Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send feedback and review, I really do appreciate it. Also thank you to those of you who have favourited or alerted my story to, I am astounded by the response to my story.

Thanks as always to dcj ~ your advice and suggestions help me to keep everything together!

Have a great weekend.

Sairs

To protect innocence

Chapter 20 ~ Tuesday ~ part one

"So you're okay with the plan?" Sam asked as they ate breakfast together.

Andy nodded, "Yes, it seems straight forward enough," she glanced at Sam and drew a cross over her heart, "I promise that I won't do anything stupid or rash that puts me in danger."

A small smile crossed Sam's lips, "I know you mean to keep your promise, but things just have a way of happening to you."

She sighed avoiding his gaze and looking down into her bowl of cereal, "I guess, but I'll try my best to avoid it."

"Well if everything goes to plan you won't have to worry and neither will I," he tried to reassure her as well as himself.

She smiled, "I'll just hope that everything goes smoothly," her face clouded.

"What?" Sam asked, noticing the change in her mood.

She looked at him, "But I'm going to have to tell Sue I lied to her about who I was."

Sam nodded, "That's one of the downsides of undercover work, we lie to people who aren't really involved, but who are on the periphery. People get hurt, Andy, it's a part of our job."

"I know; I just don't like it."

He reached across and gently grasped her hand in his, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand in gentle circles, "What you have to remember is we're doing this to save more women from dying and to stop whatever's happening to those babies. They're the innocents we're trying to save."

She looked at their joined hands, she really was lucky to have him, she thought, "I just wish I could save everyone."

"And that's an admirable quality, Andy, but you're never going to be able to save everyone, however hard you try."

"I know; I just wish I could."

He nodded, "We'll try our best to make sure those people who aren't involved are not hurt; but we can't make any guarantees."

She nodded, "Guess that's one of the things I hate about this job, but I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

"You don't have to get used to it, you just have to learn to live with it, deal with it in a way that allows you to cope with the horrors of this job."

"It's a hard lesson to learn," she replied quietly.

"It is, but you have me to help you every step of the way."

She smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, now you'd better finish your breakfast otherwise you'll be running through the door to Jankovich's like you do for parade sometimes."

"I wouldn't want to give Sue that shocking start to the day," she replied before quickly finishing off her cereal.

Andy walked to her desk, dropping her purse on the floor next to her chair, before sitting down.

"Morning, Andy," Sue called as she walked into the Reception area from the staff room, two steaming cups of coffee in her hands, "Made you a coffee, thought it would help to start the day well."

Andy smiled as she accepted the cup of coffee Sue offered her, "Thank you, I needed this," she replied before taking a sip of coffee.

"You're welcome, you looked a little off colour when you hurried past me this morning, is everything okay?" Sue asked.

Andy nodded, "Didn't sleep too well last night and then I was in a rush to get here, but I made it just!"

Sue grinned, "Busy night with Sam?"

Andy couldn't help but blush at Sue's comment, "I wish, I was studying, exams coming up."

Sue nodded, "I don't know how you do it, working and studying, I don't think I could fit everything in."

Andy smiled, "I don't know how you manage working and looking after a toddler when you get in at night."

"When you want something enough you work at it."

"Yes," Andy agreed, "There are just some things important enough to work at."

"Anyway, I better let you get back to that stack of invoices Kathleen dropped on your desk this morning. I noticed she was her usual sparkly self," Sue stated wryly.

Andy giggled, "Well, I wouldn't want to upset her, so I better get cracking. Same time for lunch?"

Sue nodded, "Yes, I'm really going to miss you when Isabelle comes back."

"I'm going to miss you too, Sue," Andy replied as she placed her coffee cup on her desk and picked up the first invoice. After a few moments she glanced at Sue who was busy talking to a nervous looking patient who'd arrived for their appointment, Andy hoped that when this was finished Sue would forgive her for lying.

Andy sorted the invoices as she read them, there were the usual ones from drug suppliers, medical resources and office supplies; however, one invoice sparked her interest. She re-read it and wondered why Jankovich would be issuing an attorney an invoice for blood tests? She placed that invoice in a separate pile, before turning to her computer and entering the attorney's name. She waited a few seconds and had to stop herself from making a sound when she read the screen, the attorney's name was listed against six other dates and if her memory served her correctly, each date was around the time one of the bodies had been found. She selected the print icon with her mouse and waited as the printer at the back of the Reception area whirred into action.

When it had finished printing, she stood and collected the copy of the invoices, she returned to her desk, glanced around to make sure no one was watching she carefully folded the paper and slipped it into her bag.

Natalia stretched, she'd lost count of how many months she'd been squirreled away in the same room, she knew exactly how many footsteps it took to cross from one side to the other. She'd also memorised where the floorboards creaked when you stepped on them, so that she could walk quietly around her room, or rather prison cell.

She wondered how long she had left, her baby would soon be born, would they let her go, or would they end her life; throw her into the gutter once they had what they wanted.

She wanted to cry, but didn't want to give her captors the satisfaction of knowing that they'd broken her. She wasn't going to give up until her body breathed its last breath. She was determined that she would fight for her baby and herself with everything that she had.

