Chapter 11, guys! Sadly, my updating will becoming less frequent in the next couple of weeks because I have to get ready for college/uni, so I'll update whenever possible :)

Enjoy!

~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo

The two Mobains stared at each other in a disturbing manner. The silence in the room was so quiet that it was almost deafening for Sonic. Stan paused slightly and slowly stood up, his fierce gaze on the blue hedgehog. Sonic understood Stan's movement and began to slowly back away, his arms held out in self-defence.

"Stan", Sonic eventually murmured, "I…"

"No need to say another word", Stan remarked, slowly walking towards Sonic, "I understand what's going on…"

"Oh, yeah?", Sonic answered back nervously, "What do you know?"

"It's not as if I'm blind", Stan remarked, "You came down here to finish me off personally, didn't you?"

"What?", Sonic exclaimed, "Seriously, what gave you that idea?"

"You brought chaos into our lives", Stan answered solemnly, "You sent your men… You questioned our sanity… You killed Meg…", Stan paused as tears rolled down his bruised face, "… You caught me in the act… arrested me… beat me to a pulp… and I-I sometimes told myself that it couldn't get any worse than things are at the moment, but now that you're here - well - it just screams a conspiracy; an ambush that's been set against me… am I right?"

"Stan", Sonic attempted to reassure the red bat, "Despite what you may be thinking, I am not plotting against you. I'm being honest; I've changed. Stan, you've got to believe me"

"Thing is", Stan whispered, "How can I believe you at all?"

"Wh-what?", Sonic stammered stupidly, "Do y-you think that I would stupidly allow myself to be locked in a cell? I-if it were up to me, I'd have Guards coming down to drag you out of here and reported to me immediately if I wanted to shoot you or whatever-"

"Then why are you here?"

"I… I…"

"Exactly", Stan spat, "You can't give me a good explanation. God, I thought people in asylums were crazy enough but you've taken madness to a whole new level; you're more fucked up than I'll ever be!"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me", Sonic explained.

"Try me", Stan answered. Sonic breathed out slowly and slumped against the bars behind him, unable to look straight into Stan's eyes.

"I had a visit from the Foreign Commissioner a few weeks ago", he began, a solemn expression on his face, "And we had a few… disagreements so I… I… offered him Mei"

There was a terrible silence in the small cell.

"Excuse me?", Stan asked, as if he didn't hear Sonic properly the first time.

"I offered him Mei", Sonic repeated, "And he accepted"

Again, another silence remained in the room until it was broken by the sound of Stan laughing nervously.

"Th-thank God!", Stan exclaimed, still chuckling, "For a moment there I thought you were going to say something worse like sell Mei into prostitution o-or test illegal drugs on Lindsay or something like that. Bu-but…", the realisation hit Stan. His eyes filled with hatred, "Wait a minute - you don't mean offer as in…?"

"What?", Sonic asked. The idea came to his mind and he spluttered with disbelief, "Oh, God, no! Not in that way! No. No, no, no"

"So what did you mean by that, then?", Stan demanded, "'Cause if you don't tell me, you bastard, I'll fucking kill you!"

"The Foreign Commissioner owns a large amount of land from the East", Sonic explained, "and the majority of the population still refer to their own Religion where there are many cults that believe in sacrifice and in many cases it controls the way their communities live and think"

"So what you're saying is-is…", Stan paused, "… they might kill Mei?"

"They might", Sonic lied, knowing that the truth was far more horrific than what Stan suggested, knowing that should the truth be revealed, Stan would definitely turn on him and kill him. Yet, since Stan seemed to believe what Sonic was telling him, Sonic decided not to be too truthful. Either that or his life.

"Jesus…", Stan whispered and turned away, ruffling his hair with his left hand. Sonic breathed out with relief, knowing the worst was over.

Or was it?

Stan suddenly spun around and marched towards the Blue hedgehog with a furious expression on his face.

"Why did you do that?", Stan screamed, "What possessed you, you stupid fuck?"

Stan lunged at Sonic and punched him hard on his stomach. Sonic cried out and doubled over as Stan then rammed his right knee into the same spot, causing Sonic to have problems re-gaining his breath.

"Ugh!", Sonic cried out painfully, "Okay, I admit it, I had that one coming"

"No", Stan remarked angrily, "You forgot this one!", and viciously punched Sonic's jaw, forcing Sonic's head to swing backwards and smack against the bars. Hard.

