Lee was back in the Q-bureau, working on the report for he and Amanda�s last case. Lee always wrote the reports, and Amanda always typed them. Since Amanda had left early that afternoon, there was no one left to do the typing except for Lee. Amanda had offered to type the report before she left, but Lee still hadn�t finished writing it. Billy had wanted to see Lee in his office earlier to harass him about getting the report typed by the end of the day. Billy knew that Lee�s typing skills left something to be desired, but Billy was on a deadline and needed the report by the end of the day. Lee was staring at the typewriter, wondering where to begin when the phone in the Q-bureau rang. �Stetson here,� Lee said into the phone.

�Scarecrow, I need to see you in my office again, PRONTO,� Billy said.

�Billy, how am I ever going to get these reports typed by the end of the day if I have to keep coming to your office?� Lee asked.

�It�s about Amanda,� Billy said.

�What about her?� Lee asked.

�Scarecrow, just get down here now,� Billy said and then slammed the phone down.

Lee got up and started for Billy�s office. He wondered what this could be about. Everything had been fine with Amanda before she had left. If Amanda had done something wrong in a previous case or something, Billy would have talked to her about it before she had left. As Lee got on the closet elevator to go to Billy�s office, he had a sinking feeling, and he didn�t know why. Before he knew it, he was at Billy�s office. He knocked on Billy�s door and Billy motioned him in. Billy was sitting at his desk and Francine was standing next to him.

�What�s this all about Billy?� Lee asked nervously.

�Lee,� Billy started, �I just got a call from Phillip and Jamie�s school. Amanda never showed up at the school to pick up the boys.�

�What?� Lee asked in an alarmed tone of voice. �She left forty five minutes ago, she should have been there by now. Actually she should have been there a half an hour ago.� Lee felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

�When she didn�t show up, the school called her house. No one was home, not even her mother. The school then tried to get a hold of Joe, but no luck there either.�

'Oh, what a surprise,' Lee thought. 'No one can ever get a hold of Joe.'

�After trying to get a hold of everyone, they called here. Amanda had put this number down as the emergency number to reach her in case the school couldn�t reach her at home. The school has a list of people that are able to pick up the kids if Amanda can�t. There are three people on that list. Amanda�s mother, Joe and you Lee.�

Francine looked at Lee and raised her eyebrow at that comment. Lee wasn�t in the mood for any of Francine�s looks or comments, so he just ignored her.

Lee began to pace back and forth in Billy�s office. What in the world could have happened to Amanda? He stopped pacing for a moment and ran his fingers through his hair.

�Obviously something is wrong. Amanda left forty five minutes ago. She would never leave the boys stranded at school,� Lee said in a worried tone of voice. He began pacing again.

�Lee, calm down, we�ll find out what happened to her,� Billy said.

'Calm down, yeah, right,' Lee thought to himself. He knew he had to though. Pacing and worrying would get him nowhere. It appeared that he was the going to have to pick the boys up from school. He needed to be calm and strong for the boys. He stopped pacing and spoke in an official tone of voice. �Billy, we need to get agents out looking for Amanda right now. We have to find out if she�s in serious danger, and now. I�m going to go pick the boys up, bring them to my apartment and try to reach Joe or Dotty. Call me immediately if you find out anything. I will check in with you as soon as possible.�

�You got it, Scarecrow,� Billy said. It was usually Billy who was barking the orders out to everyone, but Billy understood why Lee was barking out orders. This was his partner and whatever more she was to him. Billy knew they were dating, but didn�t know how serious it was between them.

Lee turned around to walk out of Billy�s office, when he remembered Amanda had his car. �Damn,� Lee said as he turned back around.

�What�s wrong, Lee?� Billy asked.

�Amanda has my car. Her car wouldn�t start this morning, so she called and asked me if I would pick her up. I did, and then I told her it would be all right if she used my car to pick the boys up, since she had no other mode of transportation,� Lee said impatiently, just wanting to get out of there and find out what had happened to Amanda.

Francine raised her eyebrows again. Lee let someone borrow his beloved car? Boy, it must be more serious between the two of them than she thought. She was about to make one of her comments, when she felt eyes glaring at her. She looked up to see both Billy and Lee glaring at her. She decided not to make her comment.

�I�m going to have to use one of the cars from the motor pool,� Lee said.

�That�s fine, Scarecrow. I�ll make the call to Leatherneck right now and tell him to give you the keys to an available car. Keep the car for as long as you need it.�

�Thanks, Billy,� Lee said, as he walked out of the office.

