"What in the world took you so long?", Mike grunted, more out of worry than frustration, when the door finally opened, "I heard a thud and thought you'd fallen and broken your neck."

"And maybe I almost did.", Steve replied unaffected, before pointing his chin at the square bracket against the door frame, that served as a holding device for a large metal bar.

"No wonder we didn't get the door open. Did you find the people?"

Nodding, the young Inspector turned back around and headed up a couple of steps to the near-empty kitchen stretching halfway along the back of the house.

Mike was surprised, having expected them to be gagged. But instead, both a girl and a young man sat next to each other, shivering in fear and crying.

Sharing a brief glance with his partner, an unspoken request to let him do the talking while the young Inspector covered the entrance; Mike went down on one knee next to the girl, whose eyes widened frantically, for fear of what was to come.

"Miss, I am Lieutenant Mike Stone with San Francisco PD; this is my partner, Inspector Stephen Keller. We're going to get you out of here. I just need you to relax, okay? Both of you."

Seeing her brown eyes race back and forth between Steve and him, Mike waited patiently for several long seconds, until her lips began to quiver.

"I didn't…I didn't think anybody would come to help us."

"Oh, we are here. We are definitely here.", Mike said, trying to assuage her worries with a calming smile, "What are your names?"

"I am Sandy Roberts.", the girl answered, trying to mimic his smile.

"I am Gus…Gustav Carson."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Mike pointed his chin to the outside.

"Can you tell us if any of the men who did this to you are on this property right now?"

Sandy turned away from him, facing Gus for a moment, before shrugging against the restraints holding her hands to the ground.

"Yes. There's f…four, I think. But I don't know where they went. They have guns though. They…the one man said he'd kill us if we made any sort of noise."

"Well, don't worry, we are going to protect you. As soon as we get you out of these handcuffs, I want you to follow us to a car parked outside the yard. There's two young men in there and they will take you back into town, where you will be safe."

"Safe? I d…d…don't…k…k…know if we ar…are…safe…anywhere…", Gus replied stuttering, his speech impediment clearly getting worse with the stress this situation brought on.

"This is where you need to trust us.", Mike reiterated unyieldingly and glanced around the kitchen area for something to open the handcuffs, but the counters were empty. He got up and started to look through the cabinets, but found nothing but spiderwebs and mouse droppings.

"Steve…"

His worried voice made the young Inspector look up from his hiding position near the backdoor. Bridging the few steps back into the kitchen, he followed his partner's gesture toward the desperate couple chained to the floor.

"We've got to find something to open those cuffs. They're not the regular type, the lock doesn't fit our keys…"

Mike was surprised when he saw Steve nod understandingly, reholster his gun before going down on his knees right next to the girl and dig for something in his tight pant pockets.

"Let me see if I can't get those to open…excuse me, Miss…"

Resurfacing a hairpin, another one of his secret weapons, he bent down to reach for the girl's wrists and began to manipulate the lock. Taking over the guard position with his .38 drawn, Mike threw one last glance at the odd couple, catching the girl staring at the handcuffs on the back to Steve's belt intently, as if they reminded her of the torture she'd undoubtedly gone through prior to coming here.

Minutes ticked by relentlessly, the only thing disrupting the otherwise scary stillness were the occasional expletives escaping his partner's lips, as he worked the locks.

Finally, a faint clicking noise signaled his success and Mike looked up in time to see Sandy hold her freed arm up to her chest, rubbing it against her jacket in relief.

Mike sighed, once again grateful about his partner's many talents. Deciding to prepare for their upcoming departure, he quietly closed the backdoor again, ensuring that he slid the metal bar across it before returning to the kitchen. From that angle, he was able to survey the area through both, the dirty windows out front and the one over the sink.

"How are things going down there, Smiley?"

Putting a hand on his partner's upper back, he waited for Steve to look up and grin at the remark, before shaking his head.

"Living the dream, Michael…just…living the dream."

Beneath the young Inspector's forced breaths, he heard another click, signaling that Sandy was freed. Trying to help the situation as best as possible, Mike grasped the girl's upper arm and slowly dragged her up to her feet to give Steve more room to work.

On his hands and knees, the young Inspector crawled over to an equally enthralled Gus, before working on his restrains with awe-inspiring precision.

"What if…what if they try to stop you?", Sandy asked and reached for Mike's upper arm for protection. The Lieutenant smiled cordially, trying to exude as much confidence as possible, before shaking his head.

"They won't succeed."

"How did you find us so fast? They just brought us here this morning. Or late last night. I don't remember…"

Patting the shaking hand on his upper arm reassuringly, Mike gestured toward the front of the farm house, before clearing his throat.

"How about we give you all the details once we're safely back in town? "

Sandy nodded faintly, just as Mike heard another cuff open to his left, before watching Steve shake and clench his hand, undoubtedly warding off a cramp by now.

Looking back around once again, the Lieutenant was beginning to grow weary at the sheer lack of activity considering they were interrupting the plans of what he thought was a highly sophisticated ring of organ traffickers; dangerous men he could sense were hiding somewhere on this property.

Could the presence of police be enough to cause them to retreat? Or had they fled back into town, possibly preparing to shift their uncovered hiding spot to a different area? Wait for backup to arrive? Or, more than likely, were they waiting on their attack until they were all out in the open?

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end at the potential of civilian fatalities in a shootout with four armed suspects, Mike sighed, and subconsciously tightened the grip on his .38, just as he heard the last of the handcuffs click open.

On the floor next to him, Steve cursed under his breath, before slowly getting back up on his feet and helping Gus along with it. They'd barely stood up when the heavy-set man wrapped his arms around his partner, nearly choking the air out of his lungs, before squealing in delight.

"T…th…thank you…In…Inspector!", he said and released his strong hug, before jumping up and down twice.

Steve used the opportunity to glance over at his partner, having also noted the obvious cognitive issues the young man was facing. And what better victim to grab off the streets than an innocent soul facing a disability, somebody who might not understand, or be able to vocalize his needs, much less realize mortal peril even when he was right in the midst of it.

He waited until Steve had readjusted his tie and dress jacket, before stepping closer to the group and pointing at the front door.

"Okay…now, I need you two to do exactly as I say, is that clear?"

Even out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve smirk at his fatherly tone, before reaching across his chest for his revolver.

Mike waited until both Sandy and Gus nodded at him, before pointing outside.

"We're going to leave through the front door. I will be leading you, and my partner will cover the back. Once we reach our friend's car, get into the back seat immediately, don't hesitate. We're going to follow the car for a while to make sure you guys make it back down this mountain safely…but then we're going to head back here to keep an eye on this place and prepare to make some arrests. I need you both to be very quiet and do exactly as we say, understood?"

Again, both young people nodded eagerly, more than ready to leave their temporary prison behind.

Mike looked up from their group to meet his partner's green eyes in silent comradery, a sense of dread and foreboding disaster filling his every thought. Cocking his head in Steve's direction, and waiting for the young Inspector to return the gesture of understanding, he headed for the living room, when a well-placed spray of shotgun pellets tore the doorframe to the kitchen apart.