Co-Authored by Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna

Chapter 13

Amanda stood perfectly still as Ivan trained his gun on her with one hand, his flashlight with the other. She could see the slightest shake of his hand and even in the darkness she could see the sweat beading above his top lip. She blinked in the bright light as she tried to focus on his face. She took a breath and let it out slowly before she spoke, "Ivan? It is Ivan, isn't it? I remember you from that night in the cabin." Ivan twitched his head once, an almost imperceptible motion but Amanda saw it. "I see your leg has healed. Doesn't even look like it did much damage. I mean, you don't have a limp or anything."

Ivan narrowed his eyes. He was conflicted as he recalled her caring nature that night when he was shot in the leg and Lee had taken a bullet to the shoulder. She cooked the only thing she could find, a simple can of beans but she made sure they all had an equal share. She even took things one step further when she started singing Christmas carols in her attempt to keep the group calm. He couldn't forget, even if he tried, those soft brown eyes which conveyed every emotion she felt or how she smiled through her fear. She was brave, he remembered, and also, very innocent. She wasn't jaded by prejudice or hatred because they were Russian, she only saw them as men on that cold holiday night.

"Ivan, my friend here, he didn't do anything. Gregory just wants to hurt him. Now I don't know why but he has some kind of…" Amanda paused, unsure of the right word when Ivan said, "Vengeance! He hates Mr. Stetson. He wasn't going to trade him, he just wants to kill him."

Amanda gasped inadvertently and bit her bottom lip to stop the tears that threatened to fall. She looked down at Lee, pressed against the fallen log, breathless and sweating. "Ivan, please, just let us go. We won't tell Gregory a thing. You didn't see us, we didn't see you. Lee needs a doctor. And I have my boys at home waiting for me. Just… please," Amanda begged.

Ivan wavered, the gun shaking in his hand. "Your boys, I remember now," he began, "Dimitri and I lost our parents to the KGB when we were young and even though he insisted we needed to stay loyal, I hated it. You, you're a nice lady, your boys deserve to grow up and learn to be like you. We need more people like that in the world."

"Thank you, Ivan. I don't have the words," Amanda said, suddenly speechless.

Ivan tucked the gun into his waistband and climbed over the log, Amanda followed him. Lee tensed as Ivan approached him. Using the flashlight, he scanned Lee's body, lingering on his face. "You'll need to find water soon. You're dehydrated. I'll distract the others. Go!" he commanded as he climbed back over the log and took off running away from them yelling, "I saw them, running that way!"

Amanda put her arms around Lee and pulled him to his feet. Together they trudged through the darkness until they stumbled upon a rocky path. Above them they could hear the chopping sounds of a helicopter and saw a bright beam of light cut through the night sky.

Billy looked toward the sky as the helicopter cut through the darkness. He and Brown were still on the perimeter of the woods when Gregory came running toward them. "Freeze, Gregory!" Billy shouted.

Gregory slowed to a walk as he raised his hands by his shoulders. "I'm impressed, Billy. I don't know how you found me," he stated.

"You'd be surprised how resourceful we can be when one of our own is involved," Billy informed him as he grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back. "Now, tell me. Who else is involved?"

"Dimitri and Ivan Karamazov," Gregory stated calmly. "They abducted Stetson and brought him to me. I simply provided them a place to hold him."

Brown shrugged his shoulders and asked, "Why give them up? Why rat them out that easily?"

Billy laughed before he replied, "You don't understand Gregory. He's simply stating he did nothing wrong, isn't that right?"

"Billy, you wound me. I merely facilitated in the storage of Mr. Stetson. It was Dimitri and Ivan that orchestrated the entire kidnapping. I'll be home by morning," Gregory sneered.

"And I'm the next president," Billy laughed again. "Francine?" he called out.

"I'm here, and with another guest," she replied as she pushed a handcuffed Dimitri ahead of her. "We've still got one on the loose. Ivan, according to his brother here."

"My brother is no fool. He'll find Stetson before you do, and he'll finish this just like Gregory commanded," Dimitri spat. Francine gave him a shove and he tripped over his own foot but managed to recover before he landed on his knees.

Billy looked up again at the helicopter sweeping the trees. "If they're out there, we'll find them first."

"Look! It's a trail!" Amanda shouted over the chopping sounds cutting through the air. She pulled Lee along as he leaned even more heavily onto her now. His energy was dissipating with each step he took, his head pounded again, and his entire body was beginning to shake from the sheer effort it was taking for him to keep moving. "Come on, Lee, we're almost there. Don't you dare give up on me now. If we can make it to the clearing up there, the helicopter will see us. Keep moving, buster," she spoke beside his ear, so he could easily hear her.

"Amanda, thank you," Lee whispered, his voice scratchy.

"Lee, you don't have to thank me, not until you're safe," Amanda stated as they took a few more steps forward and finally made it into the clearing.

Lee collapsed at her feet and she immediately began waving her arms in the air to get the attention of the helicopter. The light found them almost instantly. Amanda dropped to her knees and cradled Lee's head in her lap. Lee lost consciousness with Amanda's wide brown eyes staring at him, her voice repeating over and over, "Help is on the way, stay with me, Lee. Come on, you've got to stay with me." As the darkness enveloped him, he tried to focus on Amanda's face, her hair shimmering from the light from above. And as he closed his eyes, his last thought was, she is still the light that keeps me safe in the darkness, and he thought he heard her say, "I love you."