************************************

Lee was wrapped up in his own thoughts as he was driving to the school to pick up Amanda�s boys. He had many questions running through his mind at once. The number one question was, what had happened to Amanda? He was quite worried about his wife. If anything happened to her, he didn�t know what he would do. It had taken them both so long to acknowledge their feelings for each other. Now that he had Amanda in his life for good, as his wife, there was no way he was going to lose her. Another question that ran through Lee�s mind was, what was he going to tell the boys? He didn�t even know what had happened to Amanda, so how could he tell the boys what had happened? He didn�t want to lie to them. He would just have to tell them the truth; that he didn�t even know what had happened.

Lee came back to reality and noticed that cars were slowing down ahead of him. 'Great,' he thought to himself, 'just what I need, to be caught in traffic when the boys have already been waiting at the school for an hour for someone to pick them up.' Lee was getting very impatient. Traffic had come to a complete stand still. It was very odd for there to be this much traffic on this particular street at one o�clock in the afternoon, he thought to himself.

Lee tried to look ahead to see if he could see anything. Farther up the road, he could see what appeared to be an ambulance. He also saw a paramedic and a squad car. This was just great. He�d be caught in this traffic forever. Everything was starting to get to him all at once; worrying about Amanda, being caught in traffic while he was supposed to be at the school picking up the boys. He slammed his hands down on the steering wheel. �Come on, pull yourself together, Stetson,� he said out loud to himself. He had to keep telling himself that he had to be strong for the boys. Finally traffic started moving at a slow rate again. Lee could finally see a police officer ahead directing traffic. He still wasn�t close enough to see what was going on up ahead, but from his vantage point, it seemed to be some sort of car accident. Finally traffic started moving at a normal pace.

Lee�s face suddenly paled as he said, �Oh my God.� Right in front of him was his own car. The Corvette was sitting diagonally on the other side of the road in oncoming traffic. The front end was completely crushed in and there was glass everywhere. Next to his car, was another car with the front end crushed in as well. A tow truck was pulling up at that moment, to take both cars out of the middle of the street. Lee�s face was pale and his hands were shaking. He pulled over to the curb, turned off the ignition and got out of the car. He walked right past the paramedics and police officer to his car. Amanda was not in the car. He surveyed his surroundings and did not see her anywhere. He was hoping she was inside the ambulance. The police officer came up to him and said, �Sorry sir, you need to step away from the scene of the accident.� Lee pulled out his Federal ID and showed it to the police officer. The police officer misunderstood and thought Lee had been called to the scene of the accident. �Why are the feds here for a simple car accident?� Lee explained that one of the cars in the accident, the Corvette, was his car. He then explained that Amanda had been driving. Lee ended the conversation by saying, �Can you give me any information about this accident?�

�Well,� the police officer started, �we got a call that an accident that had happened here. It was a pretty bad one, so we knew we would have to come out along with the paramedics and make a police report. By the time we got here the Corvette was empty. The other person involved in the accident was all right, and after we arrived, we made a call to his wife. She came to pick him up.�

�Are you telling me that my partner is not in that ambulance?� Lee asked in a panic stricken voice.

�No, Mr�?�

�Stetson,� Lee said.

�She�s not in that ambulance, as I said, the corvette was empty when we got here,� the police officer said.

�Where is my partner then?� Lee said, asking this question more to himself than the police officer.

�I�m sorry Mr. Stetson, I don�t know. The witness said that she saw a dark blue Oldsmobile cut the Corvette off, and suddenly the Corvette was in oncoming traffic. She said she pulled over, checked on the lady in the Corvette, who was unconscious and then went to the nearest pay phone and called 911. She said that when she came back to the scene of the accident, the dark blue Oldsmobile was gone and so was the woman in the Corvette. She asked the man who had also been in the accident what had happened to the lady, but he had been so shocked by the accident, that he hadn�t even gotten out of the car right away, much less seen what had happened to the lady in the Corvette.�

�Were there any more witnesses? Did anyone get the license plate of the blue Oldsmobile?� Lee asked.

�No, no one else pulled over and no one got the license plate of the blue Oldsmobile.�

�I have to go,� Lee said quickly. He started to walk away.

�Mr. Stetson, we could use your help in finding out where your partner is. In this type of situation, we file a missing person�s report immediately.�

�That�s what I�m on my way to do.�

�Mr. Stetson, where do you want your car tow...?�

Lee cut the officer off in mid sentence. �I don�t care, I�ll find it later.� Lee walked away towards his loaner car. He could hear the police officer calling behind him �Mr. Stetson,� but he chose to ignore it and kept walking. This was the first time he really didn�t care about his car. All he cared about was finding Amanda. He knew that this had something to do with the dark blue Oldsmobile. This was no accident. This was purposeful, but why? Who would want to get Amanda out of the way? Suddenly it dawned on him as he was getting into the car, that Amanda had been driving his car, and that maybe someone was trying to get him out of the way, but who?

