Their plans in place, Amanda and Emily were cleaning up the Chinese food containers from their lunch. Emily looked at Lee out of the corner of her eye before glancing at Amanda. "You know, I always knew you two would end up together." Turning to Lee, she watched for his reaction.

His face reddening slightly, Lee struggled for a reply. Wow, Emily, you know how to catch your subject off guard.

Amanda came to the rescue. "Oh, you mean as partners? Well, Lee tried to shake me a few times, but Billy kept assigning us to the same cases. Lee finally gave in." She laughed nervously. Behind Emily's back, she offered Lee a panicked look.

Emily was still staring at Lee. "Oh? Then I guess you weren't away together yesterday? Because I had the distinct impression from Billy that you were both unavailable. And since you weren't on a mission, I wondered why you would be carrying those rings in your pocket, Lee. After all, you have never faked being married unless you were on a case."

Patting the shirt pocket where he had placed the rings earlier, Lee's eyes grew large as he looked to Amanda for support. Then he leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. Finally he got up and started to pace around the office.

Amanda was silent, waiting for her husband's response.

"You know Lee, I was hoping this was good news." Emily smiled indulgently at the flustered agent.

Finally Lee went over to Amanda and put his arm around her. He smiled brightly. "Of course it's good news. I'm probably the happiest man on the planet, having Amanda as my wife." His smile faded. "But we have kept our marriage a secret. No one else knows about it."

Amanda spoke up. "Lee and I felt it would endanger my family if it became known that we were married."

Emily went to hug her friends. "Well, congratulations on your marriage. I couldn't be happier for you both."

Growing a little shy, Amanda smiled over at Lee, then back at Emily. "Actually, I'm glad you know, Emily. It's kind of hard not being able to tell anyone."

Lee held Amanda a little more tightly to his side.

"But, I think you two are mistaken to keep it a secret."

Lee was quick to reply. "How so? A friend of mine's son was held hostage not long ago because his father was an operative…"

"Well, that is unfortunate, if not tragic. But how are Amanda and her family safer when you are not there at night to protect them, Lee? And then there is the matter of building a healthy relationship…"

Jumping in once again, Lee was defensive. "Amanda and I are together almost every day."

"For work. It just isn't the same. Trust me. I know. You'll remember James and I were married for many years. You need time together away from work to do regular, everyday things. Of course time away alone together is very nice. As it is, you only had one day out of the two you had counted on this weekend. Along I came, interrupting your plans."

Lee's expression was contrite, if not a little self-conscious. Emily was like a surrogate mother to him, and he felt badly for disagreeing with her, knowing she meant well. And he knew there was truth to what she was saying. He and Amanda had had their rocky moments here and there as they had adjusted to being married. It never seemed like they had enough time to just be normal together.

Amanda responded to Emily. "Whitsett came along. It wasn't your fault, Emily. Things like this happen sometimes."

Emily smiled sadly, but any reply she had was cut off when the phone rang. Lee rushed to pick it up. He looked over at Amanda. "It might be T.P."

He nodded at the women when his prediction was correct. "Hi, T.P. Thanks for getting back to us so quickly." Lee's comments were interspersed with silence as he listened to T.P. "Yes. We can meet you there. Okay. Goodbye." Lee hung up the phone.

"He wants to meet us at the ice cream shop."

Amanda reached for her sweater. "Oh good. I'm in the mood for tutti frutti."

Lee looked at her strangely. "Really? You always turn up your nose when T.P. suggests it." He put his hand on the small of her back as they followed Emily from the office and down the stairs.

"Somehow it sounds good to me right now. I've been craving some ice cream all day."

"Not earlier this morning. I could barely get you to drink a cup of tea. You didn't even want coffee or the eggs I made for you."

Walking ahead of the Stetsons, Emily smiled to herself.

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The introductions between Emily and T.P. over, Amanda dug into her ice cream with the same enthusiasm as T.P. had for his. Having declined to get their own, Lee and Emily watched them and listened as he filled them in on Whitsett.

"Well, my friends. It appears that our man has been pressed into service to procure plans for the joint British and American spy satellite."

Emily frowned while Amanda looked up at T.P.

