Prologue

         Herbert Tippesh grimaced as he listened to his brother on the phone.  He was having some serious second thoughts about sneaking into the office he had worked in for five years and committing theft.  It was the first job he could honestly say he loved, and now he was going to be putting it in jeopardy, all because he had to help his brother dig himself out of the very deep hole he was currently in.   He honestly wondered where one was supposed to draw the line between doing the right and smart thing, versus looking out for your family.  His mother’s words echoed through his head, reminding him that family should always come first. It was the only thing forcing him to choose his brother over common sense; which is why he was now sitting here in his brother’s hotel room, making plans to steal a copy of the targeting software for the Army’s new ballistic missile that his company had just finished creating.  It was due to be sent to the Army on Monday, and they were going to go into the empty offices today, and steal a copy right out from under their noses, before the military got their copy.

         “Yes, Mr. Birol,” Oswald nodded as he spoke into the phone, “my brother has assured me that we will have no problem getting in and out of the building undetected. Once we have the software in hand, we’ll meet your man at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at three o’clock today.” He caught his brother’s gaze and rolled his eyes.  If he didn’t need the money so badly, he wouldn’t even be having this conversation with the crazy man on the other end of the line. As he listened to his employer telling him, once again that if he failed to do this, not only would he be sorry but so would his brother and his mother.  He suppressed a laugh, who did this guy think he was, making threats like he was some bad ass gangster from the movies.  “Yes, I understand.” He nodded once more towards the phone and then hung up.

         “Tell me again why we’re doing this?” Herbie asked his brother. “You do realize that if we’re caught, we’re going to end up in jail for life, and mother’s going to die of heart failure when she finds out that her only two sons committed treason.”

         Oswald flopped back onto his bed. “Will you relax, Herbie, nothing’s going to go wrong.  We’ll be in and out so quickly and quietly that no one’s going to know that a copy of the software was made, and even if they do, by the time they realize it, we’ll have our money in hand and be half way to Alaska, taking Mom on that cruise she’s always wanted to go on.”

         Herbie sighed.  He had a very bad feeling about this. Unlike his brother, he didn’t see a cruise in their immediate future. All he could see were orange jumpsuits and bars, lots and lots of bars.

Chapter 1

         Amanda King stood at the base of the stairs with her hands on her hips. “Fellas if you want to get to the museum before it gets too crowded, you’d better get a move on.”

         “Yes Mom,” Phillip shouted as he stuck his head out of his room, “I’m just waiting for Jamie to finish up in the bathroom so I can get in and take my shower.”

         Amanda shook her head and chuckled.  If her eldest son hadn’t started his shower yet, she knew she had another half an hour to kill at least.  Phillip seemed to enjoy taking extremely long showers when he wasn’t rushing off to school in the mornings. Hearing the phone ringing, she turned and headed towards the kitchen and picked up the receiver on the third ring. “Hello?”

         “Morning.”

         Amanda smiled at the sound of Lee’s voice on the other end and then her expression quickly turned to a frown. “Uh oh, you’re not calling to ask me to come in are you, because I’d really hate to disappoint Phillip and Jamie, and Mother’s not home, she’s off with one of the neighbors…”

         “Amanda, relax, I’m not calling to ask you to come in to work.”

         “Oh?” Amanda suddenly felt like a school girl getting the much anticipated call from the boy she liked, “then, what could be so important that you’re calling me at seven-thirty on a Saturday morning?”

         “I knew you were heading out soon and wanted to call and catch you before you left.” Amanda could sense a bit of hesitation in Lee’s voice, and wondered whether he was nervous about something or if he was calling with bad news and was trying to break it to her gently. “I realized that since I wasn’t going to get to see you today, I wanted to invite you over to my place for dinner tonight. Nothing fancy, I was just thinking of cooking some hamburgers. I’ve got a great bottle of wine to go with them.”

         Amanda could almost see the smile on his face, hoping that he had stumped her; however, she remembered their discussion when he was hiding out at her house, while pretending to be dead.  They had talked about having hamburgers and wine, but that plan had been interrupted by the untimely return of her mother and the boys. “Like normal people?”

         “Exactly.”

         Amanda leaned back against the counter and chuckled. “What happened to the Lee of the world, the one who ordered exotic take out or went to fancy restaurants?”

         “What can I say… I’ve suddenly grown quite fond of normal these days. So how about it, are you free tonight?”

         Amanda smiled as she twirled the phone cord around her finger. “Sounds wonderful. Mother should be home by five, how about I meet you at your place around six?”

         “Better make it seven.”

         Amanda pushed off the counter and moved closer to the stairs. Not hearing any sign of the boys approaching, but hearing sounds of typing coming across the phone, she turned her attention back to her caller. “Lee, are you in the office right now? What happened to your day off?”

         “I don’t hold much stock in days off any more. Besides what I’m working on should be wrapped up by the end of the day. I just want to give myself a little extra time to get the apartment cleaned up.”

         Amanda shook her head. Even over the phone she could tell when Lee was hiding something from her. “You don’t sound very convincing.  It sounds to me like you’re going to be swamped.  Are you sure you don’t need me?”

         “Well…I wouldn’t go that far.”

         Amanda could hear the sultry tone of his voice and a warm feeling ran through her.  Even though their relationship was slowly moving towards something much more than friendship, Lee didn’t seem afraid to make little innuendos like that, nor did she mind them. “I meant at work.” She replied, laughing a bit self-consciously.

         “No, you spend the day with the boys.  It’s not every day they aren’t running around to this thing or that, or spending it with Joe.  Where are you taking them anyway?”

         “The Air and Space Museum.” Amanda leaned back against the counter. “Why? Are you making sure I won’t end up in the middle of whatever it is you’re really working on today? What exactly are doing today, Lee? It can’t be paperwork, because then you wouldn’t be afraid of being late to meet me, you’d just blow it off and leave it for me to take care of for you on Monday.”

         Lee chuckled over the phone. “You’re right, it’s not paperwork.” Then as if anticipating the fact that she would worry, knowing he was going out on a case, he added, “Don’t worry, its nothing major, just a bit of surveillance and hopefully a takedown.  I got a tip that something big is going down at Strategic Software, one of the developers working on some new software for the Army. Sounds like someone is trying to steal the information and then sell it or pass it onto a third party.”

         Amanda let out an exasperated sigh. “You didn’t mention anything about it to me yesterday.”

         “The tip came in late last night.”

         Amanda nodded her head as realization dawned on her. “One of your family?”

         “Yes…”

         Amanda could tell from the hesitant tone of his voice that she knew exactly who the informant was. “Augie?”

         “Yeah, how did…”

         Amanda laughed. “I could tell by the less than enthusiastic way you answered. Maybe I should come in.”

         “Amanda…” Lee sighed into the phone, “You’re not a full-time agent, so you wouldn’t be able to go on this one with me.” She could almost detect the disappointment in his voice.  It was funny how much had changed over the last year or so. It seemed like only yesterday that he would have chosen Augie as his partner on an operation over her. “I wish you could, but…just enjoy the day with the boys, okay?”

         Amanda did her best to keep the disappointment from her voice. “Okay, but call and leave me a message when you get back. It can be hey, just checking in, or something simple, but enough to let me know that nothing went wrong. If you don’t I’ll worry, and if I worry I’ll call or drive all the way down to the Agency and pester Mr. Melrose until I know you’re okay.”

         “I promise I’ll call you.  I’ve gotta run, but I’ll see you tonight.”

         “See you tonight and be careful.” Amanda sighed as she hung up the phone.  Glancing at the clock she saw that if they wanted to get to the museum when it opened, they really needed to get moving. Heading over to the landing, she called up the stairs, “Come on fellas, let’s pick up the pace a little.”  She then turned and walked back into the kitchen and over to the sink to finish the breakfast dishes.  A bird flying past the kitchen window caught her eye and she chuckled.  How many times had Lee’s head popped up and stared back at her through this very window in the past three years?  Too many to count, and she wasn’t sure she even wanted to try counting them. Though lately he had started coming to her back door and knocking lightly, rather than just appearing in her window.

           As Amanda picked up her sponge and poured some dish soap onto it, she realized just how much things between Lee and her had changed in the last few years, especially within the last two weeks.  Ever since they had returned from retrieving the stolen detonators from California, Lee had been very attentive, wanting to spend time with her, inviting her to dinner and just finding reasons to stop by her house after work once her mother and the boys were in bed.  Grabbing one of the boys’ cereal bowls, she smiled as she began cleaning it.  Lee’s sudden interest in dating her had started almost the minute the plane had touched ground and everyone had dispersed.  She was in her little room on the plane, gathering her things when he had stopped by.

         Amanda looked up at the sound of a knock on the doorframe. “Hi, I thought you were heading back to the Agency with Mr. Melrose to give your report.”

         Lee nodded. “I told him I’d meet him there, I wanted to see how you were getting home, since Billy said that you weren’t needed at the Agency.”

         “I was just going to call a cab.” Amanda shrugged her shoulders slightly.

         “I could give you a ride.” Lee moved forward and picked up her closed suitcase.

         Amanda slipped her purse over her shoulder and glanced sincerely at Lee. “Really that’s very sweet, but I don’t want you to get into trouble with Mr. Melrose.”

         “Oh I won’t get in trouble, trust me.” Lee winked. “So how come you don’t have to come down to the Agency? After all you, if it wasn’t for you, Petrovich would have blown up the warehouse and Pam would very likely have gotten away.”

         Amanda smiled.  “I already gave him my report, typed it up last night.”

         “Anxious to get home?” Lee stepped aside to allow Amanda to leave the room ahead of him.

         “It’s not really so much being anxious as it is that I feel like I owe it to my family to spend some time with them.” Amanda commented as she walked through the small walkway towards the front of the plane.

         “In that case I insist that you let me drive you home.” Lee fell into step next to her, and placed his free hand at the small of her back.

         “Well if you insist,” Amanda smiled, “though I would have thought you’d be eager to get this case wrapped up and get home. I’m sure there are plans or something you want to make for tonight.”

         Lee stopped walking and gently placed a hand on Amanda’s arm. “Actually, I do have plans I want to make,” he glanced around to make sure that no one was within earshot, “it’s one of the reasons I wanted to drive you home.”

         Amanda looked at Lee suspiciously. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to ask me to help you find a dress for another girlfriend.”

         Lee grimaced. Asking Amanda about that dress for Leslie had been the stupidest thing he’d ever done, and one he was going to regret for a very long time. He shook his head. “No, I was going to ask you if you had plans for tomorrow night. Watching Petrovich and Nadia, I realized that you and I don’t spend enough time together, outside of work and thought maybe we could go to dinner.”

         Amanda felt her face begin to flush and cleared her throat. “Oh, Lee, that sounds great, but I’m afraid I can’t tomorrow night. I promised Mother that when I got home, she and I would spend some quality time together, so I was planning on having a movie night.”

         “Well, how about Saturday night then.” Lee hoped that he didn’t sound too eager when he asked.  He really hoped that Amanda would say yes, because he suddenly had a very strong desire to get to know his best friend on a more personal level.

         Amanda smiled. “Saturday would be great.” When Lee’s hand moved back to its usual spot on her back, she resumed walking. “You know, Mr. Melrose said a funny thing to me before we took off.”

         Lee glanced curiously over at Amanda. “Oh, really? What?”

         Amanda shrugged. “He told me that he was counting on me, because I knew you best, which I think is kind of strange considering the fact that we’ve only known each other for a little under three years, and he’s known you a lot longer than that, even Francine’s known you longer than I have, which if you look at it like that, they should now you better than I do.” She laughed self-consciously as she realized she’d been rambling, but Lee asking her out, rather than making a date with one of the many women in his black books, had thrown her for a tiny, albeit nice, loop.

         Lee smiled at Amanda’s typical ramble.  There had been a time when he had found that particular trait annoying, but now he found it very endearing. “Actually, Billy was right.”

         Amanda stopped walking and turned towards Lee with a perplexed expression. “He was?”

         Lee sighed and nodded. He had never been one to share his thoughts with someone else, but Amanda wasn’t just someone, she was his best friend, and if he really wanted to move towards the next level with her, now was as good a time as any to start. “Yes, Amanda, I’ve let you see sides of me that no one else has ever seen, not even Billy.”

         Amanda swallowed hard, trying to keep herself from crying happy tears. “Oh, Lee…”

         Amanda sighed happily as she remembered that conversation.  It was the first time that Lee had willingly opened up to her, and shared something very personal with her.  Of course, before she had been able to say anything further, Francine had come in to see what was keeping Lee.  Mr. Melrose, afraid that Lee would blow off his debriefing until the next day, had decided that he was going to ride over to the Agency with Lee. She found it ironic, really, that fate had brought her and Lee together that day at the train station, and it seemed that ever since then, fate seemed to be trying it’s best to keep them apart, either in the shape of her mother or Francine. It was almost like fate’s own cruel joke.

         Even their dinner date Saturday hadn’t ended up working out because her Mother had gotten a bad cold, and she had ended up having to take the boys to their separate school parties.  They did, however, end up going to dinner the following night, and had been out to dinner three times since then, each time talking about anything and everything, except work.  She chuckled to herself. They had tried to talk about anything but work, but occasionally it had cropped up into the conversation. 

         Although the dinners were very nice and very special, she treasured the evenings they had spent together that weren’t official dates, far more.  On the nights they hadn’t gone to dinner, Lee had stopped by, with the exception of the one night he had been on a stake out, just to talk or say hi and he always waited until he knew that her family was upstairs in bed.  He would knock lightly on her back door and she would slip outside so they could talk privately.  The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Lee was, in a sense, courting her, and it was very romantic.

