Disclaimer: All characters are property of Shoot the MoonEnterprises and Warner Bros Television.
With my stories a honor the work of all people, especially Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson, who made this show a memorable part of my life.

Authors Note: This is my very first fanfiction I ever wrote.
I never did this before, neither in German nor in English.
But one morning I woke up with an almost complete story on my mind, and as I could not stop thinking about it I decided to write it down. Meanwhile it has been reviewed and I decided to publish it on . Thanks to my backstage beta who encouraged my to this step.
As English is only my second language please be lenient in case of minor mistakes.
But of course, I really appreciate any constructive comments and suggestions.

Thursday Afternoon

It's Thursday afternoon, about 4:00 pm. Beautiful, warm weather outside. Amanda is doing some housework when the phone rings.
„Hello"

„Hey, it's me, Lee. I need you."

„I need you, too," she answers lovingly.

„No, not this way, it's business," he replies.

„Oh, well. I have a lot of work to do here. We had Phillip's birthday party yesterday. You can't imagine what a mess 15 teenager can create on one afternoon. It looks horrible. Mother is at NFABW, and the boys will be back from school soon."

„What is NFABW ? - wait, don't tell me. It's really urgent and it won't take more than an hour. Meet me at the parking lot of the agency," he hangs up without waiting for an answer.

Amanda stares at the phone in her hand. „What was that?" she sighs.
She grabs her blue jacket from the wardrobe („never trust the weather forecast," she learned from Dean) and leaves a note.

IFF called
back at about 6 pm
love U all, Amanda

As she arrives at the agency, Lee is already waiting for her.

„Hello, how are you? Sorry, but there was no time for further discussions. Let's take a walk, it isn't far away from here." He kisses her quick for welcome and they walk towards Montrose Park nearby. When they approach there, a little temporary funfair has been built all over the park, and because of the early time it's not very occupied.

„Oh, that's nice. I liked it, when I was a kid. I really enjoyed the ghost train and the bumper car with dad," Amanda remembers. „I should come here with Phillip and Jamie when they are back on Sunday."

They walk towards the center of the field where the toilet trailers are established.

Lee explains,"Go inside and do what ladies do. When you return, there'll be a toilet attendant. Hand her a $100 bill and ask, if she can help you with Mr. Franklin."

Amanda interrupts him. "But Lee, nobody would pay this service with a $100 bill. That could be suspicious. And beside that I don't have a $100 bill. What does it look like?" she adds jokingly.

Lee shakes his head and fetches a stack of bills from his pocket, handing her a $100 bill. „Amanda, look. Normally, this 'lady' is a pickpocket. She got the key by accident, and when she found out what it is about, she called the agency. She's a contact, and $100 is the fee."

„Ohh, I understand," she replies. „What key?"

Lee sighs. „Ok, listen. You just give the bill to the lady. She'll complain but return a handful of coins

together with a key for a lock box at the train station. Just take it and come back here. That's all!"

"That makes sense," she answers.

Amanda turns around to walk towards the ladies toilet trailer but stops and turns around again when Lee says," And Amanda, whatever happens, keep calm!"

Amanda nods and continues her walk.
A sign above the door says:

This is a private cleaning service.
For your convenience we would appreciate a fee of ct50

„Nothing is for free," she thinks and enters the room.

As she can't see anybody, she goes ahead to check her make-up and wash hands. Nothing special happens and she returns to the exit. An older woman, not very tall, with grey hair is standing there, turning her back on Amanda.

She proceeds and says: „Sorry, Ma'am. Could you help me with Mr. Franklin, please? I don't have any coins."

When the woman turns around, Amanda freezes and shouts out loud „MOTHER !"

Then she whispers: „What are you doing here? We are not that short on money that you..."

But she remembers what Lee said, „ What ever happens, keep calm!"
„I'm sorry. Of cause, you're not...but you really look like...Ok, could you please help me with this?" She shows the 100$ bill.

The woman gazes at here making a gesture to soften her voice and not to screw up the whole drop. She takes the bill and returns a hand full of coins and the key as expected. Amanda takes it and returns quickly to Lee.

Lee has been waiting outside, face in his hands, shaking his head. He heard Amanda shouting out „MOTHER !"
He remembers the exchange with the Hungarian defector that looked like Francine. He should have known...

When Amanda approaches him, she complains with loud voice: „DID YOU KNOW...?"

„Sure, I did," he answers indifferent. "But I thought with the experience from the exchange of Magda Petrak you would be able to handle it. So, do you have the key?"

It takes a while for Amanda to settle down and not to explode. „You should have told me...!" Then she hands the key to Lee.
"What about the coins?"

„Keep them for yourself, it's just a few dollars," he replies.

Amanda places the coins into a small pocket of her purse.

„So, we're going to the train station now?" she asks.

„No, I'll walk you to your car and you'll drive home. Picking up a package from the train station isn't that exciting," he assures her.

„But you'll never know what may happen," she raises an objection.

„You said you have a lot of housework to do. So we'll meet for regular work at the agency tomorrow," he insists.

"Ok," she replies unconcerned.

They both walk back to the agency, holding hands, while they can feel unobserved for a short time.

As Amanda gets back home, the boys have returned from school and Dotty is preparing for dinner.

„Hi, folks. Mother, how was your meeting with Neighbors For A Better World?" she questions.

„It was quite ok," Dotty answers. „We are addressing a petition to stop sea pollution."

„Oh, that's great. Where did you meet?"

„We met at Mr. Fletcher's house down the street. Why are you asking?"

„Oh, just... asking. Nothing special," Amanda replies and starts over cleaning the den.