Chapter Ten

Jesse sat in the front seat of the Hummer silently, once in a while shooting nervous glances at Ryan. His friend was driving with an odd look on his face. A seething fury seemed to be radiating off of him, his face hardened in a ferocious glare that he had unblinkingly focused on the road before them. If Ryan had been looking at him like that, Jesse felt as though he'd want to be running very fast in the opposite direction.

"You sure you're okay to drive?" Jesse asked quietly.

"Yep," Ryan answered shortly, not looking at him.

Neither spoke for the rest of the trip. Sirens surrounded them, coming from both their Hummer and the patrol car accompanying them to the airport.

When they arrived at the airport, the security guard opened the gate for them. They drove straight onto the tarmac. Ryan barreled toward a small jet that was parked not too far away, knowing who was inside it.

The stairs were still down on the jet. Ryan silently got out of the Hummer, drew his gun and started marching up the stairs without waiting for anyone else. Jesse hurried after him, followed by the two officers that had come along.

The cockpit was empty. Ryan turned to walk into the passenger area.

Shawna was sitting in one of the plush seats, her hands over her mouth and nose. The calm air of regal confidence was completely gone; her makeup was a mess from crying. Ryan felt no pity for her whatsoever.

"Where's Amber?" he demanded.

"I don't know," she wailed, hyperventilating. "Oh, God!"

"What have you done?!" Ryan yelled at her.

She broke down sobbing into her hands. "My baby… my Amber…"

"Shawna, where is she?" Ryan repeated, his voice cracking.

"I don't know!" she cried. "I don't know, he was supposed to be here an hour ago!"

"He? You mean Dardan Fatmir?"

She nodded, gulping wetly.

"You paid him to kidnap Amber and bring her to you?"

She nodded, bursting into tears again. "I'm so sorry, so so sorry…"

"You don't get to be sorry!" Ryan roared, making her quake.

"Wolfe...," Jesse warned quietly from behind him.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" he bellowed, ignoring the tears that were suddenly welling up in his own eyes.

She stared at him, speechless and quivering.

"Dardan Fatmir is an immigrant now under investigation! How long did you expect he would actually stay in the country after we found out about him?" Ryan yelled. "How could you willingly give him Amber and expect him to return her? Just how stupid are you?!"

She hid her face in her shaking hands, wailing like a small child.

"Look at me!" he screamed.

His tone shocked her into obedience.

"Dardan's brother is being hunted for human trafficking!" he continued loudly. "That's exactly who Dardan is going to go to when he's in trouble! You think they're going to give up a little girl like Amber? Compared to what they'd get for her in the market, that 300,000 you gave him is pocket change!"

She shuddered and hugged herself tightly. "I didn't know… I didn't know!" she cried over and over again.

"Because of you, Amber is gone! She's gone!" he bellowed. A hot tear of rage spilled down his cheek, but he ignored it. "They'll sell her to the highest bidder and then she'll disappear! Forever! There's no coming back from where they're taking her! Do you have any idea how scared she must be right now?!"

With a roar of frustration and fury, Ryan slammed his fist into the wall, making everyone else jump. He turned away from her in disgust, the tears now flowing freely from his hazel eyes. Breathing heavily, he raised a shaky hand to wipe the warm, salty flecks from his face. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

Ryan turned again to face Shawna, who was frozen in her seat as she stared at him in horror and fear.

"You're supposed to be her mother," he whispered icily, his voice dripping with venom. "You're despicable."

With that, he stormed away. Jesse and the officers flattened themselves against the wall to let him pass, as if they were afraid Ryan would burn them if they touched him. Everyone left on the plane stood dumbfounded for a long time before Jesse finally seemed to remember what they were doing there.

"Hook her up," he told the waiting officers, who seemed to snap out of a trance as they hurried forward to detain Shawna. Jesse returned outside to see what had become of Ryan.

Ryan was standing a few feet off from the jet, seemingly gazing up at the grey sky with his arms folded across his chest. Jesse approached him carefully.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

Ryan sniffed wetly and cleared his throat, hurriedly brushing away the last remnants of his emotional outburst from his face.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he mumbled. He cleared his throat again. "We should get back to the lab, we need to look for that SUV I was chasing. You drive."

Jesse nodded in acquiescence. As Ryan opened the passenger door to climb into the Hummer, the patrolmen were escorting Shawna back down the ramp. Ryan's tirade seemed to have shocked her out of her sobbing; tears poured silently down her face as she stared blankly ahead of her. As she passed him, she suddenly caught his eye and stopped walking.

"I know what I did was horrible," she began.

"Understatement," Ryan snapped coldly.

She gulped. "I can see you care about her. Please, you have to find her. If you do, Amber will never have to hear from me again. I will stay out of her life. Just please find her."

She and Ryan stared at each other for a long moment. Neither one blinked.

Ryan nodded curtly. Without another word to her, he climbed into the Hummer and shut the door. The officers led Shawna away to stow her in the back seat of the squad car. Jesse took to the driver's seat silently. As he pulled away from the jet, rumbling along the tarmac, he risked a glance at his partner.

Ryan sat quietly with his head resting in one hand, his eyes closed. Jesse had never before seen anybody who looked so drained.

As he sat with his eyes closed, Ryan thought of Amber.

He would find her and bring her home. He just had to.