         Last night had been the most special one of all.  He had stopped by and they had ended up in the gazebo, sitting next to each other, staring up at the stars.  Then without any pretence or warning, Lee had draped his arm around her shoulder and with his free hand, turned her head to look at him.  Before she had known what was happening, Lee’s lips were touching hers and they had shared a very intimate but tender kiss. 

         Touching her lips, she smiled as she remembered that, once again they had been interrupted, this time it had been by her mother who had opened the back door looking for her and effectively broken the moment.

         “Mom, we’re ready.” Jamie called out as he bounded into the kitchen with Phillip following behind him.

         Amanda chuckled at the ironic timing of her sons’ arrival.  Placing the last dish in the drain board, she turned and wiped her hands on a dishtowel.  “Did you boys straighten up your rooms?”

         “Yes Mom,” Jamie nodded. “Everything is put away…now can we go?”

         “Typical, you take forever to get ready and then you want everyone else to rush out the door the minute you’re ready.” Amanda smiled as she grabbed her purse. 

         “Aw, Mom, you know we like to sleep in if we don’t have to get up early.” Phillip shrugged his shoulders as he headed for the door.

         “Yes, sweetheart, I’m fully aware of that. Now scoot your butts out to the car.” Amanda just shook her head and laughed as she watched both her boys racing each other out the door.  It had been a long time since she’d spent any quality time with her boys, and she was planning on enjoying every minute of today.

*****  *****

         Francine opened the door to Billy’s office and storming inside, glared at her boss. “This had better be good, Billy.  I didn’t get home until really late last night, and I was looking forward to sleeping in today, since it is supposed to be the start of my weekend.”

         Billy put up a hand to ward off any further complaints from the blonde. “Francine, I’m just as unhappy about this as you are.  I have a wife at home who was hoping that I’d help with some chores around the house that have been put off for way too long.  So unless you can come up with a better reason than having to shell out hundreds of dollars just to hire someone else to do my housework than I don’t want to hear it.”

         “Fine,” Francine plopped, very unladylike, into one of the seats in front of Billy’s desk, “then can you at least tell me why exactly we’re both here, giving up our Saturdays?”

         “Because a tip from one of Lee’s family, Augie Swann, came in, informing us that the software for the targeting system on the Army’s new ballistic missile that Strategic Software just developed is expected on the black market tonight.”

         “This sounds like a case for Lee, not me.” Francine sat up a little straighter in her chair. “So how come I’m here and he’s not?”

         “Lee’s already been here and gone.  He assembled a team and is on his way over to Strategic Software to set up surveillance.  We’re hoping to catch the thief, or thieves, before they have a chance to get a copy of the software out of the building.” Billy rubbed his temples to ward off a growing headache. Having his wife give him grief about not being home enough, and his assistant constantly complaining, he was going to lose his cool, very soon. “And you’re here because you’re my assistant and I said so.”

         “Sorry, Billy.” Francine sighed as she glanced apologetically at her boss. “I realize this isn’t a cake-walk for you either.  How do we know the software hasn’t already been stolen?”

         “In order to set up surveillance, we had to contact the CEO of Strategic Software to gain access to the building.” Billy picked up a folder from his desk and handed it to his assistant. “He informed us that the software was only completed after midnight last night, and that if anyone wanted to get in and make a copy, not that he hoped any of his employees would do such a thing, but it would most likely have to happen this morning or tomorrow.  They plan on giving the software to the Army on Monday and there was a team of ten engineers working on the code until about midnight last night, so none of them would have had the opportunity to do anything with so many of their colleagues watching. He was more than happy to let us go in and make sure that the software never leaves the premises. He promised to make sure the security staff is fully informed and will stay out of our way.”

         Francine opened the file and quickly scanned the contents. “So, what do you need me to do? Get a backup team together?”

         Billy shook his head. “No, I need you to do some research.  There’s a list of potential buyers in that folder,” he pointed to the manila file in the blonde’s hands, “I want you to look it over and find out how many organizations have known players in town. And, if there are any new names, let’s find out everything we can about them.  I don’t want any surprises on this one.”

         Francine nodded and rose from her seat. “I’ll get right on it.” She sighed and headed for the door.

         Billy leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.  He had a feeling that, despite Lee’s assurances earlier that this was an open and shut case, this was going to be anything but.  Any tip that came from Augie usually ended up turning into a full scale scramble.       

Chapter 2

         Herbie tapped his gloved finger lightly on the table top as he watched the ‘percent complete’ bar increasing.  He was doing his best to ignore his brother’s pacing. His nerves were frazzled enough without having to worry about his brother’s impatience. However, when Waldo passed by one more time and let out his fifth loud sigh in as many minutes, he took a deep breath, turned towards his brother and hissed through clenched teeth, “Will you please stop that! This is going to take as long as it’s going to take and you pacing and sighing will not make the computer work faster.”

         Waldo stopped pacing and walked over to his brother.  Staring at the computer screen he grunted. “Only fifty percent complete?  That’s only ten percent more than it was five minutes ago.”

         Herbie shook his head and rolled his eyes as he spun back around to watch the bar. “There’s a lot of data, and it takes time for data to transfer.”

         Waldo looked down at the size of the disk’s case. “It must be a lot of data if it goes on something the size of a pizza.”  He turned and walked over to the table in the corner of the lab. “You know when you said you needed something big to hide the disk, I was thinking of a shoe box, not a pizza box.” He tapped the empty pizza box with his finger. “Guess it’s a good thing I work for a pizza joint, huh. You were right, we’d look awfully suspicious walking down the street carrying around something that big and so much thicker than a record.  A pizza box makes it look like we just picked up lunch.”

         Herbie glanced at his watch and then back at the computer screen.  Taking a few deep breaths, he reminded himself that everything was going to be fine.  No one was in the office today, and the cleaning crew always did their work very early in the morning.  Yet, as the bar reached fifty-five percent, he couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom.

         Waldo watched his brother pinching his nose, obviously trying to ward off a headache, which he was pretty sure he was the cause of. “Aren’t your hands sweating in those things?”

         Herbie looked down at his latex covered hands. “Yes, but I’d rather wear these,” he waved a hand in the air, “than risk getting caught down the road.  I don’t normally work in this lab, and once the Army finds out that copies of their new, highly top secret software plans have been stolen, they’re going to demand an investigation. Wearing these gloves ensures that my prints won’t be anywhere on this computer.”

         Waldo walked back over and peered at the computer screen over his brother’s shoulder. “Looks like it’s getting a little closer to completion.” He then furrowed his brows as thought came to him. “That’s all the data you have to copy, right? I mean you don’t have more files or something?”

         Herbie shook his head. “No, relax, this is it.  It should be done in the next ten minutes and then we’ll be out of here. Why are you so worried about how long it’s taking anyway? I’m the one who should be worried, after all it’s my company we’re stealing from.”

         Waldo shrugged his shoulders and began pacing again. “I’m just worried that we won’t meet Mr. Birol’s man in time.” Stopping when he reached a table in his path, he turned and leaned against it. “This guy is scary, Herbie, really scary.  I think he might be some kind of Middle Eastern terrorist. He knows things about me, about you, about mom. I already told you that he threatened to kill mom if I didn’t come through for him.”

         “Why didn’t you just go to the police or the FBI?  I mean if this guy is some sort of terrorist, giving him top secret military data isn’t exactly the smartest thing in the world.”  Herbie turned his chair and glanced at his brother seriously. “And how come you didn’t tell me he could be a terrorist before? You told me he was a gangster-type.”

         “Because I knew you’d tell me to go to the authorities.” Waldo looked down at his feet. “I couldn’t do that.  There’s too much at stake.”

         Herbie eyed his brother suspiciously. “Why do I get the feeling that this guy is holding more over you than just mom’s life?” When his brother shrugged and refused to make eye contact with him, he knew for a fact that it was something very serious. “How did you end up getting mixed up with him in the first place? You never did tell me; you just told me that mom’s life depended on me helping you get this software.”

         Waldo sighed and removing his gaze from the floor, looked up but avoided looking directly at his brother. “I wrote a rather large number of IOUs for this poker game…”

         “Waldo, you promised me and mom you weren’t going to gamble anymore,” Herbie shook his head disapprovingly, “especially not after mom had to mortgage the house we grew up in just to get you out of debt the last time.”

         “I know I did,” Waldo glanced at his brother, “but this was a game I had to play in. The stakes were huge, and I figured if I won big on this one, then I’d be able to pay mom back and maybe even start paying you back too.”

         Herbie let out a long sigh.  “So, you wrote these IOUs and lost, right?”

         Feeling very ashamed, Waldo nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, I lost big, and I wrote so many IOUs that I thought I was in real trouble. Then, to my surprise, Big Al, who I wrote the IOUs to, and was most assuredly going to cut my knee caps off, told me that I was square with him, ’cause this Birol guy’d bought my markers.  Only after my initial elation at getting to keep my knee caps wore off, did I realize that no one does something like that for nothing.  That’s when I found out exactly why Mr. Birol bought my markers.”

          “He wanted this software. But how did he know you’d even be able to get it for him?” Herbie asked as he watched his brother fidgeting under his scrutiny.

         Waldo shrugged. “I think he somehow found out that you worked here and figured I’d come to you for help. All I know is that he told me if I got him the software, my slate would be wiped clean.”

         Herbie sighed again and shook his head sadly. His brother was a hopeless cause and, as much as he loved him, maybe he should have just insisted on going to the authorities, rather than stealing the software.  Worst case scenario, he and their mom could have been put in some sort of protection program, and his brother would have ended up spending time in jail, which would probably do him some good.  But now, as he turned his attention back to the computer, and watched the bar slowly nearing the end of the download, he realized that that avenue was no longer an option.  Perhaps their mother would still end up in some kind of protective custody, but she’d be going alone, because both her sons were going to end up in jail for treason.

*****  *****

         Amanda exited the mini-theater behind her sons and sighing, shook her head.  They had just watched a very interesting feature about space exploration and its depiction in the movies.  It was interesting to see how much was real, and how much was actually fiction. “Are you boys sure you don’t want to stay here and eat something.  There’s another show about how much space exploration has advanced in the last decade that starts in an hour.  We could eat and then go watch it?” She glanced from one son to the other, as they turned around to look at her.  If she had known this morning that they would only want to spend two hours at the museum, she wouldn’t have been in such a rush to get out the door earlier.

         “That’s okay, Mom,” Jamie replied as he glanced briefly at his brother. “From the description, it sounds just like something I just saw in school.”

         Amanda glanced above them at the suspended airplanes and then back towards her eldest son. “How about the other exhibits?  According to the brochure, they just added a whole bunch of new items in the astronaut area.”

         Phillip shook his head. “Those exhibits aren’t all that exciting, and besides, we were just here with dad last month.”

         Amanda placed her hands on her hips. “What do you mean you were just here with your dad?  You told me you really wanted to come here today.  If I’d known, we could have done something entirely different.”

         Jamie smiled a bit sheepishly. “Well, we really wanted to see the space movie since we didn’t get to see it last time when we came with dad because it was too packed.”

          “You could have told me all that this morning, or even yesterday.” Amanda sighed. “So you boys really don’t want to eat here?”

         “Nah, the service here is pretty lousy and besides, if we leave now, we could go pick up something and take it over to the park.” Phillip glanced over at his brother. “We could eat at the picnic tables, and since I saw our bats and gloves still in the back of the car from practice last week, I figured that wormbrain and I could work on his curveballs.”

         “Hey, what’s wrong with my curveball?” Jamie glared at his brother. “If I remember correctly, coach said you’re swing needs some work; you keep striking out, dufus.”

         “Fellas,” Amanda scolded quietly. “Enough name calling.  And I think going to the park is a great idea and I can help Jamie with his curve ball and you,” she turned towards Phillip, “with your swings. We can pick up sandwiches, I think there’s a deli just down the block.”

         “Awesome.” Jamie high-fived his brother.

         “Great.” Phillip grinned at his mother.

         “Well let’s head out then.” Amanda chuckled as she started walking towards the exit behind her sons.  No matter how many times she scolded them about name calling and fighting, they were, after all brothers, and in some small way it was their way of showing affection for each other.   She just hoped that, once they got to the park, she could keep them from picking on one another too much and turning a nice day into a nightmare.

*****  *****

         Herbie glanced at the computer when he noticed the bar flashing and struck a few keys on the keyboard to finalize the copy.

         Waldo noticed his brother working back at the computer and his anxiety to get out of this lab and be done with this deed was climbing fast.  Pushing away from the table he’d been leaning on he walked over to his brother. “Is it done?”

         Herbie nodded. “Yeah, can you grab me the pizza box?” He removed the disk from the drive and then carefully placed it in its casing. Turning the computer off, he placed the disk into the pizza box his brother was now holding open for him. “Now don’t drop it, if that falls and is damaged in anyway, the data will be useless.” He then removed the gloves from his hands. “Let’s get out of here before one of the engineers decides he would rather spend their Saturday working.”

         Waldo glanced at his brother with an expression of pure panic. “You told me no one comes in on Saturdays.”

         Herbie shrugged. “They don’t but on the off chance someone decides to do so, I want to be out the door and far away from here. Since my job doesn’t entail working overtime, I don’t have an excuse for being in the office at eleven-thirty on a Saturday.”

         Holding the pizza box carefully, Waldo made his way towards the door. “We’re going out the same way we came in, right?”

         “Yes,” Herbie nodded. “I don’t want to risk being seen by the security guard posted at the front entrance.”

         “Oh, I agree, I just wanted to make sure I knew which way to go when we left here.” Waldo turned towards his brother. “Maybe you better hold this,” he started to pass the disk to his brother. “You’re a much more cautious person than I am.”

