Here it is – the next chapter! I'm so sorry it's taken so long. Busy doesn't even BEGIN to describe how hectic life has been these last few weeks. Thank you so much to everyone who has come back and reviewed. I appreciate the support!
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For being in a supposedly empty warehouse, Saffron's office was just as extravagant as the one in his yacht had been. The man spared no expense when it came to his dwellings. Eddie pushed Nancy through the door roughly, causing her to stumble. With her hands tied, she had no way of catching herself and fell heavily to the floor.
"Gently, Mr. Kirkpatrick, gently," Came a low, smooth voice.
Nancy winced as Eddie grabbed her arm and pulled her up-right.
"I'm sorry Mr. Saffron, she tripped." Eddie said, bowing slightly. Nancy looked towards the big desk in the far corner of the room and felt herself shiver. Standing behind it was Saffron.
"Indeed," Saffron replied, coming around the side of the desk. He walked up to Nancy slowly, eyes roaming over her, making her feel vile.
"Welcome to Cairo, Ms. Drew," Saffron said once he was standing in front of her. Nancy's face paled and she struggled against Eddie's grip. She winced when he squeezed her arm. Saffron smiled. "Not as calm and composed as the last time we met, I see."
Nancy glared at him.
"You are despicable. No matter what happens to me, you will be brought down tonight. You have three US government agencies coming straight for you – there's nowhere to run. You might as well give it up." She said, her voice low and angry.
"Prickly, Ms. Drew. I admire the bravery and a beautiful woman with such a fiery spirit. However, I already offered you employ once and you refused. I will not offer it again. This time, you are just going to die." Saffron said.
Nancy stilled. She sensed another presence in the room and turned slightly. Standing in the doorway, filling it completely, was Mastif. She turned back to Saffron and noticed he wasn't smiling anymore.
"Don't worry, Miss Drew. You won't die right away. First I want you to watch as your team dies. Then you'll watch as my men pick away at your backup. You destroyed my beautiful Ark I and so you will lose something you love and cherish." Saffron said, turning back to his desk. He motioned to Mastif. "I want the Hardy brothers alive. Kill the rest."
"You can't just let those men die!" Nancy yelled, her eyes shining with tears threatening to fall.
"My dear," Saffron said, lowering his voice as if talking to a child, "I am a weapons manufacturer. People die every day because of me. I hear pleads of mercy all the time. If you Americans hadn't wanted to stop me, you wouldn't be in this predicament now, would you?"
Saffron shot one last look to Eddie and with a nod, Eddie pulled Nancy from the office.
~*~*~*~*~
"I'm sorry to hear about Agent Drew but your priority must remain on taking out Saffron," The voice on the end of the line Joe was listening to said. Joe grimaced. He knew that's what was going to be said.
"Yes sir," Joe replied. He relayed the plan to his superior.
"That won't work Agent Hardy," The voice said when Joe was done. Joe frowned.
"Sir?" He asked, pressing the phone closer to his ear.
"They will know you are coming now that Agent Drew is in their custody. The DIA mole would have told Saffron the plan so all teams must take precautions. Find another way."
"Yes sir," Joe said, hanging up the phone. He turned to where his brother and Cody were finished suiting up. Both men were strapping on their equipment and yelling orders to men. Their SUVs were parked a few blocks from the warehouse and out of sight. They didn't want to announce their arrival.
"We can't just go barging in there!" Joe said. Neither Cody nor Frank was listening to him.
"Team One, we will go in the North side of the roof. Team Two, take the South side. Frank, have your men cover as many exits as possible on the ground floor," Cody said, clicking his gun into place. Before Frank could reply, Joe stepped in.
"THEY KNOW WE ARE COMING!" Joe yelled, stepping right into Cody's face. That got their attention so Joe stepped back. "Listen, Eddie has known about this plan since last night. I'm sure he relayed it to Saffron. Don't you think Saffron would take precautions? I'm pretty sure there are men, or something else, waiting for you on the roof. I'd rather this be a rescue mission and not a suicide mission."
Cody looked at Frank. Frank looked at Joe.
"He may be on to something," Frank said finally. Joe rolled his eyes.
"Now they listen," Joe mumbled. He relayed what his superior had said on the phone, leaving out the fact that it was a command from the Network. Cody couldn't know that. "I want to get Nancy out of there as fast as possible as well. Especially with Saffron's goon in there with her. But we have to think of another way of getting in." Joe said, looking between the two men.
Cody thought for a minute then reached past Frank into the SUV. He pulled out the rolled up blue prints and laid them out.
"Look to see if you can find any alternate entrances," Cody said, running his finger down the blueprints. The three guys hunched over the blueprints until suddenly Frank slapped his hand down.
"Found it!" He exclaimed, showing the others. His finger was towards the bottom of the blueprints, pointing to an access panel from a maintenance shaft underground.
"Alright, but where's the entrance to the shaft?" Joe asked. Frank traced the tunnel path until it ran off the page. The writing at the page's edge read: Access: 200 yards southwest 54 degrees, 3 minutes, 0 seconds.
