Hex had a weird feeling of déjà vu. The people surrounding him where just a pressing as when Alpha Force had first arrived in China and Amber was standing next to him again. Li and Paulo were pushing through the crowds, Alex darting along behind them. He strained his eyes as he stood on tiptoes, trying to see if he could spot Cho or one of his heavies. Suddenly Amber grabbed his arm. Hex winced as her fingernails dug painfully into his flesh as she pulled him out of the crowds and into a shop doorway.

'By the park bench,' she murmured in Hex's ear. Hex casually flicked his eyes to the spot that Amber was talking about and saw Cho in a heated discussion with a large man. Cho was gesticulating wildly, waving his arms about so that he almost knocked a young woman off her feet. Hex nodded to Amber that he had seen him and then pulled his mobile out and texted Alex.

Alex pulled his phone out of his pocket. Found what we were looking for; Amber saw it by the park bench. Will meet you at the café to discuss our purchase, showed on the little screen. Alex sent a text back to Hex, then caught up with Li and Paulo and told them that Cho had been spotted. They made their way to the little café that they had decided would be their rendezvous point. Hex and Amber had already arrived and snagged a table in the corner of the shop. They had a good view of Cho and could see that he was still talking to the man.

'What do we do now?' Amber asked.

'Follow him and see where he goes. That man could well be a buyer and Cho might have another lot of babies coming through,' Alex said. The others agreed. Hex reached inside his backpack and retrieved his camcorder. Paulo stared at it in amazement.

'How did you get that back from Cho?' Hex laughed.

'I didn't. It was sitting in the hotel room all this time. Knew it would come in handy,' Hex replied.

'But shouldn't you have had it with you so we could film Cho handing over the babies? You know. For our original plan,' Li pointed out. Hex smiled sheepishly.

'Ah. Well, it should have been with me but I guess I forgot it. Good thing I did too.' Li shook her head and Paulo laughed. Amber just rolled her eyes but Alex remained serious.

'So we have a way that we can prove what Cho is doing. Who's going to do the filming?' he asked. Hex was clutching the camcorder to his chest. He had already lost his precious palmtop and there was no way he was parting with his camcorder.

'I'll film,' he quickly offered. Alex nodded; he had expected that response.

'Who wants to go with him?'

'Amber can.' Li piped up. Amber shot her a glare but Alex nodded again.

'Good. We'll be your backup. Get in to wherever he operates, film what you need to and get out. If he isn't doing anything don't bother and get out. We don't want a repeat of what happened earlier.' His four friends nodded solemnly. The events of the past few days were still fresh in their minds. Hex shivered and shook his head. He looked past Paulo's head and leapt to his feet.

'Cho's on the move.'

Amber slipped silently through the shadows, Hex behind her. They had tailed Cho but he had only gone to his house. After watching nothing for an hour and a half, Alpha Force had given up and drove back to the hotel. At about 6:30 pm, Alex had sprung up from his seat next to the window.

'Paulo! Is that Cho's car?' Paulo nodded and they had tailed the trafficker to a huge warehouse on the outskirts of town, which was where Amber and Hex were creeping into. They were both wearing black and had camouflage cream spread over their faces. Hex had the camcorder in a pouch strapped to his belt and they both had their phones in the pockets. Li, Paulo and Alex waited out of sight around the corner of another building, ready to step in or call reinforcements at a moments notice. Hopefully they wouldn't need to come to that.

Hex tapped Amber on the shoulder and pointed to a door. She nodded and they pushed it open carefully. After checking that the cost was clear, they slipped inside, shutting the door carefully behind them. They were in. Silently they crossed the room and pushed open a second door. It led to a dimly lit corridor that had one battered wooden door positioned at the end of it and another door about halfway along. Amber opened the door in the middle of the corridor and quickly shut it again.
'People,' she mouthed. Hex nodded and the moved down the corridor.

The second door was much more promising. It opened into a huge space containing several large containers and various boxes scattered about in it. Hex filmed the scene as they scurried behind some shipping boxes. They crouched there fro ten minutes, waiting to see if any one would turn up. Amber's leg was cramped and she rubbed it. Hex pointed to his watch and held up five fingers. Amber sighed and settled back. Five more minutes. They had all agreed that this would be the only chance that they would get to find evidence. If they didn't get anything, they would hand it over to the police. Amber ground her teeth in frustration. Come on Cho. Give us something.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Cho strode through the double doors at the other end of the warehouse. He was shadowed by two of his guards. The door that Amber and Hex had come in though swung open and two more guards came in. They were followed by the large man that Amber had spotted talking to Cho earlier that morning. He strode inside and started talking to Cho in English. Amber turned to Hex and was about to mime filming to him, when she saw the camcorder in his hands, the lens trained on the small group. Hex smiled at her and nodded, then turned his attention back to filming.

