"Billy thought you could use some backup." "Doesn't he think I can handle this myself?" "Oh, I'm just following orders." "The guy probably isn't even armed." "He's just a low-level courier." "Good." "It'll just be a piece of cake, then, won't it?" "All right." "Now, the drop site is in the middle of the alley." "The main idea is not to spook him." "Now, you cover this here." "I'll work my around the other side and cut him off." "All right." "Damn." "Freeze!" "Hold it!" "Go on, take the steps!" "I'll cut him off from the inside!" "Drop it!" "Oh!" "Where did he go?" "I thought you said you had him cut off." "I" "Again?" "That's the third operation in a row that he's messed up." "He's in a definite slump." "Putting it mildly." "Siegler and Dunne have requested not to work with him anymore." "Now, level with me, Francine." "All right." "Is Lee losing it?" "Francine, I know how you feel, but there are lives at stake." "Not only Lee's, but other agents' as well." "Now, I wanna know." "Is the man burned out?" "I honestly don't know." "But it might not hurt to  bring him in from the field for a while." "Stetson, in my office." "I wanna know what's going on." "Last night was the third case in a row that you messed up." "So, what is this, baseball?" "Three strikes, you're out?" "I'm serious, Scarecrow." "Three times in a row." "This is not like you." "Oh, come on, man." "Nobody bats a thousand." "That's beside the point." "What's got into you, anyway?" "Look at you." "Your suit's not pressed, your shoes aren't shined." "Oh--!" "Looking good doesn't nail the bad guys." "Forget looking good." "I'm talking about your attitude." "You're not your old self, man." "I wanna know why." "What's bugging you?" "I mean, is it personal problems--?" "You wanna know what's bugging me?" "You really wanna know?" "Everybody in this office keeps telling me I don't know how to do my job including you." "Don't push it, Scarecrow." "Don't push what?" "I'm running out of patience." "Now, you blow one more operation and" "And what?" "lf you don't shape up you're gonna find yourself pushing paper." "You do that, you're gonna have one less agent to push around." "You're off there, starting now." "Now you just listen to me." "I'm the best agent you ever had in this joint." "You sit me behind a desk, I swear it'll be the last thing that I ever" "I'm gonna do you a big favor, Stetson." "I'm gonna pretend this never happened." "Now, I think you better get out there to your desk." "Don't do this to me, Billy." "Your desk now, Scarecrow." "Now!" "Like hell I will." "Scarecrow, come back here." "Scarecrow!" "Francine?" "Huh?" "What's the matter with Lee?" "I'm afraid it's called burnout." "Amanda, you will not believe this." "This is from your great-aunt Irene." "She is getting married again." "Is this the fifth or the sixth time?" "Sixth time, I think." "I'll tell you something." "You have to keep doing it until you get it right." "That's what I always say." "Here's some coffee." "Thank you." "You're not much paying attention to me." "I'm trying to read this." "What are you reading medical books for?" "I have a friend at work who might be sick." "Oh, dear." "Honey, there is a lot of virus going around." "No, Mother, it's not a virus." "It's, uh, burnout." "Burnout?" "Yeah." "Mental fatigue caused by stress, work-related problems, things like that." "Well, why don't you invite her for dinner?" "Mm." "It's not a her, it's a him." "I don't think that would do it." "Invite him for dinner." "I'd love to meet one of your friends." "Mother, he's really not feeling very well and besides that, he's kind of shy." "This might be good for him." "You know what they say:" "Social activity can cure a lot of ills." "You know what?" "You may be right." "Now where are you going?" "Maybe he just needs somebody to talk to." "That may be true." "Why don't you invite him to dinner--?" "We can both talk to him." "I know, Mother." "I'll spare him that." "All right." "See you later." "You better slow down, partner." "You won't be in any shape to go back to work." "Ahem." "So who says I'm going back to work, huh?" "Did they give you the afternoon off?" "Heh, heh." "Something like that." "You know, Ned bureaucracy is a wonderful thing." "Long live bureaucracy." "Ned, can we have another round at our table?" "Put it on my tab." "Sounds like you had a hard day at the office." "Well, it's hard to have a good one with a bunch of pencil pushers and desk jockeys." "Oh, I know the feeling." "Months back, I had to tell my boss what to do with my job." "Oh, yeah?" "Did