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“Amanda?  Is that you?”

“Yes, Mother.”  She entered the dimly lit kitchen.

“How was your date with Mr. Stetson?”  Her mother set the teapot on the stove and lifted her cup, pinning Amanda with a questioning look.

“It was very nice.  He took me--” The sound of footsteps trudging down the stairs saved her from further explanation.  At least for now.

“Mom?”  Jamie called, from the top of the landing. 

“What are you two still doing up?  Do you have any idea what time it is?”  She knelt in front of her sons and felt each of their brows, certain that they were coming down with something. 

“Phillip has something to tell you.  Now you're gonna get it!”

She looked to her oldest son.   What had happened now?  “What's the matter, sweetheart? What's wrong?”

“I . . . opened the present.”  She could see the remorse in his eyes.  Or was that fear?

“What present?”  She had no clue what he was referring to.  His birthday was too far off to start shopping so soon. 

“The one on the dining room table.”

“You mean the one I put out to be mailed?”  Now she understood. 

"Just like you did last Christmas, remember?"  Jamie nudged his brother.

"Jamie, sweetheart."  She glanced at him and then turned her attention back to Phillip.  "Was that the one?"

"Yes."  Phillip's voice was barely above a whisper.

”How much did you see?” 

“All of it, I guess. Just a little, old, crummy music box.”

“Right. Uh, the--the music box.”  Music box?  What on earth would a bunch of spies want with a music box?

“But I'm not the one who broke it!  It didn't work before I shook it!  Just a little, old card fell out.”

“A card.  What kind of a card?”  What would a broken music box have to do with the deaths of Lee’s friends?

“Just a little card, with a little bit of writing on it.”

After he’d recited everything he’d seen on the card, she hugged them both and dashed up the stairs.   Her mother’s voice drifted up the stairs. 

“Now, Phillip, you know you aren’t supposed to go snooping in other people’s things.  Right, Amanda?  Amanda?”

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After running to her room and shutting the door behind her, she picked up the phone and dialed Lee’s apartment. 

“Hello?”

“Lee, it’s Amanda,” she gasped. 

“What’s wrong?”  He sounded worried.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong.  I just ran upstairs, so I could call you and tell you the good news.”

“What news?”

“After you dropped me off tonight, the boys came downstairs and told me that Phillip opened the package before it was mailed.  You know, I can’t believe he did that, after he got caught peeking in last year’s Christmas presents.  Oh, I was so angry with him for that.  He promised he’d nev--”

“A-man-da!  What did he see?”

“Oh, right.  Sorry.  Inside was a broken music box.”

“A music box?”

“Right, and there was a card inside the box.  It read ‘Duck a la Nathan Hale, Valley Forge Flapjacks, Pilgrim’s Peach Puff.’”  She was so proud of her son for remembering everything on the card.  He has a great memory, just like me.

“That’s it?”

“What do you mean ‘that's it’?  Doesn't it mean anything?”  She thought for sure he’d know what it meant. 

“No.”

“No?”  It had to mean something.  Why else would people be risking their lives for it?  She even had her life threatened over it.  It had to mean something to someone! 

“Oh, I mean, I'll run it through our code department, but to tell you the truth, it doesn't help an awful lot.”  She could hear the disappointment in his voice.  She really thought this was the break he was looking for. 

”Oh.  I thought it would.”

“I know, I know.  And I appreciate it.  Believe me.  But, Amanda, I think you ought to stay away from all of this.  People in my business have years of training.  It could get dangerous.  Even worse, you could screw things up.”

“Oh, well, I certainly wouldn't want to do that!  Would I?  I mean, look, I'll be glad to stay out of it. You think this is fun for me?  Ha!  That's a laugh.  I was only trying to help you keep your job.”

“I've got my job.  Billy just called and wants me back.  Another murder tonight.”

“Another agent got killed tonight?”  They were starting to drop like flies.  Did she really want to be involved with a man in this line of work? 

“Jeffries.  An awful nice guy, too.  The night before, it was Fielding in Portland.  Anyway, they're giving me another assignment tomorrow.”

”Well. You'll be careful, won't you?”  She couldn’t help but let her motherly instincts emerge. 

