I'm back, finally! I'd like to thank everyone who's been checking for updates, and to everyone who reviewed (and special thanks to those who prodded me to get my butt in gear and start posting!)

Without further ado, here is chapter 6 - and things are about to get VERY interesting!

"Lee, I was thinking," Amanda said as he drove her home late the next morning, "I'd like to stop by the Embassy this afternoon and ask a few questions of some of the kitchen staff. Don't you think it's a little strange that no one but the Ambassador saw that intruder last week – and that it happened at just exactly the time he was in his office? Almost like he was supposed to see it. And nothing strange has happened since then…"

Lee frowned. "You're right. I wonder if they're keeping things from us…it wouldn't be the first time security staff wanted to handle things on their own – even resented Agency assistance. Maybe we should go down there and take another look around."

They pulled up to 4247 Maplewood and Lee rounded the car to help Amanda out. She handed him his keys as she exited the vehicle and walked up to the house.

"Mother! Fellas!" Amanda called as she entered. "It's awfully quiet in here," she said to Lee as he shut the door. "Where is everyone?"

"I guess Joe didn't bring the boys back yet," Lee replied. "Maybe Dotty's still sleeping."

Amanda ran upstairs to check. When she re-emerged, she had a perplexed look on her face. "It doesn't look like she even made it home last night," she said a little worriedly. "Her bed is made, and the dress she was wearing isn't anywhere in her room."

Lee grinned mischievously. "Maybe her night was as good as yours was."

"Lee!" Amanda blushed. "That's my mother!"

"If we can just get rid of the Ambassador, my cousin will be a shoo-in to replace him," the heavily accented voice drifted through the door to the Embassy's small sitting-room. Amanda pressed her ear closer to the space between the door and its frame, hoping to hear more.

"Well, hello, Mrs. King!" When Amanda whirled to face the voice, Njau Bomo, the Embassy's head of security stared back at her, pointing a gun. "How lovely to see you again!" He reached past her to open the door and waved at her to precede him. "Karil!" he greeted the short African inside. "We have company. It seems our friends at the Agency haven't left as completely as we thought." Bomo nodded at the two guards loitering just inside the room. "Take our guest downstairs. Then, conduct a search of the grounds. Make sure there are no others."

Amanda struggled against her captors all the way down the stairs. "Put her in with the other one," the taller man said gruffly as they dragged her into the basement of the Embassy.

The steel door at the bottom of the steps clicked open to reveal a blonde woman tied to a chair, hand and foot. Amanda could barely stifle the exclamation that threatened to escape her lips. Mother?

"Oh, Amanda, I'm so glad you're here. Well, no, actually, I'm not…but it's so good to see a friendly face, you know? Oh, Amanda, I am really scared! Do you remember Dr. Zernoff? Do you know, I haven't been this scared since then! Really, I…"

Amanda tuned out her mother's rambling as the burly men pushed her into a chair sitting back-to-back with Dotty's and cuffed her hands behind her back. Roughly, they tied her ankles to the chair legs before looking sternly at the women. "I suggest you keep quiet, unless you want to watch someone you love die."

Dotty gasped loudly; Amanda merely stared. Her mind, though, was moving a mile a minute. Did they know what her relationship to Dotty was? Or were they merely making vague threats?

When the men had left, Amanda quickly fiddled her hands around to reach the half-rake that had long since been hidden in the beautiful silver bracelet Lee had given her last year – specially designed to hold the useful tool. Noticing the looseness of the cuffs, and of the knots around her legs, she snorted in disgust. "Amateurs," she muttered.

"What was that, dear?" Dotty asked.

"Oh, nothing, Mother," Amanda replied, inserting the rake into the lock on her cuffs, carefully so that she didn't drop it on the floor. "But you'd better keep it down; you heard what they said."

Dotty sighed. "Oh my gosh, Amanda – you have no idea how scared I am right now. I mean, most people have no idea what it's like to be tied up and trapped in some little room, and now I've had it happen to me twice! Really, what are the odds of that happening? I mean, I've never had good luck, but this is ridiculous."

"Mother, please," Amanda cautioned. "You really need to be quiet."

