Amanda began to relax as their surroundings became more familiar. She knew that they were now no more than ten minutes away from the agency.

"Shouldn't be long now", Amanda said to Lorelai.

Lorelai had hardly said more than 15 words since they picked her up from the airport. Amanda had tried making small talk with her using her best gift of gab techniques, but Lorelai wasn't talking.

"Good" was all that Amanda heard from the backseat.

Lee took the exit that would lead them to the agency and where he hoped to pick up speed on the back roads.

"We're in the home stretch", he said to Amanda. She gave him a relieved smile in return.

Lee didn't want to alarm his passengers, but this was the part of the journey that worried him the most. It would be very easy to run a car off the road on these country roads. Someone could be waiting to ambush them at any turn. As he came to the end of the exit, Lee noticed a blue sedan that had been keeping speed with them on the highway closing in on them at the stop sign. He didn't know for sure if it meant trouble, but he wasn't going to wait to find out.

"Damn it!"

"What?", Amanda replied in full alert mode.

"Just hold on, you two", he said as he sped down the road.

Amanda turned around to see the blue car in full pursuit.

"Lorelai, get down!" Amanda said.

Lorelai did as she was told and began reciting something to herself in German.

"Can you lose them?"

"I'm gonna try like hell! This might get a little hairy so get ready."

Lee tore down the road and took a very sharp left turn at the last possible second. The blue car skidded past the street but then quickly turned around and began following them again. Lee grabbed his gun at had it at the ready, just in case.

"Amanda, take the wheel for a second", she shouted to her as he rolled down the window and prepared to shoot.

"What are you doing?" She screamed as she desperately tried to keep the car in a straight-line on the road.

"I'm going to slam on the brakes and get them to pass us. Then I'm going to shoot out their tires."

"Oh no!" Amanda cried as Lee slammed on the brakes causing the car to skid sideways.

The blue car drove past them and quickly used a bootlegger's turn and headed right for them. Lee shot at the car 1…2…3 times before he finally hit their tire. The blue car skidded off the road and into a ditch. Lee floored it once again and put as much distance as he could from the people in the blue car.

"Who were they?" Lorelai asked in a very panicked tone.

"No idea, but I'm not waiting around to find out." Lee said as he once again pushed the car to its max.

The car raced around the bend only to find a roadblock waiting for them. Lee screeched the car to a halt before he crashed into the two cars parked nose to nose across the road, behind them were 4 men with guns pointed at them. Lee threw the car into reverse but was too late. Another car boxed them in. There was nowhere to go.

"Damn it! Amanda, get down!"

Lee got out of the car and aimed his gun at one of the men in the blockade.

"Ha ha ha! Scarecrow, you don't honestly think that you can shoot us all before we gun you down, do you?" a man in a dark gray hat yelled to Lee.

Amanda saw Lee clench his jaw and watched the muscles at his temple begin to dance.

"Think, damn it! Think!" he said to himself.

"If I wanted to, I could shoot you right now."

Suddenly a shot rang out and hit Lee in his left arm. He dropped his gun and leaned up against the car.

"Lee!" Amanda screamed.

"No, stay there. I'm ok. He just winged me."

"That was a warning. I promise the next time it won't be your arm that we hit. Give us the woman."

"I'm not going to do that." Lee said as he pressed his right hand over his bullet wound.

"What choice do you have? You are surrounded. Either you give us to her willingly, and we might not kill you, or we take her from you, and we definitely will kill you….and your partner."

Lee clenched his jaw again as he desperately tried to figure out a solution. Amanda also began to think. The conversation they had with Dr. Smyth this morning began playing in her head.

"You cannot fail at this one. The amount of information that we have already gotten from her is more than we discovered all last year. A lot is riding on delivering her safely. You cannot fail….More than you realize is riding on your success."

"If I only had my gun, I could help him out there." Lorelai shouted. "But your agency made me promise no weapons. Now look at me! I am going to die, and no one will even know who I am."

Amanda looked at Lorelai on the floor in the back seat. She suddenly had an idea. Amanda wriggled out of her red cardigan and threw it at Lorelai.

"Here, put this on and give me your scarf."

Lorelai look at Amanda with a very confused look.

"Put it on! You're right. From this distance, they probably can't tell you from me. We are about the same height and build. I'm going to give myself to them and then hopefully Lee can get you to the agency."

Lorelai stared at Amanda for a moment and then did as she said. Amanda wrapped the scarf around her head and opened the car door. She stepped out and put her hands up. Lee's stomach dropped into his feet as he saw Amanda with Lorelai's scarf around her head. He knew what she was trying to do.

"Amanda!" He said in a pointed, desperate tone.

"Lee, Get her to the agency. We both know how much depends on this. I'll be ok."

"Damn it, Amanda!"

Amanda ignored his pleas and began to walk towards the blockade.

"Wise move", the man in the gray hat yelled. "Keep walking".

Lee bent down and picked up his gun. He looked at Amanda and at all of the guns pointed at them both.

"Don't do anything stupid", the man yelled. "I'm in a generous mood. Once I have Miss Richter in my car, I will let you and your partner go. You can tell your bosses how they almost had one of the best spies from the other side."

A blonde man came from behind one of the cars and grabbed Amanda by the arm. He opened the back seat of the car and pushed her inside. Sliding next to her, he slammed the door, and the car took off. The other cars followed suit and left Lee standing next to his car, bleeding, with an East German defector spy in his back seat, and his wife taken away by God only knew who.

"Damn it, Amanda!"