs. “Freeze, Viktor.”
Frightened, Viktor ran up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms, slamming the door shut behind him. He opened a window and climbed out onto the porch roof. He quickly shimmied down the downspout. The old nails holding the drain retracted from the house and Viktor fell with a thud. He stood up, looked up at Lee and took off running. Lee quickly climbed out the window, slid down the roof and leapt onto Viktor, knocking him down. He then picked him up by the shirt collar and punched him in the jaw. Viktor fell to the ground again, out cold.
Amanda came running out of the house. “We did it!”
“Yes, we did.” Catching his breath, he shook out his fist. “Well, we better call Billy and let him know we are all right, the microdot is in our possession and that we foiled Viktor’s plans.”
Amanda surveyed the scene around her. “Yes, I guess his plans were not in the cards.”
They grinned at each other. Lee then shook his head in amusement and Amanda gave him a little chuckle.
*****
Later that evening, Amanda stepped out into the cool night and walked toward the garbage can, carrying a trash bag. She lifted the lid and after throwing the trash inside, she replaced the lid.
“Hi, there.”
She jumped; her heart nearly lodged into her throat. Then she turned around and saw Lee smiling at her. “Don’t do that.”
“Say hi?”
“Never mind,” she said with a resigned sigh. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged his shoulders, but kept his hands behind him. She could tell he had a large box behind his back. “Um, I was driving around and I thought I would stop by and see how you were. You didn’t get in too much trouble with your mother, did you?”
“No, I told her I have this new pet sitting and plant watering business and I had to stay out all night helping a Pomeranian give birth.”
Lee quirked one eyebrow at her.
Amanda continued, “I told her I couldn’t call because I couldn’t leave the mother, since the puppies were breech.”
Lee laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “Here, I got you something.” Bringing his hands in front of him, he handed her a rectangular ivory-white gift box.
She gasped in surprise. “You shouldn’t have.” Her words did not reach her eyes and she gave the box a little shake.
“Go ahead, open it.”
Amanda lifted the lid, pushed back the crisp white tissue paper, and pulled out a ladies trench coat. She lightly fingered the tan poplin material and gave Lee a radiant smile. Trying it on, she modeled the coat for him, and spun around. Her dark brown curls tousled and bounced around her shoulders. “Fits perfect.”
A tender smile slowly crept across Lee’s face. Hazel-green eyes met brown for a second and then he quickly looked away and licked his lips nervously. “Well, I should go now.” He then took a step back, turned to leave and took a few steps out into her yard.
"Lee," she called out to him. He turned back around and faced her. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome, Amanda," he replied, before disappearing into the night.
Dotty stopped to pick up a fresh bouquet of sunflowers, blue delphiniums, red spray roses, and brown chrysanthemums. She inhaled the sweet fragrance. “I just love the farmer’s market, don’t you, Amanda?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“You never know what surprises you might find.”
“Can I wrap those up for you?” Amanda heard a familiar voice ask.
Looking up, she leapt back when she saw Lee standing at the flower booth wearing a green apron and matching bow tie. “Oh, my gosh.”
“What, Dear?”
“Mother, I think I see some fresh cantaloupe other there.” Amanda pointed to another booth further down the street. “Let me pay for these flowers and could you get us two melons?”
“Of course, Dear.” Dotty turned and walked down the sidewalk, pulling the basket cart behind her.
“What are you doing here?” Amanda said in a somewhat irritated tone to Lee, after seeing her mother was a safe distance away from them.
“I need you.”
“You need me?” Amanda staggered back, slightly stunned.
“This was Billy’s idea, not mine.” Lee said, wrapping the flowers in waxed tissue paper.
“Oh, you need me for a case.” Understanding dawned on her features.
“Of course, what else did you think?” He glanced up and raised an eyebrow.
“Umm. . . nothing.”
“We need you for a simple courier assignment. At 2:00pm this afternoon, we need you to go to the gift shop on the corner of 13th and Jackson and buy some postcards.”
‘Postcards?”
“Yes, postcards.”
“Any particular postcards?”
