A/N: Hello all. I apologize for my absence lately. I will do my best to stay more consistent. If you are liking the story or have opinions either way, don't hesitate to drop a PM or review.

Chapter 13

Jaime gave her friend a sideways glance from the deck chair. The pair had decided to take a swim and sun. Under the watchful eye of Marcos, who stood nearby attempting to be unobtrusive. Jaime detected a troubled expression on Maddie's face. She brushed her fingers along her companion's arm and offered a warm smile. "Hey, you look a million miles away, girl."

Maddie blinked a few times, snapping out of her momentary trance, glancing cautiously back at Jaime. "Well, maybe not a million miles. But somewhere decidedly more local." She gazed towards the nearby city of Manaus and all its buildings and activity. "I just figured that now that I am here, and managed to stay for the time being, I wouldn't be stuck playing tourist. I am so worried about mom. We both know how crazy Reese is and I can't help but ask myself…." Her voice cracked and she closed her eyes attempting to avoid a rush of tears.

Jaime sat up and leaned over, embracing her, rubbing her back. "It's ok…" She soothed. "Your dad and his friends are working to find her right now. We are a lot closer to finding her than we were yesterday."

Maddie nodded, though not at all placated by Jaime's attempts to reason with her. She shook her head. "We are sitting here next to a damn swimming pool. I want to be out there looking too!"

Jaime glanced over her shoulder in the general direction of their bodyguard. "Well, unless I miss my guess, your dad has that walking tree trunk under orders to keep us safe and sheltered from any possible attempt to do just that."

Maddie sighed, glancing over at their well-built guardian. "Yeah, I am sure dad has given him orders. Which is why we are stuck here getting a tan instead of finding mom."

"Maybe he will be back soon, and you can plead your case to be more involved." Jaime suggested, not at all believing that this would actually happen.

Maddie returned a droll look then rolled her eyes. "Girl, you know better than that!"

"Yes, I do." Jaime conceded with a nod. "I was just trying to keep your spirits up."

Maddie looked around their environment then paused and offered a grunt. "Wonderful." She muttered.

Jaime shot her a sideways glance, curious to know what had upset her companion. "What's up, girl?"

Maddie made a vague gesture across the pool to where a couple younger men standing. A pair of men, clearly native to the area were staring across the pool in their direction. "We have attracted some attention."

Her companion looked back across the pool and studied the pair, then smiled. "Well, they are cuter than the last group of guys who were scoping us out."

Maddie shot Jamie a look. "There were others?"

It was becoming apparent to Jaime just how distracted that Maddie must have been. She nodded affirmatively and giggled. "Girl, we have been getting attention since you dropped the towel you were wrapped in when we came down. Your mind must really be in another place. This is probably the tenth set of guys that are checking out the American girls."

Maddie rolled her eyes and grunted. "Great. The last thing I need to deal with is some Brazilian guy hitting on me."

"I dunno, girl." Jaime giggled as she continued to look across the pool. "If I wasn't for my preference for women, and the fact I was smitten with you, that guy on the left might be capable of converting me back to giving men another shot."

"Smitten?" Maddie asked with raised eyebrows.

Jaime nodded offering her companion a smile. "It's an older word. Kind of a roundabout, less threatening way of confessing one's love." She brushed her finger along Maddie's arm as her friend glanced over at her nervously.

"Oh my." Maddie said with a bit of apprehension in her voice. As much as she had strong feelings for Jaime, she was unsure how she defined them. And at the juncture she was currently at, she couldn't even fathom how to focus enough to offer any meaningful expression of her feelings towards Jaime. "It's not that I don't…."

"You don't owe me any attention, Maddie." Jaime interrupted. "I know this is not the time to try to get in touch with our feelings. I know that."

"It's not that I don't want to…or that I don't have those feelings. But all I can think of right now is finding mom." She took in a deep breath. "I do have feelings for you, girl. I just want to be able to not have this hanging over my head. Mom is in the hands of that psycho, and we need to get to her." She looked across the pool and noticed the pair of men were still looking at them. "And the last thing I need are guys like those over there. Maybe we need to appear more smitten with each other and drop a hint that their advances aren't welcome."

"Wouldn't do much good." Jaime grunted. "When you are a bi female, you appeal even more to guys like that. They think you will give them a show…or even better, invite them to play with you."

"Great." Maddie snorted. "I just hope those guys keep their distance."

Jaime glanced over at Marcos and laughed. "I think we are safe. No doubt your daddy has our watchdog directed to stop anyone that approaches us."

Maddie looked over at him and smiled. Marcos was no doubt there to keep them from doing anything impulsive but was also there to ensure that no guys messed with daddy's girl. "Well, I am at least happy he can keep that kind of attention away. I am just not able to deal with that right now."

At the urging from Antonio, Frank, Joe and Chet sat in one of the airport hangar offices and waited. Their guide had recommended that due to their illegal entry status it was prudent to not be involved with asking questions of some of the airport security authorities. Frank had supplied their guide with information relating to the plane used in Callie's abduction. Antonio had arranged for his American employers to stay in a safe, out of the way location in one of the lesser used aircraft hangars.

