Gleaning pretty much squat from Tommy, Lee chose to take a break before he lost control and started railing on the guy. Going for the jugular was no way to impress upon the local police department the professionalism of the Agency's finest agent.

So instead of using Tommy as a personal punching bag, Lee left the interrogation room to find a phone. Dialing the B and B, he asked to be connected to Amanda's room. She answered on the third ring.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"How's your head?"

"Barely any pain at all."

She sounded stronger than when he'd left her, and he was very glad for it.

"We're still sitting with Tommy Tolman. He's refusing to crack."

"Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "What about Marcus? Or Michael?"

Lee's grip tightened on the phone. "We're going to get them, too. Soon."

"Lee," she said, and he assumed she switched the receiver to her other ear when he heard rustling. "No one at the mansion knows this happened, do they? Have you talked to Alicia?"

"No, I haven't talked to Alicia; she's my next call. But you don't need to worry yourself about it anymore, Amanda. Just relax and let me handle it."

"I am worried about it, Lee, because it's all but lunch time…and if they don't know what's going on, Marcus—"

"Amanda," Lee said firmly, "please just stay where you are."

"We can set them up and catch them. I know we can. Meet me there."

When he didn't say anything, she said, "Maybe they can lead us there, you know, if they think something is wrong. If I tell Marcus I wasn't able to drop off the film, he might possibly lead us where they are holding her."

"Amanda, you barely escaped Jimmy Edmund this morning. I don't want you putting yourself-"

"Lee, we're here to do a job, right? How else are you going to catch those two—we know they're both involved. We know they will probably lead us to Nicole. You know that."

She was right and he knew it. "Damn it, Amanda. Fine. Don't do anything without me. I'll meet you there."

It was easy to talk the desk clerk into taking her to Kmart to pick up the van. Instead of driving back to the B and B, however, Amanda drove to the mansion with determination. It really hadn't been that long since she'd left for her errands; she likely wouldn't have yet been missed.

Her assumption was right on the money. When she walked into the front foyer, the activity was the same as it had been when she'd left. No news, no radio, no television had penetrated the walls. Models were running through the halls in heels and lace, paying no heed to her. After dropping her bag off in the coat room, she moved through the hallways to the back of the house and through the large French doors that led outside to the pool.

That's where Amanda found everyone else – with music blaring overhead, pumping through loud speakers mounted on the corners of the pool house. There was laughter and lots of talking, a very carefree environment considering they were still behind schedule.

The male model, Enrico, stood in the water, between the female models, Michelle and Melanie, who were each sprawled out seductively on their own floating lounger. Marcus stood in his usual spot behind the camera, encouraging poses while Peter stood off to the side with his hands full of bottles of lotion and beach towels. Alicia sat under a large patio umbrella; a legal pad set on a table next to her where she was taking notes.

Amanda looked at her watch. Lee should be here any minute, and she debated momentarily with herself what she should do. She could wait for Lee—but as far as Marcus knew, Lee wasn't involved in any way. So, taking a deep breath, she made her decision and marched purposefully toward Marcus. He hesitated when he saw her, dropping his camera which swung haphazardly from the strap around his neck.

As she drew nearer him, she smiled sweetly and said, "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Uh…" he looked around, and the others shrugged.

"It's time for an outfit change as it is, Marcus," Peter said, coming up beside him, fumbling with his armful of items. "We probably should take five anyway." He smiled down at her. "Hey, Amanda."

"Hey, Peter," Amanda said crisply, not wanting to encourage conversation.

Fortunately, she was spared from small-talk when Alicia called out from her post under the umbrella, "Actually, lunch was just delivered. Something in town caused the roads to be blocked and the caterer was just able to finally get here and get set up. Let's take an hour, people, I'm sure we're all starved!"

"Great!" Amanda said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Just great."

Peter looked between her and Marcus, looking unsure. "I'll save you a plate, Amanda."

