Chapter 22

When Lee didn't answer, Harry asked again, "Lee, why haven't you told anyone?"

"Honestly? I don't know anymore," Lee looked at Harry as he spoke. "In the beginning we were afraid for the safety of Amanda's family. We were on a case and a child had been kidnapped. We don't want that for her family."

"But, Lee, how is being married and not telling her family or anyone else for that matter keeping anyone safe? Doesn't it make you more vulnerable?" Harry reasoned.

"We just want to keep my boys safe, Harry, you of all people should understand that," Amanda tried.

"Amanda, I know I lost out on my daughter's life trying to keep her safe. Do you really want that for your boys? Do you really want them to miss out on their mother's happiness? On Lee's?" Harry questioned her.

"I don't know, Harry, I just want to be sure my boys..." Amanda started but was interrupted by Christina.

"Your boys won't ever be safe. There's always going to be someone or something out there to hurt them. It could happen any time, any where… a drunk driver, a fire, hell, an allergic reaction to something you didn't even know they had. Keeping your marriage a secret, hiding a very important part of your life from them. That's going to hurt them in ways you won't even think of."

Looking down, Amanda's eyes filled with tears as she realized how true Christina's words were. She hugged Charlie close to her, trying to hide her tears but it was too late. Lee had already seen them sliding down her cheeks. Stepping to her, he knelt down to take her face in his hands. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, "I'm sorry, Amanda. This whole stupid thing was my idea. I just didn't think…."

"No, WE didn't think. We didn't think beyond what was right in front of us. But it's not too late to fix it." Taking a deep breath, Amanda stood, Lee following her lead. She walked over, gently put Charlie in the portable crib and turned to face Harry and Christina. "Right now is not the time for Lee and I to figure out our mistakes. Right now we need to get Lauren back. Now Charlie just had a bottle, he's been changed. He should be fine for a few hours. We need you to stay here and keep him safe."

Harry looked at Christina and back at Amanda and Lee, "I want to help. Lee, please."

Lee just shook his head, "No, Amanda's right. We need you both here, for Charlie. With any luck, we'll be back sooner than you know it." Taking Amanda's hand in his, they walked toward the door, stopping only long enough to get the address Billy had given them.

Harry stopped them one more time, "Lee, please. Bring her back safe."

"We'll do our best, Harry," Lee nodded at him as he and Amanda exited the hotel room, closing the door behind them. Reaching for her hand, they walked together to the elevator. Lee could feel her hands shaking. Walking to his car, Lee hoped she would relax but the closer they got to the car, the shakier they seemed. Stopping before opening the doors, he put both hands on her shoulders, "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, worried.

Amanda looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears again. "Lee, I just can't help feeling like we failed."

"Failed? Amanda, we haven't even started searching for Lauren. How can you say we failed?" Lee was confused.

"Not Lauren. Us. We… hid… all of this… for what? Christina is right. We may have caused more damage than we even know if they find out now," Amanda covered her mouth.

"Listen, we're going to tell them. Somehow, some way, we are going to tell them. But right now, we need to keep it together so we can find Lauren." Lee pulled her into a tight hug. Amanda couldn't hold the tears back any longer. She wrapped her arms around Lee's waist to hold him tighter as she cried. Lee put his chin on the top of her head, feeling her body shake. He knew she needed to let it out, she had been holding it back for 6 months.

"I'm sorry. I just… I just can't lie to them anymore," she cried into his shoulder.

Lee lifted her chin with one hand, "And we are going to find a way, I promise you."

Amanda wiped her face with her hands, "I know. Gosh, I must look a mess now."

"You look beautiful," Lee said as he kissed her gently, "Now, let's go see if we can find Lauren." He reached behind her to open the car door. When she was settled inside, he closed the door, running his hand through his hair nervously. Climbing into the driver's seat, he looked at the address. Amanda was already pulling out the local street map.

