It was obvious Marcus was the ring-leader and Michael was the muscle.
And the muscle, unsurprisingly, had just been appointed to 'take care' of Lee.
Lee gave Amanda as reassuring look as he could when he was pushed roughly through the front door and out onto the wrap around porch.
The sun was blinding even under the shade of the porch and Lee squinted, struggling to see beyond the rows of trees. He knew Sheriff Rawlins and his men were somewhere out there franticly setting up, getting ready to pounce. The question was when.
Leaving Amanda inside with Marcus made Lee extremely antsy. She was waiting for his sign, but them not being together was not a good thing—they couldn't play off each other like the often did in these types of situations.
Sometimes if Lee thought about it, he knew it was alarming how often they were in these types of situations. He really should look into getting her some more training.
The only comforting thought was Marcus saying he wouldn't kill her. It was little consolation, however. The pictures that had been confiscated from out of Jimmy Edmunds car was proof that death might be too easy a punishment for some of the women who had been taken. Lee had to fight down the sudden rise of bile from the image that was now burned into his brain of Nicole, naked and chained, looking terrified.
And if Amanda had been sold…who knew what plans were in store for her if Lee didn't get them out of this now. He couldn't count on some small-town sheriff and his inexperienced group of a law enforcement.
"Down the stairs and to the back, you wouldn't want to leave a mess on this pretty deck," Michael growled, pushing Lee along, the muzzle of the gun pressed firmly into his back.
Lee moved down the steps, mind racing.
Amanda was beginning to get very worried.
She didn't like the way Marcus had sat down across from her and was spinning a large hunting knife expertly in his hands. It brought the unpleasant memory of Jimmy' Edmund's blade pressed against her throat from earlier today, and she shivered involuntarily.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked Marcus meekly, her eyes locked on the revolving blade. "I've never done anything to you. I tried to help you, Marcus."
"Shut up," he told her, standing up and moving around the room restlessly, keeping a tight hold on the dagger.
"Who else have you taken like this?" she pressed. "How many others have been sold? Who's bought me, Marcus?"
He began pacing in front of her, obviously agitated. "Your buyer will be here soon enough and then I can get rid of you."
"Marcus?" Amanda said again, wishing he'd just put down the knife. "Who's bought me? Why did you sell me?"
"Shut UP!" he screamed, wheeling suddenly around and slapping her across the face. "I may not kill you, but I still can do whatever the hell else I want to you."
Tasting blood and seeing stars, Amanda complied and sunk back into the recesses of the recliner in shock.
Lee heard Amanda cry out from inside the house. And he just reacted.
Pulling himself free from the ropes, he swung around, easily knocking the gun from out of the dumbfounded Michael's hand.
It wasn't often that Lee was the smaller opponent but it was to his advantage this time. Besides the element of surprise, he was faster than the larger man and was able to bounce easily around him. Michael quickly rallied, bringing his fists up in reckless swings. Deflecting him easily, Lee jumped into the flower bed and against the porch skirting, ducking down in time for a blow to crunch into the wood above him. He rolled on his knees, picking up the fallen pistol and swinging himself back up to aim the gun up at the looming figure overhead.
"What the hell is going on out there?"
Marcus moved to the window to look between the slats of its blinds.
Taking the opportunity, Amanda jumped up, pulled free of her bindings and grabbed the nearest heavy object – a dried up potted plant – and slammed it down with every ounce of force she possessed onto Marcus' unsuspecting head. The small man dropped to his knees, turning to look up at her in utter disbelief that she'd attacked him. His hand loosened its grasp on the large knife, and when Amanda raised the pot and smashed it once again upon his head, it dropped from his fingertips in an almost suspended motion. Shaking, Amanda kicked the knife out of his reach but kept her hold on what was left of the pot, ready to strike a third time.
There was no need because Marcus' eyes rolled back into his head and he fell back, passed out, hitting the sill of the window with a sickening thud and sliding to the floor.
Dropping the remnants of the pot, she moved over and picked up the discarded hunting knife. Taking stock of her surroundings, panting from adrenaline, she considered her options. There would be no guarantee Marcus would be out for long and she would have to move fast to ensure that if he came to, he wouldn't be able to attack her unaware. Loose items, such as empty beer cans, liquor bottles, and clothes were strewn everywhere. The ceramic pot she'd smashed over Marcus head lay in pieces at her feet. She picked her way to the front door through the bits of stoneware and away from his unmoving form and peeked out the window to see what was happening outside.
Lee had overtaken Michael. Relief flooding her, Amanda pulled open the door and rushed outside.
In the distance was the unmistakable sound of sirens.
"Lee!"
In his peripheral vision, he watched Amanda rush from out of the house. His gaze never wavered from the hulking figure on the ground below him when he called out to her, "Come get my gun, Amanda!"
She ran down the few steps and over to where Lee was now frisking Michael. Instead of taking the pistol from his hands, however, Amanda reached inside Lee's jacket and pulled out a second weapon. Without a second glance, she rushed back into the house.
Keeping his own gun steadily aimed at the stunned Michael, Lee grinned when he told him, "Next time, Pal, you might want re-read the definition of a pat-down."
Lee quickly turned Michael over to the local authorities once they pulled up less than five minutes later. The large man had turned into a blubbering mess and was already talking. Leaving him to two rather large officers, Lee holstered his gun and moved out of the way.
It wasn't long before Sheriff Rawlins pulled and got out of his cruiser to approach Lee, his hat in his hands.
"We intercepted a man at the front entrance. Had cash."