“No, Amanda, just postcards.” Seeing the confused expression on her face, he continued, “When you check out, the storekeeper will slip you the information I need, got it?”
Amanda nodded her head in understanding.
Lee then gave her the bouquet of flowers. “That will be $2.50.”
She took out her faux-leather coin purse, and grabbing three one-dollar bills, she handed him the money.
“After you are done with the exchange, meet me in the alley behind the store,” he told her, handing her the change back.
She clicked the coin purse closed and placed it back into her purse, she had draped over her shoulder. “Got it. Lee?” Amanda looked up, but he was gone. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I hate it when he does that.”
*****
Amanda entered the D.C. Gifts and Souvenir Shop and couldn’t help but notice it was your typical overpriced gift store with shoddy, cheap souvenirs made in Taiwan and India. She first browsed the t-shirt section, then ball caps, snow globes, and finally wandered toward the rack of postcards. She turned the rack stand. It squeaked as it rotated. Not wanting to make any noise or to attract any more attention than what she was already making, she quickly grabbed five postcards and hastily walked up to the register at the front of the store.
An Asian man, with graying temples and dark brown eyes, rang up her purchases. He kept looking up at her and then glanced around the store nervously. “Could I interest you in anything else?” He pointed to the corner in front of him. “AA batteries or a pack of gum? Maybe a deck of cards?”
“No, the postcards are fine.”
“The playing cards all have pictures of famous landmarks around Washington, D.C.”
Amanda nodded her head and opened her coin purse. “I don’t think I have enough money for the deck of cards. See, I was at the farmer’s market earlier with my mother—”
“No problem, they are on the house. Here, take a pack of gum, too.” He quickly tossed all her items inside a brown paper bag. “That will be $1.20.”
Amanda handed him the money. Then taking the bag off the counter, she shoved it into her purse.
“Have a great day.”
“Thank you,” Amanda answered back as she exited the store. She then hurriedly walked around the corner of the gift shop and headed toward the alley.
“Psst, Lee.” She scanned the alley looking for him. The alley was littered with trash, compost, and putrid smelling garbage bins. The place reeked of spoiled food, decay, and urine. “And he tells me I know all the hot spots.” She rolled her eyes, then checked her watch, and tapped her foot impatiently. A moment later, someone touched her on her arm. “Thank goodness, Lee—” she didn’t have a chance to finish her thought when she suddenly felt cold steel pressed into her side. She looked down and noticed the gun, then looked at the man holding the weapon, then back at the gun, swallowed hard and halfheartedly held up her hands.
Meanwhile, a few blocks down the road, a silver Porsche idled at a stoplight. Frustrated, Lee banged his hand against the top of the steering wheel. 'Why today of all days, do I get stuck in traffic?' he thought. Well, at least Amanda is at a safe drop site. Even she couldn’t mess this one up. He drove through the intersection and pulled off toward the curb, when from the corner of his eye, he saw a beefy man dressed in a dark brown business suit, shove Amanda into a cargo van.
“Damn!” He thumped the steering wheel again. “I don’t believe this.” Then seeing the van pull into traffic, Lee followed from a safe distance.
He continued to follow the van for several more miles. The Porsche’s high-performance tires hummed along the blacktop. When the van pulled onto a gravel road in a rural part of northern Virginia, he pulled off the side of the road into a large outcropping of red cedar trees. Then he keyed up the CB radio. “Mother Hen, this is Scarecrow. Do you copy? Scarecrow to Mother Hen.”
He was met with nothing but static.
Disgusted, he threw down the microphone and opened the car door. Lee stepped out of the car. He readied his handgun, checking the magazine and sliding the chamber with a click, and then holstered his weapon. He scanned the area and then stealthily headed through the trees toward the property.
Crouching behind a large boulder, Lee scoped the place out. There was an older two-story farmhouse, with a large country porch, several yards off the roadway. The house was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint and weeds and brush had long taken over the yard, while moss grew on the roof. Lee snuck up to the only window with a light on. He hoped he could get a clearer picture of what was going on inside. Peeking through the grime-streaked window, he could see Amanda sitting in a chair, her hands tied behind her back, her face crestfallen. Lee dropped back onto the ground and was about to head back toward his car when he heard the familiar sound of a gun cocking from behind his head.
