Co-Authored by Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna

Chapter 12

Amanda pulled Lee into the forest. He stumbled beside her, but she refused to stop. "Amanda!" he whispered loudly, "I need to stop. I need to rest for a minute." She looked around and saw a small tight cluster of trees to their left. She could hear Dimitri lumbering some distance behind them, so she took a chance and cut toward the trees. There was just enough space for the two of them to hide between the rough large trunks. Lee grunted as Amanda lowered him to the ground with a thud.

"Shh," she whispered as she pressed a finger to his lips.

She heard Dimitri panting as he stopped a few yards away from where they were hiding. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she held her breath. Lee shifted slightly beside her as he pressed his back against the trunk behind him. Amanda put her hand on his to steady him, as she silently hoped Dimitri didn't hear them. She finally released her breath when she heard Dimitri walk slowly back in the direction he'd come, yelling out to Ivan. "We're going to need flashlights. It's too dark in here for us to see. Get Gregory too!" he commanded.

The pair didn't move until they heard him rustling through the brush further away. "Amanda, that was close. We're not going to have much time to build a lead on them," Lee groaned quietly.

"You need to rest for another minute, then we can head out. I know this land is adjacent to Overlook Park. If we can find one of the trails, we can make it out on the other side. I'm just not exactly sure where we are right this minute," she explained confidently.

"Amanda, thank you," Lee whispered as he reached out to touch her cheek in the very dim moonlight.

Amanda blushed as she covered his hand with hers, "I haven't done anything yet. We're not safe yet."

"No, you found me, you got me out of there," Lee stated. "But how?"

"How did I find you? Gregory sent Billy a picture of you in that…hole… and when he called I could hear the church bells and the bird and I narrowed it down to this area. I tried a few other houses first but then when I saw Dimitri and Ivan, I knew I must be in the right place," Amanda rambled.

Lee shook his head, leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips. He leaned his forehead against hers as he uttered, "Leave it to you, Amanda! You found me using a picture, church bells and a bird. Remarkable. You may not know it, but you kept me safe, kept me sane the last few days. Every time I thought of you, it was like a light would wash over me, a shimmering light from within the darkness and I knew you'd find me. I don't know how, but I just knew."

"Oh, Lee," she breathed before she kissed him again. She pressed her lips to his and cradled his chin in her hands. In the distance, they heard Gregory yelling. They scrambled to their feet, Amanda immediately asked, "You okay?"

"I'm gonna have to be. Let's move before they come back this way," Lee gingerly stepped out of the trees and looked around. He looked up at the sky and between the branches he could make out the moon. "Ok, so the moon is there, North should be that way," Lee pointed to his left.

Amanda stopped, put her hand on a tree trunk and felt around before she declared, "No, North is this way," as she pointed in the opposite direction.

"Amanda, I'm telling you, North is this way," Lee pointed again but Amanda shook her head.

"No, North is this way. And if I remember the map correctly, we need to head Northeast toward the Potomac," Amanda insisted.

They could hear Gregory yelling louder and three beams of light flickered in the darkness, cutting through the trees. "I want him found and I want them dead!" Gregory shouted.

Lee looked at Amanda and took a chance, "Fine, you lead."

"The Trailblazers handbook has never steered me wrong before," she muttered as she slipped her arm around his waist and steered him to the right. They hugged close to the trees as often as they could and had to duck a few times when they heard the crunching of footsteps on leaves and branches approaching.

They tried to rush but when Lee's foot caught on an exposed tree root, he hit the ground hard with a loud grunt. A beam of light immediately swung in their direction followed by the sound of heavy footsteps running. Amanda tried to pull Lee up and over a fallen tree in their attempt to hide again but the beam of light found her instantly before she could duck down. She froze and straightened upright as she stared into the barrel of Ivan's gun.

"I need a status report, NOW!" Billy commanded to agents Brown and Nevins. He and Francine had just parked their car and Billy could hear yelling from the property.

"We arrived here and saw a van go through the gate, Sir. Then we heard yelling and what sounded like someone yelling he wanted them dead, Mr. Melrose, Sir," Nevins uttered nervously.

"Have you gotten a visual on either Gregory or Scarecrow?" Billy demanded.

"Gregory, I believe so, Sir," Brown replied.

"Then why are you still sitting here?" Francine questioned. "If Gregory is here and someone's yelling he wants THEM dead, we can assume Amanda found Lee first."

Billy processed Francine's conclusion quickly, "Francine call this in. We need teams all around this property as soon as possible. Where does the back of this land go?"

Francine pulled out the map of the property as well as the street map from the glove box. She unfolded the map and laid it on the hood of the car, the photocopy beside it. "Looks like it comes out into Potomac Overlook Park. Knowing Lee and Amanda, if they really were here, I guarantee that's the direction they are headed," she stated.

"Get teams headed in that direction and a chopper. See if we can spot them from the air," Billy instructed as he pulled his revolver from his chest harness. "Brown, you come with me, Nevins stick with Desmond. Let's go, people." He jogged towards the gate, Brown only a few steps behind his superior.

Francine picked up the car phone and immediately called dispatch. She was told the chopper would arrive in less than ten minutes and six additional teams were being routed to both locations. She placed the phone back in the receiver and retrieved her own small handgun from her purse. "Nevins keep your eyes peeled at all times. Gregory is the slipperiest snake you'll ever come across," she informed him as she headed toward the gate but instead of following Billy and Brown down the driveway, she cut around the house toward the other side. In the distance they could see the flashlights bobbing in the darkness of the woods beyond.