Chapter Eleven

Luis pulled his car into the driveway of Ed Deline's home. Getting out, he walked up the stone pathway and rung the bell, only to be greeted by Delinda. "Where are they?" Perez asked as he walked into the house.

"Living room," Delinda answered quietly. As Luis stepped away, she reached out and touched his arm, looking at him, "You knew this would happen didn't you?" Upon Luis' confused look, she elaborated, "That they'd make contact."

Perez sighed deeply, "I had a suspicion."

"Luis."

The detective whipped around to find a very shook up Ed Deline standing in the archway going into the living room. Approaching the former CIA agent, Luis said, "Ed, I've got some guys coming over now, we are going to tap your phones and get some tracers on them."

"Follow me," Ed demanded, heading through the kitchen.

Confused, Luis followed him, "Where are we going?"

"Basement," Deline responded, "I have the equipment down there."

Partly out of curiosity, the Hispanic man followed Ed down to the basement. When they got in there, Luis remained still as he watched Ed walk over to a large china cabinet. Perez stood in silent shock as he watched the older man effortlessly move the china cabinet out and reveal a hidden door.

"What the hell...?" He asked quietly as he watched Ed fish a key out of his pocket and unlock it.

Looking back at the police officer, Ed asked, "I'm not gonna get arrested for having what I'm going to show you, am I?"

Walking over to Ed, Luis said, "It depends on what's behind that door, Ed."

"I guess I'm gonna take my chances then," he responded, pulling the heavy door open. Reaching blindly into the pitch black room, Ed's fingers found a string hanging down, which he gave a tug. Seconds later, the room was illuminated with light.

"Holy shit, Ed," Perez said quietly as he looked around.

The walls were lined with shelves, upon which sat gas masks, ammunition, guns and knives. Along the back of the wall was a cabinet with a set of drawers, containing devices on tapping phones and other useful equipment. Luis' dark eyes surveyed the room, "Where the hell did you get all this?"

"Luis," Ed responded with a sigh, "You are forgetting, I'm a CIA agent."

"You are an ex CIA agent, Ed," Luis corrected, putting emphasis on the 'ex'.

Ignoring the correction, Deline walked in and opened the drawers, taking out phone taps, tape recorders, head sets and tracers as the detective just turned his head. Figuring he couldn't arrest someone for something that he didn't see, Luis decided it was best to just turn a blind eye to what was going on before him.

"Alright, let's go," Ed said, walking past Luis. As he exited the room, he pulled on the string again and the room went back to the pitch blackness which greeted them. Making sure the door was locked, Ed glanced around and spotted a basket and dropped everything in it so he could push the heavy piece of solid oak furniture back into place.

"Did Jillian know about this?" Perez asked interestedly.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "she knew a room like this existed, just didn't know what I kept in it. We had a room like this in every house we lived in."

Luis nodded, "And Sam? Does she know?"

Ed turned around and looked at him, "No," he said, "I love her, and I trust her, but she doesn't need to know every aspect of my life, especially the parts that occurred when she was still wearing diapers."

Perez found himself nodding again, understanding the logic. Wordlessly, he followed his host back up the stairs and into the kitchen. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Ed turned around and looked at him, "I don't want to get into any trouble for having the stuff that I have?"

Pasting a blank look on his face, Luis asked, "What stuff?"

The older man smiled softly in gratitude as he opened the door and walked into the kitchen. Making their way through the living room, Ed put the basket of stuff on the dining room table and began to help Luis get everything set up.

"Ed," he said softly, "if you had this stuff, why didn't you use it before now?"

Sighing softly, Deline looked at his friend, "I don't know," he admitted, "I guess I was just hoping I wouldn't have to."

"That makes sense," Perez said. "Where's Sam?"

"I sent her upstairs to lie down. She was understandably freaked out about what happened."

Luis nodded with a sigh as he booted up a computer. Glancing around, he found an outlet and plugged in a printer, something which Ed found interesting.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm setting it up so we can print transcripts of any calls that come in, they'll be useful when this thing goes to trial," Perez explained.

The older man just looked at his friends, "Thanks for saying 'when' and not 'if', Luis."

"Oh we'll get these asshats," Luis promised.

