Part 5
 

Saturday October 10, 1987
 

Amanda waved as Joe King drove down the street with the boys.  Although it was still early, it had been an exhausting hour getting her sons out of bed, and handling last minute packing chores.

“What are your plans for the day?” Dotty asked with a curious grin as she handed her daughter a hot cup of coffee.

“Thanks, Mother.  I’m going to go over to Lee’s apartment later this morning, but I thought I might do some baking first,” she admitted, remembering the conversation she had with Lee last night.

“There’s a whole bag of apples the boys barely touched.  Nothing like a fresh baked apple pie on a cool October morning,” Dotty replied.  “I’ll help you peel them.”

“No, I was thinking about making peach.”

“Peach pie?  It’s terribly late in the season for peaches.  You’d have to get frozen or canned peaches.  Why not make apple?” Dotty persisted.

“Lee made a comment last night that he’d like a peach puff.”

“I bet he’d enjoy apple even more.”

Amanda ignored her mother’s comment and started thumbing through her cookbooks.  “Mother, do we have a recipe for peach puffs?”

“Let me think,” Dotty remarked as she tapped her finger on her temple.  “Yes, I think we have an old one from the ‘Colonial Cookery’ show before it went off the air…”

“Oh my gosh!” Amanda gasped.

“What is it dear?” Dotty asked with concern.

“I have to run to the office, Mother,” Amanda insisted urgently as she grabbed her car keys and got a jacket out of the closet.

“What about the peach puff?” Dotty shouted, as her daughter rushed for the door.

“Maybe later, Mother.  I’m not sure when I’ll be home…” she answered as she disappeared out the back door.

***

When Amanda reached the Agency, she gave Mrs. Marston the password and rushed upstairs to the Q Bureau.  After unlocking the door, she dashed across the room to the computer.

“Come on, hurry up,” she grumbled, urging the computer to boot rapidly.  Within a few minutes Amanda’s fingers were flying across the keyboard in search of the answers that she suspected would link Donald Young with the very first case she worked on at the Agency.

With newfound passion, Amanda delved into Donald Young’s background.  Sure he had no wants or warrants – he’d never been arrested before.  Indisputably, there weren’t any traffic tickets, but she knew he was hiding something.  She probed deeper into his early years, his education background, his childhood, and his parents.

It took her almost an hour, but she finally had a lead, then another.  Before long, the proof Billy would demand, the answers she needed were staring her in the face.  Amanda shook her head in disbelief while she waited for the proof to print out.  Once she held it in her hand, she dashed out of the Q Bureau in search of Billy Melrose.  When reached the bullpen, and observed him in his office.  She knocked loudly on his door, but didn’t wait for him to answer.

Amanda rushed in, half out of breath, “Sir, I know what memories Lee is repressing and why.”

“Great, Amanda,” Billy answered immediately intrigued, and motioning her to sit down.  “What is it?”

“He’s trying to protect me,” she panted, taking gulps of air to catch her breath.

Billy nodded.  “Yes, I wouldn’t doubt it given the circumstances.  Do you know who he’s protecting you from?”

“Yes, it’s Mrs. Welch.”

“Who is Mrs. Welch?”

“The Colonial Cooker.  It was the first case Lee and I worked together.”

“The Colonial Cooker?  I’m not following you, Amanda.  Mrs. Welch must still be in prison for treason.”

“Yes, in West Virginia.  Last night, I cooked dinner for Lee at his apartment.  He kept having flashbacks.  He knew we worked together.”

“That’s a good sign.”

“Yes, but there’s more.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it until this morning.  Lee’s flashbacks all were specific references to that first case we worked together.  His life was spiraling out of control like a helicopter – I flew a helicopter on that case.  Then, his comments about me having a hidden life – he told me I couldn’t tell my family about working with him. Then, Lee made an odd request for dessert last night; he wanted a peach puff!”

Billy stared at Amanda, obviously still not convinced she had found a link in the case.  “It could be a coincidence and you’re reading too much into his flashbacks.”

“No, sir, a peach puff was one of the recipes that Mrs. Welch used on her show to broadcast her treasonous information,” Amanda gasped recalling the assignment like it was yesterday.  She understood her supervisor’s skepticism, but she had to convince him.  Finally, she placed her research on his desk. “Sir, take a look at this.”

“Background on Donald Young?” Billy remarked with a shrug.

