Lee hadn't been asleep for half an hour yet when he was jarred awake by the phone ringing. Amanda being closer to it answered it. "Hello?" she said sleepily. "Yeah, hold on a second, Sir." She held the phone's receiver against her chest for a moment and said to Lee, "It's Billy. He wants to talk to you.
Lee groaned flipped over onto his back and took the phone, "Yeah...No, Billy, I just got to bed..." while he was talking, Amanda began planting soft kisses on his chest. He sighed at the contact. "Billy, can't it wait until morning?" he said as he gasped suddenly at feeling Amanda's lips closing around his nipple. Amanda giggled at his response. "Interrupting something? Yeah, as a matter of fact you are. I am in bed with my wife," Lee said pointedly as his frustration grew. It only got worse when Amanda slipped her hand inside his boxers causing Lee to drop the phone as he groaned at her hand stoking him.
Amanda picked up the phone with her free hand. "I'm sorry, Sir. Whatever it is you need my husband for. It's going to have to wait an hour," she said then squealed as Lee flipped her over onto her back and began assaulting her neck with his lips.
He took the phone from her hand "Talk to you later, Billy," he said and slammed it onto its cradle. He then removed it again leaving it on its side before turning his full attention to his wife, sliding his hands up her legs dragging her cotton nightgown up and pulling it over her head. "You are an evil, evil woman," he said as he kissed her enthusiastically. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him in closer before lowering her hands to push his boxers off his hips grasping his firm rear. Lee moaned as he broke away from her breathlessly raising her hips long enough to slide her panties down her legs kicking his own underwear to the floor.
Amanda used this break to push him onto his back and before he could protest starting raining kisses on his neck, his shoulder, down his chest to his stomach. She had almost reached her true destination when his hands on her wrists stopped her. "No, not this time," He said as he once again rolled her over pinning her beneath him. He lowered his head to her neck suckling the tender skin gently. This time he was determined that he was going to take the lead and set the pace for their lovemaking. Amanda didn't object as he kissed her, touching her and teasing her until she was begging him for more. This time they made love slowly taking their time to explore every inch of each other, hands, lips an tongues questing until they were both longing for completion. Even then, their bodies moved together slowly, hands linked as they looked into each other's eyes and rode the wave together.
They lay together both with satisfied smiles on their faces. When his breathing finally got back to normal, Lee said, "Sometimes I think being married to you is going to be the death of me."
"Well, if that turns out to be true, then at least you'll die a happy man," Amanda teased.
"Is it just me or does it seem like we're making love more often now that we're married than we did before? I always heard that the opposite was true. That once a couple gets married, your sex life dwindles."
"No, it's not just you. We definitely have been, but there's a reason for that. When were dating and then when we were engaged, we always had other things going on. We were going out to dinner and other dates and our time together was more limited. Now, we live together and we're staying home at night instead of going out. That makes a big difference. Now, I have heard it said that a newlywed couple makes love more in the first two years of marriage than in later years, but I'm not really an expert on that."
"How is that possible? You're the one who's been married before, for ten years, I might add."
"Yeah, but my marriage to Joe was not really normal. I think of the ten years we were married, we were really only together for about four of them. I mean, I got pregnant with Phillip right away. We weren't even married a year when he was born, plus Joe was in law school so he was spending a lot of time working on school stuff. Then Jamie was born right after he graduated and then...he was gone, so obviously things...decreased. With all of that, I'm not really a good judge of what a normal married couple's sex life should be like."
"Hmm," Lee said thoughtfully.
"What's on your mind?" she said as she stroked his face and ran her fingers through his hair. "I figured the last thing you'd want to discuss would be my old life with Joe."
"I guess I'm just wondering if what we have here is normal. We keep saying we want to live like normal people, but I feel sometimes like we're far from normal. The way I feel about you, how just seeing you smile at me can bring out this most primal desire in me. I feel like I'm on fire all the time and that I'm going crazy if I'm not touching you.. Like when I saw you in that skin-tight black-ops outfit during your training exercise today, all I could think about was how much I wanted to get you out of it. I've never felt that with anyone before and I can't help feeling like it makes me some kind of...I don't know...deviant or something."