"Oh, what difference does it make?" the older woman said in exasperation. "Those men are going to do whatever they're going to do, and there isn't a thing we can do about it! And heaven only knows where they took the Ambassador and his wife. Oh my gosh – maybe they're in on it!"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "No, Mother, they're not." Her eyes gleamed triumph as the second cuff clicked open, and she turned her attention to the bonds around her legs. "Mother, what are you doing down here, anyway?"

Dotty groaned. "I've been stuck in this little room since just before the ball ended last night. I was just looking for the powder room, I swore to them I just wanted to powder my nose…but after what I heard…They were talking about the Ambassador. That little African country, Dalin…they want the Ambassador to help them control the king. These men could control the entire country! It sounds just like a bad James Bond movie – maybe one with Roger Moore. I never did like him. Amanda, I have never been so sore, or so tired, or so scared in my life. I just want to get out of here…but I have a feeling I'm not going to want to get out of here the way they've got it planned for me."

"Well, then it's a good thing you won't have to," Amanda replied as she stood, finally free from her bonds. "Hold still."

Dotty started when she felt Amanda working on the cuffs holding her to the chair. "Amanda? How did you get free? I saw that man put handcuffs on you!"

Amanda sighed. "Mother, we really don't have time to get into this right now." The first cuff clicked, and Amanda gently lifted her mother's wrist out of the metal circle. "Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully, and do exactly as I say. Can you do that?" Click.

Dotty frowned as she pulled her other hand forward. "Amanda, can we talk about this? You really have been watching too many spy movies. Why on earth would you have a handcuff key with you?"

Amanda nearly laughed as she freed her mother's legs. "Oh, Mother! I don't have a handcuff key. That would be a little silly, wouldn't it?" And terribly impractical, when it can only release one kind of lock.

"Well of course it would!" Dotty stood abruptly. "Which is why I'm wondering why on earth you'd have one!"

"Mother! I do not have a handcuff key!"

"Well then, how did you get out of the cuffs?"

Amanda pinched the bridge of her nose. They really did not have time for this. She could hear footsteps approaching, accompanied by several shouts by one unfamiliar voice and one all-too-familiar one.

"Quick, Mother, sit back down! Pretend you're still tied," Amanda hissed urgently, bending to rearrange the leg ropes so they looked as though they remained fastened.

"Amanda, really, what do you think you're doing?"

"Quiet!"

The footsteps and angry voices got louder. There were sounds of a struggle; Amanda suspected their captors had another hostage. Quickly she positioned herself behind the door, so that she wouldn't be seen when it swung open.

Bracing herself for action, she waited for the door to open. When it did, though, Dotty's gasp momentarily distracted her.

"Lee?"

Oh, wonderful. Well, at least we're all together now – we have a much better chance of getting out of this. As soon as Lee was in view past the door, with his captor still just behind him, Amanda used all her weight to slam the door forwards into the assailant. Stunned, the man stumbled, and before Lee had a chance to figure out what was going on, Amanda had stepped around the open door and retrieved the man's gun.

"Amanda!" Lee exclaimed, seeing her. "Great, let's get out of here. Will you help me out of these cuffs?"

Amanda cleared her throat loudly, nodding her head in her mother's direction. When Lee saw what she was drawing to his attention, he groaned. "Dotty? What on earth are you doing in here?"

Dotty sighed dramatically. "I'd love to know. But how did you get here?"

"Can we get through the pleasantries later?" Amanda asked. "I could use a little help here." She was trying to drag the now-unconscious man fully into the room.

"Oh, right." Lee's hands, fortunately, were cuffed in the front, so he was easily able to grasp the man's arm to drag him forward. While Amanda secured the man with the cuffs and ropes that had held her and Dotty, Lee quickly pulled his half-rake from his collar stay and made short work of his own cuffs.

When he'd finished, Amanda handed him the gun. "I really don't want this."

He chuckled. "Come on, let's get out of here." As he cautiously led the two women out of the room, he murmured softly to Amanda, "I suppose there's no point asking how your mother got dragged into all this?"

"I wish I knew," she said wryly.