After briefing the sheriff, Lee left the police department and headed directly to the mansion, breaking all posted speed limits. He didn't care, though. It was urgent that he get there before Marcus did anything rash. After Amanda's failed kidnapping this morning, the thought of what potentially could happen to her made his blood run cold.

Sometimes when Amanda made the most sense was when she got into the most trouble.

He was not about to let her get into any more trouble than she had already been in today.

Marcus and Amanda moved under the awning of the pool house far enough away from the rest of the others so they wouldn't be heard.

"What happened to your neck?"

Amanda's fingers jumped to the fresh nick at her throat as she rounded back to face him. Keeping her features neutral, she leveled a smile at him while pulling her hair against it in an effort to conceal the injury. Under her breath she said, "Oh, this is a gift from your friend."

Marcus looked puzzled. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." She plastered on a look of concern, preparing for the lie that was about to roll easily off of her tongue. "I'm sorry, Marcus, but your friend wasn't there to meet me." She squinted down at her watch. "That's why it took me so long. He never showed. I waited and waited." She shook her head regretfully. "I wasn't sure what you wanted me to do."

"No one at all was there?" He echoed, glancing around nervously as if to be sure no one was listening, but the fact was that almost everyone had disappeared for lunch.

She widened her eyes innocently. "No, no one."

"Where is the package now?"

"It's in my purse," she motioned across the pool to the French doors, "in the coat room with all of our stuff."

He rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I need to talk to Michael."

"Michael?" She repeated, a flare of excitement coursing through her. "What for?"

"We have an hour," he said, almost to himself. Then he met her eye. "I need the film back."

"Oh, sure, I can go get it for you."

She jumped in surprise when his hand encircled her upper arm. He pulled her tightly against his side, positioning himself just so that an onlooker wouldn't realize Amanda was being forced to walk alongside him.

"Marcus!" She hissed, wrenching her arm unsuccessfully from his tight fingers. It seemed everyone just thought they could do what they wanted with her today. "Let go of me!"

It surprised her when he did, in fact, loosen his grip and dropped his hand. His tone was apologetic when he said, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Can you go grab your bag and I'll go get Michael? There should be enough time for us to drop that film off right now, I think."

Lee screeched to a halt at the front steps of the mansion, relieved to see that the van was there but peeved that Amanda was not inside. Of course, she wouldn't have stayed in the car! Why didn't that surprise him? At least the van was a sign she was somewhere nearby.

At least he hoped that was the case. He knew from experience that their plans often escalated and spun out of control.

With that on the forefront of his mind, Lee jumped out of the car leaving the keys in the ignition and rushed up the stairs. Without waiting for the butler to answer, Lee opened the front door but stopped dead when he spotted Amanda walking calmly toward him from a back hall.

Her coloring was still pale, evidence of her earlier experience with Jimmy Edmund. It was also evident that she should be back at the B & B, resting. He started to ask her if she was all right, but the question died on his lips when he caught movement coming from further behind her. He locked gazes with her and she shook her head slightly in warning.

Soon the movement revealed Marcus, who had a cruel looking smile on his face when he spotted Lee.

"Ah, Mr. Stimpson," Marcus said, stepping further into view, Michael two steps behind him. "Nice for you to join us again."

Lee couldn't help but notice what a contrast the two men were to each other. Marcus was small, maybe five and a half feet tall, middle-aged, balding with a bad comb-over. Michael, on the other hand, was a looming two-hundred plus line-backer with hands the size of basketballs.

Lee looked between the three of them, assessing the situation. Amanda hadn't stopped walking toward him but suddenly she took a hard left, opening a door and disappearing through it. He watched her curiously before turning his attention back to the two men who had stopped just a few feet in front of him.

"There was a bit of a kerfuffle in town," he told them, not liking the scowl on Marcus' face or Michael's tightening fists. "I got caught up in traffic."

"Traffic, huh? Not what we heard." Michael said stepping forward, cracking his knuckles. "Word is you're a fed."

A/N: Reviews are always welcome. Thank you for reading.