�Oh God,� Lee groaned as he started the car. He still had to go pick up the boys from school. What was he going to tell them now? They would definitely have many questions. They would want to know why they had been waiting at the school for over an hour, and why it was Lee picking them up, not their mother. �Oh, man,� Lee said to himself, �this is not good.�

********************************************

Amanda slowly opened her eyes. Her whole body was aching. She felt something trickling down the side of her face. She tried to put her hand to her head, but couldn�t move it. She looked down and realized she was sitting in a chair, with her hands handcuffed behind her back. She looked on the ground and saw drops of red. 'I must be bleeding,' she thought. 'Where am I?' She looked around. It was hard to see her surroundings, because there was no light in the room. What she could see however, was that the place she was in was very run down. There were cracks in the wall, and the white paint was peeling from the walls as well. She heard the sound of dripping water. The ground beneath her almost felt as it were made of cement. The room wasn�t very big. It had four walls and that was it. 'Where am I,' she wondered for the millionth time? What had happened? She couldn�t remember at all how she had got here. She tried to think, but nothing would come to her. Nothing at all. She realized at that moment that not only could she not remember how she got herself into this situation; she could not remember anything about her life. She didn�t even know her name. Many questions ran through her mind at that moment. 'Who am I?' 'Why am I handcuffed?' 'Why am I bleeding?' 'Why does my body ache so?' This was crazy. What kind of life did she have that would lead her here, to being handcuffed to a chair, in a dark room, bleeding? More questions plagued her mind. 'Am I married?' 'Do I have kids?' She couldn�t remember any of it, no matter how hard she tried.

Suddenly the door opened to the small room. Two men walked in, one of which was carrying a flashlight. He shined the flashlight right into Amanda�s eyes upon entering the room. Amanda turned her head away. Finally the man put the flashlight down at his side, but did not turn it off. The man didn�t close the door to the room. This gave the room a bit more light, but not much. Amanda finally got a look at the two men. The man carrying the flashlight was tall and thin. He had blond hair that was parted on the side and slicked back behind his ears. Amanda couldn�t tell what color eyes he had in the semi-dark room. He had a long pointed nose. He appeared to be wearing a black suit, with a white shirt underneath. He looked quite sophisticated and sure of himself. He seemed to be middle aged, somewhere between forty five and fifty years old.

The other man was shorter and a bit stockier. He had brown hair that was parted in the middle and slicked back. Amanda couldn�t tell what color his eyes were either. His nose was short and rounded. He was wearing a brown suit with a white shirt underneath. He was younger than the blond haired man. Amanda guessed his age was maybe thirty five.

�Oh, Amanda,� the man with the blond hair said in a sarcastic voice, that carried an English accent, �how very nice to see you again.�

At first Amanda didn�t realize that the man was talking to her, since she didn�t know her name. Suddenly she realized that he was staring at her, and so he must have been talking to her. 'My name must be Amanda,' she thought. She didn�t respond to the man.

�Well, Mrs. King, aren�t you happy to see me again?" The man with the blond hair asked.

So her name was Amanda King. She must be married, because he called her MRS.King. �I�m sorry sir,� Amanda said, �but I don�t know who you are.�

�Well, of course you do Amanda,� The man said laughing, �how could you not remember me?�

�I...I can�t remember anything,� Amanda stammered. �I didn�t even know who I was until you said my name.�

�Oh, Mrs. King, do not play games with me, I am not someone you want to play games with. You should remember that from our last encounter.�

�I...I�m not playing games sir,� Amanda said nervously.

�Oh, you are very good Mrs. King, almost as good as your partner.�

�Partner?� Amanda asked.

�Yes and imagine our surprise when we looked into Lee Stetson�s car and found you instead of him. This is even better than catching Mr. Stetson himself,� The man laughed, �We will use you to get to him.�

�Lee Stetson? Who is Lee Stetson?�

�Oh, Amanda, you are pushing your luck with this little game of yours,� the blond haired man said angrily.

The whole time this conversation was going on, the man with the brown hair was standing aside with his hands down at his sides. He never said a word.

�I�m really not playing games with you sir,� Amanda said.

The blond haired man stepped towards Amanda and slapped her in the face. Amanda�s face turned to the side, as she said, �Ouch� in a very small voice. She was so scared and she was being harassed by a crazy man, whom she was supposed to know, but didn�t.

�You and Mr. Stetson will regret the day you messed with me,� the blond haired man said. �Come on,� he said to his associate. They walked out the door, leaving Amanda alone in the dark again.