"Ugh, alright, fine", Sonic mumbled as he clutched the back of his head, "I deserved that… but you've stopped now, right?"

"Oh no", Stan smirked, "I'm only just getting warmed up, Hedgehog. I've let you fool me once before… but now we're playing a different game… and this time I make the rules!"

Sonic groaned, pain throbbing throughout his body. He knew he was in for a rough night ahead of him. Then again, surely Stan can't be that angry with him? Stan knew what he would be getting himself into messing about with Sonic, so in a sense it was his fault, too.

Well, you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, Sonic thought to himself as Stan kicked him in a blood-thirsty manner. Perhaps if Sonic allowed himself to be beaten for a short period of time he would be able to allow Stan to calm down and explain his plan without being disturbed by violence.

She waited until her timing was accurate. The maid reached the doors which exited the room to which Lindsay announced loudly and clearly: "I need to go to the bathroom"

The maid sighed whilst balancing the linen sheets in her hands. It was obvious that Lindsay was testing her patience.

"Can't it wait, dear?", the maid suggested, "I'm just going downstairs with these sheets and I'll be right back. Can you wait until then?"

"No, I can't", Lindsay snapped. After all, if the staff were aloof and unfair towards her, why couldn't she return the favour and be rude back to them? The maid stood, sighed again, and walked back to the bed where Lindsay lay, captivated, and placed the sheets at the end of the bed whilst Lindsay complained once again.

"It would be a lot easier if I had a set of crutches to help me move about", Lindsay continued, "That way I won't disturb you and I would have a lot more freedom around this place"

"Uh-huh", the maid answered as she stepped behind Lindsay and slid her hands into Lindsay's armpits to pull her up from her position. As she did so, Lindsay could feel the relief running through her left leg. She couldn't recall how long her left leg had been asleep for, as she had spent her time exercising her right leg instead by moving it about and bending it in a rhythmic fashion. She shuddered as she felt a sensation running through her left leg that felt like pins and needles. The maid coaxed her to move forwards towards the bathroom, at Lindsay's side in case Lindsay lost her balance and fell. It seemed like a lifetime until they had reached the bathroom considering the heavy plaster cast.

"I'll leave you to it", the maid announced, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm sure you can manage on your own"

"I'm sure I will", Lindsay answered, "Thanks"

The maid left, leaving Lindsay to struggle positioning herself on the toilet. As she relieved herself, Lindsay looked at her left leg curiously. There were red rashes beginning to form around the edges of the cast where she had itched mercilessly and scratched at her skin until she bled. Once again, Lindsay pulled up her trouser leg, reached out and scratched the area around her ankle, hissing at the stinging sensation. It had been a few days since she had learned that Tails was dead, and it left Lindsay feeling as though she had properly communicated with Sonic for the first time since… well, ever. But it wasn't as if she was ready to share everything with him, it had only been a close moment for the both of them. The difference that time was Sonic didn't threaten or intimidate her in any way; he was - dare she say - normal.

"If Sonic was able to act like that all of the time, we would get along better", she muttered madly and stood up slowly from the toilet and flushed. Lindsay balanced herself and tried to calculate how long it would take her to reach the sink and back to the door. She hobbled towards the sink nearby, aware of the heaviness of her plaster cast and took several breaks to re-gain her balance and her breath. Without warning, Lindsay accidentally slipped on the bathroom tiles and toppled to her left, smacking her broken leg against the edge of the large, gleaming bathtub. Expecting pain to roar through her system, Lindsay shut her eyes and held her breath… only to realise that there was no pain from her leg. She struggled to sit up and when she peered down at her left leg, she was surprised to see a large crack along the plaster cast. Curious, she gently tugged at the broken plaster and separated the cast until it split into two pieces from her thigh to her ankle. Lindsay tore the plaster apart and stared at her leg.

And that was what freaked her out. Her leg did not stick out weirdly. Her leg had no obvious bones sticking out in any place at all. She stood up, testing her left leg as she shifted her weight onto it. No pain. Lindsay breathed in slowly and gently began to walk towards the sink.

There was no pain. There was no sounds indicating bones breaking under her skin. She realised that her pace and movement was completely back to normal; no complications, no pain.

Her leg wasn't broken, after all.