Lee leaned forward, his mind working. "But why Whitsett? The man was caught once before. And it was his first big-time job. They could have found a more experienced dealer to get the plans—and saved themselves a lot of trouble. What's the KGB's real plan?"

T.P. looked at Lee, his spoon poised above his bowl. "I'm not exactly sure, Lee, but look at who is paying attention. He's attracted the same three agents who put him in jail over two years ago."

"But Whitsett didn't break himself out of jail. He couldn't have. He never had the resources. We know it was the KGB."

"I won't tell you how to do your job, Lee, but I would tread carefully. This could be a trap."

Emily nodded. "They could be after me, or all three of us."

Amanda put her spoon down and looked down at the half-finished serving of ice cream, then pushed it away. The tutti frutti had lost its appeal. She thought for a moment. "Or, they could be trying to distract us."

Lee was interested. "You mean that they may still want the plans, but hope we'll chase after the wrong guy. That's good, Amanda." He looked proudly at his wife.

"Yes. Or they could be using Whitsett to get the plans, then hope he takes the fall."

Emily beamed. "Clever thinking, Amanda. Then we must proceed with our plan, so we will know who is working with Whitsett."

As the little meeting broke up, T.P. pulled Lee aside. "I just wanted to say congratulations, Lee. As I've said before, Mrs. King, or should I say, Mrs. Stetson, is the best thing that's ever happened to you." At Lee's expression, T.P. laughed. "You didn't really think you could keep it a secret from me, did you, Lee, my boy?"

"I suppose I should have expected you to find out at some point, T.P. But the marriage is a secret, okay? And thanks. Amanda is the best thing that ever happened to me."

T.P. gave Lee a pat on the back before ambling off to his Volvo.

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Things went more slowly than they had hoped. The agents following Whitsett had managed to place a bug in his room. He had laid low there all day Sunday, ordering room service and watching movies.

"Apparently he's catching up on what he's missed since he's been in jail. And we know he's there, because he's been on the phone a couple of times with room service, gone to the restroom, that sort of thing."

Amanda looked over at Lee as he drove them to her house. "I'm sorry we couldn't enjoy the rest of our weekend at the cabin."

"Well, at least we had a nice dinner alone at my place." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and saw the flash of metal at the same time as Amanda.

"Lee. We forgot our wedding rings. Again." Lee had fished them out of his pocket at his apartment, prepared to put them away in his hiding place, but Amanda had stopped him.

"Oh, let's wear them a little while longer. We can take them off before we leave here."

Lee had agreed, enjoying the notion of wearing his ring as much as Amanda enjoyed wearing hers. Now, they pulled the rings off of their fingers and Lee placed them carefully in his pocket once again.

"Emily was sweet to bow out of our dinner invitation," Amanda said. "She seemed to invent an excuse to go back to her hotel."

"Well, she's always wanted us to get together, and she felt badly about breaking up our weekend alone." Lee picked up Amanda's hand and held it. "You seem to be feeling better. In fact, I noticed you wolfing down that peanut butter sandwich during our meeting with Emily. And then that strange interest of yours in the tutti frutti ice cream."

"Yes, my stomach is better—although I can't imagine why I wanted that awful tutti frutti. I couldn't finish it." Amanda yawned. "But I'm so sleepy now."

"It's only seven-thirty, Amanda. You took that nap out on the rock yesterday. Are you really feeling better?"

"I guess so. I'm sleepy. Not sick."

As they pulled up to a stoplight, Lee watched his wife for a long moment. She does look exhausted. "Amanda, promise me you'll make an appointment with the doctor if you don't feel better by tomorrow."

"Oh, Lee. We're in the middle of a case. I'll take care of it if I'm not better by the time the case is closed."

"Well, all right." Lee placed his finger under Amanda's chin and turned her face to his. "But humor me and don't put it off any longer than that, okay? It's only been four months since…" Lee did not finish his sentence.

Amanda nodded in understanding and held her tongue. She knew Lee was trying not to treat her with kid gloves. And it is weird that I am not feeling well.

He took her hand again as the light changed. Soon they were pulling up to the house on Maplewood. A familiar couple was entering the house. "Hey, I guess Joe just got back with the boys. Is that Carrie with them?"