Amanda laughed and said, "Sweetheart, you're not a deviant. Not even close to it. Besides, if you are, then I am too because I feel the same way. When I see you smile the crooked little smile at me with those dimples, all I can think about is getting you alone and naked. I mean, look at what I did this afternoon. I have never wanted any man the way that I want you. I sometimes feel like being with you has turned me into some kind of sex addict. I feel like I can't get enough of you."
"Huh," Lee said contemplatively. "So, it's not just me then."
"Maybe that's how it's supposed to be with the person you choose to spend your life with. I say rather than worrying about whether it's normal or not, that we just enjoy it. Enjoy each other. I mean, who's to say what's normal anyway? What's normal for us may not be for another couple who hasn't been through what we have been. With the work we do, who knows when the next we make love may be our last. Look at the day that our baby was conceived, neither of us knew then if we'd ever have that again."
A horrible thought struck Lee at her words. "Oh God, you don't think that's what makes our sex life so exciting, do you?"
"The danger of our jobs, you mean?" When Lee nodded she said, "No, I don't think so. Do you remember a couple of years ago, that incident with Lord Bromfield how I told you that I'd figured out that Lady Bromfield didn't lover her husband?"
"Yeah, you said something along the lines of people who love each other want to be close to each other," Lee said and his expression changed when Amanda's point sunk in. "Ok, I get it."
"So, you'll stop worrying?"
"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "It's just that marriage is so new to me and I haven't got a clue what I'm doing or if I'm doing it right."
"What do I know about a normal marriage really? I have no way to know if I'm doing it right either. I didn't do something right in my first marriage or it wouldn't have ended. And I'm the one who initially filed for divorce."
"Don't think that way, Amanda. He's the one who walked out on you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. So, you're the one who filed for divorce, big deal. Would you rather have lived the rest of your life that way, not knowing if he was ever going to come around or be there for you?"
"No, I didn't want to live the rest of my life that way. That's why I did what I did, but still you always wonder if you made the right decision when something like that happens."
"Well, if you hadn't, we wouldn't be together now."
"Oh, I know that and I have no doubt now that I made the right decision, but I can't deny that I felt very conflicted about it at the time. The more that I thought about it though, the more I realized that it didn't really change much of anything. We weren't together anyway, not really, and I was already raising the boys by myself."
"Yeah, I guess that's true. You know if we hadn't decided to come forward with our marriage, we could have ended up the same way. We would have been married, but not really together and now we know that you were already carrying our child the day we got married. I can't believe that I ever thought of putting you through that again."
"Oh, Come on now. It wasn't just your decision. I was on board with keeping it a secret too. Even if we hadn't come clean as soon as we got back from California, it couldn't have stayed a secret anyway, not with a baby on the way."
"Definitely not," Lee said. "It's better this way. Besides, who knows how long we'd have been able to keep it to ourselves anyway? You never know when the Agency will decide to run another background check on one of us."
"Speaking of The Agency, you should probably call Billy back," Amanda said.
"Yeah, I know," he said reluctantly as he reached for the phone
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Lee walked into Billy's office around 11:30 saying, "Ok, I'm here. What's the big emergency?" He halted in his tracks at seeing not only Billy, but Dr. Smyth there as well.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Scarecrow," Smyth said. "Billy had you on speakerphone when he called you earlier. The little woman keeping you tied up?"
"Well, like you said just today, she's very resourceful when it comes to getting what she wants," Lee replied with a smirk.
Dr. Smyth chuckled slightly and said, "So I heard."
"Oh?"
"I paid Elisa a visit to the hospital. She said you were quite the good little boy at dinner tonight. She seemed rather disappointed."
"Well, you did tell me to behave myself. That's exactly what I did," He said. "Do you mind telling me what I got dragged out of bed for."
"You'd better get used to that, Lee. I can't tell you the number I've times I've left Jeannie alone in bed over the years."
