A/N: Trigger warning... There is an instance of violence against Amanda.

Chapter 11

"Ramon, watch Stetson's house. I want to know when he is at home. Park down the street."

"Yes, Minister." Without a look back, Garcia left the room.

"Sandoval, you won't get away with this," Amanda said in determination.

"Oh, don't worry, Agent Stetson, as long as I get my revenge on Lee Stetson, I will be satisfied. And I intend to have my revenge."

Frustrated, Amanda went silent. He had not even tried to keep her from knowing their destination, a run-down motel in Rosslyn. She was tied up securely in a chair.

"I hope you aren't too uncomfortable, Agent Stetson,"

"Oh, I'm just fine."

Sandoval smiled. Amanda could see why people were, as the car salesman had called it, 'creeped out.' Something was frightening and malignant about his smile, his eyes.

"You are a lovely, brave woman. I can see why Stetson would be attracted to you."

She knew it was probably useless but she had to try to get through to him. "We love each other. Do you love anyone?"

Sandoval's face grew wistful. "I did, once. It was a long time ago."

"What happened?"

He started to respond, then stopped/ "It does not matter."

"Mr. Sandoval, you know Lee will stop at nothing to find me and free me."

He looked at her, his expression is icy. "Agent Stetson, I'm counting on that."


Lee drove home, his hands clenched on the steering wheel, his mind in turmoil. Sandoval had been a step, or more, ahead of him through this whole mess. It infuriated him.

He turned onto Maplewood Drive, wondering how much to tell Dotty and the boys. As he had done in the Birol case, he made the decision to not tell them anything until he had to. His instincts told him Sandoval would not drag the situation out for long.

As Lee drove, his mind churning, he found himself behind their neighbor, Mrs. Peterson. He groaned as the woman slowly drove down the street. Having no choice but to slow down, he glanced at a car parked a few houses from his own. What the hell? The man sitting in the car looked like Garcia. The car was blue, not white, however.

He pulled into his driveway but did not shut the motor down. There was no time to contact Billy. As Garcia could not see him behind the next house, he called the Agency to patch him into the agents guarding the house

"This is Douglas."

"Benny, it's Lee." Don't look, but I passed a bogey on your six o'clock. I think it's Garcia. He's in a blue car, not a while one. I'm going to leave and drive down there. Follow me and stop behind him." It was too early for the kids to be home from school. "Is Dotty here?"

"Yeah, she's here."

"Okay, then. Jorgenson and Fisher should stay here to watch the front of the house in case Sandoval's around. I want Garcia taken alive.'

"Will do Scarecrow. We'll be right behind you."

He pulled out his pistol and chambered a round, then placed it on the seat beside him. He backed out of the driveway. and drove towards Garcia's car.

He wanted to floor the accelerator and rush the man. He wanted to hurt him. But he calmed himself. He had to be in control of his emotions. Douglas and his partner, Scott Green, followed in a road maintenance truck.

A few yards from the car, Lee gunned his motor and slammed to a stop in front of Garcia's car. The maintenance truck stopped behind the car.

Leaping out of the car, Lee pointed the gun at Garcia's head and cautiously approached the driver's side window. Garcia, shocked, did not move.

Lee heard the motor was running. He had been about to leave; they had almost missed him.

Douglas' partner John Green dashed around to the passenger side window, his weapon pointed at Garcia. Douglas ran to the front of the car, far enough to the side to get out of the way if he had to.

"Garcia! Put the car into park, then put your hands where I can see them. Do it!" Lee yelled in Spanish.

Garcia slowly put the car into park and put his hands on the steering wheel. Lee jerked open the door and yanked him out of the car. He spun him around to face the car, kicked his legs apart, and roughly put his arms on the hood. He quickly did a body search, and removed the gun from Garcia's jacket, then cuffed him. He handed the weapon to Douglas.

"Benny, call it in. Tell Billy we have Garcia."

"Got it." Douglas dashed to the truck and jumped in.

He spun Garcia around to face him, grabbing his jacket, his face inches from Garcia. "Where's Amanda? Tell me, damn it."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Senor."

Green approached Lee and put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on Scarecrow, it won't do Amanda any good if you beat the crap out of him. We'll get the information."

Lee pursed his lips, then nodded. "You're right. Somebody read him his rights," he said with disgust. and let go of him.

Douglas returned to them. "Billy said to bring him in. Hey, that was a good catch. How did you know it was him?"

Our neighbor, Mrs. Donaldson was doing about five miles an hour on the street. I had to slow down. I looked at him when I passed his car. It was a lucky break. He was about to leave."

He inhaled a sharp breath. "They've changed cars. Sandoval bought a white Impala in El Paso. No wonder the DC police haven't spotted them." I screwed up, I should have thought of that possibility, dammit.


"Now, Agent Stetson, I need some information from you. I would like your home phone number. We could not find it in the local directory."

She knew why they could not find the number. They had gotten an unlisted number when Lee had moved in. "No, I won't give it to you."

"Don't worry, I already know where you live. My friend Ramon is watching your house as I speak. I assure you your family is not in danger. I require the number to talk to your husband when he arrives home."

She shook her head emphatically. "I will not tell you that."

With a sudden movement, he slapped her. The blow had not been hard, but it stung.

"I hate to do that to a woman. However, if I do not get the number, I will have to make your family targets. You would not want that, would you?"

