Billy dimmed the lights to the conference room making the projection coming more into focus; a handsome, yet hard-looking man's image now shown clearly on the screen before them. He seemed to be a man in his late 40's with jet black hair and ice blue eyes that penetrated you as you looked at them. His face was tan yet very weathered looking. His affect was that of discomfort and anger.

"Max Kahn" Billy stated. "Responsible for last month's bombing of a girls' day school in Berlin."

He changed the slide with the remote that he held in his hand. A horrific photo of a building surrounded in rubble appeared. On the ground were bodies covered in white tarps that were stained red with blood. He clicked the remote once more to reveal what appeared to be an army in the middle of the desert, all holding serious looking machine guns, bazookas and other weapons.

"Known arms dealer to the underground factions forming in the Middle East."

Amanda heard the click of the slide projector cartridge once again. The photo changed, this time revealing a woman's face. She had blonde hair and greenish gray eyes. Her face was slender and very attractive. Amanda estimated her age to be around that of her own.

"Hanna Mahler. East German. Doesn't seem to be officially associated with any formal East German government agency. Has done freelance work for East Germans, the Soviets, Communist China as well as several of the smaller Middle Eastern countries, including Iran. By herself, she is a moderate threat, but she has the tendency to team up with some heavy hitters."

The carousel advanced yet again. An image of Hanna and Max filled the screen.

"This photo was taken last week by our very own Paul Barnes while he was in Vienna. Paul, do you care to continue?" Billy asked as he stepped away from the head of the table.

Paul rose from his chair and stood in front of the image.

"This picture was taken at a party at the American Embassy last week. They were very careful to not stay together for too long, but they were interacting. I overheard them speaking of Senator Johnston's Charity Ball in Washington, DC. Hanna said that she had secured an invitation through Senator Johnston's wife. They had met earlier that month while sightseeing. Hanna told Kahn that everything was falling into place for the ball, that the necessary connections had been made and they should have no trouble following through with the rest of their plan. Thankfully, neither of them knew who I was. I was using the name Clifford Anderson and I don't think I was paid much attention to as I milled around them at the party."

Lee shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. "Any idea what this plan is?" he asked.

"Not completely, but it definitely involves someone big that they are anxious to meet up with."

"What is the plan as to how we're going to find out?" Amanda asked.

"Well, Amanda…that brings us to our next slide." Paul answered.

The clicking sounds of the carousel rhythmically played as the next slide appeared. There before her on the screen appeared Hanna locked in a passionate embrace with Lee. Both appeared in various stages of undress. Amanda gasped as she saw the image. Realizing what her reaction had been almost as soon as it escaped her mouth, she tried to cover up the shock by coughing. She could feel Lee's eyes on her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Why hadn't he told her about this before now? Why let her be exposed to this in front of everyone…..especially after the kiss they shared last night? She felt betrayed by his lack of information. The rational side of her knew that she was over reacting; the emotional side of her was still trying to breathe normally. Paul began to speak once again.

"May I introduce to you Robert Stevenson-American business man and oil tycoon from Austin, Texas."

The next slide appeared and showed Lee in a cowboy hat and an expensive looking suit. His face was younger, his expression was harder than the Lee she had come to know today; his eyes showed a deep pain she hadn't seen in him in a long time.

"Robert, or Bob as he is sometimes referred to, became close with Hanna in 1978 during the first signs of the oil crisis. Hanna was involved with a terrorist group that was intent on blowing up several of the US's oil refineries thus sending the American's even further into crisis. Thanks to Lee-he was able to get the important info we needed from Hanna and we were able to break up the terrorist ring."

"What happened to Hanna? Why didn't you arrest her, too?" Amanda questioned.

"She disappeared", Lee answered. "We were supposed to meet for dinner one night in Paris and she never showed. One of the agents tailing her was killed. I assumed that she had been killed, too. First I heard of her being alive was last night when I came home to Paul sitting in my apartment."

"Last night…he knew last night and he never said anything to me." Amanda said to herself. Lee could read the hurt on her face. He knew what she must be thinking.

"So", Amanda said as she cleared her throat, "Where do we go from here, Sir?"

Billy began to sense some uneasiness in the room. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on between Lee and Amanda. He thought that it would be wise to ignore it and move on.

"Lee will resume his role as Robert Stevenson and will coincidentally be at the same charity ball as Hanna. We are hoping that she will be willing to pick up where the two of you left off, Lee."

Lee shifted uncomfortably in his chair and forced a small smile on his face. The truth was that this was tearing him up inside. He had no desire to pick anything back up with Hanna or any other woman other than Amanda. He tried to make eye contact with Amanda but she refused to look in his direction.

"Amanda, you will be posing as Paul's wife, Samantha Anderson. This is a second marriage for you both. You have been married for a little over a year." Billy explained.

"Oh, still in the honeymoon phase!" Amanda said, hoping that it would provide a little zing in Lee's direction and zing him it did. He felt a lump rise in his throat and his mouth turn dry.

"Ha Ha! Well put, Amanda!" Paul interjected. "Or should I say Samantha?"