         Herbie sighed and then took the box from his brother. He winced slightly at the weight and then stepped aside to allow his brother to open the door for him. “You’re a wimp you know that? You’re not concerned with accidentally dropping the disk; you just don’t want to carry it.  You used to pull this crap all the time when we were kids, you never wanted to do anything, and always found a way for me to do it for you.” Rolling his eyes at the sheepish grin on his brother’s face, he stepped through the now open doorway. Noticing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he came to an abrupt halt.  He looked down the hall, and let out a silent curse. At the other end of the hallway was a man dressed in blue overalls, mopping the floor.

         “What’s the hold up?” Waldo asked his brother when he almost bumped into him.

         “Shhh…” Herbie hissed. “Something’s not right,” he whispered to his brother, “no one’s supposed to be here, especially no one from the cleaning crew.”

         Waldo’s eyes grew wide as he started to step back into the lab. “You don’t think someone knew we were here, do you?”

         Herbie shook his head. “I highly doubt it.  Could be that the cleaning crew was just running behind. Look, let’s just act natural, and pretend that we’re supposed to be here.” He took a deep breath and started walking down the hallway in the direction they’d come in earlier, which, fortunately, was in the opposite direction from the man with the mop.

         Lee watched the two men heading towards the stairwell and, placing his mop back in the pail, began wheeling it down the hallway in their direction. Noticing the large pizza box in the shorter man’s hands, he whispered into his collar, “Suspects are on the move.  Duffy and Johnson, cover the front door.  Brady, I want you covering the back alleyway. I’m covering them from behind.”

         Waldo glanced behind him and noticed the cleaning man was now following them and whispered over to his brother, “We’ve got company.”

         Herbie chanced a look over his shoulder and, sure enough, both the man and his mop were heading in their direction, and he was pretty sure the guy wasn’t just moving down the hallway to clean the rest of this floor, since the mop was inside the bucket and not outside of it. “I think we might want to quicken our pace.”

         Waldo nodded and started running for the door.

         Herbie cursed, he didn’t mean that his brother should start running, but now it was too late.  He sprinted off after his brother, clutching the pizza box tightly to his chest.

         “Damn!” Lee abandoned the mop and took off down the hallway. He pulled his collar to his lips and spoke into the hidden mic, “I’ve been made. Suspects are now running. I’m in pursuit. Duffy, Brady, Johnson, look sharp.” Pulling out his gun, he raced into the stairwell behind the two suspects. “Freeze, Federal Agent.”

         Waldo slowed down just enough to let his brother pass him on the stairs, before pulling out the pistol he’d hidden under his jacket.  “Keep running,” he shouted to Herbie then fired a shot in the agent’s direction.

         “Shit!” Lee fired off a shot down the stairs and then grabbed his leg as he stumbled down to the next landing.  Looking down at his thigh, he saw the blood stain beginning to spread and cursed again. “Suspects are armed, I’ve been hit and can’t continue pursuit.  They have the disk so do whatever you have to. Just don’t let them get away.” He bellowed into his collar.

         “Roger that Scarecrow,” Lee heard Brady’s voice reply in his ear.  Standing up, he steadied himself and gritted his teeth as he slowly made his way down the stairs while the suspects’ footsteps echoed in the stairwell. He cursed again, not because of the pain in his leg, he’d had worse injuries than this, but from the anger welling up inside him.  He wasn’t sure if he was mad at himself for getting shot, or mad at the fact that he was going to have to have his leg looked at, thereby delaying any preparations he wanted to do in order to make tonight a special evening for Amanda.

         “Suspects just entered the alleyway.” Lee heard Brady’s update and then grimaced when gunshots echoed in his ear. “Damn, they got past me, I’m in pursuit.” 

         “Are you coming out of the south or north alleyway?” Lee heard Johnson ask.

         “North”

         “Damn, we’re at the opposite end. Scarecrow, what do the suspects look like?”

         “Both have dark hair.  The taller one is kind of muscular and looks he could give Mr. T a run for his money in the ring. The shorter one’s wearing glasses and carrying a pizza box.” Lee shook his head and hoped that Brady would catch up to them and that Johnson and Duffy could head them off before they got too far.

         “Did you say a pizza box?”

         Lee grunted as he made his way down the next flight of stairs. “Yes, a pizza box. And whatever you do, don’t shoot the box, I’d bet money that’s where they’ve got the disk and we don’t know if they damaged the original software or just copied it.”

         “Copy that, Scarecrow, retrieve the box without damaging it. They’re out of the alley. Damn, where’d all these people come from?”

         “Do you have them in sight?” Lee closed his eyes and all but held his breath, hoping that Brady hadn’t lost them.

         “I see them, but I have to be careful, there are a lot of people around.”
         “Just keep them in sight.  Johnson and Duffy, head to your car and be ready to intercept. And Brady, I concur, let’s try not to shoot any innocent bystanders.” Lee made it to the ground level and headed out the back door.  Since he didn’t have a hope of catching up to Brady and the others, he could at least make it over to his car and see what he could do about stopping his leg from bleeding. He wasn’t going to call Billy until they had the suspects in cuffs, or all hope was lost.

         “They’re heading down K Street.”  Lee heard Brady’s sigh of relief. “There are less people around, should I try and take them down?”

         “Only shoot if you can get a clear shot, and only shoot to hinder their escape, don’t shoot to kill.” Not having worked with Brady very often, Lee hoped that the younger agent was as a good a shot in the field as he was in the shooting gallery.  The last thing he needed right now was more paperwork to deal with because one of the suspects was killed before any information could be extracted.

         “Freeze, Federal Agent.” Lee heard Brady repeat the same thing he’d shouted earlier. Putting pressure on the wound on his leg as he hobbled to his car, he hoped that his fellow agent didn’t meet with the same fate he had. 

         Lee strained his ears, wondering if he’d be able to hear shots being fired blocks from where he was.  Reaching his car, he tapped on the roof, impatiently waiting for a report from Brady. “Johnson, Duffy, what’s going on?”

         “We’re turning on to K now.  Oh no, that doesn’t look good.”

         Lee ran a hand through his hair and then, digging the keys out of his pocket, he unlocked his door. “What’s going on?”

         “Brady’s down.”

         Lee carefully climbed into his car. “Is he moving? Is he seriously hurt?”

         “He’s not moving, and I can’t tell from here how bad it is. We’re just pulling up to his location now.”

         “Any sign of the suspects?” Lee closed his eyes and prayed that Johnson would say yes and that he or Duffy was going off in pursuit; however, he didn’t think his luck was going to be that good.  He was getting tired of simple apprehensions turning into fiascos.  Billy was going to have his head for allowing a shoot out to occur on a public street.

         “Sorry Scarecrow, they’ve disappeared.”

         “Are there any stores or buildings that they could have run into?” Lee asked as he placed the key in the ignition.  Fortunately the bullet wound was in his left leg, so at least he was able to drive. “What’s your location?”

         “We’re on K street, at the corner of 21st.”

         “I’m on my way.  What’s the word on Brady?” Lee asked as he put the car in drive and headed out into traffic. He wanted to get to their location before a crowd started gathering.

         “It looks bad, Scarecrow, really bad.  I don’t think he’s going to make it.”

         Lee let out a sigh.  Billy was not going to be happy about any of this. Picking up his car phone he dialed 9-1-1.  His first priority was to get medical treatment for the member of his team that he was responsible for; his report to Billy was going to have to wait.

Chapter 3

         Amanda pulled her car into a parking spot right outside Marvelous Marvin’s and shook her head slightly smiling; luck definitely seemed to be on her side today.  First she’d gotten free parking in the garage near the Air and Space Museum because one of the attendants had accidentally hit her car.  He had barely scratched it, but still the garage manager wanted to make things right, and now, despite her misgivings for wanting to come to this particular eatery because of her last experience with Marvin’s, she had managed to get a spot right outside the restaurant.  She had a feeling that her two sons had secretly planned on eating at Marvin’s despite their earlier agreement to get deli sandwiches, especially since once they had left the museum, Phillip had instantly suggested Marvelous Marvin’s, and Jamie had readily agreed.  Despite their choice of a place to eat, she was seriously thinking about playing the lottery since her luck seemed to be so good. If she won, then she could treat Lee to dinner, rather than him always paying, even if he did insist because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. 

         Amanda chuckled to herself as she took the key out of the ignition.  It was funny how lately her thoughts always managed to turn to Lee.  She wondered how things were going on his current case and let out a small sigh. She hated not being involved when she knew he was working on a case, especially one that was supposed to be simple.  Oh well, she’d just have to settle for hearing about it tonight at dinner.  Smiling as she realized how much she was looking forward to their date tonight, she hoped that Lee was having the same kind of luck that she seemed to be having, and he would indeed have his case finished up in time and wouldn’t have to cancel.

         “Mom,” Phillip called to his mother as he stuck his head back inside the car. “Are you going to sit here all day?  I know you said you didn’t really want to eat here, but we don’t have money and we’re starving and we really want to eat at Marvin’s.”

         Amanda smiled at her eldest son. “Sorry about that Phillip. I just got lost in thought for a moment.” Checking her sideview mirror to ensure that she could safely get out of the car, she opened her car door and climbed out.

         “So we noticed.” Jamie rolled his eyes. His mother was getting ‘lost in thought’ a lot lately. In fact, ever since she came back from her latest business trip to California, it seemed she was daydreaming even more than usual. “How come you didn’t want to come here anyway?”

         “Yeah, Mom, how come?” Phillip asked as he held the restaurant door open for his brother and his mother. “Ever since you told us that you met Marvin Metz, you don’t seem to want to eat at one of his restaurants which to me sounds kind of crazy. If I’d met someone like Marvin, I’d want to eat here every day, just so I could brag about the fact that I’d met the man who created the place.”

         “He’s right, Mom, you keep finding excuses to go to other places.” Jamie stopped walking and looked at his mom seriously. “Is it because you found out how they make the burgers and it turned you off of them?”

         Amanda shook her head and ruffled her youngest son’s hair.  “No, sweetheart, nothing as drastic as that. I guess it’s just that during the convention we were filming, they served nothing but Marvin’s burgers, and I’ll gladly admit that I got a little tired of them.”  She hated lying to her sons, but telling them that the real reason she couldn’t face eating at Marvin’s anymore was because she had helped uncover a plot devised by a deranged Executive Assistant and the owner’s son to poison millions of people by substituting the special sauce on the new Colossus burgers with their own special recipe, and then she had been locked in a freezer and left to die because of that knowledge, probably wouldn’t have gone over too well. 

         Jamie nodded and shrugged his shoulders.  “Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense.” He then turned towards his brother. “So what are you going to order?”

         Phillip got in line and stared up at the menu board. “I think I’m going to get a Colossus Burger with extra special sauce, Jumbo Onion Rings and a Choco Blocko shake.”

         Jamie pushed his glasses up on his nose and concentrated on the menu.  “The Colossus sounds too big to me. I’d be full before I got through half of it.”

         “I agree with your brother, it looks awfully big and if you do manage to finish that you won’t have room for dinner later. How about you get something else, Phillip.” Amanda cringed and shook her head slightly.  Despite the fact that the secret sauce had been recovered, and none of the Colossus burgers had been poisoned, just thinking about what might have happened made her cringe.  She liked to live by the old adage that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

         “Aw Mom, I promise that not only will I eat all of the burger, but I’ll eat all my dinner and have room for dessert, too.” Phillip pouted his lips as he looked directly at his mother. “Please Mom. I really, really want to try it.”

         Amanda pulled out her wallet and sighed; she knew that she wasn’t going to win this battle, and perhaps she was being just a little paranoid.  “Well, if you really must have it.”

         Phillip beamed. “Thanks, Mom, you’re the best.”

         Amanda turned towards her youngest. “Have you decided what you want yet, Jamie?”

         Jamie nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ll get my usual.”

         “A Torpedo Burger with extra sauce?” Amanda smiled knowingly.

         “Yep, and a Jumbo Fabulous Fries and a Mega Mugga Cola.” Jamie grinned at his mom as his stomach started growling. “It’s a good thing we’re next in line, or I might fade from hunger.”

         Amanda chuckled as she glanced around the restaurant.  They had decided in the car after choosing to come here, that they would just eat the food at the restaurant since it always tasted better ‘fresh off the grill.’  Noticing that only a few tables were empty, she turned towards her sons, ready to recommend that they go secure a table, when she caught sight of two very out of breath white men entering through the front door.  Something about the way the smaller of the two was holding a pizza box tightly to his chest, and the other, taller man with lots of muscles, was glancing around nervously, put her natural instincts on alert.  If Lee were here, he’d probably tell her she was over-reacting, but then again, lately he had been praising her instincts more and more. Either way, she was going to keep her eye on them.

*****  *****

         Lee nodded his head slightly in thanks at the EMT as he closed the ambulance door.  Knocking on the metal just above the latch to let the technicians know the door was secure, he watched with a heavy heart as the emergency vehicle pulled away from the curb.  He may not have known Brady very well, but it always hit him hard when a fellow agent was fatally wounded. 

         “Scarecrow, what did the EMT say?” Johnson asked as he approached Lee.

         Lee shook his head sadly. “They confirmed your diagnosis.  They’re going to do their best, but they doubt he’ll be alive by the time they reach the hospital.  From what they could determine, the bullet ruptured an artery.”

         “So what’s our next move, Scarecrow?” Duffy twisted his hands together, ready to do battle. “Brady was a friend, and I want to find these guys and do some serious harm to the one who shot him.”

         Lee took a deep breath. “As much as I want to see these guys pay, we need to keep our heads in the game.  I’m going to go check in with Billy and see if we can’t get a few more agents to help us conduct a full-scale search.  However, until back-up arrives, I want you two to start searching the area.  Check out every building and shop between here and the next few blocks. I have a feeling they didn’t go far.  That disk is heavy, and unless they managed to commandeer a vehicle, they aren’t going very far on foot. We’ll keep in contact over mics.”

