Lee and Amanda stood at the edge of the warehouse. Mercenaries were yelling to one another in several languages. Only two of which Lee understood. It didn't matter though. He knew what they were saying simply by their tone. Everyone knew he'd managed to get away. Their window for escape was closing rapidly. He could hear Amanda's staccato breath behind him. She was putting up a good front and he was proud of her, but he also knew she was scared. Hell, he was scared. He reached back for her hand and she gripped his hand tightly in her own.

The first thing Lee was going to do was find Frank Sullivan. Then he was going to find those smart bombs. He knew Sullivan was a moron. There wasn't really any other reason for his being transferred to the Nairobi office. This, of course, worked in Lee's favor, because he was going to convince Sullivan to tell him where those bombs were, and he had absolutely no qualms about shooting the bastard if he didn't.

"Come on Amanda," Lee whispered into the dark. "Let's find those bombs, shall we?"

"Where's Christophe?" A tall, tanned mercenary with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder shouted to Frank Sullivan. "With the woman. He said not to disturb him." Frank Sullivan was a nervous man. He knew that if Stetson caught him he was as good as dead. If Christophe had touched the woman at all there wouldn't be any stopping Stetson from blowing them all to hell and gone with those smart bombs. Of course, if Christophe found out that Stetson had escaped, the chances of Sullivan making it out of the desert with his life were pretty slim anyway.

Sullivan looked out over the glistening sand dunes and swore to himself. He lit a cigarette and tossed the match in the sand. The base was hyperactive. Men with automatic weapons scoured the grounds for the missing agent. He knew he should tell Christophe, but he really didn't want to get shot. He was in this for the money. He didn't give a damn about the MSA or their petty squabbles with the Mareki. Frank Sullivan decided to cut his losses and run. Looking back once, Sullivan ran stiffly across the sand and bought a camel. He disappeared into the Saharan night.

A million scenarios ran their course through Lee Stetson's head as he led Amanda through the compound. Very few of them had a happy ending. Lee turned to Amanda, "Can you run?"

"Of course," suddenly her eyes grew wide with understanding. "Oh, no, Lee. I'm not leaving you alone here."

"Look, Amanda, one of us…" Lee began to respond, but Amada cut him off.

"And anyway, where am I going to go to? It'll be morning soon. The next village isn't for fifty miles or better and when the sun comes up, the temperature is going to go up with it. I can't just run across the desert hoping I'm going in the right direction can I?"

Amanda-logic frustrated him, but he had to admit she was right. He couldn't just send her jogging off into the Sahara. She couldn't stay here with him though either. There was a very good chance she would get hurt. He knew they didn't stand a chance against the MSA alone. They wouldn't have a chance even if they could BOTH shoot, and the fact that she had even taken Christophe's gun amazed him. He shook his head in defeat.

"Look, we can discuss this later. Right now we have to get you out of here."

"I told you Lee, I'm not leaving."

Lee growled in frustration, but knew better than to keep up the discussion. He wouldn't win, and Christophe's mercenaries would find them sitting in the sand arguing over the same point when the sun came up.

"Come on then," Lee stood and looked around quickly. Pulling Amanda behind him, he headed for the Bedouins. Hopefully, he could get them some transportation out of here. The Arab traders didn't know who he and Amanda were, they weren't loyal to anyone here, and enough money could get them safely to Estoccia and a contact with Billy.

Lee stopped short as he came up behind the tall thin terrorist. He shushed Amanda with his hand to his lips. With a grunt, the young man fell to the sand as the butt of Lee's pistol made contact with his skull.

Without a word, Amanda helped Lee drag the man behind some scrub. Amanda turned away as Lee began to undress. This had worked before, hopefully it would work again.

Christophe struggled against his bonds and yelled curses in both French and English into the gag. He was going to kill both of them, slowly. Stetson was going to suffer the worst. No one manhandled Christophe like this and lived to tell about it.

Finally, one of the mercenaries pounded on the door. "Christophe, the agent escaped! Someone said they saw him heading into the desert on a camel! Christophe?"

The terrorist kicked at the door and shouted into his gag.

The door flew open and the soldier looked down at his boss. "What the hell?"

Pulling the gag from Christophe's mouth the soldier told him again about Stetson's escape. "No kidding, moron. Do you think the woman did this to me? Hmm?"

"N…No, sir."

"If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will kill you slowly. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. Yes sir."

"Good. Let's go."

Lee stood up and draped the man's Uzi over his shoulder. He looked up as she finished binding and gagging the young soldier. "Ready?"

She nodded, wiped the sand off of her hands and became Lee's "prisoner."