CHAPTER 6

Blinking slowly at first, Amanda opened her eyes, grimacing from the pounding in her head. Confusion swirled inside her mind. She tried to lift her arms, but they remained at her sides. Surprised, she pulled her hands a few more times before realizing that ropes tightly bound her hands behind her.

Still in a daze, she looked around and tried to remember what happened. Steel beams hung down from the level above her, bricks and other pieces of construction spread all around. She was on an upper level of a building that was under construction.

Oddly enough, this setting seemed familiar. She remembered being held in a building that was under construction once before. Last time this happened, she was taken by...

"Hello, Mrs. King," a voice said from behind her.

Amanda turned her head towards the voice. "Gordon Redding," she whispered, her eyes now wide. She swallowed hard and began flexing her hands behind her.

"We meet again." Redding pushed his glasses further up on his face. His complexion appeared even paler than she remembered.

"What... what do you want with me?" Amanda's voice shook as she spoke. "You're supposed to be in prison."

Redding's eyes narrowed. "Well, it's amazing how life turns out." He walked up to Amanda. "Stetson takes my brother away from me, and then he puts me in prison." His eyes darkened. "Stetson put me in there twice! You helped him the last time, when Karen died instead of you."

Amanda felt her heart beat wildly. Redding was out of prison! Her mind frantically worked on finding a way, any possible way, to get to Lee. "You were going to kill Lee," Amanda said, her voice soft.

Redding smiled. "That is exactly what I'm going to do today. If Stetson came for you once before, he'll come for you again. "

Redding turned around, and Amanda recognized the large man with dark hair that walked up beside him.

"I'll take care of Stetson," the large man gruffly replied. He turned to Amanda, his eyes roaming her body. "Hello again, Mrs. King. Did you enjoy my visit in the bathroom?"

"I know you," Amanda slowly responded. "I've seen you before."

At her words, the bathroom assailant shoved his hand directly in front of her face. A large, angry scar stared at her.

Memories of a previous case poured into Amanda's head. "You stole my shopping bags. You were hiding in my closet." Amanda tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I remember that day. I cut myself when you found me in your closet. With my very own knife." His eyes were dark and narrow, and his stare went right into her soul.

"Carlo," Amanda squeaked out. Her hands trembled behind her. Taking a deep breath, Amanda tried to calm herself down. How was she going to help Lee? How was she going to get out of here?

"You remember," Carlo sneered, slowly nodding his head. "Very good. Well, today you will bring me Lee Stetson."

Amanda took a deep breath, determined to protect Lee at all costs. Shaking her head, Amanda replied, "I'm sorry, but this is all some type of a really big misunderstanding. I don't know where Lee..."

"Shut up!" Carlo yelled. Amanda could smell the stench of his breath as he leaned close to her face. "You don't need to know where Stetson is. He'll come to us." He licked his chapped lips, his plaque-covered tongue flicking out from under his mustache. "You and Stetson will die tonight."

"Oh my gosh," Amanda whispered. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes, and she desperately tried to keep them from falling. 'Please, Lee', she said to herself. 'Please help me.'

TBC