Lee “Scarecrow” Stetson
Amanda was completely silent in the car.
She didn’t cry. Didn’t ask a million questions. Didn’t ramble about minutiae the way she usually did when she was nervous or upset. In fact, her face was composed and her demeanor completely calm, except for the fact that she continually twisted her hands in her lap. It was so out-of-character as to be scary, but he didn’t have time to worry about it as he sped through and around traffic. Lee pushed the car as fast as he could get it; let the cops ticket him for speeding later if they wanted.
Despite her eerie calm, Amanda was clearly aware of everything around them. She was out of the car and sprinting toward the emergency room door before he even finished parking it, ignoring the fact that she’d broken a heel.
He wasn’t far behind, crashing through the door of the waiting area just in time to see a nurse leading her back. But when he followed, the doors closed in his face, locking and preventing him from going any further.
“Sorry,” said the receptionist. “Family only.”
“I am family!” It took a second to realize he’d shouted it, and he fought for control. Now wasn’t the time for explanations or arguments. “Please. Please. She’ll want me there. They all will.” And he wanted to be there. Needed to be there, for her, for Jamie, for all of them. Maybe even for himself as well.
There was a long pause as she considered him, but there must have been something in his face or the way he was standing, because she buzzed him back. Lee was running before his second step. Rounding the nurse’s station at full speed, he came upon Amanda in the middle of the hallway, standing in stocking feet with her face stark white.
“Lee,” she choked. “Lee, it’s Mother, she —”
He pulled her close. “Okay. Okay, I’m here. What —”
“She — she —” She clung to him as if her life depended on it, and finally, finally, he felt her shoulders begin to heave. “The doctor — the paramedics — she —” Her hands flexed on his chest, twisting the shirt fabric so hard that he was surprised it didn’t tear. “In the — in the ambulance — they tried but — but she — she’s not — she didn’t make it to the hospital.”
At that statement, her legs gave way, and she crumpled. There weren’t any chairs or tables nearby, so the best he could do was support her as they slumped to the floor together. She was crying hard now, and he could feel her tears on his neck. A huge lump had lodged in his own throat, and when he reached up to loosen his tie, he felt wetness on his own cheeks. Their tears mingled as they slid under his collar, trickling down to soak into his undershirt.
It took three tries before he could speak. “And Phillip?”
She visibly fought for a breath, and when it came, it was shaky. “Sur — surgery.” The word set her off again, and he just held her, there on the floor, for what seemed like forever.
This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. They were supposed to be looking forward to a special date, to be planning a way to tell Dotty and the boys their good news. Not…his mind trailed off, refusing to finish the thought. Not this, it finally came up with instead. Definitely not this.
“Sir.”
He looked up to see a nurse standing over them.
“Sir, I’m so sorry. But you can’t wait here.” Her eyes were soft with sympathy. “There’s a separate waiting room, one with more privacy, a little further down. Can you —”
Nodding, he slid his hands under Amanda’s arms to help her up. She moved with him, trying to arrange her feet underneath her, but without succeeding. Moving one arm so it was under her knees, he staggered to his feet and carried her down the hallway as the nurse led them to a quiet room containing two couches and a chair.
“There’s a phone in here,” the nurse continued as he settled onto one of the couches, cradling Amanda’s head against his shoulder. “But if you need me to call anyone for you…”
“No,” he answered, voice still thick. “I’ll do it.” He looked down. “Amanda?”
Her eyes were wet, glassy, and unfocused. She twitched slightly at the sound of her name, but there was no change in her haunted expression, no attempt to speak or otherwise respond to the situation. Lee had seen this type of behavior before, but never from her, and his heart plummeted.
“Don’t do that,” he told her. “Don’t disconnect. Stay with me.”
In response, she re-tightened her hands on his shirt and buried her face back against his neck. Swallowing, he eased the purse strap off her shoulder and then began to root around inside, looking for her address book. It was a good thing she was so organized as to carry one of those, because right now she was clearly in no state to even think about what needed to be done next.
She had fallen into a fitful doze by the time he finished his third phone call, but she sat straight up at the sound of the receiver clicking into the cradle. “Jamie!”
Lee had moved to the other couch to give her room to stretch out, but he was back by her side immediately. “It’s all right. Joe and Carrie are picking him up from school.” Probably already had, in fact, since those had been the first two phone calls. “They’ll be here soon.”
She took a long, shaky breath, one that ended with a hitch. “Thank you.”
“I called Billy, too. We’re both to take whatever time we need.”
“The Middle East transcripts —”
“Francine’s got them for now. She’ll lock them up and make sure they stay that way.” He took her hands. “Amanda, did they tell you what happened?”
She shook her head. “All I know is what you said. A car accident.”
“Okay.” He kissed her forehead before standing up. “I’m going to go see if I can find out more.”
As if on cue, the waiting room door opened, and a uniformed man stepped in. “Mr. and Mrs. King? Phillip King’s parents?”
“Stetson,” Lee clarified. “Mother and stepfather.” The last word felt like ash in his mouth. It was another bit of news that shouldn’t be coming out like this. “His father and stepmother are on the way. What happened?”
The policeman, who had sergeant’s stripes on his sleeves, sat down. “We’re still working on figuring that out. Right now, it looks like there was a left front blowout and Mrs. —” he stopped to check his notes. “Mrs. West lost control of the vehicle. It rolled over into oncoming traffic, right in front of a delivery truck. There was no time for the truck to stop or even swerve.”
Amanda frowned. “Mother’s a super cautious driver. Too cautious, really. She usually doesn’t even drive at the speed limit, especially when she’s in traffic, and she’s super methodical. She’s doubly cautious if either or both of the boys are in the car.”
