Set in FALL OF 1993
 

Lee lay awake watching his wife sleep. He smiled as he contemplated his good fortune. He and Amanda had been married for six years now; their marriage no longer a secret. Jamie had started college just a few weeks earlier, Phillip was in his third year, and Dotty had married Captain Curt over the summer. At times he missed the family, but most of all he enjoyed having his wife all to himself for the first time in their married life. Amanda finally stirred and turned towards him.

"Can’t sleep?" she asked with concern as she looked over at her husband who was resting on his elbow watching her.

"Quit worrying. I’m fine, but now that you’re up…" He started nibbling at her neck, pulling the covers down.

"Lee, stop it, I’m cold." Amanda turned away from him, rolling the covers with her.

Lee chuckled playfully, but he wasn't giving up that easily. "Don’t worry, what I had in mind will keep you warm."

"Some of us want to sleep," she retorted sleepily, tucking herself in firmly even as he continued kissing the back of her neck.

"The alarm's going to go off in a few minutes, anyway. You know you won’t fall back to sleep. Can you really think of a better way to start the week off?" he questioned as his kisses turned more passionate.

Amanda glanced over at the alarm clock and sighed. "We’ll be late for the morning briefing and Billy will be furious."

"Somehow I think he’d understand," Lee suggested as he continued his quest, his hands exploring her warm body.

She turned towards him again and blushed. "And just who's going to explain it to him?"

Lee laughed as he took her in his arms…

*** *** ***

"Coffee's ready," Amanda called out as she walked back up the stairs, but there was no response from Lee. She walked into the bedroom but he wasn't in there. "Lee, you really need to get a move on it. Billy's going to shoot us!" she shouted through the closed bathroom door.

"What’s he going to do, fire us? That was definitely worth being late over." Lee chuckled just loud enough for his wife to hear.

"Lee, come on, we're really late," she reminded him yet again as she banged on the bathroom door.

"You’re such a killjoy, you know? I’ll be right there," he replied and opened the door. As he passed her in the hallway he stole a quick kiss and asked. "Did you bring in the paper yet?"

"No, sorry. I just made the bed and the coffee," she griped as she shook her head.

"All right, I’ll get it myself," he mock complained as he headed down the stairs.

Amanda went to the front window and opened the shade. She heard what sounded like firecrackers and looked out the window. She watched a black sedan race down the block.

"I got the license plate," she yelled down to Lee as she squinted in the sunlight, but there was no answer. "Lee?" she yelled and waited for a reply, but there was none. She went back downstairs hoping that her partner was finally ready to leave, but to her horror she found the front door wide open and Lee lying on the porch, bleeding.

"Oh my gosh!" she screamed as she looked at him, blood already soaking through his shirt. He was struggling just to breathe. He looked at her with fear in his eyes; he wasn't able to talk.

"It’s going to be OK. I’ll be right back," she reassured him in a high pitched voice as she tried to calm down. She dashed to the phone and dialed 911. Then grabbing a towel out of the closet, she rushed back to him on the front porch. As she waited for the ambulance she pressed the towel tightly to his chest trying to slow down the bleeding. Amanda comforted him as best as she could, but watched in agony as the color drained from his face. When the ambulance finally arrived he was barely conscious. She knew it would be a race to get him to the hospital before he bled to death.

At the hospital she sat in the waiting room totally unaware of what was going on around her. She just stared into space, her mind mired in fear.

"Mrs. Stetson?" The nurse called and Amanda finally broke out of her trance like state.

"How is he?" she panicked.

"He’s lost a lot of blood. They're taking him up to surgery now; we need you to sign some consent forms."

Amanda nodded in silence feeling somewhat relieved that he was still alive. At least he had a chance. After signing a monotony of forms the nurse left and Amanda felt overwhelmingly alone. Her eyes filled with tears. As she wiped them she noticed her watch and then realized it was after ten. She had to call Billy.

* * * *** *** ***

William Melrose had just concluded the Monday morning briefing. He was clearly incensed that Lee and Amanda never showed and didn’t have the decency to call. He had just sat down in his office when Francine tapped on his open door. She knew how infuriated he was and was keeping her distance.

"What is it, Francine?" Billy growled.

"Amanda on line three," she replied.

He grabbed the phone and snapped into the receiver. "This had better be good."

"Billy," Amanda answered in a weepy voice. "Lee’s been shot."

"What!" he gasped, taken quite by surprise. "Amanda, what’s going on."

"I… I don’t know. It happened too fast. Lee went outside to get the paper. Someone shot him from a car on the street. Billy, I don’t…" she paused and cleared her throat. "I don’t think he’s going to make it. He’s lost so much blood; they just rushed him up to surgery…"

"OK, Amanda, calm down. What hospital are you at?" Billy questioned slowly, trying to remain composed himself, but he was pacing nervously in his office, waving frantically as he tried to get Francine’s attention. "I’ll be right there."

"Arlington General. Billy, the police are here; I’ve got to go…" she whispered reluctantly.

"Just stay calm I’ll be there in ten minutes; I’m on my way." Billy stated as calmly as possible.

"Francine!" Billy shouted when he hung up the phone.

"What is it?" she asked with concern, noting Billy's attitude.

"Lee’s been shot."

"What!? What happened?"

"I don’t have the details yet, but it doesn’t sound good, so grab your coat; let’s go." Billy urged as he was already heading out of the bullpen.

They arrived at the hospital in record time. Amanda was being questioned by two uniformed police officers. She looked awful. Her blouse was covered in blood; in staunch contrast, her face was as pale as a ghost.

Billy tapped the officers on the shoulder and flashed his badge.

"We’ll take it from here guys, thanks," Billy offered politely. The two uniformed officers nodded and backed off.  "Are you all right?"

Amanda looked slightly relieved that the officers had stopped their questioning, but stared at Billy with pleading eyes, and shook her head. Tears were flowing down her cheeks uncontrollably.

Francine handed her a tissue and sat down beside her, putting her arm around Amanda to comfort her. "Lee’s going to be fine, he’s strong," she reassured in a hopeful voice.

Amanda shook her head. "I’ve never seen him like that before; the fear in his eyes was…" she swallowed hard.  "I can’t explain it. There was nothing I could do."

"You got him here in time; he’s going to be all right," Billy replied with conviction, but could only guess from the bloodstains on Amanda's blouse that Lee was probably fighting for his life. "Let's get you out of here. We'll find someplace quieter."

She nodded as he led her down the hallway.

*** *** ***

It was early afternoon before the surgeon came down to the waiting room. "Mrs. Stetson?" the surgeon asked.

Amanda’s head bobbed up quickly. "Yes." Was all she could manage to squeak out.

The surgeon sat down in a chair opposite her and took her hand in his. "Mrs. Stetson, I'm Doctor Preston. Your husband is quite a remarkable man. Most people wouldn’t have made it to the hospital with the amount of blood he lost let alone make it through surgery. He’s not out of the woods yet, but it’s a major miracle that he's made it this far."

Amanda’s free hand was covering her mouth; her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. "Thank God! Can I see him?"

"He’s in recovery right now. From there we'll send him to ICU, you can see him later; it will be a while," Dr. Preston answered.

"Thank you, doctor, thank you very much," Amanda cried with relief.

* * *

Amanda was only allowed to see him for a few minutes.  Despite the tubes and monitors surrounding him she was relieved that he was even alive. Billy drove her back to her house. He made sure that all evidence of the mornings shooting had been removed by the Agency.

As Billy got her settled into her house he finally questioned her. "Amanda, I hate to ask you this right now, but do you remember anything from this morning?"

Amanda was quiet for a minute. She closed her eyes and almost mechanically repeated what had transpired hours before. "Lee went downstairs to get the paper. I was in the bedroom opening the shade when I heard the shot. I thought it was just some kids messing around with firecrackers. I saw a black, four-door sedan, newer model, speed down the street. I squinted to see the plates, something just didn’t feel right."

"Were you able to read the plates?" Billy’s eyes got wide.

"Yes. It was…" she stopped, her memory went blank. "Come on, Amanda," she urged herself, but she shook her head in frustration. "I can’t remember. My husband's life depends on this and I can’t remember.

"Just relax, Amanda. Give yourself some time, it'll come to you," Billy suggested.

She was crying again. Billy could see her body tremble in fear as she looked around the house. He worried that she might never feel safe or comfortable in her house again. This morning had changed everything, her house was no longer her home and refuge. Someone turned it into the front line.

"Amanda, why don’t you spend the night at your mother’s?" Billy suggested sympathetically. "I’ll have an agent right outside her door. I’ve got a guard on Lee too, at least until we know what happened."

She was too exhausted to argue. She just nodded her head in agreement. "Would you wait while I grab a few things?" Then she looked down at her blouse covered in now dried blood. "I think I better change."

"Sure thing. I’ll drive you over to your mother’s place."

"No, I’ll need my car. I’m going back to the hospital later. I want to be there when he wakes up," Amanda advised before she headed up the stairs.

"I understand, but I’ll follow you to your mother’s just the same." Billy replied.

She was upstairs for a few minutes to change and pack. She was only alone for a few moments before she screamed.

Billy raced up the stairs. "What’s wrong?" Amanda was pale and shaking, frozen in her gaze out the window. Billy led her to the bed and sat her down.

"I went to close the shades and it all came rushing back as if it was happening all over again," Amanda whispered anxiously.

"The shooting?" Billy mumbled.

Amanda nodded and swallowed hard. "DVT-8387"

"What?" Billy asked with confusion.

"The plates, DVT-8387," she repeated in monotone syllables.

"You’re sure?" he asked eagerly, she just nodded. He wrote it down in his notepad and gave her a reassuring hug. "Come on, let’s get you out of here." He grabbed her bags and led her down the stairs.

*** *** *** ***

She drove to her mother’s townhouse; it was only a few miles away. She walked up to the door with her bag in hand and rang the doorbell.

"Amanda? What - what’s wrong?" Dotty asked, alarmed with the way Amanda looked. "Did you and Lee have a fight?"

Amanda hadn’t even thought to call ahead to prepare her mother. She leaned over and kissed her mother. "No, Mother, I wish that was all that happened. Can I come in?"

Dotty stepped aside. "Of course, sweetheart, I’m sorry, you just look…"

"I’m sorry, Mother, I should have called first." She collapsed on the nearest couch and dropped her bag at her feet. Amanda knew she must have still looked awful.

"What’s going on?" Dotty asked with growing concern. "If you and Lee didn’t have a fight, why do you look like you’ve been crying and why an overnight bag?"

"Lee was shot this morning - at the house. We're not sure by who or why," she swallowed hard, knowing how worried her mother would be. Although Dotty was tolerant of her daughter's sensitive job, she often expressed her concern over her daughter's safety. "I’ve spent most of the day at the hospital. Mr. Melrose drove me back to the house. I just couldn’t stand being there, alone…"

Dotty came over and hugged her tightly, realizing her daughter was only giving her the basic 'need to know' answer. "Oh my God, Amanda, how is he?"

"He was in ICU when I left. I just wanted to drop off some things before I went back to the hospital. It is OK for me to stay here?" Amanda asked in a shaky voice.

"Of course, sweetheart, you can stay as long as you like," Dotty advised holding her daughter protectively in her arms and stroking her hair in comfort.

End Part 1
 
 
 

Part 2
 
Amanda divided her time between the Agency and the hospital. She was in Billy's office early almost every morning hoping for information that would solve the shooting.

"Billy," she implored anxiously. "There has to be something they left behind in that car. Can't they go over it again?"

"Amanda," he replied, equally frustrated. "I've had the lab boys over it three times already. The shooter knew what he was doing when he junked that car. It was stripped clean, burned and then dumped into the river. There's nothing left to find. We've got Lee under guard at the hospital and if you want, I'll have one follow you as well."

"I don't need a baby sitter, Billy, I need answers!" she complained as she turned and stormed out the door.

Billy rolled his eyes as Amanda stomped out. "You get more like Lee every year," he grumbled with a deep sigh and picked up the phone.

Lee was in Intensive Care for ten days; an infection set in and he developed pneumonia. When he was finally released from ICU, Billy was allowed to question him more extensively.

"I'm really sorry, Billy," Lee explained weakly. "But I don't remember anything from that morning."

"It's understandable," Billy nodded with chagrin. "If you do remember anything, let me know. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"You and me both," Lee replied as Billy departed.

"You look so much better," Amanda replied warmly as she smiled down at him and tenderly kissed him on his lips once they were alone. "Lost all of your hardware too!"

Lee glanced around the room. All of machines and monitors were left behind in ICU. This room was standard hospital fare. "Yeah, I won’t miss them either. Between the alarms, buzzers and swishing noises they made, I'm surprised I ever got any rest. How are you doing?" he looked at her.

"I’m fine," Amanda lied in a reassuring voice, but she knew no amount of makeup would hide the dark circles under her eyes. "Just tired. You just concentrate on getting better."

"I'd get better much faster if I was home and away from these vampires. All they do is wake me up at all hours of the night and day to draw blood and give me a sleeping pill," Lee grumbled.

"It's nice to hear you complain again; now I know you’re getting better. But you’re not going anywhere for a while. You just got out of ICU. The doctor said you have to stay here a few more days if you behave, longer if you don’t," she advised as she straightened out his bed sheet.

"I hate this place!" he groaned in a fragile voice.

"You know you’re too weak to go home, so don’t start. You belong here. Lee, you’ve lost quite a bit of weight, your fever just broke and you’re barely eating solid foods," Amanda scolded him.

"I thought you'd be on my side," he sulked.

"Sweetheart, I am. I want you home more than anything," she whispered softly, stroking his face tenderly. "But not until the doctor says it’s time."

They sat in silence for a while, she could tell Lee was exhausted by Billy’s questioning and their brief discussion. She sat back in her chair and rested her eyes. She was tired too.

Lee fell asleep in a few minutes. Amanda fumbled through her purse looking for the book she'd been reading. After pulling everything out of her purse she finally found it and started reading. He woke up a while later.

"Hi, sleepyhead," Amanda teased with a smile.

"I wouldn’t talk if I were you. You look like you're ready to crash yourself. Amanda, you don’t have to stay here and watch me sleep. Go home, get some sleep yourself," he suggested.

"No, I’m fine. I want to be here with you," she protested, leaning against the rail of his bed.

"Go home," he repeated affectionately, as he gently took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I’m going back to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can bring me some real food for lunch!"

"You sure?" she asked, raising a concerned eyebrow. "I don’t mind staying."

"Go on. You’re right. I’m still exhausted. Maybe if I’m good, they'll spring me sooner," he answered with a shrug.

"Well if you're sure you don't mind?" she questioned guiltily.

"I'm tired. With any luck I'll get a real nights sleep for a change," he encouraged.

She leaned over and kissed him. "I’ll call you in the morning. Sleep well, sweetheart, I love you."

"I love you, too," he answered as she went out the door.

"Goodnight, David," she commented to the Agency guard just outside of Lee's door.

"Leaving early tonight, Mrs. Stetson?" he queried.

"Yup. So take good care of him for me." Amanda smiled as she walked down towards the nurse’s station.

She stopped there briefly and chatted with his nurses. "I know he’s feeling better because he’s calling you vampires," Amanda teased them. They all laughed.

The head nurse replied. "We promise the vampires are resting tonight, but I can’t say the same for the morning shift! Since his fever's broken he's on oral medication now."

"Well, he'll be glad to hear that. Goodnight," Amanda said as she headed towards the elevator.

When she arrived at her car she couldn’t find her keys in her purse. ‘I don’t believe it. I must have left them upstairs.’ So she turned herself around, carefully retracing her steps to make sure she didn’t drop them on the way. She even waited for the same elevator car. She got upstairs to the fifth floor and the nurses were surprised to see her so soon.

"Just can’t stay away from us can you?" the head nurse teased.

Amanda laughed and looked down the hall. She noticed immediately that David was gone. "Where’s David?"

"He got a call just after you left. They told him he could go…"

"Oh no! Something’s not right. Call security…and page David!"

The nurses just stared at her.

"Just do it," she snapped as she ran down the hall to Lee’s room.

When she got there, she burst into the room. A nurse was just swabbing Lee's arm to give him an injection.

"Get away from him," Amanda warned in a cold, menacing voice.

"Amanda?" Lee looked at her like she was crazy.

"I said get away from him," she reasserted, her voice threatening and decisive. "Lee, don’t let her near you."

Lee wasn’t sure what was going on but from her tone he was concerned. Amanda rarely used that tone of voice and when she did, he didn’t argue. He pulled his arm away from the nurse.

"Relax, it’s just an antibiotic. You'll barely feel the pinch," the nurse said, shaking her head and reaching out for his arm one more time.

"Step away from him right now. I’m not going to tell you again!"

With that the nurse tried to grab Lee’s arm to inject him. Lee knocked the syringe out of her hand, and the nurse tried to run out of the room. Just then security opened the door accompanied by the head nurse. The fake nurse ran into the door and went sprawling onto the floor.

"Does she work here?" Amanda yelled to the head nurse.

"I don’t recognize her. She could work on another floor though, it’s a large hospital."

"Don’t let her go," she ordered the security guard. Then she searched for the syringe that went flying on the floor. She finally found it under the bed, and carefully grabbed for it. "She was trying to inject him with this. You told me just ten minutes ago, that he was on oral medication."

The head nurse nodded. "He’s not due for any medication for another hour - but that's by mouth."

Just then David came back into the room. "What’s going on?"

"Who told you to leave?" Amanda snapped angrily at him.

"The Agency called; orders from Mr. Melrose," David asked, taking a step away from her. "What happened?"

