Disclaimer: Chris Ryan owns Alpha Force- characters and plots. Not me.

Amber was sobbing. She and Li had been marched up the stairs to a bedroom on the second floor. Their captor had gone to explore the rest of the house and left the two of them tied up.

'We'll never see them again,' Amber wailed. Li new that although Amber meant the rest of Alpha Force, she also meant one person in particular.

Li was surprisingly calm. She had realised that there was absolutely no hope for them if they were tied up, so she was trying to come up with a plan to get rid of the ropes. And she couldn't think of a plan if she was in hysterics, now could she? Once freed, they could get out of the house and the police could arrest the man. It sounded nice and simple. In theory. But the room was bare and neither she nor Amber were carrying anything sharp enough to cut the ropes.

Amber was still crying, so Li shuffled closer to her. Amber lay her head on Li's shoulder and sniffed.

'I wish I told Hex,' she murmured. The two friends sat together in silence.

'I wish I told Paulo,' Li said softly. She started crying as well.

They didn't notice their captor coming back. He stood in the doorway and held the gun up.


Paulo and Hex were sitting in the car when the gunshot rang out. At the same time, a scream echoed the shot. It was a scream of pure terror and they recognised it at once. Hex sat bolt upright.

'Amber!' he cried. He tried to leap out of the car but Paulo grabbed his shirt. 'Stop it!' Paulo didn't let go. He yanked Hex back into his seat.

'Do you want to get killed?!' Hex stared at Paulo as a tear slid down his cheek. Paulo's expression softened.

'I am sorry,' he said, his voice shaking as he held back his own tears.

Hex sobbed, tears flooding down his cheeks and dripping onto the floor. Suddenly, Paulo felt sick. He lurched out of the car and vomited onto the grass. That guy had just shot Amber. He retched and felt the bile rise in his throat. Amber was dead.