Her leg wasn't broken.

Oh, why didn't she realise this before? If there was no pain during the aftermath of a broken bone, surely something had to be wrong or suspicious about the entire situation? Lindsay smacked her forehead with the palm of her right hand. The plaster cast was quite thick, so she must have made a severe collision against the bathtub if it had broken into pieces. Perhaps the material wasn't that strong but was heavy enough to stop Lindsay from trying to run away...

"How could I have been so blind?", she hissed angrily, "It's obviously a ploy to stop me from interfering in something! And no doubt Sonic is behind all of this fucking mess!"

So much for building trust and understanding between the two hedgehogs. Lindsay growled angrily and fantasized of the many ways she could get her revenge on the blue bastard. Of course, a broken leg was the perfect alibi to keep her out of the way in whatever he was planning. She was going to get him; kill him even!

"Are you decent, miss?", a voice piped from outside the bathroom. Lindsay gasped and grabbed the cast desperately, wrapping the broken cocoon over her left leg and frantically pulled at her left trouser leg, hiding the broken cast. If they wanted to play games with her, she might as well play along, too… and attack them when they least expect it. She tugged at her trouser leg until it fully covered the broken plaster cast, not wanting to give herself away to the maid. The maid! Now there was another mystery to this hysteria - no doubt the maid had a role in this, too, but what role exactly…?

"Yes", Lindsay answered, "Come in"

The maid came in and gave Lindsay a sympathetic look as Lindsay leant against the wall, her face glistened with sweat, her breathing heavy and slightly wheezy.

"If you needed help to the sink, you should have just called on me, dear", the maid explained as she hoisted Lindsay under her arms and guided the pink hedgehog towards the sink.

"I didn't need help, I'm fine just the way I am", Lindsay insisted fiercely and added under her breath, "A fat lot of help you are, anyway, you scheming bitch"

"What did you say?", the maid asked, confused. Lindsay felt her cheeks flush as she attempted to smile innocently at the maid.

"Nothing", she smiled, "Nothing"

And before she knew it Lindsay was back in bed with her 'broken' leg carefully positioned on the mattress. But now that she knew that the entire emphasis on her broken leg was a complete hoax, Lindsay knew that she had to spend her time wisely whilst she had the chance and whenever she was alone, for whatever was going on behind her back had intrigued her even more… and this time she was going to intrude in everyone's fun and games, she was going to put an end to it. An end to Sonic.

Once and for all.

"Okay", Sonic wheezed, "Okay… I know it's been, like, a couple of days and you've beaten the crap out of me, but surely, surely, you've calmed down by now?"

"Calmed down?", Stan repeated, "Calmed down? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Sonic grimaced. He had suffered many assaults made by Stan and was on the verge of crying with dismay because no matter how many times Sonic attempted to distract Stan's attention by explaining why he did offered Mei in the first place and what he was proposing to do in order to save her, Stan only replied with violence, kicks, punches, pain. If he had so much as attempted to step in front of Stan or sit beside him, Sonic would be beaten mercilessly; it was simply impossible. Of course Stan would react this way, Stan wouldn't be normal if he didn't, but Sonic just had to discuss his plan with Stan if he wanted to stop the madness just in time, for now their timing was precious; both Sonic's and Mei's. It was only a matter of days before the real horror would take place. Sonic looked at Stan. The red bat slumped in one corner of the cell, his eyes rimmed with fatigue as he used all of his energy attacking Sonic, his posture weak from beatings, exhaustion, and hunger. Sonic wiped his nose and took a deep breath. I'll try once more, he thought, Surely he'll listen to me now.

"Stan, listen", Sonic began, "I know what I've done is wrong. Terribly wrong. Don't you think I know that? But I know a way we can stop this before Mei is endangered"

"Why the fuck would I listen to-"

"Just shut up!", Sonic screamed, "Shut the fuck up and listen! I've allowed you to beat me mercilessly for the past few days and I've tried to talk to you about this but you just wouldn't listen! If you want Lindsay and Mei to be unharmed I suggest you stay the fuck away from me and listen to what I have to say! Besides", Sonic felt in his suit pocket, "I have something that might influence you"

"Like what?", Stan spat, "What could you possibly have that would interest me?"

"This", Sonic pulled out something that gleamed in the light of the cell. Stan froze, staring at the object. No… it couldn't be…, he thought.

