Author's Notes: Hey guys. Another sort of filler chapter here. I promise we're getting to the action soon! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 8: Held Hostage

All my heroes are dead and gone
But down inside of me, they still live on

"Heroes" - Shinedown

The building they were led to looked like an old shed or barn perhaps. The white paint on the outside was peeling and some of the boards looked rotted. It was a mess in comparison to the grand main house.

Guns prodding at their backs they were forced into the shadowy and musty building. The woman followed. She was tall, must have been at least six feet, and looked like she should be on a runway rather than in a dusty old building surrounded by gunmen and involved in transporting drugs.

She fished a cell phone out of the pocket of her ripped denim mini and dialed. After a moment she spoke. "I have them."

There was another pause. "Fine, but only for a second." She shoved the cell phone into Syd's hands. "He wants to hear from you."

"Hello?"

Leon's voice on the other end. "Hey baby are you okay?"

"We're fine, it was a long trip."

"We're going to get you out of there," he told her. But before she could reply the tall woman grabbed the phone from her and passed it to Letty.

"You too, and be quick. No tricks," she snapped. The men with guns were still there.

"Hello?" Letty sounded less than pleased.

"Let? Look, we're gonna make a trade so we'll get you out of there."

"I wouldn't bet on it," she replied before the phone was snatched from her.

The woman raised the phone to her ear. "You heard them. They're fine. I want my shipment." She listened for a moment as Leon undoubtedly made some sort of arrangement. "Fine, tomorrow morning at 10am. We will bring the hostages. But pull any tricks and they're dead." She snapped the phone shut then glanced down at the other women.

"Venha," she motioned for the men to follow her, leaving the hostages alone in the shed. "Vigie a porta. Ninguém entra ou fora a menos que eu isto ordene."

She walked out, the men following her, muttering under their breath to one another. Letty and Syd exchanged glances, sighed and sat down on the creaky wooden floor.

"You know... this is great," Letty said, tilting her head back to gaze up at the sunlight drifting through the rafters. "Somehow I was in less danger leaping from a moving car to an oil tanker."

"You're serious?" The other woman looked at her and Letty shrugged.

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Leon sighed, dropping the phone to the bedside table with a clatter.

"Well?" Dom asked from where he sat at the foot of the bed.

"They sounded fine. I didn't get to say much though." He sighed again, moving closer to him and lowering his voice so the hostage tied up on the other bed couldn't hear him. "I don't trust this woman though. I doubt that she's going to let them go as easy as this."

"Of course she's not. They know too much about this operation. Hell, so do we."

"Not like we're gonna call and report them to the cops," Leon scoffed.

"Yeah, but she doesn't know us for shit. We have to assume that when we try to make the trade she's gonna try and take us all out. We'll have to be prepared."

"Yeah Dawg, let's try and get some shut-eye for now. Otherwise we're gonna be too tired for much of anything."

Eyeing the hostage who was asleep tied to a chair across the room Dom settled back on one of the double beds, stretching over the faded comforter.

He was tired, but it was still some time before he fell to sleep.

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It was definitely nearing nightfall judging from the soft colored hues that Letty could glimpse through the slats of the shed. Beside her Sydney had fallen asleep, sitting rather awkwardly against the wall with her legs tucked underneath her. The air was cooling and that was certainly a welcome effect from the lack of sun.

Occasionally she could hear the sounds of the men outside walking past, chatting with one another in a language that she could barely understand. Right now two of them must have been standing directly on the other side of the wall because she could clearly hear their voices, the sounds of their boots scuffing at the ground as they shifted on their feet, and catch the scent of the cigar one of them was smoking.

She let out a long sigh and rubbed a hand over her face. Her body felt tired and she knew she ought to try and sleep. Still, she couldn't shut off her mind and every time she closed her eyes she kept wondering how they were going to get out of this place. The Villa was like a fortress. She'd caught a glimpse of high stone walls around the perimeter and a wrought-iron gate with a guard to check entry and departure of each vehicle. Also, the place was practically crawling with armed men. And these weren't the type of men who would warn you before they shot.

She knew that the boys had a plan which involved trading them for the other truck, but they were all well aware that this woman was not going to let them get away alive. Just by being here, and knowing that the medical supply place was a front, they knew more about their operation than they should. Letty only hoped that there was more to the plan than that, but she also planned to do anything she could to make things easier for Dom and Leon. She wasn't accustomed to just sitting back and letting others get her out of trouble.

She smiled slightly to herself. Dom had been helping her get into trouble for years now, but she could manage it well enough on her own if he didn't. That said, it wouldn't be a good idea to try anything while they were still on the Villa property. Maybe when they were being transported to the exchange site. She always did do better in a moving vehicle.

Letty turned her head when her companion stirred awake, groaning softly.

"Crap," Sydney muttered, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Now I feel tired and stiff."

Letty didn't reply, just tilted her head back and let out a yawn, allowing her eyes to fall shut. The two men who had been on the other side of the wall were walking away now and she could hear their voices fading into the distance. Syd shuffled her feet around on the dirt floor and then stood slowly, her back cracking with a rather loud noise.

"That sounded way worse than it felt," she assured the other woman.

"When do you think they'll take us out of here to make the exchange?" Letty asked.

"Probably not till early morning. I'm sure the boys need time to make arrangements."

"Yeah right. They're probably just going to try and create a diversion by blowing something up."

"Blowing what up exactly?" Syd asked.

"Who knows. Maybe a car or something."

"Why would they do that? They like cars."

"They like us more," Letty said with a laugh. "It's just the easiest thing to make blow up that they'd have access to."

Sydney fell silent, seeming to accept this, or perhaps she was just too tired to ask anymore questions.

After a while she spoke again. "What do you think of Miss Brazil?" Syd asked, mocking their "host".

"She's tall. Wonder how a woman like that ends up running drugs."

"There is undoubtedly a man involved."

"There always is."

"Speaking of men, how did you end up with Dom?" Syd asked, trying to ignore the mouse scurrying along the far wall.

"I lived down the street from him and his sister Mia since I was a kid. I was always hanging out at their place."

"Wow, so you've known each other forever."

Letty laughed. "I guess. But back then I was just his little sister's irritating friend."

"What changed that?"

"I got boobs."

"Men," Syd said, rolling her eyes. They laughed.

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Venha = Come on

Vigie a porta. Ninguém entra ou fora a menos que eu isto ordene = Guard the door. No one comes in or goes out unless I order it.