Amanda opened the duffel and spread the array of items from Leatherneck's workshop over her bed. There were a half dozen mini-canisters of zap gas, several feet of explosive wire, and an audio device disguised as a pen. She should have dropped the pen in the undersecretary's limousine when she was sitting with him earlier, she mused, in case he gave Lee's location to his driver. That was an opportunity missed. She tried to make herself feel better by deciding that the likelihood of him saying the address aloud was small. If the undersecretary regularly used the limo to get to Lee, then the driver already knew where he was going.

"So, what exactly is this stuff?" Alan asked, studying at the items. "You haven't let anyone touch that duffel for the entire trip."

Amanda looked at the collection. "It's a few things I took from the Agency. If someone opened the bag, I didn't want to have to explain it."

"Well, you can explain it to me. I'm aware of your mission. How will this help?"

Amanda stepped closer to the bed. "The pen is a bug. It broadcasts back to this small radio." She touched a black box, no bigger than a deck of cards. "And the wire contains an explosive. It can be used to crack the bars on a window or to break a lock. It's handy for getting out of a secured room."

"I see. And the canisters?"

"They're zap gas. It's a paralytic. When inhaled, it renders a person immobile for about ten minutes." She frowned, remembering her call with Billy earlier that evening. He'd tried to tell her something about the zap gas but she'd cut him off when she'd heard the undersecretary approaching. She wondered what he'd wanted to say.

Alan was still looking at the canisters. "Won't it render you immobile, too?"

"Yes, if I'm right in the middle of it. Ideally, I should have a mask, but since I don't, the idea is to throw it and stand back until it takes effect." And that, Amanda thought, was probably what Billy had been trying to tell her. He'd been reminding her not to inhale the gas herself, nor to let Lee inhale it.

Alan frowned. "How do you plan on bringing this stuff with you? You can't exactly carry the duffel bag. He'll ask you to open it. He may even check your purse if you bring one."

"Yes," Amanda agreed, "he will." She walked over to the closet and selected a shirt. "I'm going to hide the canisters in this." She held the shirt up to show him. It was a quilted print, almost like a jacket. "Since it's quilted, it doesn't have a smooth look. I've created a few compartments in the lining that can be closed with Velcro. I'll put the canisters in the compartments." When he looked skeptical, she continued, "It'll work. The canisters are no bigger than my thumb."

"And the wire?"

"I'm going to wear a headband. I'll slide the wire into that."

Alan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay. Clearly, you've put some thought into this. Maybe it will work. But I don't like it, Amanda. You're taking a lot of chances. At a minimum, I should come with you."

She shook her head. "Things will be easier if you don't. I'll get away with more. The undersecretary has a low opinion of women and he's going to underestimate me. You'll change that picture entirely. You'll put him on his guard."

"But-"

"It's not like I haven't done this kind of thing before, Alan," she interrupted, before he could continue. "The key is deception. The undersecretary has to be confident he has the upper hand. He won't be expecting me to make a move."

"Maybe. But I still I feel like I should be doing more."

"You've done more than any friend could reasonably be asked to do," she assured him. "And you're not finished. I have another job in mind for you. You're going to contact my superiors if I don't come back."

"You mean when it's too late for me to help? That's a lousy job."

"It's important."

He shook his head. "It doesn't feel right, leaving on your own."

I won't be on my own, she thought. Lee will be there. But she didn't say it aloud. The harsh truth was she didn't know what kind of shape Lee was going to be in, and she didn't want to hear Alan remind her that he might be hurt. Maybe Lee was going to be able to help. Maybe he couldn't. It didn't really matter because they were going to be together. After two long years, she was going to see him again.

"It's late," Alan said, interrupting her thoughts. "You should try to get some sleep."

She glanced at the clock. He was right. It was after midnight. She shrugged. "I'm not sure I can, but I'll give it my best."

He nodded. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Then, goodnight, Amanda."

"Goodnight, Alan."

Long after Haazim had left, Lee lay on his back and stared at the ceiling - well, to where he knew the ceiling was, even though it was too dark to see it.

Amanda was coming.

It had to be her. Tall, dark hair, slim…with two teenage sons. Who else could it be? He felt a surge of excitement, his muscles warming as they flooded with energy. The Agency hadn't given up on him - Amanda hadn't given up on him - not even after two years. And they were going to get him out of this place.

He wondered how the Agency was going to approach his extraction. He wanted to help but he was woefully uninformed about his situation. He didn't even know where he was being held. Amanda was posing as a contact for a Russian buyer. That was clear from what Haazim had said. But was the Russian buyer real or part of a scenario the Agency had invented? Was another agent posing as the Russian?

He abruptly sat up on the cot. Did Amanda have a new partner?

The idea settled on him like a shower of ice water, the way unpleasant ideas often did. Not a day had gone by over the last two years when he hadn't thought of his wife. He'd pictured her sitting at her desk in the Q Bureau, or in her kitchen sharing a bottle of wine with him when her mother and sons were away. Not once had he thought about her out in the field with someone else - on a late night stakeout or strategizing over an early breakfast. In his mind, she was always by herself. It was as if things had frozen in place the second his captivity started.

Which was stupid, he realized. Life went on. Amanda didn't have the luxury of sitting home alone, missing him. She had a family to care for. She needed to work and it made sense for the Agency to pair her with another agent. She was smart and incredibly intuitive, but her shooting and hand-to-hand skills weren't going to win awards. She was better off with a partner and Billy would know that. Lee just hoped the partner wasn't good-looking...or funny...or attracted to tall, slim brunettes. That would not be good.

And whoever it was, he had better appreciate her skills. Lee himself had been slow to discover how talented she was. In their early days he had been impatient and curt. It was hard not to think of those times without embarrassment. He was lucky she hadn't given up on him... just as she hadn't given up on him now. And in a few hours, if all went well, he would be seeing her.

He lay back down on the cot. He doubted he was going to get any sleep that night.