Amanda looked over at the fake nurse scathingly, "She just tried to inject Lee with something. Don’t let her go; I’m calling Billy."

Lee was already dialing the phone. Billy picked up and Amanda seized the phone. "Billy, did you release David from his assignment tonight?"

"Of course not!" Billy stated firmly.

"Well, unless I’m totally crazy, a woman posing as a nurse just tried to kill Lee. David said he got a call from the Agency a few minutes ago saying he was dismissed."

"Is Lee all right?" Billy asked with concern.

"Yeah, he’s fine," Amanda sighed as she tried to calm down, but her heart was pounding.

"I’m on my way," Billy snapped hurriedly and hung up the phone.

When Billy got to Lee’s room Amanda was pacing the floor. Lee was trying, unsuccessfully to calm her down, but Amanda knew all too well what might have occurred if she hadn’t forgotten her keys.

Billy came in and asked, "What happened?"

Amanda kept pacing. "I left early; David was outside the room. I got to my car but couldn’t find my keys. When I came back up here, David was gone. I came in the room to find a woman, posing as a nurse who's not on staff, and not cleared to be in here. She was getting ready to inject Lee with that," she pointed over to the nightstand where the syringe was sitting. "Before I left I commented to the head nurse that Lee was complaining about the ‘vampires’. She told me his medications were to be by mouth. Only the morning shift would be ‘poking’ him again. Whatever is in that, doesn’t belong in Lee."

"Amanda, sit down, you’re making me nervous," Billy ordered.

She sat down. She was exhausted and shaking. Two weeks of living on edge had finally caught up to her.

"So where's our impostor now?" Billy asked.

"She's with David; he called for a car to have her picked up," Amanda responded.

Billy looked over at Lee. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. You’ve got a guard on me. I think you better have one on Amanda. Someone's obviously watching her," Lee urged apprehensively.

Amanda glared at Lee then looked at Billy. "I don't need a baby sitter, Billy,"

"Sorry, Amanda, Lee's right. Consider it done. They're watching you. I’ll follow you home tonight; there'll be a guard right outside your door until this is settled once and for all. I’ll take this to the Agency and have it tested," he continued as he picked up the syringe. "Then, I’ll have a little chat with our nurse."

She just nodded.

"Whenever you're ready, I’ll be waiting outside. I want to have a few words with David," Billy advised before opening the door to Lee's room allowing his two agents a few moments of privacy.

"I’ll be right out. I need to find my keys," Amanda replied with a false smile.

"Are you all right?" Lee asked. She looked pale as a ghost.

She swallowed hard, trying not to break down in front of Lee. He had a rough enough day today. "Yeah, I’m fine, nothing that a good nights sleep won’t cure. What about you?"

"I’m just glad you were here," he replied, shaking his head. "I can’t believe I was helping her."

Amanda came over and hugged him tightly. He finally had to pull away for air. She was clinging to him in desperation. "It’s going to be all right," he said to her, but he could tell she was scared.

"I know," she replied wistfully. "I'd better not keep Billy waiting. I’ll call you first thing in the morning." She noticed her keys on the chair she'd been sitting in. She grabbed them, flashed Lee a quick smile, then quickly headed out the door. She made it to the hallway before her tears began to fall.

**** **** ****

The next morning Amanda knocked on Billy's office door first thing. Billy was getting used to her early morning visits.

"So what did the lab come up with this time?" she asked impatiently as she began to pace the room.

"Amanda, will you please sit down?" Billy ordered. "Your pacing is getting on my nerves. I know these last couple of weeks have been difficult on you, but you need to relax."

"There have been two attempts on Lee's life. Unless, of course, you're going to tell me whatever was in the syringe last night wasn't some kind of poison or toxin," she argued. "It's really hard to stay calm."

Billy nodded then reluctantly pulled out the lab report. "It was a toxin. Haven't seen it in a few years. It would have killed Lee within an hour..."

Amanda swallowed hard at the sudden taste of bile in her throat. She looked away from Billy and concentrated on her breathing until she was sure she had enough control to continue the conversation. "You said you haven't seen it in a few years. When was the last time you saw it and who was using it?" she asked as calmly as she could manage. She could tell by the look on Billy's face that she wouldn't like the answer.

Billy closed his eyes for a moment and sighed heavily, then he pulled out another file from his drawer. It was well worn and several inches thick. He thumbed through it before he answered her. "I'm sure you remember Karbala?" he said somberly. "They were the ones who developed the toxin. We have an antidote for it, but of course, unless it's administered immediately, it would be too late."

Amanda's face grew ashen and she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. "Addi Birol's behind this?" she choked out.

"We're not sure if Birol's spearheading this from prison or if someone else is in charge," Billy explained evasively.

Amanda put her hands to her face and took a deep breath. She remembered Karbala and Addi Birol all too well and the thought of him coming back into her life was an alarming one. The taste of bile burned again at the back of her throat. "What do we know for sure?" she croaked out nervously.

"Not much," Billy grimaced, his face showing signs of exhaustion as well. "We're assembling a team to investigate this rigorously."

"Billy, I don't want you to say anything to Lee about this." Amanda requested.

"Amanda, I appreciate and understand where you're coming from, but we need Lee's input. He's an expert on Birol," he reminded her.

"He's also been in the hospital for nearly two weeks!" she pleaded, then her voice suddenly became quite low. "He almost died."

Billy bit his lower lip as he considered her request. "Amanda, I won't lie to Lee, but unless he asks directly I won't mention it for now. But once he's out of the hospital he has to be told. If he finds out from someone other than you or me…"

She knew Billy was right and nodded. "OK, just give him the next few days…"

"In the mean time, until we know more, I want to move you to a safe house," Billy urged.

"Forget it, Billy, I can't work on this case if I'm stashed away in a safe house!" she argued.

"Amanda, you're not working on this one," Billy insisted firmly. "It has nothing to do with your abilities. You're one of my best agents, with or without Lee. But if this is Birol, he'll use you to get at Lee. The last time things worked out… This time we might not be so lucky and I won't take the risk. For your own protection, you need to go to a safe house."

Amanda's face twisted in contortion. She couldn't block the painful memories that were flashing before her eyes. The memories of the kidnapping when she first met Birol and the interrogations she endured from that vile man were too hard to suppress.

She finally spoke, shaking her head slowly. "You already have me under guard. I won't go to a safe house. But what about my sons and my mother?"

"An agent was assigned to each of them this morning. They'll be staying in the shadows for now. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to tell your family what's going on," he advised. "I think it would be a good idea though…"

"If there ever were a time for 'need to know' this is it," Amanda answered painfully. "If Addi Birol's involved, he's had plenty of time to plot his revenge. I can't chance anything happening to my family."

"Amanda, if you need or want anything… just say the word," Billy replied as he stood up, crossed the room and put a hand on her shoulder. "It may take a while, but we're going to win this one."

"I know, sir," she replied weakly as she stood up and walked to the door.

End Part 2
 
 
 

Part 3
 
 

A few days later Lee was finally discharged from the hospital. Amanda drove him home with mixed emotions. She knew now that Lee was home, Billy would have to involve him in the investigation. She herself had spent several excruciating hours with the team going over her kidnapping again and again to make sure nothing had been overlooked.

Amanda followed Lee up the walk to the house and opened the door. Lee walked into the darkened house and nearly tripped on Amanda’s luggage.

He looked at her uncomfortably after she turned the light switch on. "Are you going somewhere?"

"No, I just haven’t put them away yet. I’ve been staying with mother since that morning," she said with a frightened look on her face.

Lee pulled his wife to him, holding her slender form in his arms. "It's going to be all right. We'll find out who's behind all this and things will be back to normal in no time."

Amanda swallowed hard and just nodded; she wasn't so sure. She knew Lee would be upset when he found out that they hid who was behind this mess for the last few days, but she was worried about how that would affect his recovery. He needed rest.

"I'll get some dinner started. Why don't you relax on the couch for a while," she suggested with a sigh.

"How about I help you in the kitchen?" he suggested sensing she was still ill at ease.

"Lee, you're supposed to be resting, so go put on the TV and rest," she reminded him gently. "Besides, if you're underfoot, dinner will take twice as long to prepare. I'll get you something to drink and you can relax in here. Dinner won't take too long."

Lee nodded and settled on the couch; he grabbed the remote and turned on the evening news.

Amanda went into the kitchen and turned the oven on, then went over to the refrigerator and opened it up. Before she could reach for the milk there was an explosion. Despite the bright light, in Amanda's world, everything went dark…

*** *** *** *** *** *

Lee paced wearily in the hospital's emergency room. It had only been a few hours earlier that he'd been released from the very same hospital. Billy arrived and almost had to physically restrain him just to get him to sit down.

"Are you all right?" Billy asked.

Lee tucked his arms tightly to his body, trying to hide the cuts and bruises on his own arms and then snarled. "I'll be fine. It's my wife I'm worried about; she was unconscious when we got here. If it wasn't for Gentry outside the house, I'm not sure I would have gotten her outside before she was burned."

"Yeah, he filled me in on the phone that the stove exploded. I've got the Agency checking it out. We'll have an answer later this evening from the Fire Marshall as to whether it was an accident or not," Billy explained calmly.

"Whether it was an accident?" Lee bellowed, staring at his boss. "For God's sake, Billy, this has got 'Agency' written all over it! I can't believe in the last few weeks you haven't come up with a single lead…"

Lee stopped mid-sentence as the look on his supervisor's face was telling him more than his words had in the last couple of days. "You know who's behind this, don't you?" he snapped as he glared incredulously at Billy. Then he yelled even louder. "You knew and didn't tell me?"

"Scarecrow, calm down," Billy urged nervously. "We had every intention of telling you once you got out of the hospital. We just never got the chance before…before this happened."

"Just who is we? Amanda knew?" Lee continued on his tirade as he stood and threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. "I don't believe this. I'm not some rookie agent who can't handle bad news. I want to know everything and I want to hear it right now!"

Billy stood up, grabbed Lee by the arm so he would stand still. "We found out after the nurse tried to poison you. The toxin that was in that vial was the same substance developed by the Karbala network a few years ago. We believe that someone's trying to put the old Karbala network back in business."

"Trying?" Lee snapped as he ran his hand anxiously through his hair. "I think they've done a damn good job so far."

Billy nodded, but before he could continue on, Lee's eyes glared at him. "Where's Addi Birol? Did he get out…"

"No, Birol's still in a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania," Billy started to explain.

"But you're not sure whether he's behind it or not?" Lee interrupted bitterly again as he looked at his supervisor's concerned face.

"To be perfectly honest, no, we're not sure. He could be masterminding this from behind cell doors," Billy answered regretfully. "But we've established a task force to investigate this…"

"That makes me feel so much safer," Lee snarled as he turned his back to his boss. "No wonder my wife didn't want to stay in her own home. Why didn't you stash her away in a safe house?"

"Scarecrow, give me a little bit of credit. I suggested… no, I urged Amanda to go to a safe house. She adamantly refused. I've had all I could do to keep her out of this investigation except when it was absolutely necessary," Billy tried to explain without losing his temper as well.

"Mr. Stetson, the doctor will see you now," the nurse interrupted before Lee could continue the conversation.

"Is she all right?" he questioned anxiously.

"This way, Mr. Stetson," the nurse answered evasively and led him into the doctor's office.

"Mr. Stetson, your wife's going to be just fine," he doctor reassured Lee as he sat down in his office. "She has a few lacerations that needed sutures and some minor burns, but other than that she'll recover fully in a few days."

Lee sighed with relief. "Can I see her?"

"If you give the nurse a few minutes, you can take her home," the doctor explained.

"Home?" Lee mumbled, not sure if after the explosion in the kitchen that the house would be livable.

"Bed rest for the next few days, then she can take on a light schedule as she sees fit," he prescribed.

"Thank you, doctor," Lee replied.

The doctor stood up and left. A few moments later the nurse came in and led him down to where Amanda was being treated.

"Hi, I'm OK," Amanda whispered softly as Lee peeked around the curtain at his wife.

Lee nodded his head and put on a superficial smile. He was torn between the concern he felt for his wife and the anger at being kept in the dark.

"You've spoke to Billy," Amanda guessed from the look on his face.

"Are you really all right?" he questioned anxiously, not wanting to start an argument in the hospital.

"Yeah, just a little banged up," she replied in a soft voice. "Lee, you have every right to be angry with me."

"Amanda, we'll talk about this later," he interjected, trying to keep his temper in check. "Right now all that's important is that you're OK."

"Come over here," she requested, holding out her arms to him. "I just really need for you to hold me right now."

Lee complied with her request, embracing her. "I love you so much," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Lee," she cried softly in his arms. The weeks of anguish finally crashing down upon her and she finally let her guard down.

*** *** *** *** ***

Amanda woke up the next morning in a strange bed, all alone. Slowly she recollected what had transpired the night before.

"The fire!" she said out loud as she remembered the explosion, which landed her, briefly in the hospital. After a short discussion with Billy last night, they decided that she and Lee would stay at a safe house until they could return home to Maplewood Drive.

"Lee?" she called out softly.

A moment later, he appeared at the door. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Achy," she mumbled, then looked sternly at him. "I should be asking you the same question. Why aren't you still in bed?"

"I'm all right, Amanda. Besides, I wanted to talk to Billy about the house…"

"Lee, you're supposed to be taking it easy," she chided.

"Amanda, I promise I won't overdue it," he promised as he came in and sat down on the bed next to her, kissing her gently.

She shook her head knowingly. "So how's the house? Can we go back home yet?"

He patted her hand reassuringly with his. "Billy says a few days… maybe a week. We can stay here as long as we need to."

"I don't want to stay here, I want to go home!" she protested as she looked down at her nightgown. "I want to be in my own house with my own clothes…"

"I'm with you," he answered plainly. "The Agency will have the house back together in no time."

"You're right," she agreed as she threw the sheet off of her. "How about I make you some breakfast?

"I had some coffee," he answered. "Listen, Billy's on his way over. I'm going to go to the house with him, check on the damage, pick up some of our things and I'll be back here later this afternoon.

"But, Lee," she began to protest, but was interrupted by a car horn honking outside.

Lee kissed her on the forehead. "I've got to run. There's an agent out front if you want anything," he remarked as he quickly headed out the door before she could protest. "I'll have the cell phone if you need me."

*** *** *** ***

Billy waited in the driveway for Lee. "How's Amanda this morning?" he asked as Lee got into the car.

"She's a little achy and wants to go home," he replied as he got into the car.

Billy nodded his understanding. "I'm still not sure that this is a good idea. You both need to take it easy for the next few days. The Agency will take care of the house."
 
 

"I'm not overdoing anything, Billy. Besides, I can pick up some of our more personal belongings and bring them back to the safe house. I don't particularly want someone else going through them," Lee reminded his boss.

"All right, but once you're done at the house, you head right back to the safe house and stay put!" Billy instructed firmly.

Lee never acknowledged his order. He just stared out the window in silence as Billy drove towards Arlington. Less than a half-hour later they were in front of the house.

"Looks fine from here," Lee replied in relief.

"I wish I could say the kitchen was in good shape," Billy admitted as he got out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to the house. "The kitchen's a total loss, but considering everything, you were both lucky."

"Yeah, real lucky," Lee murmured as he entered the house and looked around. There was smoke damage, but he'd expected that. He was surprised the fire was kept to the kitchen. But the kitchen was, as Billy remarked, a total loss.

Billy's cell phone rang and he quickly answered it, leaving Lee to roam around his house with some privacy. When Billy hung up he yelled for Lee. "Scarecrow?"

"Upstairs," Lee called out.

"I've got to get back to the Agency. Can you drive yourself back to the safe house?" he questioned.
 

"No problem," he replied.

"The workmen will be here later this morning to start working on the kitchen. If you or Amanda need anything, don't hesitate to ask or call."

"Gotcha," Lee replied as he stood at the top of the stairs. "We'll be fine."

Lee packed a few bags for both himself and his wife, surmising it would be at least a week before the repairmen would finish repairing the kitchen. They could move back into the house then, maybe, if…. Lee put the suitcases down by the front door and leaned against the wall for support. He closed his eyes in despair and shook his head. He couldn't help but think that a lot could happen in a week.

"We can't move back until it's safe," he argued with himself, shaking his head. He knew safe depended upon one thing - the Karbala network. Lee packed the car with their things, but didn't heed Billy's advice. Instead of going back to the safe house, he drove north to Pennsylvania for a discussion with one federal prisoner…

*** *** *** *** ***

Lee watched as Addi Birol sauntered across the room with little emotion other than a smirk on his face. He sat down in the little cubicle opposite him. They were only separated by a thin Plexiglas wall, which ran to the ceiling. When Birol finally sat down, Lee picked up the phone.

"Stetson, what a surprise," Birol mocked with a laugh.

Lee gritted his teeth. He didn't want Birol to know how angry he was. However, he surmised it was clearly written all over his face. He wanted to reach through the glass and strangle the bastard; he even gave the idea some serious consideration. He looked around the room, but the two guards stationed nearby would stop any assault he might try to launch. "I see life in the pen is treating you well," Lee ridiculed with a steady voice.

Birol shrugged. "Cushy American prison. It's not so bad, but you've looked better," he taunted, noting Lee's bruises and gaunt look.

"I know you're behind this…" Lee began.

Birol shrugged again. "So? Not much you can do about it is there? I'm already doing life!"

Lee was becoming enraged and it was obvious that Birol was enjoying every minute of it. Lee wanted to calm down, but his insides were boiling.

"You, bastard! If you hurt my wife again…" Lee began furiously.