****************************************

Phillip and Jamie looked at each other as they got into Lee�s car. They both knew something was wrong. They had waited at the school for over an hour, and it was Lee who picked them up, not their mom. Lee plastered a fake smile on his face, looked at the boys reassuringly before getting in the car, starting it and driving away.

�Are you guys hungry?� Lee asked, wondering when the questions were going to start.

�Um, yeah, I guess,� Phillip said.

�Well, I was thinking that we could drive through McDonalds and bring the food back to my apartment,� Lee said, trying to sound confident that everything was all right. After eight months of marriage, his refrigerator still looked like a bachelor�s refrigerator. He had absolutely no food in it.

Lee looked at the boys in the rear view mirror. They both had worried expressions on their faces. He was thinking of what he could say to ease their minds when Phillip said, �Lee, where�s our mom?�

Lee was silent for a moment. He had debated all the way to the school, after seeing the accident, as to how much he should tell them. He didn�t want to worry them, yet Amanda was their mother and they deserved to know the truth. �Let�s go get our food first, get settled in at my apartment and then we�ll talk okay?�

�But Mr...Lee,� Jamie stammered, �we want to know where our mom is.�

Lee looked at Jamie in the rear view mirror. He looked scared and nervous all at once. Lee sighed. �I know you do and I promise I�ll tell you everything when we get back to my apartment, okay?�

�But..."

Phillip cut Jamie off. �It�s okay, Jamie. Lee will take care of us and tell us everything in a little while okay?�

Jamie sighed and said, �Okay� in a very unsatisfied tone of voice. Lee just sighed to himself, thinking of the unpleasant task ahead of him.

******************************************

The boys were sitting at Lee�s dining room table eating their lunch very quietly. They had Big Macs, fries and sodas. Lee knew that wasn�t a very nutritious lunch, but he had needed something quick. He had gotten a Quarter pounder, fries and a soda himself. He really wasn�t hungry, but he knew he had to eat something. He tried to call Dotty again, but there was no answer. He figured since Amanda was supposed to have the boys for the afternoon, that Dotty was out doing, well Dotty things. Lee came back to the table and sat down. He had finished his lunch already. Phillip and Jamie were finished with their lunch as well, and looking expectantly at Lee. Lee sighed. Now was the time. He had figured he would tell the boys the truth about today, but he wasn�t going to elaborate any further. They didn�t need to know that their mother was a secret agent, or that he and Amanda were married. They were older now, and Phillip was even a teenager, but Lee didn�t feel it was his place as their stepfather to tell them everything. That was Amanda�s place.

�Well,� Lee started slowly, �I don�t exactly know where your mother is.� Lee told the boys the whole story, starting with when he picked Amanda up for work that morning, and ending with when he picked them up at school. After the whole story, Lee looked at the boys to try and gauge their reactions. They were looking at Lee with very worried expressions on their faces. The only thing Lee could think to tell the boys to reassure them, was that their mother could take care of herself.

�I know this is not much of a consolation, but your mother can take care of herself in a tough situation. She�s smart and very brave,� Lee said.

The boys were quiet. Lee wished they would at least say something, the silence was deafening. Lee really cared about the boys and didn�t like to see them upset. How could they not be? This was their mother that was missing, and no one knew if she was okay or not. How he could he expect them to be okay? Even he wasn�t okay. He was just being strong for the boys' sake. On the inside he was falling apart.

Finally Phillip broke the silence and said, �Lee, be honest with us, do you think our mother is all right?�

Lee wasn�t quite sure what to say, so he just went with the truth. �I don�t want to lie to you. I really don�t know. All I know is that your mom really does know how to take care of herself.�

Jamie then asked, �Do you think we�ll find her?�

�We�ll find her guys, we�ll find her.� Lee didn�t know who he was trying to convince more, the boys or himself. �Your dad is away on business right?�

�Yeah,� Phillip said.

�Well, we need to get a hold of him and let him know what is going on. Do you have a number we can reach him at?� Lee asked.

�At home,� Phillip said. �He always leaves mom the number when he goes away on business in case of an emergency.�

�All right,� Lee said, �we need to get that number. Let�s go to your house, see if your grandma is home yet and we�ll call your dad, okay?�

�Okay,� the boys said in unison.

**************************************

�What?� Dotty exclaimed. She had just walked into the house a few minutes earlier. Lee had told her that they needed to talk and they were both sitting on the living room couch. The boys had decided to go upstairs, rather than joining the conversation between Lee and Dotty.

�I�m sorry, Dotty,� Lee said, �I promise we�ll find her.�

Dotty was eyeing Lee suspiciously. She just had a strange feeling that Lee was hiding something from her, although she didn�t know why.

