Chapter 27

What was she supposed to do now? Sam wondered as she wrapped her arms tightly around her raised knees. She supposed that curling up into a fetal position on the couch wasn't going to help matters much, but what was she supposed to do. In the past week, her life had come crashing down all around her, suffocating her to the point where she can barely breathe. The man she called a friend betrayed her, her friends and family think that she's dead, Jason….. She furiously wiped the tears that continued to spill down her cheeks…. Jason is gone. How is she supposed to go on without him? A thought came to her from deep within her heart…. Was he really gone? If Aidan could make her disappear, had he done the same to Jason? Or… was it all a lie?

She needed to know and she needed to get her ass off this couch and get the hell out of here. She sprung into action, the hope of Jason being alive feeding her adrenaline. If she could only get to a phone, then she could call Sonny or Spinelli, or anyone for that matter just to tell her the one thing that she desperately needed to here…. that Jason was alive. Stopping in the room that she slept in, she found her boots lying on the floor of the bed. Picking one up, she frowned at the length of the heel, she needed something to be able to run in and thankfully these weren't her favorite pair. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She said a quick sorry as she busted the heel on the nightstand. Breaking the other heel as well she quickly slid them on, grabbed her jacket that was hanging off the chair in the corner and ran into the kitchen as she zipped it up on the way.

She wasn't sure what she was looking for but she knew that she had to get out there before Aidan came back. Yanking a drawer open, Sam froze as the contents inside banged up against each other. She found the source of how Aidan had been keeping her here, of how he was drugging her: Syringes and empty bottles of medicine. The bastard had been drugging her this entire time. Slamming the drawer harder than necessary, she took a deep breath to control her anger and opened the next: Knives. Perfect. With shaking hands she grabbed the first one she touched and slid the drawer closed. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, her head shot up on the exhale as she heard a car pull up in the gravel driveway. Looking from the door to the knife in her hand, she realized that her weapon would be no match for his gun. And she knew that he had one, she saw it on him when he took the phone from her. Making a quick decision as she heard the car coming closer, she took a deep breath, prayed that she wasn't making a mistake and ran for the side kitchen door and out into the night.

********************************************

Nikolas felt the SUV turn left onto a gravel road. He glanced up to see if this was a dirt road or an actual driveway. Seeing the numbers on the mailbox, Nikolas texted the address to Lucky and huddled back down to wait for Aidan to stop. This was it. He was finally going to get his family back even if he had to kill the bastard who kidnapped her to do it. Aidan had brought so much anguish to his family and friends, making him believe that he had lost a cousin, his aunt believe that her daughter was dead, making Lucky believe that he had lost a friend, and Jason mourn the love of his life. It was taking all Nikolas' will power not to aim the 9mm to Aidan's head and squeeze off a few rounds.

Nikolas prepared himself, he could feel the SUV slowing down, meaning that they were almost at the cabin, any minute now. Only he didn't have to wait a second longer…. he was jerked from his position as the SUV came to a screeching halt. "No, no, no, no,NOOOOO!" He heard Aidan yell from the front seat, the door swung open and Aidan took off yelling "SAMANTHA!"

Nikolas' heart skipped a beat at hearing her name, it made the illusion of her being alive all the more real. In the next instant, he threw the back door open, jumped down and took in the scene before him. Sam ran from the cabin and took off into the woods, Aidan with his gun right behind her. Jumping into action, Nikolas took off after them with his own gun, he flipped his phone open and hit the send button twice knowing that he was calling Lucky.

Getting the latest text from Nikolas, Lucky had entered the address into the GPS and counted down the miles until they were able to get there to rescue Sam. He couldn't see Sonny's limo behind them, knowing that they had stopped to get Robin and lost some time but he knew that they would catch up, Milo was in constant connection with his brother. Milo and Cody were both eager and ready in the back, waiting for their boss' orders and Jason was silent but Lucky could feel the anger roaring up from deep within. The SUV was filled with so much tension that he could barely breathe, he had to roll down the window to get in as much of fresh air as possible. He was sitting mostly still, except for his leg bouncing up and down at a million times a second. The last time he felt this way was when he was going through detox. All four of them were anxious and on edge, Jason worse than all of them combined. Sam meant everything to him and Lucky knew that Jason would do anything to get her back. Even if meant killing Aidan. Lucky realized that if that happened, he would turn away and let Morgan do his work. Sam meant a lot to him, she was his friend and he cared for her. How much? Well, more than he would cared to admit but he knew that her heart had and would always belong to Jason.

The shrill of his cell phone ringing broke through the tension in the car and Lucky answered it before the first ring finished. "Nikolas?" He guessed not wasting a second to check the caller ID.

"Yeah…." Nikolas replied as best as he could as he ran after Aidan. "We're on the move! We're on the move!"

"What do you mean you're on the move?" Lucky and Jason looked at each other confused. "Nikolas what's going on?"

"Sam… Sam… she took off into the woods and Aidan is right behind her…" Nikolas panted out. "I'm right behind them but… Lucky… he's gaining on her…."

At this time Lucky had put the phone on speaker so Jason could hear as well. "Where are you headed? Nikolas… what direction are you guys running in?"

"East! We're heading right for you guys…. Look to your left…."