"It's", Stan began, "it's-"

"I found it around her neck when my men found her body and brought it upstairs for a medical examination", Sonic stood and slowly walked towards Stan with Meg's locket in his hand. He paused when he was in front of Stan's crouched body and offered the locket to him, "If I were any kind of heartless man I would have had this taken away and sold like the other possessions she had on her like her watch and her equipment. But I can tell how much she meant to you… and I was waiting to give you this when the time was right", Sonic leant down and coaxed Stan to take the locket, "Take it. Please"

Stan reluctantly took it, sniffing as he did so.

"I gave her this locket", he whispered, "She meant a lot to me… My Meg…"

"I'm sorry", Sonic whispered, "I know how it feels to lose a loved one"

"Mm", Stan answered.

"Meg died naturally, by the way", Sonic explained further, "Severe blood loss due to a brain haemorrhage. I didn't kill her. At least, I think I didn't. I hurt her a few times, yes, but not that much once I think about it… Lindsay stopped me just in time before I could do any more serious damage to Meg. But it was our wrong-doing, too; we should have kept an eye on her health when she was still alive"

"Mm", Stan replied. Sonic produced the cheque from his other pocket, slightly crumpled after Stan's violent outbursts. Stan looked up and stared at the writing on it.

"I'm going to give this to Lindsay", Sonic explained, "I want her to get out of here you and Mei and start afresh. I want to change and get help. Now, you know that if I was lying and that I had no intention to let any of you go, I wouldn't waste my time writing this cheque… Stan, you've got to believe me… what more evidence do you need?"

Stan stared helplessly at the cheque, and then back at Sonic. He really wasn't lying at all…

"Stan?", Sonic croaked, staring pleadingly at him. Stan looked at the ground, and then at the locket. If Meg was here, she would knew what to do. Hell, she knew that she would be running risks with any decision she made, but she would take immediate action. Stan knew Meg would co-operate if freedom was involved. He had had pleasure beating the living daylights out of Sonic over the past few days, but no matter what he did he never felt any better. Only worse. Much worse. And if Sonic was lying, then damn it, he would be an awesome actor to endure Stan's physical abuse and to create so many excuses to persuade Stan to listen to him…

What to do… what to do…

"Stan, answer me!", Sonic demanded. He needed Stan's co-operation so badly. Stan stared at the locket once more. And then at the genuine cheque.

There was only one thing he could do. If it were to save Lindsay and Mei. Besides, he could easily shoot Sonic at the very last minute if the worst became reality…

"What do we need to do?", Stan croaked at long last. Sonic, almost fainting with relief, scrambled down beside him and began to frantically whisper, keeping a close eye out for any Guards nearby who could be eavesdropping.

"We need to get rid of these Guards in here", Sonic began, "And what we need to do is create a diversion somewhere else that will lead these Guards out of this area to somewhere else which would lead them on a wild goose chase"

"And what about those Guards?", Stan whispered, "What happens to them?"

"Whoever is creating the diversion will distract them whilst somebody else attacks them from behind… kind of like a trap", he explained as best as he could, "That night, security will be pretty low because there will be a small party taking place in the main ballroom, so they won't expect any disturbances then"

"Well, who do you have in mind that will do this?", Stan asked curiously.

"Well, that's just the thing, really", Sonic shrugged, "I'm struggling to think of anybody who would do this. I was kinda wondering, Stan, of you knew anybody who would be good participants?"

Stan sat back, pondering. There were so many sources that he would recommend but none seemed to scream professional within his thoughts. Okay, so Sonic need one to distract the Guards, to distract them, whilst another had to attack them from behind. So, that was two people. He limited the search in his thoughts down to two possible candidates. Yes… yes.. It was possible!

"I know these two guys", Stan explained, "But I'll have to get in contact with them if we want this to work"

"How are you going to do that?", Sonic asked, curious. Stan glanced at the table where the Guards sat, playing with cards and chatting animatedly about a recent football game, ignoring the two Mobians in the prison cell. On the table beside them was a backpack, his backpack, and inside was his cell phone. Stan glanced at the rusty pole that he had struck Sonic with earlier on that remained with them inside the cell.

Suddenly, Stan was inspired.

"How much time do we have?", he demanded.