�Look, I need to get back to work and see if I can find out anything.�

�How is a film company going to help find Amanda?� Dotty asked suspiciously.

Lee realized that he had almost blown he and Amanda�s cover. Her family still thought that she was working for IFF, the film company. �Well, ah, maybe she called into work looking for me,� Lee concluded lamely. He knew that wasn�t going to convince Dotty.

�Lee, if everything was all right, she would be home by now and not calling you at work,� Dotty said. �We need to call the police and file a missing persons report.�

�The Police are already working on it, they file a missing persons report immediately in a situation like this. Look, I need to go. I�m not going to find Amanda just sitting here and doing nothing,� Lee snapped. He stood up.

Dotty looked at him with surprise. Lee had never taken that tone of voice with her. Not that she had known him for a real long time, he and Amanda had only been dating seriously for 8 months. Still he had never taken that tone of voice with her before.

Lee ran his fingers through his hair. �Dotty, I�m sorry I snapped at you,� Lee said, �I�m just really worried about Amanda. I didn�t mean to take it out on you.� Snapping at Dotty like that, and apologizing, made him think of the many occasions he had done that with Amanda, before they became a couple.

Dotty could see that Lee was serious. He was really worried about Amanda. That actually did not make her feel better. It made her feel worse. If Lee was worried, then was something really wrong? �I�m worried about her too,� Dotty paused for a moment before continuing. �Lee, I know you told the boys that Amanda would be all right for their sake, but please level with me. Is this really serious? Will we find her?�

Lee was silent for a moment. Dotty had the same look on her face that the boys did when they asked the same question. �I�ll be honest Dotty, I don�t know how serious this is. Believe me, I am going to do everything in my power to find your daughter.� 'And my wife,' Lee thought silently. �I really need to go if I�m going to find out anything. I�ll call you if I find out anything, ok?�

Dotty stood up and said, �All right� in a worried tone of voice.

�Oh, Dotty, I actually came back to the house to get Joe�s number so I could call to let him know what�s going on. Can you call him for me?� Lee asked, happy to not be making the call.

�Yes,� Dotty replied.

Lee gave his mother-in-law a quick hug. �She�ll be all right Dotty.� 'She has to be,' Lee thought to himself. He couldn�t go through another Addi Birol situation.

*******************************************

Amanda was drifting in and out of sleep. There was nothing else to do. She was sore, tired, still bleeding, had a horrible headache, was hungry and thirsty, but above all she was frustrated and emotionally exhausted from trying to remember who she was. She wanted to remember who she was desperately.

Although she didn�t remember anything, being in a situation like this seemed vaguely familiar. Had she been in a situation like this before? She didn�t know. She was tired of going around and around in circles over her life.

Her thoughts continued to drift back to whether she had a family. 'I must have some sort of family,' she thought, 'because the blond haired man called me Mrs. King.' She only hoped that her family was not too worried. Maybe someone in her family would find her. 'Yeah, right,' she thought, that was just wishful thinking. Who would find her locked away in this hellhole? She started to realize that she may never be found. She might die here, never remembering who she was. She was so scared of everything. Why couldn�t she remember anything? What events had led her here? What type of person did she have to be to end up in a situation like this?

Suddenly a door opened. The blond haired man came in by himself this time, with no flashlight. He left the door open. Amanda couldn�t see much. All she could see was cement and wood.

�Mrs. King,� he said, �are we finished with the games?� Amanda didn�t respond.

�I guess not,� he said in a menacing tone of voice. �Well, I could kill you, but if I do, I can�t revel in the joy of torturing you. Plus, I need to keep you alive. You�re bait for Stetson.�

Amanda was silent. She wanted to ask him who this Mr. Stetson was that he kept talking about, but he was already angry enough with her and already thought she was playing games. She didn�t want to anger him any more.

He came closer to her and put his hand on her cheek, caressing it. �If you cooperate, maybe you�ll live when Mr. Stetson arrives.� He took his hand off her cheek and took a step back.

Amanda decided at that moment, that if she wanted to stay alive, she was going to have to play his game and pretend she remembered everything.

�Are you going to cooperate with me?�

�Yes,� Amanda replied.

�Good. Good,� the man said.

Amanda tried to shift in her chair. She was so uncomfortable.

�Are you uncomfortable Mrs. King?� The man laughed.

�Yes,� Amanda said.

�Oh, well, I�m sorry,� the man said sarcastically, �I wasn�t comfortable in my jail cell either, Amanda.�

'Jail?' she thought. She put this man in jail? What did she do for a living, she wondered.