"Oh, I think I would be a Sam, don't you? But only to those I know well. To strangers, I think I should be called Samantha." Amanda focused her attention back to Billy. "What is it that I do, Sir? Do I work?"

"You are heavily involved in charitable volunteer work. We want to keep your cover as close to the real you as possible so it is less likely there will be any slip ups when talking about yourself. Everything you need to know about your cover is in this folder."

Billy slid the folder across the table to Amanda.

"Thank you, Sir."

"People, I don't need to remind you just how dangerous Kahn can be. He's up to something and we have less than 48 hours to figure out what it is. You 3 need to get into place as soon as possible. Francine and the back-up teams will be there tomorrow acting as wait staff at the party. Amanda, try and follow Hanna to all the places that Lee can't…..Ladies room, etc. places like that."

"Yes, Sir."

"Paul, you and Amanda get yourselves into the thick of things at that gathering. Let Lee distract Hanna and you two see what else you can observe and find out."

"We got it, Billy. Don't you worry. Amanda and I will be just fine. And Lee, we'll have your back, too."

"Thanks" Lee replied very flatly.

"Paul, why don't you come with me. Lee, Amanda-head down to wardrobe so they can set you up with a few things you are going to need. Meet us back in my office in about an hour."

Amanda nodded and began to read her file. Paul and Billy left the conference room and shut the door. The lamp from the slide projector was the only thing that illuminated the room. The silence between Lee and Amanda was deafening. Lee swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He knew he had some explaining to do to Amanda.

"Uh…Amanda…..I just wanted to say that…"

Amanda closed her folder and looked up at him. There was a sadness in her eyes that had not been there this morning.

"Lee? Why didn't you tell me? You could have told me last night on the phone or even this morning."

"Amanda! I wanted to tell you but…"

"But what? You didn't think it was an important detail? You didn't think it was something that maybe I would want to know?"

"It all happened long before I met you…..way before we began working together."

Lee pushed his chair back from the conference table and stood up. He was clearly upset, but at what Amanda wasn't sure.

"Lee, I know it was before we were working together but I thought that after, well after last night that you might have mentioned that you were being assigned to her again. That is unless….."

"Unless what?

Amanda turned her back to Lee and fought back some tears. "How could I be so stupid?" She whispered to herself.

"Amanda! Unless what?!" Lee asked again.

Amanda subtly wiped her eyes and turned back around.

"Never mind, Lee. I think I am blowing this whole thing out of proportion. You were under no obligation to tell me anything. We both have a job to do, so let's just go do it."

Amanda began to gather her belongings when she knocked the folder to the floor, spilling its contents everywhere. She quickly squatted down and began shoving the papers back into the folder. Lee knelt down to help her. He reached out and gently grabbed her wrist. She tried to pull away and refused to look at him. If she did, she was sure she would get teary again.

"Amanda, will you stop for a moment and look at me? Amanda! Stop!"

Amanda looked up into Lee's eyes.

"Please just stop and listen to me for a minute, OK?"

"Lee, you don't owe me an explanation. This is part of the job. You have people from your past that you have had to…..do things with in order to get information. I understand that."

Amanda stood up and straightened her shirt, nervously. Lee stood up with her and tried to read what Amanda was feeling.

"Right…" Lee began.

"And we are work partners. We have a relationship at work and nothing else."

"Work partners? Nothing else? Amanda, are you saying that we're don't mean anything to each other?"

"Of course not. I care very much about you and I am pretty sure you care about me, too. I would hate to have to work with someone else. But, as we see with this assignment, sometimes we have to work with someone else, right?"

Lee began to become noticeably agitated.

"OK Sure….FINE. If that is how you want to play it, Mrs. King, then that is FINE by me!" Lee said with great irritation in his voice.

"Well I didn't think you'd have a problem with it, Mr. Stetson! Seems like everything with you is all in the line of duty anyway, right?" Amanda shot back.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Lee. It's only a matter of time before you found some excuse why you kissed me last night and that we are only friends, only work partners. Lucky for you, you didn't need to come up with anything. Billy and Paul seemed to do it for you!"

Amanda could not have been more wrong. It was true that Lee had said those things to her in the past, but the kiss they shared last night….he can't think of anything in recent memory that he had wanted more. Maybe Amanda was right…maybe they were better off as just work partners and nothing more.

"That's not fair, Amanda! I didn't have a say in this! They sprung it on me last night!"

" AH-HA! EXACTLY!"

"Exactly what?"

"You knew last night! And you didn't think I should know. It was better than I be ambushed in this conference room!"

"Amanda! That's not fair! I tried to tell you last night. I just…."

"Not fair? NOT FAIR? Not fair to whom? You? Because being ambushed like this was certainly fair to me! You know what? Just forget it. Forget I said anything. I can't believe how stupid I was…."

Amanda pushed the chair out of the way, flung the door open and stormed out of the conference room. Lee wanted to go after her but thought better of it. The middle of the bullpen was not the place to be having this discussion. And to be honest, Lee wasn't sure he was ready for this discussion either. To get to the real heart of the matter, he would have to admit the true depth of his feelings for Amanda, and that was something that terrified him far more than any bullet ever could.

To be continued...