“Of course.”  Somehow, that didn’t comfort her. 

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Lee could hardly believe it.  He wasn’t sure if he was more happy or angry to see her there.  How did she know to find him at the Colonial Cookery compound?  Was she his guardian angel, or a test of his patience?   His captor turned to see what had caught his attention.  Luckily, Amanda had ducked down, out of his view.  Then the man shoved him into the helicopter. 

“Freeze!”

What did she think she was doing?  Didn’t she know this guy had a gun?  He knew at that moment, she was no guardian angel; she was definitely a test of his fleeting patience. 

When the man turned toward Amanda, Lee seized the opportunity.  The goon whirled toward Lee, only to receive a swift kick in the stomach. 

Amanda ran over and fumbled with the knot.  “That is what you say, isn’t it?  ‘Freeze!’?”

“Yeah, usually when you’re armed.  Untie me!”  He turned around so she could get a better angle on the knot. 

“Oh, Lord!  The Killick Hitch!”   

He saw the other goons rushing down the hill.  “Oh, boy!  Come on!  Come on!  Get in!  Get in!    Come on!”

 Apparently Amanda finally saw the men headed toward them, guns drawn.  She ran around the front of the ‘bird’ and jumped in the pilot’s seat.

“Feet on the pedals!  Right hand on the stick!  Left hand down on the throttle!”

She looked at him incredulously.  “Why?”

“We’re flying!” he said, calmly.   

When the goons started shooting at them, she took his advice.  Oh, God!  This is gonna be interesting!  “Here, I'll do the pedal.  More throttle!  More stick!  Let's get this thing up!”  He heard his voice crack.  At that moment, he wasn’t sure if they would make it back on the ground in one piece.  Between the enemy agents and Amanda’s flying, it was going to be a bumpy ride. 

“Look out!”

“We’re losing altitude!  Pull up!  Throttle!  Look out!

“I hate this!”

“Why are we going back to the house?”  Didn’t she know that’s where the shooting was coming from?  “Pedal!”

“Pedal?”

”No, not that pedal!”

“Which pedal?”

He saw the men milling about the estate.  They seemed to be having trouble with their car.  “It's lucky their car conked out.”

“Lucky nothing!  I put sugar in the gas tank!  Phillip did it once to Dean's car, it's never been the same!”

Who the hell was Dean?  Never mind.  He was impressed by her forethought.  He knew he had great taste in women!  Just then she sent them into a tailspin, and he nearly lost his lunch.

“Sorry!  I’m sorry!” 

Once they were back on course, Lee saw the men had decided to take Amanda’s station wagon, since theirs wasn’t going anywhere. 

“How am I doing?”

He closed his eyes tight, trying to keep his equilibrium.  “You're doing just fine!”

“Open your eyes!”  Damn, she was on to him. 

He opened his eyes in time to see Mrs. Welch shooting at them from the car.  “Look out!  Pedal!  No, not that pedal!”

“I don't know which pedal!”

Lee could hear the nervousness in her voice and hoped that they’d be able to land soon.  He looked over at her, getting a real glimpse of her for the first time. 

“What are you wearing?”  She looked like an overgrown Girl Scout. 

“What do you care?”

 Don’t make her lose focus, Stetson.  You want to land safely, don’t you?

“Whoa, look out!”  He felt his stomach drop once again, as the helicopter changed directions.  They were so low the helicopter nearly touched the roof of the car below them.  “We’ve got to be doing something wrong here!”  They just kept spinning, around and around.  “We’re losing altitude!  Pull on the throttle!”  They both screamed as the car sped toward them.  “Throttle!  Throttle!”  Suddenly the helicopter lifted up and over the car, which ended up driving off a cliff. 

“We got 'em!  We got 'em!”  He could hear the excitement in her voice.  

Looking down, he saw the damage to her car.  “Gee, I'm sorry about your car.”

“My car?  Oh, what am I going to do?”  She looked so sad.  He’d talk to Billy about getting her set up with a loner car while hers was being fixed. 

“Land?”  He said, shakily.  “Oh, Lord,” he muttered to himself.