�Don�t worry Mrs. King, I am going to call Mr. Stetson, so that you won�t be alone. He�ll be here soon, to join you. You are going to lead Stetson right to me,� he laughed. He then turned around, walked towards the door and then laughed again before leaving the room. �I cannot wait to have my sweet revenge on Mr. Stetson.� With that, he left the room.

***********************************

�You haven�t found anything, Billy?�

�No, Scarecrow, I�m afraid not.�

Billy was sitting at his desk, while Lee was once again pacing Billy�s office. �Where is she?� Lee asked more to himself than Billy.

�I don�t know, Lee.�

�I started thinking that maybe the goons who took her were after me. She was driving my car after all.� Lee was silent for a moment and then said, �That was no accident, Billy.� Lee stopped pacing.

�Maybe we need to take a look at old cases, Scarecrow.�

�Yeah, we probably do.�

Just then the phone in Billy�s office rang. �Melrose here,� Billy said. �Lee? he's right here," Billy handed Lee the phone.

�Stetson here.� Lee was silent for a moment. �Who the hell is this?�

Billy looked up at Lee. Lee�s jaw was tensed and he was gripping the phone so tightly his knuckles were white.

�Why you...� Lee started, �If anything happens to her I swear...� Lee�s words trailed off. He took a pen and paper from Billy�s desk and wrote down an address. �Yes, I�ll be there and she�d better be alive when I get there.� Lee slammed the phone down. �Son of a...� Lee once again let his words fade.

�Lee, who was that?�

�I don�t know, but whoever it was has Amanda. He told me to come to this old warehouse by myself,� Lee said showing Billy the address on the piece of paper. �He said if I wasn�t there in an hour he�d kill her.�

�Scarecrow, you�re not going in alone. I�m getting back up for you.�

�No, Billy, I have to go alone or he�ll kill her.�

�Scarecrow...�

Lee cut Billy off. �Billy, I�m going in alone and that�s final.�

Billy took the piece of paper out of Lee�s hand and wrote down the address of the warehouse. �If you�re not out of there in an hour, I�m sending back up and that is final,� Billy said.

�At least give me an hour and a half, Billy.�

Billy paused for a moment. He knew he wasn�t going to win this one. �All right, an hour and a half.�

Lee didn�t say anything; he just turned around and practically ran out of Billy�s office.

*****************************************

Lee pulled up in front of the warehouse. It was old and abandoned. It looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment. He walked up to the door and pulled it open. He slowly walked inside and reached for his gun. He drew it, just in case he needed it. The warehouse floor was made of cement and the building itself out of wood. There was nothing in the warehouse. It was deserted. Lee noticed a door off to his left. That must be where Amanda was being held, he thought. If this was where she really was, it could be a trick, he thought. He started walking towards the door with his gun held out in front of him, wrapped up in his thoughts about Amanda. Suddenly he felt something cold and metal hit him from behind; it was the butt of a gun. A searing pain shot through his skull. Everything started going black. He tried to fight the feeling, but was unsuccessful. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

***************************************

Lee awoke to find himself sitting in a chair. His head hurt. He realized he was tied to a chair. He let out a groan. He heard movement next to him. He looked up. Although the room was dark, he could make out the figure next to him. �Amanda!� he exclaimed, �Are you all right?�

�Um, yeah,� Amanda said.

�I was so worried about you.�

Amanda didn�t say anything. How was she supposed to tell this man, who obviously knew her and was worried about her, that she didn�t know who he was.

�I saw the accident,� Lee started, �and after I saw it, I realized it was no accident. Don�t worry, I picked the boys up from school and fed them lunch. They are now with your mom. She�s calling Joe to let him know what�s going on.�

'Boys, Joe, accident?' Amanda thought. This was all a bit overwhelming. She was getting bits and pieces of her life from this man and yet she couldn�t remember any of it.

�Do you know who kidnapped you, Amanda? The guy hit me in the back of the head with his gun before I could get a good look at him.�

�Um, no,� Amanda said.

At this point Lee realized that Amanda was just giving short answers and not even acting like herself. He realized she was handcuffed and she was acting rather strangely. He looked over at her. He could see even in the dark that she was staring straight ahead and not even looking at him. She looked really scared. He wondered if this was bringing back memories of Addi Birol. �Amanda, are you sure you�re all right? I know this must be hard for you. It must remind you of the Addi Birol situation. Don�t worry, I�m here, I won�t let anyone hurt you. Also, Billy should be on his way with back up anytime now.�

�Addi Birol, Billy, back up?� Amanda mumbled to herself.