Carefully, they tiptoed their way through the labyrinth that was the Embassy basement. It must have been an older building, for there appeared to be a great deal of space for food storage – before the invention of refrigeration, food would be stored in the cellar to keep cool. A large manor house, like this would have been, would have had extremely large quantities of food on hand.

They heard footsteps headed their way. Amanda quickly opened the nearest door wordlessly, all but pushing her mother inside and following silently. Lee tucked himself in the doorway, waiting for the person to get close enough for him to put out of commission.

One quick blow to the head later, the man was flat on his back and concealed inside the room, and the trio were on their way again. But their luck was not to hold.

"The prisoners have escaped!" "Search the building! Leave no room unchecked!"

Lee swore under his breath. Amanda hurried to the corner of the hall and opened another door. "Come on – in here!" They quickly made their way into the room and locked the door.

"So, now that we're cornered in here," Lee asked Amanda sarcastically, "now what?"

She frowned. "Well, it's better than standing out there waiting to be found. At least in here we can surprise them."

Dotty gaped. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"At this point, you probably know just as much as we do," Lee said quietly. "They caught me snooping around the library; I was looking for some, uh, documents for the Ambassador." He gave Amanda a significant look.

She nodded. "And I was…on my way to speak with the kitchen staff – about how wonderful the meal was yesterday – " she lied, "when I…overheard two men talking about something. I guess they heard me, too, because they came charging out and dragged me down here."

Dotty frowned. "What on earth do they want with us?"

"Probably to get us out of the way," Lee replied. "Now that we've heard their plans – or parts of them, anyway – we're a liability."

Dotty went white. "A liability? You mean they're going to – to – "

"Mother, hush!" Amanda hissed, a curious look on her face. The room they were in was only a little larger than a bedroom, with several benches strewn throughout. One small wooden bedframe sat in the far corner, long since stripped of its mattress and sheets. Amanda, however, was not looking at any of these things.

"Lee, come take a look at this!"

His wife was staring intently at a wall. He frowned in exasperation. "Amanda, what on earth – "

"Look!" She pointed excitedly to some faint markings on the wall. They appeared to have been carved sloppily with whatever had been available – a stray nail, a pocket-knife, anything with a bit of an edge. Amanda's slender fingers slid gently across the wall. Scattered across the section of the wall were numerous X's, a few names scrawled into the wood, and a picture of the Big Dipper, with the North Star enlarged prominently.

"Okay…so whoever lived here liked to write on the wall." Lee was really getting annoyed now. "Amanda, look, we really don't have time for this."

But she was grinning. "Mother, you remember that report Jamie had to do on the Underground Railroad? How certain families would build secret rooms and tunnels in their homes to help conceal the slaves on their way to Canada?"

"Amanda, dear, I think Lee's right," Dotty chided. "This isn't the time."

But now Lee had caught on to Amanda's train of thought. "Are you saying…"

Her grin grew. "Most slaves never learned to read or write. Whenever they had to sign some kind of legal document, they'd just write an 'X.'" She pointed to the X's on the wall. "Obviously, a few of the slaves who came through here knew how to write – at least their names. And you know how they were always told to follow the North Star!"

Lee shook his head in amazement. "Actually, no, I didn't know that. But I assume you're going somewhere with this?"

Dotty's head shake was not one of amazement. "Lee, I can't believe you're listening to her! We have to hurry up and get out of here, or those men are going to…"

Lee put a gentle hand on his mother-in-law's shoulder. "Don't you worry, Dotty. I've known Amanda for too long now not to listen." He smiled proudly at his partner. "Amanda?"

She was making her way slowly along the wall. "Somewhere in this room should be a secret door of some kind – hiding a room, or, if we're lucky, a tunnel. We can either hide until those men are gone, or get out of here entirely." She was gazing erratically around the room, at the walls, at the floor.

Lee had a sudden thought. "Amanda – the bed!"

"Here, Scarecrow? With my mother in the room?"

He grimaced at her teasing grin. "Very funny." But he quickly crossed the room and began to inspect the wooden frame. It was a very simple structure, really – a short headboard and footboard, and a box-like construction in the middle. Lee began to feel his way along the wooden panels, and eventually, something gave with a slight creak.