         Johnson nodded. “Should we split up?” 

         Lee shook his head. “No, stick together.  The big guy has already proved that he’s trigger happy, I don’t need any more casualties on this one.”  He watched as both men nodded in understanding and then started moving down the block, before turning and moving slowly back to his car. 

         Despite the wound in his leg, Lee was taking his time because he wasn’t looking forward to the upcoming phone call. He knew that his section chief wasn’t going to be happy about any of this. Having to give up a Saturday was bad enough, but having to deal with a dead agent was an entirely different matter.  This was supposed to be a simple capture, and he was getting extremely tired of simple turning into complex.  He knew one thing for sure, the next time he got a tip from Augie he was going bring out the militia as backup.  Augie’s tips usually were right on the money, but somehow it always caused him more headaches than positive results.   Glancing down the block to where his fellow agents were, he hoped they had luck finding the two suspects; however the way this day was going, those two goons were probably long gone.

*****  *****

         “Mom, you’re up.” Phillip turned towards his brother. “She’s daydreaming again. Must be a female thing.”

         “Yeah, Grandma does the same thing.” Jamie nodded in agreement. He tapped his mother’s shoulder. “Mom, it’s our turn to order.”

         Amanda, who had been pretending to read the menu while watching the two men out of the corner of her eye, turned towards her son. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She then moved to the counter and began giving the cashier their order. “We’ll have one Colossus with extra sauce, two orders of Jumbo Fabulous Fries…” she paused when she noticed a little boy, no more than five years old approach the two men.

         Herbie was staring at his brother in shock, unaware of their young audience. “I can’t believe you shot that man.” He whispered, and then lowered his voice even more as he fixed his brother with a hard stare. “Where did you get the gun, and why didn’t you tell me you had it?”

         Waldo shrugged as he continued to scan the crowd for anyone who might be one of those federal agents.  He had his hand inside his jacket, holding tightly to the now-concealed weapon, ready to pull it out if necessary.  He didn’t know how many federal agents were currently canvassing the area, but he didn’t want to take a chance that one of them had beaten them inside this burger joint. “Because, if I’d told you, you would’ve just freaked out.  It’s not like I planned on shooting that agent. I was carrying it so that we were protected later, when we met up with our contact.”

         “Excuse, me, Mister.” The little sandy-haired boy tapped the big guy on the arm. “Why did you guys bring a pizza into a burger restaurant?”

         A frantic looking woman ran up to the little boy. “Johnny, I’ve told you never talk to strangers.” She then looked up nervously at the big man. “I’m sorry about that.”

         Johnny turned towards his mother with a serious expression on his little face, and crossed his arms. “But mom, Tommy’s mom works for a Marvin’s and she was telling Tommy’s dad that the manager where she works once,” he twisted his face in thought as he tried to remember, “oh yeah gave someone the boot because they came in with food that wasn’t Marvin’s. I didn’t want to see them get booted. And they will you know,” he nodded his head seriously. “because he,” he pointed to the smaller man holding the pizza box, “brought in a pizza. And Mommy, he’s holding it wrong, all the cheese is sliding off the pizza.” He turned towards the two men, “Mister, don’t you know the right way to hold a pizza?”

         Waldo stared down at the annoying little boy. “Kid, I think you should listen to your mom, and not talk to strangers.”

         Johnny shrugged. “Why, are you going to shoot me like you shot that guy that I overheard him,” he motioned towards the other man, “say you killed?”

         “Johnny!” The boy’s mother’s eyes went wide and she wrapped her arm possessively around her son. “I think it’s time we go back to our food.” She then began to pull him back towards their table, never taking her eyes off of the two men as she went.

         “Mom, the big one has a gun, I saw it sticking out of his back pocket.” Johnny protested as his mother continued to drag him back to their table. “I was just going to ask him if I could look at it. I wanted to see if it looked like daddy’s.”

         Waldo’s eyes grew wide as he watched the woman heading for their table.  He didn’t see any sign of a man with them, but maybe he was in the bathroom.  Regardless, he wasn’t taking a chance. An older gentleman was heading their way, most likely trying to leave the restaurant, but Waldo stepped in front of him and pulled out his gun. “No one’s going anywhere. I suggest everyone move to a table and get comfortable. We’re going to be here for awhile.”

         Herbie’s eyes grew wide. “Waldo, what the devil are you doing? Shooting at federal agents was bad enough, hell, stealing this software wasn’t exactly a brilliant move, but now you’re adding holding innocent people at gun point to the list…”

         Waldo turned towards his brother. “I’m doing what I have to do to make sure that we don’t go to jail.”

         “And this is going to keep us out of jail…how?” Herbie closed his eyes and shook his head. “Waldo, sometimes I really don’t understand your logic.”

         Waldo shrugged and turned towards the woman, two boys and three cashiers at the counter. “I want everyone out front and seated in one of these tables where I can see them.  Tell your kitchen staff and any managers to do the same, and have someone bring a closed sign with them, unless you want more people joining our little party.” He waved the gun erratically in their direction and then turned towards his brother, pulling out the second gun from his back pocket. “Take this,” he shoved the revolver towards his brother, “put the box down and stand at the counter to make sure that no one sneaks out a back door.”

          “You want me,” Herbie stared at his brother with utter disbelief and pointed to the gun, “to take that?”

         Waldo glared at his brother. “Yes, Herbie I do. Now take it, or I swear there will be more than just those two federal agents as casualties.”

         Amanda’s heart ran cold at the idea that something might have happened to Lee. She prayed that he wasn’t one of the injured agents, the bigger man, Waldo, was referring to. Turning towards her sons, she looked at them with a calm expression. “Do as he tells you.”  She slowly walked with her sons towards a table, and as they passed the door leading behind the counter, it opened and a ton of employees started coming through.  She watched her sons approaching a table and, in the confusion of people, ducked down slightly, and slipped into the back.  She hid along the wall, out of sight, putting a finger up to her lips as the last few employees passed by her position.

         When the last of employees had gone through the door, Amanda closed her eyes as she listened to the frightened children crying on the other side, and prayed that her sons wouldn’t make a big deal about her being missing.  She knew she needed to find a phone and call the Agency, but if they were to alert the two men holding everyone hostage, her chances of success would be non-existent. Something about the way that smaller man was holding that pizza box protectively told her that there wasn’t a gooey delicacy inside, but rather something else.  She didn’t know exactly what it was, but since Lee had mentioned something about some software for the Army being stolen, it could very likely be a computer disk with a lot of top secret data on it. 

         Amanda made a quick glance around the room and saw a door just to her left marked ‘manager’ that thankfully was slightly ajar.  Bending down, she got on her hands and knees and slowly crawled to the door.  She looked briefly over her shoulder and could just make out the man the other one had called Herbie standing guard at the counter, standing very close to the pizza box now lying on the smooth surface.  Although she could see him, she hoped that if he looked back over the counter that he wouldn’t notice her, especially since the office wasn’t in a direct line of sight from the front of the restaurant. Quickening her pace, she made it to the office undetected and carefully pushed the door open just enough to squeeze through the opening.

         Once inside the office, Amanda stood up and, closing the door most of the way, breathed a sigh of relief.  The first part of her mission was complete, however, she realized, getting back out undetected was going to be harder.  She looked around the small office and saw a red Marvin’s blazer.  ‘Perfect,’ she thought to herself.  It was just the thing to make her blend in and, when she was done with her phone call she could leave the office and pretend to be a manager who wasn’t fully aware of the situation, coming out to discover why her employees had suddenly stopped working.  She just hoped that none of the actual Marvin’s staff made any kind of comment to blow her cover story.  Making her way over to the desk, she picked up the receiver and dialed the familiar Agency number.  As she listened to the familiar ringing, she kept her eyes on the door as she waited for the weekend switchboard operator to answer the phone.

         “International Federal Film.”

         “Yes, this is Amanda King,” Amanda spoke quietly into the phone. “I’m calling to speak to Mr. Melrose.” 

         “Hold on a minute please.” Amanda heard paper rustling and knew the operator was checking her list of names to find out if the person calling was cleared to be put through or not. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few seconds, the operator came back on the line. “Hold on a minute Mrs. King, I’m connecting you now.” She said a mental thank you and then waited for what seemed like forever while the call was being transferred.

         “Melrose.”

         “Sir, its Amanda. I don’t know how much time I have, because I may be caught, but I’m calling from a Marvelous Marvin’s on 23rd, about a block from K Street.  Two men just came in and are now holding everyone hostage.  I know this is more a call for the police, but, sir, one of the men, Herbie I believe his name is, is in possession of a pizza box that I think might hold the item that Lee was hoping to keep from being stolen today.  The other man’s name is Waldo, and I think they might be related, they kind of look alike, but they talk to each other like they are brothers.  Oh and have you heard from Lee? I’m really concerned about him because one of the men said something about shooting two federal agents, and not that I want anyone to be dead or hurt, but I was hoping that Lee was okay.”

         Amanda paused briefly as she heard the outer door slam open and knew her time was up. Without giving her boss time to respond to any of her questions, she began speaking again. “Yes, that’s right. We need fifty more boxes of burger wrappers, and sixty boxes of fry containers.” She looked up just in time to see the smaller man enter the office, shakily pointing the gun in her direction.

         “Hang up the phone, Lady.” Herbie tried his best to keep his voice calm.  He had never held a gun before, let alone pointed one at another human being. When the woman seemed to be hesitating, he drew on all his courage and aimed it at her head. “Now!”

         Amanda nodded and slowly placed the receiver back on the hook.  She hoped that Mr. Melrose had heard enough to know that she had changed her tactics because she had been discovered. “What’s going on?” She asked playing up her innocent manager cover. “I was on a very important phone call with our suppliers. If we don’t get those supplies, we’ll have nothing to wrap our food in.”

         Herbie groaned. “Lady, I don’t care who you were talking to, just come around the desk, nice and easy, and let’s go join the rest of the nice people out front.”  He watched as the brunette did as requested, and then, letting her get in front of him, he kept the gun trained on her as he followed her out front.  He watched this confident woman closely, unnerved by the fact that she seemed a little too calm for someone with a gun pointed at her.  In fact, the more he thought about it, he could have sworn that she was the woman who had been standing at the counter with two boys. He was beginning to have some serious doubts about whether or not she had really been on the phone with suppliers.  Then again, maybe he was just being paranoid, because no matter who she was really on the phone with, his future wasn’t looking very bright at the moment.

Chapter 4

         Billy rubbed his temples as he listened to Lee finishing up his report. “So, what you’re telling me is that we have two suspects, one of which we know is armed, running around D.C. with stolen data and I have one agent dead.

         “That pretty much sums it up.”

         Billy grunted and closed his eyes.  He had been right with his earlier suspicions.  This case had definitely gone to hell in a hand basket way too fast.  Opening his eyes he took a deep breath and focused his attention back to the phone. “How’s your leg Scarecrow? Did you at least have the medics look at your wound before they headed off to the hospital with Brady?”

         “Umm…well no.  It’s just a flesh wound, Billy.  I’ve got a temporary bandage on it now, and I promise to have it looked at… once we find these guys. Damn...I really screwed up and underestimated these guys.  I figured there would be one, maybe two men, but I never figured that a computer geek would come in armed just to steal some software.”

         “And you have no clue as to which direction they went after they shot Brady?” Francine asked, leaning forward in her chair.

         “Johnson and Duffy are searching the area on foot now, but they didn’t arrive on the scene in time to see which direction they went.  So, the answer is no, I have no clue.”

         “Well the best we can do…hold on a minute Lee, my other line is ringing.” Billy pushed the hold button and then clicked on his other line. “Melrose.” His eyes grew wide as he listened to Amanda ramble on the other end, and before he could reply that Lee was fine, he caught wind of her abrupt change in topic.  He listened helplessly as he heard one of the suspects ordering her to get off the phone and then the line went dead.  Taking a deep breath, he looked at his assistant who was watching him with extreme curiosity and then took Lee off hold.  “Scarecrow…”

         “It’s about time. The longer I sit here on my hands the longer those goons have to get away.”

         Billy leaned forward in his chair and spoke directly at the speaker. “Scarecrow, relax, we found your guys.”

         “You did…where?”

         “Well I didn’t personally, but they have been located. They’re holding up the Marvelous Marvin’s on the 23rd, just down from K Street…” Billy took a deep breath as he began the next bit, fully prepared for his best agent’s reaction. “…and Lee, there’s something you need to know, the person who just called in the suspects’ whereabouts…”

         “Let me guess…Amanda.”

         Billy could hear the concern in his agent’s voice, and he was surprised the agent wasn’t reacting more strongly.  Then again, he couldn’t see the other man’s face, and chances were good that Lee’s expression said a whole lot more than was being conveyed in his tone. “Yes, Amanda.”

         “Did she sound upset or say if anyone was hurt?”

         Billy shook his head. “She didn’t have time to give me a lot of details, but she didn’t sound too upset. Why?”

         “I know she was taking the boys downtown, so there’s a very good possibility that Phillip and Jamie are with her…”

         Billy smiled slightly as he realized that Lee wasn’t just concerned about Amanda, but about her boys too, and despite the dire circumstances they were currently facing, it warmed his heart a little to know that Scarecrow might not be a confirmed bachelor for long. “She was discovered before I could ask or tell her anything.  She was able to give us the location and even the first names of the suspects.  She said the man named Herbie was in possession of a large pizza box which she was suspicious of, that’s why she called me, rather than the police.”

