A Bump in the Yellow Brick Road
Chapter 1
The summer passed by too quickly for Amanda and Lee and the rest of the Stetson/King household. Each day brought a new adventure to their home with the addition of the twins to the family dynamics. As September approached, Amanda began looking forward to getting back to work. However, she was already beginning to dread the thought of being away from her daughters. The boys started back to school two days before she was to start back at the Agency. Billy agreed to ease Amanda back into things with a limited schedule, with the agreement she would work on transcripts at home. Finally, the day arrived, and it was not looking like the easy transition Amanda and Lee hoped for.
"Sweetheart?" Amanda called from the bedroom. When Lee didn't answer, she hollered again, "Lee?" She waited several long seconds before tightening her robe around her and jogged down the stairs toward the twins' bedroom. She could hear one of the girls crying loudly as she approached. With a heavy sigh, she pushed the door open and quickly scooped up one of the girls. "DJ… DJ… DJ… What is wrong, little love?" she asked as she gently bounced her daughter in her arms. She glanced down and noticed Lily was still sleeping, so she took her upset baby out into the hallway in search of Lee.
Jamie opened his bedroom door just as she passed by. "Mom?"
"Hello, sweetheart. Are you almost ready for school?" She smiled at her youngest son.
"I thought you had to get ready for work?" he questioned, confused.
Amanda bounced DJ several more times in an effort to comfort the whimpering infant. "I was trying to, but DJ woke up, and I don't know what happened to Lee," she explained.
Jamie scratched his head and looked toward the bottom of the stairs. "I heard him head down to the office a few minutes ago. Or I think it was him… Somebody went that way…" he muttered.
Amanda reached out and stroked his cheek lovingly. "It's tough getting up for school after being on vacation all summer, isn't it?" she teased. Jamie yawned loudly and nodded. "Well, you finish getting yourself ready, and I'll check in on your brother, too."
"Thanks, Mom." He reached out and touched DJ on the arm. "Hey, I'll be home later on… don't miss me too much," he assured the baby. As if DJ understood his words, she burrowed herself against Amanda's shoulder and cried loudly once more.
Amanda bounced her again gently and stepped down the hall to knock on Phillip's door. "Phillip? Are you up?" she asked softly.
Phillip opened the door, completely dressed. "Hey, Mom! I was gonna grab the baby for you when I heard her start crying," he offered. "What's wrong with her?" He touched her leg and tugged on her little foot.
"I'm not sure. Lily is still sound asleep, so whatever it is, it's not bothering her," Amanda sighed.
"Lily can sleep through anything," Phillip laughed. He held his arms out and offered, "I'll bring her down to get a bottle. I know you need to get ready, too."
Amanda rubbed her cheek on the baby's head before shifting her into Philip's arms. "Thank you, sweetheart. You're right. It feels strange having to rush to get ready for work this morning. I don't know what happened to Lee… or your grandmother," she wondered.
"Grandma is in the shower. I heard her singing again," Phillip groaned. He held his sister tenderly in his arms. "Come on… let's get you some numma nums."
Amanda watched as the pair headed down the stairs. She exhaled loudly and quickly decided to find Lee before returning to her room to get dressed. She found him on the phone in the office.
"And you're sure that's what you heard?" Lee questioned the person on the other end of the line. "Paul… listen… it's been almost six weeks… I know you hate the safe house… And I know you hate the food at the safe house, but it's the best we can do under the circumstances." Lee looked up at Amanda and gave her a weak smile before he mouthed, "I'm sorry." He turned his attention back to the phone and rolled his eyes dramatically as he bobbed his head, "Yeah… yeah… I know, Paul. We've got feelers out all over the city. As soon as we get something concrete, I'll let you know. Yeah… Listen, I gotta get going. I'll check in later today. Don't worry... " Lee paused, and a genuine smile crossed his face. "I'll tell her. I will, I will… I'll talk to you soon." He dropped the phone onto the receiver and exhaled heavily.
"Paul?" Amanda inquired.
"Yeah… he's going stir crazy, but there's nothing I can do," Lee informed his wife. He stood slowly and crossed the room to slip his arms around her. "He asked me to give you this… and to tell you he can't wait to see the girls. He feels bad he hasn't been able to see them yet but with this whole mess going on… well, you know how Paul is."
Amanda relaxed against Lee's shoulder and asked, "Any leads yet?"
Lee inhaled slowly and gave Amanda a gentle squeeze before he replied, "Nothing solid. Three attempts on his life, and we still aren't any closer to figuring out who it is."
Amanda lifted her chin, and their lips met for a brief moment before she slowly let go of Lee and stepped back. "Well, I'm sure something will come up soon. Now, I better get ready for work. Otherwise, we're going to be late dropping the boys off at school and getting to the office."
Lee gave her a weak smile. "And the girls?"
"DJ was quite unhappy a few minutes ago, but Phillip brought her down to have a bottle," Amanda explained.
"I would've gotten her!" Lee insisted as he glanced at the door. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear her."
"The office is sound-proof, remember?" Amanda took a step closer to the door and added, "You still need to get dressed, but I'm sure you can squeeze in a few minutes with her. She might simply be looking for her daddy this morning."
Lee looked at his watch and then scratched the back of his head for a few seconds while mentally calculating how much time they had left before they needed to go. "Yeah… I should do that. Is Lily still sleeping?"
Amanda pulled the door open and nodded, "She was. You know as well as I do, as soon as DJ's out of the crib, Lily misses that warm body beside her, and she's wide awake."
Lee slipped his arm around her waist and bumped his shoulder against Amanda as he teased, "Kind of like you and me."
Amanda gave him a stern look and reminded her husband, "More like me. You don't seem to have any problem sleeping through crying or me getting up several times a night now."
Together they began to climb the stairs when they heard Lily's distinct cry from down the hall. "Hey, I can't help it if I'm finally feeling content now. It took me a lot of years and restless nights to finally feel like this. I mean, our life is almost perfect," Lee declared.
"Uh-huh. Well, Mr. Perfect Life, go feed your daughter so your wife can get ready for work," Amanda vocalized. They parted ways, Lee heading toward the twins' bedroom door, and Amanda climbed the stairs to finished dressing.
Amanda closed and locked the bedroom door behind her as she began to change her clothes. She was surprised to hear Lee several minutes later knocking on the door. "Amanda? Why is the door locked?"
Amanda quickly finished pulling on her sweater before she twisted the knob to allow him entrance. "I was just getting dressed, that's all."
"But you never lock the door," Lee observed.
Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I just thought… well, I just thought I'd have a little privacy to get ready." She slipped her feet into her shoes and sidestepped Lee. "Where's Lily?"
"Your mother has her," Lee announced as he narrowed his eyes at her.
Amanda gave him a half-smile and nodded. "I'm going to get another cup of coffee before we go. You want one?"
Lee reached out to grasp her hand, but he only ended up with empty air as she moved into the doorway. "Amanda? What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on. Now, get dressed, or we're going to be late," she scolded him lightly before she slipped into the hall.
Lee shook his head as he heard her footsteps descending the stairs. "Something is going on in that head of yours, Amanda, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to find out what it is," he muttered as he tugged off his sleep pants and tossed them toward the bed.