"The difference is, Jeannie's not your partner. Amanda is mine and I'd like very much to get this case wrapped up so we can go back to being partners. I was actually quite happy where I was before your phone call."
"Clearly," Smyth said with a gesture at his neck. Lee cleared his throat and self-consciously tugged at his collar causing both Billy and Dr. Smyth to laugh. "Relax, Scarecrow. I told you I had no intention of separating the two of you unless you give me a reason to. Once this case is wrapped up as you put it, you'll have your partner back. Speaking of which, the reason I wanted you here., after I heard about the fire, I took a late night stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue and I was able to get you an OSC-3 clearance, temporarily, of course. This clearance will only be good for twenty-four hours which is why it was a mater of some urgency. I want you to get back over to the Pentagon and use it to the fullest."
"You got it," Lee said.
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"Good morning, Mother," Amanda said as she stepped into the kitchen Wednesday morning.
"Good morning, Dear, Your breakfast is ready," Dotty said indicating the plate on the island next to her which she had also laid out with a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. Amanda took a seat at one of the stools at the counter and dug in. "You're looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. Did that husband of yours finally let you get some sleep?"
Amanda glanced over to the breakfast nook where the boys were eating breakfast. "Shhh, not in front of the boys," she said warningly. "Besides, Lee wasn't here last night to keep me awake."
"He never came home?" Dotty said in alarm. "Is he ok? Did he get into some kind of trouble?"
"No, Mother, he's fine. He came home very briefly after his dinner last night, but then got called away again."
"Oh, an you weren't called away with him?"Dotty inquired. "Shouldn't you have been? You're his partner, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm his partner, but what he needed to do, I couldn't help him with. As were saying yesterday, he has a higher clearance level than I do so I wouldn't have been any help to him. He's got some high-security investigating to do at the Pentagon. Besides, I have my own job to do today for the same case."
"Well, maybe we could ride in together then. I have another appointment with Dr. Quidd today, plus I need to return this," Dotty said indicating the report on her daughter's shooting.
"I'd love to, Mother, but I'm not going to be at the office today," she said as she took a sip of her juice.
"More interviews to conduct?" Dotty inquired. "Oh, wait, you probably can't tell me that, can you?"
"Not interviews, Mother, surveillance," she explained. "Which reminds me, Jamie, are you still using Lee's camera," she asked turning toward the table.
"Yeah, Mom, I've still got half a roll of film to finish on it," Jamie replied. "Do you need it?"
"No, that's ok. I have another one at the office," she said before turning back to her mother. "Ok, so I guess I do have to stop by the office before I start my work today."
"What kind of surveillance job are we talking about? Is it dangerous?" Dotty asked worriedly.
"No, Mother, it's not. It's strictly hands off stuff, following a suspect around, keeping track of their movements, trying to gather evidence, that kind of thing."
"But what if you get caught? What if this suspect catches you..." she paused for a moment searching for the right word, "...tailing him. Couldn't that put you in danger?"
"Mother," Amanda said reaching for her hand and squeezing it gently. "I know my job worries you, but I promise you, I've been trained for this. I know how to tail a suspect without getting caught. Now, that I think about it though, the station wagon is kind of obvious. I think while I'm at The Agency, I may just borrow a car from the motor pool and leave my car there. That way, you could have it to come home in so you don't have to take a cab and I'll have a vehicle that's a little less conspicuous." The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. One of The Agency's non-descript sedans would make a much better surveillance vehicle. "What time's your appointment?"
"Eight O'clock," Dotty answered.
"Good, that'll work out nicely then," she said as she turned back to her breakfast. Phillip and Jamie rose from the table and both put their breakfast dishes in the sink then ran up the stairs to gather up their things for school. Amanda paused in her eating when she noticed her mother staring at her anxiously. "What is it, Mother?"
"I just don't understand how you can do what you do, how you can be so calm about all of this knowing how dangerous it can be, knowing that at any time, you or your husband could be..." her voice trailed off unable to complete her thought as she was tearing up again.
"Mother, this is important work that we do. I've told you that and you said Dr. Quidd told you that. I do this because I want to do my part to make this world a safer place for my children to grow up in. I thought you understood that."
