Hennigan laughed crazily.

Sam finished her call and looked at Ned.

"Did it go all right? Are they coming?" he asked.

"Yeah. They traced the call and were able to pinpoint our location with the satellites, or something. The Eau Claire police should be here in about ten minutes, and the FBI will get here as soon as they can."

"Great. So we just have to stay alive for ten more minutes. No problem."

"Don’t sound so convincing."

"It’s too quiet out there. What the hell is going on?" He yelled, "Hey!"

"Don’t worry, Ned, everything is under control," Hennigan said.

Ned fired at someone who ran by the door.

"No fair shooting, Neddy! I’m going to have to punish you, now!"

Suddenly, the doorway was on fire. Sam and Ned stared at it in shock, not knowing what to do.

"How do you like that, girls?" Hennigan laughed again. "Looks like you won’t be getting away after all, doesn’t it?"

Ned ran to the little window and tried to open it, but it was no good; that window was stuck tight. Sam grabbed the garbage can and smashed the glass, and Ned used the barrel of the gun to clear away all the shards. They heard the terrorists getting out the front door while they scrambled out the window, Sam first. As Ned hit the ground, one of the vans started up and its lights turned on. Ned shot out the van’s tires as it started to move, sending it spinning into a wood fence. The two ducked for cover behind a Carson Park truck as the terrorists piled out of the van.

"Damn you, Ned! That’s the last time you get in my way!" Hennigan shouted from behind the van. He leaped out and started shooting wildly at everything.

Sam shrank down behind the truck, praying none of the bullets found her.

"Where the hell are the cops?" she whimpered.

Hennigan stopped shooting.

"Damn automatic rifles… jammed again… shit!" he said and Ned took the opportunity to fell him with one shot to the knee. As Hennigan crashed to the ground screaming, they all heard sirens as the Eau Claire police finally arrived.

After they had all the terrorists rounded up and the fire under control, the cops were able to apologize to Ned for the scene on Samantha’s street.

"Hey, man, sorry we thought you were a nut. But running around in that gopher suit… well, you understand."

"Don’t get all mushy about it, okay?" Sam smarted back to the officer.

"Oh, don’t worry; I get that all the time," Ned laughed. "I can’t believe I still have the damn thing on. Where’s my head?"

"It’s on the street in front of my house."

"That’s right. Why don’t you keep it as a souvenir? It’ll make a great conversation piece."

"Gosh, thanks, Ned. I’m touched."

"Don’t mention it."

The officer asked Sam if she needed a ride home.

"Yeah, that would be great; I have no idea where I am!" she said.

As he went to pull his squad up, Sam and Ned said their goodbye's.

"Well, thanks for a great adventure, Ned."

"Thank you for all your help, uh… I don’t think I ever got your name!"

"No, you didn’t. That’s okay; it’s been a busy night! It’s Sam; Samantha Jones."

"Samantha Jones, eh? Sounds like a good name for an agent. If you ever think you want to join the spy biz, look me up."

"Yeah, okay, I don’t think so!" she laughed. "Hey, what about my littering ticket?"

Ned reached in his pocket and pulled out the ticket.

"Do you think you’ve learned your lesson about littering? I’m not sure you have. Maybe you need to pay the $5 fine as a reminder not to do it again."

"Very funny. I think I’ve paid my debt and then some, especially considering that I didn’t even litter."

"Oh, I don’t know, Sam," Ned laughed. "I saw you throw that bag on the ground."

"You bastard," she sneered at him, and they both laughed as he tore up the ticket.

The black & white pulled up beside Sam and she opened the door.

"See ya around," she said and the officer took her home.

Dawn was just breaking when the cop dropped her off in front of her house. She found the gopher head still in the road, picked it up, and walked back to her house.

"Hey, Tumbleweed, how’s my little sweety?" Sam said when she got in the front door. Both cats were waiting, rather impatiently, for her return. "Anything happen while I was gone, kitties?"

Getting no reply from them, she headed to the kitchen. Well, Madame Serena was right again: the cats still had food in their dishes, which meant that she had gotten home before they’d gotten hungry again.

"One more down for Madame Serena," Sam said and headed back to the living room.

As she plopped down on the couch, she noticed a message on her answering machine. She pushed the message button and set the gopher head on the coffee table.

"Hi, Sam, just wanted to see how you’re doing. It must be pretty boring there; nothing going on here..."

Sam laughed.

"Sure, Mom. I’m bored as hell."