He rolled his eyes and put up his hands. This really was turning out not to be his day.
Lee was then led into the same room as Amanda. She turned around, surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you.” Lee cleared his throat and straightened his tie. This is starting to become a habit, Amanda King.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the infamous Scarecrow,” he heard a voice behind him say. Lee turned slightly to see who was talking to him. He immediately recognized who had captured him. “Leave her alone, Viktor, she has nothing to do with this.”
Viktor turned to face Amanda. “And I was actually starting to believe your story.”
“No, it’s all true. I am a housewife from Arlington, Virginia. I have two little boys. Phillip is ten and Jamie is eight. You have already searched my purse. Look in my wallet and you will see this year’s school pictures. Of course, Jamie doesn’t like his. He thinks his smile is goofy, but I love it.”
Lee coughed again, grabbing her attention and stopping her rambling.
Viktor leaned over Amanda, until he was just a few inches from her face. “You are a spy.”
“I’m not a spy.” She bit her lip and blinked a few times trying to hold back frightened tears. In a small voice, barely above a whisper, she said, “I don’t even own a trench coat.”
“What do you want us to do with them, Boss?” The man who had brought Lee into the house asked.
“Put them in the cellar for now until I figure out what to do.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He pointed a gun at Lee, then helped Amanda to her feet, and led them toward the pantry. Still with the gun trained on Lee, he kicked a rug out of the way, and lifted a handle to a door under the floor. He had Lee go down the stairs first, and then after untying Amanda, he watched her climb down the stairs. Next, he closed the door tight making sure it was secured.
The cellar was dark, dusty, and bare, except for two cots in the corner and a wooden table and two chairs in the center of the room. Everything was covered in cobwebs. Amanda sneezed and rubbed her eyes.
“Look for something we can use as a weapon,” Lee told her.
They both quickly examined the room. Amanda walked over to some empty shelves built into the wall, but came back empty handed.
Taking inventory Lee told her, “Well, we have a lantern for light and one flannel blanket. You can have the blanket.”
He handed her the blanket, which she took, and then wrapped it around her shoulders. “Thanks.”
Lee then hung the lantern off one of the support beams. Very little light illuminated them. “It’s battery powered, so if we conserve, hopefully there will be enough juice to last.”
Amanda nodded her head, then crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked to the floor.
Lee placed his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, none of that.”
Amanda did not lift her eyes. “Are we in big trouble or average trouble?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Who has us and what does he want?”
“His name is Viktor Popov. He’s KGB. I tried to kill him five years ago, but obviously I missed.”
“Is he after you?”
Lee shook his head. “No, I think he’s after the microdot, which he obviously must not have; otherwise, he would have killed us already.”
“The what?”
“The microdot,” he repeated, sounding condescending, as if he were speaking to a child.
Amanda shrugged her shoulders and shook her head not understanding.
“It’s a tiny black dot which intelligence agencies use to pass messages.”
“And what was on this microdot?”
He ran his hand roughly over his face. “I can’t tell you.”
Her head shot up and she glared at him. “Quit patronizing me.”
“I’m not! Amanda, for your own safety – I can’t tell you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Ohhh.”
“What I don’t understand is the gift shop was supposed to be a safe, secure drop site. You must have done something for them to suspect you.”
“Leeee,” she dragged out his name. “I did exactly what you told me to do.”
He balled his hand in a fist and took his frustration out on the table. The table hopped when he made contact. “Do you realize what you got yourself into? This is exactly why civilians should never be involved in the spy business.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “What I realize?” she parroted. “What I realize is I have been kidnapped and will probably never see my boys or Mother again.” She poked him in the chest with her finger. “What I realize is since you suddenly appeared in my life just two short weeks ago; my whole world has been turned upside down.”
A shadow of remorse crossed his features and he placed a comforting arm around her and pulled her to him.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “What do we do?” she squeaked out, while darkness began to creep over the place and them.