         “How does she do it?” Francine asked as she stared at her boss. “How does the little housewife always manage to wind up in the middle of an Agency case?  She can’t even stay out of trouble long enough to buy burgers for her sons.”

         “I’ll get Francine started on researching the list of employees the CEO of Strategic Software gave us earlier.  See if we can discover exactly who these guys are.” Billy picked up the piece of paper containing the list and handed it to the blonde.

         “Billy, there’s no guarantee that either one of them actually work for Strategic Software.”

         “I know, but it gives us something to work with, especially since one of them had to have a key card to access the building.” Billy pulled out his desk drawer and removed his copy of this weekend’s active duty roster. “While she’s doing that I’ll assemble a backup team to meet you a block from the Marvin’s.  I don’t want to spook them by having a whole bunch of cars show up.”

         “I suppose we should notify the local authorities.”

         “Might not be a bad idea. Besides they’ll be able to help you enforce some crowd control.” Billy nodded thoughtfully. “We probably want to find a way to keep anyone else from going inside the restaurant.”

         “Make sure they send plain clothes officers. I don’t want a lot of uniforms spooking them into shooting a hostage or two.”

         Billy shook his head in his assistant’s direction. “Thank you, Scarecrow, but I don’t get paid the big bucks for nothing.”

         “Sorry, Billy.  Look I’ll work with Johnson and Duffy, perhaps we can set up position on the corners near the Marvin’s and direct folks away.”

         Billy pulled his address book out of his top drawer and began flipping through it, looking for his contact’s number at the police station downtown. “Scarecrow, once the police show up and or the backup, depending on who gets their first, I want you to go down to the Marvin’s and go in as a customer.  This is your case, so I want you on the inside…”

         “Billy, I can’t go in. I’m still wearing the janitor uniform I used as a cover at Strategic Software, and even if you had someone bring me a change of clothes, there’s too great a risk that they’d recognize me, and the trigger happy goon will definitely decide to start shooting innocent bystanders.”

         “Point taken, Scarecrow.” Billy let out a frustrated sigh. “That probably means that there’s a chance they might recognize Duffy and Johnson, too.  Damn. I really want to keep this in our hands, I don’t want to turn it over to the police. They’re strictly to act as backup to help keep onlookers out of harm’s way.” He glanced over at his assistant as an idea instantly popped into his head. “Francine, I’ll have one of the skeleton crew down in research look over that list,” he nodded towards the paper in her hands. “I want you to head downtown, you can go in instead.”

         “Billy, Francine can’t go in there, she’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

         Francine had been ready to protest the assignment before Lee had interjected, but now she felt like she had something to prove. “I would not stick out.”

         Lee’s laughter came over the line. “Oh yes you would, Francine.  Aside from the fact that you don’t dress like someone who would go into a fast food joint, you hate those places.”

         “Hey, I can dress like a frumpy housewife,” Francine stood up from her chair as if Lee could see her and placed her hands defensively on her hips, “and may I remind you that I am a trained agent, and I can blend into any situation, at any location, just as well as…no, actually, better than half the agents in this place.”

         “Just don’t over do it this time Francine. Not all housewives are frumpy, nor do they all wear curlers, and the ones who do, don’t usually go into a fast food joint wearing them.”

         “Ha, ha, very funny Scarecrow.” Francine relaxed her arms and then stared curiously at the phone. “Just out of curiosity, are we talking about any housewives in particular?”

         “Francine, we’re wasting time.  Go get ready and get down here as fast as you can. I’ll meet you and anyone else from the backup team on the corner of K and 24th. Scarecrow out.”

         Francine glanced up at Billy as the dial tone echoed over the line and shook her head.  She knew that there were a lot of things she could use against her friend, but the one she enjoyed most was teasing him about his partner.  Glancing down at her current designer outfit, then back up at her boss. “I guess I should go visit wardrobe.”

         Billy waved her towards the door.  “Fine, fine, whatever, just do it now and get moving.  We can’t afford to waste anymore time, which means just choose an outfit, don’t spend an hour making sure everything matches.” He watched his assistant nod as she turned to leave and then picked up the phone to dial his buddy downtown.

*****  *****

         Amanda discreetly put a finger up to her lips as her youngest son started to ask her a question, and then turned her attention back on the two men holding them hostage. Fortunately for her, after Herbie had led her out of the back, one of the only available seats left empty now that all the Marvin’s employees were out front, was at the same table as Phillip and Jamie.  She turned her head slightly when the bigger of the two men glanced at her suspiciously.  Glancing out the slightly darkened window, she wondered if any of the few passers-by could see inside.  She didn’t know whose idea it had been to pull the restaurant’s sun shades down over the windows, but between them and the closed sign on the door, no new patrons seemed to be coming inside, which was probably a very good thing.

         Waldo looked away from the brunette and whispered to his brother. “What was she doing back there?”

         Herbie shrugged. “She was on the phone, supposedly with some suppliers. She’s obviously a manager, or something, I wouldn’t worry about it.” He sighed, he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure his brother or himself. “We have bigger things to worry about, like what we're going to do now, Waldo.  Are we just gonna hang out here, in this burger joint, holding these people hostage and hoping that the cops don’t show up or those federal agents don’t find us.  You do realize that they’ve got to be searching the area for us, don’t you?”

         Waldo glared at his brother. “Shut up Herbie! I need time to think because I have no idea what to do.  I didn’t plan any of this.”

         Herbie glanced down at his watch. “You do realize that unless we come up with something soon, we’re never going to make that meeting with your contact.”

         Waldo spun on his brother. “Don’t you think I know that?”  He let out a frustrated groan as he began walking back and forth in front of the double glass doors.

         Phillip leaned over and whispered to his brother. “You know the one named Herbie reminds me more of that dude from those books, than his brother Waldo does.  I think their mom got their names mixed up when they were born.”

         Jamie chuckled silently. “Oh yeah, ‘Where's Waldo’, I love those books.”

         Phillip nodded. “No kidding dorkus. I’ve known you to spend hours with your nose pressed to the pages just trying to find the guy.”

         Jamie narrowed his eyes. “Hours, ha, that’s a good one, lamebrain. I can find Waldo in no time at all. You're just mad ’cause you can never find him.”

         Amanda stared at her sons and whispered between clenched teeth, “Knock it off you two.” she glanced briefly at the two men holding them hostage, making sure that her sons’ banter hadn't been overheard, then, assured that neither man was looking their way, she turned her attention back on her sons. “We’re in enough of a situation as it is without you two starting on each other and making it worse. Now keep quiet.”

         Jamie looked at his brother and then, along with Phillip, nodded.  He then leaned across the table towards his mother, “Mom,” he whispered, “what were you doing in the back?”

         Amanda shook her head. “Not now,” she replied under her breath, barely moving her lips when she noticed that Waldo was once again looking in their direction. Not wanting to make any kind of eye contact with the large man, she quickly looked away from her son and out the window. Catching sight of the back end of a familiar silver corvette parked around the corner, she felt a wave of relief flow through her.  She knew instantly that Lee was okay, and that he was out there, most likely commanding the rescue team, and she knew that everything was going to turn out okay.

*****  *****

         Lee hobbled as best he could with his injured leg to the corner, stopped, nodded briefly at the plain clothes officer working that corner instructing passers-by not to go into Marvin’s and then looked one way, then the other. Not seeing any sign of the familiar red car, he let out a frustrated groan and ran his hand through his hair.  Glancing at his watch, he checked up and down the street one more time and growled as he turned to head back towards Duffy and Johnson. “What the devil is taking her so long?  The cops have been here for twenty minutes and there’s no sign of Francine or the Agency backup.” 

         Duffy took one look at Scarecrow’s face as he approached them, and abruptly looked away.  His partner, on the other hand, wasn't used to dealing the highly excitable agent, and before Duffy could warn him, he had opened his mouth and inserted his foot.

         “If they don’t get here soon, one of us is going to have to go in to Marvin’s or risk losing the suspects and the software.” Johnson glanced at his watch and then back at Lee.

         The vein in Lee's neck began pulsing and as he was about to rip the young agent a new one, he caught sight of Francine rounding the corner, and limped off in her direction.

         Duffy turned towards his partner and shook his head.  “Remind me, later, when this case is over to give you the low down on working with Scarecrow.”

         Johnson looked at Duffy with a very confused face. “I was just telling him like it was.”

         Duffy shook his head. “Rule number one, you never tell Scarecrow anything, especially the obvious.” He then turned to watch the scene that was taking place just a few feet away.

         “What the hell took you so long?” Lee pointed towards his watch as he approached his friend. “Do you realize that any number of things could be going on in that restaurant, and other than knowing that our suspects are in there, holding a bunch of innocent people and one agent…”

         “First off, I had to find a place to park, and the closest I could find, I’ll have you know, was about five blocks that way,” Francine pointed in the direction she had just come, “and secondly, Amanda is not an agent, she just barely qualifies as civilian auxiliary.” She glared at Lee. “But knowing how protective you are of her, I'm surprised you haven't gone in there with guns blazing.”

         “She’s my partner Francine…” Lee gritted his teeth and then, as he took in the blonde's attire for the first time, his expression softened and he did his best to suppress a grin. “What are you wearing?”

         Francine glanced down at her sweatshirt and jeans. “Hey, I'm blending in.”

         Lee choked back a laugh has his gaze fell on her Levi jeans. “Didn’t think you owned anything that didn't have a high profile designer label on it.”

         Francine narrowed her eyes at her co-worker. “Can it Scarecrow.” Turning she started walking towards the other two agents. “So what is the plan? Or have you three just been shooting the breeze waiting for me to show up?”

         Lee followed after her, gritting his teeth against the pain in his leg as he increased his speed to keep up with her. “We’ve been discussing our options.”

         Duffy shook his head and let out a short laugh. “Don’t believe a word he’s saying, Desmond. Once the cops showed up to man the corners around Marvin’s, Scarecrow spent the rest of the time hobbling from one end of the block to other, waiting for you to show up.”

         Lee glared at Duffy, then turned his attention back on Francine. “Okay, fine, we haven’t done anything other than twiddle our thumbs.  There wasn’t any real point to putting a plan together, since none of us can go in there, He glanced behind the blonde, searching for the rest of the backup team. “Where’s the Agency backup?”

         Francine waved her hand in the air. “They’re not far behind me.  Billy had some last minute instructions to give them.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly. “You know how he gets, but he told me to head over to make sure that you didn't go in and try and rescue Amanda and everyone else single-handedly.”

         Lee glared at the blonde. “I am a professional, Francine. If I’d wanted to go in on my own, I wouldn’t have agreed to wait for you to arrive. But I know exactly what’s at stake that’s why I told Billy I couldn’t go in, in the first place.  In case you haven’t noticed,” he motioned towards his overalls. “I do stick out just a little so I really didn’t want risk innocent lives just so I could play the hero.” Truthfully, he wasn’t so much worried about the two goons recognizing him, as he was about letting Phillip and Jamie see him.  Although he wanted a relationship with Amanda, he wasn't ready, nor did he think she was ready for him to be introduced to her sons. And even when they were ready for that step, he definitely didn't want to meet them for the first time in the role of an agent; that would let her secret life out of the bag, big time.  He was fortunate that the boys had been too excited to see their dad, to pay too much attention to him that day in the gym when he’d helped save them from Prescott, but he didn’t want to take a chance that they might recognize him now. Turning his attention back on Francine, he handed her one of the little mini-mics his team had been using. “Put this on, and do your best to keep me posted.  I want to know if there are any casualties, and then let me know the minute we can come charging in.”

         Francine took the device and pinned it on the underside of her collar. “I promise to let you know your partner’s condition as soon as I get in there.” She smirked and then turned and began walking in the direction of Marvin’s. “Wish me luck.” She commented over her shoulder as she pulled a few strands of hair out of her ponytail, giving her hair a more ‘harried’ look.

         Lee watched as she turned the corner, and though he had a strong desire to follow her and find out for himself if his partner was all right, he knew that it could jeopardize too many lives if he did that. Instead, he turned towards the other two agents. “Let’s discuss strategy. I want to have a plan ready when the backup arrives,” he glanced at his watch, and then up and down the street, “if they arrive, and I want to be ready to move in the minute Francine gives us the all clear.”

*****  *****

         Amanda’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the blonde woman approaching the front doors and she quickly looked away, hoping that Waldo and Herbie wouldn't catch the look of recognition on her face.  Assured that her game face was safely in place, she glanced back towards the doors and silently groaned at her friend’s attire.  Francine was wearing an oversized red UVA sweatshirt, a pair of Levi’s that were one size too big and a pair of red tennis shoes.  However, what had really made her cringe was the frazzled ponytail tied with an orange scrunchy.  All but that last item could be overlooked, but even Francine had enough fashion sense to know that orange and red clashed. What was she thinking?  When this was over, she was going to have to have a very serious conversation with Francine on what the ‘average’ housewife really wore.  She sighed to herself and shook her head slightly; at least the blonde’s current attire was better than rollers and a head scarf.

         Waldo turned as he heard the door behind him open and glared at the blonde woman who had just entered. “Can’t you read lady, the sign on the door says ‘closed’. Oh well, it’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention,” he said with a smirk as he aimed his gun directly at her chest. “You really should have chosen somewhere else to eat, but since you’re here, you can join the rest of the hungry burger lovers.” He waved his gun in the direction of everyone else seated at the various tables. “There’s an empty seat next to the brunette, take it.”

         “Oh, oh my, you’ve got a gun.” Francine put on a nervous face, and seeing the wild eyes of the big man waving his gun wildly in front of her, she slowly walked over to Amanda’s table. She hoped her little act was convincing and that she hadn’t overdone it. She was trying very hard not to appear too confident, and make either of the two men suspicious. As she sat down in the empty chair next to the brunette, she glanced around and noticed the frightened faces of the various employees and patrons.  Adjusting her purse strap on her shoulder, she pressed gently on the mic she’d hidden under her collar. “No casualities, just a lot of scared people.” She spoke in a barely audible voice as she leaned close to Amanda. “Francine Diamond.”