"Ah, Amanda!" Birol interrupted with a smirk. "How is the lovely, Mrs. Stetson? I hope she wasn't burned too badly. It would be such a shame if that pretty face was scarred."

Lee swallowed hard, realizing he was playing right into Birol's hand. At first he didn't answer, taking a few moments to compose himself. "This is between you and me," Lee reminded him with gritted teeth.

"Whatever it takes to get to you, Stetson," Birol scoffed as he stared at Lee insolently. "Karbala wants to see your obituary and until that happens, Karbala won't stop. Whoever gets in the way… your wife, those boys - in college now aren't they? They're all fair game."

Lee swallowed hard, Birol's beady little eyes made him want to vomit. "You're hiding behind Karbala, Birol. We stopped you once, I'll stop you again."

Birol shook his head in denial. "What more can you do to me, Stetson? I'm already locked away. It's you who should be worried. Do you sleep well at night?"

"I'll find a way, Birol," Lee snarled with disdain as he hung up the phone. He got the answers that he came for and they were just what he'd expected. Addi Birol was behind the plot to kill and terrorize him. The only way to end the terror would be one of their deaths…

End Part 3
 
 
 
 

Part 4
 
 

Lee returned to the safe house late in the afternoon. Amanda greeted him at the door. "Where have you been all day?" she queried nervously. "You had me worried to death. I've tried calling you on your cell phone…"

"I'm sorry, I think the battery's dead," he mumbled as he kissed her and wrapped his arms around her. "I needed some fresh air. I went for a drive and I didn't realize how far I had gotten…"

"Are you OK?" she asked as she looked at his haggard face.

He nodded shrugging off her concern, trying to put on his best poker face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe a little tired, and kind of hungry."

"Well I can fix that," she remarked with a smile as she led him into the kitchen. "There's one thing you can say for the Agency, they stocked this house to the hilt. I guess they think we might be here awhile. How bad was the kitchen? Did you bring us any clothes?"

Lee chuckled at his wife's rapid-fire questions.

"I'm sorry," she replied as her face blushed. "I haven't done that in a while. I guess I'm a little… well, frazzled…"

"It's all right. It hasn't been one of our finer months," Lee answered back as his hand rubbed her back reassuringly. "We'll be here at least a week. The kitchen's a total loss. The workmen were supposed to get in there today and start gutting it."

Amanda winced at the thought.

Lee regretted his choice of words immediately as he took her into his arms. "I know how much that house means to you. It'll be as good as new in a week or so. As for clothes, I filled up a couple of suitcases. They're in the car. I'll get them after we eat. I really am starved."

She nodded her understanding and led him over to the small kitchen table. "Have a seat, I'll have a plate for you in a few seconds."

Lee allowed his mind to wander. Neither of them were used to taking a back seat in an investigation. They both knew that they needed to rest and regain their strength before they went back to work, especially to take on the Karbala network.

He looked out the dining room window into the strange neighborhood, wondering how close the Karbala network was. He was certain he wasn't followed to the safe house, he took more than just the usual precautions, but what about the agents that were assigned to guard them? Agents get lazy or sloppy and they can even be bought. Lee was so lost in his reverie that he jumped when Amanda's hand touched his shoulder.

"Relax, it's just me," she reassured as her arms reached around him putting a plate on the table in front of him.

"I guess I'm a bit on edge," he confessed as he returned his wife's embrace.

"A lot's happened the last few weeks. You really should get some rest," Amanda suggested with a raised eyebrow. "You're pushing yourself too far, too fast."

"And you worry to much," he chided her.

"How about we put on the TV and watch an old movie or something after dinner? Billy's not going to let either of us work this case until we get medical clearance, and like it or not, that's not going to happen unless we take it easy."

Later that evening they cuddled together on the couch and put on an old sci-fi thriller. It wasn't long after that when Lee glanced down at his wife's face and noticed that her eyes were closed. He closed his own eyes hoping to relax in the warmth and love he felt from such simple contact, but when his eyes closed his old nemesis appeared all too clearly. His heart began to race and he remembered how close he came to losing Amanda the last time Birol intruded into their lives. He sat up sharply, abruptly jostling his wife in the process.

"Lee, are you all right?" Amanda asked in concern, startled from her slumber.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, then continued, "I'm sorry I woke you. I had one of those dreams where you're falling off a cliff."

Amanda nodded her understanding and rested her head back on his shoulder and cuddled closer. Her eyes soon closed again.

"I love you, Mrs. Stetson," Lee whispered quietly.

"I love you, too, Mr. Stetson," Amanda mumbled softly as she nuzzled tighter in his safe and warm arms.

Lee kissed his wife's forehead gently. He knew that somehow he had to protect her at all costs. He knew Addi Birol wouldn't stop until one of them was dead. The sight of Addi Birol flashed in his mind once again; his words reverberated in his head over and over before he too finally succumbed to exhaustion, 'Not much you can do about it, is there? I'm already doing life!''

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Amanda had spent the day cleaning an already clean safe house. Her restlessness finally consumed her by the afternoon. "Lee, I've got to get out of here," she demanded.

"Amanda, we're both supposed to be taking it easy," he reminded her.

"I'm going stir crazy in here," she griped as she looked around the small safe house.

"What you need is to sit down and relax," Lee admonished her. "You've been working your fingers to the bone around here."

"I'm trying to keep from going insane," she snapped with frustration.

"Come over here," Lee answered as he patted the sofa, "Maybe we'll find something good to watch on the TV."

"Lee, I can't stand another minute of daytime TV!" she grumbled.

"I guess some fresh air wouldn't hurt either of us," he relented as he looked at Amanda's pleading face. He turned his head and glanced outside. "It's a beautiful afternoon. We could go for a walk…"

"How about a drive?" she suggested eagerly. "We could stop at the house, see how everything's coming along…"

"Amanda, I think it would be better if you just waited until it was finished," Lee replied, not wanting his wife to see the damage in the kitchen.

"How about we just drive by then?" she pleaded hopefully as she looked into his eyes.

"How about we go out for dinner?" Lee countered with a shrug, trying his best to keep her from the house.

Amanda shook her head. "There's a roast in the crock pot that'll be done in another couple of hours."

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" he suggested, but sighed heavily knowing from the look on his wife's face it wasn't up for discussion.

"Lee, you spent the whole day out yesterday driving God knows where. I just want some fresh air. I'd like to drive by my home and…"

Lee interrupted. "All right, but I don't want you to go in, agreed?"

"Agreed," she immediately replied.

Lee drove east towards the house in Arlington. Neither of them spoke during the ride. Amanda looked out the window at the Virginia countryside. The afternoon sun filtered through the colorful leaves and a warm glow radiated across his wife's face. As he drove towards the house he kept stealing quick glances at her faces' contours. He smiled as he noticed how natural her beauty was. Her features were soft, yet strong; her skin was so tender and smooth. Lee shook his head and again contemplated how he'd been so lucky to find such a wonderful wife.

As he turned onto Maplewood, Lee reminded his wife, "Amanda, remember you promised we'd just drive by."

"But, Lee, since we're here, we could just pick up a few things…" she appealed with her soulful eyes.

"You're impossible!" he cried out as he brought the car to a stop in front of the house.

"It looks like the workman are gone for the day," she noticed. "I just want to grab a few things…"

"Like what?" he demanded.

"My makeup and perfume, for starters. How about our checkbook and the address book and maybe some stationary? If I have to be stuck in that safe house, I might as well make good use of the time and catch up on my correspondences," she remarked with a shrug.

"Amanda, I don't want you going in there and getting upset about the way the kitchen looks," he responded, knowing the sight of her burned out kitchen would only upset her. "How about I go in and grab what you want and you stay in the car?"

Amanda laughed. "It always comes down to that now doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but you rarely listen. This time I mean it," he answered with firm voice and a determined look. "I know if you look in the house, you'll get upset. Please, stay in the car."

Amanda reluctantly nodded her head in agreement. "You're right, I don't want to see my kitchen ripped apart. I'll wait in the car."

Lee leaned over and kissed her. "I love you."

Amanda's frown turned into a smile. "I love you, too."

Lee patted her hand and squeezed it in support then opened the car door. He walked up to the front of the house and went in after unlocking the door.

Amanda sat back in the passenger seat and closed her eyes enjoying the late afternoon sun, which bathed her face, but the peaceful moment came to an abrupt end. A loud boom shook the car. She opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by a brilliant ball of orange. It took several seconds before Amanda could comprehend what just happened. She watched in horror as the explosion caused pieces of her house to rain upon her yard and car. "LEE!" she screamed in disbelief as her shaking hands covered her face from the horror.

End Part 4
 
 
 
 

Part 5
 
 

Dotty sat somberly in the hospital room as Amanda slept. There was a quiet knock at the door and then she saw Amanda's supervisor peer into the room.

"Mrs. West," Billy whispered to her, hoping not to disturb his agent. "How is she?"

Dotty didn't answer immediately. Part of her wanted to scream and yell about the loss of her son-in-law knowing how profoundly it would affect her daughter. However, she knew yelling wouldn't change what had already transpired, it would only wake up her daughter and upset her further.

"Physically, she'll be fine in a few days," Dotty finally answered in a hushed voice. "The burns are superficial, but she inhaled a lot of smoke. Emotionally, she's a wreck; she just finally fell asleep. I don't know how she's going to get through this."

"If there's anything I can do," Billy offered in a subdued voice as he swallowed hard. He handed her his business card. "My home number's on the back."

"Mr. Melrose," Dotty questioned with a bit of tension in her voice. "Is my family safe?"

Billy looked her directly in the eye. "We've agents assigned to both of the boys and there will be an agent assigned to Amanda and you as well…"

"But is my family safe?" Dotty reiterated, clearly unsatisfied with his canned Agency response.

"I'll need Amanda's permission, but I'd suggest that you all stay in a safe house until we can determine if the risk is still there. I'll stop by again in the morning, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to call," Billy answered uncomfortably.

Dotty nodded, knowing enough about the Agency to know he probably couldn't answer that question any better than he had. She looked at Billy Melrose's eyes. She could see that the man was deeply saddened by the loss of his agent and concerned for the emotional well being of his other agent.

"Thank you, Mr. Melrose," she replied softly as she reached out for his hand. They embraced for a moment before Billy turned and went out the door.

Dotty sat holding her daughter's hand in silence. She looked at Amanda with sadness, knowing how difficult it was to lose one's spouse. For Amanda to lose Lee when they were both in the prime of their lives was a tragic waste. Amanda had survived a divorce from Joe and picked up the pieces. She wondered if her daughter would be strong enough to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and go on alone, yet again.

She squeezed Amanda's hand tightly, hoping to give her daughter some of her own strength.

Amanda was still fighting the demons of Lee's death and struggled to open her exhausted eyes.

"Amanda, rest," Dotty whispered in a sympathetic voice. "Tomorrow's another day…"

"This is all my fault," she mumbled morosely.

"This wasn't your fault at all, sweetheart," Dotty reassured her in a shaky voice as her eyes filled with tears. "Just close your eyes and get some rest."

The anguish on Amanda's face was almost unbearable for Dotty to look at. She gently stroked her daughter's cheek. As Amanda's tears began to fall, Dotty wiped them dry. She knew it would be a long night, and tomorrow the pain would still be fresh.

*** *** *** ***

Billy was in his office late that night. His vision was almost blurred as the tears welling up in his eyes made it difficult to fill out the necessary paperwork. The death of an agent was never an easy task to handle, but Lee was a friend, a good friend, and when a wife or family was involved it always made it harder.

He looked out into the bullpen; even at this hour it remained rather busy. National security never stopped, even when someone died; it only made it more difficult for those left behind to continue on. It was times like these that made William Melrose question the career choice he made all those years ago. Was it worth it all? Had he made a difference? Billy shook his head and pushed the treacherous thoughts away, knowing that was a tough question to answer and today was not the day for soul searching.

He closed the file and put his pen down. He got up and began to put his jacket on when his phone rang. He sighed heavily knowing that when his phone rang at this hour it was rarely good news. "Melrose," Billy answered wearily.

"Billy, I need your help! Zero recognition sequence," the voice hastily spewed out.

"Who is this?" Billy demanded, not certain he could trust his ears.

"Billy, please, I'm not sure this line is clean. Zero recognition sequence…"

Billy jotted down the information, not sure if he was setting himself up for a trap. The line went dead only moments after he wrote down the last number. He tucked the paper deeply into his breast pocket and then turned the light out of his office. He had one last rendezvous to make before he could call it a day.

Billy drove down to a park in the south end of Arlington. This late at night it was, as he expected - deserted. He found ball field number four and parked in the adjacent parking lot. Then he waited for what seemed to be an eternity when finally a man emerged out of the shadows.

Billy methodically reached for his gun, still not certain it was Lee's voice that he had spoken to ever so briefly an hour ago. With slow, but deliberate movement, he got out of his car, keeping a close watch on the man who was coming near him. His eyes scanned the field and parking lot, but it seemed they were alone.

"Billy," the voice whispered hoarsely, "it's me. Don't shoot!"

Billy squinted and finally could make out the tall frame of the man. The closer he came, the clearer it appeared that those features unmistakably belonged to Lee Stetson. When Lee was only a few feet away, Billy closed the distance and gave him a large bear hug.

"Thank God you're alive!" Billy chuckled happily. "Amanda's going to be so relieved."

Lee winced at the hug. Billy gave him a quick once over. Lee's hair was singed and he smelled of smoke. His arms and face were covered in soot with a smattering of cuts and lacerations.

"I need to get you to a hospital. You need medical attention," Billy remarked as he nodded towards the car.

"No!" Lee corrected immediately. "No more hospitals. Billy, I need you to lend me some money. I want to get cleaned up and then I need to get out of the country, lay low for a while."

"As soon as I get you checked out. I'll take you back to the Agency, and then we'll put you and the family up in a safe house. No more late afternoon drives until we know it's safe," Billy warned sternly, but his face divulged a relieved smile.

"Billy, everyone thinks I'm dead, right?" Lee asked, in a terse voice, stifling a cough. He received a nod from his supervisor, then continued on. "Then I have to stay dead. There's no other way."

"Lee, you're in shock," Billy countered in a reasonable voice. "You haven't fully recovered from the shooting and now this. You're not thinking clearly."

"I'm the only one who is thinking clearly!" Lee rebutted angrily. "I drove up to see Birol in prison the other day. He didn't even deny being behind this. He's enjoying this; to him it's a game."

"We'll have Birol put in solitary and we'll petition to move him to another prison," Billy suggested, then reached for his agent's arm. "But I need to get you off the street and taken care of - now!"

"You don't understand, Billy!" Lee snapped through gritted teeth as he pulled out of his friend's grasp. "Birol said it himself. He wasn't going to stop until I'm dead. He doesn't care who gets in the way. He's already in prison. If he has to go after Amanda, Phillip, Jamie or even Dotty to get me, he will. Birol has no conscience and he has nothing to lose." The agony of the decision was written on his face. Lee took a deep breath before forcing himself to continue in a calmer voice. "Birol has nothing to lose. I have everything to lose, Billy. I can't take the risk something could happen to my family. This is the only way."

"Lee, this is crazy!" Billy snapped back. "We'll put you all in a safe house for as long as it takes."

"NO! Birol's the one that's supposed to be the one in prison, but you want me to live my life behind bars. I won't do that and Amanda would never agree to it either. The boys are in college. They're supposed to be having the time of their lives. I can't lock them in a safe house indefinitely and the Agency can't baby sit them forever. Birol obviously has means to direct his network from behind bars. Unless I'm out of the picture, my life and that of my family will always be in jeopardy!" Lee concluded angrily.

"So you want to disappear, assume a new identity?" Billy queried, astounded at the idea. "Just like that?"

"Want? No!" Lee corrected hastily. "But what are my other options? There's been three attempts on my life and one on Amanda's. The boys could be the next targets if I don't put an end to this now."

Billy turned away from Lee and looked up into the dark sky. His hand ran across his face in anguish. Then he turned back towards Lee. "All right, I'll help you slip out of the country, but we have to tell Amanda that you're not really dead or she'll never forgive either of us," Billy determined rationally.

"I can't risk it," Lee countered, shaking his head.

"Lee, I won't lie to Amanda," Billy snapped stubbornly.

"You have to," Lee insisted in a desperate voice. "Besides, everyone already thinks I'm dead. I'm just asking you to play along. If you tell her I'm alive and the word leaks out, the family's in danger again. I know you well enough that you wouldn't want to fill out another set of paperwork on a deceased agent. That was what you were doing tonight at the office when I called, wasn't it?"

Billy nodded, but he was still less than convinced that this was a good idea. "Lee, she could still find out."

"Not if you don't tell her!" he answered sharply, then his tone changed. His voice was distant, but truly melancholy. "You know how much I hate lying to her, but I have to believe she'd do the same thing if she was in my position. I'll do whatever I have to, to keep our family safe. I know you can arrange this, but you have to be the only one at the Agency who knows the truth."

"What I need to arrange is a few days for you to reconsider this decision. Amanda has a right to know," Billy argued.

Lee ignored the statement. He looked at Billy and asked. "How is she?"

"Physically she'll be OK," Billy answered in a voice filled with concern. "I'm not sure she can handle losing you."

"She's always known the risk was there," Lee forced out uncomfortably.

Billy glared at his agent in anger. "We all know the risks, Lee, we just never expect the worst to happen."

"She'll get through this and eventually we'll have a happy ending," Lee answered assuredly.

"You make it sound so easy to accept," Billy argued.