"Yeah. He told me it was a boys' weekend. They were so excited to get away alone with him for the first time in months."

"Maybe they picked up Carrie and had dinner or something."

Amanda looked at Lee. She hoped he was right. "Yeah, maybe."

Lee pulled the Corvette to the curb and hurried to help Amanda out of the car before getting her suitcase. He carried it to the front stoop. Before Amanda could open the door, it swung open and Joe was standing there, Carrie right behind him.

Joe shot a look at Lee before greeting his ex-wife. "Hello, Amanda. Hello, Lee. I guess you two are back from your business trip, right on schedule." He looked pointedly at Amanda.

Amanda wrinkled her brow at Joe's expression. "Will you excuse us, Joe? I'd like to say hello to the boys…"

"Dotty just sent them up to the bathroom." He turned to Carrie. "Hon, will you give us a few minutes?"

Carrie smiled at Amanda and Lee. "It was nice to see you. I'll just wait in the car, Joe."

Joe looked at Lee, who stood with Amanda in the entry of the house. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk with Amanda alone."

Lee started to say something, but Amanda put a hand on his arm. "If you need to speak with me, Joe, you can speak with Lee, too."

Joe frowned. "Fine. But can we at least go in the living room, where the boys and your mother won't hear us?"

Amanda nodded, and the three moved into the living room and closed the folding doors.

Joe was quick to get to the point. He spoke quietly. "Look, Amanda. I'd love to say that whatever you and Lee do is your business, but we have two boys to think of. They know that you went away for the weekend together."

"On business, Joe." Amanda spoke firmly. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing I worked part of the weekend, so it's not a total lie.

"Look, I know your business. You never get back on time when you're working."

Lee bristled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Any idiot can see you're in a pretty serious relationship." Joe looked at Lee and decided to take a softer approach. "Well, anyone who knows Amanda pretty well can see that. We all know that I had you two figured out a while ago, and to tell the truth, I'm happy for you both."

Amanda could see that Lee was somewhat mollified, but it he was still at a low simmer. She decided to say something before he boiled over again. "Thank you, but please make your point, Joe."

Joe hesitated before saying, "The boys know you were away together for the weekend. They're getting older, Amanda. At some point, they'll figure out, or at least assume, it isn't work. I hate to be a prude, but you're…" Joe shifted uncomfortably and did not complete his sentence.

"…setting a bad example for them. Is that what you were going to say?" Amanda's eyes smarted with tears, but her posture said she was angry.

"Amanda…"

"I think you've said enough for one evening, King. Amanda is a respectable woman." Lee's eyes were flashing. If he had not been inside Amanda's house, Joe might be sprawled on the ground right now, a new bruise forming on his jaw.

"Look. I know Amanda doesn't want to set a bad example. I just think you should know the boys were talking…"

Amanda and Lee looked at one another for a long moment. Lee nodded imperceptibly and sighed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the wedding rings that he had stowed there and held out his palm towards Joe.

Before Joe could register a response, Amanda silently entreated him to keep his voice down.

"Geez, Amanda. Lee. How long has this been going on? Since you were on the run that time? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Joe's expression went from surprise to hurt to confusion. Amanda also thought she detected a little jealousy in his eyes.

"A week ago was our four-month anniversary, Joe." Amanda took Lee's hand and held it. "We decided to keep our marriage a secret because of our jobs. So the boys and Mother would be safer."

Amanda and Lee watched as Joe processed that information. "You were in California for your honeymoon. Oh God. I'm sorry." Joe thought of his own recent honeymoon. It had been carefree and romantic as he and Carrie had roamed the beaches of St. Lucia. Lee had spent much of his honeymoon wondering if his new wife would recover from her nearly fatal gunshot wound.

Lee did his best to keep his mind focused on the present. He gently pulled his hand from Amanda's so he could put his arm around her. "Of course we'll have to ask you to keep this a secret."

"Of course. And I certainly can't blame you for a weekend away, if it really wasn't work. But how are you going to keep it a secret from the boys? Like I said, they're asking questions."

"We'll take it one step at a time, Joe." Amanda and Lee started to follow Joe to the door, but she stopped. "Joe, I do have a question. Did Carrie go with you?"