he do it?" "Anatomically impossible." "Ned, hit me with another one, will you?" "And one for my friend, uh...?" "Jack." "Jack Harris." "Jack." "Jack Harris, that's it." "Hey, don't let them get to you." "These corporations are all the same." "You're just a number to them." "Another machine they can use up and spit out." "No, no." "It's these desk honchos that really get me." "They sit up there in their fat offices, giving the orders." "And they don't have the slightest idea of what it's like to be in the field." "What kind of business you in?" "Documentary films." "A place called iff." "Film, plastics." "What's the difference?" "All out to burn the little guy." "Here--No, no, no." "Come on." "No, no, no, I got it, I got it." "Don't mind." "Yeah, well, you don't look like you're doing too bad for being dumped." "There are some interesting things out there, if you keep an open mind." "Well, Lee" "Hi." "I went to the office to talk to you." "Mr. Melrose is looking for you." "I'll catch you later." "Uh, yeah, Jack" "What are you doing here?" "I came to get you." "Mr. Melrose is really pretty upset." "I could really care less if Mr. Melrose is upset or not." "Lee are you in trouble or something?" "What, me?" "Mm-hm." "No." "No, I'm feeling on top of the world." "Yeah." "Well, you know, I was thinking." "It seems like maybe you need a vacation, you know, just to get away from it." "And I read that sometimes if you take a periodic vacation and you do it when you're, you know, feeling very stressful it can help to relieve that everyday stress..." "...you have in your life, because you" "Yeah, yeah." "Second volume of the large manual on stress-related problems, right?" "Yeah, it seems right, though." "Yeah." "Uh...." "Ned, come on, hit me again, will you?" "And" "Oh, and, uh, give the lady a Shirley Temple." "I think you've had enough." "Yes, I have had enough." "I've had enough of Billy and Francine telling me I am not the agent I used to be." "If you are gonna play little Miss Social Worker again..." "..." "I've had enough of that before you start." "Lee, I just came to talk." "Please--All right, all right." "All right, let's go get it over with." "Okay." "Oh, wait a minute." "Look, here." "You can't go like this." "You look terrible." "What do you mean, I can't--?" "Just hold your sleeve." "All right." "Jacket on." "lf you're gonna go, go looking good." "'Looking good.'" "Get your jacket on." "What--?" "Amanda." "Come on." "That's a pocket." "Hey, Amanda" "Okay." "I gotta fix your tie." "I hope you like a Windsor knot." "I don't like" "It's the only one I know." "Come on." "I'm a little out of practice, but" "Ama--Hey." "Why don't you just take this and you practice with it and you enjoy it?" "Lee, just" "Hey, I don't care." "I don't care what Billy thinks, all right?" "Come on." "See you, Ned." "In my office, Scarecrow." "Sure I'm not supposed to report to detention?" "Or do I write an essay on the blackboard?" "Get in here." "This is not going to be pretty." "You're doing a hell of a job." "Always thought I'd be older before I hit the skids." "Everybody out there is buying your act?" "Oh, absolutely." "You heard the scuttlebutt." "Rumors flying from one end of the agency to the other." "Yeah." "Scarecrow's losing it." "Your idea of me botching that phony courier bust in front of Francine was a smart move." "What about Amanda?" "She suspect anything?" "The poor thing." "She's been all over me." "Probably on the phone right now, checking me into some rest home or detox center." "I still don't believe Lee's a burnout." "Amanda, he's got all the classic symptoms." "Erosion of skills, lack of confidence, depression." "You noticed how defensive he's been lately?" "And then there's the little matter of his, uh:" "You know Lee's just a social drinker." "Then let's just say that he's been socializing an awful lot lately." "But isn't it possible this is only temporary?" "Out of all the agents I've ever seen hit the wall I can't think of one who's ever really made a recovery." "Well Lee will." "I'm sure he will." "I've been playing washed-up for two weeks now." "But I swear to you, I'd do it for two years if I could just crack this thing." "I'll go along with that." "We have to stop this pattern." "Yeah." "Three big agency operations blown and all within weeks after some top agent has been demoted from field duty to office work." "Happened in Munich, Mexico City, here in Washington." "Somebody is specializing in these poor guys." "Getting to them while they're vulnerable and bitter, then