Amanda's eyes widened as she moved to help her husband. Lee was pulling upward on one of the side panels. The entire top of the bed, the platform where the mattress would have sat, seemed to be hinged at the far end. When they had lifted it, a rickety-looking staircase descended from a large square hole in the floor.

"Mother! Unlock that door. If they find it locked, they'll know we were in here, and they might be able to figure out how we got out." Wordlessly, Dotty complied before following her daughter down the rabbit-hole.

For her part, Dotty was in shock. She had been dragged, tied up, and left in a tiny dark room by men who likely wanted to kill her; then, her daughter and her boyfriend had shown up out of nowhere in similar circumstances, only to escape without blinking an eye. They'd wandered a maze of a basement for nearly half an hour, only to be chased again and forced to hide in a little room, which turned out to have been used to hide slaves in the 1800s. Now, they were hidden under the floor of said little room, and had gotten there via a secret doorway in the bed!

Lee and Amanda seemed perfectly at ease with the situation. "It looks like we're in luck!" Lee said. "The passage keeps going. Come on!"

They made their way cautiously through the stone tunnels, their feet softly echoing in the silent chambers. Dotty couldn't keep her mouth shut any more.

"Alright, you two, that's it," she said angrily. "Who were those men, why are they after us, and what on earth is going on? And Amanda, what did you call Lee back there? What is 'Scarecrow'?"

The partners exchanged rueful glances. "It's just a nickname, Dotty," Lee said softly.

Dotty frowned. "Okay. And? Those men?"

Amanda sighed in frustration. "Mother, I wish we knew more, really I do! But we really did tell you all we know about them."

"Right." If they hadn't been picking their way across uneven ground, she would have crossed her arms huffily. "You two are awfully comfortable for two people who have just been taken hostage and forced to escape."

"Mother, it's just like when you and Dr. Zernoff were captured. I think I just watch too many spy movies."

Zernoff? Lee looked at his wife sharply. "Why? What happened?

Amanda rolled her eyes. Didn't he read my report? "We tried to escape. It almost worked, too."

"Oh, right. I remember now."

"You know," Amanda told Lee, "that was a pretty scary time."

"I know," he said softly. "But it's been worse…remember New Utopia?"

She grinned. "How could I forget? You almost kissed me."

"I almost kissed you? I think you almost kissed me."

She looked sideways at him. "Not exactly." They both laughed.

Lee suddenly turned serious. "Stemwinder."

"Yeah." They both paused a few moments to remember. They'd had nowhere to go; evading a D-1 manhunt, with no Agency connections, no friends, no place to stay. It was most likely one of the tightest spots he'd ever been in – and he'd been in some real trouble before.

"Remember Birol?"

"Unfortunately." Amanda shuddered.

Lee wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hey – it wasn't all bad. I recall you saying something about us being the luckiest two people in the world?"

"Yeah – I still think so." Amanda smiled softly up at her husband.

"Then I don't think we have anything to worry about this time," he replied encouragingly.

She sighed. "You never know, in this crazy business we're in."

"California." The word was past his lips before he could stop it.

Amanda stopped short, turning Lee to face her. All but forgotten, Dotty was observing the interaction between her daughter and the man she was seeing with immense curiosity.

"Lee! Listen to me," Amanda said insistently. "That wasn't your fault. There was no way you could've known – and it just as easily could have been a car accident or a mugging gone wrong that landed me in the hospital. Things happen every day, Lee, and there isn't anything we can do about it except…well, except what we already do."

"I know." He nodded sadly. "But I can't help thinking about it sometimes. If we hadn't gotten mar– "

Amanda stopped him with a finger to his lips. "No regrets, remember?"

Lee took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright, then, come on. Let's focus on getting us out of here."

Their hands linked together as they walked, almost of their own volition. Lee dropped a kiss to his wife's hair. "I love you."

Amanda squeezed his hand. "I love you too."

Dotty frowned. Those two seemed to have an awfully solid relationship – more so than Amanda had ever had with Joe. She and Lee had a way of shutting out the world, keeping out everything but the two of them. Having seen their interaction today, it was obvious they were good for each other. Perfect, even. And they clearly loved each other.

