THE ACM KID

Following a tip-off regarding a top secret Satellite project, Lee and a fellow agent tail a man called Jeff Clemence to a house. While waiting outside they see a man and woman being dragged out and forced into a car by two men before speeding away. As one of the people dragged out wasn't Clemence, Lee gets out of the van to investigate the house while the other agent follows the speeding car.

Inside the house Lee finds the dead body of Clemence. As no more can be done, Lee decides to go but just as he's about to leave he hears a noise coming from a cupboard. Upon opening the door he finds a young boy called Alexi and who is the son of the couple Lee saw being kidnapped.

Not knowing what to do with a child who refuses to talk to him, Lee calls Amanda for help. Before Amanda can agree, Lee realises that Alexi has run off and goes to find him. After catching up with him, Lee then takes Alexi to the Agency in the hope that they will be able to help him.

Francine and Billy try to persuade Alexi to talk to them about his parents disappearance as the agent that was following the car lost them. Alexi still refuses to talk to them so Lee takes the boy back to his apartment to stay for the night.

Bright and early the next morning Amanda arrives to look after Lee for a couple of hours. Lee goes to the agency where Billy tells him that Clemence had a gambling problem and used to hang out at The Lug Wrench Bar. They surmise that because Clemence was desperate to pay off debts he probably agreed to sell some of the Satellite Projects' secrets. Billy tells Lee to go undercover there for a while and see if anyone approaches him.

Meanwhile Amanda has taken Alexi to an arcade. While getting change, Alexi makes contact with the man behind the counter who is KGB and knows where Alexi's parents are. The man tells Alexi to come back to the arcade later otherwise they'll both die. Alexi says he can't because he's being watched but the man behind the counter reminds Alexi that since he has an IQ of 185 he should be able to think of something.

Later that night Lee visits the Lug Wrench bar and starts playing his cover - he's Ricky Joe Jackson, divorced with two kids and works for ACM on the Satellite project.

Amanda takes Alexi back to her house and he teaches Philip and Jaime bad tricks - even going so far as to playing craps and winning Jaime's bike from him! When Dotty comes home from a date, Amanda tells her that she's joined a Big Sister programme where they take deprived kids from broken homes etc. and show them good role models. Dotty is not too happy. Lee calls and asks Amanda if she can keep Alexi overnight as he's having to work - she reluctantly agrees.

During the night Alexi sneaks out and goes to the mall arcade. The man he spoke to earlier together with another man who is keeping an eye on Lee at the bar get Alexi to check Lee's cover on the computer.

The next morning Amanda finds a tear in Alexi's sweatshirt and Dotty informs her that the roses at the front of the house have been trampled. Amanda suspects that Alexi must have sneaked out the night before and goes to the Lug Wrench bar to tell Lee. Having pretended that Amanda is his ex-wife to maintain his cover, Lee tells her to come to his apartment later that day so they can talk. Once Amanda has gone, the man who has been keeping an eye on him offers him $2000 to bring personal files to them - Lee agrees.

That evening Amanda is at Lee's apartment with Alexi and Lee comes home with large sackfuls of presents, one of which is an enormous stuffed toy panda that Amanda immediately falls in love with. They discuss the possibility that Alexi knows more than he's letting on then Lee has to go back to work.

At the Lug Wrench bar, the man Lee has been talking to blackmails him to deliver the access codes for the Satellite surveillance computer. Lee contacts Amanda and asks if Alexi can stay another night as he has to make the drop to the KGB. She agrees but later that evening hears Alexi sneaking out of the house and chases after him. Unfortunately, the KGB are waiting to pick Alexi up and capture her. Realising that she is 'Mrs. Ricky Joe Jackson', they take them both to the drop site and wait for Lee, then capture him too. They take the access code book from him and find a transmitter in the spine which they destroy.

The three captives are taken back to the video arcade where Lee and Amanda are tied up while Alexi is forced to see if any of the access codes work. In a bid to buy Lee and Amanda time to escape, Alexi continues to feed the phony codes into the computer. The KGB realise whats happened and decide to leave but not before they've killed Lee and Amanda. On hearing their plan Alexi runs of the room and padlocks the door, then rushes to help Lee and Amanda escape.

A third KGB agent enters and tries to free his colleagues but Lee tackles and fights him, eventually beating him. The other two agents free themselves from the padlocked room and while one fights Lee the man from behind the change counter grabs Amanda and takes her outside to his car at gunpoint.

Having beaten the second KGB agent, Lee grabs a motorcycle that's in the arcade and gives chase. As the agent shoots at Lee, Amanda grabs the steering wheel and crashes the car causing Lee to fall off his bike. She gets out and tries to run but the agent is too quick for her and calls her back. Just as she starts to go, lee comes to her rescue and after another tussle wins the fight.

Later that evening Amanda is massaging Dean's back when the doorbell rings. She gets up to answer the door and Dean sits up and watches her go. On opening the door, no one is outside, so she opens it the rest of the way and looks around. She smiles and takes a couple of steps before kneeling down in front of the big stuffed panda. She wraps her arms around it then hears an engine rev and drive away.

SCENE'S TO WATCH OUT FOR:

Alexi being rude to Francine. Billy trying to then coax him to talk by offering him an enormous lollipop.

Amanda going to Lee's apartment early in the morning.

Amanda trying to explain to Dotty why Alexi is there and then Lee phoning up.

Amanda turning up at the Lug Wrench bar unexpectedly.

Lee noticing that Amanda has cleaned and tidied his apartment - even alphabetising his records!

Lee and Amanda tied up together at the video arcade.

Tag scene.

ROMANCE:

QUOTES:

AMANDA: Are you always this punchy in the morning?

LEE: Are you always this perky?

AMANDA: You know, I think Alexi was right when he said that we were incompatible.

LEE: Oh, Alexi said that?

AMANDA: Actually he said, "Lee's fun. You're a drag."

LEE: You know, he's not all that bad.

AFTER THROWING A DRINK IN LEE'S FACE

AMANDA: And frankly Ricky Joe, sex with you was always a MAJOR disappointment.

LEE: Ham.

AMANDA: Look, Alexi. This is Lee Stetson. He is one of the top agents in the country. Now, if you'll just untie us, he will rescue your parents and he'll stop these people, trust me!

LEE: Yeah.

ALEXI: If he's so hot, what's he doing tied up in a closet?