"I don't have any other choices!" Lee reiterated angrily. "I suggested a 'contract operative' when Birol was given life instead of the death penalty. Nobody listened then."

"The Agency hasn't been a party to contract operatives for two decades," Billy reminded his agent in a stern voice. "Wet operations were shut down in the late sixties."

"And you're going to tell me that none of the other security agency's in town don't?" Lee snapped sarcastically. "We all know it happens; it's part of the game, Billy."

"Lee, despite the recent turn of events, the Agency still won't approve that," Billy confirmed.

"So I guess we're back to my only other option," Lee countered.

"Just how long do you think you could keep up the charade for? A week, a month, a year?" Billy queried again, hoping to get his agent to think of the consequence of his plan.

"Birol said it himself. It's either him or me. I can't legally touch him in prison, but things happen in prison. You can petition to have him transferred. Make him serve some really hard time. Scum like Birol must have enemies inside as well as out here," Lee snarled with disgust.

Billy understood Lee's concern for his family. Addi Birol didn't have anything to lose, but would Lee be able to stay away from Amanda and his family for an unknown length of time? Billy sighed heavily wishing he had a crystal ball to help him see the future.

"It's going to take a few days to arrange," Billy advised knowing in his heart that Lee was right. A terrorist like Birol wouldn't stop until he was permanently stopped.

"I know," he nodded in agreement, as his voice wavered. "Billy, you'll keep an eye on her for me, won't you?"

"You know I will," Billy promised as he shook his head. He looked at Lee curiously. "How did you get out of the house?"

Lee took a deep breath. "When I closed the door I heard a 'click' and noticed a trip wire. They had the timer set for ten seconds. Maybe Birol wanted me to know I was had, but I ran like hell out the back door. The explosion blew me clear into the neighbor's yard…"

"Let me guess. You assumed they were watching the front of the house so you concocted this plan," Billy guessed.

"Billy, if there was another way… if you have a better idea, I'm all ears," Lee countered. "Amanda's safety is my primary concern. I'm sure they've reported back to Birol by now that I didn't survive. I know I haven't been followed. I just need you to help me disappear."

"I hope that Amanda will forgive us both someday," Billy stated thoughtfully as he looked up at the heavens. "Get in the car, I'll give you a ride out of town. It's going to take a while to make you vanish without a trace."

"Thanks," Lee sighed with relief. "Billy, promise me you'll keep your eye on Amanda?"

"You know I will, Lee," Billy said as his agent climbed into the back seat of the car and they drove off.

End Part 5
 
 
 
 

Part 6
 

Amanda stood in the cemetery alone, crying as though her heart would break. The fallen leaves from nearby trees covered the brown dirt, which marked his fresh grave. It would be months before the spring came and covered the area with fresh grass. Despite the risks of their jobs, they never talked of death, but Amanda was certain that Lee would have wanted to be buried next to his parents.

The last few days had been agonizing but she had kept her emotions within a tight rein. She had finally decided to leave the safe house since Birol's target was dead. The boys returned to college and Amanda returned to her mother's townhouse. Although she appreciated her family's strength and love over the last week, what she really needed was to be alone. It felt good to let it all out, but somehow being at the cemetery didn't fill the void she had hoped it would. All she felt was an empty ache in her heart.

The following week she took the first step of resuming a normal life by returning to work.  When she arrived in the Q-Bureau for the first time since Lee's death it brought back very painful memories. She sat in Lee's chair at his desk, hoping she would feel some connection to the man who had played such an important part of her life. But despite the fact she could hear her heart beating, she felt nothing but emptiness inside.

There was a brief knock at the door, but before she could answer, Billy walked in. "Amanda, I'm glad you're back," he greeted with a tentative smile.

"Thank you, sir," she answered, but there clearly was no cheer in her voice or smile on her face.

"How have you been?" he questioned as he closed the door behind him and walked across the room.

Amanda shrugged. She was doing lousy, awful, terrible, but she knew that wasn't what her supervisor wanted to hear. "I'm taking it a day at a time," she finally forced out.

Billy grabbed a chair and sat down near her. He reached out and touched her hand. "You've got to believe that it will get a little easier everyday," he promised.

"Sir, please don't…" Amanda replied tersely, holding up her hand. "I know you mean well, but what do I have left? My husband is dead, my home is nothing but rubble and my two children are at college on the brink of starting their own lives. I'm living with my newlywed mother and seem to do nothing but get in the way."

"Amanda, you have to trust me that things will get better. Right now everything looks bleak, but it will improve. As for housing, the Agency will help you find an apartment until your house is rebuilt," Billy suggested.

Amanda was not easily consolable. After all she'd been through, the house on Maplewood Drive would never be home to her again. It was no longer a cherished memory, but a symbol of tremendous loss and pain. "Was there something you wanted, sir?" she asked in a subdued voice, hoping to change the subject.

"I need two things from you. First, I need an update on your open and pending cases. Secondly, communications is in dire need of some help. I was hoping you could pitch in there for a while," he recommended.

"What about the open cases?" she asked with confusion.

"I'll reassign them according to priority," he answered then clarified his decision. "Amanda, you and Lee did a great job in here, but right now, you need to be somewhere to keep your mind off him."

Amanda nodded. "I understand."

"Communications is pretty fast paced. I don't need to tell you how vital that department is to a field agent," Billy reassured his agent.

"I'll do my best, sir," she said as she looked around the office. "It'll probably take me a day or so to update everything…"

"That's fine, Amanda," he answered knowingly. "When you have it all updated, just bring it down to my office. In the meantime, if there's anything you need…"

"Thank you, sir," Amanda interrupted as she turned away. She couldn't let her emotions overwhelm her.

"I'll let you get started on it then," Billy replied as he stood up and walked over to the door. He hesitated for only a few seconds before closing the door.

Amanda could tell there was more that he wanted to say. She had wished he would turn to her and tell her it had all been a terrible mistake, that her husband was alive and burned so badly that Lee had wanted to spare her the agony of living with a horribly disfigured man. But Amanda knew it was just her guilty conscience talking to her. 'If only I hadn't insisted on going to the house that day…' She wiped a tear from her eye and got to work…

*** *** ****

Amanda settled into the communications department quickly. The first few days she spent there were nerve wracking, but as time passed she managed to get the hang of things. Billy had been right, she was usually too busy to feel sorry for herself. The staff welcomed her into their small enclave, helping her in the difficult transition of moving on with her life.

As the end of October neared, a cold Arctic wind settled in on the DC area. It sent shivers down Amanda's spine. She realized that November was only days away and Thanksgiving would be right around the corner. Knowing the boys would be home for a few days, Amanda decided she needed to find a place of her own. In all her life she'd never truly lived alone before. She and Joe had married after college, then came the boys and when Joe left for Africa, Dotty had moved into the house. Finally were the few short years she spent with Lee. They were certainly not nearly enough.

"Sir," Amanda asked softly as she knocked on his office door. "Do you have a moment?"

"Of course, Amanda, come on in," Billy replied without hesitation. "What can I do for you?"

"I've been really busy down in communications; most nights I don't have time to start looking for a new place to live," she began. "You mentioned that the Agency would assist me in finding an apartment."

Billy nodded and opened his desk drawer up. "I hope you don't think I'm too presumptuous, but I had a list made up of apartments and houses available in the area."

"That was very considerate of you, sir," Amanda replied as she took the list from him. "I think for now an apartment will do just fine, as long as there's enough room for the boys on the weekend."

"I'm certain you'll find something on the list that will suit you," Billy answered confidently. "You know, Amanda, my door is always open to you if you need to talk…"

"Thank you, sir," she answered, but she didn't really want to talk. It was still too painful. "I'd better get going."

She saw several apartments before she chose one that was near the office, but still in the Arlington area. She wanted a place that would be big enough for the boys to stay with her for the long weekend, yet close enough to their old friends.

A few days later she was taking an afternoon break when she ran into Francine in the corridor.

"Amanda," Francine called out in the hallway. "So how's it going in communications?"

"Not too bad. Keeps me busy," Amanda advised with a shrug.

"Billy tells me that you're moving into a new place," Francine remarked.

"Actually, I moved in first of the month. You know the Agency, fully furnished. Just had to bring my toothbrush," Amanda replied.

Francine nodded, but could see the pain written on Amanda's face. She was ashamed to admit, but she'd been avoiding Amanda. She didn't know what to say to her. She missed Lee as well, but couldn't imagine the burden Amanda had to endure. When Billy mentioned that Amanda was moving into her own place she decided it was time to step up and really 'be a friend'.

"So when's the house warming?" Francine asked forcing herself to sound upbeat. "I've got an excellent bottle of Dom Perignon that I've been looking for an excuse to open."

"Actually, it's just an apartment," Amanda reminded her.

"That doesn't matter to me," Francine persisted.

"I don't think they have apartment warmings," Amanda remarked with a shrug.

"Are you doing anything special tonight?" Francine persevered.

"I do appreciate the offer, Francine, but you really don't have to…"

"Amanda, I know I don't have to, but I miss him, too. So how about you cook us a nice dinner so we don't get too drunk and we talk about better days?" Francine suggested in a kind voice. "We can laugh, we can cry…"

"You're serious?" Amanda replied, astonished.

"Jonathan's out of town and we both know how well I cook," Francine reminded her friend. "You can consider it a mercy meal."

"Dom Perignon, huh?" Amanda replied, surprised but pleased by Francine's offer of friendship. "I really would welcome the company. I'll stop at the market on the way home and pick up some steaks."

"Sounds good," Francine concurred, happy to see Amanda almost smiling. "I'll see you around seven?"

Amanda nodded and jotted down her address. "Here's my new address. I don't have phone service yet. There was a problem with the line. So if you can't make it, let me know before I leave, OK?"

"Don't worry, Amanda, I'll be there," Francine reiterated.

"I'll see you later," Amanda replied, almost smiling. Then before Francine walked away she called out to her. "Francine, thanks!"

Francine waved and headed down the hall toward the elevators.

*** *** ***

Amanda actually looked forward to going home for a change. Although she and Francine had never become close, they had at times, socialized off duty. She stopped by the grocery store and bought a couple of steaks and all the trimmings.

She drove the short distance to her new apartment and walked up the flight of stairs to her door. With her packages in hand she had to fumble with her key before she finally got the door to open. She walked in, kicking the door closed behind her and walked across the dining room placing the bags of food on the kitchen counter. Then she turned on the radio for company as the silence of living alone sometimes overwhelmed her.

She went into her closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater. Then she headed back into her kitchen and began the process of preparing dinner. She seasoned the steaks and then put two potatoes into the oven to bake. She cleaned some vegetables and put them on the stove to steam and started making a salad. Amanda grabbed some plates out of the cupboard and set the table.

She looked through all the cabinets for wineglasses and laughed. "I'll have to tell Billy the Agency's slipping! Not a wine glass in the house," she commented out loud before settling for two regular glasses. "I'm sure Francine will survive."

Satisfied that the dining room was presentable she decided to clean up the kitchen before Francine arrived so she wouldn't have to clean it later. Her sink didn't face a window like the one in her old house. This one faced into the corner, her back towards the door. It was one of the things she liked about this kitchen. The memory from years past of Lee peeking into her kitchen window was more than she could endure.

She scrubbed the carving board and then rinsed it clean with the spray nozzle hose. Behind her she heard what appeared to be a creaking of the front door. A quick glance at her watch showed it was ten minutes to seven.

'Francine really should learn to knock', she thought to herself, then shook her head and admonished herself. 'Give her a break, Amanda, after all, she's being nice enough to come over to dinner.'

Amanda put the cutting board into the dish rack. "You're a couple of minutes early," she commented as she turned around, but it wasn't Francine facing her…

*** *** *** ***

Francine was getting ready to leave to meet Amanda for dinner. She walked back to her desk in the bullpen, but couldn't help overhear an irate Billy yelling to someone on the phone in his office. Francine winced, although she couldn't make out what he was saying she was glad she wasn't on the other end of Billy's wrath. She tried to leave the office without him noticing her, but he came out of his office unexpectedly.

"All right, people, listen up!" Billy roared harshly.

A hush came over the bullpen. All the agents remained motionless waiting for their section chief's announcement.

"We have a major flap," Billy announced in alarm, his face still red from his recent shouting match over the phone. "Addi Birol was being transferred to another federal penitentiary this morning. However, as of 1600 hours they hadn't arrived. About an hour ago they found the van he was being transferred in, but there's no driver and no Birol. He's escaped!"

You could have heard a pin drop after that announcement. Every agent in the room was well aware of the problems Birol had caused before he was incarcerated and the rumors that he was in fact responsible for ordering Scarecrow's death. The silence continued for a few seconds as the full gravity of the situation sunk in. Francine could tell by the looks of the other agent's faces that they understood what this meant.

"Until Birol is caught, all leaves have been canceled. I want each and every one of you to take every precaution out there. To say Birol is dangerous would be the understatement of the year. He's ruthless," Billy replied is disgust. "If anyone hears anything - the slightest rumor - I want to know about it. I don't care what it is or who it came from."

"Where did they find the van?" one of the agents ventured.

"Frederick, Maryland," Billy explained somberly. "The engine was cold. Nobody saw anything. He could be anywhere within a hundred-mile radius.

"You don't think he's heading this way?" another agent surmised.

Billy shook his head. "He could be heading to DC or Baltimore. Both cities have major airports."

"You really think Birol's will try to leave the country?" Francine questioned.

Billy shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that he's loose, and until he's found, every one of you needs to take extra precautions out in the field. I'll alert all teams at the airport to be on the lookout…"

"Umm, Billy," Francine started to speak up, then hesitated.

"What is it, Francine?" Billy urged.

"What about Amanda?" she replied. "You don't think he'd go after…"

Billy rubbed his hand across his face then answered calmly. "Has she left for the day yet?"

Francine glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just after six. Amanda was probably cooking dinner in her new apartment at the moment. "Her shift ended at three," Francine replied as she walked over to the phone and called down to communications. She spoke quickly to someone in communications and then hung up. "She left here after four."

"I'll give her a call and let her know what's going on…" Billy replied gloomily.

Francine was shaking her head. "She doesn't have phone service yet," Francine reminded him. "She just moved into her new place the other day."

Billy gritted his teeth. "Damn! Do we even have the new address?" he snapped.

"I do. I'll tell her," Francine suggested. "I was going to stop by her apartment tonight anyway."

Billy nodded his approval. "Give me her address before you go and make sure Amanda gets us her new number ASAP. People, Addi Birol is not to be taken lightly. He's dangerous and depending upon who's out there helping him, we could have a major problem brewing."

End Part 6
 
 
 
 

Part 7
 

Francine left the Agency shortly after giving Amanda's new address to Billy. She stopped by her apartment and picked up the bottle of champagne. 'Lee would definitely approve,' she muttered as she got back into her car. She pulled out Amanda's new address from her purse and steered her car towards Arlington.

Francine finally spotted the apartment complex and headed into the parking lot. She drove around until she located building number five and found an empty space. As she got out of the car she surveyed the area. It was a rather large complex with at least a dozen or more buildings.

She made her way to the stairwell of the two-story building and was about to take the first step when she was certain she heard a gunshot. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she pulled her gun out of her purse and raced up the stairs to Amanda's apartment - number 212. When she reached the second floor the door to that apartment was ajar. She put down everything but her gun outside the door then cautiously pushed it all the way open. She didn't see anyone or anything.

"Amanda?" she called out nervously noticing the dining room table was neatly set, but there was still no one in sight.

She thought she heard a muffled call. "Help me…"

With her gun drawn, Francine stepped inside cautiously, not sure if this was a trap. Her mind was racing. Was Addi Birol inside? Was the voice she heard Amanda's? "Amanda?" she called again.

Francine heard a noise. It was coming from behind the kitchen counter. She bent down and scurried across the dining room leaning against the counter for protection. She took a deep breath before peering around the end of the counter into the kitchen with her gun drawn. She gasped at what she saw; Addi Birol sprawled on top of Amanda on the floor in the kitchen, a pool of blood growing quickly. She wasn't sure who was shot or if either of them were alive.

"Amanda? Are you all right?" she questioned as she stared at the sight.

Both bodies moved.

"Help me," the voice whispered weakly.

This time Francine was sure it was Amanda's voice that cried out. She bent down putting her revolver at the back of Birol's head. She used her free hand to check his carotid pulse. It was extremely faint. She put her gun away, certain that Birol in his current condition wasn't a threat to her and rolled him off Amanda's body, which exposed a gun that now rested on Amanda's abdomen.

With the weight of Birol off of her, Amanda gasped for breath, thankfully filling her lungs with air. "Is… is," Amanda panted as she tried to control her breathing, "is he dead?"

Francine ignored her question for the moment. She was more concerned about Amanda, who was covered in blood. "Are you hurt?"

Amanda shook her head as the color slowly returned to her face. "No."

"Are you sure?" Francine pressed.

Amanda nodded as she pulled herself towards the kitchen cabinets to support her exhausted body, causing the revolver on her chest to clank to the floor. She stared at Birol's bloody body. "Is he…dead?"

"Not yet," Francine advised. "He's got a faint pulse."

Amanda's head hung down, almost in disappointment.

"I'll be right back. I've got to get my purse… My cell phone's in there."

Amanda nodded wearily, her head turned away from the sight in front of her.

Francine returned moments later, dialed the Agency while keeping an eye on Amanda. She looked terrible.

"Billy," Francine said quickly as her supervisor answered his phone. "I'm over at Amanda's new apartment, but you better get a team over here pronto!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Billy asked in alarm.

