9:03 a.m. Saturday, August 16, 1986

Lee could feel her watching him. As he peeked one eye open, he caught her worried brow a millisecond before she knew he was awake and he gently squeezed her hip. "What are you thinking about, Mrs. King?" His voice sounded rough and gravelly to his own ears and he cleared his throat. "What's bothering you? You don't regret last night, do you?" He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear away the sleep. What would he say if she told him it was all a mistake? His stomach knotted at the thought.

"No, Lee!" She rushed. "Last night . . . and this morning," she smirked . . . "well, it was just . . . perfect!" She ran her index finger down his upper arm and smiled shyly.

"If you're not regretting last night, then why did I find you awake at 3 o'clock this morning staring out the window? And why did you have a furrowed brow when I woke up just now?" He lightly ran his finger down between her brows, smoothing out the crinkled skin.

"I had a furrowed . . .?" She shook her head in wonder. "Just couldn't sleep, I guess," came her soft reply as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"You mean I didn't wear you out? My God, Woman!" He roared. His laugh was infectious as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on top of him. "So, what would you like to do on this lovely Saturday? We have the entire day since the boys are with their dad, right?"

"Saturday? What's the date?" She seemed agitated as she pulled herself from his chest.

"The 15th, I think." He attempted to pull her back atop him, but she stood too quickly from the warm cocoon of their makeshift bed in the middle of his living room floor. "Amanda! Where are you going?" He watched her disbelievingly as she scurried into his bedroom and gathered her blouse, slacks and undergarments that had been flung haphazardly the night before and then he heard her tinkering around in his bathroom.

She nearly slammed into him as she rushed out a few minutes later. He tightened his grip on the blanket that was now covering his lower half. "What's the rush? I thought we'd have some breakfast and then maybe spend the afternoon together. Well, you would have breakfast," he smiled expecting her to come back with her normal speech about breakfast being the most important meal of the day.

"That . . . uh," she distractedly searched for something.

"Amanda?" Lee called to the back of her head following her around the room.

Reaching for the heel that was wedged under the couch, she tugged it free before responding to him. "Uh, that would be great, Lee. But I need to meet, uh . . . I need to run a couple of errands this morning. Could we meet for lunch?"

"Well, why don't I get dressed and we can get you some breakfast and then run your errands together?" He smiled and looked at her expectantly.

"Um, I need to get to a few places and they're only open in the morning on Saturdays. It'll just be easier to take care of them by myself and then I can join you for lunch." At his raised brow she rushed on. "It really will be much quicker if I take care of them alone. You name the place and I'll meet you there." She kissed him quickly and then hopped on one leg to slip on one shoe before repeating her actions with the other.

Why did he have the feeling she wasn't being honest with him? She hated lying, he reminded himself. Quick sound bites of the half-truths she had fed her mother and sons throughout the last three years flooded his ears. 'She may hate doing it, but she does do it . . . and often.' His inner voice chided. The sight of her pulling her purse off the coat tree near his front door pulled him from his thoughts and he rushed over to help her slip it on her shoulder.

"Amanda, are we 'okay'? I mean, you're sure you aren't running off because . . . well, because of what happened last night?" He felt so vulnerable. He hated feeling this way. He was the 'Great Scarecrow.' Women swooned at his feet. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. But when he gazed into her deep chocolate eyes, Lee felt himself being consumed all over again. That was it. When he was around her, he wasn't the 'Great Scarecrow.' He was just Lee, the man. And that felt good . . . amazing in fact.

"Lee?" She called as she squeezed his forearm.

He shook the thoughts away and answered her. "I'm sorry, what?"

She reached down and held his right hand between both of hers until he looked into her eyes. "I promise, I don't have any regrets about last night." When he nodded his understanding, she smiled and placed a tender kiss to his lips. "I'll meet you at Spencer's at noon, okay?"

At his nod, she smiled then opened the door and rushed toward the elevator.