recruiting them." "Anything further on those three?" "Are they still listed as missing?" "The agents from Munich and Mexico City are still missing." "But the D.C. police brought this in last night." "They found Jamison's body in an alley." "Shot in the back." "So that's what happens when they stop being useful." "I really wanna nail the scum that's running this show." "We will." "I got a nibble today." "I think I'm gonna be approached." "You wanna talk about it?" "Well, I think we ought to, you know, wait and see if it pans out." "Besides, I gotta get back to losing my self-respect and screwing up my career." "Oh?" "Just where does one do that?" "Nedlinger's, of course." "Where else does a man go to slide down the drain?" "Ready?" "All right!" "I'm not through with you yet!" "Man, I have had enough!" "Call somebody else in your office to yell at." "Get back here." "You're being insubordinate." "Well, you better get used to it." "That's it, buster." "You're on report." "Oh, I'm devastated." "Lee, can I talk to you for--?" "I don't think you're getting through to him." "Well, I will." "I know I will." "I tell you, this guy is a promising candidate." "I met him earlier." "His name's Stetson." "Yeah, I understand." "Don't worry, I brought in the other three, didn't I?" "He just walked in." "I'll set it up." "Hey, Ned." "Come here." "Yo, Jack." "Hey, how you doing?" "Good." "Real good." "Looks like you're not feeling any pain yourself." "Why, me?" "Only problem I've got is taking the chance of getting canned from the company..." "..." "I've worked for for 10 years." "Still on you, huh?" "They're ragging me every minute." "You film guys work under a lot of pressure." "Seems to me the company ought to be more understanding, take better care of you." "IFF?" "Are you kidding me?" "All they know is work you to death, suck you dry and then hire some young new hotshot and start all over again." "You got that right." "Happens that way in all big businesses." "Happened to me in insurance." "I worked for these guys for seven years." "And then I lost a couple of accounts." "You know, the ladies." "And maybe a little bit too much of this." "And next thing you know, I was gone." "Yeah, well, I told you you don't look too bad for being dumped." "Well, I met someone." "He had faith in me, gave me a new start." "Now I'm doing really well." "Yeah?" "Well, what's this, ahem, fairy godfather of yours do?" "Import-export." "Some personnel work." "Lots of other things." "Hey, you know, I think maybe you ought to talk to him." "What for?" "For a job." "Come on." "What?" "Hey, I'm serious here." "Come on." "Now, look, look." "He took a chance on me when I was where you are right now." "Now, I tell you the guy has got an eye for people." "I think you could work something out." "What do you say?" "Eh, why not?" "Beats" "It beats sitting around here waiting to get fired." "I'll get ahold of him." "We can set something up right away." "Uh-oh." "Looks like you got company." "Let's talk about this later." "Oh." "Uh, Amanda." "Hi." "Hi." "Uh, I want you to meet--Oh!" "I want you meet a friend of mine." "Hi." "Uh, this is Jack Harris." "Jack, this is Amanda." "Hello." "I came to talk to you about that report." "I'll do it later." "No, you really need to do it now." "lt has to be turned in on time,you know." "Time?" "Time?" "Ha, ha." "Amanda, I have got nothing but time." "I'm sorry." "lt didn't hurt." "Move your hand." "I'm sorry." "Amanda." "Oh, Aman--Amanda." "I'll talk to you about your friend later." "Yeah." "Amanda." "No, no." "It's all right." "It didn't hurt." "I hit you." "You just gotta stay away from me." "You've seen what I've been doing lately." "You see what I'm going through." "I'm poison at the agency." "I try to help." "Then let me make it easier for you." "Just don't help." "If everything went well, why wasn't a meeting set up?" "Because we were interrupted by this lady, a friend of his, Mrs. King." "Who just happened to wander by?" "Yeah." "Did you check on her?" "Like I was saying, King, Amanda King." "Ned thinks she works on a part-time basis for iff as a secretary or something." "Or maybe a lot more." "I don't think so." "She didn't look the part." "What do you expect someone with a neon sign hanging around their neck that says 'agent'?" "I spent nearly 10 years with the agency." "I know what the procedure is when a top field man like Stetson breaks." "They put a watchdog on him." "That's who Mrs. King is." "I did see her the other day." "You're damn right." "Glued to Stetson until they figure out if he's salvageable." "Ha, ha." "I can save them the trouble." "Stetson's a wreck." "He's drinking like a fish, not showing up for work." "He's ready to jump." "And I want him." "Stetson is the best man they got." "Those other three are worthless." "With him,we can make all kinds of deals." "Yeah?" "Like what?" "Like making a fast $3 million." "And I don't want Amanda King to make us miss him." "I can handle her." "Well, you do that." "And you do that soon." "She's probably talking to Melrose every hour." "Come in." "Lee's report, sir." "Thank you." "Yes, sir." "Did Lee do this himself?" "It's pretty complete for a man who considers 12 to 12:05 a full working day." "Well, sir, they're done, aren't they?" "Sir, I'd just like to say one thing." "Even though Lee is going through a pretty rough time I think we should all remember that he's really a very" "Well, a dedicated, uh, caring and" "Well, a good person." "I'll keep that in mind, Amanda." "Yes, sir." "I better go." "I've gotta go up to Reston and pick up some flowers from Peterson's Nursery." "Yes, sir." "I saw your blowout." "Need some help?" "Uh, yeah, thank you very much." "You're Jack, right?" "Yeah, that's right." "Jack Harris." "Yeah, well, it's, uh lucky for me you happened along" "Stop right there." "Turn around." "Good shot." "Oh!" "You all right?" "I killed him?" "No, but he'll be asleep for a while." "I'm gonna throw the spare on your car." "Meet me downtown at Chez Nouvelle on 21st Street." "Right." "Okay." "Mademoiselle." "Thank you." "Thanks." "Amanda, you were really terrific." "He never knew what hit him." "I just acted out of instinct." "Fear mostly." "Yeah." "How did you know where I was?" "I've been following Harris since you left us earlier at Nedlinger's." "But I gotta tell you, I was really surprised to find him tailing you." "Why was he following me?" "Why did he try to kill me?" "And why were you following him?" "Jack Harris is trying to recruit me for something." "What?" "Don't know." "That's why I didn't bring him in." "I wanna see what he's after." "Why not bring him in and question him?" "Harris is a hired punk." "Now, somebody else is pulling the strings." "That's why I have to let him run, see who he'll lead me to." "Lee, how did I get involved in all this?" "See, Harris is tapped in somehow." "Now, I am sure that he knows I'm agency." "Must've thought you're an agent through your association with me." "Well, yeah, but why--?" "Why did he try to kill me?" "Well, you have been awfully protective of me lately." "You know, a lot of public shows of trying to help me through my troubles and all." "And, uh, maybe he thought you were gonna get in the way." "What?" "You sound like your old self." "Yeah." "You have the right to know about" "You don't have to tell me." "You have the right to know about my job" "I know." "It's a cover." "It's all a cover, right?" "It's all a cover, because of this Harris guy." "Shh." "Now, you listen to me." "Nobody else knows." "Just Billy and I." "Not even Francine." "I won't tell a soul." "Good." "Amanda." "Gotta talk to you about something." "It's all right." "No, listen, things that l" "Really, I don't" "Back there at Nedlinger's, what I did and, you know, what I said it was just to keep you away from me, that's all." "It's all right, I understand." "No, it's not." "Amanda I really am sorry." "It's okay." "I really do understand." "Tell me again." "Like I said, I had her in the middle of the woods." "I heard a noise." "I turned to look and she blindsided me." "Next thing I know, I woke up next to the lake." "Took me nearly 15 minutes to crawl out of there." "That's real bright." "You took your eyes off a trained agent." "I thought someone was coming." "You're lucky you fell." "She probably went for backup." "At least you had brains enough to crawl out of there." "You'd be in jail right now." "I got a score to settle with her." "Well, you'll have plenty of time for that." "Right now, we have to concentrate on Stetson." "I've decided to contact him myself." "And the King woman?" "She'll have a very important role to play in things." "Before you get too comfortable, Stetson, would you mind pouring me another one?" "Brackin, what rock did you crawl out from under, huh?" "Hey, is that any way to talk to an old friend?" "An old friend who still needs a drink, huh?" "Still stealing the best Scotch, I see." "Can always get a good drink at your place." "Come on." "What are you doing here?" "I came by to chat." "See how you're holding up." "Holding up?" "Hey, Lee, I still get around." "I hear about people." "Jack Harris tells me you haven't been doing too well lately." "Heard you've been stubbing your toe a bit." "A couple of assignments have gone sour." "That's all." "It happens." "They got you in the office, right?" "Yeah, what's it to you?" "All the years, I do my best work in the field." "Then one day, Mr. High-and-Mighty Billy Melrose orders me in." "No discussion, no appeal, no nothing." "I'm just supposed to shut up and take it." "You're talking to the right guy." "Same thing happened to me." "Oh, what the hell are you talking about?" "You were in all kinds of trouble." "You were on the take." "You were dismissed from the service." "What do you think is gonna happen to you?" "They let me go for misconduct." "They'll find something else for you." "It's about time you woke up, my friend." "They jerked you right out of the field and they put at a desk." "You know what happens after the desk?" "The door." "Now, you're living on borrowed time." "Yeah?" "Well, this may come as a tremendous shock to you but I am not enjoying this conversation." "You know why not?" "Because you know I'm right." "I know exactly how you're feeling right now." "You're angry, you're hurt." "Let me tell you something." "Being let go by the agency is the best thing that ever happened to me." "I just came by here today to cut you in on a little bit of my good fortune." "What, me work for you?" "What?" "Ha-ha-ha." "Why not?" "Because I don't like you, Brackin." "That's why not." "Yeah?" "How would you like to make a half a million dollars?" "What are you proposing?" "We talk about that tomorrow morning." "Just meet me at this address." "Stetson." "You won't regret it." "I've got a meeting with Brackin tomorrow." "Been doing some checking up on our old friend." "His import-export business is a front." "This is what he's really into." "Now this is Brackin's style." "Recruiting mercenaries." "I can't believe he's willing to pay me half a million to recruit mercenaries." "No, I think he's got other plans for you." "Now, there are two pieces of evidence which indicate that he's into more." "Much, much more." "Swiss sources indicate banking activity by Brackin on three separate occasions recently." "One was a week after we found Jamison dead here." "Two coincide with his telephone records and travel bookings to--Get ready for this." "Munich and Mexico City." "Our three burned-out agents." "And three agency operations which just fell apart." "We've got him, Billy." "Tomorrow afternoon, I sign up with him." "Then we nail his hide." "All right." "Now, I want you to be fully backed up tomorrow." "Matter of fact, you should wear a wire." "No way." "We're dealing with a man who knows us as well as we know ourselves." "He was agency." "Okay, have it your own way." "But don't forget, one agent is dead and two are missing." "But they were the real burnouts, strung out and fragile." "That's my advantage." "Brackin thinks I'm just like them." "Just be careful." "Yes, sir." "Stetson!" "Stetson!" "Yes, I wrote down the address." "All right." "Uh-huh." "I'll tell her." "All right." "And thank you for calling." "Amanda, could you get this?" "Sure." "That was your work that called." "Really?" "Mr." "Melrose wants you there right away." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure, a Mr. Melrose." "He said he's leaving the office right now." "He wants you to be there before 9:30." "There is the address." "Oh, well, okay." "Thank you, Mother." "See you later." "Bye-bye, lovey." "Bye." "Brackin?" "Put your hands on your head." "So far, so good." "Relax." "I'm just looking for unwanted equipment." "Well, are you satisfied with the test?" "That's not the test." "That comes later." "What are you talking about?" "That's why I asked you down here." "I want you to do a little job for me  before we go into business together." "You do it, then I'll know you can be trusted." "Fine." "What is it?" "I want you to kill someone." "Are you joking?" "Not at all." "Look, it's not as if you haven't killed anybody before." "It's part of an agent's job." "Well, it's part of this job too." "Only this time, you net 500,000." "Who's the target?" "Come in." "Lee." "There's your victim, Lee." "I want you to kill Amanda King." "Be my guest." "Good job." "You satisfied?" "He'll do just fine." "So, what's this big plan of yours?" "We milking him for names of agents, codes?" "Better." "There's a Special Funds shipment going to the agency today." "Three million dollars in unmarked bills to cover everything from informants to major sting operations." "Mr. Stetson's gonna help us get that money." "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" "You'll get your cut." "Soon as we get to Mill Creek Reservoir." "Then you can see to it that Stetson joins his predecessors." "I know how you must feel." "It's not easy killing a woman." "Half a million dollars should help ease the pain." "Oh, yeah?" "Where is all this money supposed to come from?" "Special Funds shipment." "If I remember correctly, you used to be in charge of it." "Well, if you know so much, why do you need me?" "The guards will be your responsibility." "They know you, trust you." "You take them out and we move in." "For that, I make a half a million bucks." "I'd say that's the least you'll be getting." "Whoa, hello--!" "Oh, no." "Hey!" "Hey." "What are you doing here?" "You have to take an important message." "To the bank?" "Yeah." "Hey, open up." "There's trouble in back." "Brackin!" "Come here." "Take him." "Holy." "Thank you." "Could you give me a lift?" "Darling, I'll be obliged to take you anywhere you wanna go." "Get on in here." "Thank you." "That's all of it." "Yeah." "Your gun, Mr. Stetson." "Harris, you drive." "My name is Amanda King and I gotta get to a phone." "A friend is in trouble." "Travis." "Nice to meet you." "Thank you." "I gotta get to a phone." "I've got a friend who's in trouble." "Phone?" "Ha, ha." "I been up and down these roads since the flood, sugar." "There ain't no phones until we get to the city." "Now, listen, don't fret." "If your buddy is in trouble, reach old Smokey on the CB." "Smokey?" "You mean the police." "Look, can you get the ClA or the fbi on this thing?" "fbi?" "Your buddy must be in some kind of serious trouble." "It could be a matter of national security." "National security?" "That's right." "Some pinko subversive has got their hands on your buddy?" "Are they trying to undermine our country?" "Not quite, but real close." "To hell with the police." "We're going to kick some butt, take some names." "Where is this going down?" "Something about a reservoir on Mill Creek." "Mill Creek." "Only thing I know out that way is the old cider mill." "And I've been up and down these roads since the flood." "Fasten your seat belt, little honey." "Travis is fixing to take you for a ride." "First we need some fight music." "I can't find my seat belt." "Just grab on to anything." "Oh, no!" "Don't you think we should notify the authorities first?" "We'll let them do the mopping up." "Strike first, strike hard." "That was our motto in Nam." "Let's go." "I think we'll let Mr. Stetson help us unload before we take him on his last walk." "All right, Harris, you take care of Stetson." "I'll hide the truck." "There they are." "Hang on, little darling." "We're coming in low out of the rising sun." "Oh, no!" "Go on, get inside." "Go on." "I love the smell of diesel in the morning!" "Yeehaw!" "No!" "No!" "Hang on!" "I hate subversives." "No, no, no!" "Not him!" "He's a good guy!" "Sorry about that." "Go on, get him." "Brackin!" "You're all through, Stetson." "Thanks, my friend." "Anytime." "Come on, let's get out of here." "For service to her country above and beyond the call of duty this certificate of valor is hereby presented to Mrs. Amanda King." "And it's signed by the president." "I really don't deserve this." "Yes, you do." "You had the presence of mind of pretending to be shot." "You overheard Brackin's conversation and plans and recruited help." "Now, I would say that deserves an award." "Well, thank you very much, sir." "You're very welcome, Amanda." "Thank you." "Oh, thank you so much." "Thank you." "Congratulations." "Congratulations." "Congratulations." "Congratulations." "Billy." "Mm-hm?" "I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you're letting me in on all this." "I realize, after all, I'm only a full-time agent." "Francine" "Francine" "Perhaps it's need-to-know" "Francine." "Yes?" "Button it." "Amanda,you should be very proud of this." "Well, I am." "I just wish I had a place to hang it." "Oh, yeah, your mother and the kids." "They can never see it." "Well, look, I'll talk to Billy." "Maybe we can find someplace here in the agency." "Yeah, that would be nice." "Well, you deserve it." "You did a good job." "Especially faking getting shot." "You know, you really came awfully close with that bullet." "Well, I, uh" "I had to, you know." "Otherwise, they would've never bought it." "Yeah, I know." "Yeah." "Think maybe the agency could reimburse me for this sweater?" "I'll see what I can do about it."