"Birol's here," she answered softly as she moved into the living room of Amanda's apartment and out of Amanda's earshot. "I'm not sure what happened, but Birol's been shot."

"Is Amanda all right?" Billy asked anxiously.

Francine continued to whisper. "Physically, I think she's fine…but I'm not sure how much more she can take…"

Billy let out a long deep breath. "Is Birol alive?"

Francine walked back towards the kitchen and surveyed Addi Birol who lay motionless on the floor of the kitchen. Blood continued to seep from his chest wound but he didn't seem to be breathing. "He was when I got here, but hopefully he'll be leaving in a body bag."

"Did you call for an ambulance?" he questioned.

"NO!" Francine huffed, slightly annoyed. She'd rather watch the bastard die. "Once I determined Amanda was all right, I called you first. Amanda doesn't need the local PD crawling all over the place."

"OK, I'll get an ambulance rolling and I'll be on the way." Billy explained before hanging up the phone.

*** *** *** *** ***

"How is she, Doc?" Billy asked when the doctor came out of the examination room.

Dr. MacJohn shrugged. "Physically she's managing. Her blood pressure's elevated, but considering what she's been through that's not surprising. Emotionally… that's a different story. She desperately needs some time off - and not just out of the field, Melrose," Dr. MacJohn emphasized, giving him a stern glare. "Amanda's got a lot of emotional baggage with all she's been through. She's going to need some counseling to help work through everything. But most of all she needs some R & R."

Billy nodded. "What about a debriefing?"

"If she feels up to it," Dr. MacJohn answered with a raised eyebrow. "But I'd like her to bunk down here tonight when you're done. Just to be on the safe side."

"Sounds like a good idea, thanks, Doc." Billy replied as he walked over to the examining room door and knocked on it.

"Come in," Amanda called out wearily.

"How are you feeling, Amanda?" Billy inquired with genuine concern for his agent.

"I'm… OK," she answered with a tired smile.

"Do you feel up to answering a few questions?" he asked softly. "If you don't, it can wait until tomorrow."

Amanda closed her eyes for a minute and then sighed. "Yeah, I'd rather get it over with."

Billy switched on a hand held tape recorder. "Wednesday, November 3, 1993, Amanda Stetson debriefing, 2130 hours." Billy recited into the small machine. Then he looked over at his agent. She looked so fragile. She had endured a lot in the last few weeks. He put a comforting hand on hers. "Are you sure you're up to this?"
 

Amanda took a deep breath and started. "I was cooking dinner and had just finished rinsing the cutting board when I heard the door creak open. At first I thought it was Francine who was coming over for dinner. My back was to the door, so I turned to greet her, but instead of Francine I was staring down a 357 Magnum being held by Addi Birol."

"So what did you do then?" Billy probed.

There were a few seconds of silence before she continued. "I just stood there for a couple of moments. I felt like I was in a bad dream that I just couldn't wake up from. " She stopped abruptly.

Billy asked in concern. "Amanda, are you all right. Would you like a glass of water?"

"Yes," she croaked out with a nod.

Billy crossed the room, filled a glass with water and then handed it to her. Billy watched as she took a few sips as well as a long, deep breath, then put the glass down.

"Better now?" he asked sympathetically.

"Yes, thank you," she replied, then without further hesitation she continued. "Birol was the first to speak. I remember his repulsive voice calling out my name - 'Hello, A-man-da!' " She shook her head in disgust. "There wasn't a lot I could do. He was only a few feet away from me. He had the gun aimed at my chest and all I had was the spray nozzle from the kitchen sink in my hand."

"So what happened next?" Billy inquired.

"I'd just finished spraying the cutting board clean. I knew reasoning with Birol wasn't an option. So I sprayed him in the face with hot water."

Billy couldn't conceal his smile. Leave it to Amanda to unconventionally find a way to save herself.

"It must have been really hot still because he screamed and pulled his hand to his face to protect himself. That's when I tried to push past him."

"But you didn't get by him," Billy guessed.

"No," she stated firmly. "With the water on the floor now, Birol slipped. As he stumbled, he grabbed me and we both fell. He landed on top of me. His hand was still on the gun. We both wrestled for it. I guess his finger was on the trigger; my main concern was to turn the muzzle away from my chest."

She stopped and took another sip of the water. She looked up at Billy and continued slowly. "It seemed like I was on the floor with him for an eternity," she explained as she recounted the incident, "but it probably was only a few seconds. The gun went off once. He must have pulled the trigger. Like I said, I was concentrating on pushing the muzzle away from me."

"Then what happened?" he asked, intrigued.

"All his weight came crashing down on me. I could barely breathe. I couldn't move; I was too exhausted from the struggle. I could feel his warm blood gushing out of him onto me," she recalled, her face was suddenly void of emotion as if the memory was just too painful to endure. "I couldn't tell if he was still breathing. At that moment I was just glad I was still breathing."

"Then what?"

"I heard Francine's voice. I tried to call out to her, but I don't think she heard me. When I yelled again, almost nothing came out. The next thing I knew she pushed his body off of me."

"Was there anyone with Birol?" Billy asked, wondering if he had an accomplice.

"No, he came into my apartment alone," she clarified.

"That's all I need, Amanda," Billy reassured as he turned off the tape recorder and patted Amanda's shoulder. "Dr. MacJohn wants you to spend the night here. I think it's a good idea. It'll be a few hours before the lab boys are done in your apartment anyway."

"Yes, sir," Amanda replied wearily.

"Is there anything I can get you?" he asked. "Would you like me to call your mother?"

"No, sir, I'd rather not have to explain what happened to her. I'm really tired. I'd just like to get some sleep," she answered wearily.

Billy nodded. He could tell from the debriefing that this was not something she'd want to replay over and over again in her mind. "I'll see you in the morning then," Billy advised then knowing a certain secret he added. "It's over, Amanda."

Amanda smiled slightly as her eyes began to drift close.

Billy wanted to say more, but decided against it. He quickly left the room. He had a report to file and a phone call to make.

*** *** *** *** ***

Billy was on hold, waiting for the international operator to put him through to the correct phone number. He'd been trying for almost an hour to reach Lee in Honduras where he'd been working undercover, and under an assumed name for the DEA.

"Hola," a man finally answered.

"Quiero hablo, Senor Worceracs, por favor?" Billy asked when a man finally picked up the phone.

"Billy," the voice whispered back. "Is that you?"

"It's code green in DC, Scarecrow," Billy confirmed when he finally reached Lee. "The blight has been eliminated."

"That's great news, Billy!" Lee rejoiced.

"Tickets will be waiting for you tomorrow morning at the airport. We'll rendezvous as previously planned." Billy reminded his agent, not certain if the line they were talking on was clean. "Details when you arrive."

"I'll see you then," Lee cheered happily and then hung up the phone.

End Part 7
 
 
 

Part 8
 
 

"How was your trip?" Billy asked when Lee got settled into the car.

"It's been the longest three weeks of my life!" Lee complained with exhaustion as he pulled his seat belt on. "How's Amanda?"

"She's… OK," Billy replied in a hesitant tone as they started the hour-long drive back towards Arlington from Baltimore at the end of evening rush hour. "But it's been a long three weeks for her, too."

"Just what does that mean?" Lee inquired nervously, noticing Billy's tone.

"Remember, Lee, your wife thinks you're dead," Billy reminded him, still not sure how to tell him the details of Birol's death.

Lee nodded his understanding. "Not that it really matters to me, but what actually happened to Birol, anyway?" he probed inquisitively.

Billy didn't immediately answer. Then he finally began the convoluted explanation. "I requested Birol be transferred to another federal prison as we discussed, hoping that moving him might break down his ability to communicate with the Karbala network," Billy started. "We still haven't pieced together all the details yet, but somehow during the transfer he got out of his shackles and overpowered the driver."

"What? How's the driver?" Lee questioned uneasily.

"They didn't find him until this morning, bullet to the head. He died instantly," Billy answered flatly, not even looking over at Lee.

"Damn him! I hope Birol rots in hell. At least the bastard finally got what he deserved. Thank God this nightmare is over," Lee sighed heavily. "When did you finally get him?"

Billy shook his head as he recounted what they knew about the incident. "We didn't even find out that Birol had escaped until late yesterday afternoon. They found the prison van near Frederick, Maryland. The engine was cold, no witnesses, no evidence." Billy started to explain.

"Sounds like quite a day." Lee commented. "So who gets credit for taking him out? Agency? US Marshall Service? FBI?"

Billy swallowed hard. "The Agency took him out, Lee, but it wasn't the way we would have liked it to have gone down."

"Well, I'm not complaining. Birol's finally out of my life and that's all that really matters," Lee answered then added. "As long as nobody else was killed?"

"Other than the prison van driver, nobody else was killed, but, Lee," Billy stopped his explanation. His hands tensed on the steering wheel. "Lee, Amanda shot Birol last night in her new apartment."

"Oh… my… God!" Lee cried out in anguish, his hands covering his face. Then he stared at Billy hoping what he heard him say wasn't true. "I thought if I left she'd be safer…"

"Scarecrow, hindsight is always 20/20. You made that decision to protect your family…"

"That decision almost got her killed…" he mumbled in a bitter voice.

"Lee…" Billy started to say something then shook his head. "She's OK, that's the main thing."

Lee was silent for the remainder of the trip to Arlington. There were more questions, but he wasn't sure he was ready for the answers. He now knew that his decision to leave the country until the Karbala/Birol predicament had been settled was a poor choice.

*** *** *** *** ***

Lee followed Billy up the steps to his wife's new apartment. The place seemed nice enough, but he never thought of Amanda as one to live in an apartment. The house on Maplewood Avenue always suited her so well. The flower gardens and the white picket fence was where his wife belonged. Not on the second floor to some apartment, with a five by ten patio that was barely large enough for a flower pot.

"Lee," Billy advised cautiously. "She's been through a lot these last few weeks, so stay back a little. I don't need her fainting when she opens the door and sees you."

"Yeah," Lee grumbled his consent and watched as Billy knocked on the door to apartment 212.

Billy knocked again, this time a little louder, but she didn't come to the door.

"Maybe she's over at her mother's?" Lee suggested uneasily.

"I didn't think she'd go over there," Billy replied with a shrug, remembering that Amanda hadn't wanted to discuss the latest incident with her.

A neighbor came up the stairs just as they were turning to go back down.

"You're with the police, aren't you?" the elderly lady asked.

Billy nodded, remembering the woman from the previous night. "Yes."

"I moved here a few months ago. I figured these new places would be safe," she started ranting. "If I could afford to move, I'd be right behind that young woman…"

"She moved?" Lee questioned anxiously.

"Yup! Poor thing just moved in a few days ago, but she packed up her bags this afternoon and left. Like I said, I can't say I blame her," the old woman confided then walked down the hall and let herself into her own apartment.

"Maybe she moved back in with her mother?" Lee ventured apprehensively.

"Let's head to the Agency and make a few phone calls. We'll find out where she is," Billy suggested as they walked back down the stairs to his car.

When they arrived back at the Agency, they took the back way up to the Q Bureau, hoping to avoid any prying eyes.

"Scarecrow, stay in the Q Bureau until I find out where Amanda is. I don't want to find out she's here and you two run into each other in the hallway," Billy directed as he unlocked the Q Bureau door and handed the key back to Lee.

"That would be a great ending to his nightmare!" Lee concurred and walked into his old office.

Billy went downstairs. As he walked through the bullpen he ran into Francine as she was heading towards the elevator.

"Where have you been all afternoon?" Francine asked curiously.

"I had to go to the airport to pick up an old friend," Billy answered.

"Amanda was looking for you earlier today. She left a note for you on your desk. She asked me to make sure you got it," Francine informed him.

"How did she look?" he asked.

Francine shook her head. "She's still pretty shaken."

"Francine, did you ever find that file?" another agent called from the bullpen door.

"I was on my way to get it now," Francine called back. "I've gotta go, Billy. See you later."

Billy walked into his office and noticed an envelope on his desk. The handwriting was familiar. He sat down and read the letter.
 

'Dear Billy,

I wanted to talk to you this afternoon, but wasn't able to find you. I went back to my apartment this morning, but I just can't bear to stay there. The memory is just too horrid. I've packed what little I have and moved out.

Since the Agency has made it mandatory that I take some time off, I've decided to get away. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I need a change of scenery. I should be back before the Thanksgiving holidays. I'll be in touch then.

Thank you for all you've done for me these last few weeks.

Warm regards,

Amanda Stetson'

Billy folded the note and placed it in his pocket. "This is going to be a long day," he mumbled before he picked up the phone.

*** *** ***

Francine put her key into the Q Bureau door, but was surprised to find the door unlocked. She opened the door and walked in, but stopped suddenly when she saw who was in there.

"Scarecrow?" she whispered in disbelief.

"Francine," Lee replied with a genuine smile. "It's good to see you again."

Francine walked across the room, quickly forgetting the file she was coming to retrieve. "Lee Stetson? Is that really you?"

"In the flesh!" Lee reported as he hugged his co-worker.

Francine backed away, shaking her head. "I don't believe this!" she snapped angrily. "I suppose I'm the only one who didn't know that you weren't really dead? Amanda's a damned good actress! I actually believed the grieving widow routine!"

"Francine, it wasn't an act. Amanda didn't know," Lee corrected hastily, then added. "She still doesn't. Nobody knows…"

Lee felt a sharp, stinging slap across his face. He stepped back and reached up to feel the burning sensation that Francine's hand had left on his cheek.

"You son of a bitch!" she shouted with fury. "Do you have any idea what you put her through these last few weeks?"

"Francine, calm down," Lee demanded. "I did what I thought was best to protect her and the family."

"Protect her?" she snapped in a rage. "You almost killed her! She's lucky Birol's the one on the slab in the morgue…"

"Francine!" Billy bellowed loudly as he stood at the entrance to the office.

Francine stopped her tirade and turned towards her supervisor.

"I don't believe this is any of your business. Now if you came up here for something I suggest you get it promptly," Billy stated firmly. "And when you leave this office, I expect that you keep 'who' you saw tonight in the strictest of confidence."

"Billy, it's just that Amanda…" Francine began to protest.

"We're all concerned about Amanda," Billy interrupted in a brusque voice. "I certainly don't want her to find out through the grapevine that her husband's alive and well. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," she answered flatly as she walked into the vault, hastily searching for the file she needed and stormed out without a second glance at Lee.

Billy closed the door as she left.

"Thanks," Lee said softly.

"She wrong," Billy began.

"No she's not," Lee replied in disgust as he sunk down into his chair behind his desk. "So, did you find Amanda?"

"She left me this note," he answered as he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Lee.

Lee scanned the letter quickly and looked up at his boss, anguish was written all over his face. "This nightmare really doesn't want to end…" he moaned.

"I made a few quick phone calls downstairs. Neither the boys nor Dotty have heard from Amanda," Billy advised.

"Damn!" Lee snapped as he ran his hand nervously through his hair.

"Scarecrow, you need to calm down!" Billy ordered.

"Calm down?" he snapped. "My wife thinks I'm dead; the man who ordered me dead and blew up our home comes to her apartment last night and tries to kill her and luckily - she shoots him instead! Then, just when I think we can put the past behind us and come home, my wife takes off and doesn't tell anyone where she's going! I will NOT calm down."

"It's not as if she's gone into hiding, for God's sake. Think like an agent, Scarecrow. We can pull up her credit cards and find out where she went," Billy reminded him.

"You're right," Lee apologized. "I'm just really tired…"

"It's getting late. Let's get you out of here before anyone else sees you," Billy suggested.

Lee nodded mutely as they stealthily left the office.

End Part 8
 
 
 
 

Part 9
 
 

"Almost there," Billy commented in relief, nodding towards the sign for Pine Top Mountain Resort. "Rather quiet up here this time of year."

"I'm glad you talked me into waiting until this morning, but to be honest, I didn't think we'd ever get here," Lee admitted in anticipation. "I can't wait to see her."

Billy finally drove the car into the parking lot and they both started to get out. "Lee, wait in the car," he warned.

"Billy!" Lee protested.

"Scarecrow, do I need to remind you that your wife thinks you're dead?" Billy argued back. "If you show up at her door, unannounced, she might think you're an impostor."

"Yeah, you're right," Lee mumbled in frustration as he reluctantly pulled the car door closed.

Billy went into the lodge and spoke with the front desk clerk.  "Hello, I'm looking for Amanda Stetson," he said politely. "I believe she checked in last night."

"Yes, we do have her registered for the weekend." The clerk confirmed.

"What room is she staying in?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the clerk replied, "but I'm not permitted to give out that information. I could ring her room for you if you'd like."

Billy thought about pulling out his badge and making an official Agency request, but decided not to. Amanda needed the time away and didn't need the hotel staff to wonder what the Agency was questioning her about. He finally answered. "Would you, please?"

The clerk rang Amanda's room. "I'm sorry, sir, but she's not answering the phone. Perhaps she's having breakfast? You may want to check the dining room." The clerk answered as he pointed across the lobby.

"Thank you," Billy replied politely as he ventured towards the dining room, carefully peering into the room without being seen. There were few guests dining at the moment and it only took him a few seconds to notice Amanda sitting alone and staring out the window at the view of the mountain. He retreated quickly, and surveyed the layout of the lobby before he walked back outside to advise Lee of his findings.

"She's inside finishing breakfast," Billy explained to his agent. "Come on inside, there's some chairs in the back of the lobby. You can sit there and read a magazine until I get her back to her room and let her know what's really been going on."

