Amanda and Carlotta had been taken to the upstairs bedroom once again. Their hands remained bound and they were tied to chairs that were back to back. “Carlotta, hold your hands as far apart as you can get them. I am going to try to untie you so that you can free yourself then try to contact Lee after you get out of this house.”

“No Amanda. I won’t leave you. Besides Scarecrow should be here very soon. I spoke to him before I was discovered. They are right outside the estate. He may even be in the house by now. Caris and the others think he is still in D.C. They will not be expecting him so soon. By that time Amanda had managed to free the other woman’s hands. Carlotta freed her arms and legs and rapidly untied Amanda. The two stood together in the center of the room. Amanda said in a worried tone, “That was too easy. They may be setting up some sort of trap.”

Carlotta said “Or maybe they are just too confident in their scheme and too forgetful of the skills you have learned.” A scuffle in the hall outside reminded them of the guards roaming the halls of the house. “Well we are free but still trapped in this room.”

Amanda was very frustrated at not being able to somehow signal Lee where they were. She began to pace the room. The door flew open and Caris walked quickly to Amanda. He looked briefly at the ropes that were lying useless on the floor. “I really must stop underestimating you.” He grabbed her and as she was being taken to the first floor she resisted briefly in the hopes of buying enough time to run out of the house but stopped when she felt him grip her around the stomach tightly. She could not breath and was terrified that he would harm her pregnancy in some way. “It would seem I have underestimated Scarecrow and the Agency as well. They are here and will not show themselves. But I think I can convince him to cooperate.”

In the open courtyard, Caris held Amanda tightly against him and said loudly “Scarecrow! Please come and join us. Your wife would like to tell you something. It seems she has decided to find love in a real man. Not one who would leave her alone for so long. Tell him my dear. Tell him who your new love is.”

He held a gun against the side of her head and shook her hard. “Call to him, dammit! He will come out for you.” Amanda looked at him and shook her head. He had a wild look in his eyes. He had really gone around the bend. He shook her again and held the gun to her stomach. “Call him or I will take not only him from you but also his child.” When her eyes showed her shock at his knowledge of the baby he laughed. ‘Of course I know my dear. I know all there is to know about you two. I hate you with every fiber of my being. Now call him or he and the child will die and you will be left all alone.”

She knew by the look on his face he was serious. So to save the life of their unborn child she called to him. “Lee! Lee! Where are you?”

“Now tell him that you do not love him and that you will be leaving with me.” Caris’ face was wet with sweat and his eyes filled with rage and enjoyment. He was thrilled to be watching her suffer like this. “Say it now!” He shoved the gun hard into her stomach. Her voice broke as she said words out loud she never she thought she would say. “Lee I don’t love you anymore and I am leaving with him.”

“Do you hear that Scarecrow? She does not love you. You have nothing. Just as you left me with nothing. I have taken everything from you, your wife, your child, you once told me that without her love you would have no life. Well, now you have neither. I am leaving now and if you try to stop me I will kill her and then I will kill you. But not before you see her die.” He began to drag Amanda toward the car. The next few minutes were a blur of running men and bullets as Lee dropped down from the tree branches after yelling at Amanda to run. As he subdued Caris Saeed and Billy and the backup team swarmed the house, Amanda sank to the ground behind the tree Lee had been hiding in. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and watched. When she saw that Lee was not going to stop beating the man even after he was down she rushed to him and grabbed his arm. “Lee, stop it! Stop! It won’t do any good. You can’t change what happened.” Lee threw the man away from him and grabbed Amanda and held her in his arms. He kissed her lips right there in front of everybody. He held her against his body and felt the shaking of her body. Or was it his body shaking?

As he held her tighter he could feel the protrusion of her abdomen and dropped to his knees and put his head against her shirt. He finally spoke in a shaken voice. “I thought you were gone. I thought I would never hold you or our child again. I love you. You are my life.” He stood up and picked her up and carried her to the waiting ambulance. “Lee, wait! What about Carlotta? We have to make sure she’s okay.”

Billy came around the corner then with Carlotta in tow. “I am here Amanda. I am okay.” The two women embrace quickly before Amanda is lifted into the back of the ambulance by her husband. The doors close and it drives away from her prison of the last three weeks.