Lee heard her say this and thought it was very strange. He started to worry. �Amanda, what�s wrong?� Lee asked. Amanda didn�t know whether to tell him the truth or not. It seemed like all he wanted to do was help her. �N...Nothing,� she stammered, �I�m just scared.�

Lee knew it was more than that. There was something more that she wasn�t telling him. �You don�t have to be scared. I�m here and I promise I won�t let anything happen to you,� Lee said gently.

Amanda finally looked over at the man. She really wished she could remember who he was.

Suddenly the door to the room opened. The blond haired man entered. Lee looked up. The open door made the room a bit lighter. Light enough for Lee to see who the blond haired man was. He kept the door open.

�The Mongoose,� Lee said.

�How very perceptive of you, Mr. Stetson.�

�Why you...�

�Ah, I see still the same old Lee Stetson,� The mongoose said.

�You�re not supposed to be out of jail,� Lee said.

�Oh, I suppose I�m not,� The Mongoose laughed, �Did you really think they could hold me there? I�d been planning my escape from day one, and now I�m going to torture you the way I was tortured in that hellhole. Revenge on you is going to be very sweet.�

�Do you really think you�ll be able to hold me here?� Lee laughed.

�Of course, Scarecrow,� The mongoose said very sarcastically. �It was even better that we found Mrs. King in the car instead of you. I�ve had a lot of fun torturing her. Although I am sick of her little �I don�t remember anything� game.�

Lee�s head snapped up. 'What did he mean by that?' Lee thought. He couldn�t think about that right now, he had to figure out a way to get them out of this alive.

�You have me now, so let her go.�

�What, and miss out on the fun of torturing you both? I don�t think so,� The Mongoose laughed.

The Mongoose walked up to Amanda and put his hand on her cheek again. �How beautiful she is,� he said, caressing her cheek and looking at Lee at the same time.

�Keep your filthy hands off of her,� Lee said trying to bolt out of his chair, forgetting he was tied up. He looked over at Amanda. That was when he noticed Amanda�s forehead for the first time. There was a huge gash that was bleeding. She had bruises on her cheeks and one black eye. 'Oh, my poor Amanda,' he thought, 'The Mongoose is going to pay for doing this to her.'

The Mongoose laughed, bringing Lee back to reality. �This is going to be so much fun," he said. He turned around and walked towards the door. �I�ll be back. Don�t go anywhere,� he laughed. He walked out the door, leaving the room dark again.

�The Mongoose,� Lee said. �I had no clue.�

Amanda didn�t say anything.

Lee tried to get out of his ropes. While he was trying, he said �Amanda, You�re bleeding and bruised up. We need to get you out of here and get you to a hospital.� Amanda was quiet. Lee paused for a moment before asking his next question. �What did the Mongoose mean when he said you were playing an �I don�t remember anything� game? Were you just bluffing to catch him off guard?�

Amanda figured she owed this Lee Stetson the truth. He was obviously here to save her. Amanda sighed and decided to tell him the truth. �I woke up handcuffed to this chair. When I woke up, I realized that I didn�t know how I had got here. After trying to think about how I�d got here, I then realized I knew nothing at all about my life, or who I was. 'The Mongoose,' as you called him, called me Amanda and Mrs. King, so I realized my name must be Amanda King. I heard him call you Lee Stetson, so I figured that must be your name. All I know is what�s been told to me. When I first started saying I didn�t remember anything, he thought I was playing games with him,� Amanda ended quietly.

Lee stopped fidgeting with his ropes. 'She must have really hit her head hard,' he thought. He didn�t move or speak for a second, trying to understand what was going on.

�You don�t remember me?� Lee asked quietly.

�No, I�m sorry, I don�t. The Mongoose said I was your partner, but I don�t know what that means.�

�Oh,� Lee replied in a very hurt voice.

�I�m sorry, I can tell you are someone I am supposed to know. I�m really sorry. This is all very frustrating. I can�t remember anything about my life, except what�s been told to me,� Amanda said in a voice that was near hysteria.

Lee didn�t want to cause her any more frustration. �It�s all right Amanda. Calm down,� Lee said.

�So, you are my partner, but partner in what?� Amanda asked.

'My partner in life,' Lee thought. �Look, don�t worry about that now. Let�s just concentrate on trying to get out of here.�

�I know you�re here to rescue me. Thank you,� Amanda said.

'I will always be here to rescue you,' Lee thought, but instead said, �Yeah, it�s okay.� He was in shock. His own wife didn�t know who he was. He couldn�t believe this was happening. How was he supposed to tell her everything and have her believe him? 'Okay,' he thought, 'I have to get us out of this situation alive; I can�t worry about this right now.' Lee heard gunfire from outside the door. 'That must be Billy and his back up,' he thought. �Freeze. I said stop,� Lee heard Billy say. There was silence, then the door opened and Billy came in with three other agents.