So why in Heaven's name hadn't they gotten married yet?

"Look!" Lee suddenly said. "Daylight!"

The three fairly ran to the tunnel's exit. They found themselves on a rocky embankment, with water rushing along a hundred yards ahead. Amanda frowned. "Do you have any idea where we are?" she asked Lee.

He shook his head. "Not really…" He glanced around at the steep, rocky hills surrounding the river. "But we should get out of here." He turned back to grasp Dotty's hand, helping her across the rocky terrain. He was a little shocked when he caught sight of the tunnel they had just left.

It was only a small opening in the rock, but the vines and bushes growing along the riverbanks made it nearly invisible. The only reason he could see it was that he knew it was there.

"Good camouflage," Amanda noted.

"Yeah…bit of a security risk for the Embassy, though, if it ever gets discovered." Lee glanced at the lengthening shadows on the ground. "Come on, we don't want to be stuck out here after dark."

Amanda grinned and leaned over to whisper in her husband's ear. "At least we're not chained together this time!"

Slowly, they made their way to the flat fields above the river. Dotty needed some help ascending the bank – the high-heeled shoes she'd borrowed from Amanda were not exactly conducive to rock-climbing – but they made it into the main park area just before twilight set in.

"Lee, didn't we meet T.P. out here once?" Amanda whispered.

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right, Amanda. I think this is Rock Creek Park!"

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, we know where we are. And it's not that far to Georgetown, we can just run to the office and – " Her eyes widened. She glanced uneasily at her mother. "Mother, would you try to find a pay phone? We're gonna need to call a cab."

The disheveled woman sighed. "Of course, dear. But don't you think we should call the police?"

Amanda's brow furrowed. "Will you please just call the cab? We'll try to figure out who we should call."

"Alright, alright!"

When Dotty had gone, Amanda turned to Lee urgently. "What are we going to do?"

Lee shrugged. There was nothing for it. "We have to tell Billy what's going on," he said in a low voice. "And your mother will need to be debriefed."

"But she knows we work for IFF! If we take her there, and she gets debriefed there…" An idea began to form. "Wait just a minute. MOTHER!" she called, rushing off in the direction Dotty had gone. Lee sighed and followed.

"Never mind the cab, Mother," Amanda said when she caught up with the older woman. "I know what we can do. I'll call the people in charge of security at the Embassy. They brought in a bunch of government agents to keep an eye on things during the fundraiser…I think I can remember the number."

"Government agents?" Dotty snorted. "Fine job they did. If there were all these government agents around, how on earth did we get kidnapped?"

Amanda and Lee exchanged wry glances. "Never mind that, Mother, let's just make that call."

When they found the phone, Amanda looked at Lee significantly, pointing at her mother and then making talking movements with her hand. Lee nodded and drew Dotty a few yards away from the phone. "Have you ever seen this flower garden over here? It's got some lovely…"

Amanda gave a sigh of relief and dialed the familiar number.

"International Federal Film."

"This is Amanda King. The word is 'Cockamamie.' Would you connect me to Mr. Melrose, please? We have a Condition Charlie."

"One moment please."

Click.

"Amanda? What is it?"

"Oh, sir, I'm glad you're there. There's a problem at the Embassy. It's crawling with paramilitaries. Lee and I were both taken hostage – and my mother was there, I have no idea why – but anyway, we made it out, Sir, and we're safe for now. But we need to give you an update, and Mother needs to be debriefed, but we can't just bring her to the office because she knows Lee and I work with IFF. And we have no transportation, Sir."

"Whoa, hold on, Amanda. Slow down! Let's start from the beginning."

Amanda sighed. "Mr. Melrose, sir, my mother is just around the corner, and I don't know how much longer Lee can keep her distracted. Would you please just send someone for us, and we'll explain everything when we get to the Agency?"

"Alright, Amanda. Where are you?"

Things are finally starting to happen...but to what end? Who has invaded the Embassy, and why? Will our favourite Agents be able to find out in time?

And...what about Amanda's mother?

All this and more in Chapter 7!