A/N There is a lot of swapping in this chapter from Amber's POV to third person and back again. Thought it was time to see a bit more of the rest of Alpha Force, though they'll be making a continuous appearance most likely starting middle of next chapter or the chapter after.

Chapter Seven: I Just Shot John Lennon

For Harry, the next two hours were the most painful of his life. The same senior operatives who had approached him after the first shooting were back. And they wanted answers, answers that Harry was completely powerless to provide. Maybe that would have bearable, just, but Li, Alex, Hex and Paulo arrived. They didn't demand to know what was going on, or dump the blame squarely on his shoulders. Maybe it would have been better if they had. Anything would have been better than having to watch them sitting in silence in his office.

Li's forehead was puckered in anxiety, her eyes worried. Normally the most happy and energetic out of all his officers, Harry found it utterly depressing seeing the petite young woman so silent and upset.

Paulo and Alex had almost identical expressions of calm on their faces. Like Li, their eyes betrayed their worry, but their faces were smooth masks of feigned indifference, Paulo's a bit more transparent than Alex's. What good would it do to get all emotional or start hurling abuse at people?

Harry was completely baffled by Hex's expression, or, to be more accurate, lack of. Considering how uptight he'd been about this mission in the first place, Harry had been mentally prepared for the barrage of abuse that he was almost certain would follow the four friends' arrival. It was almost creepy how blank Hex's face was.

As the senior operatives left, Harry groaned and dropped his head onto the desk.

'Have you contacted the police, Harry?' Li said softly, breaking the tense silence.

Raising his head, Harry replied, 'Yeah.' He looked at the four young adults siting across the room. 'I'm not going to lie to you, but it's not looking good.'

Panic flickered across everyone's faces.

'How so?' Alex asked.

Harry chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. 'Valerie, the officer who was following Amber and Jasper when they disappeared, said that the last time she saw Amber she looked upset and Jasper had a really angry look on his face. It could be nothing, though,' Harry added in a rush. 'This could all be a complete misunderstanding and at this very moment they're enjoying a lovely candlelit dinner in a posh restaurant.' Harry gave his officers a tight smile. 'It could be nothing.' God, I hope it's nothing.

The building seemed to be deserted, though I knew better than to let that fool me for even a split second. Jasper poked his head out from the tunnel and twisted to look left and right.

'Come on,' he whispered before running bent double to a stack of wooden crates across the room. I followed, heart in my mouth.

Ducking down behind the crates, I was about to ask Jasper if he actually had a plan of some form or another when I heard footsteps. Placing my finger against my lips I shuffled further back into the crates.

'Spiteful little bitch.' A man with a gruff, gravely voice snapped the words and then possibly kicked something, judging by the sound of splintering wood.

There was a laugh. 'Got ya right on the snoz, Mike.'

Mike growled. 'Shut your trap, Vince, or you can forget about your cut. Just you remember who the brains around here is.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

The two men appeared to have parted ways, with the sound of feet moving to both the left and the right. Beside me, Jasper was coiled tighter than a spring, his jaw clenched and teeth grinding. I put my hand on his arm and shook my head, hoping that my whole expression was saying calm. He didn't lose the verge-of-suicide expression but he did relax a bit. Without meaning any offence to Georgia, as soon as Mike had said spiteful little bitch, I'd somehow immediately known they were referring to Georgia. Good on her for whacking him in the face, but it was also worrying; if she'd fought back instead of going quietly, what had they done to her?

What would we have done next? Stormed the building with our army of imaginary fighters? Crept quietly from room to room, searching for Georgia, finding her and then melting away into the night? I never found out because at that exact moment, a gun was jabbed into my back and a voice was saying, 'And what have we here?'

'Any news?'

Harry looked up blearily, his eyes half closed. 'Huh?'

'Any news?' Alex was standing in front of him, arms crossed.

'Not yet,' Harry replied. 'She was meant to inform me if she was going any where.' He ran a hand through his tousled hair, his hand sticky in a large clump of knots.

'You know Amber. She's independent, doesn't like being told what to do.'

'But that was a safety measure designed so she'd be safer,' Harry snapped.

Alex sat down in a chair across from Harry. 'Why are you beating yourself up about this? It's not your fault.'

'Whose fault is it then, Alex?' Harry asked.

'No one's. There are some things in life you can't control. You can't just make your way through life, blaming everyone for everything.'

Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. 'Is that why I'm not getting sworn at and having rotten fruit thrown at me?'

'Yeah.' Alex laughed. 'Like you said, Harry: Amber's perfectly capable of looking after herself. She'll show up.'

'Let go of me!' I screeched, attempting one of Li's custom martial arts moves and failing miserably. Jasper was taking our capture quietly, which really worried me. His blank, almost uncaring expression reminded me of pictures of suicide bombers. Four guys were escorting us along a hallway, two on either side of each of us.

'Come on then.' The guy holding my left arm smirked and pushed open a large door. 'Boss wants to see you.'

'They were spotted heading down a side street about twenty minutes after Val lost sight of them.' Nancy Lincoln reached across the map lying flat on the desk and rested the tip of her finger on a street. Moving it along the map, Nancy added, 'The witness saw them continue along this road, but lost sight of them as they turned the corner.' She brought her finger to a stop, waited for a split second before lifting her hand and sitting back. 'Our best bet is to start around there. Police are combing the streets, doing doorknocks...' Nancy looked at her assembled audience. Li, Alex, Hex and Paulo were seated to one side of her, faces grim and concentrated. Harry, Valerie and two other officers, Neil Blake and Mara Hunter, were perched on chairs on the opposite side. 'We're now treating this as an abduction. It's crucial that we find Amber before Jasper does something stupid.'

'What if it's not an abduction, but?' Mara looked at Nancy. 'We'll blow Amber's cover.'

Nancy didn't hesitate in her answer. 'That's a risk we'll have to take. We don't find Amber soon, then there's a very great chance that we won't be finding her ever.'

'Lovely of you to drop in, Jasper.' Bald, dressed in black leather, sitting on a swivel chair and stroking a white Persian cat. How stereotypical could this guy get? 'And you've bought a friend! How perfectly splendid.' The man had a very slight German accent.

'Luis,' Jasper snarled. 'Should have known our paths would cross again.'

Luis stood up, his cat still cradled in his arms. 'Aren't you going to introduce me to your companion?'

'Annie, this is Luis. Luis, Annie.' Jasper looked sideways and shook his arm slightly. 'How about telling your goons to nick off? Promise we won't go anywhere.'

'Of course.' Luis waved a hand at the four guards and they left. 'Please,' he said. 'Sit.'

We found two chairs and sat in front of Luis. Jasper seemed almost at ease, lounging comfortably in his seat. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck, my leg jigging in place and fingers drumming on the armrest.

'Now, Jasper,' Luis began. He'd sat back down and his eyes were now fixed on Jasper. 'You have spoiled my little plan.'

'Shame.' Jasper sounded anything but remorseful.

'Yes, it is a shame. You see, I was simply going to use your charming sister as a bargaining chip. You hand over your patch and I hand over her. However, due to your arrival, I now need to reformulate my plan.' Luis gently set his cat on the floor. It mewed once and then trotted off, its tail waving over its back. 'Pity really, because my new plan works more in my favour than in yours.'

'What do you mean?' Jasper asked, his voice ringing with contempt.

'Well, with my previous plan, you got your sister back safe and sound and I got your patch. Win-win situation I think. Now, it's a win-lose situation. I get your patch, but neither you, nor your sister, nor your girlfriend are going to make it out of here alive.' Luis grinned, showing two rows of gleaming white teeth. 'Win-win for me, really.'

Li paced across up and down the hallway, her footsteps echoing. At the start, when Harry had first told them about Amber, she hadn't been worried at all. Well, a bit, but she'd been positive that it had all been a mistake and Amber was alright. Hours had past and darkness was falling and there had still been no sighting of Amber. She hadn't even tried to contact them, something that Li knew she'd do if she was able to. Something was wrong, seriously wrong.

Sighing, Li stopped pacing and sat in one of the chairs plonked in the corridor. Paulo, Alex and Hex were seated in the other chairs, with only Hex still awake.

'You ok?' Li asked softly.

Hex looked up sharply. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

Stifling the urge to shake Hex, Li just shrugged. 'I know you worry about Amber, that's all.'

Hex didn't answer and Li gave up trying to have a conversation with him. Waiting was one thing she couldn't handle. Jumping up, Li started to pace again. Anything to relieve the boredom and keep the anxiety at bay.