Lee read the address off and Amanda searched the street listings to find it. "Well, it looks like that street is only about 5 miles from here. Did Billy say anything else? Turn left here," she began directing him as he drove.

"No, nothing, just a name and address. I wish I knew the connection between Kursk and this Tsipkin," Lee admitted. "And who is the other guy working with him. And why?"

"Turn here," Amanda pointed to another street. "What do you think they're doing to her? And turn up there, that's the street." They drove in silence for another minute, searching for the house number. "Oh, look there, that looks like the car that grabbed Lauren," Amanda pointed at the black sedan on the side of the road.

Lee pulled over, behind the car. Taking his gun out of the holster, he checked the safety and made sure a round was in the chamber before putting it away again. He grabbed Amanda's hand and squeezed it. "What do I always tell you?" he reminded her.

"I know, any sign of trouble, get out of there and get help. At least you stopped telling me to stay in the car," she teased.

"After what happened in California, I'll never tell you to stay in the car. Follow your instincts, it's what you do best," Lee smiled at his wife, glad her mood had shifted. "How do you want to handle this?"

"Well, we could just walk up to the front door but I don't know if that's gonna work. We don't know if Lauren is even here," Amanda said, looking at the front of the small house.

"Well, how about you take the front and I'll sneak around the back. And we do just that, walk right up. They don't know us so they probably won't suspect anything," Lee suggested. "The water is right behind the house so if they try to sneak outside that way they aren't going far."

"All right, sounds like a plan," Amanda climbed out of the car, waiting for Lee. "I'll give you a head start." She waited until Lee was halfway to the back of the house before walking toward the front door. Once on the porch, she glanced into the window beside the door. She didn't see anything unusual so she rang the doorbell and waited.

Behind the house, Lee was checking the windows he could see in. Before climbing onto the deck on the back of the house, he glanced into the last room and he could see Lauren, now tied to a chair. One of the men was standing in front of her, a syringe in his hand. Lee rushed to the back door finding it locked, he kicked it twice before it gave way. Running into the house, Lee quickly found the room Lauren was in.

Amanda could hear the banging from the back of the house, "Lee? Lee? What's going on?" She couldn't see anything from the front of the house but knew she shouldn't move. She tried the door but it was locked. Looking around, she quickly checked under the front mat for a key. Not finding one, she checked the flower pots and finally ran her hand over the top ledge of the door frame. Using the key, she opened the front door and ran inside, looking for Lee.

Inside the small bedroom, the two men were facing off with Lee. One man had been behind the door when Lee rushed in and was able to knock his gun free. The other was now wrestling Lee slamming into furniture and the walls. Lee managed to get the upper hand, a quick uppercut knocked the man unconscious.

The second man was much smaller than Lee knew he was going to be no match for him. He quickly ran toward the door, colliding with Amanda in the hall, knocking her down as he ran for the back door. She scrambled to her feet, chasing him. Outside he ran toward the dock behind the house where a small speedboat was tied up. He quickly jumped into the boat, starting the engine before Amanda's feet even hit the wooden planks of the dock. Looking around she couldn't see any other boats close by to keep chase.

Knowing there was nothing else she could do, she ran back to the house to find Lee untying Lauren who was unconscious. Lee looked up as she entered the room, "Amanda, call an ambulance. She's been injected with something. I can only find the syringe, not the bottle."

She scanned the kitchen. Finding a phone on the wall, she quickly dialled 911. She gave them the address and ran back into the small room. "The other man got away in a boat. I couldn't follow him."

Lee had lifted Lauren and laid her on the bed, and checked her pulse. Using the ropes he tied the hands of the man he had knocked out. As they waited, Lee quickly checked his pockets, looking for any kind of identification. He found a small wallet in his back pocket. Flipping it open, he held it out to Amanda, "Well, this isn't Max Tsipkin. This is Andre Kuznetsov. And he has a lot of explaining to do. Like what they injected Lauren with for starters."