"Gentlemen, we have our access point." Cody said, relaying the information to his team. "However, we need a distraction so they keep all or most of their attention on the ground level."
"Our team can handle that. However, Frank and I go with you," Joe said, crossing his arms. Cody smirked.
"Alright."
Joe's mouth dropped open and Frank chuckled.
"Look, if never hated you guys – I just thought you were, well Frank anyway, were traitors. So, now that I know I was wrong, I apologize for being such a jackass. You guys saved Nancy once and now I am relying on your help to do it again. So, yeah, you're going with me." Cody said, staring Joe straight in the eye. Joe stared back for a minute then grinned.
"No hard feelings," He said, sticking his hand out. Cody grasped it and they shook.
"Great, now that we're all chummy and not going to kill each other in their sleep, let's get going," Frank said, heading towards his team to brief them on the plan. Joe followed and Cody went to his own men. After getting details straightened out, Cody, Frank, Joe and three of Cody's team headed towards the access panel of the maintenance hatch.
As soon as they got close, Cody gave the signal to go to the throat mics.
"Keep eyes and ears open boys, we're going in," He said, voice barely above a whisper but heard loud and clear.
We're going in? That's the best he could come up with? Joe thought but then focused on the task at hand. Nancy and Saffron.
Frank's thoughts were running along the same line.
Is she alright? Is she still…alive? Yes! She is still alive. Don't go down that road Hardy. You have to stay alert and get her out.
Frank focused on the back of Cody's vest and was determined to get Nancy out of that warehouse alive.
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As Nancy looked around the little room she was in, she noticed it wasn't a room at all. The four "walls" were actually just crates stacked one on top the other. The markings and letters all appeared to be Greek. Nancy was usually pretty good with languages but Greek was…well, Greek. Because she had been left alone, her bonds were now cuffs instead of ropes.
"Guess they thought I couldn't break out of cuffs," Nancy mumbled. Although she had been pushed around, Nancy felt she had gotten off pretty easy. With her hands behind her, there was little wiggle room. Nancy sat on the ground, slipped her wrists under her butt and under her legs so that her arms were in front of her.
That's better. She thought as she reached up into her hair. The pony tail it had been in was disheveled and falling out but by some miracle a few hairpins had remained. Nancy pulled one from her hair and began working at her cuffs. It was an old trick but it still worked. A few minutes later, the cuffs popped open and Nancy was free.
Rubbing her wrists, Nancy watched the "door" carefully. No one had come in for a while now but that didn't mean there wasn't anyone just outside. Saffron was too smart to leave her all alone.
As she got closer to the entrance to the room, she heard voices.
"I dunno know Freddy, I think they are chickening out. They wudda hit us by now don't ya think? I think they're scared," The voice said.
"They're out there – I can feel it. I think they are biding their time to strike when the moment is right. Saffron was a fool for having that government agent kidnap that other agent." Came another voice.
"I dunno Fred. You're always havin' "feelings" about stuff."
"Yeah? Always? I'm usually always right too. The explosives on the roof are ready to go and I made sure there's just enough to make sure it doesn't come down on top – oh, Mr. Kirkpatrick, did you need something?"
Nancy's eyes widened and she turned and headed for one of the back corners. She stood on the cuffs and clasped her hands behind her just as Eddie strolled in. She narrowed her eyes when she noticed he was alone.
"What? You think I can't handle you alone Drew?" Eddie said after noticing her looking for someone else. Nancy remained silent. Eddie shrugged. "You're cuffed and a woman. I'm not that scared."
"Maybe you're not scared, but you're a fake." Nancy said. Eddie glared at her but she continued, "You're a filthy rat and a disgrace. What would your father think?"
Eddie launched himself at Nancy. As Nancy ducked, she brought her arms from behind her and brought them down hard on Eddie's back. Eddie fell to the ground and Nancy turned to run out the door. Before she could take two steps, she felt a hand grab her ankle and she fell heavily to the floor. Before she could turn around a heavy weight pinned her down.
"You think you're clever. I'm a government agent Drew. Did you think I wouldn't notice the cuffs you were standing on?" Eddie hissed in her ear. Nancy struggled to throw him off but he had her firmly pinned. She gasped for breath. Eddie leaned closer to her face. "You know Drew, you're quite beautiful. You have a fiery spirit and a gorgeous body."
Nancy shivered as Eddie stroked his hand up her side. Her eyes burned with angry tears as he nuzzled the area between her neck and shoulder and kissed her cheek. He chuckled.
"All in good time, Nancy. However, now you'll have to pay for that little trick," Eddie said. Nancy took a deep breath as Eddie leaned up off of her lungs. She felt dirty. After a quick breath, she turned over quickly to see Eddie standing over her, gun in his hand directed right at her.
"I'm sorry Drew."
Nancy closed her eyes as the gun exploded.
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm working as quickly as I can on the next one. Keep an eye out for the conclusion!