"I feel we should be more involved in the investigation." Chet muttered impatiently as he looked down at his phone. The three had been sitting on a small sofa in the dismal looking office for close to two hours.

"Did you just complete a crash course in Portuguese on your phone?" Joe needled his chum. "Cause unless you did, your investigation is likely to be as fruitful as your phone conversation with the aircraft mechanic earlier."

Chet sighed as he stretched uncomfortably on the sofa. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't help that we are bottled up in this little room for hours. I hope Antonio gets us something to work with and can confirm Callie was taken here."

Frank reached over and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Try to have some patience, pal.

Antonio has us in here for our own good. We can't exactly go into an area like the security office and toss down a couple bills and expect them to turn over all the video history and such to a group of Americans. And as he said, if we got caught without proper documents, we could get arrested."

His stout chum tapped his foot on the floor nervously and nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I feel so useless right now. I hope Marcos is ok watching over Maddie and Jaime. I hope those two don't try anything sneaky."

Joe looked over to his pal. "Relax, Chet. I don't think Marcos is going to be swayed by that 17-year-old the way the Bayport airport security guard was. He isn't going to let them give him the slip. He seems like a stand up guy to me. He knows that they are illegal and is no doubt keeping them from talking him into going on a tour of the city."

Chet shook his head as he thought about Jaime. "Yeah, I forgot for a moment that we just transported a minor out of the US without proper documentation and of course her parent's consent! I need to call her parents and explain the predicament and hope they don't file charges against me!"

"Relax, pal." Frank soothed. "You didn't knowingly transport her. She was a stowaway. This pretty much negates any criminal liability on your part. If you want me to, I can have someone from Bayport PD drop over and explain what happened and that Jaime is safe and being well protected."

"Her mom will still want to kill me." Chet lamented nervously.

Frank laughed and took a drink of coffee. "Well, probably so. But at least you won't be facing any charges."

"Just give her husband a bonus when he finishes the house he is building for you, pal." Joe offered. "I'm sure the wife will get over her irritation when you bring her child back safe and offer hubby a $100,000 bonus."

"Maybe so." Chet agreed. "Ok, Frank. Have BPD drop by their place and try to smooth things over. I can't even begin to think about placating them since I am so worried about Cal. And uh, Joe…"

Joe Hardy knew what his chum was about to ask. He smiled and patted Chet on the shoulder. "Yeah, I will talk to Iola and give her an update about how things are going and how for the time being the girls are staying with us because we don't have any other options."

Chet nodded and forced a smile to him. "Thanks, man. She is going to freak out about that, you know."

Joe nodded calmly. "Yeah, I know. But given we have exhausted all other possible options. We can't put her on a commercial flight because she doesn't have papers. We cannot even charter a flight with any reputable private aircraft because they will also not be a party to transporting an illegal alien."

"Or they don't have a plane capable of service to the US." Frank added.

"Which leaves only people of dubious reputation." Chet concluded. "And no thanks. I've already had her kidnapped once. This just sucks though for sure. I don't know what to do if we get a lead that takes us anywhere. Marcos suggested that it's quite possible that Reese could likely be hold up out there in the jungles. And there are no safe places to just leave your kids while you pursue desperate criminals in a rain forest!"

Frank nodded. "I must agree with your there, pal. No way would I put my kid on a plane run by an unethical charter company. It's hard enough when you send your children on a domestic flight run by a national airline. But try to relax. I am sure Antonio will be back soon. Yes, it's tough to have those two young ladies in tow. But we can make this work!"

Callie started blinking slowly as she woke up. The feeling of coldness on her face had stirred her from her sleep. She saw that she was still lying on her bed in her small quarters, but she was not alone. The young girl she saw the evening before was applying alcohol to a cloth and attempting to treat a laceration on the side of Callie's head. She glanced around and determined no one else was present.

She looked over to the young girl and offered a soft smile. "Your name is Isadora?"

The girl apparently understood English to some degree and nodded slowly. "Sim….eh, yes." She corrected herself.

Callie was surprised that Isadora understood the language. She smiled as the girl applied a cloth to the abrasion. "Thank you, Isadora. It is kind of you." She wasn't entirely sure how well her young nurse knew the language.

"De nada." Isadora offered a cautious look.

Callie was further impressed. "Where did you learn English, Isadora?"

"Escola em Sao Paulo…" Isadora looked about fearfully for a moment then back to Callie. "I mean to say school in Sao Paulo."

Callie seemed mystified in that Isadora caught herself replying in Portuguese and looked about as if she were scared. The young girl continued blotting Callie's injuries nervously until Callie placed her hand away and smiled warmly. "It's ok, Isadora. Are you not supposed to speak Portuguese?"

Isadora quickly shook her head. "He does not like when I speak that way, no."

Callie nodded her understanding. No doubt Reese did not want her speaking in her native tongue. He likely did not speak the language and wanted to have ease in communicating. She slowly raised herself into a seated position and looked at the young woman thoughtfully. "Are we close to Sao Paulo?" She was still uncertain of where in Brazil she was as neither of her captors had informed her specifically what city they were in.

