CHAPTER EIGHT

Five minutes later, Francine returned and signaled Amanda that back-up was on the way. The brunette nodded and indicated that Francine should proceed with her part of their plan.

Amanda waited while Francine crept up behind the man who was loading the van. When he walked to the back of the cargo area, Francine flattened herself against the side panel and waited for him to emerge. When he did, she swiftly raked one leg under his and brought him to his knees. A hard chop to his neck stunned him and the butt of her gun rendered him unconscious. He fell forward into the dirt with a thud and Francine quickly pulled him back into the shadow of the van, where he was not visible to anyone from the cottage.

Upon seeing Francine’s quick dispatch of the first man, Amanda began her approach on the cottage door and it’s unsuspecting guard. She slipped silently onto the porch and through the partially opened front door. She glanced back at her partner, now behind her acting as lookout should anyone else appear on the scene, gave her the thumbs up and proceeded into the darkened front room.

The cottage appeared to be largely unused. This front room had obviously once been a parlor of sorts, with old-fashioned horsehair sofas and wingback chairs grouped around the cold stone fireplace. Amanda saw no evidence of regular use or of the guard. She crossed the space and approached the next door.

She pushed it open slowly and saw a much used, little cared for kitchen/dining room. The stove was crusted with cooked food and the adjoining countertop was littered with dirty dishes and opened food containers. The small dinette table surrounded by four chairs was equally piled with take-out boxes and paper plates and disposable utensils. Amanda curled her nose in disgust.

She heard a shuffle from the room next door and hurriedly moved toward it to brace herself against the doorframe. When no other noises were heard, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open. She peered into the room and saw no one. Curious but cautious about the noise she heard, she entered the room slowly, gun raised and every instinct on the alert.

One step, then two into the small bedroom revealed a twin bed frame with sparse covers, a single bedside table and one small pad locked cabinet. On the dusty surface of the cabinet, several empty vials and one large, very full syringe were lying. A low groan from the far corner revealed the guard lying on the floor holding his head, blood trickled through his fingers and he lost consciousness as she watched. But where was the prisoner who must have brought him down? Turning to leave the seemingly deserted room, Amanda was suddenly grabbed from behind. A hard chop to her wrist forced her to release her gun and it flew out of her hand and fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

A large hand clamped over her mouth while another gripped her around the waist and flung her to the floor. She felt a knee press into her back and pin her to the rough area carpeting. She began to buck and twist and soon had her assailant unbalanced enough to flip over. She scrambled to straddle his legs with her body and reached for her lost weapon a few feet across the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the rising motion of his hand and blocked it with her own before grabbing his hands and pinning them to the floor above his head. His strength was obviously flagging for she had no trouble holding him in place. For the first time she looked him full in the face and locked eyes with the man below her.

Instantly and for a few brief moments, she was transported back in time and found herself being jostled in the busy train station, felt her arm being grasped and as she was looking into the most amazingly expressive pair of hazel eyes she had ever come across, she heard his low, slightly breathless voice begging her to help him.

Amanda felt her heart rate rise in tandem with the pulse in the wrists she held tightly beneath her hands and heard him grunt as he continued to struggle for his freedom. She shook her hair out of her face and watched recognition dawn as his adrenaline-fogged mind processed what it was seeing.

"Amanda?"

"Lee…" She released his hands and eased herself further back on his legs. She ran one finger down the beard-roughened face she knew so well. Mesmerized by the hazel eyes staring up at her, she had no words to tell him what was going on in her mind but it didn’t seem necessary.

Time seemed to stand still and their environment disappeared into a haze of love and longing as they soaked up the sight of each other. Lee struggled to an upright position, his breath harsh as he forced it in and out of his lungs. They sat face to face and hesitantly reached out to touch what each feared had been lost. His weak, shaking hands brushed over her hair and soon lost themselves in the auburn curls. Her hands, stronger but just as shaky, rested over his chest and felt the erratic beating of his heart.

Lee abruptly closed his eyes and pulled her against his body, tightly. "Are you real? Is it really you?" His voice was raspy and strained.

Amanda pulled back and laid her hands against his face, forcing him to look at her and hear what she said. "Yes, Lee. I’m here. I’m real and I’m here and I love you so much."

"Amanda, oh God, Amanda…" He leaned into her grasp and buried his face in the hollow of her neck.

His beard was rough and scratchy and his lips were dry and cracked but it all felt like heaven, pressed against the side of her neck.