Luis showed us into a spacious room with windows high up near the ceiling. In the centre of the room was a large pit. Suspended above the pit were two lengths of rope and chain: rope at the top, chain in the middle and a tiny rope noose at the bottom. I started to see where this was going.

Moving to the edge of the pit, Luis clapped his hands in glee. 'Come, come,' he cried. 'Step forward and meet my little darlings.'

I didn't want to step forward, but somehow I found myself moving to stand alongside Luis, Jasper at my side. The pit would have been about eight metres deep. It, like Luis himself, was straight out of a James Bond film. Black water filled the pit's bottom. Every now and then there was a disturbance on the surface, as if something was swimming under the water.

'Just in case you're both a little slow,' Luis explained, 'you're going to be tethered by your ankles over this pit.' He pointed above to the rope and chains and then down at the pit. 'Slowly, ever so slowly, you will be lowered down to your death. The joyous part is, my little darlings will start to eat you while you're still alive.' He trilled happily and clapped his hands together once.

'What, may I ask, are your little darlings?' I said slowly.

Luis raised his eyebrows, seeming almost surprised that I didn't know. 'Piranhas, of course. Straight from the Amazon.' With a contented sigh, his gaze settled fondly on the hidden fish in the pit. 'Thirty tenacious little fish, hungry and keen for fresh meat.'

The four men who had escorted Jasper and me to Luis in the first place had reappeared. The grabbed us again, while a fifth man moved to the wall and pressed one of the buttons there. There was a squeal as the crane holding the suspended ropes swung towards us, lowering the two lengths of rope and chain down as it did.

'You're insane,' Jasper spat as two of the "Goonies" crouched down next to him and secured the ropes around hi ankles. The same thing happened to me and I tried not to think about how much this was going to hurt. Not to mention what having my fingers nibbled off by piranhas was going to feel like.

The fifth guy pressed a button while the other four gripped our shoulders and held us up, horizontally off the ground. Slowly, painfully slowly, the crane winched upwards, taking the slack of the rope and chain combo. When my feet were a god deal higher than my head, the two heavies holding onto my shoulders let go and I was left swinging by my feet. Almost immediately my legs started to throb as my entire weight was held simply by my ankles. I gritted my teeth and ignored, or attempted to ignore, the pain. Luis and the five men left.

To start with, our gradual descent wasn't noticeable. After five minutes, I realised that the windows weren't as close as they had been. Our situation was depressing and yet hilarious. It was almost as if Jasper and I had waltzed onto a movie set and were now unwilling extras. Why villains never killed their enemies quickly and without fanfare had always been a puzzle to me, but now I was grateful.

'Jasper,' I whispered. 'What are you doing?'

Breaking away from my musings, I'd suddenly realised that Jasper wasn't just sitting back- hanging down- and accepting his impending death. He'd swung up and grasped his feet, using his muscles and the rope to climb up a good twenty inches or so. He now had some slack and he was making fairly good progress up the rope. Half the way up the chain, Jasper paused for a breather. I could see his whole body shaking and understood how much of an effort it was taking him. I swung on the end of my chain and tried to reach up and snatch a hold of the rope. On the fifth try, I got it. My stomach muscles were aching and, with the blood pounding in my ears, I felt very light headed. Unfortunately, as I attempted to start the long climb up the chain, my fingers slipped and I ended up swinging upside down again. I cussed.

Jasper had noticed my feeble attempt.

'Don't move, Annie,' he hissed. 'Stay there. I'll climb up the top of the rope and cut myself free. That was one area Luis always failed: checking for hidden weapons. Once I'm free, I'll go along the crane and get you down. Ok? Don't panic. It'll be fine.'

I was about to respond with a I'm not panicking, when I discovered that I was actually in the early stages of a panic attack. My breathing was super fast, like I'd just sprinted a great distance, and sweat positively dripped down my face. I tried to slow my breathing and ignore the sweat. Why was I panicking? There was plenty of time left and Jasper was in more danger than me at the moment. Once he was cut free, he'd have to climb along and then down the carne without as much as a safety net underneath him. The crane was at least twenty metres in the air, at least, and the floor was concrete.

'Be careful,' I called. He didn't answer, now having reached the top rope section and needing all his concentration and strength to continue.