Joe looked sheepish. "Yes. We hadn't seen much of each other all week. I didn't have the heart to leave her at home, since it's her summer break now."

"But Joe, the boys were counting on time alone with you."

"I'll take them to a game this week. They can stay overnight and I can go into the office late. Maybe Carrie can go to her sister's. You and Lee could have a little time alone."

Amanda's eyes narrowed. "That's a nice plan, Joe, if Carrie goes along with it." She stopped herself before saying anymore. Joe still had his foibles, and she knew arguing would not fix them. "Let us know what you work out. And thank Carrie for being so gracious about waiting while we talked."

After Joe left, Amanda turned to Lee. "The boys are almost done up there. We should probably say good night."

Lee put his arms around his wife and spoke quietly. "Sometimes I wish I could just stay."

"But Lee…"

"No. I mean it. Maybe this whole secret marriage thing was a stupid idea. Your boys need to know their mother isn't fooling around with some guy who doesn't have the decency to propose when he's obviously in love with her. We wouldn't have had that argument with Joe. And I wouldn't be standing here, saying goodbye to my wife."

Amanda looked up at Lee's face, seeing the frustration in his eyes. She tried to imagine what it was like for Lee to go home alone, when she had her family to keep her company. She could hear her boys horsing around upstairs. Dotty moved about, obviously trying to corral them as she sorted through their things. Then Amanda remembered the horror she had felt when they learned about Kai's son. "We'll figure out a way to make this work, Lee. It was a good idea to tell Joe. He's already trying to help."

"Only out of guilt feelings. He's doing to your boys what he did to you."

"At least he still took them camping. And they are our boys. It's okay to say that."

Lee smiled at the thought. "Yeah. Our boys. Look, I'd better let you get upstairs. I love you." He bent his head to kiss Amanda.

As they broke apart, Amanda looked in Lee's eyes once again. "And I love you."

As Lee stepped outside, he turned back to Amanda. "It might be good if we used your jeep tomorrow. Then Emily doesn't have to follow us around in her rental car."

"Good idea. I'll pick you up at your apartment at seven-thirty."

"See you then." Lee leaned back towards Amanda and stole another kiss before going to his car.

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Phillip hung up the phone in his mother's bedroom and grinned at Jamie. "I guess we got Kevin on a good day. He's been bored out of his mind. He and Samantha will be over in about a half an hour."

"What do we tell Grandma?"

"That Kevin is taking us to the park, lunch, and a movie after."

"I hope she'll let us go."

"Of course she will, Wormbrain. You know she tried to get Mom and their dad together before Mom met Lee. She thinks Mr. Nelson is great."

Jamie still did not look convinced as he followed his brother downstairs to talk with Dotty.

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In Billy's office, Lee leaned against the window while he listened to Billy and Francine brief him, Amanda, and Emily Farnsworth. Whitsett had finally left his room to visit the bar the night before, and it was not just to get a drink. His fishing expedition had not gone well, so it was naturally assumed he would try again—this time they wanted Amanda there to take his bait. Billy had been adamant that she wear a wire, and Lee had happily agreed.

"And I want you in a van with at least two other agents backing up Amanda, Francine. Lee and Emily can observe from the bar, but I would rather they did not tip their hand unless they absolutely have to."

Francine was fond of making wisecracks in these settings. This meeting was no different. "Gee, Billy. Are you really worried this midnight rambler will try anything? He may not even remember Amanda. She is rather ordinary looking."

Lee's eyebrows shot up and he set his mouth. He would have been happy to defend Amanda, but in these situations, it was better to let her defend herself. Anything he said might arouse suspicion about a possible relationship between them. He waited for Amanda's expected acidic response. Nothing came. He looked over at his wife.

Even Billy looked over, expecting some kind of confrontation over Francine's snide remark.

Amanda was sitting in the corner of the couch, looking miserable. Finally she got up and rushed out of the office. Lee started to go after her, but Francine put out a hand. "I'll go, Lee. I owe her the apology, not you. I didn't think she'd take it so hard."

Emily raised her eyebrows and the three continued going over the notes from the surveillance on Whitsett, as well as the technical aspects of their operation.

In the bathroom, Amanda was hanging onto the door of the stall, trying not to throw up again. She turned to the sinks just as Francine walked in.