Lee sprang out of the car without any hesitation. Billy could hardly keep up with his brisk pace. When they entered the lobby, Billy nodded towards the sitting area and waited while Lee grabbed a newspaper, then Billy continued into the dining room to meet Amanda.

"Amanda," he called out softly as he reached her table.

She turned quickly towards the familiar voice. "Billy, what are you doing here?"

"I, um, needed to talk to you… privately," he whispered.

Amanda looked around the nearly empty room and shrugged. "This is rather private."

"Could we go back to your room?" he suggested anxiously.

She nodded without any additional question or comment and put her napkin down on the table. Billy took out his wallet and left ten dollars on the table before escorting Amanda out of the dining room.

*** *** *** *** ***

They walked up two flights of stairs to the third floor and down the hall. Amanda used her key and entered room 351. Billy left the door ajar, but he was certain Lee was only a few steps behind them.

Amanda began to tidy the unmade bed. "I wasn't expecting any company and the maid hasn't been by yet," she explained, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, Amanda," Billy replied.

"Is there a problem, sir? It's something about Birol, isn't it?" she asked apprehensively.

"There really isn't a problem," Billy confided as he sat down in one of the two chairs in the room, hoping to put his agent at ease. "Actually, I have some good news for you."

"Good news?" Amanda repeated in a dubious voice as she sat down on the hastily made bed. "That would be nice for a change."

"It's about the explosion at your house," he began nervously, not sure how to proceed with this delicate explanation.

Amanda winced at the painful memory. "Sir, if you're telling me the house will be done soon…"

"No, Amanda, it's not that," he interjected. "I know this is a stressful subject for you, but please hear me out."

Amanda shrugged and remained silent, waiting to hear what her supervisor had driven all the way out to the mountains to talk to her about.

"When Lee went into the house that day, there were a few seconds before it exploded," he advised.

She nodded, but from the look on her face, Billy could tell she still wasn't following what he was about to tell her.

"Lee saw the trip wire that afternoon. There was a ten second delay before the house exploded. He made it to the back door before the house blew…"

"What are you trying to tell me?" Amanda interrupted anxiously.

"Lee's alive," Billy blurted out, glad to have the truth out in the open at last.

"Lee's alive?" she repeated in stunned disbelief.

Billy smiled brightly and the door to the room opened as Lee overheard his cue.

Amanda had her back to the door; she was staring intently at Billy who sat by the window. She was totally speechless, with her mouth gaping wide open. Finally finding her voice she uttered in doubt. "Oh my gosh! He was burned beyond recognition, wasn't he?"

"Amanda," Lee interjected from behind her.

Amanda's head turned around instantly and saw Lee standing in the room barely ten feet away from her. She stared at him and waves of relief flooded her senses. For a few seconds she wasn't sure she could believe her eyes. Finally she uttered, "Oh my gosh! You really are alive…"

"You bet I am," Lee nodded as he closed the door behind him.

She stared at Lee totally bewildered. A dozen questions raced through her mind. Then she turned and frowned at Billy. "I… I don't understand," she gulped, swallowing hard, almost crying. She turned and faced Lee again. "You're not burned, or hurt, or anything… Why? Why would you lie to me?"

"Amanda, we thought…" Billy began to explain.

"You knew about this all these weeks?" Amanda spewed out accusingly as her joy dissipated and abruptly turned to anger, "and you agreed to this, this… ruse?"

Billy opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. He had feared this reaction from the first time Lee suggested his plan.

"Amanda," Lee called out in despair. "I thought it would be better this way…"

"Better?" she yelled, clearly hurt and angry. She snapped back at him. "Better for who? You couldn't tell your wife? I'm your partner for God's sake. I think I had a need… no, I had the right to know. "

"Things didn't turn out as I thought they would. When Billy told me what happened… I was…" Lee mumbled but finally stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Amanda, we didn't know what Birol's next move might be," Billy stated firmly, trying to elaborate on Lee's explanation and hoping to diffuse the difficult situation. "We thought it was the best way to protect you and your family…"

"You thought wrong," Amanda snapped in a rage, then continued on, lowering her voice, but not her anger. "I thought you were dead. I buried what I thought were your remains and cried at what I thought was your grave. I've been dying a little everyday, mourning you…"

"Amanda, I'm sorry," Lee whispered hoarsely. "I never expected Birol to go after you once I was gone. "

"You of all people shouldn't have underestimated Birol," she reminded him in a sharp voice.

"Amanda, please… I know you're angry…" Lee begged.

"Angry is only half of what I'm feeling right now. You left me alone when I was the most vulnerable. You made me the perfect target for Birol. You walked out of my life to protect me, but you can't do that," she warned in a tone Lee hadn't heard before. "We were supposed to be partners at home and at work. Partners make decisions - together. They work together when times are tough. Did you forget your vows to me… for better or worse? Partners don't walk away…"

"I just wanted…" Lee began again.

"Stop, not another word! Get out!" she shouted again. "Both of you! Just leave me alone!"

"Amanda," Billy tried to intercede.

She looked at them both with such hurt and devastation in her eyes. "Please," she pleaded in a shaky voice. "Just go…"

"Lee," Billy relented immediately as he stood up and nodded for him to exit. "I am sorry for any hurt I've caused you, Amanda."

She turned and looked out the window at the mountain. She didn't say another word to either of them.

*** *** *** *** ***

Billy and Lee walked back towards the car. Lee leaned against it, obviously upset by the outcome of his supposed reunion with his wife. Deep down, he knew he'd let her down. Billy had tried to warn him of her reaction before he left the country, but he'd blatantly ignored his advice.

"Lee, give her some time to cool off," Billy suggested to his agent. "When Amanda calms down, you two will work this thing out."

Lee stared blankly at the dark clouds gathering in the sky above. He pounded his fist into the window. "Damn it, Billy, I should have listened to you in the first place."

Billy sighed heavily. He looked over at the passenger door, waiting for Lee to get in, but instead Lee began to pace by the car. "Stop second guessing yourself. You don't know how this thing would have played out if you hadn't faked your own death. It could have ended much worse. Thankfully, we'll never know."

Lee looked over his shoulder at the lodge, knowing that was not the way his wife was seeing things at the moment. "Tell that to Amanda!"

"In a couple of days she'll see things more clearly. She's had a lot to deal with the last 48 hours. She's been on an emotional roller coaster," Billy reminded his agent as he walked around the car to the passenger side.

"Yeah, and all of it caused by me!" Lee yelled loudly.

"Scarecrow," Billy snapped at his agent. "You didn't start this mess, Birol did! Don't lose sight of the facts. It was his blood thirst for revenge that's caused this. Now that Birol's dead, don't let him win. Give things time to settle down. She'll come around."

"What if I've lost her?" Lee worried.

Billy put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "Lee, take some sage advise from an old, married man. She still loves you. She needs some time to work through everything that's happened these last couple of months. It's not just your alleged death, but the shooting, the explosion in the kitchen, the house blowing up before her eyes and having to fight Birol for her life. Give her time to work things out - alone…"

Lee shook his head. "NO, she needs me now. I should have been here for her from the beginning, but I haven't been," Lee corrected, then his demeanor changed. He calmly looked over at his supervisor. "Billy, go back to DC. I'm staying here with my wife. It's where I belong."

"Lee, I think you're making a mistake," Billy warned.

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I've been making a lot of them lately, but it's my mistake to make."

"You're sure?" Billy questioned skeptically.

Lee nodded. "Yeah, when she calms down I'll try talking to her again. I'm not leaving her - not this time. I made that mistake once and I won't repeat it."

Billy patted Lee on the back. "If you need anything, call me."

"I'll see you in a few days," Lee replied as he walked back towards the lodge.

End Part 9
 
 
 

Part 10
 
 

Lee watched and waited knowing that sooner or later Amanda would leave her room. Sure enough, after waiting about thirty minutes he watched as his wife walked out of the lobby dressed for a hike. Lee smiled to himself, hoping that the cool refreshing mountain air and the tranquil forest would soothe his wife's frazzled emotions. He gave her a few minutes head start and then began to trek after her.

The billowing clouds hinted at rain and the November wind was gently blowing, but the pine trees blocked its bitter bite. Lee kept a fair distance from his wife, keeping to the side of the trails and hiding up against the larger tree trunks when her pace slowed, but for the most part, she was hiking at a brisk pace. He turned to look behind him on the trail, but because it was too early in the season for skiing, and several weeks past the fall foliage peak, they were alone in the woods.

He glanced at his watch and determined that they'd been hiking for about twenty minutes. He'd never hiked at Pine Top before. Then again, he laughed at himself; he'd never skied there either… His mind drifted back to 1986, when he and Amanda had come up for their first weekend alone. It had rained - heavily - for the entire weekend. The skiing was a wash out, but the weekend itself was far from it. He'd learned so much about her that weekend; he learned a lot about himself as well. They spent time talking, sharing personal things about themselves, their likes and dislikes, things they'd done, things they still wanted to do. It was a very enlightening two days, which gave him memories that he'd cherish forever. He wondered if the memory of Pine Top would turn from one so endearing, to the bitter argument he'd rather forget.

Lee shook his head, trying to focus on the present. He suddenly looked ahead on the trail, but Amanda was no where in sight. He abruptly stepped off the trail into the thicket. He looked back at the trail behind him to see if he had missed a turn, but the path they were on had no turn off. He strained to listen for footsteps, but the wind in the trees rustled just loud enough to make that an impossible task.

"Maybe she picked up the pace a little?" he scolded himself as he leaned against a rather large oak tree. "Where the hell did she go?"

"Maybe I just wanted to be alone!" Amanda snapped crossly from behind him.

Lee's body snapped quickly towards her, hoping that her face wouldn't match her furious voice. Unfortunately, she was irate with him. He swallowed hard, not knowing what to say.

"Didn't I make myself clear enough before?" she continued bitterly as she looked around. "I suppose Billy's still here too."

"No," he replied, slightly embarrassed by being caught by his wife, but more on edge than anything else. "I, um, told Billy to go back to DC."

"And why didn't you go with him?" Amanda protested in exasperation.

"Because as you reminded me earlier… partners don't walk away," he answered sincerely. He took a step closer to her. "I'm not walking away again. I shouldn't have in the first place…"

"Well, I guess it's my turn to walk away then," Amanda uttered in a contemptible tone as she turned and started back down the trail, heading towards the lodge.

"Please don't," Lee pleaded earnestly.

Amanda paused for a moment. Lee closed his eyes in silent prayer. 'Please stop, Amanda. Turn around and talk to me, please.'

"Why shouldn't I walk away?" she called out with her back to him, refusing to face him. "You left me without a second thought. You didn't even know for sure that Birol was behind all this. You just assumed…"

"You're wrong," he called out and swallowed hard. What he was about to tell her would either make her see his point of view or really set her off. "I went to see Birol."

"You what?" she asked as she finally turned to face him. "When?"

"The day after you were hurt in the kitchen explosion. I told you I went for a drive. I drove up to see Birol in prison." Lee cringed slightly, remembering the day vividly. "He didn't even deny being behind any of it. He knew there was no way I could touch him -legally - in prison. But he warned me that he wouldn't stop until one of us was dead…"

There was a long impenetrable silence before Amanda finally replied in a small voice. "So you decided to end the contest."

"Actually," Lee shrugged. "I didn't know what to do until I closed the door at the house that afternoon and saw the bomb's timer. I swear Birol wanted me to know I was going to die. I guess he didn't know how much I wanted to live, how much I love you…"

Amanda took a few steps off the trail and leaned against a tree, clearly shaken by the recent revelation by her husband. Finally she muttered infuriated. "Damn it, Lee, I had a need to know!"

Lee didn't answer at first. He just nodded. Was there still a chance that she'd forgive him? "Amanda, I've made a lot of mistakes in the last few weeks. You have every right to be furious with me. I made an emotional decision and I wasn't thinking clearly of the consequences." Lee shook his head as he remembered the discussion - no, argument - he had at the ball field with Billy the night of the explosion. "I was only trying to protect you and the family."

"I'm angry and hurt that you didn't trust me enough to share your plan with me," she snapped after a few seconds of silence. The wind began to blow fiercely and she pulled her jacket to her tightly to protect herself from the chilling November wind.

"I can't change the past. God knows I wish I could," he stated ruefully. "Just tell me that we can work this out. I really regret not telling you I was alive. It was a stupid idea. Please don't let my bad judgment ruin what we shared. Don't let Birol win."

She didn't answer at first. She glared intensely at him.

Lee turned away from her sharp gaze and looked up at the dark sky. He hadn't noticed that the threatening clouds loomed heavily upon them seemingly reflecting his wife's angry mood. At first it was just the smell of rain permeating the forest. Then the first few drops of rain began to fall with a gentle pitter-patter cascading around them. Within a few seconds, the clouds could no longer hold back their fury and a steady torrent of rain fell.

Lee closed the short distance to where his wife stood. He had wanted so badly to touch her, to hold her in his arms and caress her, but would she pull away? Finally he made an innocent gesture by reaching out for her hand. "Amanda, please…come back to the lodge with me. We're going to get soaked. We need to talk…"

Amanda's hand reached out tentatively for his. Her fingers meshed with his and they held each other with the simplest contact.

He looked at his wife's face, but couldn't be certain if he saw tears or if the raindrops were running down her face. He gently tugged at her arm, hoping she would follow him back towards the lodge. She allowed him to guide her back onto the trail and together; they dashed back towards the lodge.

The rain pelted their faces with thick, cold drops of water. Lee thought to himself. 'How come it always rains when we show up at Pine Top?' but hoped in silence that

this rainstorm might bring them closer as the rainy weekend did so many years ago…

*** ** ***

Lee peeled his soaked clothes off and then dried himself. Finally, with no dry clothes, he wrapped himself in a towel. He cleared his throat nervously as he exited the bathroom, leaving the soggy pile on the floor. "We have a slight problem here," he called out to his wife.

Amanda had changed into a dry set of clothes and was brushing her wet hair as he came out of the bathroom. "Let me guess, you didn't bring a change of clothes?"

"To be perfectly honest, no," he replied with an apprehensive shrug. "I've spent the last three weeks in Central America. What little wardrobe I had was rather unsuitable for late fall in Virginia."

"So that's where you've been, huh?" she inquired with slight curiosity.

Lee noticed with some relief that her attitude was much less hostile than it had been while they argued in the woods. He sat down on the bed and nodded. "Billy loaned me out to the DEA under an assumed name. 'Mr. Worceracs' has been working undercover for the last few weeks," he began to explain.

"Mr. Worceracs? Fascinating name. Sounds like an interesting few weeks," she commented as her ire was subsiding.

"Not as interesting as yours," he replied shamefully as he pounded the pillow on the bed. "I never dreamed Birol would come after you. I really just wanted to protect you and the boys."

"I don't think anyone expected him to," Amanda confided. "After all, he was supposed to be locked up tight in a maximum security prison."

Lee shook his head in disgust. "His escape was partially my fault."

"What?" Amanda inquired, confused.

"I asked Billy to get Birol transferred. I wanted him to do some really hard time - as far away from Virginia as possible. I wanted to disrupt his means of communication with his network. We were trying everything and anything we could to stop him - legally."

"I had no idea…" Amanda mumbled.

"I'm really sorry for all that has happened."

She shuddered slightly, then let out a big sigh and mumbled. "A lot sure has happened."

"I owe you more than just an apology," he started anxiously. "But I don't want to screw it up with a bunch of excuses…"

"It's partially my fault," she conceded in a small voice as she looked down at the floor self-consciously. Then she added if a soft and trembling voice. "We were both exhausted that day. We should have just stayed in, but I insisted on going out that afternoon with every intention of going back to the house…"

Lee could hear the guilt in her voice that she'd been carrying for his alleged death. "Oh, God, Amanda, no… None of this was your fault!" he stated defiantly then added firmly a welcome piece of advice. "We need to focus on who's the cause of all this. Addi Birol is the one to blame. He has been from the start."

"Birol," Amanda uttered with a visible shudder.

Lee walked over to where his wife was standing. He put his arms out to comfort her, hoping she would allow him to console her.

"I've missed you," she whispered softly and honestly as she fell into his arms.

Lee wrapped his arms around his wife tightly. "I've missed you, too," he whispered back as he held her against his chest, feeling her warm breath on his bare skin.

For a few moments the world around them didn't exist. They embraced each other tightly, not wanting to let go and allow the world to penetrate their private moment. As the storm continued outside, inside the two partners took the first steps towards forgiveness and healing.

*** *** *** *** ***

Later that day they arrived back at the lodge after an impromptu shopping expedition to replace Lee's depleted and rather soggy wardrobe.

"I could sleep for a week," Amanda commented as she flopped down on the bed in exhaustion.

Lee put his packages down by the window so they'd be out of the way. "Do you want me to close the curtains so you can take a nap?" he suggested as he looked out at the mountain as the rain continued to fall.

"No, I'm tired but my mind's going in a million directions," she announced. "It's been quite a day."

Lee raised his eyebrow in subtle agreement. He was relieved that they were now on speaking terms, but realized they still had a lot to work out. He finally asked, hesitantly. "Do you, um, want to talk?"

Amanda grabbed a pillow from the bed and pulled it protectively towards her. "We did a lot of talking here once before," she reminded him.

"Yeah, I remember. One of the best weekends I ever had!" he remembered with a faint grin.

"Except we never got to ski. Actually, I don't think we ever left the room," she reminded him.

"I didn't mind. I learned a lot about you that weekend. I learned a lot about myself," he added. "Maybe another 'meeting of the minds' will help us get back to where we were."

Amanda patted the bed. "Come sit next to me," she urged.