The pit of doom was getting closer and closer. I willed Jasper along silently, feeling utterly useless, just hanging there while he risked his life. There was a muffled curse from behind me, followed by a thud. I twisted my head around and saw Jasper picking himself up off the floor, scowling and muttering something. He looked my way and gave a sudden grin, making his way towards the control panel. I relaxed, turning back to face the front.

'Jasper!' I shrieked. I'd suddenly dropped almost two metres, my head now completely in the pit.

'Bugger. Wrong switch.' I could no longer see Jasper and had only the scuffing sounds of his feet moving over the concrete floor to go on.

There was a slight scream and then the crane started to swing left.

'Mind your head!' Jasper called, his face appearing in my line of sight. I jerked my head out of the way as the crane swung me out of the pit and back onto solid ground. Doing a handstand while Jasper untied my feet, I had a moment to reflect on the situation. One thing, no two things, kept spinning around in my head. Where was Georgia and how the hell were we going to get out?

'Done.'

I lowered my legs, sighing in relief. Standing up quickly turned out to be a very bad idea. My vision swam and I staggered about for a moment before Jasper steadied me.

'Ok?' he asked.

Deciding against nodding, I said, 'Right as rain.'

When my head had cleared and I was capable of walking again, we moved to the door we'd come in through. Jasper poked his head around the door, paused for a moment and then pulled his head back.

'There're some windows near the ceiling and some scaffolding near the windows. We'll go out through there.' He started forward but I grabbed his arm.

'Georgia,' I whispered. 'What about Georgia?'

Jasper looked pained. 'She'll have to wait. This has nothing to do with you, Annie, and it's not right that you should go through all this because of me.' He took a deep breath. 'Come on.'

The scaffolding was very close to the windows; we'd have to do a leap of faith to get out the window but all in all it was rather convenient. But nothing is ever simple, is it? Near the top of the scaffolding, there was a shout from below. Ah. The goons had woken up and realised that all was not well.

A bullet pinging off the scaffolding below startled me into action. Jasper yanked me up the last platform and we ducked behind some crates.

'You know how to fire a gun?' Jasper asked, pulling two guns out of some pocket hidden in his jacket.

I gulped. 'Yeah.' What had Harry said towards the end of our last mission? Whether you like it or not, one day you're going to have to shoot someone to kill. Or something like that. This was "one day".

I darted out from behind the crates and aimed the gun at the closest heavy. Round glasses and wispy blonde hair, he was the spitting image of John Lennon. I closed my eyes- not a very wise move when you're about to shoot someone- and pulled the trigger. A scream told me that, despite my lack of visual contact, I'd hit him. I scuttled back behind the crates, feeling like I wanted to vomit. I kept telling myself over and over again that these people were the enemy and that they were going to kill us if we didn't kill them, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Jasper had no such qualms. He fired bullet after bullet, not really caring if he hit anyone or not. He tapped my shoulder and pointed up. I handed him back the gun and quickly climbed the last bit of scaffolding, pulling myself up onto the narrow ledge running along in front of the windows. Jasper joined me a few seconds later and we crawled towards the only window that had cover. Just as we were about to slip through it, Luis' voice made us stop.

'Have a look at this before you go.'

'If you've put a bow in kitty's fur then-' Jasper's words stuck in his throat as he turned back around. I'd still been facing the window, wondering what the time was and I spun around slowly.

I wanted to scream, I would have screamed, but my throat wouldn't work. My mouth turned to sawdust and tears pricked the backs of my eyes. Gripping Jasper's shoulder, I managed to not fall out the window and I also stopped Jasper from leaping down the scaffolding and strangling Luis with his bare hands.

Georgia dangled from a rope on the other side of the room, about halfway from the ceiling and the floor. Her white top was red, her hair matted with blood and dirt and her eyes huge in her pale face. Luis cackled from somewhere on the ground and I felt Jasper tense up.

'Jasper,' I said softly, looking away from the horrible spectacle. 'Come on.' I tugged on his arm. 'Come on,' I repeated firmly.

'This isn't over, Luis,' Jasper called, his voice cracking slightly.

As we climbed through the window, Luis' parting words drifted after us. 'On the contrary, Price. It's only just begun.'

A/N I'm still fiddling over the actual ending events for this story but I think I have a fairly good idea of what will happen. A few more chapters should be coming along over the next couple of weeks and then it'll be done. Thanks to lepidopteran for your constant reviews and supportive and helpful comments. I really appreciate it.