“A full background investigation.  His father, Darren Young was married three times.  Darren Young’s first wife, who would be Donald’s biological mother, was Shirley Price Young.  She divorced Darren Young when Donald was only four.  Darren Young received full custody of their son, and promptly remarried.  His new wife was Agnes Welch, AKA: The Colonial Cooker.  They were married for almost ten years before his father divorced Mrs. Welch.  Darren Young then married his 23 year old secretary.”

“Seriously?” Billy asked with surprise.

Amanda nodded.  “I checked the birthdates and social security number of Agnes Welch Young and the Colonial Cooker, Mrs. Welch.  They are one and the same.”

“So why kidnap Scarecrow now?”

“Mrs. Welch’s first opportunity for parole comes up soon.  My guess is he wanted to have Leon pose as Lee and testify on his mother’s behalf?” Amanda speculated, but then added.  “What I don’t understand is why he used all those experimental drugs on Lee.”

Billy rubbed his chin while he digested the new information.  Finally, Billy spoke.  “We kept your name out of all the official records for that case.  Lee insisted on it.  He was afraid in the long run, something might happen to you.”

“Oh my gosh!  Donald was trying to find out who I was and Lee used Thornton’s repression to protect me.”

Billy nodded, “Where’s Scarecrow now?”

“At his apartment.”

“Bring Scarecrow in and brief him on what you’ve found.  With the new information you’ve brought to light, we’ll have another crack at Donald Young.  That might be the catalyst Scarecrow needs to push past the repressed memories,” Billy surmised.

“Yes, sir,” Amanda replied as she sprung up out of her chair, and hurried out of the office.  She drove straight to Lee’s apartment.

“Good morning, Mrs. King,” Jerry, the doorman greeted her.

“Hello, Jerry,” Amanda said as she headed inside.

“If you’re looking for Mr. Stetson, he left almost an hour ago.”

“Left!?  Did he say where he was going?” she asked with concern.  Lee had been given strict instructions by Dr. McJohn not to drive for at least 72 hours.

“Not really, Mrs. King.  He looked a bit confused, and mumbled something about a red hat.  Whatever that means,” the young doorman replied.

Amanda did an about face and went back to her car.  Leaving the doorman totally confused.  She was almost certain where she could find her partner and husband.  Speeding away from his apartment, and navigating the nearby streets until she reached the train station where she first encountered the debonair spy, Lee Stetson.

Once inside, she began her search, but Lee wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  The ticket line only had a few people so she continued her search out on the tracks, scanning the faces of the people waiting for the train. Still her partner wasn’t among them.  She glanced down the tracks and observed a tall, solitary man wandering about.  He looked like he was searching for something, or was it someone?

She shouted, “Lee!” and ran towards him.

The man turned and smiled.  “Amanda?”

“Oh my gosh, I’ve been worried about you,” she answered, somewhat out of breath.  “You were supposed to stay home and recuperate.  What are you doing at the train station?”

“I keep having flashbacks.  There’s something about the train and a man in a red hat.”

“It was the first case we worked on together,” Amanda began to explain in a soothing voice, placing her hand in Lee’s.  He didn’t seem to mind the physical contact.   “Come on; let’s go back to the Agency. I’ll brief you on the way.”

Lee accompanied Amanda back to her car.

“We work together… regularly, don’t we?” Lee asked as she drove from the train station.

Amanda didn’t look at him, but kept her eye on the traffic and answered a simple, “Yes.  The first case we worked on, you handed me a package and asked me to hand it to the man on the train in the red hat.”

“Are you CIA, NSA, FBI?” he queried.

“I’m Agency.”

“Why don’t I remember more of that case, and you?”  Lee stopped, and in frustration, he seemed to figure things out, “We’ve work together… a lot, don’t we?”

Amanda nodded, allowing him to fill in the blanks.

“Are we… partners?”

“For a while now.  You were trying to protect me.  You used Thornton’s repression to block your memory of me,” she answered logically.

“But they caught the guy who kidnapped me.”

“Give it some time, Lee,” she reminded him, although she too was frustrated by the fact he still didn’t remember her.  “You’ve been through a lot.”

The drive continued in silence, and soon Amanda arrived at the Agency.  She parked in front of the Georgetown entrance and got out of the car, walking towards the building.  Suddenly, she felt Lee’s hand on the small of her back as she walked up the stairs with Lee Stetson right behind her. There was no way she could suppress her smile.  Whether Lee knew it or not, he was coming back to her, gradually.

