SATURDAY

Lee set his bag down by the door, flipped the lights on and threw his keys on the side table.

Though he and Amanda had flown home together they hadn't been able to sit by each other on the plane and he hadn't even gotten to drive her home.

He felt like a heel.

Instead of going through his mail or checking his answering machine, Lee went straight to the mini bar and poured himself a whiskey neat.

***FLASHBACK***DULLES AIRPORT ***EARLIER****

The plane pulled up to the terminal and within seconds passengers around him began busily gathering their things from the floorboards and pulling luggage from out of the overhead compartments. Lee stayed in his seat, in no hurry to exit, his mind on the woman three rows behind him.

It had been a huge disappointment when they'd arrived together at the Denver airport and found they would not be sitting together on the flight home. He'd been further dismayed when Amanda had merely shrugged off this news and said that it wasn't a big deal to her where she sat and told him to let it go.

But he'd been counting on sitting next to her and talking to her for the three and a half hours it would take to get home.

The next best thing had been to try to switch seats with their neighbors on the flight but that hadn't worked out either.

So, instead Lee had planned on driving her home and talking with her on the way. The time of day the flight got into D.C. would be right in the middle of rush-hour traffic and therefore they'd have some time to talk.

He'd planned it all out—down to how he would phrase his words and the inflection of his voice.

But as he'd exited the plane ahead of her, Lee had recognized Dotty almost immediately, standing between Phillip and Jamie, waiting for her daughter. Realizing that this meant he would not be taking Amanda home as planned, he'd moved into the crowd and out of sight to watch their sweet reunion and was chagrined when a tall, dark and handsome man who stood next to her family hugged and kissed Amanda the moment she'd emerged from the gate.

And in that moment Lee had known without a doubt that whatever he'd been thinking was happening between he and Amanda was not actually happening.

***END FLASHBACK***

Lee poured himself another whiskey before taking the bottle and glass with him to his couch. He sat down and settled the bottle on the coffee table, turning it to stare at the label forlornly. The phone began ringing and he picked it up.

"Yeah?"

On the other end, a female voice asked, "Lee?"

In his drunken stupor, Lee blurted out, "Amanda?"

"Uh…" the voice paused, and Lee realized his error.

Embarrassed, he mumbled, "Oh, eh, excuse me. I'm sorry…yes, this is Lee."

"Lee! I'm so glad I caught you. This is Marie. Marie Monson. I left a message on your machine a few days ago. Did you get it?"

Lee wracked his whiskey-soaked brain to place Marie Monson but came up empty. Awkwardly, he said dimly, "Ah, no. No—I just walked in the door, actually. I've been…on vacation."

Marie gave a breathy laugh. "Oh, I see. That makes sense. You know, I wondered if you were away on assignment or something. Anyway…I'm in town this coming week, and I need a date to the Washington Ballet's Annual Spring Gala. You know how these things are…and I was thinking," her voice turned husky and Lee's interest sharpened, "I did meet you at a Gala, and you fill out a tuxedo very well…"she giggled, and Lee wished fervently that he could put a face to her name. The only picture that came to mind, however, was a certain brunette with chocolate brown eyes and an easy smile. "Anyway. I wondered if you had plans on Friday night?"

Desperate to rid himself of all thoughts of Amanda, Lee sat up straight and ran a hand over his face. "Uh, Marie—"

"Oh, I know that tone, Lee. Do you want me to beg?"

Who was this woman? He really had no idea. Not wanting to sound like a cad, and seriously concerned that perhaps he was a cad, he said, "Well, no. Um, when do you get into town? Maybe we could meet up for dinner, you know, before, uh, before Friday?"

"Oh," Marie laughed, obviously pleased. "That would be terrific."

The two arranged to meet in the next night for dinner at Café Bonaparte in Georgetown and ended their call.

After Lee hung up, he poured himself a final drink, staring into the amber liquid and contemplating the past few days and what lay ahead. With a shrug, he lifted the glass to his lips and slugged the whiskey down in a large gulp before dropping the glass onto the floor and passing out.

***BREAK***

SUNDAY

The phone had got to stop ringing. Would it ever stop!?

Lee groaned and pulled himself into sitting position, his back creaking painfully as he sat upright. His head was pounding and he felt overly nauseous as he struggled to open his eyes.

He glared at the phone, wishing it would explode into a million pieces. That damn piece of…of…technology…was nothing but a nuisance and should be banned from existence, he thought testily. All phone calls were steadily becoming the bane of his existence and the source was just a damn piece of plastic.

