At the edge of the parking lot was a black limousine—exactly identical to the assailant's.

"Lee, what happened?" Billy's voice shook me back to his and Francine's presence. "The doctor I spoke with over the phone was pretty vague."

I swallowed my emotions, as well as my pride, before answering him. "Let's go up to the third floor waiting room—I don't think it's safe to talk down here."

"Be reasonable, Lee; who would be naive enough to eavesdrop? You and Amanda caught the doctor responsible for that case last year, but now it's made you paranoid!" Francine stated with concern.

"Well, paranoia or not, Francine, I'd rather not risk it." I led them to the elevator and punched the floor number into the button console. While waiting for the lift to reach us, I noticed Billy was smirking and looking at the sports drink and crackers. "Okay, what's so funny, Billy?"

"Nothing at all, Lee; just curious about your, shall we say, shopping habits?"

I sighed, not exactly up to joking. "Amanda isn't feeling very good, and being here for Phillip is adding to her stress. Plus, she and Dottie needed time to talk by themselves, so they sent me to get these from the cafeteria."

Billy's face went from teasing to concerned. "You're really worried, aren't you?" It was a statement, not a question. "Then we'll wait until we get upstairs to talk."

Francine tried to protest. "But—"

"We will wait, Francine." His voice left no room for argument. That's when the elevator door opened for us. "Lead the way, Lee."

+=SMK=+

While Billy, Francine, and Lee were unaware of it, observing the hospital entrance from within the limousine, was one of the two men Rusty had served earlier in the day. He was smoking an expensive cigar, fuming about the day's earlier events. Oh, not the shooting, but the conversation he had been in with his so-called "comrade".

He had hoped that breaking Kreigensch out of federal prison would give him leverage. Instead, he had ended up becoming nothing more than Kreigensch's slave. This wasn't the first time he regretted assisting the well-known assassin. It also was not the first time he wished he didn't have any skeletons in his closet. It was those skeletons that helped entrap him. He took another puff of his cigar, his calm exterior hiding the anger he felt just thinking about it.

Maybe he could amend his oversight. He could simply give the feds the information they needed to capture Kreigensch again, but that would bring about more questions. Questions such as how he knew about the prison break, or why he didn't turn him in sooner. They were questions he had no interest in answering. It looked to him like a change of plans was an order. He smiled as his eyes captured the lighter in his hands. It would mean more bloodshed, but the end result would be his freedom.

He just needed to delay Scarecrow and Mrs. King a little longer.

+=SMK=+

Once we got to the waiting room, I was surprised to see that neither Amanda nor Dottie were there. Joe and Jamie hadn't returned either, so it worried me, though Billy and Francine didn't seem too concerned. Just as I was getting ready to say I was going to look for them, I heard the sound of a sick person coming from the small restroom in the corner. Also coming from that room was the distinctive voice of my mother-in-law, which could only mean Amanda was in there, as well. I went over and knocked on the door.

"Amanda? What's wrong?" I asked.

I heard her spitting before responding. "It's only a stomach bug, Sweetheart—I'll be out in a minute."

"If you're sure..."

"Don't worry, Lee, I'll be fine."

Something told me not to mention the crackers and drink, so I returned to Billy and Francine, who had overheard the exchange. I saw Francine's shocked face, while Billy was smiling slightly.

"Amanda just called you 'Sweetheart'?" The blonde agent gaped. "You're kidding me..."

I shook my head, knowing the whole facade was uncovered. "This isn't how we'd planned to tell you guys about us."

"'We'?"

"So you were planning to tell us, then?" Billy asked.

"Wait, tell us what?"

"Francine, I think it would be safe to guess that they've been married for about four months. Am I right, Lee?"

I was silent for a moment. "Yes, Billy—we're married. We didn't want to risk Amanda's family's safety, so we kept it a secret until after we made our lists." I winced as I remembered the arguments Phillip and I had this past week, and what happened to land him here at Parker General. "We were on our way back from camping after telling the boys, when Phillip was shot. Jamie caught the license plate number, but it's an agency issued limousine. He thought one of our people might have been behind the shooting."

Billy nodded with a frown as he listened to me. After a minute, he spoke again. "Jamie's one sharp young man—you might want to ask if he'd be willing to talk with someone in the agency about what he saw. Maybe Phillip, too, once he feels up to it. But it will have to be an under-the-radar maneuver. Dr. Smyth called earlier today and said he was coming back sooner than expected, and you know how he feels about civilian involvement." I cursed my luck. How would I be able to get the information from Jamie, if Dr. Smyth was sneaking around who knows where?

Just then, Joe and Jamie returned, as Amanda and Dottie exited the restroom. Joe tensed when he saw me, but as he was aware of the others in the room, he didn't say anything. Jamie was the one to speak first.

"We came back to send some others to see Phillip."

Dottie smiled at her younger grandson, before turning to Amanda and I. "Why don't you two go? I'll go when you get back."

Neither of us felt like arguing with her, so after I put down the drink and food, I gently grasped Amanda's hand. We then walked down the corridor in silence, the presence of each other the only comfort we could give.