“For now, we sit and wait and see what our captors want. There’s not much we can do tonight, so why don’t we try and get some sleep?” He led her toward one of the cots.
She laid down and Lee covered her with the blanket. “Goodnight, Lee,” she whispered in the shadowy gloom of the room.
“Goodnight, Amanda.”
Lee then toed out of his shoes and took off his jacket, rolling it up for a pillow. A little light filtered into the room from cracks in the floor slats. Illuminated by the soft light, he watched her sleep. Worry was still evident on her face. In turmoil himself, he agonized about how he was going to get him and her out of this one. Lee then closed his eyes and drifted off into a fretful sleep.
*****
The next morning, Lee blinked a few times trying to sweep away the last vestiges of sleep. He lifted his head and saw Amanda standing over him. “Hello,” he replied.
"Hello, yourself! Did you sleep well? How are you today?" she answered back, with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
Lee sat up and draped his long legs off the edge of the cot. He saw that Amanda’s fingers were stuffed into the front pockets of her jeans and she was rocking back and forth on her heels.
“Any word from our captors?” he asked, running one hand through his unruly hair.
She shook her head. Suddenly the room was flooded with bright light.
“Anything you want to tell Viktor this morning,” he heard a voice holler from the top of the stairwell.
“Yeah, tell him the room service here sucks!”
Viktor’s henchman grumbled and then he closed the trapdoor. At that moment, Amanda’s stomach protested.
She placed her hand on her stomach. “I guess I’m hungry.”
Light flooded the cellar again and the henchman placed a tray at the top of the stairs, then he quickly closed the trapdoor again.
“The manager of this establishment must be apologetic for the substandard accommodations, Dear. Looks like it's breakfast in bed for us.” Lee stood up and walked up the stairs. He grabbed the tray and then walked over to the small wooden table. Sitting down in one of the chairs, he studied the food and plastic silverware.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Amanda asked him, sitting down in the other chair.
“Yeah, just blini. They're like pancakes, but it appears we get to eat them dry.” He then took a swallow of the hot liquid in the mug. “Black tea.”
Amanda nervously nodded her head. She then took a sip of the tea and placed the cup down. “Lee?”
“Hmm?”
“What are they going to do with us?”
He put his fork down on the table and placed his elbows on the table. “Question us, most likely.”
“I don’t know anything.”
Looking up, he saw her biting her lip. He reached out his hand and grabbed hers, gently squeezing it.
“I’m scared.” She trembled nervously.
“Hey, now. I have been in a lot worse scrapes than this one.” 'Just a little white lie,' he thought. He didn’t want to frighten her.
She turned away from him. At that moment, the trapdoor opened again and two of Viktor’s men stood looking down on them.
“Mr. Stetson,” the bigger of the two men said. He was muscular, had huge forearms, and no neck. “Come with me.”
‘I know. Nothing personal, right fellas?” Lee replied, heading up the stairs. “Oh, Amanda, be sure and redecorate this place while I’m gone.”
The door closed again with a bang and damp tears silently rolled down Amanda’s cheeks.
*****
Several hours later, one of the henchmen dragged Lee’s body toward the cot and laid him down. Amanda thought Lee looked like death-warmed over.
“What did you do to him?” She let out a high-pitched shriek.
The man just smiled, then turned on his heels and left the two of them alone.
Amanda rested her cheek on his forehead.
“I feel terrible,” Lee moaned.
“Lee, what have they done to you?”
“Truth serum, but I didn’t break.” He shook his head slightly, but a wave of dizziness hit. He breathed slow and shallow and the nausea soon passed.
Reaching out toward him, she took his hand and caressed it. A warm tingling sensation coursed through Lee’s body. He looked down at their joined hands and then immediately dropped his hand to his side and cleared his throat. A big, burly man then appeared in his peripheral vision. “Honey, we’ve got company.”
Amanda let out a startled yelp.
“Let me formally introduce you to Boris.”