"Now?", Sonic asked, "Well, only a number of days. I'd say about three days. Why?"

"I need you to make a distraction", Stan told Sonic, "Anything to distract those Guards over there, because I need to get a hold of my backpack using that pole", Stan pointed at the pole, "But wait until tomorrow and then we can take proper action, otherwise it would look suspicious"

"Agreed", Sonic accepted, "Now, are we going to co-operate with one another?"

"Yes", Stan agreed.

"And do you trust me?", Sonic asked nervously. Stan stared at him hard.

"Only if you become a man of your word", was Sonic's answer.

They meant well, but Lindsay didn't want to read the books she was given by the staff. The Color Purple, The Phantom Of The Opera, Carrie, Jane Eyre… oh, how she would have loved to read the books but the fact that everything around her seemed to be a lie, she couldn't bring herself to trust even the most beautiful pieces of literature that lay on the bedside table. Instead, Lindsay scrabbled inside the drawer of the bedside table and found her X-ray scan. Indeed, the scan looked genuine with it's individual reference numbers and her name and the picture of her 'broken' bone. She reached one finger out to the faint white line that confirmed the injury and gently scratched the surface of the line with her right thumb. The white line slowly faded away as her thumb rapidly scratched and scraped along the top of it, as though she were scraping a strip of adhesive tape off of a piece of card. Lindsay stared at her perfectly structured leg in the scan when the obvious white line had been scraped away and frowned. Her leg was fine. Perfectly fine. There was nothing wrong with her leg, judging the scan. She recalled how strangely the Doctor had been acting when she had visited Lindsay…

"This isn't right… I can't do this…"

The Doctor knew. She knew what was going on and she was involved in it, too. Lindsay exhaled slowly and smacked the scan lightly against her forehead. How could she have been so blind? Despite how many times she had asked herself that question, she would continue to question herself until Hell would freeze over. Of course something had been going on behind her back after falling down the set of stairs, but why didn't she sense it happening?

But now that it was the mystery was out in the open, Lindsay could join in on the game.

Lindsay laid back into the bed and breathed out. How was she going to do it? There had to be a way to get them back. But how? And when should she attack them?

Outside, Lindsay could hear maids gossiping from the other side of the doors. She sat up and held her breath, eager to hear their conversation. Actually pulling off her cast and tip-toeing towards the doors would be too risky, particularly if the maids where so close nearby, so Lindsay pulled her broken cast off and crawled to the end of the bed, and leant forward to hear better…

"Have you got everything?", one maid asked solemnly.

"Well, I'll need to get to the market at some time to get a few essentials for the banquet but so far we're doing okay", the other maid said, "I hope everything goes well for the Foreign Commissioner"

"Yes", the maid answered, "Everything must be perfect for the 22nd"

… the 22nd. What was so significant about that date? Lindsay sat back on her legs and pondered. It was the 19th. So whatever that was happening on the 22nd must be big if everybody was talking about it. Obviously whatever was happening on the 22nd was the event that Lindsay had been prevented from interfering in.

Lindsay sat back in her original position. She knew enough to begin planning her escape.

"You've got to fucking help me!", Sonic suddenly screamed as he threw himself against the bars of the prison cell, his arms sliding through the spaces of the bars and reaching out desperately, "PLEASE help me!"

"What the fu-", the National Guard began, peering at the blue hedgehog. Sonic repeatedly smacked his body against the bars, desperate to wriggle out and escape, his face filled with panic and fear.

"There's a fucking lunatic in here!", he howled, "He says he's going to hurt me!"

"Now calm down. Calm down", the Guard reassured him, "Now, what's going on?"

"There's a fucking lunatic in the corner!", Sonic screamed, "He's going to kill me!"

The Guard frowned at him and peered at Stan who was crouched in one corner. Stan looked at him innocently and shrugged.

"Don't ask me", Stan answered, "I asked him if he was okay and he began to scream and kept pointing in that corner"

The Guard frowned at Stan and then at Sonic. Sonic cried out fearfully and pointed furiously at an empty corner of the cell, his arm shaking.

"He's here!", he roared, "He's here and he's going to kill me! He's going to stab me! Oh, Jesus Christ! Why won't you believe me?"

"Whoa, okay", the Guard replied and unlocked the door of the prison cell, "I think you need a little night-cap, my friend"

"He'll kill me!", Sonic shouted as loudly as he could, "And he'll kill you, too! Get me out of here!"

