Chapter Sixteen

Ed reached down for his ringing cell phone, "Yeah."

"Why aren't you in the Impala?"

Closing his eyes, Deline cursed himself. "Oh god," he said with a sigh, "Look, I'm sorry, man, I've never done this kind of thing before, so I'm nervous."

Ritchie Phillips pounded against the steering wheel as he tailed Ed. "Don't fuck with me, Deline!"

"I'm not!" Ed cried, "I swear to god, I'm not. I just want my daughter back, that's it."

"Children pay for the mistakes of their parents, Ed," Phillips said cryptically.

"Please, I'm begging you man," he said as he drove, "I'm like a chicken with my head cut off here. I'm trying to jump through all of your goddamned hoops, don't take my stupidity out on my kid, alright, please? She's a sweet girl and she's been through enough. I just want to get her back."

Ritchie sighed as he watched Ed, "Get onto the 159 and head west till you hit Charleston. Once you get to Charleston, find your way to Red Rock Canyon. Once you get to the Red Rock, head towards the Wilson Cliffs and somebody will meet you there."

"Who?" Ed asked as he quickly headed towards the freeway, "How will I know them?"

"They will find you," Phillips said.

Deline closed his eyes, "This is a set up isn't it? You are sending me out there to be killed, you have no intention of bringing me my daughter."

"You don't know shit, just be there."

"No," Ed said, as he pulled over. "I'm done driving till you tell me what the hell is going on."

Phillips continued to drive, noting the red Hummer on the side of the road with Ed in the driver's seat. As he drove, he kept one eye on the rear view mirror and one eye on the road. "Do you have any idea how stupid you are being?"

"I'm being stupid?" Ed countered back, "You assholes are the one who kidnapped the kid of a former CIA agent. You have any idea the world of shit I can bring unto you?"

Chuckling quietly, Ritchie shook his head, "Oh, Ed, it wouldn't be a day if you didn't issue your standard threats. Has anybody ever told you that that tough guy washed up Mafia act you play is getting old?"

Deline smirked, "Yeah, but I figure if it was good enough for Brando..."

The other man continued to drive in silence for a few minutes.

"I want my daughter," Ed said quietly, "I'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

"Would you lay your life down for her?" Phillips asked, curiously.

"Yes," he whispered.

Locking the door behind him, Keller stalked down the hallway, the sounds of Jasmine's screams filling the air. Shaking his head, he looked up as Karla walked in. Hearing the girl's screaming, she looked at him curiously, "What's going on?"

"She tried to escape," Keller said as he sighed, flopping down into a chair, "so I had to teach her a few lessons."

"Oh god, Jack," Marin sighed as she looked at him.

"Don't worry," Jack said, "I didn't do any lasting damage. Just spanked her ass, she's been with Ed and Sam so long she's developed the smart assed bitch attitude that Sam Marquez is famous for."

"Well there's a huge shocker," she remarked dryly as she sat down next to him.

Chuckling quietly, Keller wrapped an arm around her and looked at her, softly, "You realize that once Ed finds out that I'm the mastermind behind this than he'll probably kill me, right?"

Karla nodded as she drew a breath, "Yeah," she said softly. "Don't worry, Ritchie and I have already made provisions."

Smiling softly, he kissed her temple and just nodded.

"Eat this."

Delinda looked up at Luis Perez and then her aqua eyes trailed down to the offered cheeseburger. "I don't eat red meat."

Sighing, the detective shook his head as he sat down, "You haven't eaten period, Delinda. Just this once, I want you to eat this, please."

The woman sighed quietly as she took the cheeseburger and took a bite. "Thanks," she said quietly.

Luis reached over and ran a hand down the back of her head, "When all of this is said and done," he said quietly, "and we have Jasmine back here, I'm going to take you to Mexico."

Blinking in surprise, she looked at him, "Mexico? Why?"

"You need a break," he said, "and so do I. Plus, I want to get to know Delinda Deline when she's not in Vegas."

Delinda smiled softly as she nodded. Scooting over towards him, she hugged him, "I'm going to hold you to that."

Sam let out a small whimper as she stirred in bed. Rising to his feet, Danny walked over and sat down on the corner of the bed that his friend was sleeping on. Feeling the bed shift, the woman opened her eyes and looked around, whispering softly, "Danny? What happened?"

"You collapsed," he said softly as he reached for the wash rag and got it wet. Squeezing the access water out, he applied it to the woman's forehead, "Plus, you had a low grade fever. Luis ordered that you be put up here so you could get some sleep. Are you hungry?"

"No," she replied, sitting up. Catching the falling rag in her hand, she dropped it in the bowl of water. "I need to call Ed."

Danny shook his head, "Let Ed do this his way, Sam. If you call him, he could become distracted. Right now his mind is where it needs to be."

"Danny, my daughter has been kidnapped. Ed's practically draining his bank account to get her back."

"He's doing it because he loves you," Danny pointed out.

"Yeah, well, according to Delinda, I'm just your average gold digging tramp."

The former Marine sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "It's hard for her to see him with someone who isn't her mother, Sam. Believe me, when my mom died and I saw my father with another woman, I reacted the same way she did. Ed loves you, anybody with eyes can see that. Plus, he's fallen head over heels for Jasmine."

Smiling quietly, the woman nodded as she hugged her friend, "Thanks for staying with me, Danny. I really appreciate it."

Shrugging her gratitude off, McCoy kissed her cheek and stood up, "Come on," he said, "somebody brought some food. Rumor has it that Jack brought back some burgers."

The woman nodded as she sighed, "Yeah, okay,"

Standing up, Sam smiled softly when she saw Danny extending his hand to her. Grasping it, the two walked out of the room.