         Amanda picked up the hint as she noticed the blonde’s gaze glancing down at her purse strap and realized that Francine was talking to the rescue team, and knowing that Lee was out there, probably worrying about her, she smiled slightly and nodded. “Amanda King.”  Then, noticing the fact that the blonde’s face was almost devoid of make-up, she had to stifle a laugh.  She didn’t think she’d ever seen the blonde agent so dressed-down.

         Waldo stormed over to the table. “When I told you to sit down, Blondie,” he aimed his gun directly at the newcomer, “that wasn’t an invitation for you to strike up a conversation.  Now keep your trap shut.” Hearing a little girl behind him start to wail, he spun around and glared at the woman he assumed was the toddler’s mother. “Shut that kid up, Lady.”

         Herbie walked over to his brother and placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Waldo, she’s just scared and you hollering and waving your gun around isn’t making things any less frightening.”

         Waldo took a deep breath and then glared at his brother before turning his attention back to the two women at the table. “You,” he pointed towards Amanda, then turned towards another gentleman wearing a red blazer, “which one of you has a key to lock that front door? I don’t want anyone else coming in.”

         Amanda glanced towards the man she knew was the real manager, and hoped that he did have the key, because she knew that she didn’t.  She also hoped that he didn’t happen to mention the fact that she wasn’t really a member of the staff.  She had been lucky so far, that neither her sons, nor any of the other patrons and Marvin’s staff had mentioned that fact, and prayed that they were all too scared to really notice or were just choosing to keep that little tidbit to themselves. Whatever the reason, she hoped that her luck continued to hold out.

         “I…h..have..have..it.” The brown-haired manager stammered nervously as he stood up slowly and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. 

         “Good, bring it here and let’s lock the front door, then you’re going to show me where the back door is and we’re going to make sure that one’s locked as well.” Waldo watched the nervous manager fumbling with the keys and groaned audibly. “How hard can it be to lock a door?” He reached out and grabbed the keys from the man. “Just show me which key.” 

         “It’s this one.” The frightened manager pointed to the requested key. “Are…are you going to give…give me those back? I’ll get fired if…if I let anything happen to…to them.”

         Waldo locked the door and then, ignoring the other man turned towards his brother. “We’re going to the back, do not let anyone talk or get up, just keep everyone quiet while I’m gone. Do you think you can do that?”

         Herbie nodded as he watched his brother pushing the scared manager towards the back.  He looked around the room at the faces of their hostages and wondered how things had gone so wrong so fast.  He had always been an upstanding citizen. He paid his bills on time, helped old ladies cross the street, fed stray cats that found their way to his fire escape, and most important of all, he never stole.  His eyes fell briefly on the pizza box on the counter and sighed, until now that was. It was bad enough that he had allowed his brother to talk him into stealing the targetting software, but now he had been bullied into holding up a burger joint, of all places.  He had always been the level-headed one of the family, and his brother, although he had a gambling problem, had never used a gun, let alone killed anyone before, at least not to the best of his knowledge.  Noticing his brother returning with the manager, he saw the haunted look on Waldo’s face and began to suspect that maybe this wasn’t exactly new territory for his brother as it was for him.

         “Can I have the keys back, please?” The manager begged the big hulking man.

         Waldo sneered at the dark-haired frightened man. “I don’t really have a need for them, sure.” He threw the keys at the manager as he shoved him back towards the tables. “Now, go sit back down and be quiet.” He then walked back over to where his older brother was manning the door.

         Herbie didn’t like this side of his brother at all and, as he began wondering exactly what else Waldo might be capable of, he started to fear for the safety of all these innocent people.  His thoughts strayed briefly to the memory of the agent they’d left for dead on the sidewalk only half an hour ago and he knew, as he glanced around at all the young children, that he needed to come up with a solution to get his brother as far away from here as possible and soon, before someone else got hurt.  “I think we need to start figuring out how we’re going to get out of this.”

         Waldo glared at his brother. “Don’t you think I know that? Do think I’m not aware of the mess we’re in.” He threw up his hands in the air in frustration and then brought the hand holding the gun back down and waved it towards the counter. “We’ve got a hot computer disk, the feds are looking for us, a terrorist is waiting for something he might never get,” he pointed the gun towards the hostages, “and a room full of people who don’t want to be here any more than we do.”

         Herbie took a deep breath and looked at his brother calmly. “Which is exactly why we need to figure out what our options are.”

         Waldo grunted and turned to glance out the double glass doors. “Our options? You think we have options.” He turned back around and stared at his brother disbelievingly.

         Herbie nodded. “Yes, Waldo, we do. The way I see it, we have two choices.  We can either take the software, slip out the back and try to get away before the feds can find us, or,” he shrugged his shoulders non-committally, “we can stay here, holding all these innocent people hostage, and be sitting ducks.”

         Waldo let out a sigh and looked once at the disk, then at all the scared faces in front of him and then back to his brother. “I don’t know Herbie, all these people have seen our faces and if we go with your first option and slip out the back with the disk, one of these so-called innocent people is going to be on the phone to the cops the minute we’re out the door. I agree with you, we need to get out of here, and the sooner the better, especially if we still want to meet up with Mr. Birol’s man, but we need some sort of insurance policy, something that’ll ensure us safe passage, especially if we run into the feds…or the cops.”

         Herbie could almost hear the wheels turning in his brother’s head and he had a feeling that he knew exactly what type of insurance policy Waldo had in mind.  Closing his eyes briefly, he looked back at his brother and replied, hesitantly, “I suppose we could take one of these folks along as a hostage.”

         Francine saw this as her cue, and knew that if anyone should be their hostage, it was her. Clearing her throat, she slowly stood up. “If I could make a suggestion?”

         Waldo spun around and glared at the blonde. “A suggestion,” he looked the woman up and down and wondered if today was just her laundry day, or if she needed some serious help in the clothing department, “from some grad student with absolutely no fashion sense, sure go ahead.  I can’t wait to hear this.”

         Francine glanced briefly down at her attire.  She knew that it wasn’t the best outfit, but she hadn’t had a lot of time to rummage through the racks back at the Agency, and this had been the first thing she’d found that enabled her to ‘blend in’. So, doing her best to ignore the barb about her lack of fashion sense and avoiding looking at Amanda, who was most assuredly smirking, she looked hesitantly back at Waldo. “Well, I don’t really have any place to be, and most of these people look like they have children to look after or restaurants to run, why don’t you take me as your hostage?”

         Waldo looked at the blonde suspiciously, and then down at the brunette manager sitting beside her.  She was the woman that Herbie had found in the back, and who he could have sworn had been standing at the counter with the two boys now seated in front of her when they had come in.  He had a feeling that if anyone were going to call the cops on them, it would be her.  He glanced back at the blonde and shook his head. “Good suggestion, Blondie, but I think we’ll take her instead.”  He’s eyes focused on the brunette as he moved menacingly towards Amanda, his gun aimed in her direction. “Up, nice and slowly, Mrs. Manager, you’re going to join my brother and me on a little adventure.”

         Amanda watched this man advancing towards her table, with his gun aimed very close to her sons’ heads and slowly rose from her seat.  She briefly smiled at her two boys, hoping to convey to them, without words, that she was going to be okay. Without another moment’s hesitation, she moved around the table and allowed herself to willingly be taken as a hostage.  She knew that Lee was outside somewhere, and that Francine had a way of communicating to him, and that neither the blonde nor her partner was about to let anything bad happen to her.

Chapter 5

         “Thanks Officer Monroe, that information helps, though at this point I’m not really sure how.”  Lee nodded in appreciation as the young cop walked across the street to relieve the posted officer on the corner.  Though he had a handful of cops and agents doing quick walk bys in front of Marvin’s, the constant need to have them change outerwear to avoid being recognized wasn’t sitting too well with him.  Tapping his fingers in frustration against the hood of his ’Vette, he wished he had given Francine the full open mic, rather than the single one-way communicator, but he hadn’t wanted to risk either one of their suspects overhearing something and automatically suspecting his co-worker of being anything other than a poorly dressed Marvin’s patron.  The silence, however, was driving him nuts.  As if reading his thoughts, his car phone began ringing, and he reached inside the passenger window and removed the handset. “Stetson.”

         “What’s going on, Scarecrow.” Billy’s impatient and worried voice came over the line. “I expected a status report twenty minutes ago.”

         “Sorry, Billy, but I didn’t want to call unless I had something useful to tell you.” Lee opened his car door and gently lowered himself down onto the seat.  His leg was killing him, and spending half the day standing on it wasn’t helping any. 

         “Is there anything you can report?”

         Lee nodded, forgetting briefly that Billy couldn’t see him. “Agency backup has arrived, so between them and the plain clothes cops, we’ve managed to keep people away from the restaurant, as well as off the street across the way.”

         “Won’t that seem suspicious to the two men inside Marvin’s, if no one walks past?”

         “No, because we’ve set up a rotation of cops and agents, who mill past the restaurant, and,” Lee repositioned himself so his leg was elevated slightly on the curb, “they’re doing a quick wardrobe swap of various jackets and hats, just enough to keep from looking too familiar.” 

         “Have any of them been able to get a good look inside?”

         Lee shook his head. “Not really, apparently Marvin had sunshades installed on the windows and someone instructed that the shades be pulled down, giving the windows a very tinted look.  According to one of the officers, it makes it very hard to see inside, unless you’re passing by the glass front door, which now appears to be locked. I guess Francine’s impromptu arrival forced their hands and they locked the door.”

         “Have you heard anything from Francine?”

         “Not since she first went in about twenty-five minutes ago.” Lee ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “She managed to convey that no one was injured, but that was about the long and short of it.”

         “Is there a back door, a way for you to sneak in undetected?”

         “Yes, and it’s locked as well, but we’ve got that door covered…with five men. I’m not taking any chances this time.” Feeling a cramp in his leg, Lee readjusted his position again. “If they sneak out, we’ll be ready for them.  I don’t plan on letting them get away again.”

         “Sounds like you’ve got things pretty well handled, well as much as you can, given the restraints you’re under. All right, contact me if you hear anything from Francine. Oh before I forget, we think we know who the two men are.  Assuming that the name Amanda gave us is someone who works for Strategic Software, then his name is Herbert Tippesh. He’s the only Herbert in the entire company, and has worked there for five years. If our information is correct, then the other man would be his brother Oswald. Not sure what knowing that will do for you, but it might come in handy if you need to negotiate for the hostages.”

         Lee closed his eyes and did his best not to think about having to negotiate for anyone, especially his partner. “Thanks Billy. I’ll contact you if anything new develops. Scarecrow out.” He placed the receiver back on its base and then, glancing at his watch, gritted his teeth as he slowly rose from his seat.  He was going to give Francine ten more minutes, then he was going to figure a way in through the back door, even if it meant trying to pick the lock himself.  He knew one of the agents back there had tried, but apparently it was one of those deadbolt locks, the kind that was impossible to pick. He didn’t care about impossible anymore, because what little patience he had left was almost gone.  He hated not knowing what was going on. He had breathed a brief sigh of relief when he’d heard Amanda’s confident voice earlier, and knew that, at that point in time, she was fine, and since they hadn’t had any reports of gun fire, he had to believe that she, and Phillip and Jamie, were still okay.

*****  *****

         Amanda stood silently beside the big hulking Waldo with the barrel of his gun pressed into her side. She fought the urge to look over at her sons, knowing that one look at their scared or worried faces would weaken the calm she was putting every effort into keeping.

         Waldo nodded to his brother. “Okay, Herbie, grab the disk and let’s go.” He watched as his older brother moved over to the counter and then turned towards the other patrons.  “If we hear even one single siren, this pretty lady’s gonna buy the farm, and I don’t think any of you want that on your conscience, so I suggest that no one call the cops after we leave. Just go about the rest of your day like none of this ever happened.”  Assured that his brother had the box safely in his possession, he began leading their single hostage towards the back. 

          Amanda walked silently beside Waldo, keeping her eyes focused ahead. Noticing a bottle of ketchup sitting very close to the edge of the table they were passing, she prayed for a distraction, anything to divert Waldo’s attention away from her.  Suddenly, as if in answer to her prayer, the young boy Johnny, who was sitting at the table in question, accidentally dropped his drink; the contents spilling out right in front of them.  When Waldo glanced down to avoid stepping on the ice and lemonade now forming a large puddle on the floor, she grabbed the bottle of ketchup and brought her foot forward, tripping the big man. As he reached over to grab her, in order to steady himself, she squeezed the plastic bottle, spraying the red liquid in his face and pushed him away.

         “What the…” Waldo hollered as he fell spread-eagled onto the floor.

         Phillip, who had turned to watch with worry and fear as his mother was being led away at gunpoint, observed his mother’s fast thinking and instinctively stuck out his foot as Herbie walked past. 

         Jamie noticing the second man falling, picked up a bottle of mustard from the table, and just as his mother had done, sprayed Herbie in the face. “Take that.”

         Phillip smiled and grabbing his Chocko Blocko Shake, tore off the lid and dumped the contents over the smaller man’s head.

         Francine, who had briefly stared in shock at the chaos ensuing, pulled her gun out of her purse and ran over to the now floundering Herbie. “Federal Agent. Drop your weapon.” As Herbie did as she asked, she bent down, never breaking eye contact with her man, and picked it up.  “Now, down on your stomach and place your hands behind your back.” She pulled out her cuffs and, as he complied, she clasped them around his wrists.  Standing back up, she placed her foot on his back, ensuring that he wasn’t going anywhere.

