Chapter 3

Later Lee sat just out of sight underneath a window in the back yard. There was a brief flash of déjà vu as he crouched waiting. He remembered sitting there dripping wet after his first meeting with Amanda at the embassy costume party. It felt like a lifetime ago.

He remembered thinking at the time that she was beautiful, not in the same sort of way as the blonde bombshells he normally dated but her dark hair and eyes were striking. He remembered dancing with her and thinking at the time that she fit against him perfectly. He shook his head, he didn't know why he was thinking about all of that now. He had a job to do and she might be a double agent.

The window was open and he was listening to Amanda and he guessed, her mother. He wondered how he lucked out as it sounded like they were preparing to leave the house.

"Do you have the list, Mother?" he heard her husky voice ask, "I can't seem to find it," she said mumbling.

"I have it right here," he heard another voice say, "but, Amanda," the woman sighed, "this doesn't seem like enough. This is a party after all," she said in an irritable tone.

"Mother," Amanda said patiently, "there will only be us, the boys, Phillip's girlfriend and Joe and Carrie. That's only seven of us. Eight if Jamie brings a friend," her voice faded off as it sounded as she was getting further away, "we don't need that much. Besides, it won't be much of a party if Jamie doesn't get the last two of his senior projects done," he heard Amanda say, "that map for history class is turning out wonderfully but we sure are struggling with the science project," he heard her sigh, "there's a guy at work I could ask for some advice on what he's done wrong but….no, it's his project. He really needs to do it himself. It's his grade," she said.

"Well, he's already gotten into UVA. It's not like he needs a good grade on it," her mother said, her voice fading finally as they continued to argue he finally heard the click of the front door.

He waited and after a few minutes he heard the start of an engine and a car pull away. He gave himself another five minutes before moving to the back door and picking the lock. He shook his head, these people in the suburbs, they had no idea how lax their security really was.

He'd never been inside her home, it was exactly what he imagined a suburban home looked like on the inside. He poked around the breakfast nook and he made his way to the kitchen. There on the counter were the electronic components to build a transmitter radio.

"I'll be damned," he mumbled, just like Francine said. He inspected the equipment, it wasn't put together correctly, he thought, 'this will never work right.' He shook his head. If Amanda was some sort of double agent, she should know this was wrong unless she was completely inept. He dropped the radio and quickly looked around the rest of the kitchen, nothing seemed out of order.

He was stopped short however, when he stepped into the family room. There on the wall was a map of Czechoslovakia. A few key cities were marked along with a few that he would say were insignificant to the political landscape. It was actually very actuate and well done. As he looked closer at it, he noticed in the corner it said;

'History

4th hour

Jamie King'

He scratched his head, then sighed. It was all becoming clear now.

'That map for history class is turning out wonderfully

But we sure are struggling with the science project'

The agencies refusal to bring Amanda in and ask her for an explanation had lead them to jump to conclusions. He chucked and reached into his jacket pocket for his small camera to take a few shots of what he found when suddenly he heard a key clicking from the front door. He hurried back into the kitchen and stepped behind the refrigerator to hide.

He heard someone come into the family room, peeking around the corner he spotted Amanda grabbing something off the coffee table. She turned quickly and he jumped back knocking his foot against the dining room door. He quickly slipped backwards into the dining room to get further away from her. He sensed she was heading his way. He moved quietly to the doorway of the entrance way. Looking around the doorway he spied Amanda tiptoeing into the kitchen holding a baseball bat. He moved quickly up behind her, knowing he would startle her but hoping she would let him explain.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and watched as she turned to him with wild eyes. She was more beautiful than he remembered. That was the last clear thought he had as she brought up the bat and clobbered him over the head. Everything went black.