The night was still. The castle was well guarded and the jewels were thought to be safe. After all, who would want gem stones that had been cursed for nearly a hundred years? No one did, except the original owners and a rival across the border.

A leather-clad hand and arm appeared and reached through the window. The arm was soon followed by a tall, well-built, masculine figure. He silently crept down the hall of the castle. In one of the rooms was a treasure that could make him richer than he ever thought possible. Outside, the guards continued to make their patrol around the castle walls.

As the sun rose above the mountains, Sir Nikolai summoned the castle guards. Moments later thirty armed men raced for their horses and began searching the countryside for the thief. By nightfall, there was still no sign of the jewels or the thief. It was if they had both disappeared into thin air.

3 nights later

Church bells rang in the distance. Lightning flashed across the stormy sky and thunder rumbled loudly. It had been one day since the boy had been given a heavy leather pouch and another pouch filled with more gold and silver than he had seen in his lifetime. Before the man in black had collapsed dead in front of the boy, he had told the boy to take both pouches to Baron von Mueller.

The boy raced through the woods as if his life depended on it. He had only a few more hours of travel to get to the von Mueller castle. As dawn approached one of von Mueller's guards discovered the boy's body at the edge of forest. The guard would remember the look on the boy's face for the rest of his life.

"Lee, I'm not saying that you and Amanda won't see each other in the office, but Amanda has finished her training and should therefore be allowed to handle her own caseload. She would still be able to help you with your paperwork."

Lee started to protest, but decided to let it go. The rational part of him knew that Billy was right, but another part of him wanted to protect Amanda from everything. He sighed and nodded his reluctant understanding. Amanda would be ecstatic to discover that Billy thought she was ready for her own cases, but she would be disappointed that they wouldn't be able to work on the cases together until Billy gave the O.K.

Billy heard Lee sigh and smiled. He knew that Lee and Amanda would be disappointed for awhile, but he wanted the type of backup that Dr. Smyth couldn't refute so he could keep his best agents as a team.

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