         Little Johnny, thinking this was all a lot of fun, grabbed his mother’s large milkshake and tossed the contents at the other man’s chest. “Yeah…take that, mister.”

         “Cool,” a young girl in the back cried out, “food fight.” She picked up a handful of fries and threw it across the room.  And suddenly, in response, a chorus of “food fight” echoed through the room, as various items of food began hurling through the air.

         Amanda, afraid that the little boy might get hurt if Waldo should decide to blindly take aim, quickly stepped in front of him. Noticing that Waldo was using the hand holding the gun to support himself as he wiped the chocolate and ketchup out of his eyes, she brought her foot up and slammed it down on his gun hand.

         “OWWW!” Waldo turned his head in the direction of his hand, then did his best to focus on his assailant.  “I think you broke my fingers. Lady, you’re going to regret that.”

         Amanda quickly bent down and picked up the gun.  She then gingerly aimed it at Waldo. “Not as long as I’m holding the gun, I won’t.  Now, over on your stomach, with your hands spread out in front of your head.” While she watched with calm resolve the big man doing as she asked, she dodged to the left as a bunch of Jumbo fries flew in her direction. 

         Francine glanced behind her and, seeing that Amanda had the other man under control, removed one hand from her gun trained on Herbie, and pressed the little mic at her collar. “Suspects have been apprehended, time for the clean up crew to come in…and boy do we need a clean up crew!  Better bring your mop with you, Scarecrow.”  She turned her head towards the manager.  “You have the keys to the front door, correct?” At his affirmative nod, she continued, “Good, then unlock the doors so the police and federal agents outside can come in and pick up this scum.” She ducked just in time to miss a flying onion ring, only to be hit, square in the chest, by a flying chocolate shake.

         Amanda watched the young man unlock the door and then, no sooner had he had stepped back into the restaurant, than the glass door swung open and a horde of agents came rushing in.  She glanced around briefly and saw that her two sons were now engaged in a little food war in the corner and then turned her attention back to the agents filing in, her eyes scanning the group looking for the familiar face of her partner.  The minute she caught sight of him, their eyes locked and they smiled at each other.

         “When I said bring in the crew, I didn’t mean an entire football team, Scarecrow.” Francine shook her head as she removed her foot from Herbie’s back and two agents bent down to pull the man up. 

         Lee shrugged. “Well you weren’t too specific when you asked for the clean up crew, Francine.” Glancing down at the mess on her shirt, he grinned openly. “Guess I see why, now. You’re doing a great job of blending in, and I must say this new look really suits you.”  He then made his way over to Amanda who had just passed the gun she’d been holding on the suspect over to Agent Duffy. “You okay,” he asked in a quiet voice, aware that even though they appeared to be distracted, Phillip and Jamie weren’t far away.

         “Yeah, I’m fine.” Amanda nodded and laughed as she glanced at the ketchup that had splattered on her pants when she’d sprayed Waldo and then reached up to pull a fry out of her hair. “Though, I could definitely use a shower.”

         “Personally, I think you look beautiful just the way you are.” Lee whispered as he smiled, then a little louder, he added, “Francine, on the other hand, could probably use a good hose down.”

         Amanda glanced over at the blonde just in time to see her hurtle a strawberry shake in their direction and as she jumped slightly to the left the shake hit an unsuspecting Lee directly in the chest, sending strawberry shake cascading down his jumpsuit and splashing up onto his face.

         “Nice aim, Desmond.” Agent Johnson nodded as he passed by Francine, dragging a now cuffed Waldo towards the door.

         “I didn’t get high marks in the shooting range for nothing.” Francine grinned satisfactorily as she called after him, but her grin quickly faded when another chocolate shake smashed right into her head, sending chocolate goo through her hair.

         Amanda took one look at two of the Agency’s finest, covered in glop and couldn’t contain her laughter any longer.

         Lee wiped some of the strawberry shake off of his face and glancing briefly around to make sure that Phillip and Jamie were still distracted, he reached over and spread some pink cream onto his partner’s face. He grinned wickedly when Amanda narrowed her eyes at him, and had a feeling that she would find a way to get even with him later.  Keeping half an eye on her so that he could be ready in case she decided to retaliate now, he turned towards the blonde. “Francine, didn’t anyone ever tell you that chocolate should be eaten, not worn?”

         Francine ran her hand through her hair, and then shook it off as she tried to get some of the shake out of her ponytail. “You’re one to talk, Scarecrow, though I must say, pink with those baby blue overalls, gives you a kind of patriotic look, too bad it’s not the Fourth of July, you’d be a perfect addition to any parade.” She grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and began brushing some shake off her sweatshirt.  “Besides, I’ll take chocolate over strawberry any day.  Pink just doesn’t match my complexion.”

         Lee grinned. “Yes, but what is it that they say about chocolate?” He paused as if thinking of the answer and then snapped his fingers, “that’s right, isn’t it ‘once on the lips, forever on the hips’?” He turned and winked at Amanda.

         Amanda did her best to stifle a giggle and prayed that Francine wouldn’t think that she had anything to do with her partner’s last comment.  “Lee…,” she began admonishing him and then remembering the pizza box, she glanced over the counter and saw that it was still there, untouched, except for all the food lying on top of it. “Don’t forget that.” She nodded with her head as she pointed towards the box.

         Lee followed her gaze. “No definitely don’t want that falling into the wrong hands.”

         “You’ll have to tell me later, exactly what’s in there.” Amanda smiled, then, noticing Agent Duffy standing at the door writing down information from the various Marvin’s patrons who were all very eager to leave, she turned back to her partner. “Do you need me to come down to the Agency today, and you, know, give you a statement?  I don’t mind, but I’ll have to figure out…”

         Lee shook his head, and interrupted what he was sure would end up being one of her infamous rambles, “Normally I’d say yes, but since you’re not alone,” he nodded his head in the direction of her sons, “you can come in and give your statement tomorrow, I’ll clear it with Billy.”

         Amanda smiled in thanks. “I guess you probably have a lot to do, cleaning up and everything?” She glanced around to make sure that none of the agents were too close to overhear and then, just to be safe, lowered her voice, “Do you want to postpone dinner?”

         Lee shook his head again. “Not a chance. But we might want to make it a little later, say around eight, just to give me, and you, time to get good and cleaned up.”

         Amanda nodded. “Okay, eight it is then.” She turned and grabbed a few napkins from a nearby table. “Speaking of cleaning up, you probably want to get some of that strawberry off your clothes before you get in your car.” As she handed the pieces of paper cloth to Lee, she did a quick scan of his clothes and suddenly noticed that not all of the stain on his jumpsuit was pink, and that a portion on his upper leg was a dark reddish color. Her eyes grew wide, and she glanced back up at her partner, concern written on her face. “Lee, you’re hurt.”

         Lee, although touched by her concern, was very aware of their audience and not wanting to make a big deal about his leg, shrugged slightly. “Amanda, I’m fine.”

         Amanda narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “Lee Stetson,” she hissed out, “That’s blood, and I know you, you haven’t had it looked at by anyone, have you.  I think we need to change our plans, at least until you’ve had that leg checked out.”
         Lee looked up at the ceiling and then took a deep breath. “Amanda, really, I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound, and I promise to have the Agency medics take a look at it, later, okay. I’ll even bring a doctor’s note home with me.” Noticing Amanda’s two sons heading their way, he let out a sigh of relief at the reprieve and clearing his throat, whispered as he tilted his head in Phillip and Jamie’s direction, “see you at eight.” He then turned to go and retrieve the pizza box.  He shook his head as he approached it; the entire box was covered in burgers and sesame seed buns.

         Amanda quickly turned her head and seeing what had Lee so abruptly turning away, she began walking towards her sons. Even though she wasn’t done scolding her partner for being so cavalier about his wound, and would have liked nothing better than to finish their discussion, she knew that now was definitely not the time. Her first priority was to catch up with Phillip and Jamie before they got too close and managed to get a closer a look at Lee.  She wasn’t ready for her two worlds to collide just yet, and she really didn’t want either of her sons remembering Lee from the day in the gym a few months ago when Joe had returned.  When they met Lee, she wanted them to think of him as just an average guy and a film-maker, not some cool, worldly spy.

         “Mom, can we leave?” Jamie asked as he finished wiping his glasses off on the only part of his shirt that wasn’t dirty.  Placing them back on his face, he looked at his mother questioningly.

         “Yeah, Mom, do the feds need to talk to us, or can we go?” Phillip brushed some ketchup off of his pants with a napkin, then tossed the dirty rag into the trashcan. “I don’t mind if we do, it might be cool to actually be able to say that we were interrogated by real life James Bonds.”

         Amanda reached over and brushed a piece of onion ring out of her oldest son’s hair. “No, sweetheart, these agents only need to question the adults.  I asked one of the agents, and he said that they’re taking names and numbers at the door,” she nodded towards Duffy with his clipboard, “and they’ll contact everyone to arrange a time to come down to the local police station for questioning.”  She’d have to remember to ask Lee later tonight to arrange for someone call to set up her appointment, after she finished scolding him properly for not taking better care of himself.

         Amanda glanced around hoping to make eye contact with her partner one more time before leaving, but noticing that he was engaged in conversation with the real manager of Marvin’s, she remembered that she was still wearing one of the restaurant’s red blazers.  Removing the now food stained article, she laid it on one of the chairs closest to her, and then sighing, she glanced back at her sons. “I think it’s time we head home, don’t you? If we don’t get home and get cleaned up soon, we’ll never be able to get the smell of fries and burgers out of our clothes and hair.” She smiled as she realized how much food her sons were wearing. “You two are a mess.”

         “You not too clean yourself, Mom.” Jamie replied, laughing at the fries sticking out of various points of his mother’s hair.

         “Yeah, you look like you went rolling around in the fry basket.” Phillip laughed along with his brother.

         “More like had the basket thrown at me.” Amanda chuckled as she pulled two more French fries out of her hair, then glancing around at the mess on the tables, chairs and floor, she shook her head.  She didn’t envy the poor Marvin's employees who were going to have to put in a lot of overtime to do the cleanup. “I know one thing’s for sure I don’t think I want to see another hamburger as long as I live.”

         Phillip stared at his mother in shock. “Mom, you can’t be serious.”

         Amanda wrapped an arm around each of her sons’ shoulders. “Okay, maybe not quite that long, but I definitely don’t want to see another burger, or the inside of a Marvelous Marvin’s, for a very long time.”  She meant the last bit seriously; she’d had enough bad experiences in connection with Marvin’s to last her a lifetime. Shaking her head, she began leading them towards the door.  Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, she glanced briefly behind her and then removed her arms from around her sons’.  “You two head out to the car, I need to give my name to the agent at the door.”  She watched as both her boys walked out the door, and then turned around to face her partner.

         Lee pulled another fry out of her hair and, leaning close, whispered, “I guess there goes our meal of hamburgers and wine.”

         “Oh, I’m sure we can come up with something else.” Amanda smiled and winked, then turning back around, she headed for the door.

         Lee smiled as he watched her retreat, and then, as he caught Jamie’s voice carrying through the open door, his smile grew wider.

         “Hey Mom, where’d you learn how to hold a gun like that?” Jamie asked as he waited for his mom to dig the keys to the car out of her purse.

         “Yeah,” Phillip nodded his head. “You were so calm, like it was no big deal, especially since you’re always telling us to be careful around weapons of any kind.”

         Amanda unlocked the back door to her car and then, glancing briefly back towards the agents milling inside and out of the restaurant, turned her attention back to her sons and shrugged. “I guess I just remembered something from all those female detective shows you make me watch.”

         “And you always said that we can’t learn anything from TV.” Phillip chuckled as he climbed into the car. “Wait till we tell Grandma, she’s going to be so upset that she missed all of this.”

         Amanda groaned inwardly as she walked around to the driver’s side of the car.  She wasn’t looking forward to the twenty questions, or the grief that she was going to get from her mother once Dotty learned all the details from her grandsons. 

*****  *****

         “This is Terry Duncan, reporting to you live from right outside the Marvelous Marvin’s on K Street in Northwest D.C., where, earlier today, two unidentified men held thirty people hostage.  Due to the quick thinking of one hostage, the authorities were anonymously notified in a timely fashion, and the area around the restaurant was quickly secured.  There were no reported casualties, unless you count the food used in what can only be described as a food fight.  Authorities aren’t saying why the two men chose this particular Marvin’s, however, earlier today gun fire was reported in the M Street block of 21st, where one man was shot and killed; authorities, however, refuse to comment if the two incidents are related.  Now back to you, Bob.

         Thank you, Terry. Coming up next on the five o’clock news…”

         “Bumbling idiots.  Never trust Americans to do a job properly.” The dark-haired, dark-skinned man glared at the television for a split second and then lowered his gaze to the photo in his hands and tightened his grip on the telephone receiver as he spoke, “You are positive that the man in this photo is the man you saw at Strategic Software and then again in charge of the law enforcement at the hamburger place?” When the person on the other end provided him with a positive confirmation, he swore, “harrah,” and threw the phone across the room. He tightened his grip on the photograph in his hand and glared down at it with a calculating look in his eyes. “Scarecrow, always the Scarecrow.  Such a thorn in my flesh.  One of these days, I will find your weakness and pluck you out.  Then you will never again spoil my plans.”

Epilogue

         Lee smiled at his date as he watched her across his dining room table, delicately trying to pick up a piece of lettuce from her salad.  He watched her bring it to her lips and wished that it was his lips hers were touching, rather than the greenery.  Remembering that they were still taking things at a somewhat slow pace and that he had really only kissed her for the first time last night in her back yard, he shook his head slightly to bring his thoughts back down to earth.  He couldn’t believe that he had been so stubborn and blind to what had been right in front of him for so long.  The time he’d wasted…seeing Amanda’s hand waving gently in front of him from across the table, he smiled somewhat sheepishly. “Hmm…did you ask me something?”