Happy to receive the invitation, Lee crossed the room and sat down on the bed next to his wife. He kicked off his new shoes, then leaned back against the headboard and sighed heavily. "It feels nice to relax," he commented.

"Relax," she replied, shaking her head. "That's a word which hasn't been in my vocabulary for a while."

"Maybe now that Birol's finally out of our lives, it's time to start relaxing again?" he suggested.

Amanda was silent for a moment, then turned towards Lee. "Lee, I've been thinking. I know that Birol's dead, but what about his network?" she commented anxiously. "There are still so many unanswered questions: the shooting, the explosions. We know Birol was pulling the strings…"

Lee reached his hand out and put it on her shoulder in a comforting manner. He'd been thinking about the same thing since Billy had told him what had happened. However, his main goal was to repair his strained relationship with his wife. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, then admitted modestly. "I was just hoping for some more time with you before we started talking 'shop' again."

"I'm just worried that it's not really over," she explained wearily. "I've been looking over my shoulder for the last few months. I'd like to know that I can sleep soundly for a change…"

Lee looked at his wife and noticed that she looked exhausted. The last few months had been a living hell for the both of them, but what she had endured emotionally the last few weeks seemed to have taken the majority of her vitality. He understood her need for closure, but worried how much more pressure she could handle.

"How about we start on the who, why and how tomorrow?" he suggested with a hopeful face. "Tonight, maybe we plan a relaxing dinner and some quiet conversation?"

She swallowed hard, anxiousness apparent in her face. "Lee, as nice as that would be, I'm not going to sleep nights until I know it's safe. The leak is inside the Agency somewhere," she reasoned. "It has to be. How else would someone have such easy access to the house on Maplewood, not once, but twice to set explosives? Not to mention that Birol found out where I moved to only days after I moved in."

Lee's interest was heightened by the information his wife just shared with him. "Exactly who knew your new address?"

"Well," Amanda said as she thought about the question. "I filed the appropriate change of address forms with Personnel."

"Did you tell anyone specifically where you were moving to? Maybe in casual conversation or something?" Lee inquired.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "Billy gave me a list of houses and apartments available, but he didn't know which one I chose. The only other person I told was Francine."

"Francine?" Lee repeated with a surprised look on his face.

"It couldn't have been Francine," Amanda clarified hastily. "Francine may be a lot of things, but she's definitely not one of Birol's lackeys. The leak must be somewhere in Personnel."

"It would explain a few things," Lee concurred.

"That's what I've been thinking," Amanda answered.

"Someone in the personnel department would've had to approve the Agency staff assigned to repair the house. Apparently whoever it was had more than construction experience," Lee suggested.

"What concerns me is that someone in personnel shared my address with Birol or someone in his network. How else could Birol have found my apartment?" she added. "Maybe even helping him with his escape?"

"So we’re most likely talking about at least two people," he concluded, following her reasoning. "One being inside at the Agency with access to the personnel records."

"And maybe one on the outside." Amanda finished his sentence for him. "With enough construction background to slip him onto the crew where he'd fit in without drawing any unwanted attention.

"But obviously have a rather keen knowledge of explosives. Maybe the ten second timer was set so if the construction crew showed up before I did, our culprit could turn off the bomb?" Lee suggested with a shrug. "They never did find the shooter. He could be our mad bomber, or that could be another person altogether."

"You're assuming that it's a 'he'. Birol liked to surround himself with female lieutenants," Amanda reminded her husband of their previous encounter with the man. "I couldn't tell who was driving the car that day you were shot. For all I knew it could've been a woman."

"Good point," Lee answered with an affirmative nod. "Although I'll never understand the attraction women had towards Birol."

"A fatal attraction, for sure," Amanda concurred with a look of disgust on her face.

Neither of them spoke for a while. They both seemed to be absorbing what they had just discussed. Then a relieved smile came over her face. Lee noticed the change in her face immediately, but didn't make the connection immediately. "What is it?"

"Did you realize what just happened?" she asked.

Lee stared at his wife for a few seconds before he realized what she was implying. "Just like old times…" he answered as he pulled his wife into his arms and hugged her tightly. "We work best as a team."

"We always have," she reminded him in a soft and loving tone.

Lee felt like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He knew that their relationship had been severely tested by the last few months, but with time and effort they'd work through it all.

"I think we ought to call Billy. Let him start some cautious digging around," Lee suggested, then his concern for his wife's health took charge. "Then you need to take it easy for the remainder of the night. We can eat dinner at the lodge, or even order room service, but you have to get some rest."

Amanda agreed with a casual nod as she covered her yawn. But as Lee reached over for the phone. Amanda inquired nervously. "Who else, other than Billy, knows where we are?"

"As far as I know, he's the only one," he replied understanding her uneasiness. "But I'll make sure for the time being, that nobody else finds out and set up someplace for us to stay tomorrow night."

Lee dialed Billy's personal extension and Billy picked up on the second ring.

"Hi, Billy, it's Lee…

End Part 10
 
 

Part 11
 
 

Lee and Amanda drove back from the mountains the following day to meet Billy. They wanted to keep a low profile so they met at Francine's apartment.

"You swept this place?" Lee asked suspiciously as they walked in the door. "You're sure it's clean?"

"I swept it myself and I had the phone line checked as well," Billy reassured them. He then looked over at Amanda. "How are you, Amanda?"

"Now that I've calmed down and we've had a chance to talk, I'm doing much better. I'm sorry about the other morning," Amanda replied slightly embarrassed.

"No apology necessary. You've been through a lot and had every right to be upset," Billy replied.

Without further discussion they all moved into Francine's dining room and sat down at the table and got down to business.

"OK, then," Billy announced as he handed out materials to each of his agents sitting at the table. "I've printed out a list of the staff in personnel. It's quite extensive. The second list is of the crew assigned to work on the kitchen remodeling. Not all of them are full time Agency personnel."

"How many of them are Agency?" Lee asked.
 

"Two of the four who were assigned to handle the main repairs were Agency. They were the plumber and the electrician. The cabinet man and the general contractor were subcontracted, as were the workman assigned to clean up the place after the explosion."

"So what do we know about each of them?" Amanda inquired curiously.

"We're still working on getting that information. Quiet is better than quick right now. I don't want to tip our hand downstairs in Personnel that we suspect there's a problem," Billy explained quickly. "In the meantime Francine's been working on the angle that someone had to call Birol in prison…"

Francine picked up the conversation from there. "I've got records of when Birol received calls over the last two months. He received several from the DC area, a few from Arlington and one from Alexandria. All the phone calls came from pay phones," she advised with a raised eyebrow.

"Any from Georgetown?" Lee questioned.

Francine nodded affirmatively. "Recently there were three. All of them came from the same phone, which just happens to be down the block from the Agency. One was on the day Lee was transferred from ICU, another the day Lee was released from the hospital and the last was on the first of this month!"

"That's just too much of a coincidence," Lee snapped hotly.

"Maybe," Billy replied cautiously, hoping to diffuse Lee's anger. "It suggests that we're correct in our assumption that we have a mole inside the Agency. It doesn't confirm that it's in Personnel - yet! Francine, keep working on the phone calls."

"No problem. I'm waiting on information about calls going back to August for other phone calls that Birol might have made," Francine advised. "That's going to take a little more time."

"In the meantime, Scarecrow, you and Amanda could still be at risk, so I'm tucking you away in a safe place…" Billy began to explain.

"If there's a mole somewhere - inside - a safe house isn't going to do us a lot of good," Amanda pointed out.

"I realize that. I've called in a favor from a friend in the Army stationed at Ft. Belvoir. We're going to put you up…" Billy began to explain.

"You're not going to stuff us on any military base…" Lee protested angrily.

"Relax, Scarecrow," Billy reassured. "I'm well acquainted with your fondness for military housing. The Barron estate is nearby in Mt. Vernon; that's secure. They use it for visiting dignitaries. MP's guard it 24 hours a day."

Amanda smiled over to Lee. "That doesn't sound too bad, now does it?"

"No," he reluctantly agreed. "How long do you plan to stash us away?"

"I wish I knew that answer, Lee," Billy admitted sheepishly, "but I don't want another incident. Amanda you've talked to your family this morning?"

"Yes, sir. I've explained as much as I could to them. You're sure that the boys will be all right on campus?" she asked worriedly.

"I've sent agents up as a precaution, but I think with Birol out of the picture, they're not at risk. My guess is whoever was inside will try to keep a low profile hoping that their involvement won't be detected," Billy reassured.

"So what, if anything, are we going to be doing to move this along?" Lee requested.

"I want you and Amanda to work the paper trail. We'll get you computer access to check the staff in Personnel and the construction crews. With a little digging I have a feeling we'll find our culprits now that we know where to look," Billy replied with a smile.

"So when do we leave?" Lee questioned.

"You two can head down to Mt. Vernon this afternoon. You're to call me only on my private line or at home," Billy instructed.

*** *** *** ***

"Nice place," Amanda commented as she wandered around the old estate house that would serve as their safe house.

"Yeah, Billy outdid himself this time," Lee graciously agreed as he surveyed their rather lavish accommodations. He glanced out the back window. "Not a house in sight, look at all those trees! This must be at least a five acre spread."

"And that beautiful stone fence when we drove in. It must have been eight feet high," she added.

"Did you notice it was 'hot'?" he questioned.

"I figured it was," she answered with a heavy sigh. "Well, at least we'll be safe here."

Lee walked over and pulled his wife into his arms. "This is all going to be over, once and for all," he reassured.

Amanda relaxed in the protection of her husband's arms. Finally she pulled away. "We'd better get to work."

Lee nodded his agreement. "I saw a computer room down the hall. Let's go see if the codes Billy gave us will get things moving."

They walked down the hallway and went in. Amanda sat down in front of the computer and booted it up. A few minutes later and after logging into several security screens they managed to link up with the Agency computer files.

"Here we go," Amanda cheered as she started searching through the database of staff names that Billy had supplied them.

Several hours later they were still at it. Lee was now pacing the room in a combination of boredom and frustration.

Amanda glanced over the notes that she'd taken over the last few hours.

"What is it?" Lee inquired curiously, noting his wife's puzzled look.

She didn't answer right away. Then she finally looked up and asked. "Lee, how many of the women on this list have you dated?"

Lee gave her a disturbed look. "Amanda, why would that concern you now after all these years?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Think about it, Lee, Birol despised you. What better way to get back at you than to use one of your old 'jilted' lovers."

"I wouldn't say anyone on that list was an old jilted lover," he corrected. "Yes, I've dated a few of the women on that list, but that was over seven years ago," he reminded her. "That's an awful long time to hold a grudge."

"Tell that to Addi Birol," she reminded her husband with a concerned glance.

Lee took the list in hand and stared at the names. It seemed like it was another lifetime ago, but indeed there were a few familiar names. "There's about six or seven of them that I dated back in the early 80's," he admitted reluctantly.

"How about you run their files?" she suggested. "I've pulled up the attendance records. I'll see how many of these people on the list were unavailable, you know, vacations, out sick, or out of town when the phone calls were placed. That should eliminate a few of them. Maybe between the two of us, we can whittle away at this list a bit."

Lee looked out the window and noticed that the sunlight had since faded into darkness. The thought of checking out his old girlfriends was rather distasteful to him. "How about we take a dinner break?" he finally suggested, unwilling to tackle that assignment at the moment. "We never ate lunch."

Amanda stretched. "I'll go see what I can whip up in the kitchen. It looked like it was stocked pretty well," she commented as she stood up.

They walked into the kitchen. Amanda headed for the refrigerator while Lee opened the pantry door and turned the light on. "Not a bad selection of appetizers," he commented as he picked up a few items and showed them to his wife.

"Caviar?" she asked.

"Beluga," he commented with a mischievous smile. "I think the Army's getting rather friendly with their Russian counterparts.

"Look at all this stuff, Lee," Amanda gasped as she peeked into the large pantry. "Smoked salmon, truffles, we might be staying here a while," she teased. "OK, so what do you want to eat?"

"Amanda, there's a dozen cans of caviar here. What do you think I want to eat?"

"Don't you think the Army might be a little perturbed when they find out their caviar is missing?"

"What's one can when they have a dozen?" he commented.

"About fifty dollars an ounce," she answered as she put it back on the shelf.

"Come on, where's you sense of adventure? After all we've been through, we deserve a little celebration," he cajoled as he picked it back up defiantly.

She smiled devilishly, then glanced back into the kitchen almost expecting to be scolded by someone. "OK," she whispered guiltily. "But only one can."

Lee shrugged. "I guess I can live with that."

They grabbed a variety of the delicacies and sat down in the dining room and began to gorge themselves like children on Halloween. As they were beginning to feel rather full the doorbell rang.

Amanda glanced over at her husband with concern. "Are you expecting anyone?"

"No," he replied as he reached for his gun. "Stay in here until I call you."

Amanda didn't argue and waited while Lee crept to the front door, peering out the sidelight to see who was calling, unannounced. "It's Billy," he called out as he opened the door.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you," Billy advised as he watched his agent holster his gun. "I guess I should have called."

Lee and Billy walked back into the dining room where Amanda had been waiting.

Billy observed the remnants of their dinner and chuckled. "I see you two are managing rather nicely here."

Amanda blushed and Lee cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, we needed to take a break and since we both missed lunch…"

"So how's it going down here?" Billy inquired. "Any progress?"

"Actually, sir, we might have a lead," Amanda answered thoughtfully. "We were going to run Lee's old girlfriends who currently work in Personnel…see if there's any correlation."

"It's a long shot," Lee added, slightly annoyed that she was continuing to pursue this option.

Billy shrugged. "It's worth a try, Scarecrow. Stranger things have happened. I've also got the files on some of the construction workers. Maybe together we can piece this puzzle together."

Lee nodded as they went back to the computer room and started the tedious task of running the names of his former girlfriends through the system. Amanda was going over the lists of names she'd compiled with Billy.

"All but one of my former girlfriends are now married. Three of them have children," he advised. "So they're not strong candidates for Birol."

Amanda nodded her head in agreement, but continued her inquiry. "So who's not married?"

"Melanie Farendriello," he replied. "But we only went out once and before anyone asks, NO I didn't sleep with her."

Amanda blushed slightly but tried to hide her face as she studied the list of suspects more closely. "Farendriello, Melanie... she's still on my list of possibilities. She hasn't had a sick day or a vacation day since… August and she lives in Arlington."

"So we may have a suspect," Billy announced as he looked at both of his agents.

"Or we may be going on a wild goose chase," Lee countered.

"Well, we have enough to bring her in for a little discussion. Would either of you care to listen in?" Billy offered.

"I'll pass," Amanda answered quickly and held up the new files that Billy had brought her. "I'll get to work on these new dossiers: Arriguez, Dutcher, Holler and Summers."

"Scarecrow, it might help to have you around," Billy suggested.

"You'll be all right?" he asked as he looked over at his wife.

"I'm fine. I'll see you later," she reassured him with a smile.

Lee walked over and kissed her, then he and Billy headed to the door for a short trip back to DC.

End Part 11
 
 
 

Part 12
 
 

Lee listened in via the audio monitor while Billy began a carefully constructed, yet casual interrogation with Melanie Farendriello.

"Melanie, how many years have you worked in Personnel?" Billy asked in a friendly voice.

"Almost four years now," she advised him.

"But you've been with the Agency for eight years, correct?" he probed.

"Yes, I worked in the Steno pool for the first few years, then moved to cryptology for a while. I even took the test for field agents," she eagerly added. "But I didn't make the cut…"

"It's a difficult exam," Billy acknowledged before continuing on...

Lee yawned, thinking that the rate things were proceeding he'd be here most of the night. Could Melanie Farendriello be the leak? He'd only dated her once, he barely remembered her. Lee looked back into the interrogation room at his one time date. Today he probably wouldn't have recognized her. She had changed considerably in the last seven years. Her long black hair was now cropped just above her shoulders. She also sported glasses, something she hadn't worn when she was in her twenties.

He tried to remember why they hadn't gone out a second time. Was there something about Melanie that had turned him off?  If there was he couldn't remember.  It was so long ago.

"Lee?" Francine called out for the third time.

"Huh?" he finally responded, as he realized Francine was calling him.

"How's it going?" she asked curiously with a nod.

"Interminably slow," he responded as his hands washed across his face.

"Well, I think I may have found something that might just speed things up a little!" Francine replied in a gleeful voice as she held out a folder for him to look through.

"She's on the take!?" Lee gasped as he glanced quickly through the bank records of Melanie Farendriello.

"Either that or she's found one hell of a sugar daddy!" Francine commented as she walked over to the door, knocking on it briefly before she opened it up.

She motioned for Billy and he stepped out of the room for a minute.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think you're going to want to see this," Francine explained to Billy as he left the interrogation room, closing the door behind him. "Take a look at her last few months bank statements."

Billy stared at the statements in disbelief. "Three separate deposits of ten thousand dollars each?"

"Look at the dates, Billy," Francine encouraged her supervisor. "The first one is the day Lee was shot, the second one a day after the kitchen explosion and the last one just two days after the house blew."

"Who sent the money?" Billy demanded.

"His name is Fred Holler. He apparently left the Army somewhat disgruntled. I don't have all the details but he either flunked out or was thrown out of explosive training classes. When his enlistment was up, he bailed out of the Army," she began to explain.

"Wait a second - Holler? That's one of the names Amanda mentioned from the dossiers that Billy gave her. He's one of the workmen who had access to the house," Lee remarked with concern.