"I do, Darling," Dotty said. "But how safe are they going to be if you get killed in the line of duty? Do you think I could stand it if something happened to you? What if you're wrong and you do get caught today, then what?"
"That's why I carry a gun, Mother," Amanda pointed out.
"But didn't Lee say the other day that you need more work on your shooting? Isn't that why you're going to the firing range after the skate competition on Saturday?"
"Yes, I need more practice, but only for longer distances and the majority of the time when it comes down to needing the gun, my targets are much closer," she explained.
"How can you talk so casually about possibly shooting someone, referring to them as targets rather than people?" Dotty asked her concerned that this job had hardened her daughter. "Just like that guy Lee was talking about "taking out" the other day. And you breaking someone's nose, shattering someone else's kneecap. You and Lee talk about these things like there's nothing to it."
"There's nothing casual about it," Amanda said with a sigh. Did her mother really think that she took this lightly? "Lee didn't want to have to shoot Donaldson, but as he already explained to you, he had no choice. He would have killed innocent people if Lee hadn't stopped him. As for the two men that I injured. I was also left with no choice. Lee and I had to make split-second decisions in both cases to rescue the people that we did. And as I said at dinner the other night, it was my intention to break the guard's nose. I just wanted to incapacitate him so I could escape. Then the other guy tried to jump me while I was trying to rescue Lee. I had to hit him before I got captured again. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been about to do my partner or the people we were there to rescue any good."
"I guess," Dotty said still skeptical as Phillip and Jamie came tearing down the stairs grabbing their lunches and heading out to catch the bus.
"Look, Mother, you said you were concerned the other day that I hadn't had enough training. Lee and I both tried to reassure you that I've had plenty of training for the things that I do."
"But you're still taking classes," Dotty pointed out.
"I am, but so are many agents. As Lee said, training is really a never-ending process, but you know something? All the training in the world wouldn't help me if I were afraid to use that training when it's needed." Amanda having finished her breakfast during this conversation added her dishes to the pile in the sink. Dotty watched her and noticed the very slight protrusion of her gun at her left side.
"Can I ask a dumb question?"
"Mother, there are no dumb questions," Amanda said as she turned to face her.
"You gun," she said hesitantly.
"Yes," Amanda said.
"It's on your left side today and the other day at lunch, I could swear that you wore it on your right side."
"It was, today it's not," she opened her jacket a little to expose the shoulder holster. "The other day, I had it in a belt holster. Today, a shoulder holster which makes it easier to access if it's on the opposite side. A lot of it depends on what type of outfit I'm wearing and which one's easier to conceal."
Dotty shook her head and said, "I just can't get over how comfortable you seem with all of this."
"I have to be. If I weren't, wouldn't be any good at my job and I really would get killed or get somebody else killed. I know all of this scares you. It scares me sometimes too, but I want you to know that I am good at what I do. I was trained by the best in the business. Please, try to stop worrying so much."
"I'll try," she said.
"Come on, we should get going, "Amanda said. "You've got your appointment and I have to get on the road."
When they entered the Georgetown foyer, Amanda was greeted by Mrs. Marston. "Good morning, Mrs. Stetson."
"Good morning, Mrs. Marston," she replied "The password is checkerboard."
"You have a message from Mr. Stetson," Mrs. Marston said as she handed her the message slip and her ID and a guest pass for her mother.
"Thank you," she said as she trotted up the stairs to the Q Bureau glancing at the message he mother following behind her. She unlocked her office, dropped the file on her shooting on Lee's desk, then picked up the phone on her own desk dialing the number for Lee's car phone while she opened the bottom drawer of her desk to pull out her camera. "Hi, you called?" she said when Lee answered the phone. "You've ruled out Carpenter as Elisa's attacker? So, you think he might be the one who sent the first earring...hmm...that leaves Garrett then...Yeah, I'm getting ready to head out soon...I will and you be careful too...I love you. too" She hung the phone up with a sigh. This case was becoming more complex by the minute.
"You're just leaving that file here like that?"Dotty inquired.