Lee scratched his forehead before running his hand through his hair "Yeah, uh..I'd hoped we could wait for the guy to get here, but—"
"Save it," Rawlins interrupted. "It's a moot point. The guy's name is Banin Eugeni Igorevich. Name mean anything to you?"
Lee froze. "Igorevich? You're sure?"
The sheriff shrugged. "Nothing's ever sure in this life. But that's quite a name to be made up."
"Knowing to even say that name puts that guy in a different league. This thing just got a whole lot bigger."
Banin Euginie Igorevich.
Though Lee wasn't familiar with Banin Euginie, the Igorevich name was tied to a broken-off group of the KGB which the Agency had been tracking for as long as Lee had been with them, and whose leader was named Uglov Salnikov Anotovich.
Just hearing the Igorevich name conjured memories of running down dim alleyways in Leningrad five years earlier, searching for an Agency defector. Lee remembered all too well how he'd barely escaped on a freighter headed to Helsinki to get away from that mess. It had only been by dumb luck and by the skin of his teeth that Lee hadn't personally met either Igorevich or Antovich during that specific trip
And now an Igorevich was somehow involved in a sex trafficking ring being run out of small-town America.
Regardless of how involved the Russians were, the fact remained that the immediate threat was over. The case for he and Amanda was solved. Case closed. The police had the key players of this branch of traffickers detained and if the higher powers so chose the next phase would eventually be initiated by the Agency.
Lee knew, though, that it really was inevitable—the Agency would become more involved. Soon, but not yet.
For now, his and Amanda's job was done.
He followed Rawlins into the house where officers had already entered and begun their search. Marcus was sprawled out on the floor, dirt and shards of pottery all about his body—out cold. Lee had a proud sense of realization that it was Amanda who had done it.
He spun in place until he finally found her standing off to the side and out of the way, allowing officers to work around her. She still held his small nine-millimeter pistol idly at her side. He moved to her and lightly pulled the gun from out of her hand, bending down to re-holster it at his ankle.
Straightening, he hugged her and asked, "Are you okay?"
She clung to him. "Yes."
He pulled back to look at her. "How'd you knock Marcus out?"
Amanda dipped her head with a slight smile. "I dropped a potted plant on his head."
"Ah," Lee chuckled. "You're specialty." He pulled her back into him, rubbing lips against her forehead tenderly. He chose to ignore when she stiffened slightly from his unintentional affection before melting back into him. He also chose not to dwell too deeply on it either. Instead, he held her tightly against him until an officer approached them.
"Mr. Stetson?"
Reluctantly, they parted.
With one last meaningful look to Amanda, Lee turned his attention to the nervous looking deputy. "Yes?"
"Sheriff Rawlins asked me to come get you. He needs you in the back." The officer motioned toward the hallway. "He's, uh..he's found…"
"Nicole!" Lee and Amanda exclaimed in unison.
Lee took Amanda's hand to pull her along with him, not wanting to leave her even for a second, even knowing the house was now secure and nothing more could happen. She willingly followed, her fingers interlacing in his as they moved together, weaving their way around the many officers and down the hallway. At the end of that hallway stood an officer who signaled for them to go into the furthest room just behind him.
As they entered, they found Rawlins bent down and working a chain that was connected to a heavy cast iron bed post. On the other end of that chain was Nicole.
Next to him, Amanda sucked in a breath. He squeezed her hand soothingly before releasing it and stepping further into the room.
"What do we have, Rawlins?" he asked, crouching down onto his haunches next to the sheriff to get a better look. "How is she holding up?"
Someone had covered Nicole with a blanket, who was obviously naked underneath it. Her hair was matted and there were streaks of tears tracked down her face. It was no surprise to Lee when she kept her eyes averted. Shock.
"Well, we got here in time, that's for sure," Rawlins said, breathing hard from his struggle with the heavy chain. "She's dehydrated, but she'll be okay."
To Nicole, the sheriff said kindly, "Now, Sweetie, we're just waiting for some bolt cutters and we'll get you out of here in no time."
Lee's heart constricted, and he looked back up at Amanda. "Can you spare your sweater?"
Immediately, Amanda unbuttoned and shrugged out of her cardigan and handed it to him. He in turn held it by its shoulders and gingerly offered it to the young woman. She skittered away from him, pulling hard at the chain that was attached to her foot.
Before Lee had time to feel discouraged, Amanda's hands came over top of his and she pulled the sweater out of his grasp. Quietly, she began to whisper coaxing words to Nicole and touched her shoulder lightly.
Within minutes, Amanda's charm won Nicole over and she was allowed to help pull the sweater around the girl's bare shoulders. Amanda made quick work of buttoning every button before sitting down beside her and taking hold of the girl's hand, making sure to keep the blanket strategically placed across Nicole's lower half.
A young officer ran in with the promised bolt cutters. The sheriff easily cut the shackle off of Nicole's foot and she was finally free. EMT's who had been hovering moved in and took over.
Amanda stood up to let them work, moving to stand next to Lee, who had been watching from a short distance away. "Do you think she'll be all right?" Amanda asked, her voice full of emotion, rubbing her wrists absently where the ropes had no doubt bit into her skin.
"Well, Rawlins said—"
"I heard what the sheriff said. Do you think she'll be okay?"
Lee considered her question. "I think she's lucky it's only been a few days. I have no idea how much longer they would have kept her that way." He looked at her as she watched the medics work. "I think she's lucky you were here. You were really great with her."
"Well, that's what I do best." She was jostled closer to him as emergency personnel passed by.
Lee placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into him possessively. "You're right, and nobody could do it better."
A/N: One more chapter to go with this :) Thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate it, and of course, reviews are welcomed and encouraged.