Boris bowed his head slightly. “Come with me, Lady.” He grabbed her by the forearm and led her toward the stairs.
“Don’t let them scare you.” Lee’s eyelids began to droop. “You are a brave woman, Amanda King,” he said before succumbing to slumber from the effects of the drugs.
*****
Boris led Amanda into what she thought, once upon a time, had been the parlor room. The walls were grey with inattention and peeling flowered wallpaper. The man Lee had called Viktor sat at an old writing desk. Not even looking up, he said, “Sit.”
“No, thank you.”
He looked up and saw her standing ramrod straight. “Suit yourself.” He sipped his tea, then placed the mug down and drummed his long fingers against the oak desk.
“I don’t understand why you are holding me against my will. I am just a housewife from Arlington, Virginia—”
Cutting her off, he said, “With two little boys, Phillip and someone or another. Yes, I heard it all before, Mrs. King.” He waved her off.
“Kidnapping is a very serious crime in my country.”
“Oh, this I know.” He leaned forward. “You and Mr. Stetson will be free to go once I receive the information I require.”
“Honestly, I don’t know anything,” she pleaded with her capturer.
Viktor sized her up. “Alright.”
Amanda blew out her breath. She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath until she slowly let it out. “Good. Then we can leave.”
“No. You will continue to be my guests for now.”
“Please, may I call my mother to let her know I am okay and that I love her?”
He smiled, but shook his head.
She looked around the room and spied her purse on a corner table. “May I have my purse, please? My family’s pictures are in it.”
He looked over at the table, stood up, and walked toward the purse, then held it out for her.
She took a couple tentative steps toward him and then reached out and grabbed it. “Thank you.”
Viktor dismissed her and Boris led her back to the cellar.
*****
“Amanda?” Lee moaned.
“Oh, good you're awake.”
“How long have I been out?” His head pounded, sharp and heavy.
Amanda answered with a shrug, “Not sure. I don’t have a watch. Are you hungry? Boris brought down a couple sandwiches.”
“Yeah, I think I can eat.” With Amanda’s assistance, Lee slowly stood up and she helped him to the table. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?” he asked, concerned.
She shook her head firmly. “Viktor just asked a couple questions and then told me we are to stay until he gets what he wants.” She fingered the gold cross pendant on her necklace. “Help is not on the way, is it?”
“No.” Lee kept glancing up to look at her as he ate his sandwich. After a couple of bites, he pushed his plate away. “I’m sorry I got you involved in all this mess.”
She did not reply, but rummaged through her purse. Then she took out the deck of cards.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you want to play gin rummy, old sledge, or something?” She spread the cards out face down. Next, she slid them around and over each other, then gathering them up, she did a rapid shuffle.
“A-man-da.”
“What? I’m nervous. I need to do something.”
Lee rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“Fine. I’ll just play solitaire.” She shuffled the deck into the standard solitaire arrangement and then began placing the cards into their correct position.
Lee walked back to his cot and laid down, covering his eyes with his arm.
Amanda continued to play solitaire. She suddenly stopped and held up one of the cards to the light. “Lee?”
“Huh?”
“I think there’s something odd here.”
A growl of frustration rumbled from deep in his throat. “Amanda.”
“No, look at the picture of the Lincoln Memorial on this three of clubs, to the right of the statue.”
“The card has a flaw, so what?”
“No, really, I think I see something.”
"Of all the stubborn, frustrating, troublesome women. . .” Lee grumbled while standing up to walk toward her.
She tilted her head sideways. “I think it’s a dot.”
“What?” Lee looked over her shoulder.
“See? Right there next to the center column.” She raised a pointed finger, showing him what she had been looking at.
Lee took the card from her and held it up to the light, too. “This is good, Amanda, really good. You found the missing microdot.”
“We’re not going to give it to Viktor and his goons, are we?”
“Of course not; however, if we play our cards right, I think I have a way for us to get out of here.”
*****
“Boris! Boris!” Amanda cried out. “Please, I need to get out of here. I want to go home.” She pounded fiercely on the trapdoor.
The door creaked open. “What’s going on?” Boris inquired.