'Tommy Young. What a pleasure to see you again.' Cho extended his hand towards and Young shook it. 'To business.'

Young nodded and gestured around him. 'Sure we won't be overheard?' Cho laughed.

'No one comes down here and my men know to keep their mouths shut if they want their pay checks. And their lives.' Cho tone was conversational, not threatening in any manner, but Hex saw the guards stiffen and then glance about them as if that might stop them from hearing their boss' conversation. Young nodded again.

'You have a load of babies coming down soon, correct?'

'Yes. You could have had them sooner but I have had a few problems.' Young frowned.

'What problems,' he asked Cho suspiciously. Cho shrugged.

'Oh, this and that. Nosy kids playing hero.'

'But you got rid of them right?' Cho tilted his head from side to side.

'Yes and no. I was going to but they escaped. They won't try anything funny though and even if they go to the police, I have some friends in high places.' Hex was right, Amber thought. Glad we didn't go to the police.

'So when do I get my shipment? Tomorrow? I can't keep my customers waiting much longer, Ling.' There was a pause while Cho did some mental calculations.

'Tomorrow afternoon come and see me again. If I haven't got them by then, I will fix something up for you.' The two men parted on good terms and the large room was empty again. Amber slid closer to Hex and squeezed his arm.

'Ready?' she said quietly. Hex snapped the display screen shut and nodded. He went to move away from the cover of the boxes, when Amber stopped him.

'Wait here for a minute.' She slipped past him and disappeared out of his sight.

Hex shifted nervously. What was she doing? He had evidence, so they could leave. He was really worried. She had been gone for five minutes. His phone vibrated gently in his pocket and he fished it out. It was a text from Amber; one word. Go. Hex felt his heart leap into his mouth. Something had happened. He leapt out from behind the boxes and darted down the warehouse. Go. Amber must be in trouble and was telling him to get out with the evidence, but there was no way he was leaving her. Not while he had a breath left in him. He rolled behind some more boxes and peered out from behind them. He had a clear view of the driveway outside and he felt sick by what he saw. Amber's lifeless body was being thrown into the back of a van. Hex battled with the urge to leap at the heavies and try to rescue Amber. He had the evidence. If he got out, they could tail the van and alert the police. He shifted position and felt something hard under his hand. Pushing back to plastic covering, he started. His palmtop sat in its protective black case. Fancy finding that here, Hex thought. He clipped it to his belt then ran back across the room and slipped out of the warehouse. He could hear the van starting up and he sprinted around to where Li, Paulo and Alex were waiting.

Li jumped when Hex crashed into the side of the car. He had a wild, desperate, fearful look on his face and he pulled open the door and threw himself inside.

'Follow the van. They got Amber.' Paulo didn't need telling twice. He turned the key in the ignition and the car roared into life. Paulo put the car into gear and they shot forward. As they came round the corner, the van rocketed past them and Paulo had to swerve sharply to avoid a collision. This would have been ok, if the car hadn't spun out and stalled. Paulo cursed and started the car again, but it was too late. The van had disappeared and Hex gave a groan. Li put her hand on his arm and fought back tears. What were they going to do?

Alex had his phone out and was ready to dial the police, but Hex snatched it away from him.

'No.' Three faces stared at him in surprise.

'What do you mean "no"? The police will find her much quicker than us.' Hex shook his head.

'I heard Cho in there. He said he had all the high up police officials on his payroll. Telling them will just put Amber in more danger. We find her ourselves.' Li looked at Hex's face and saw him fighting to keep control of his emotions. She gave him a quick hug then nodded at Paulo and Alex.

'We do this on our own. Amber's in enough trouble as it is. We'll get her out.' Her words sounded sure enough, but she was unsure. What if they couldn't find Amber? What if they found her but they were too late?

Ohhhhhhhhh. The suspense. I will try not to be too mean and get the next chapter up as soon a possible. It could be very soon as a matter of fact as I am on a roll and full of ideas. The next chapter could be a bit short but I don't know for certain. After the next chapter, I will have one more and then this story will be done.