Mrs. Marston greeted them both when they walked inside.  “Mr. Melrose is waiting for you on Level Eight.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Marston,” Amanda answered, clipping her badge on her blouse and heading for the closet/elevator.  Lee followed close behind.

Amanda was about to push the button when Lee stopped her.  “Wait a minute.  Level eight is detention level. Why are we going down there?”

“We still have Donald Young, the man who kidnapped you, in custody,” she reminded her husband, putting her hand on top of his to ally his fears.  She pushed the button and continued her explanation.  “I believe Billy has a few more questions for him and perhaps once you hear the answers, you might get your memory back.”

Lee looked at her, but didn’t say anything.  It was apparent from his face his mind was reeling with questions.  When the elevator doors opened onto the eighth floor, he followed her out.  Billy was waiting down the hall for them.

“Scarecrow, how are you feeling?” Billy inquired.

“I’m fine, except for these damn flashbacks – they’re infuriating.”

Billy put his hand on Scarecrow’s shoulder, and patted it sympathetically.  “They’ll pass soon enough.”  Then he nodded towards the interrogation room. Inside, the kidnapper sat in handcuffs with his attorney next to him.  “We’ve got Donald Young and his attorney ready for another chat.  Care to listen in?”

Lee’s eyes locked on Donald Young and it was apparent that memories of his kidnapping were flooding his mind.  He reached out for the wall to brace himself of the mental onslaught.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Amanda worried, helping to hold him up.

“No,” Lee disputed, using the wall to steady his legs. He shook his head, anger filling his face and eyes.  “That’s the bastard who drugged me.  I remember now.  He kept asking the same questions – ‘Who was the woman?’ ‘Where’s the woman?’”  Lee turned and stared at Amanda King and pointed.  “He was after you!”

Billy and Amanda stared at him asking him the same question.  “Lee, you remember?”

With a look of surprise, he answered with conviction.  “Yeah, I do. It’s as clear as day.  That bastard was in cahoots with Mrs. Welch – the treasonous Colonial Cooker.  He wanted me out of the way for her parole hearing.  Mrs. Welch knew there was a woman involved.  She didn’t know who it was.”

“So she sent her son to do her dirty work,” Amanda remarked having already figured out the details earlier in the day.

“They’re related?” Lee gasped, surprised by the revelation.  “I didn’t notice the resemblance.”

“They’re not related by blood,” Francine replied as she appeared from down the hallway, joining in on the discussion.  “Donald is Mrs. Welch’s stepson; you were right, Billy.”

“It was Amanda who found the connection, not me,” Billy offered.

“You repressed my existence to protect me,” Amanda replied, reaching over to Lee and squeezing his hand.

He glanced over at Amanda and flashed an irresistible smile. “I wouldn’t give up your name, so he kept trying other drugs.  I knew without Thornton Repression, you’d be at risk.”

“You saved me,” she smiled appreciatively at her partner.

“Looks like you saved me,” he answered back.

 “What else did you find?” Billy asked Francine.

“According to the prison, Mrs. Welch has been visited regularly by Donald Young,” Francine explained.  “When he doesn’t come in person, she’s receiving phone calls, and mail from him.”

“Great role model,” Amanda remarked.  “Not only did she ruin her own life, but now she’s ruined her stepson’s life as well.  They’ll both be behind bars for a long time.”

“Billy,” Lee interrupted, “Do you mind if I have a chat with Donald?”

“Scarecrow, can I trust you won’t do anything to jeopardize the case against him?” Billy asked with concern.

“You’re welcome to join me, Billy.  I promise I won’t lay a hand on the bastard.  But it will be refreshing to be the one who isn’t chained to the chair.”

“Don’t make me regret making this decision, Scarecrow,” Billy replied, and nodded for Lee to follow him into the interrogation room.
 
 

****
 

Saturday night…

Once Dr. Smyth was notified that Lee had regained his memory, he insisted on an immediate debriefing.  Knowing it could take hours, Billy sent Amanda home.  Alone in her house, the demons of doubt plagued her.  Yes, Lee had recalled the case with Mrs. Welch, and recognized his kidnapper, but Amanda contemplated if he remembered all the details of their relationship, their partnership… their marriage.

The house seemed overwhelmingly empty with her boys spending the weekend with Joe.  Dotty was out, on a hot date with Captain Curt. Amanda needed something to keep her mind off the loneliness and uncertainty.  She went into the kitchen and decided to bake a pie.  No, she wouldn’t make a peach pie.  She shuddered at the thought of how close Mrs. Welch came to destroying her family.  Her mother was right; an apple pie would be perfect this time of year.

Baking helped Amanda relax and soothed her frazzled nerves.  It wasn’t long before the comforting smell of apple pie wafted throughout the house.  When the timer dinged the pie was ready, she hurried into the kitchen, removed it from the oven and placed it on the counter to cool.  Soon after that, there was a tap on her kitchen window.  Amanda grinned when she looked up to see Lee Stetson making his way to her back kitchen door.

“It smells wonderful in here,” Lee commented as he sniffed the air.

“I baked an apple pie.  It just came out of the oven,” she explained, waiting to see what kind of a reception she would get from him.  Would he remember her as his co-worker, his partner, or his wife?  Or was their true relationship still trapped in Thornton’s Repression?

“Is there’s a big slice for me?” he asked, as he tenderly reached for her chin with his fingers and sought out her lips with his.  The kiss was gentle, yet passionate and insistent.  Their lips lingered together for a while, neither wanting to part.

Amanda pulled away ever so slightly, smiling brightly. “That was a very enjoyable ‘hello’, Mr. Stetson.”

“It was long overdue, Mrs. Stetson,” Lee answered, with his charming smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You remember!” she sang out in a happy and relieved voice, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him to her in a hug.

“Uh huh, when I saw Donald Young it ALL came flooding back.  I couldn’t say anything with Billy there,” Lee explained.

“Billy knows we’re married.” Amanda admitted, shrugging guiltily.  “I told him when you were missing.”

“You told him?!” Lee repeated, staring at his wife.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “It’s a long story and I can tell you about it later.  How did the debriefing go?”

“It took forever.  All I wanted was to get out of there. Billy said he needed to see me in his office before I left, but I told him whatever it was, it could wait.  I wanted to see you so much, to hold you, and kiss you.”  Lee paused for a moment and looked around the unusually quiet house.  “Where is everyone?”

“The boys are with Joe until tomorrow night.  Mother had a hot date with Curt and won’t be home until late,” she explained with a huge grin.

“Seriously?”

“You bet!”

“You and me… alone?” he asked, pulling her close as his hands began to caress her back and his eyes studying her in eager anticipation of her answer.

“Except for the pie,” she giggled.

“The pie can wait.”  Lee sought out her lips and kissed her again.  His hands began to tenderly caress her body.  She eagerly responded to his touch.  Lee continued to stroke her face.  With his eyes gazing upon her, he professed, “I love you, Mrs. Stetson.  I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Mr. Stetson,” she replied.  “It’s so good to have the real ‘you’ back.”

“Yes, the past couple of days have been…awful.  When I looked at you, I knew there was more.  I knew I was missing… something, I couldn’t figure out what it was.  When you touched me at the hospital, it was like a lightning bolt striking me.  My heart skipped a beat …” he shook his head, not knowing how to explain things to her, “that must have been hard for you when I didn’t recognize you.”

“The worst part of the past week was trying to get people to believe you were really missing,” Amanda disclosed with a heavy sigh.

“How did you figure it out?” Lee questioned curiously.  “I was supposed to be ‘contact zero’, yet you figured out I was abducted.”

“It took less than 24 hours before I knew Leon wasn’t you.  Convincing Billy, Francine and the rest of the Agency he wasn’t you was the hardest part.”

“Leon?  Who’s Leon? What are you talking about?” Lee asked, his face appearing totally confused.

“Oh my gosh!  Nobody told you about Leon?” Amanda gasped, assuming that he’d been fully debriefed on the circumstances.  Then his comment about rushing to see her before talking to Billy flashed in her memory.  “You didn’t go see Billy!”

“Billy debriefed me on the kidnapping.”

“No, there’s more.  Remember that long story I mentioned?” she reminded him.

Lee shrugged, still not following her chain of thought.

“How about we go into the family room, you might want to sit down for this,” she replied patiently, tugging on his hand as she led him to the sofa.

“Amanda, it’s been a long day, and I’ve done enough talking.  I had some other ideas that I’d like to do with my wife especially since she’s home alone for a change!”

“As much as I’d like that too, you’re going to want to hear this and the sooner the better.”

Lee shook his head and rolled his eyes in frustration.  “Fine, let’s hear whatever it is, but make it fast.”

“On Tuesday morning an imposter, who claimed to be Lee Stetson greeted me at the Georgetown entrance to the Agency.”

“What?!” Lee gulped, his wide eyes staring at her in disbelief.

“Hear me out, Lee,” Amanda pleaded, and continued on with the explanation.  “This person looked a lot like you, but to be honest, from the beginning didn’t act like you.  There were a lot of clues, even mother and the boys noticed them.”

“This imposter was here, at the house?  How did he get here?” he asked in a loud angry voice.

Amanda grimaced and sank into the sofa, cringing.  “I uh, I invited him to dinner.  The guy, Leon, looked like you.  He fooled everyone at the Agency.”

“You invited an imposter to the house with our family?” he shouted enraged at the idea.  He got off the sofa and stomped across the room, pacing wildly.

“I didn’t know he was an imposter at the time,” she added, embarrassed and upset.

“What else did this Leon and you do?  Did he kiss you?  Did he try to … seduce you?” Lee interrogated, his eyes blazing with fury and jealousy.  He stared irately at his wife dreading the details of their encounter.

“No, of course not.  You’re not listening to me.  We never even kissed.  That was one of the many things that made me suspect, he wasn’t you,” she rebutted hurriedly, trying to calm him down and explain the situation.  She reached out to touch him and he pulled away.  “Give me a chance to explain, please.”

Lee folded his arms across his chest, and his face was still filled with fury.  Standing across the room, he demanded the rest of the story.  “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“The guy is your mirror image.  Same height, and build, hair and eye color, similar weight.  When you see him, you’ll understand.  But there were a lot of things that didn’t add up.  First off; he never touched me – not to hold my hand, not a hand to my back.  He called me ‘Mandy’, drank his coffee with sugar, kept mixing up the boys names, and couldn’t play basketball.  On Wednesday morning, he came in after having breakfast at ‘The Pancake House’.”

Lee’s face winced hearing the restaurant’s name.  “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that dive.”

“Yes, I know that.  And in all the years I’ve known you, you never eaten a big breakfast. Heaven knows I’ve tried to get you to eat; after all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  That morning, I knew for certain this person was an imposter.  I got a hold of his fingerprints and had them run in the lab.  Billy thought I was crazy.  That’s when and why I told him you and I were married.”

“He had to believe you then.”

“No, he was still skeptical,” she admitted ruefully.  “It wasn’t until the fingerprints came back
 to Leon Hamilton that he realized I wasn’t crazy.”

“Where is this imposter now?” Lee demanded, his temper still quite apparent..

“He’s being detained at the Agency.  He was blackmailed by Donald Young to impersonate you and testify at the parole hearing for his stepmother.”

“He really looks like me?” Lee asked sitting back down on the sofa, starting to calm down a bit.

“Yes, your doppelganger,” Amanda took a deep breath and nodded.  “Lee, there’s more.  There’s a high probability he’s related to you.  He claims his mother was Jennifer Hamilton.”

“That’s impossible!” Lee shouted, his anger returning.  “I was an only child.”

“I know, and I agree with you,” she replied, placing a hand on his shoulder and stroking it gently. Her voice was soothing, her face reassuring. “I told Billy from the beginning that I don’t believe he’s your brother.  From what I can figure out from your mother’s diary, it appears Leon might be your cousin.”

“My cousin?”

“Yes, your mother had an older sister named Juliet.  They thought she died in the blitz during the war, but her body was never found.  My guess is she survived, and who knows, maybe took on your mother’s name to escape her past or used your mother’s name on the birth certificate.”

“Why would Leon, if he was my long lost cousin want to do this to me?  What did I ever do to this guy?  Donald Young would have killed me once they had your name and probably killed you, too!  What are they charging Leon with, kidnapping? Conspiracy? Impersonating a Federal Officer…” Lee began to recite the charges they could bring against the man.

“Leon was being blackmailed.  He has a gambling problem.  If he cooperates fully with the authorities, he’ll be deported back to England,” Amanda explained.  “The last I heard, they weren’t going to ask for jail time.”

Lee got up from the sofa again, and returned to pacing the family room. In a fuming rage, he ranted, “This man, steps into my life without question, impersonates a Federal Agent, comes into this house, eats dinner with my family and he’s going to walk?”