Isadora shook her head. "No, Sao Paulo very far." She said quietly.

Callie noted her sad expression. Going out on a limb she looked directly at her. "Did he find you there? Then bring you here? Where is here?"

Isadora looked around nervously, then shook her head. "Nao sei." She replied and shook her head again.

Callie didn't know what that meant. Perhaps she was feigning not understanding. She tried again. "Did he take you away from your family is Sao Paulo? Then bring you here?"

Isadora looked about fearfully yet again. She shook her head suggesting she did not understand. "You should rest, decansar, rest."

Callie assumed that this was a topic that could not be addressed. Either from fear or being directly told not to. She did want to know where she was. But also, didn't want to get the poor child into trouble with Reese or Lila. She nodded to her. "Alright, I will rest." She noticed that Isadora was in possession of a key ring. Callie supposed there was minimal risk of escape given the iron fence she had observed the night before. She also remembered that Reese seemed fond of delegating duties to other prisoners. Some of the captive girls held in the sanitarium in Virginia were given the duties of bringing others food and necessities. It appeared he used the same practice here. Clearly, any key on this key ring would not open anything important. But it still held possibilities. For the time being Callie chose to gather as much information as she could. Doing anything rash would likely only lead to another beating. It could also cost Isadora another finger if she were discovered assisting Callie in any way not authorized by Reese or Lila.

Isadora stood up from her seated position and looked down at her. "I bring food soon, Senhora."

She turned towards the door and Callie noticed that the back of the young woman's thighs had severe welts on them. A sickening feeling came over her as she observed the telltale signs of past abuse.

Callie wanted so much to take the girl and affect some sort of escape. But she knew this was not an option. At least not now. She nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Isadora. I am grateful to you." Isadora's lips formed a brief smile back towards Callie before she turned back towards the door, quickly unlocking it and slipping through to go about her way.

Lila sat in an overstuffed leather seat holding a glass, shifting the ice cubes back and forth as she watched the tall man standing before the desk. He was about 35 and clearly Brazilian. He set down a briefcase on the desk and watched the man seated gesture for him to open it. The man complied, opening the case to reveal a large amount of cash.

Reese sat forward in his chair and glanced down at the currency and offered the man standing before him a beleaguered expression. "I requested Euros, Edwardo. You know that is my preferred currency."

The tall man's eyes shifted to him, then over his shoulder to Lila who offered him a twisted smile. He cleared his throat anxiously as he looked at her, then back to Reese. "You will forgive me, Senhor. But Euros were difficult to obtain this week. I have increased the amount to R$6,000,000 for your inconvenience."

Reese reached over and thumbed through the stacks of Brazilian currency then looked back up to him but said nothing. Edwardo began to feel increased nervousness and glanced from Reese to the cash, then back over to Lila who shook her head in mock displeasure at him. His eyes returned to Reese who sat back in his office chair, still staring at him. "Edwardo, this will be the only time you bring me this Brazilian currency. I already have too much of it. Your country's economy is far too unstable. Do we understand each other?"

Edwardo, seemingly happy to still be standing at this point, nodded his assurance. "Yes, of course, Senhor. I shall not make the same mistake again."

Reese sat back up offering Edwardo a serious expression. "If you make this mistake, as you call it, again, it will be your last. Our relationship will end and so shall you." He gestured over towards Lila. "The lady does not enjoy being paid in Brazilian Reals, I assure you." Edwardo looked over at her. Lila shook her head in agreement.

Edwardo offered another excess of nodding towards them both. "Yes, of course, Senhor."

"Then go. You can pick up your shipment at the usual location." He said gesturing dismissively to indicate the meeting was over. Edwardo nodded quickly to them both and scurried from the room.

Lila Crane stood up and walked over to the desk and looked down at the case of currency and shook her head. "Even the extra million Reals doesn't cover the potential loss if you hold this too long."

Reese took a deep breath and leaned back. "So true, my dear. But the fact I, an Englishman, was selling a Brazilian a load of Brazilian cocaine allows for such occasional latitude. Besides, I know if I had turned you lose on him that you would have gotten the carpet all dirty."

Lila's eyebrows perked up. "And what does that mean?"

Reese offered her a smug smile. "Just that you have a tendency to spill blood, my dear. I still have Isadora's blood stains on the patio because you chose to use a pair of pruning shears to remove her finger. And I won't even tell you how the loss of that finger affects her ability to perform certain tasks for me. You really need to learn to control that temper, my dear. Or at least exact it at more appropriate times."

Lila took several bundles of cash from the briefcase and placed them in a nearby bag, then looked over at Reese. "Well, if I keep getting paid in Reals, I can't promise you my work will become less messy. Speaking of such, when might I anticipate getting to make a mess with your new pet?"

Reese shot her a stern look. "You will be patient with that, my dear. After all, her family just arrived in Manaus. We must wait for them to come visit. Then, I suspect you will be able to enjoy spending some quality time at your craft with the Hardys and Mr. Morton. After all, I do not wish for my encounters with mother and daughter to be interrupted.

Lila Crane smiled and nodded slightly. "As you wish, sir."