Chapter 27

"Lee!" Francine shouted as she scrambled off the porch. Lee, his hand raised to knock on the neighbor's door, snapped his head in her direction. He watched, confused as Francine and Tom approached his direction. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I just heard Amanda inside that house," Francine rushed out.

"Amanda? Are you sure?" Lee responded, his eyes wide. He quickly joined them on the sidewalk to evaluate the house. As he scanned the high grass and the overgrown shrubbery that covered most of the front windows as well as the front porch, he noticed they obscured his view.

Francine shook her head, "I'm not sure but it sounded like she called my name and said help maybe? It happened so fast, then that woman slammed the door on me."

"Woman? What woman?" Lee questioned.

"I don't know, the woman that opened the door," Francine reacted with an annoyed tone.

Tom, watched the exchange and interjected, "Maybe we should split up. What if Francine and I cover the front and, Mr. Stetson, you take the back. If Amanda is inside, we have to find a way to get in there."

Lee glared at Tom for a moment before agreeing, "You're right. We might not know what's going on but you did hear someone calling for help, so that gives us probable cause to investigate."

Francine reached into her handbag and pulled out a small revolver. Lee quickly followed suit and tugged his Glock from his hip holster. They both looked at Tom who simply shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't bring mine. I didn't think we'd need it."

Francine closed her eyes and groaned, "Newbies." She turned back to Lee and motioned toward the driveway. "You head that way. Newbie and I will try the front and see if we can see anything through those windows."

"Holler if you see anything," Lee nodded before he jogged to the end of the driveway. He slowly made his way along the edge of the house, disappearing from Francine and Tom's view.

"Let's do this," Francine stated. She walked up to the front of the house carefully and peered into one of the dirty windows. Inside she caught a glimpse of a tall man wearing a suit who appeared to be talking to someone. His hands were gesturing wildly, although, Francine couldn't hear what he was saying.

Dr. Schuster and Glennys were arguing about what they should do. "I told you this was a bad idea! Those are the same agents who came to the clinic asking questions yesterday!" he snapped.

Glennys looked toward the front door and stated, "You get rid of them, I'll see what I can do about the stuff in the basement."

Dr. Schuster shook his head angrily, "No, I'm not going down for this alone. This was all your idea!"

"My idea?!" Glennys snapped back. "You were the one who said it would be so easy. You told me, if I could get the women to your agencies, then you could build their trust."

Dr. Schuster pointed at her accusingly, "You were the one that found the buyers, not me!"

"And you supplied the drugs that killed those women, didn't you," Glennys reminded him with a sneer. Before he could reply she slipped down the basement stairs, slamming the door behind her, leaving Dr. Schuster in the room alone. He looked at the front door then toward the back where he noticed movement near the corner of the house.

Lee stepped into the backyard and immediately his heart sank when he saw Amanda's car parked. Just as quickly, his anger flared, the muscle in his cheek twitching wildly. He stopped next to the car to check for blood or any other signs of a struggle. He exhaled a tentative sigh of relief when he found the car in pristine condition just like Amanda kept it. He turned back to the house and moved to the first window he saw. He looked inside and scanned the room, but found it empty.

At the front of the house, Francine discovered the front door was bolted closed. Knowing it was going to be no use to try to pick the lock or break the door down, she motioned to Tom to follow her around the porch to an area previously hidden behind the bushes. There, she spotted another, paint-chipped door. Sarcastically, she muttered, "Maybe we can see who's behind green door number two?" Tom raised his eyebrows and quietly stepped to the side of a window. He peered inside and caught sight of the man running toward the front door as Francine tested the knob on the door they found. It turned easily in her hand and swung inward into a small entryway where another door blocked their entrance to an unknown room.

In the backyard, Lee could see Dr. Schuster running toward the front of the house. He slammed his shoulder against the green, paint-chipped door. Dr. Schuster faltered in his steps at the sound but quickly regained his purpose and scrambled to the door. He twisted the bolts and threw the door open. He took off running toward the street, where Tom spotted him. "Francine!" he shouted before he began running after the doctor.

Lee slammed the door several more times until the wooden door frame splintered and released. He tumbled into the house, his gun drawn. He could see the front door swinging, Dr. Schuster already having escaped. Beside him, he heard a scraping sound followed by several small thumps. Lee darted into the next room where he hid just around the corner. From above, he heard more thumps and bangs, followed by muffled sounds that he couldn't identify. Lee leaned to the side and from the corner of his eye, he watched another door swing inward. He stepped into sight, trained his gun on the unknown assailant and shouted, "Don't move!" Across from him, Francine had her gun pointed at him. Together, they both exhaled audibly. The banging sounds continued from above.

"You take upstairs. If I'm right, that's where I heard the voice shouting from. I'll take this floor," Francine commanded. Lee responded with a silent nod as the pair separated. He watched Francine sweep the rooms first before she softly called out, "Clear. I'll take the basement, you go."

Lee took the stairs two by two as quietly as he could. The banging became louder as he approached the top and suddenly, Amanda's muffled voice filtered through, "We're up here!"

"Amanda?" Lee called as he scanned the room beside him for anyone else.

"Lee! Lee, we need help! Call an ambulance!" Amanda cried out.

Lee immediately panicked, "What?" He pulled on the door frantically until he realized the bolts were twisted tight. In his haste, he fumbled with the locks, resetting one of them several times before he finally twisted them all free. He threw the door open and found Amanda sitting on the bed, holding a terrified looking young woman. "Amanda! Are you?"

"I'm okay, but Camilla doesn't have much more time. Her baby is coming and it's coming fast. We need an ambulance," Amanda assured him. Lee closed the gap between them and fell to his knees before her. He scoured her face for any indication she was hurt or in pain. "I'm fine, I'm fine. She needs help."

In the basement, Francine found Glennys throwing vials and other medical items into a box. "Don't move, unless you want to find another use for those gauze pads you just threw in there."

Glennys stopped moving and slowly straightened her knees. She watched Francine in the reflection of a long-forgotten mirror propped against the wall. As Francine neared her, she grabbed the box, spun in Francine's direction and launched the cardboard container at her. Instinctively, Francine squeezed off a bullet, the sound echoing loudly in the small, stone-lined space. Glennys moved quickly, running up the stairs as Francine tripped over the spilled contents of the box.

On the second floor, Lee heard the gunshot. He pushed himself to his feet and turned to run toward the sound. Camilla began a low wail as another strong contraction hit her. He stopped and stared at the woman as Amanda begged, "Please don't leave us."