         “Actually,” Amanda’s lips turned up in a slight smile as she shook her head. “I didn’t say anything, yet.  You just seemed a million miles away, and I was just wondering if someone was still in there.”

         Lee picked up his knife and fork and began cutting into his steak. “Sorry about that, got a little distracted.” He grinned and winked at her.

         Amanda felt the color rise in her cheeks and focused back on her salad. “I’m sorry that we had to change the menu, but I just didn’t think I could handle burgers tonight.”

         Lee smiled knowingly as he picked up his wine glass. “That’s okay, after witnessing the mess first hand, I don’t mind the change at all. Besides, I think steak goes much better with wine than hamburgers, anyway.”

         “So, you never got around to telling me why someone who worked for a company for five years would turn around and betray them like that.” Amanda put her fork down and picked up her own wine glass. “I got the impression that Herbie, he’s the one that you said worked for Strategic Software, didn’t really want to be in the position he was in today.”

         “Well Oswald and Herbert were just pawns and not really all that important in the grand scheme of things. Apparently Oswald owed a somewhat unknown terrorist by the name of Addi Birol for some markers he’d bought.” Lee dipped his roll into the steak juice, soaking up the remaining liquid. “According to both men’s statements, if Oswald didn’t come through, this Birol, who’d bought his markers, threatened to kill their mother.”

         “So he basically did it to help his brother out, and to keep their mother alive.” Amanda let out a sigh, mixed with understanding and sadness. “I guess where family’s concerned, people really will do almost anything. What’s going to happen to Mrs. Tippesh now, especially since this Addi Birol didn’t get his software?”

         Lee smiled at the worried look on Amanda’s face. Her concern for others, even people she’d never met before, was one of the things he found to be one of her most endearing qualities. “We’ve arranged for Mrs. Tippesh to be moved to a new location and given a whole new identity.  She wasn’t happy about it, but the fact that she’s not going to die of unnatural causes seemed to be the final persuading factor.”

         Amanda let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. You know,” she glanced up at Lee with a slightly sad expression. “I can’t help but wonder, though, why anyone who calls themselves an American would even get involved with a terrorist, in the first place.”

         Lee shrugged his shoulders slightly. “If it makes you feel any better, Oswald didn’t go directly to Birol.  Oswald apparently has a bit of a gambling problem, and from what he told us, he didn’t know Birol was a terrorist.  He told us that he had some suspicions, but wasn’t entirely sure.  After reviewing both brothers’ statements, we’re pretty sure that Birol bought Oswald’s markers because he’d somehow found out that Herbert was Oswald’s brother.”

         “And I’m guessing that Herbert had bailed his brother out before, and that’s what this Birol was counting on.” Amanda glanced at Lee somewhat curiously. “You said Birol was fairly unknown, does that mean you’ve heard about him before?” She asked as she picked up the last piece of her steak with her fork.

         Lee nodded. “We haven’t heard much about him, just a few whisperings. From what we could uncover, though, he’s pretty much a small fish in a huge pond, and this is the first time we’ve actually come across someone with ties to him.  This was a pretty big move on his part, which leads me to believe that he’s looking to become a bigger fish.  We definitely want to keep our eyes and ears open with regards to this Birol.”

         “I guess it’s a good thing you got that software back, in the wrong hands…” Amanda knew she didn’t have to complete her thought. Instead she put her empty salad plate on top of her dinner plate and picking them up, she rose from her seat and made her way into the kitchen.

         Lee nodded as he picked up his own plate and, rising from his chair, grimaced as the pain from his wound shot through his leg.  He glanced up and was thankful that Amanda’s back was to him, he wanted this evening to be enjoyable, and he didn’t want her to have to worry about him all night. Placing most of his weight on his good leg, he gingerly made his way into the other room. “Yeah, I hate to think of what would happen if someone like Birol got their hands on plans for the Army’s new missile targeting software.” He waited for Amanda to finish placing her dishes in the sink, before adding his own.  Standing at the sink, he turned the water on. “So, how are Phillip and Jamie holding up?”

         Amanda turned and made her way back into the dining room. “Fine. Just fine. I think the food fight helped lighten the seriousness of it all.  Of course my mother didn’t find any of it funny.” She picked up the empty salad bowl and walked back into the kitchen.

         “I bet your mother had a million questions.” Lee glanced over at Amanda as she placed the bowl on the counter.

         “A zillion is more like it.” Amanda shook her head and went back into the dining room to retrieve their wine glasses. “She didn’t particularly like the part about me leaving the boys alone out front just to make a phone call.  She thinks I need to stop watching James Bond movies. Between this and the incident with Professor Zernov, she thinks I’m beginning to forget how to draw the line between reality and fantasy.” She placed the empty wine glasses down next to the sink. “She reminded me several times before I came over here that I’m a mother of two boys who works for a film company and that I’m not John Wayne.”  She sighed as she picked up a dishtowel from the counter.

         “I know it’s hard not being able to tell people about the Agency, but don’t let it get to you.” Lee finished washing the plate in his hand and passed it over to Amanda.  Noticing the almost sad look on his partner’s face, he turned off the water and gently removed the plate and towel from her hands.  Placing them on the counter, he placed a finger tenderly under her chin, forcing her to look directly at him. “Besides, John Wayne can’t hold a candle to you, at least not when it comes to being a spy.”

         Amanda let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, John Wayne never played a spy…intelligence operative, that is.” She smiled knowingly at Lee.

         Lee grinned. “Exactly, he was a cowboy…and you’re not just a housewife and mother. You’ve got great instincts and you’re a wonderful partner.” He watched as her cheeks turned a rosy shade and smiled at how it made her look exceptionally beautiful. Leaning down he placed a tender kiss on her lips. As he pulled back, he noticed a slightly haunted look in her eyes. “So, how are you holding up?”

         Amanda shrugged and tilted her head slightly. “Oh, fine. It’s not like I’ve never been in that situation before.” She chuckled at the irony of that statement. “If you asked me two years ago, I never would have said that being held hostage wouldn't faze me in the least, but now…” she shrugged her shoulders and left the rest unsaid.

         Lee brought her palm up to his lips. “I know you better than that, Amanda King, and considering the fact that your sons were involved, this isn’t something that you can just brush aside as a normal, everyday occurrence.” Without releasing her hand, he lowered it down when he felt her shudder slightly.

         Amanda sighed at the feelings of warmth from the simple touch of Lee’s hand. “I guess, the truth is, that I haven’t given myself a chance to really stop and think about it.  The minute I saw those two men, my instincts took over and I just acted.  Then when I saw your car and again when Francine showed up, I knew things would end up okay.”

         Lee wrapped his free arm around Amanda’s waist and pulled her to him. “It’s okay to admit you were scared, you know.” Placing a kiss on her temple, he let go of her hand and embraced her loosely.

         Amanda chuckled as she brought her arms around Lee’s back, enjoying the closeness. “I think I was too busy putting on a brave face for Phillip and Jamie, to really concentrate on being scared, not even when Waldo chose me to be their single hostage.”

         “You really are becoming quite the intelligence operative.” Lee winked and smiled. “Even Francine thinks so.”

         Amanda raised her eyebrows and smirked at him, disbelievingly. “Francine? You’re joking right?”

         Lee shook his head. “No seriously. She said that you didn’t even flinch when they singled you out, and that you did some quick thinking by grabbing that ketchup bottle.”

         Amanda shrugged. “Well, it was the only weapon available and I probably would have chosen that over a gun anyway.”

         “That’s what Francine said.” Lee laughed. “She said, and I quote ‘This is Amanda King we’re talking about, she’ll turn any everyday item into a weapon.’ But seriously, she was really impressed with you. She said you kept your cool the entire time.”

         “Well I had a good teacher.” Amanda smiled at Lee. “I can’t believe that Francine Desmond actually paid me a compliment.”

         Lee smiled at his partner. “Whatever you might think of Francine, she will always give someone credit where credit is due.”

         “Guess I can fool even the most seasoned agent.” Amanda let out a small sigh and shook her head gently. “All I could think about, while Waldo had his gun on me, was what was going to happen once we get out the door. I knew that you were out there, and that you probably had a couple of agents guarding the back door.  But I didn’t know if Francine would have time to warn you that they had a hostage with them, or that that hostage was me since Phillip and Jamie were listening and that she couldn’t let on that she knew who I was…and since she couldn’t do that, what if one of the agents saw the door opening and suddenly got trigger happy…”

         “But that didn’t happen. Besides…” Lee’s voice was soft and tender as he brought a hand up and gently caressed Amanda’s cheek. “You know I would never let anything happen to you, don’t you?”

         Amanda felt her cheeks getting warmer and lowered her eyes slightly. “Yeah, I know.” She glanced up at Lee and their eyes locked. Leaning into him, she watched as he brought his lips down to meet hers and she closed her eyes in anticipation. Suddenly, she felt him sway and opening her eyes, she caught the sight of the grimace that crossed his face and she instinctively tightened her arms around his waist to steady him. “Oh, Lee. I forgot about your leg.  We need to get you off of it.”  Removing one arm from around his waist she turned to help guide him out of the kitchen.

         “A-man-dah.” Never letting go of her, Lee held his position and ran his now free hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m fine.  I just lost my balance a little.”

         Amanda shook her head and turning, pointed a finger into his chest. “No way, Buster. You got shot and you need to rest your leg or it won’t heal properly.” She nudged him a little and put a step forward. “Now, I’m going to walk you into the other room, get your leg propped up on a pillow, then I’ll come back in here and finish these dishes.”

         Lee let out a huff of frustration and then, realizing that he had a bargaining chip, he shook his head. “Unh-uh.” Seeing Amanda’s expression become more determined, he smiled at her. “I promise to go sit down and put my leg up…only,” he curled his lips into a pout, “if you join me.”

         Amanda let out a long sigh. “Lee, I can’t just let these dishes sit. If you don’t wash them right away, they crust over and then you have to soak…” Her words were cut off when Lee captured her lips with his.

         Lee turned to wrap his other arm around Amanda, momentarily forgetting that he didn’t want to put any pressure on his injured leg and abruptly ended the kiss when pain shot up through his left side. “Okay, you win. I’ll get off my leg.”

         Amanda regained her composure and leaned in to support Lee. “Good.” She smiled with satisfaction as she led him out of the kitchen. Realizing that Lee was leaning into her a little more then she expected, she shook her head with concern.  “How did you manage to get shot anyway?” 

         Lee shrugged slightly. “I let my guard down. I figured they were both computer geeks, so I never expected either one of them to be carrying concealed weapons.”

         Reaching the couch, Amanda shook her head as she helped ease Lee down onto the cushions. “That’ll teach you never to underestimate a suspect again…especially since one of them wasn’t a computer geek at all.” 

         “Hey, what’s one more scar.”  Lee joked lightly as he watched Amanda head into his bedroom to retrieve a pillow.

         “Lee Stetson.” Amanda admonished as she came back into the living room, with Lee’s pillow in hand. “Wounds of any kind are serious, and shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially not in this business.”  She walked over and placed the pillow on the coffee table, then bent down to help raise Lee’s leg up.

         “You’re right, but if I dwell on the more dangerous aspects, then I can’t effectively do my job.” Lee reached out and pulled Amanda down onto his lap.

         Amanda leaned forward, trying to get her feet back on the ground.  “Lee…the dishes…”

         “Can wait.” Lee wrapped his arms around her tightly to keep her from escaping. “Amanda, if I’ve learned anything from my years in this business, it’s that if I don’t seize the moment, something always comes up and the moment’s gone.” His voice took on a deeper tone as he gazed into her eyes. “Especially when the moment concerns you and me.”

         Amanda leaned back against him and readjusted to get more comfortable.  Seeing him wince slightly, she tried to pull back up. “Maybe this isn’t the best idea.”
         Lee only tightened his arm around her more. “I like this idea just fine.”

         Amanda looked at Lee with a hint of concern as she gently touched his injured leg. “Does it hurt a lot?”

         Lee shrugged. “I’ve had worse, a lot worse. I compare this one to a bee sting.”

         “A bee sting indeed.” Amanda shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You sound like Phillip when he twisted his ankle after he fell off his skate board last week and then tried to shrug it off as nothing just so he could go play basketball.” She chuckled as she remembered the incident. “Do you know he actually told me that if he were younger, he’d have just asked me to kiss the booboo and make it all better. He’d told me that’s how much it didn’t hurt.”

         Lee waggled his eyebrows. “I like that idea, and I don’t think I’m too old for you to kiss my booboos.”

         Amanda felt herself getting a little warmer and was pretty sure her cheeks reflected the warmth she felt. “Well, you know, if it weren’t so high up on your leg, I’d be all too happy to oblige.”

         “Oh, I don’t think it being on my thigh should stop you.” Lee grinned devilishly at the brunette in his lap.

         Amanda swatted him playfully. “Get that mind out of the gutter right now, Lee Stetson.” Afraid that her eyes would betray the fact that she wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted Lee to get his mind out of the gutter, she focused her attention on a button on his shirt.  The idea of kissing him anywhere that wasn’t normally hidden by clothing wasn’t exactly something she was opposed to at all; however, she knew that their relationship was still in the early stages, and she wasn’t ready for it to move to that level, at least not yet.

         “Okay, my mind is leaving the gutter,” Lee smiled and winked. “But, since you won’t kiss my wound, can I at least request a kiss on the lips?”

         Amanda nodded and leaned forward. “That is one request I would be more than happy to grant.” 

The End