Her stomach rumbled, she reached over to the little brown paper sack that Jakub had delivered the day before, she pulled out a sandwich and opened it, taking a small bite. She wrinkled her nose as she ate, detesting the flavour of tuna and mayonnaise, but recognising she had little choice if she wanted her baby to be healthy.

She finished the sandwich then washed it down with luke warm milk, it tasted peculiar, but she decided it was the fact that she'd been unable to refrigerate it. Her mind wandered to the home cooked meals she'd enjoyed with her parents and brother, but the comfort of that life now seemed like a millennia ago. She sighed, yet again regretting the decision to trust Oliwia and Jakub.

Kathleen looked through the information Andrea had given her, the girl was good. She'd identified the missing drugs; that was more than Isabelle had ever managed, but then again, Isabelle's head was often in the clouds, dreaming of her boyfriend, or whatever else young women dreamed of these days.

Kathleen wrote down the names of the drugs, she wasn't familiar with them. She went to the staff room and went to the bookshelves, where a range of medical textbooks were kept. She looked for the pharmaceutical dictionary, finding it; she pulled the heavy tome off the shelf and took it back to her office. She looked in the index and found the drug she was looking for, she opened it to the page and read the description; she sighed and let her head fall into her hands. This was worse than she'd imagined, the drugs wouldn't have had any street value, not unless you were using them for murder.

She shook her head slowly, what on Earth had she gotten herself involved with. What was really going on at the practice and who could she trust?

Sam sat beside Tom in the van, watching the patients arriving and leaving Jankovich's, Sam glanced at his watch, in a few hours they'd see if their assumptions had paid off. Really find out if Jankovich was involved in illegal medical services.

The stillness of the van was interrupted by the sound of Tom's cell phone ringing, he plucked it from his pocket and pressed the button to answer, "Yes," he stated.

Sam watched Tom from the corner of his eye as he carried on his conversation, from what Sam could gather he was receiving some information.

A couple of minutes later Tom finished his call, "Thanks, that information will definitely help."

Sam looked at the monitor, watching people passing by Jankovich's going about their day to day business.

"Look's like McNally's onto something," Tom stated as he sat on a stool next to Sam so he could see the monitor too.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked his interest piqued.

"One of the missing drugs from Jankovich's is an extremely powerful anaesthetic; if the wrong dosage is given it leads to cardiac arrest and death. According to the lab its structure is almost a perfect match to some of the drugs found in the victims' blood samples."

"So whoever is stealing the drugs is probably using them to kill the mothers?"

Tom nodded, "Looks that way. The big question is who has the drugs now?"

Just as Sam was about to reply his cell phone vibrated and he plucked it out of his pocket, he touched the screen and read the message, it was from Jo. When he'd read it he glanced at Tom, "Jo says she and Jack are in place down the road and Ben and David are watching the safe house."

Tom nodded, "Well let's hope we've got it right, if we can save one of these girls it will be worth it."

"Let's hope so," Sam agreed.

Tomass Jankovich sat at his desk, he smiled as he looked at his paperwork, a few more deals with Jakub and he'd have enough money to retire and move to the sunshine in Florida. He'd known Jakub in the old country and had been surprised to find him in Toronto, but when Jakub had approached him with a rather lucrative business opportunity; Tomass had quickly forgotten about the Hippocratic Oath he'd made in exchange for a healthier bank balance than he'd ever manage in his practice.

At first he'd felt sick when he'd administered the first lethal injection, but after a few intense moments, the girl had relaxed and passed relatively easily. Now his stomach didn't turn at all, he didn't think of anything other than his bank balance and a future in the sun. To some people he thought he might seem heartless, but Tomass couldn't see what he was doing as anything but a service to the community. He was putting those young women out of the misery of being homeless; he was setting them free from the chains that held them bound on Earth. He was acting as a messenger from a higher being, helping those who couldn't have children, he was doing good.

He glanced over at the wall, a huge display of baby photographs decorated it; they were the children he'd helped to bring into the world. He smiled, some of them were more special to him than any of their parents even realised. His lineage would continue.

Andy and Sue returned from lunch and set about their work. Just before two in the afternoon Andy saw Jankovich leave his office, he nodded curtly at Andy before heading back into the building; she had a pretty good idea where he was heading to. A few minutes later Kathleen left her office, a concerned look on her face as she headed in the same direction Jankovich had headed.

After they were out of sight, Andy hurried over to Sue's desk, "Where were Jankovich and Kathleen off to?" she asked quietly.

Sue looked up, "I don't know, they don't actually tell me and I wouldn't actually feel comfortable asking. They just seem to disappear on a Tuesday afternoon at this time," she winked, "I assumed they were off for an afternoon together in the local motel. Not that I can imagine Kathleen really being Jankovich's type, I would have imagined the blonde, bimbo type would have been his thing."

Andy nodded, "Maybe, although I wouldn't have imagined Kathleen to be the type to play around."

"Well maybe Jankovich sees another side to her."

"Guess we'll never know; it'll have to be office speculation for now."

"And I'm very good at speculation," Sue replied before being distracted by the phone ringing.

Andy returned to her desk, she wasn't supposed to follow them; she was meant to remain at her desk working. Although, she glanced at her watch, she was due a break in about an hour. Perhaps she'd use that time to see if there were any suspicious noises coming from the basement.

Natalia tried to get comfortable, but it was something she could hardly achieve any more, her baby bump was getting too big for her to sit or even lie comfortably. Her baby was also very active, pushing against her internal organs, making her wince every now and then. She rubbed her hand over where she felt her baby moving, trying to calm it. The pains were stronger than she had experienced earlier in her pregnancy, but it wasn't time for her baby to be born yet, she still had a couple of weeks.

The sound of the door unlocking caused her to jump from her thoughts, her hand ceasing its movements on her stomach. She glanced at the door as it slowly opened, Jakub entering a wolfish grin on his face, "Natalia, it is time," he stated as he walked purposefully towards her, holding out his hand and expecting her to take it.

She accepted his hand, afraid that if she didn't he would pull her forcefully from her chair, with some kindness he helped her to her feet, "Where are we going?" she asked quietly.

"You are going to give me what I want, Natalia and there's no point trying to think of a way out of it. The baby will be your saviour and mine too."

Natalia's heart began to pound in her chest, she couldn't think of a way out of the situation, but she wouldn't give up without a fight.

Jakub pulled her towards the door, when he opened it there were two more men in the corridor, she had never seen them before, but they filled her with dread. Their eyes when they looked at her were cold and emotionless when they looked at her; it made her feel worthless, nothing more than something distasteful they might have found on the bottom of their shoes.

"Take her to the van, make sure she is comfortable," Jakub ordered, handing Natalia over to them.

She tried to struggle, but they held her arms in a vice like grip, guiding her with force through the corridor, out into the bright sunlight. For a moment she was dazzled by the brightness, but before her eyes could adjust she was pushed into the back of a van, one of the men following her. He sat beside her as she fastened her seatbelt. She glanced over at him, but he was looking forward, refusing to look at her, it was as if she didn't exist.

She closed her eyes and silently began to pray, pray that her baby would be safe and if there were such things as miracles, perhaps she could be saved too.

Jakub pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed the speed dial, after three rings the phone was answered.

"Well?" the deep male voice asked.

"We are moving the package to the delivery site, we should have the special item ready for dispatch by the end of the day," Jakub replied.

"Excellent, keep me informed of any changes to the plan."

"I will," Jakub replied before finishing the call. Returning his phone to his pocket, he headed out into the afternoon sun. He nodded to the driver of the van and waited for it to pull away, before climbing into the driver's seat of his car, well the car he'd borrowed for the afternoon. He waited for a few moments before he started the engine and pulled out into the street heading for Jankovich's.

He didn't notice the dark sedan that pulled out into the street a few moments after he drove away, following him at a safe distance.

Kathleen checked the instruments and laid them out as she had for every delivery she'd been involved with in her career as a nurse. She went over to organise the pain drugs that would be needed during the delivery when she spotted a vial poking out of Jankovich's jacket pocket that he'd draped over the back of a chair, she couldn't help herself; she walked over to it and pulled the vial out and read the label. Her stomach churned, it was the same as the missing drugs, Jankovich was taking the drugs, but the question was why?

She quickly returned the vial to Jankovich's pocket and hurried back to her instruments, her mindn whirring, lost in thought. She had always assumed that the women and babies she helped on a Tuesday afternoon had returned to the place where they'd come from, alive and happy and well. She was helping them deliver their babies with the medical resources they would never have on the street.

She thought she had been helping them have a better life, what if she'd been helping them to die? Her knees trembled and her stomach churned at the horrific thoughts that were swimming in her head. What had she gotten herself mixed up in?

Natalia sat in the back of the van looking out of the tinted windows, her mind desperately trying to think of a way she could escape, but deep in her heart she knew it would be useless. Jakub's goons were too big and if she fought she might hurt her baby and she couldn't do that, she was too precious to risk now.

She resigned herself to her destiny, hoping that someone would help her when the time came.

The van pulled up on the street next to Jankovich's practice, Sam noticed a man climb out of the driver's side, another man helping a heavily pregnant woman out of the back. The man didn't let go of her arm as he guided her into the side entrance, "Jo, looks like our target vehicle has arrived," he said into his radio, "Two men and a heavily pregnant woman have just made their way into the alley at the side of Jankovich's."

A few moments later Jo replied, "We see them."

Sam looked at the two men again, "They're not the same men who accompanied the girl last week. Maybe they're associates?" He studied the monitor, then he noticed another car pull up further down the street, a man climbed out, it was the same man who had been at Jankovich's the week before, "Jo it looks like the man who was there with the girl last week has arrived in a separate vehicle, he should be walking past you anytime now."

"Thanks, Sam," Jo's voice echoed in the van,

A few moments later the silence in the van was broken by Jo's voice, uncharacteristically laced with shock, "I've seen him before…"

Hope to have the next part up by mid week ~ Sairs