"Jesus Christ", the Guard commented, "You're truly fucked up, man", and grabbed a firm hold of Sonic's right arm. Another Guard appeared and helped the other Guard, both of them struggling to keep a firm grip on the maniacal blue hedgehog, shouting orders over his screams and cries of dismay. As predicted earlier by Sonic, they dragged him away towards the First Aid room to inject a dose of tranquilliser into his arm. On cue, Stan grabbed the rusty pole, peered through the bars to check that it was safe to carry on, and held the pole as he carefully positioned the pole between two bars, pushing it forward until it reached his backpack that lay on the table where the National Guards usually sat by whilst watching the prisoners. Stan kept his eyes firmly on the pole as it aimed for his backpack, hovered around the small tag at the top of the bag… successfully slid the pole through the small tag… slowly but gently dragged the backpack off of the table as he pulled the pole back into the cell… the backpack slowly but surely moving closer towards him as Stan pulled the pole towards him…

FUCK!, Stan thought backpack slid off of the pole unexpectedly and landed on the floor with a noticeable 'thunk'. Stan froze, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. There were no threatening footsteps rapidly approaching. Stan could hear Sonic's screams of horror and swearing from the Guards in the First Aid room nearby.

Sonic's acting is obviously very realistic if he's able to distract the Guards from their duties, Stan thought aloud. He regained his grip on the rusty pole and hooked the backpack once more, pulling the pole into the cell. Other prisoners watched with interest.

"Hey, buddy", a fox whispered, "When you get out of there… think you can get us out of here?"

"Yeah, we saw how you beat Sonic up earlier - right on! It's about time, too", a echidna added eagerly. Stan frowned at the pole and at the prisoners, juggling strategies and plans and favours.

"What?", he asked, confused, and then heard Sonic's shouting and screaming suddenly die down. Time was running out. Stan shook his head, "Oh, fuck off! Not when I'm in the middle of something!"

He rapidly pulled the remainder of the pole back into the cell along with his backpack, threw the pole to where it originally sat, threw his backpack to one corner and lay over it, crouched so that it looked as though he was lying on the floor, attempting to sleep peacefully, the backpack carefully hidden. Stan could hear the two Guards returning, dragging Sonic's body behind them. They unlocked the prison cell and threw Sonic's body into the cell carelessly; Sonic remained unresponsive.

"What about him?", One Guard asked, obviously indicating Stan. Stan held his breath, praying. No, he couldn't. The Guard couldn't inject tranquilliser into Stan; that meant that their planning would be sabotaged severely. He closed his eyes.

Please, please, please don't!, Stan thought desperately.

There was a pause.

"Nah", the other Guard said, "He seems okay. It's just Sonic who turned loopy"

"Well, it just goes to show you", the other Guard commented, "Too much power can make you go crazy"

"True, true. He'll be out cold for a while… let's get something to eat", and with that the Guards locked the prison cell door and left the area, leaving a stunned silence behind them. Stan remained in the same position for a while until he heard a slurred question escaping Sonic's mouth, "Stan… we good…?"

"Oh yeah", Stan chuckled softly, "We're good to go"

"Good, good", Sonic chuckled exhaustedly, "I'm sure… tired… think I'm gonna…", and with that he fell into a deep sleep, with no sign of waking up. Stan smirked at the drugged hedgehog. Sonic may be out cold for now, but without a doubt he would be wide awake for the 22nd, ready to keep his word and get Lindsay and Mei out of harm's way. IfSonic kept his word. This contradiction ran through Stan's mind in an unpleasant manner. Stan stared at Sonic's unresponsive body and questioned the situation they were both in. Did Stan really trust Sonic? Or was he easily influenced simply because it was his only chance of getting out alive from this Hellish nightmare? Then again, Sonic wouldn't willingly allow himself to be beaten to a pulp or have himself drugged if he was lying, so…

What was Stan doing? Time was precious and he had to use it wisely. He ripped open his backpack, aware that the other prisoners were watching him, and pulled out his cell phone. God knows Stan hated them, but for once, the possible candidates in his mind could really show their true potential… if they didn't screw up, of course.

Stan keyed in a set of numbers and pressed the cell phone against his ear.

Please, God, he prayed, Please let this work!