She thought of the agents guarding the family, of Lee's promise to keep them safe. Think of something, anything. Then she knew what to tell him. "All right, the number is 436-6594." It was Lee's car phone. Sandoval still would not know her home number, and would not be able to harass her mother. She considered it a little victory.

Sandoval dialed the number, but there was no answer. He would wait until Garcia returned.


"Billy, I want a piece of him. I can make him talk," Lee said, as he stalked around the room, fists clenched. He stopped and stared into the interrogation room. Francine was having no luck getting any information from Garcia.

"So can Francine. You're in no shape to interrogate him. Give her time," Billy said.

"I don't have time," he said, his voice rough with anxiety. "Amanda doesn't have time." Lee slumped into a chair and covered his face with his hands. "I should have thought they would change cars."

"Lee, no one thought of a car change like that. Francine can get what we need from Garcia."

Lee stared at his hands. "All right, I'll wait."


Strapped into a chair, Garcia could not move.

Frustrated, Francine backed away. Garcia had stonewalled her flirty approach. It was time for a different tactic.

"Ramon, Sandoval doesn't care about you, he only cares about himself and his goals. Why are you doing his bidding? You can make it easy on yourself by telling us where Amanda Stetson is being held."

Garcia shook his head. "You don't understand. Sandoval will kill me."

"Let me tell you something. If you don't know, the man who arrested you is Amanda Stetson's husband. He's in the next room. I know Lee. When it comes to Amanda, we can only hold him back for so long, and then he will come through that door, and he will hurt you. And if Amanda is injured in any way, he will do more than hurt you." She closed the distance and leaned close to his ear. "Now, Ramon, who would you rather deal with. Sandoval, who might find you, or Lee Stetson who *does* know where you are."

Garcia was silent. Francine sighed dramatically. "Okay, Ramon, I tried to warn you. She opened the door. "I can't do anything here, please tell Lee to come in. It's his turn ."

"No, wait! I… I will tell you everything I know."

She shook her head at the guard. With a triumphant smile, she shut the door."That's a wise decision, Ramon. Now start talking."

"He has Amanda Stetson at a motel in Rosslyn, Virginia."


"Lee, I don't want you to go charging in there alone," Billy said, as the elevator rose to the ground floor.

"Billy, it won't work if a bunch of cars comes rushing up to the motel at the same time," Lee said. "He' could panic and kill Amanda. No, it has to be me only. You and Francine can stand by. He wants me."

Billy exhaled. "All right, we'll stand by."

"Thanks, man."


Amanda watched Sandoval pace around the motel room. Garcia had not returned from his surveillance of her house. Had something gone wrong with the man's plan?

Sandoval stopped pacing and dialed a number. Was he calling Lee?


On the way to the Rosslyn motel, his car phone rang. "Stetson."

"Hello, Agent Stetson."

He was surprised to hear Sandoval's voice. How did he get this number? "Sandoval?"

"I'm so glad to speak to you again. I'm enjoying getting to know your beautiful wife. I'm interested in a trade. One life for another. Your life for Mrs. Stetson's life."

He heard noises in the background. Was that Amanda? "I want to talk to Amanda."

"Of course. I'll be glad to let you speak to her."

He heard sounds on the phone. "Amanda, are you okay?"

"Lee, don't do it! He'll kill you," Amanda cried out. "I love—"

"That is enough for now. Isn't it touching?" Sandoval chuckled, his laugh cold. "Such love and devotion you have for each other. I think I'll call your wife Amanda. It will be much less confusing."

Lee's body trembled with anxiety and frustration. "If you hurt her, I will kill you. Just tell me where to go and you'll get that trade."

Sandoval laughed again. "Meet me at four o'clock at the Johnson Box Company in Falls Church. Please be on time."

The line went dead.

Lee slammed the phone down. God, please keep her safe. He was not a praying man, but at this moment, he prayed.

He dialed Billy's car phone. They were following him, along with two more agents in a third car. "Billy, I just heard from Sandoval. He wants to meet at a Johnson Box Company in Falls Church at four."

"It's your call. Do you want to take him at the motel or the company?

"Let's pull over. I want to think about this."

"Will do."

The three cars pulled off the road into a grocery store parking lot.

Lee's gut clenched as he climbed out of his car. He tried to clear his mind to think logically. They hurried up to him. "I want to take him by surprise, whatever I do. Billy, Francine, check my logic, will you? The motel won't have a lot of room to maneuver. If I can't lure him out of the room, he'll have Amanda and I may not be able to take a shot."

He stopped for a minute then continued. "He said to meet him in the warehouse at this company. There should be more room to move around. I plan to be there earlier than four. I'm thinking I get there about three and find a good hiding place to wait."He looked at his friends. "Am I thinking right?"

"I think the second option is the better plan," Francine said.

Billy nodded grimly. "I agree, though neither plan is ideal. But is any plan ideal in a situation like this? What do you want us to do?"

"Keep the cars out of sight. Wait for my signal to move in."


Sandoval stood a foot away from her, his gun pointed at her head. She took a step towards him. Could she get the upper hand on him in a fight? She had gotten more competent and confident in her hand-to-hand skills and had passed her qualification test. She had learned it was not about physical strength, success in the skill was about leverage. She had worked hard on her conditioning, but she was not an expert, and she had never had to use those skills in this kind of situation.

He shook his head. "Don't take another step, Amanda. I wouldn't want you to do anything foolish.

She heard the distinctive sound of Lee's Corvette. Her fear was now totally for Lee, not for herself. Lee was walking into a trap.