“I’m ready to tell your boss everything I know. Please, I want to see my family.”
“No, Amanda,” Lee begged, forcefully grabbing her arm, he pulled her back.
“Hang national security! I want to see my mother and boys.” She shoved Lee hard, and he fell to the ground hitting his head. He was knocked unconscious.
“I think I killed him,” she gasped, frightened.
Boris came running down the stairs to check on Lee. As he leaned over him, Amanda snuck up behind Boris and hit him on the back of his head with one of the wooden chairs. The chair splintered in half and Boris collapsed to the dirt floor.
“Oh dear, I think I really hurt him.” Amanda put her hand to her mouth and cried.
Lee quickly leapt up and grabbed Boris’s gun from the man’s holster. Suddenly, a bullet whizzed past Lee’s head and lodged into the cellar wall. He rotated quickly, shooting the second henchman. Viktor’s man dropped his gun and grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t move,” Lee threatened. Keeping the gun trained on the second man, Lee walked up the stairs with Amanda following right behind. He then picked up the gun and placed it in the waistband of his pants. “Down the stairs, now!”
The man grumbled, but complied. Lee locked the trapdoor behind them.
“Lee, he’s been shot. He needs medical attention.”
“His injury is not life threatening and we’ll call for an ambulance soon.” Lee gently pushed Amanda up against the wall and peeked around the corner, looking for Viktor. He then saw Viktor coming down the stairs. “Freeze, Viktor.”
Frightened, Viktor ran up the stairs and into one of the bedrooms, slamming the door shut behind him. He opened a window and climbed out onto the porch roof. He quickly shimmied down the downspout. The old nails holding the drain retracted from the house and Viktor fell with a thud. He stood up, looked up at Lee and took off running. Lee quickly climbed out the window, slid down the roof and leapt onto Viktor, knocking him down. He then picked him up by the shirt collar and punched him in the jaw. Viktor fell to the ground again, out cold.
Amanda came running out of the house. “We did it!”
“Yes, we did.” Catching his breath, he shook out his fist. “Well, we better call Billy and let him know we are all right, the microdot is in our possession and that we foiled Viktor’s plans.”
Amanda surveyed the scene around her. “Yes, I guess his plans were not in the cards.”
They grinned at each other. Lee then shook his head in amusement and Amanda gave him a little chuckle.
*****
Later that evening, Amanda stepped out into the cool night and walked toward the garbage can, carrying a trash bag. She lifted the lid and after throwing the trash inside, she replaced the lid.
“Hi, there.”
She jumped; her heart nearly lodged into her throat. Then she turned around and saw Lee smiling at her. “Don’t do that.”
“Say hi?”
“Never mind,” she said with a resigned sigh. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged his shoulders, but kept his hands behind him. She could tell he had a large box behind his back. “Um, I was driving around and I thought I would stop by and see how you were. You didn’t get in too much trouble with your mother, did you?”
“No, I told her I have this new pet sitting and plant watering business and I had to stay out all night helping a Pomeranian give birth.”
Lee quirked one eyebrow at her.
Amanda continued, “I told her I couldn’t call because I couldn’t leave the mother, since the puppies were breech.”
Lee laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “Here, I got you something.” Bringing his hands in front of him, he handed her a rectangular ivory-white gift box.
She gasped in surprise. “You shouldn’t have.” Her words did not reach her eyes and she gave the box a little shake.
“Go ahead, open it.”
Amanda lifted the lid, pushed back the crisp white tissue paper, and pulled out a ladies trench coat. She lightly fingered the tan poplin material and gave Lee a radiant smile. Trying it on, she modeled the coat for him, and spun around. Her dark brown curls tousled and bounced around her shoulders. “Fits perfect.”
A tender smile slowly crept across Lee’s face. Hazel-green eyes met brown for a second and then he quickly looked away and licked his lips nervously. “Well, I should go now.” He then took a step back, turned to leave and took a few steps out into her yard.
"Lee," she called out to him. He turned back around and faced her. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome, Amanda," he replied, before disappearing into the night.