"There's no point in filing it yet when Lee still have to finish the final report on it. He'll just drag it back out again and it'll sit on his desk in that pile until he does. I've tried multiple times to straighten his desk up and all he does is clutter it back up again."
"I see," Dotty said.
"Come on, I'll walk you down to Dr. Quidd's office, then I have to go," Amanda said as she slung the camera bag over her shoulder gesturing for her mother to exit ahead of her so she could lock the door behind them.
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Later that morning, Lee, Billy and Francine were in the conference room sifting through piles of paperwork on the Granada invasion that had been subpoenaed courtesy of Dr. Smyth's tenacity.
"They have documented everything down to the dimensions of a foxhole," Lee said. "What's Garrett hiding?"
Francine perused the paper in her hands and said, "How about bombing of the Hale Estate? Here's the order for it and he signed it." Francine showed it to both of them.
"It's an order for an air strike," Billy said. "The defensive cover for part of a mop-up team pinned down by a division of Cubans guarding the airfield."
"Yeah, except those Cubans turned out to be laborers and engineers," Lee said taking the order from Billy's hands. "There's something wrong here. I know Garrett's tactics. He used the same style in Korea and Vietnam. He does not believe in close air support in a land action like this."
"All right, talk to Garret. See if he can tie Carpenter into this," Billy said.
"Amanda's been tailing him since early this morning and I haven't got a clue where he's at right now. He wasn't at the Pentagon when I was there this morning."
"Right. She requisitioned a car from the motor pool for the job. I'll call down there and see which one so we can see which one and get her on the phone," Francine said as she left the room.
Before Francine returned, the phone rang. Billy answered it, "Melrose...yeah, patch it through...what...ok, we'll be right there." He hung up the phone. "Damn!"
"What is it, Billy?"
"That was Dr. Smyth. He just got a call from one of his contacts at the Pentagon. Carpenter's been murdered."
Billy and Francine investigated the crime scene finding battle ribbons seemingly belonging to General Garrett while Lee decided to use his temporary special security clearance to do some more digging into General Garrett's and Captain Carpenter's backgrounds.
He was on the phone with Billy discussing the situation,
"Nobody knows why Carpenter went there. He didn't have any responsibility at that warehouse."
"Well, why would one go to a storage warehouse?" Billy said
"You have something to store, like the Hale jewels," Lee replied.
"Or a Cuban agent list," Billy added. "Although we're putting everything through the strainer, you can bet it's gone now. Any luck with Garrett?"
"He's golfing today. Amanda followed him out to his country club."
"Well, shouldn't you go? I'm afraid we've got a three-star murderer on our hands."
Lee sighed and said, "You know, I have another hunch. Everything we've got keeps pointing back to Garrett, but maybe that's just what someone wants us to think."
"What are you thinking?"
"A general like Garrett doesn't like to do paperwork. He'd leave that up to his aide-de-camp. Now, I checked out who his aide was in Grenada. It was a Major, then Lieutenant, Sally McGill. Now, she probably signed most of his orders. A good aide could do her general's signature almost to perfection." During the conversation with Billy, Lee had been watching Sally McGill closely. When he saw her heading for the elevator, he said, "I've gotta go, Billy." He hung up the phone and began following McGill.
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Back at the agency later, Francine hung up the phone in frustration while Billy paced in front of her.
"Is he still off the air?" Billy said.
"Either that or his receiver's on the blitz. I don't know. Communication can't tell," Francine said.
"If he was just away from the car, we would at least get a ring," Billy said getting concerned. "Wait there's one other possibility. If Lee is using a distant tracking device, he'd turn off the radio phone to keep the interference down to a minimum."
"That must be it," Francine said. "He's tracking McGill in the car."
"Then, they've left the Pentagon. What got him interested in her? This business about her maybe signing Garrett's orders in Grenada is pretty thin."
"I think we should go with Lee's hunch. It's the best bet we've got," Francine said.
"Maybe," Billy said. "Amanda called from the country club. Garrett left before noon, before his golf game was finished and before Captain Carpenter was murdered."