It was afternoon before Lee and Amanda had made it up the drive to the cabin where they were to meet their informant. There was one other car parked at the beginning of a trail. Amanda grabbed a backpack with supplies, and they began to carefully make the walk up to the cabin as quietly as they could. This was always tough- keeping your guard up on a walk like this while not knowing what lies ahead for you when you arrive at your destination. Lee took Amanda's hand and they walked in quiet companionship.

Lee and Amanda put their hands on their guns as they reached the cabin. They knew there may be children around and that meant they needed to be careful wielding their guns around. Lee knocked on the cabin door, but no one answered. Amanda picked the lock while Lee kept his look-out. They traveled quietly through the living room, dining room, and kitchen. When they paused, they could hear Dotty and Phillip talking. They looked at each other with alarm. They couldn't hear any other voices. Guns drawn they entered the family room.

"Dotty, Phillip, are you alright? Where are they?" Lee whispered as he looked about.

"Lee, we're fine. Everything is fine."

Jaime had been watching as Lee and Amanda entered the house. He was getting acquainted with the security system that was in the house. Or rather, he was distracted watching how well Lee and Amanda worked together in tandem as they reached the house and went through the rooms. Suddenly, though, he realized that he'd better go intervene.

"Lee, Mom, it's ok. You can holster your guns." Jaime said as he walked down the hallway.

The confused look on Lee and Amanda's faces bemused Dotty and Phillip. Jaime found it a little funny but he could also see the worry that this might be a set up.

"It's ok, I promise. We're safe. I just got entranced watching the way the two of you work together entering the house. I've had my eye on these two keeping them safe." Jaime said.

"This nice woman you work with arranged all of this," Dotty said.

Lee and Amanda looked at each other and Jaime still wondering if this was some kind of trap.

"Really, you two need to calm down. It's ok. The woman with the chimpanzee gave me this to give to you Lee."

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief and started laughing. "Really, Amanda, I don't know why I ever went along with that tall-tale. I guess all that training at the agency helped you develop better lies."

"Well, I think the cover of the film agency helped, but I still hated it. I tried to keep the lies closer to the truth."

"Chimpanzee?" Lee asked his wife.

"Need to know Scarecrow," Amanda replied.

Lee pulled a picture of Francine out of the envelope and read the note on the back,

"Payback. It seems I've kept a secret from you. Enjoy the cabin with the family. I gave Jaime information on the security measures I had installed. There's also a box in the car for you- do what you want with it. All of the files with two exceptions are declassified. But as victims, your family has the right to view the two classified reports. My biggest regret is that I won't be able to see the look on your face when my shrouded plan for your sabbatical dawns on you. (Of course, you're off the grid, so you can't call to chew me out either.) And I would've loved your reaction when you realize that I, yes I, Francine Desmond-Bridges, have a cabin deep in the woods. I never would have imagined it either but I hope you will find it a relaxing getaway as much as I do. Look around you Lee, you deserve this. I'm just so happy for both of you. Consider it a wedding present. I know it's not quite camping, but there is a big tent in the car if you really want the full experience of a week-long camping trip."

He sighed in relief. "Francine," he exclaimed while handing the note over to his wife. "Who would have thought that our little pre-Madonna would have a remote cabin in the woods." As his wife read the note, he took Francine's advice and looked around the room. Together with his family on vacation in the woods, he couldn't wipe the ever widening grin off his face.

He sat down, "So, how long have you three been here? You all have some explaining to do. Given the safety precautions Francine seems to have used, I imagine this was a shock for you all as well. Jaime did you meet them in Fort Smith? Did you really fly to Fort Smith? And you two, I thought you flew in somewhere else. So how on earth did we wind up here?" They were all smiling at him. Without even taking a breath, he continued, "Oh listen to me, I'm rambling on. Is this what it's like to be a part of this family? But, I really do want to hear this story. Knowing Francine, this should be good."

After reading Francine's letter, Amanda sighed as she looked over at her husband. She'd never seen him so calm, content, and still. She realized he was completely still. She always wondered if he'd ever find complete peace. The loner had a family once again.

As the threesome begun to share how their day had gone, Lee and Amanda marveled at the lengths Francine went to make this trip happen and they had to admit that neither could think of anything they would have done differently to keep the family safe. Yet, Francine had certainly managed to surprise them. What a family story this would be!

After they had all completed the missing pieces to each other's puzzle, Jaime changed the subject. "I was dying to ask this the other day on the phone. I'm guessing by all this that things must have gone ok when you fessed up to your marriage at work. How did it go?"

Amanda smiled, "It wasn't easy to tell them as they've been great friends over the years and two of our biggest supporters. Apparently, Mr. Melrose already knew we were married and has kept it a secret for quite some time. Francine was shocked and I have to imagine hurt because we hadn't told her. But clearly, she's forgiven us. They were actually more concerned with how the three of you were doing."

"But what about work? Are they going to make you quit?" Phillip asked.

"No, they won't force us," Lee said. "Right now, they are the only two that know about our marriage and they recognize that we've been able to work all these years without our marriage being a hindrance. But, if we continue working, our secrets have to be kept from everyone else. Your mom and I never really considered our options if we weren't yanked from the field. It's something we want to talk with you all about. But apparently we have some time to mull it over- as a family."

"What do you two want to do?" Dotty asked.

"Honestly, we have some ideas, but after talking about it before getting assigned the Shrouded Sabbatical case, Francine's funny, isn't she? We realized that we wanted to discuss it all with you all. Let's spend some time just catching up and hanging out. And, I'm sure you all have questions for us. Then we can talk about the future of our careers later."

Jaime asked Lee if he wanted to check out the security. "Hey worm brain, you'd love all the super secret spy stuff, do you want a briefing as well?"

"Jaime, don't call you brother a worm brain," Lee retorted using the same sing-song pattern of speech he'd heard his wife use so many times. But, Lee's ever widening smile betrayed his rebuke as the men went to go check out all the techie security Francine had installed.

Amanda's eyes followed her husband out the room before she began to think about dinner, "mom, do you want to help me figure out what we're going to feed that crew tonight?" Dotty followed Amanda into the kitchen.