“Sport utility vehicles have a higher center of gravity. It looked like this one was relatively new?”
She nodded.
“If she wasn’t aware of the difference in profile, she easily could have jerked the wheel too hard by mistake.”
Lee dug out his ID and showed it, noting the name plate pinned to the other man’s shirt. “I’d like to be read into the investigation, Sergeant Moore.”
“Mr., ah, Agent Stetson, it’s likely no more than a routine traffic matter.”
“My family’s not routine to me. And we have enemies. Both of us actually, since we’re both agents.” At that, Amanda sat up, fumbling in her purse to retrieve her own ID.
“Yes, but neither of you were in the vehicle.”
“It’s registered in Amanda’s name, and to her address. That could be enough.”
“Has anyone ever tried to go after your family like this before?”
Lee sighed, shaking his head. “Not in public or on the road, no. But they have been targeted other ways, so there’s no reason they couldn’t be this way too. We’d been meaning to have her address of record changed from Maplewood Drive to a post office box, in order to make her harder to find, but it just…” he trailed off. Why hadn’t they made that change as soon as the Agency hired her?
Because they’d been hoping that her address would become their address first, he realized. Had that hesitation cost his mother-in-law’s life? He shoved that thought away, trying to refocus on the moment.
“I see,” said Moore. “Well, there was nothing at the scene to suggest anything other than a blowout. Those happen all the time. It was just bad luck that it was the front left tire, and the vehicle rolled over the way it did.”
“Those tires were almost new.”
“Even a brand-new tire can blow out if someone runs over a nail. I’ll tell the investigators to be watchful while they process the scene, but the chances of it being anything other than an accident are pretty slim.”
“Are they? Do you have any idea how many different ways someone could carry out an attack?”
The sergeant’s expression hardened. “Of course I do. We are right next to Washington, after all, and a number of high-profile people live in Arlington. I promise you that we’ll be absolutely sure it’s an accident before we finalize any statement to that effect.”
Would they, though? This guy seemed far too willing to classify it that way, and not willing enough to actually talk to him. Maybe he would call Manny Trudeau when he had a chance. Would he be able to wiggle information out as some sort of inter-departmental courtesy? Did that even exist at their level of law enforcement?
“Agent Stetson,” said the sergeant, breaking into his thoughts. “I’ve heard your concerns, and I will make sure they’re communicated —”
The waiting room door banged open, and two voices shouted at once. “Mom!” “Amanda!”
She stood, dropping the ID back into her purse. “Joe. Jamie.” Her arms went around her younger son, holding on as if she might not ever let go.
Joe wrapped his arms around both of them, but his gaze slid over. “Lee.”
“Joe.” Lee took Carrie’s hands and squeezed them gently before guiding her toward the other couch. “How much have they told you?”
“Nothing,” replied the other man as he stepped out of the embrace. “The receptionist just directed us back here. I don’t know anything other than what you told me on the phone. What happened?”
“Mr. King,” interrupted the policeman, offering a hand, “I’m Sergeant Moore with the Arlington Police. As I was explaining to Mr. and Mrs. Stetson here —”
“Mrs. Stetson? They’re not married.”
Lee’s hands clenched into fists, but he made the effort to unclench them. “Yes, we are. But right now it’s more important to get answers about the — the accident,” he finished, lacking any better way to describe the situation.
Joe nodded, although his eyes flashed a clear message: they would definitely be discussing his revelation of their marriage later. “Okay. How’s Phillip?”
“Still in surgery. And I still don’t know for what, or how much longer it’ll be.”
He went as white as Amanda had been in the hallway.
In contrast, Jamie’s face flushed. “But he’s going to survive. Right? He’ll make it? And what about Grandma? Is she in surgery too?”
Lee opened his mouth and then closed it, not sure how to start. He’d told Joe about Dotty when he’d called him at work, but he didn’t realize that Joe and Carrie hadn’t told Jamie anything. His own relationship with the boy was still tenuous and would likely be strained by having the revelation about his and Amanda’s marriage come out this way. Having to be the one to deliver the next piece of news might push things into another breakdown.
Joe sat on the couch next to Carrie, pulling Jamie over to stand in front of him. “Son, this isn’t going to be easy for you to hear. But…” he trailed off to take a deep breath, noticing when Lee gave a tiny shake of his head. “But there’s no other way to say it. Your grandmother didn’t survive.”
“No!” The word was a cry. “You’re lying! Don’t —” He turned toward Amanda. “Tell him he’s wrong, Mom!”
She pulled Jamie backwards against her. “Sweetheart, nobody’s lying. Your grandmother…” her voice broke. “She died before they could get her to the hospital to fix her.”
His wordless scream was high-pitched and ear-splitting, but nobody, not even Sergeant Moore, moved to stop him or even clap their hands over their ears. Instead, Amanda turned him around as he began sobbing and struggling. But when his fists started pounding her shoulders, hard enough to bruise the scar tissue underneath, Lee grabbed him. “No, don’t! You’ll hurt —”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do! You’re not my father!” Now the fists were pounding on him, but when Joe moved to intervene, Lee shook his head again. Better to let him get it out. He held Jamie close, wanting to soothe him but also hoping to calm him quickly. There were still too many questions needing answers, questions that couldn’t even be asked until everyone, including Jamie, was under control.
Feeling a hand wrap around his, he looked down to see Carrie’s concerned eyes. Her other hand had begun to rub Jamie’s back, and he realized that Joe and Amanda had left the room with Sergeant Moore. Good; in addition to getting more information, they would also have a chance to check on Phillip. In the meantime, thought Lee, he and Carrie would handle this.