"It gets better," Francine interjected with a raised eyebrow. "More importantly he just happens to be a guard up at the prison where Birol was incarcerated," she started to explain. "According to his Army file, he's quite a marksman. I don't have his file from the prison yet…"

"So he could have been the shooter as well," Lee added in a grim voice.

"Put out an APB on him," Billy ordered.

"Consider it done," she replied as she hurried from the room.

William Melrose scowled angrily as he returned to the interrogation room. "I understand you've recently come into some money," Billy remarked with an icy glare.

Melanie swallowed hard and began to stutter. "I, um, a… a friend of mine gave me some money."

"Must be a really good friend," Billy suggested. "Why don't you tell me about him?"

"Not much to tell," Melanie suggested with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Ms. Farendriello," Billy remarked in a caustic voice and a tenacious glare. "The information we have on your friend is rather incriminating as well as the timing of the deposits. Now, certainly you realize that we will get to the bottom of this matter and we'll do it rather expediently. You can either help yourself by cooperating with me now - or we can go hard on you later. The choice is yours."

Billy glared at her for a few moments before her waning demeanor turned to tears…

*** *** *** ***

Billy spent the next several hours pumping Melanie about her knowledge of Birol's Karbala network and her association with them and Fred Holler. Finally satisfied with the intelligence he'd acquired, Billy came out of the interrogation room.

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe how easily people sell out their own country," Billy remarked with disdain.

"I can't believe she gave a key to our house to Holler knowing he was going to set explosives. It could have been Amanda and me she killed that day. She has no idea how many lives she almost ruined," Lee asserted with equal disgust.

"Well, she's about to find out how she ruined her own and all for the love of money," Billy said sadly as he shook his head in disbelief.

"For a measly thirty grand!" Lee remarked, disgusted.

"Any word from Francine? I want to get a hold of Melanie's boyfriend, Fred Holler."

"I haven't seen her," Lee admitted, "but that could be good news."

"Let's see if we can catch up with Francine in the bullpen and see what she's come up with," Billy suggested.

A few minutes later the three of them met in Billy's office and Francine briefed the two men of what she'd discovered about Melanie's alleged accomplice.

"Agents from the Pennsylvania office just searched his last known address near the prison - it was already cleaned out. According to his landlord, he moved out at the end of the month.  He didn't leave a forwarding address.  He hasn't shown up for his job at the prison since the day Birol escaped," Francine advised with a disappointed frown.

"Great, that's just great!" Lee snapped ruefully.

"Calm down, Scarecrow, we'll find him. There's a good chance he's come back home to roost. He's originally from Arlington, and that's where he hooked up with Melanie," Billy explained from his recent debriefing. He looked over to Francine. "I suggest you correlate his old addresses with Melanie's and start making some phone calls to his friends and family."

"His parents live in Alexandria," Francine continued. "He lived down there for a few months when he got out of the Army."

"Then start with his parents… see when they saw or spoke to him last. Make a list of friends and family that may be in the area, old haunts, favorite watering holes, the works. This guy probably has a lot of spare cash and he may be flashing it around. Let's get him before he finds out the heat it on," Billy lectured.

"I'm on it," Francine announced as she and Lee stood up to leave.

"Scarecrow," Billy called out.

Lee turned. "Yeah, Billy?"

"Where are you going?" Billy asked, then nodded towards his other agent. "Francine, keep me posted."

"You can't possibly want me on the sidelines for this?" Lee remarked, aghast.

"Officially, you're still an inactive agent. You're supposed to be dead, remember? Let Francine work this," Billy advised. "She's got a good handle on it."

"I'm sure she has," Lee retorted, "but obviously she could use some help."

"Scarecrow, you and Amanda have already been a big help to this investigation. I think your place right now is with your wife." Billy suggested wisely. "She's been through a lot; she doesn't need to be sitting alone in a strange house worrying about where you are and what you're doing."

"You're right," Lee answered reluctantly as he sat back down in the chair in Billy's office, a noticeable frown on his face. "I'm just not used to taking a back seat."

"You'll be back in the driver's seat before you know it - wishing you had more time off," Billy teased, knowingly. "I'll arrange for someone to drive you back down to Mt. Vernon. It might take a while."

Lee nodded his understanding. "I think I'll go up to the Q Bureau and give Amanda a call… fill her in on all that's happening."

"Good idea. I'll let you know when I've got your transportation arranged."

*** *** *** ***

There was a knock on the Q Bureau door.

"Come in," Lee called out.

"Scarecrow, are you ready to go?" Agent Hopkins asked as he stepped through the door. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were on the phone."

"No problem. I'll be finished in a second," Lee answered then returned to his call. "Looks like my ride is here. I'll be home within the hour, Amanda; I'll see you soon.  I love you..."

"You two have had quite a month," Hopkins commented once Lee had hung up the phone. "I bet you'll be glad to have this over with once and for all."

Lee nodded his agreement as he grabbed his jacket and they left the office. "Yeah, the sooner the better," Lee concurred.

Hopkins drove south towards Mt. Vernon. The traffic was light due to the late hour and Lee wasn't in much of a mood for conversation and was grateful that Hopkins didn't keep chattering away. The hum and crackle from the Agency radio was the only sound in the car.

Lee watched out the window as they got closer to the estate they were staying at. He longed for the day where he and Amanda would have their own home again. With all that had occurred at the house on Maplewood Drive, he knew that wouldn't be home ever again. His eyes were beginning to drift close and his head was beginning to nod when he was suddenly jolted back to reality by an urgent dispatch:

"All agents, backup requested at 'Stars and Bars' Tavern. Suspect Fred Holler's vehicle is in the parking lot."

Lee glanced over at Hopkins. "We just passed that place a few miles ago."

Hopkins nodded. "Scarecrow, my orders were to deposit you safely back at the estate."

Lee gritted his teeth. "Hopkins, this guy has made my life a living hell for the last few months. We could be the closest backup around.  Turn this car around now!"

Hopkins looked in the rearview mirror, then made an impromptu U-turn and sped quickly back towards the tavern. A few minutes later he pulled the car into the parking lot. Lee hopped out of the car before it came to a complete stop and rushed towards the entrance. Hopkins hurried to catch up with him before he got inside.

They entered the building and Lee scanned the surroundings quickly. It was still rather crowded. The room smelled of beer and cigarettes and a three-piece band was playing loud music rather badly. It only took a few seconds before Lee noticed Francine over in the corner talking with a man. He rushed over to them.

"Is this the guy?" Lee demanded in an icy voice.

"Scarecrow, what are you doing here?" Francine answered sharply.

Lee nodded towards the man she was talking to. "Is this Holler?"

"No!" Francine snapped. "We just missed him, but apparently he was here a few minutes ago. This is Tony Menendez; he was an old Army buddy of Holler. He lent Fred his car, which is why we thought Holler was still here."

Tony held up Fred's keys and interjected. "He said he had some business to take care of and needed a pickup truck. He told me he'd return my car to me in the morning at the estate."

"What estate?" Lee snapped urgently.

"The Barron estate," Tony answered, stepping away from the obviously irate agent. "It's a few miles down the road. The Army owns it. They let visiting dignitaries stay there. There's a couple staying there now. I work the day shift…"

"Oh, God! You didn't say anything to Holler about who was staying there?" Lee asked anxiously.

"I might have mentioned there was someone staying there, but never by name. That would have been a breach of security," Menendez replied. "Why?"

"How do you know Holler anyway?" Lee grilled.

"We went through basic together. He was a great marksman; I liked to tinker with electronics. He helped me learn to shoot, I taught him about wiring radios and stuff."

"Oh, that's just perfect," Lee groaned. "Does your pickup have a pass or sticker that will get it through the estate's gate?" Lee queried with a sense of urgency.

"Of course, but…"

"When you go on and off duty, do you radio your headquarters?" Lee inquired further.

"Yes, we also clear through anyone who isn't authorized through the radio," Menendez responded.

Lee tried to remain calm, but he was getting a sinking feeling in his stomach. "But you or someone else could have mentioned the name of the couple staying at the estate on the radio?" Lee inquired anxiously.

"Well, it's possible," Menendez replied with a shrug.

"Let me guess, if Holler tinkered with electronics, there's a possibility that he had access to the radio frequency that you used."

Menendez swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah, it wouldn't take him long, but I can't say for sure…"

Lee didn't wait for any further explanations. Somehow, maybe by accident or by design, Fred Holler had found out that he and Amanda were staying at the Barron estate and he had a pick up truck that had would allow him to pass freely through the gate without question from the guard.

"Francine, call Amanda, then call the gate. Make sure they don't let that pickup through…" Lee yelled as he raced out the door.

End Part 12
 
 
 

The Conclusion:
 
 

Lee sped the few miles back to the estate. When he arrived at the gate the entrance was unprotected; the guard was no where to be seen. He raced up the long driveway to the residence, but the house was pitched in darkness. There were two cars in the driveway - one was Amanda's and the other was a pickup truck. Lee cringed at the sight.

He got out of the car silently and hurried up the stairs to the front door; it was already slightly ajar, the lock had been shot open. Lee gently pushed opened the door and slipped quietly into the house. The darkness was consuming. He flicked the light switch, but the power didn't come on. Lee blinked in the blackness waiting and hoping for his eyes to adjust. Finally the moonlight that filtered in from the windows provided Lee with silhouettes.

His ears strained for any sounds, indicating where he could find either his wife or Fred Holler, but the only thing he could hear was his own breathing. Creeping slowly against the wall, he inched towards the staircase when suddenly three shots rang out and there was a scream. There was no doubt in his mind. It was Amanda's voice.

Lee raced up the stairs towards the shots, his heart beating furiously. He couldn't lose her now…not after all they'd been through these last few months. Lee stopped at the top step using the wall as protection from his unseen enemy. He wasn't certain which way to go and didn't want to be Fred Holler's victim after surviving the first shooting.

He had to let his wife know he was there, but he feared that if he called out to her, Holler would get to her first. He couldn't risk giving him that edge. "Give it up, Holler!" Lee eventually yelled in desperation to the man who he knew had nothing to lose. Lee stood motionless in the dark hallway waiting for a reply. "This place is surrounded!" he shouted again.

This time a shot rang out, but it was directed at him. Lee heard the bullet whiz by him, missing him by inches. The bullet imbedded itself into the wall near his neck, but now he knew that Holler was to the right and the shot came from the bedroom area. Was Amanda in there? Was she still alive? Where were the rest of the agents? Could he hold out until backup arrived or would it be too late?

The seconds ticked by like minutes. Despite the cold November night, Lee found that his palms were sweating. He peeked around the corner into the hallway barely identifying a silhouette of a large, heavyset man, but quickly withdrew as another shot sang closely past him. Lee, however, didn't see Amanda. Could he risk a shot without risking his wife's life? He needed to know she was all right.

'Come on, Amanda, give me a sign you're still OK,' Lee mentally willed her.

Moments later, as if she was answering his thoughts, he heard a window smash in the far bedroom. Lee peeked around the stairwell corner again, but this time he could see Fred Holler moving quickly towards the broken window.

Lee yelled out one more time. "Holler, don't move or I'll shoot!" Lee warned.

Holler turned and aimed his gun towards Lee, but Lee already had his gun trained on the man. Lee fired off two shots. Holler's gun dropped from his hand and then he fell to his knees and clutched his chest, gasping for air before he fell motionless on the floor.

Lee rushed over and kicked his gun away. He bent down to feel a pulse, but there wasn't any. He stood up again and anxiously looked around the darkened room for his wife, but didn't see her.

"Amanda, where are you?" he called out apprehensively.

There were a few hesitant steps from the bathroom. Lee could make out her contrasting, slender silhouette. "Lee, are you all right?" she finally answered in a nervous whisper.

Lee's face broke out in a smile. "I'm fine!" he called out. "Are you OK?"

She stepped out of the bathroom and stood only a few inches from the broken window. The light from the moon and the breeze from the broken window made the room shimmer with faint light. Even in the darkened room Lee noticed the relieved grin on her face.

He stepped over the expired body and reached for his wife. He pulled her to him and held her protectively, savoring how she felt in his arms. Her cool, tender body wrapped against his, her breath gently tickling his throat.

"It's finally over," Amanda whispered incredulously as she looked up into her husband's face.

Lee smiled and nodded. "You bet it is," he reaffirmed emphatically as their embrace continued.

"Scarecrow, Amanda?" Francine's voice called from downstairs.

"Now they get here," Lee quipped, shaking his head, then answered her call. "Up here, Francine!"

A flashlight beam bounced its way up the stairs then shone on the floor where Fred Holler's expired body lay lifeless while a pool of blood flooded around him.

"Are you two all right?" Francine asked after taking in the scene before her.

Lee looked at Amanda. She nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, we're both OK. Can't say the same for him though," Lee nodded toward the expired body.

"Is he dead?" Francine asked.

Lee nodded.

"What happened?" she inquired.

"The lights went out about a half hour ago. I went to the phone, but the line was dead," Amanda began to explain, briefly. "Then I heard someone trying to jimmy the front door open. At first I thought that Lee might have forgotten his key, but then I realized it wasn't him when he shot open the lock. I was already upstairs so I hunkered down in the master bedroom. The next thing I heard was him coming up the stairs so I locked the bedroom door and hid in the bathroom, but that only stopped him for a few seconds. He shot that lock out, too, then proceeded to kick the door to the bedroom open... I screamed."

"I heard the shots and the scream," Lee continued on. "I came up the stairs, but Holler wouldn't let me into the hallway. He shot at me a couple of times. Then Amanda threw something through the window. It distracted Holler long enough for me to take aim in the hallway. I called for him to drop his weapon one last time, but he turned to shoot. I shot him twice; he dropped like a rock."

"You two were lucky you weren't both killed. Let's get you back to the Agency. We're going to need statements from both of you," Francine remarked, then turned to Agent Hopkins who had come with her to the estate. "Keep the scene clear until someone gets the lights back on in here. Then we'll let forensics do their job. I'll give them a call on my way back into town."

"You got it," Hopkins replied. "I'll talk to you later."

"You ready to go?" Francine asked Lee and Amanda.

Amanda reached for Lee's hand. "Yeah, the sooner the better," she replied.

Then the three of them walked down the stairs of the estate and drove back to the Agency.
 

*** *** *** *** **

Epilogue

Several weeks later…

Amanda awoke from a restful nights' sleep. She watched and listened while Lee slept soundly beside her. The winter sun was just beginning to filter into the room. It would be a cold and crisp Christmas Eve day. A smile crept upon her face as the walls around her gave her a sense of warmth, comfort and belonging that she hadn't felt for the last few months. She took the quiet moment to contemplate all the changes in her life.

After wrapping up the Karbala incident last month, it hadn't taken either of them long to agree that they were no longer willing to take the risks that were associated with a field position at the Agency. The weeks of anguish and heartache they both endured served as a vivid reminder as to the fragility of life and how much they stood to lose if they continued in the field. They had individually come to the same conclusion and were relieved that the other had felt so strongly about it as well.

Amanda would remain at the Agency. She enjoyed the fast pace of the communications department and would continue there. Lee would be taking over a choice administrative position at the Department of Justice. The first of the year they'd both be returning to work, but first, they'd be enjoying the Christmas holiday in their new house.

Amanda sighed and Lee began to stir.

"Hey," he questioned as his hand reached out and stroked his wife's face. "Are you all right?"

"Quit worrying. I'm fine," she replied with a genuine smile.

Lee pulled himself up against the headboard of their new bed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You know, a little pre-holiday blues isn't that unusual. You've been through a lot."

Amanda gave him a quick kiss on his forehead, but shook her head. "I'm not sad, sweetheart. I'm a little overwhelmed at all we've gotten accomplished in the last few weeks. Not only have we bought a new house, but we've bought furniture for almost every room, and even decorated for Christmas," she replied, shaking her head in disbelief. "I didn't think we'd get it all done."

"I'd have to agree with you there. I never thought we'd pull it off." Lee laughed. "The boys will be surprised for sure. What time are you expecting them?"

"Phillip will be here around noon. Jamie's got a longer drive. I don’t expect him until after three," she advised.

"So what are your plans for today, Mrs. Stetson?" Lee inquired.

"I have to do some last minute baking for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Other than that, I'm taking it easy," she announced happily.

"Taking it easy, huh? That's a novel idea," Lee chided as he stretched.

"Something we both should start doing more of," Amanda reminded her husband.

"Don't worry, I'm planning on it. I'm looking forward to our new, calmer lifestyle," he answered plainly.

"You think you can survive your new lifestyle? Working behind a desk?" she asked.

"It'll be an adjustment," he shrugged, then inquired curiously. "Do you think you're going to miss the old house?"

"Like you said… it'll be an adjustment, but this new house is something we picked out together. It's going to be our home. Besides, the Agency's going to use the old house as a safe house, so you never know…"

"No way," Lee interrupted quickly. "We've already discussed that issue. We're both staying out of the field. Let the new kids on the block save the country. We can both make significant contributions to national security without risking our necks on a daily basis."

"You're not going to miss the excitement, the action, Mr. Stetson?" she wondered aloud.

"I think I've had enough excitement for a while, Mrs. Stetson," he replied without hesitation.

"Really?" Amanda gasped theatrically. She reached over and opened the drawer to her nightstand and pulled out a piece of mistletoe. She held it over Lee's head and sought out his lips and lingered there for a few moments before mumbling, "Had enough excitement, huh?"

Lee chuckled huskily. "Well, maybe just this once I could make an exception…"

Amanda sighed as Lee's warm hands began to explore her body. The mistletoe quickly dropped on the pillow and they were lost in each other's arms and a bright future together…

The end…

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