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10:26 a.m. Saturday, August 16, 1986

Amanda anxiously tapped the steering wheel, as she turned northwest onto Potomac Parkway. She was quickly stopped in bumper-to-bumper traffic. "No! No! No! Not today!" She whined. Grimacing at the clock again, willing it to slow down, she sighed. Why had she stopped at her house to change and freshen up? She should have just gone directly to the meeting. 'Oh sure,' she thought, 'why not just wear a sign that says "walk of shame?" while I'm at it?' She shook her head at the absurdity and focused on the road ahead. She was at least ten minutes away from her meet and if she was late, well she didn't want to think about what would happen if she were late.

Quickly glancing into the rearview mirror, she took a deep breath and maneuvered her car onto the shoulder. With her head down low, the car flew down the gravel-laden road. She winced when she heard the other vehicles honking at their displeasure of her actions. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She called out to no one in particular.

Finally, she arrived at her destination and pulled into the first open parking spot she could find and rushed to purchase her ticket to enter the facility. She had exactly thirty seconds to make it to the panda exhibit and meet with her handler. 'Her handler.' She laughed lightly to herself. After fifteen years, one would think she would know more about the man than just his last name. "Mr. Klein," she whispered nearly out of breath as she plopped down onto the bench.

"Agent King, so good of you to make it," the sarcasm nearly dripped from his words.

Taking advantage of the fact that they were sitting back-to-back on opposite benches, she rolled her eyes at his obvious distaste of her tardiness. She was a lousy three-minutes late. She knew from experience that promptness fell just below patriotism and loyalty for the stoic man. 'Definitely a career Army man . . . nah, a Marine,' she mentally corrected. Rules and structure had clearly been a major part of his life for at least forty years, perhaps since birth.

Amanda watched the young families as they strolled through the Smithsonian's National Zoo. She couldn't stop the small smile that formed when a little girl screamed in excitement at seeing the baby panda with its mother.

"It's been six-months since our last meeting." His stern voice intruded her thoughts.

"Yes, Sir."

"In that time did you forget what we'd discussed, Agent King?"

She stilled as she played back their conversation, settling on the most poignant. "Should we be concerned that you've lost your objectivity when it comes to Agent Stetson?" Was she being watched? Did he know that their relationship had progressed to a more than a professional one since the beginning of summer? She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she scrambled to form a proper response.

"I'll take your silence to mean that you've, in fact forgotten. Let me remind you then. You were reminded to stay focused on your assignment and to not get personally involved with Agent Stetson. Were you not?"

"Yes, Sir." She answered hesitantly.

"And yet, you did quite the opposite of that, didn't you?" He scolded.

She sighed deeply. He obviously knew the answer, so what good would lying help? "Yes, Sir."

"I have to say, Agent King. I'm quite disappointed in you. You were specifically chosen for this assignment because of your unique skills and experiences. While you accomplished a lot of what we set out to do, you've fallen short."

"What happens now, Sir?" Clutching the cold steel of the side of the bench, she stopped herself from turning to her superior sitting behind her.

"Now, Agent King? You'll very likely get reassigned and I'll be left to clean up this mess."

"Sir, if you'll excuse me for saying—"

"I will not excuse you, Agent King!" She heard the distinctive sound of his hands slamming against his leg. "You were warned about this very thing and you went and got involved with him anyway. Now all of the time and effort we've put into bringing him back from the brink of destruction has been for naught."

In fifteen years, this was the first time she had heard him lose his temper. He was typically so devoid of emotion. That fact sent her mind reeling. "Sir—"

"Go home, Agent King." His voice left no room for argument.

She sat for a moment, putting her thoughts together before trying again. "Sir, with all due respect, you kept me in the Agency, partnered me with Agent Stetson so that he would learn to be more careful, follow the Agency rules and regulations, start caring again for his own wellbeing. He's done that and so much more. By keeping us together as partners, he would continue to be the great agent that he is." She absently shook her head. "Sir, you just have to keep us together as partners!"

Amanda waited for his response. Hoping beyond hope that he would see she was right and agree to keep them together.

"Sir?" She snuck a peek behind her only to see that she was sitting alone on the bench. A quick look around confirmed that her superior had left her sitting alone and talking to herself. She smiled nervously at the couple that was eyeing her oddly from across the sidewalk. "Just . . . uh . . . thinking aloud." She mumbled and rolled her eyes self-consciously before stalking off toward her car.