Jason was already slowing down the SUV as both him and Lucky kept their eyes at the passing scenery to their left hoping to catch a glimpse of Sam. She was so close, he could feel it with every fiber of his being and he couldn't breathe. His heart was pounding hard and he felt like his chest was caving in on him, crushing his lungs, he just needed to see her, needed to see that she was really alive, that she was really here and any minute he was going to finally have her back in his arms were she belonged. "THERE SHE IS!" He slammed on the breaks as soon as he heard Lucky call out. All four of them flung the doors open and took off to their left as soon as they saw the petite brunette run passed them almost 50 feet away. "SAM!" Jason called out as he took off after her but was suddenly yanked back just as a bullet shot the tree trunk where his head would have been.

"JASON, GET DOWN!"

He shrugged off his hold not giving a damn about himself or any other. "I don't have time for this! I need to go after Sam!"

Lucky knew there was no use arguing with him. "Ok, we'll hold him off, you go after her." As soon as Jason nodded, Lucky stood up from behind a boulder and started firing in Aidan's direction, Cody and Milo followed his lead as they came out from their positions on opposite sides behind large tree trunks. When Jason was gone far enough away, he stopped firing. "DON'T SHOOT! I'M PCPD, IT'S OVER! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"

"YOU BASTARDS! I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!" Aidan bellowed when he saw Morgan run off after Samantha. He stood up and starting firing in their direction not caring if he killed or maimed, he would make them all pay. They ruined his plans and if he could just get free of this, then he could find his Samantha.

Hearing a grunt to his left, Lucky looked out to see Cody on the ground grabbing his leg. Aidan wasn't going to go down without a fight, and Lucky decided that neither was he. He still had Milo with him and somewhere around here was Nikolas. "YOU NEED TO GIVE THIS UP MAN! YOU'RE OUTNUMBERED!" He knew it was useless to negotiate with him, but he just hoped to get him talking to throw off his concentration.

"DID I MENTION I WAS IN SPECIAL OPPS OFFICER SPENCER?" Aidan knew what Spencer was doing, and as soon as he saw Lucky move up to fire a shot, Aidan shot at Lucky effectively taking him down with a smile on his face.

Lucky grabbed at his left arm and tried like hell not to yell. It hurt like a son of a bitch but he would live. Not wanting to give the bastard anymore chances to take him out. He picked up his gun and started firing while he ran from tree to tree to cover himself as Milo fired from behind him. He was almost up to him when Aidan surprised him when he ducked out from behind the tree and rushed him. In a blink of an eye, both men were on the ground. Fists flew and punches landed but Lucky was out maneuvered with only one good arm to fight with. Aidan landed a quick punch to Lucky's face and with a death grip, he grabbed Lucky's injured arm and pressed hard on the wound, relishing the sound of Lucky screaming in pain. Aidan heard a noise behind him but he ignored it all as he grabbed his gun and pointed at officer's head. And just as he was about to take a shot, he was tackled off by an heavy force.

Nikolas had fired his last bullet when he saw Aidan rush Lucky and tackle him down. Not knowing what else to do but knowing that he couldn't leave his brother alone, he ran for them. He almost stumbled when he saw Aidan point the gun to Lucky's head but he made it just in time to slam his body into Aidan's and shove him off of his brother. He never had to fight in all his life, but the few times with Lucky taught him a lot. Putting some of his body weight into the punches that he threw at Aidan, he slowed the bastard down but his training in the Special Forces was far more advanced.

Lucky struggled to stand with Milo's help. Both men out of bullets watched as Aidan and Nikolas fought. After nailing Nikolas into the ground with a shot to his abdomen that took his breath away in one big woosh, Aidan pushed off and stumbled to his gun. Aiming it, he pointed it right at Nikolas' heart. "NOOO!" Lucky cried out just as a shot was fired.

Nikolas closed his eyes just as Aidan pointed the gun at him. This was it, this was his last moment. And the only thing that crossed through his mind was his son…. Spencer. And as he heard the shot fire off, he waited for the pain, waited for the end. But when none of it came, he opened his eyes to see a wide eyed Aidan staring back at him. He watched as Aidan stumbled and fell to the ground, the gun easily slipping out of his hand. He looked up to see Sonny standing next to his aunt with the smoking gun. He never in a million years thought that he would owe Sonny anything, especially his life.

"AIDAN!" Robin cried as she ran to her cousin. He was still alive but barely breathing. He was her family and she didn't want to lose him. "Please wake up, wake up Aidan… come on, you can do it, wake up…" She applied pressure to his wound and held on for dear life. "Sonny, please help me, I can't lose him… please, I know you want to kill him but you have to help me…" She knew she was asking for too much, she even knew that she had already lost her cousin to insanity long ago but she couldn't let him die, he was her blood.

Caught between wanting to put another bullet in the bastard's back and helping out his friend, Sonny did the only thing he could do. Knowing Cody and Lucky were hurt as well, Sonny called out for Max. "Get Aidan in to the limo and stay on him, Robin and Milo will help Cody and Lucky. Take them to nearest hospital."

"What about Jason?" Hearing Max's question, Alexis moved from Nikolas' side after she helped him up. "What about Sam?" Looking off into the direction the two had taken, Sonny just hoped that they were finally together. Grabbing Alexis' hand, he led her and Nikolas to the SUV as Max took off with the others in the opposite direction. "Let's go find them." He would give Jason time to find Sam and then he was going to call his phone.