After sparing a glance at the still unconscious guard, she circled his shoulders with her arms and returned his kiss with all the passion and love she had kept suppressed for eight long weeks now. Her fingers delved into his hair and held his head firmly in place. The warmth of the feelings flooded her being with renewed life and she felt as if the long lost other half of her soul had been found. Tears began to run down her cheeks and soaked into his parched lips.

She tasted their saltiness and heard his hiss of pain as the salty tears irritated his chapped flesh. She moaned softly, "I’m so sorry, that hurts, doesn’t it?" She broke away from him to brush them away.

"No, it’s okay…it’s the best pain I’ve felt in weeks. I love you, Amanda Stetson. Kiss me again, please." He leaned forward and she complied, gently this time. Her tears were dried for now. She felt only joy and lightness in this single, perfect moment, locked in her man’s arms.

A loud groan from the gaurd brought her attention back to the situation at hand. The man who lay heaped in a corner of the room was trying to rouse himself to reach his gun that lay a few feet away.

"Amanda, we better get that guy tied up, I’m not sure I have enough strength to take him down again if he wakes up first." Lee stirred and attempted to get up off the floor.

Amanda drew herself off of his lap and got to her feet. She reached down and pulled him to a standing position. He wavered slightly then braced himself against the nearby wall. "I don’t know what they were giving me, but it was potent and doesn’t wear off quickly."

"Lee, be still and let me take care of…"

Momentarily distracted by encouraging Lee to stay put, Amanda didn’t see the guard attempting to rise and reach for his gun until he was on his knees and had the gun at the tips of his fingers. Lee called out a warning and stumbled in the direction of the man. Amanda whirled on her feet and kicked the gun from the man’s reach. She drew her baby Glock from her ankle holster and delivered a sharp rap to the back of his head. He fell and Amanda trained her gun on him briefly until she was sure he wasn’t getting back up.

Lee leaned against the wall and watched as Amanda dealt with the man on the ground before her. She fastened the cuffs and flipped him onto his stomach with her foot. She spared him barely a glance then went to Lee and gently led him through the cottage to the door. There they met Francine and Billy and a whole team of agents, all of whom stopped and stared at the pair before them.

"Lee, I’m glad to see you, man." Billy offered simply and gripped his hand to shake it firmly. Soon the shake became a hug as the older man hauled Lee into his arms and held him tight. He pushed him away just as suddenly and rushed away careful not to show the others how much he was affected by this reunion.

"Yeah, me too." Lee croaked out, too late for his friend to hear. His voice and his strength were rapidly failing him and he shook from the exertion to stay on his feet.

Amanda, suddenly focusing on his overall condition, not just the fact that he was alive, realized that he was on the brink of collapse and began to call for help just as Lee crumpled at her feet.

A team of NEST doctors and nurses, called out by Billy when he had received the call from Francine, rushed to envelope him in a crowd of medical attention, pushing Amanda to the side. He was loaded into a waiting ambulance and would have been taken away from her, had she not reinserted herself into the fray by elbowing the last nurse aside and taking her place by Lee’s stretcher.

"Hey, you can’t go in there…" The nurse began to object.

"There is no way I’m not going, so I’d suggest you just save your breath or see to the prisoners. I want them alive to pay for what they’ve done to him."

The door slammed and the lights and sirens began to swirl and scream as the ambulance rushed to the nearest trauma unit.

Inside the swaying unit, Amanda held tight to his hand and whispered to him. Inconsequential things, like how the weather had been and what the boys were doing in school, but they seemed to pierce the fog that had overtaken him. He gripped her hand tighter and the attendant said that his vitals were strong and stable and that he was going to be fine, in time.

"Did you hear that, Lee? You’re going to be fine. You’re going to rest and sleep off whatever they gave you and then, we’re going home to the family. Our home, our family. I swear…"

The ambulance wheeled up to the ER entrance at Galilee General and the lights and sirens died. He was rushed into the examining room where even Amanda’s dire threats wouldn’t gain her entrance. She was left to the bare, sterile waiting room and her own devices. She crossed to the pay phone in the corner, picked it up and dialed a familiar number. It was early, very early, nearly three AM, but she knew they were awake.

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"Amanda? Is that you? Are you ok?"

"Yes Mother, we’re all ok…I should be home by tonight."

"Lee? Oh Amanda, tell me this means you found Lee…"

"He’s…fine…he’s going to be fine."

"Amanda, bring him home."

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