530SCARECROW AND MRS. KING
OPERATION: SPY AND SEEK
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Chapter 1
Lee Stetson loved his job as an agent. And the best part was the excitement of going undercover because that required using finesse and quick thinking. And those were qualities he would definitely be needing today because he would be working on his own.
That's right, no partner for him! No one to make him fumble and stumble through another assignment. Nope, not this time! And better yet, he was actually in charge of a major sting operation!
His heart was beating slightly faster as he sat behind the managerial desk of the Arlington National Bank. Looking across the lobby of the bank, he gave a quick glance over at Francine Desmond, whom he had assigned to work undercover behind the teller's cage. And then there was the agent dressed as a security guard, as well as another agent posing as a customer, waiting in line. A real team of trainedprofessionals!
Lee was hoping to catch two men known as 'The No Commotion Bandits,' so named because of their calm and collected manner when robbing banks. They were so good at robbing banks covertly, in fact, that even customers banking inside at the time of the crime were not aware that a robbery was taking place.
For the past 10 months, these two thieves had managed to elude the police and FBI in 8 successful bank robberies throughout the northeastern part of the United States. In frustration, law officials contacted The Agency to help with the case.
And Lee had been hand-picked to lead the bank robbery investigation. Just him. In charge. It was great when his reputation preceded him.
During the next two weeks he had wholeheartedly thrown himself into the investigation, doing background work, viewing hours of bank tapes, talking to witnesses, and looking for patterns in the banks selected by the robbers.
At last his hard work had paid off.
From all his estimates, the two suspects would either be robbing the Arlington National Bank or the Jefferson American Bank across town within the next two days. So Lee had dispatched different Agency teams to each of the two banks, with Lee having chosen this bank to monitor.
After setting up shop as the bank manager here, Lee had come to the realization that bank work was even more boring than he originally thought it would be. And he had set that bar really low.
The amount of tedious and uninteresting services a bank could offer was staggering: deposits, bank loans, auto insurance, credit cards, IRAs, home equity lines, global remittances (whatever that was) and so much more. What's worse is that each of these offerings required different forms that he needed to study, which read like gibberish to him.
But it would all be worth it. Lee had a feeling today was the day something would go down. Underneath his desk, one of his legs began to shake impatiently as his anticipation ran high.
But for now, he would continue to review the dull forms before him.
Funny, he had never felt this bored on a mission working alongside...no...noooo, Lee quickly berated himself, why had Amanda suddenly entered his mind?
He convinced himself that he was glad she was not part of this operation. Then he looked at the stack of boring paperwork and somehow he knew that had Amanda been here, she would've found a way to make this type of work challenging and intriguing.
Stop thinking of her!
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Meanwhile on the same morning just ten minutes earlier, Amanda King was heading towards The Arlington National Bank, a box of printed checks securely tucked inside her large purse. This was the third time the bank had misprinted her address and Amanda was resolved to never, EVER let it happen again!
She now knew that if she wanted something done right,she needed to go straightto the top!
So THIS time, she would take it up this matter with the bank manager!
Her steps now became more determined the closer she got to the bank.
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Back inside the bank, Lee continued to peruse the forms in front of him as he waited...and waited.
There were a smattering of clients throughout the bank when the front door made a whoosh sound and two men walked in.
Taking a quick glance towards that direction, Lee's keen senses quickly sized them up. The younger of the two men was slim and wore a mustache. He was dressed in a casual plaid shirt, jeans, blue baseball cap, and tennis shoes. Immediately he went to stand in the teller line.
But it was the second man who really caught Lee's attention. The second man wore a suit, and had wire-framed glasses. His body was slightly pudgy yet his face seemed of normal size, as well as his hands.
And suspiciously, the man didn't automatically proceed forward. Instead, he chose to stand near the entryway, taking his time to adjust his trench coat, which he had draped over his arm. It was as if he were waiting for something to happen.
And that trench coat...Lee contemplated, that was a strange clothing item to be carrying around on a very warm Arlington morning.
His leg had stopped shaking.
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Lee knew that the 'No Commotion Bandits' were master of disguises. Sometimes their hair was dyed or they wore wigs. Or they wore glasses, mustaches or beards. They never looked the same at any of the robberies. They could even change their body shape, Lee recalled, as he thought about the one standing near the entryway now, wondering if the guy was wearing a body pad underneath his suit.
Across the way, he noticed that Francine also felt the tension in the air, for she stood taller now and her senses seemed to be on high alert.
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This is it, Lee thought, bracing his nerves. These two men HAD to be the bank robbers! Adrenaline seemed to rush throughout his body as he kept his head down, trying to appear placid yet busy.
Lee could almost see how the robbery was supposed to play out: The baseball cap guy would walk up to the teller and in a calm voice, inform her that his partner had a gun aimed at the bank manager and planned to shoot him. To prevent this, all the teller had to do was empty her cash drawer and hand the money over to him. Then he would nonchalantly walk out, followed by his partner later on. And throughout this whole time, no one else in the bank would ever suspect a robbery had just occurred.
So far, it had worked successfully for the bank bandits.
But their robbery streak was about to end, Lee confidently concluded.
#
While baseball-capped Blake Wiley stood in line to wait for the next available teller, the suited one, Crowley Stuber, was now checking the time on his watch. He needed to linger a bit longer until his partner had reached the front of the line.
So concentrated was Stuber on the logistics of the robbery that he hadn't noticed Amanda, who had now entered the bank and had walked right past him.
#
Still keeping his head down, Lee had reached over to secretly turn on the tape recorder hidden inside the ceramic pink piggy bank on the desk. This would be further be evidence for the DA's office to use against the robbers once Lee had arrested them today.
Everything was set; all of Lee's carefully laid-out plans were coming together splendidly.
Back to the present, Lee's ears were tuned in, listening for the footsteps which he knew would be headed his way soon.
As expected, he heard the sounds of steps headed his way but he scowled when they did not sound like a man's footsteps at all. Instead, these footsteps sounded lighter, softer, unlike the heavy ones he anticipated.
A female perhaps.
He internally groaned, Dammit!
Whoever it was, he needed to get rid of that individual—he had robbers to catch! Glancing up to face the unwelcomed person, his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he viewed the familiar form headed his way.
Amanda!
Lee couldn't believe his bad luck.
Of ALL the people in ALL of America living on the planet earth, Lee silently speculated, why did Amandahave to show up HERE? Today? At this particular time? And why was she headed HIS way?
Why?!
He frustratingly rubbed his face with his hand.
He would rather a demented platypus walked all over his chest than be in the predicament he was in now. ( And then he wondered whatever made him think of a platypus.)
Amanda hadn't even noticed what was happening, as her head was down at the moment. She was busy digging around in her purse. At last finding what she needed, she victoriously pulled out her box of checks to show the manager.
As she continued forward, she was determined to begin the conversation as pleasantly as she could, for that was her way. She looked up with a plastered smile on her face, towards the male sitting at the bank manager's desk, "Hello, my name is Aman-"
Then it registered to her who was sitting at the manager's desk. It was like she had been punched in the gut and all the air in her lungs had left her. Her eyes became round as she froze in her steps, staring in shock at Lee.
Instantly, Lee discreetly gave her a slight shake of his head, indicating not to approach further.
Rooted in her spot, Amanda turned her head around for a quick glance around and noticed from across the way, Francine posing as a teller. She also recognized the security guard and one of the customers in line as two people from the Agency.
This must be the special operation Lee had been working on for the past two weeks, Amanda surmised. It had been classified as one of those 'need to know' kind of assignments, so she had no idea what it entailed. She hated that and this was proof positive why.
She needed to leave.
Amanda took a step backwards as Lee pretended he hadn't noticed her and had continued reading.
Then she took another step backwards.
And another.
Her movements seemed to go slow motion for her. She couldn't take her eyes off Lee as she forced one leg back, then the other, then ano-
Ooof!
Her steps were suddenly halted when her back came up against Crowley Stuber's front. She had walked directly into his path and Stuber was now standing directly behind her.
Amanda quickly whirled around to face the well dressed stranger.
"Oh! Excuse me, Sir! I-I didn't see you!" Amanda was wide-eyed and looking very distressed.
Stuber didn't appeared bothered in the least and when he smiled, he almost appeared handsome.
"Not at all, Miss," he bowed slightly, "Are you here to see the bank manager? Do you also wish to open a new account as well?"
Amanda hesitantly glanced from the man back to Lee, but Lee continued to pretend to be immersed in his papers. Of course he wasn't reading a word of it and was actually thinking that he wished the last five minutes had never happened.
Come on, Amanda, Lee silently encouraged her, as he kept his head down, Answer him! Then get the hell away from here as fast as you can!
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