�Scarecrow. Amanda. Are you all right?� Billy asked.

�Yeah, Billy. Get me out of these ropes,� Lee said.

Billy untied the ropes. Lee got up and took something out of his pocket. It was a lock pick. He walked over to Amanda and picked the handcuff lock with his lock pick. Lee took her handcuffs off. She rubbed her wrists. �Thank you,� she said.

Lee turned his attention to Billy. He could barely to stand to look at Amanda. He was so hurt. �What happened to The Mongoose?� Lee choked out.

Billy noticed the way Lee had turned away from Amanda and how he had asked the question. �He got away, Scarecrow. One of our other agents ran after him, but lost him.�

Lee turned back around, and helped Amanda up. She felt woozy and started to fall backwards. Lee caught her.

�Billy, I�ve got to get Amanda to a hospital right away,� Lee said, still holding Amanda up.

�Are you all right Amanda?� Billy asked.

�Yeah, I guess,� Amanda replied.

This was all too overwhelming for her. She was dizzy and could hardly stand up. Her whole body ached. Her head was pounding. She couldn�t remember anything and was surrounded by people she was supposed to know, but didn�t. Lee slowly let go of her. She started to fall backwards again. He caught her again, and the last thing she remembered was falling into Lee�s arms.

*************************************

Amanda awoke in a hospital bed. She had an IV stuck in her arm. She looked up and saw two people talking in the doorway. She tried to focus her eyes. She could tell one of the men was a doctor. The other man was the one who had rescued her. Oh what was his name? Stetson...Lee Stetson. Amanda�s head was still pounding. She let out a groan. Both men looked her way.

�You�re awake,� the doctor said as he walked over to her. He smiled. �How do you feel?� he asked.

�Horrible. My whole body aches, my head especially and I can�t seem to remember anything.�

�Well, you have a nasty gash on your forehead. It is going to hurt for a while. Mr. Stetson told me that you were unable to remember anything,� the doctor said as he smiled at Amanda again. �So, you can't remember anything, Mrs. King?�

�I only know what I've been told.�

�All right,� the doctor said.

Lee was standing beside the doctor. Amanda hadn�t really had a chance to get a really good look at him in the dark room. He was actually quite handsome. She took in all of his features: his beautiful hazel eyes, his nice hair, his full lips and his broad shoulders. She suddenly realized that she was staring at him. He caught her eye and smiled warmly at her. She looked away, embarrassed, without returning the smile.

�Well, you need your rest, Mrs. King,� the doctor said. �I�ll be back later to check on you, all right?� The doctor started to walk towards the door. Lee smiled at Amanda one more time. He turned around and followed the doctor out of the room.

�Doctor,� Lee said when they were in the hallway, �is it likely that she�ll regain her memory?�

�Well, it�s not uncommon for people to have partial amnesia after a trauma to the head,� the doctor said, �but full amnesia like Mrs. King�s isn�t as common. She must have had a pretty severe head trauma to trigger this kind of amnesia. I�m not saying that she can�t make a full recovery, but it may take her longer. It could take days, weeks, or even months.�

'Months?' Lee thought. He wouldn�t be able to deal with that. �But she can have a full recovery?� Lee asked, trying to reassure himself.

The doctor understood what Lee was going through and didn�t mind repeating the information. �Yes, she can. We will need to do a CAT scan and see how serious the head injury is. We already know it is serious if it has caused her to have amnesia, but we need to see just how serious.�

�Thank you doctor,� Lee said. He turned around and walked back into the room. Amanda had fallen asleep. She looked so fragile lying there. She had stitches in the gash on her forehead. He could see the bruises on her face more clearly now. They looked horrible. �He is going to pay for this,� Lee said out loud to himself. He sat in the chair next to her bed. How was he going to tell her everything? Should he tell her everything? Would she believe him? No one knew they were married. That would be a hard one to explain.

He had to admit to himself that although the amnesia was not her fault; it hurt him tremendously that she did not remember him. It angered him as well and he didn�t know why. He had so many emotions running through him all at once, that he couldn�t even feel all of them. It wasn�t her fault and he knew it. He couldn�t believe this was happening. This had been the longest day of his life. He looked at his watch. It was eight thirty at night. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He knew he had things to do. He had to call Dotty first and foremost. She needed to know. He had to update Billy. He didn�t want to leave Amanda alone. Of all the feelings he was feeling, she must be feeling more. He knew she must be terrified and feeling alone. He knew visiting hours were almost over and he did have to attend to the important matters at hand.

�I�ll be back tomorrow,� Lee whispered as he took Amanda�s hand and kissed it. �Good night my love.�

