Lee hadn't realized immediately what had happened, busy struggling with the protestor who seemed so hell-bent on injuring the innocent delegate. He could hear yelling and screaming but it seemed to have nothing to do with what was going on. As the police rushed into the crowd to help separate the combatants, he looked up just in time to see Dieter half-running, half being dragged by a van that was picking up speed as it headed down the street away from them. To his horror, he watched as the Austrian lost his grip and fell, and for one sickening moment Lee thought he was going to fall under the wheels of the vehicle, but somehow Dieter managed to tuck himself into a ball and roll away from the danger.
Lee shoved the protestor into the arms of the gendarme who had come to help and ran toward his friend. He realized as he got closer that he could still hear screaming and crying, and turned to see Marion Marler in complete hysterics, pointing at the van that was disappearing around the corner. Picking up speed, he arrived beside Dieter just as he started to pull himself back to his feet, staggering as he did so.
"Dieter! What the hell were you doing?" he asked, reaching out to help steady him.
"Amanda!" Dieter spat out. "The doctor! They have been taken!"
Lee felt himself go cold all over. "Taken? What do you mean taken?"
Dieter pointed down the street. "While everyone was distracted by the fight – they grabbed him. Amanda tried to stop them and ended up in the van as well! I tried to stop them but it all happened so quickly!" He bent double, grabbing his knees to keep himself upright while he tried to catch his breath. "I tried to stop them, I tried…"
"What the hell!" Lee whirled to stare down the street where the van had disappeared. "Did you get anything? A licence plate? Anything?"
"It was a Paris plate – that's all I know. Two men… a driver and a man in the back… I'm so sorry…" Dieter panted.
"You did what you could and almost got killed," Lee answered only half paying attention. "We need to get the cops involved." He glanced over to where Francine had arrived and was now trying to calm the doctor's wife, looking up to meet his eyes with an expression of horror as Marion told her what had happened.
"You know them all – go find the most senior police officer here," he told her. "We're going to need help and fast."
Francine whirled to go in search of her contact with the gendarmes while Lee took over trying to comfort Marion Marler.
"I tried to pull him back out," she wailed. "They just pushed me out and then Amanda was there and she tried to help him too and they just drove off with both of them! Who were they? Why would they do this?" Lee held her as she sobbed, while he met Dieter's eyes over her head. They couldn't tell her the truth – she may have had some idea that her husband's work might have other uses but he'd obviously never told her that he could be in danger from it.
"I'm sure it's just a protest or something," he lied in an attempt to soothe her. "We'll get them back."
He could see Francine racing back to them, accompanied by a lieutenant with a scowl on his face. There was no doubt he was pissed this had happened on his watch. Almost before he had reached them, the French officer began speaking.
"There have been gunshots reported a few blocks from here," he stated. "We think it must be connected. You will come?"
"Yes, we will come!" Lee realized he was still holding Marion Marler. "Can you find an officer to look after Mrs. Marler? She's the doctor's wife – the man they kidnapped."
The lieutenant instantly turned and crooked a finger for an officer to come over and spoke to him in rapid-fire French, then turned back to Lee. "She will be accompanied back to her hotel and guarded."
Two police vehicles appeared and Francine helped Marion into one, offering a few last words of comfort before turning to join Lee and Dieter in the other. She looked up and met Lee's eyes, seeing the mix of panic and hardness there. "Amanda will be fine, Lee. You know she will."
"Do I? Those guys mean business if they were willing to try and grab him in broad daylight and she hasn't anywhere near enough training."
"Lee, she's smart and she's been around you for almost three years – she'll be fine," Francine repeated firmly.
"There was gunshots," he reminded her grimly. "And we sure as hell know neither of them are armed."
Francine paled a little bit at that thought, but said nothing, just reached out to squeeze his arm. A few minutes later they were pulling up to a buzzing beehive of police activity. The lieutenant barked out a few orders and someone came running to brief him in French too quick for Lee to keep up.
The senior officer turned to them, scowling. "We have found the vehicle, abandoned down this street. There are reports of two sets of gunfire, one here, one down the alley. People in the buildings nearby say they heard running but no one saw anyone come back out."
"So they're in one of the buildings?" asked Lee, spinning in place in frustration.
"We are sweeping them now," confirmed the lieutenant. "It will take some time."
"Show us where the last shots were fired," said Francine. She turned to Lee. "If there was someone running, maybe they got away. You know how she thinks – maybe your gut will tell you something."
The lieutenant let forth another torrent of orders and a gendarme rushed to lead them down a maze of alleys until they reached a wall with two obvious bullet holes in it. Unerringly, all three of them – Lee, Francine and Dieter – moved toward the direction the bullets had to have come from.
"Well, this makes no sense," said Francine, looking around. "Even if Amanda and Marler had escaped somehow, why would the guys who were after them have been shooting out of an alley with no exit? And if they did, where did they all go?"
"And why are the holes so high?" added Dieter. "Why would you shoot so high if you are trying to hit someone?"
Lee and Francine exchanged a glance filled with relief. "Amanda," they said at the same time.
"Okay, so, what if we're on the right track? What if Amanda managed to get one of their guns and was trying to keep them away?" asked Lee, staring at the holes in the bricks. "What if…?" he wheeled in place and stalked further into the enclosed courtyard. He peered around, looking up at the surrounding blank walls, desperate to find the exit that had to be there.
"Lee!" Francine suddenly snapped, pointing across the alley where the sewer cover was pulled open. "They didn't go out, they went down!"
Lee was striding across the courtyard almost before she could finish the sentence, laying down, head suspended just above the opening to listen, before dropping his head fully in to try and look around
"Anything?" Francine asked hopefully.
"Nope," said Lee, getting back on his feet. "But this is obviously where they went – there's no other exit." He turned to the police lieutenant. "You need to get people down there from a mile or so out and start working inward. It hasn't been long enough for anyone to travel that far in the dark."
"What if they're not in the dark anymore?" asked Francine. "Wouldn't they have tried to get back above ground?"
"Yes," said Lee simply. "And if they do, they'll find police swarming the area and get help, but if they haven't…" He looked at the lieutenant again. "Can we get some flashlights please and guns if you have them."
The lieutenant pursed his lips. "French police do not carry weapons," he began to say.
"No, but you have them," interrupted Lee. "Now your men can stay up here where it's nice and safe, but I am going down there to get my partner, comprenez?"
The senior gendarme paused for only an instant, irked by the slight insult, before turning and barking an order that sent one of his men running, returning a few minutes later with the requested items. As Lee checked one weapon, Francine took the other and began to perform the same actions.
"You are not going down there?" asked Dieter in surprise, putting a hand on her arm to stop her.
Francine glanced down at his hand, then back up at his face with a cool expression. "What do you think?"
Dieter turned to look at Lee, who shrugged. "Honestly? I'd move your hand before she breaks your arm."
The Austrian turned back to Francine, lifting his hand but saying urgently, "I will go – you are not dressed for it."
Francine looked down at her white slacks and pumps with a grimace, but continued to get ready. "Marler is my responsibility," she said. "And you'll be more useful up here, running interference for us." She looked him in the eye and added, "But I appreciate the thought."
Dieter surveyed her for a moment before nodding. "Fine. But you will take a radio, yes?" He motioned at one of the policemen who stepped forward to hand her his personal comms device.
"Good answer," said Francine with a quick smile. "Merçi" she added to the young officer. "Je le renverrai, je promets." I'll return it, I promise. She turned to Lee who had completed his weapon check and was now flicking the flashlight off and on impatiently and staring at the manhole. "You going to be all right down there?" she asked quietly.
Lee raised his gaze to meet hers, his face pale but set. "Let's go."
He turned and let himself drop down, stopping to take a deep breath and give himself a shake before turning to help Francine off the last step of the ladder. He wanted to move off quickly but she put a hand on his arm and stopped him.
"Lee, can you do this?" She'd seen him in those weeks after Istanbul – she was one of only a few people who really knew what a toll it had taken on him, who knew he still sometimes woke with the nightmares.
He could hear her concern and knew she wasn't wrong to ask. Squaring his shoulders, he reached out and squeezed her hand. "Come on, she needs us."
Francine nodded. "Okay. Which way?"
Lee looked one direction then the other into the inky blackness stretching out on either side and reached out mentally, trying to feel it the way Amanda always did. You get on the hidden floor and I'll provide the sixth sense… "This way," he said finally, pointing to their left.
"Let's go."
With a final glance up at Dieter watching them from above, and the flashlights trained on the ground in front of them, the two friends inched their way into the darkness.