“Lee, I understand you are upset.  When I pieced things together and realized he was an imposter, I wanted to strangle him personally.  I wanted them to throw the book at the guy, but he did cooperate fully.  Without his help, we might not have gotten you back - alive,” she reminded him, trying to calm his fury.  “He’s probably your blood relative.”

“I don’t give a damn if he is my brother, cousin, or what.  Because of him, you and I were almost killed and a woman who committed treason could have been released from prison after only a few years.”

“Lee, sit down with me, please,” Amanda pleaded, reaching up her hand for her husband.  “I’ll support any decision you make regarding Leon.”

There was too much anger for Lee to vent to allow him to sit down. Instead, he continued pacing the room like a wildcat locked in a cage.  In an instant he stopped, turned to Amanda and declared, “I want to see this guy.”

“We can go down to the Agency first thing in the morning if you want,” she acknowledged, understanding his need to know.

He shook his head.  “Now.”

“Lee, it’s late.  You’ve had a long day.  You need to rest.”  Even as she was saying the words, she could see the determined look on his face.  There would be no denying Lee meeting Leon.

“Let’s go.”

“I’ll call Billy.  He’ll have to make the arrangements.”

“I guess that’s what Billy wanted to tell me about before I left.”

Amanda nodded as she dialed the number.
 

****
 

Billy Melrose led the way down the hall with a brisk pace to the detention cells.  Lee Stetson was next to him matching his boss, stride for stride.  Amanda was only a few steps behind.

“We should have the initial DNA results by tomorrow,” Billy Melrose continued to explain to his agent, “but I would agree with Amanda that it’s more likely Leon’s your cousin than half brother.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he’s my brother or cousin, Billy, we should be charging him with something,” Lee snapped heatedly.

“Sorry, Lee, it’s a done deal with the Justice department.  If he testifies against Young and Welch, he gets a free ride back to England.  If he recants we’ll throw the book at him.”

“Rather sweet deal considering what he did,” Lee grumbled as they continued down the hall.

“You’re right, and I understand your frustration.  Leon originally requested to enter the Witness Protection Program,” Billy informed his agent.  “I quashed that idea from the start.”

“Good,” Lee nodded, “the sooner this slime ball is out of our lives and the country, the better.”

Billy stopped at the detention cell window.  The one way glass allowed them to see Leon was inside, sitting on the corner of his bed.  “Are you sure you want to meet him now, Lee?  You could wait until tomorrow morning when you’ve had some time to digest everything that’s happened.”

“Now works fine for me, Billy,” Lee responded assertively as he turned the doorknob and entered the cell.

When Leon heard the door open he stood up and turned observing the man walking toward him.  Billy flicked on the audio to allow them to hear the interchange between the two men.

“My goodness, the resemblance is… uncanny,” Leon Hamilton remarked as he saw Lee Stetson stand in front on him, studying him.  Leon held out his hand and greeted him, “Hello, chap, I’m Leon Hamilton, your brother…”

Lee didn’t shake the man’s hand, instead his left hand balled up into a fist, and in an instant flew at, and made contact with Leon’s jaw. After a loud crack, the man fell to the floor from the one punch, and Lee stood over him goading the imposter, “Get up you miserable excuse for a man.”

Leon blinked a few times, choosing to stay flat on the safety of the floor, as he rubbed his sore and swelling jaw.

“Scarecrow, what the hell are you doing?” Billy asked as he rushed into the room, separating Lee from the cowering man on the floor.

“The deal was with the Justice Department, Billy, not with me,” Lee answered, matter-of- factly.  “Call it sibling rivalry, or family justice.  Either way, there’s not an ounce of blood on him, and given the circumstances, I think I was rather lenient on him.”

Leon glanced up at Lee, slowly beginning to sit up, but staying on the floor behind Billy Melrose for protection.

Lee spoke one more time to Leon Hamilton, “Consider that a warning.  Don’t you ever bother me, my wife or my family again in any way.  If you do, I promise you, you’ll regret it.  Do you understand?”

Leon nodded mutely.

“I didn’t hear you.  Do you understand?” Lee repeated again.

“Yes, I understand,” he answered sheepishly.

Without another word, Lee Stetson turned and reached for the door.

“Scarecrow,” Billy yelled, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going home with my wife, Billy, and considering all that has happened, we’d appreciate a few days off together,” Lee answered, shoving open the detention cell door, and reaching for Amanda’s hand.  He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it tenderly.  With an imperceptible nod, they swiftly moved down the hallway, neither of them looked back...

End Part 5
 

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