"Oh, Amanda. You're as pale as a sheet. Are you okay?"

Amanda swallowed before she spoke. "Yeah. I'll be okay in a minute. I must have eaten something last night…" She grabbed a few paper towels and ran cold water over them, placing one on the back of her neck and using the others on her face. Soon the nausea passed.

Francine helped her over to the chairs. "Look, I'm sorry I made that remark about your looks. I was just being snide to lighten the mood. I shouldn't have done it at your expense."

Not feeling charitable at the moment, Amanda could not stop herself from being blunt in return. "Well, things have sure changed over the last five years, Francine. I have to say I'm surprised you are apologizing."

"Well, at least I am." Francine sat up stiffly, but to her credit, she did not flounce off.

"Yes, you are." Amanda relented and patted Francine's arm. "Apology accepted." She stood up. "We had better get back to that meeting."

Lee met them in the hallway, holding Amanda's purse. "The meeting is over. Emily went up to the Q Bureau." Francine left them there and went into the bullpen to pull her team together.

He put his arm around his wife and guided her to the elevator. "Amanda, you don't look well. What happened?"

"I'm fine, Lee."

The elevator doors opened and they went in, pushing aside the coats that served to disguise the small room as a closet when it was entered from the Georgetown foyer. After rearranging the coats, Lee placed his finger under Amanda's chin and tipped it. "Amanda, are you sure you are up for this operation? We can find someone else. Maybe you need to go home."

"I just need a cup of tea."

"Did you eat breakfast? I can get you something."

Amanda's hand flew to her mouth.

Lee grimaced at his blunder. "Okay, scratch that. We'll get you a cup of tea." He guided Amanda out of the elevator and up the stairs, where Emily waited in the hallway.

Her eyebrows knit together as she took in Amanda's appearance. "My dear, you look like you could use a cup of tea."

"Exactly, Emily. Thanks. Amanda was just saying she'd like one."

Emily did not hesitate, but went right to work, filling the electric tea pot with water from the cooler in the hallway. Soon Amanda was slowly sipping from a mug while Emily Farnsworth and Lee were putting their heads together over the disguises they would use when they followed Amanda to Whitsett's hotel.

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In his embassy office, Rostov sipped his Russian tea unhappily. The latest message from Moscow had been irritating, to say the least. He knew that the KGB was using Whitsett as a decoy, but Rostov could not determine why he was being kept in the dark as well. He was loyal to the mother country, but he did not like the way things were going. He had always held a position of power, most recently as the senior KGB man in Washington, and this was the first time he had been kept out of the loop. Perhaps it was time to find out why.

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Kevin Nelson reached in the bag for another donut hole. Finding it empty, he smashed the bag and wadded it up into a ball. He turned around to face Phillip. "I thought you said we were going to follow filmmakers around today. When is this going to happen? We've been here almost an hour."

Trying not to show his own concern, Phillip offered the older boy a nervous smile. "It's gotta be soon, Kevin. My mom's car is still parked right over there. They never use her car unless they have something going on outside the office. And we know her boyfriend's car is working, because he drove it home last night and parked in his apartment garage."

Rolling his eyes, Kevin turned back around. Anything is better than doing chores for Dad, I guess. And Phillip is feeding us.

Just a few minutes later, they saw Lee escort a woman out of the IFF building. Jamie, sitting in the front seat with Kevin, noticed that Lee kept his hand on the woman's back, the same way he had seen Lee walk with his mother. But this was not his mom. She looked slightly familiar, but the hat she wore made it hard to see her face. He wondered at Lee's familiar behavior towards her. Then, as he helped the woman into the front seat of the Jeep, they laughed together. Lee was grinning as he walked around to the driver's door. Jamie did not notice that Lee was not wearing his usual tie, and that his sport jacket was rather garish. He was busy watching Lee's face and the expression of the woman with him.

"Well, that isn't your mom with the guy. Should we follow him?"

"Yeah. You remember how I told you to do it?"

Kevin rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, Junior. I've seen a few cop shows, myself."

None of the teenagers wondered about the black van that drove behind the Jeep as they pulled into traffic behind it, keeping a few cars back.