Ed couldn't help but chuckle at the man's choice of words. Before either men could say anymore the sound of the doorbell rung through the air. Walking over, Deline opened and quickly stepped back as people just entered his house uninvited.

"What the hell...?"

Luis quickly went out to the foyer, "Hey, guys," when he found that he wasn't getting an answer, he whistled loudly, causing everybody to stop in their places. Looking at each of them, he said, "Show some respect, okay? You don't just bombard your way into somebody's house without being invited."

The officers looked away, embarrassed at the reprimanding. Sighing, Luis turned and looked at Ed, "Ed, I apologize for this."

Deline waved his hand, "They are just in a hurry to get things started, Luis, that's it."

"Yeah," Perez agreed, looking at the group of officers assembled, he said, "Go to your stations, folks."

"What's going on?"

Ed and Luis turned and saw Sam standing in the archway of the room. Ed walked over to her and took her hand, "What are you doing up? I thought I asked you to go lie down."

"You think I can sleep at a time like this?" Marquez inquired.

Sighing deeply, Ed kissed her forehead, "No," he confessed. Upon seeing Sam's questioning face, he explained, "They are with Luis, they are setting up some stuff."

She nodded mutely and then stepped to the side when someone entered the room carrying a crate of material, "What's all that?" Walking over to it, she picked up a pamphlet and looked at the cover. Turning to look at Luis, she said, "Centers for Missing and Exploited Children?"

"There are some success stories in there," Luis said, hoping that his voice conveyed optimism.

Sam nodded as the telephone rang again. For a moment, everybody froze, looking at each other. "Answer it," Luis prompted Ed.

Keeping his azure eyes locked on Luis, Ed reached for the phone and answered it. Listening to a computerized message, he hung up and looked at Luis and Sam. "I've got email," he explained, walking over to his laptop. Going into Outlook Express, Ed punched his username and password in and checked his mail and found a message. Once he clicked on it, against his better judgment, he opened the attachment, which appeared to be a video file.

"Oh, Jesus!" Sam exclaimed, a hand covering her mouth as tears fell as they watched a video clip of Jasmine. The girl appeared to be handcuffed to a bed, her eyes covered with duct tape and a sock gagging her mouth.

Ed immediately sat down next to Sam, his hand gripping her's as he choked back tears, "Oh god."

After being subjected to the appalling video for a few minutes, it went black and the letters "We will be in touch" flashed on the screen.

Luis said a colorful array of words in his native tongue as he too witnessed the video. Taking a cautionary glance at Ed and Sam, he walked over and stood next to Sam, "We are going to get her back," he promised softly, "and I'll see that these bastards pay."

As soon as Sam opened her mouth to speak, she felt the contents of her stomach making an appearance. Jumping up quickly, she pushed past Luis, nearly knocking the man over, as she made a mad dash into the nearest room, the kitchen.

As she threw up in the sink, Ed ran in and stood behind her, holding her hair back as he gently rubbed her back. Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head and sighed, flicking the switch on the garbage disposal. Looking around, he spotted a shaken Delinda, "Get her some water, or sprite, or something."

Remaining frozen in her place, Delinda simply looked at her father, causing him to bark at her, "Now, Delinda!"

Shaken from her trance, Delinda walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, taking out a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, she handed it to her father wordlessly, who grabbed it a little harshly than he intended. Helping his girlfriend to her upright position, Ed led her over to the couch and sat her down, handing her the water, "Drink this, sweetie."

Sam took the offered water gratefully, drinking a good portion of it. Looking at Ed, she whispered softly, "I want to kill the bastards who have her, Ed."

"Shh," he said softly, sitting down next to her and taking her in his arms, "We are going to find her, Sam, you have to believe me."

Nodding, the woman sighed deeply as she looked up and saw Jack Keller standing in the doorway, "Oh god," she groaned.

Kissing the woman's temple, Ed rose to his feet and walked over to Keller, "I'm going to need some assistance when we get these people," he said quietly.

Jack nodded, "You'll have it. Anything I can do, Eddie, anything at all."

Nodding, Deline patted Keller on the shoulder and walked back over to Sam, leaving Jack to watch him, a guilty look on the man's face briefly making an appearance.