The machine picked it up and he heard his own voice announce that he was not currently home. The beep sounded and then Billy's voice filled the apartment, "Scarecrow, pick up if you're there."

NO.

After a moment, Billy sighed. "All right, maybe you're at brunch with your lady of the week. I don't care. But we got news on the Igorevich/Antovich front and I'm going to need all hands-on deck first thing tomorrow morning. It's urgent. I was hoping you could do a little recon today, so call me as soon as you get in."

There was a click and the line went dead, the machine ticked off and Lee was once again alone with his thoughts.

Recon, huh? The Agency must have found Antovich. What was better than a little work to get his mind off things?

Hangover forgotten, Lee stood up and got to work.

****BREAK***

MONDAY

Lee arrived to the Agency bright and early. Entering the bullpen, he could see Billy through the glass of his office, sitting at his desk pouring over paperwork. He moved purposely to his boss' door, knocking lightly and opening it just enough to poke his head through.

Billy looked up from the file he was reading. "Ah, come in, Lee."

Lee entered, shutting the door behind him before moving to a chair and taking a seat. "I just dropped off the film to be developed."

Billy took his reading glasses off and steepled his fingers together, the wire rims dangling between his hands. "Terrific. I'm anxious to hear all about what you found out. But first, I'd like to talk about Colorado."

Shifting in his seat, Lee replied, "Rawlins said he would overnight the report, Sir. Haven't you received it yet?"

Billy motioned to the papers laid out in front of him. "Yes, yes, I've read his report. You do know you and Amanda will each need to write up your own report as well?"

Lee bristled. "Now, Billy—"

"I know, I know, you don't enjoy writing reports and you never will. But it's part of the job. Anyway." Billy straightened and set his glasses down in front of him. "What I really wanted to hear from you was how Amanda did. Is she ready for more than reconnaissance and simple milk runs?"

The mere mention of Amanda's name made Lee tense. "She's been doing more than that for a while now, Sir." He kept it short by saying, "She got the job done."

"Got the job done?" Billy repeated. "That's not an answer."

Lee worked his jaw before saying, "She did just fine, Billy. But you do know she was abducted twice on one mission." No thanks to me.

Billy waved his hand as if what Lee said was inconsequential. "All in a day's work. You caught the bad guys."

"True," Lee agreed but didn't add more.

He was grateful when Billy moved on. "Tell me about what you found out since you got back."

Which part? The image of Amanda in another man's arms floated to the forefront of Lee's mind and he pushed it away. Clearing his throat, hereplied, "As requested, I followed Tina Wolcott, aka Konnikova Kristina Anotovich. Married to one Jeffrey Wolcott and sister to one Uglov Salnikov Anotovich. The question I have, Billy, is how come we didn't know about her earlier? How'd she get into the states without an all-points bulletin being broadcast?"

Billy shrugged. "You know how these things can be—it's been years since we've attempted to track Anotovich and his off-shoot of rogue KGB affiliates. Nobody has been monitoring them; last we knew he broke from his family. You know the previous administration put a stop to our prodding and the current administration lost track with all other pressing things going on with Strategic Defense Initiative. Konnikova Anotovich was the least of our worries when she married and moved here from overseas. The truth is, we don't even know if she's had any recent contact with her brother and it's only because of your recent dealings with the trafficking ring that we were even tipped off to start looking for a way that Anotovich could be using his sister's connections here for any purpose."

Lee nodded his understanding. "Well, if Konnikova is in any way helping her brother, we'll find out. Tell me about the husband, Jeffrey Wolcott. I didn't see him yesterday."

"And you shouldn't have. He's a hot-shot attorney who travels the world and is currently out of the country," Billy said, flipping through the files and pulling out a dossier. "However, we've confirmed he'll be back in time for the Washington Ballet's Annual Spring Gala on Friday. It will take place at the Swedish Ambassador's residence. I was hoping that you and Amanda could go together as we've been given the approval to purchase the tickets."

There was a niggling memory at the mention of the Gala but Lee ignored it. "I feel like I have plans on Friday night."

Billy's gaze sharpened. "I assumed you and Amanda would want to go together."

Doubtful. Lee shook his head. "That's not the issue. I just…feel like I have something to do that night that I can't get out of."

"Well, get out of it," Billy ordered. "Those tickets start at six-hundred dollars apiece. And I need you and Amanda there. No exceptions."