Misunderstandings and Heartbreak

Chapter 7 - I'd Come for You

A/N: Thank you for encouraging me to continue. Sorry for the delay but my muse flew away. I'm so glad she decided to make an appearance and I finally remember why I love writing. I hope you enjoy the chapter and please let me know what you think.

Jenny, you are amazing! Thank you for your friendship and help!

The song for this chapter is I'd Come for You by Nickleback.

Tank was already on his phone calling in everyone, including the contract workers.

"Hal, I want you to pull up all security cameras around Stephanie's apartment for the last week. Pick two guys to help. Hector, hit the streets and work your magic. Lester, call our contacts and see how this son of a bitch got out. Tank, with me."

Tank and I hit the stairs, and within seconds we were climbing into my truck. The tires barked as we pulled out of the garage, heading toward Stephanie's place. I knew going there wouldn't show me much, but I wanted to set foot inside her apartment. Feeling connected to her would at least help me center myself.

We pulled up outside her apartment and quickly made our way through the parking lot. Once at her door, I slowly turned the handle before stepping inside. I'd thought coming here would help center me, but the emptiness of the apartment only seemed to reiterate just how stupid I'd been. I walked into her bedroom and opened the drawer where she'd always kept a few of my shirts and a pair of my boxers. It helped to know she hadn't thrown them out after the way I'd messed everything up. I walked past her bed, barely resisting the urge to grab her pillow to see if I could catch a whiff of her on it. I sat down in the rocking chair near the bed and allowed myself to fall into the routine of centering to focus on the mission at hand.

Sometime later…

Seven hours had slowly ticked by since we'd watched the video. Four hundred and twenty minutes since I'd heard Stephanie scream out in pure agony. Twenty-five thousand, two hundred seconds before we'd finally gotten a break.

Finally, someone on Stark Street had seen someone matching Auric's description going into the old abandoned cotton mill.

Tank and I rushed to the command center a block away from the building to meet the guys. By the time we arrived, Lester and Bobby were already barking out orders. Hector, Bones, and Binky were changing into undercover clothes they used sometimes on stakeouts. By the time they finished, the three of them would look like they walked out of the alley behind Stark where the homeless vagabonds set up their shantytowns. Those three quickly left on foot to set up a perimeter outside the building in case Auric tried to flee.

Ram walked over carrying the infrared camera. "Boss, I could see six heat signatures. Four are walking around the building, presumably guards on patrol. The other two, presumably Auric and Ms. Plum. Signature seems to be sedentary, while the other seems to move about freely."

A truck flew into the lot where we stood, and Zip came running up holding the building schematics. Ram marked the probable locations of the guards on the plans as I armed myself before I put my earwig in. Hoping to catch Auric and his men by surprise, I made my way on foot toward the building.

When I finally reached the outer door, I used the lock-picking kit and then closed it silently behind me. I knew that the first guard was patrolling the outer corridor, so I ducked into a dark room and waited for him to walk by.

As soon as he passed by, I crept up behind him, placed him in a sleeper hold until he passed out, and then lowered him to the ground before securing his hands and feet together with zip-ties and placing a cover over his mouth.

I continued down the hall, pausing as I reached the corner. I took out a small mirror, which allowed me to see the second guard down the hall. He had his back turned until I'd almost reached him. At the last second, he turned and kicked out.

A fight was not what I'd wanted to happen. It was too noisy, and it drew too much attention to my presence in the building. Unfortunately, he gave me no choice. After exchanging a few punches, I was finally able to get him in a headlock, snapping his neck in the process.

As I lowered the guard's body to the floor, a shot rang through the air, grazing my left arm. I pulled my weapon and returned fire, hitting the third guard between the eyes.

By that time, I knew they'd heard me. I took off running down the hall toward the room where they were holding Steph. The door was standing open, and Auric called out just as I stepped through the doorway.

"Manoso, it's so nice of you to finally join us. I was beginning to think you had lost some of your impressive skills over the years. Of course, I figured that you, the man who can kill so mercilessly, would be fine allowing someone else to die for your sins."

I walked farther into the room. Auric was sitting down near Stephanie. The final guard had a gun pointed in my direction.

I ignored Auric and the guard for the time being and let my gaze drift over Steph, who was still attached to the cross. Her left eye was swollen shut, and dried blood sliced a path down her creamy white skin from an abrasion that resembled a pair of brass knuckles. My heart stopped for a moment when I realized she had a suicide vest strapped to her chest. Her mouth was covered with duct tape, but her good eye was wide with panic and fear. Auric had better pray that he kills me, because if I got my hands on him, he would plead for death to come quickly.

"You call me a merciless killer, Auric. But your family murdered hundreds of people, all because they refused to denounce their faith. The government did not want the death of your son. He chose to kill himself rather than go to prison for his crimes."

"Lies!" Auric screamed. "He would never betray Allah in that way! My son tried to surrender, and you murdered him in cold blood. The witnesses told us of your cruelty."

"You can try to convince yourself of whatever lie you want. Allaric killed himself to avoid the U.S. justice system."

"You and your government think you rule over the all-mighty caliphate! Your government trains their heartless soldiers to kill relentlessly and without honor. Let us see what your precious Babe has to say now that she knows the kind of man you truly are."

He reached over and viciously ripped the tape from her face. "What do you think, Ms. Plum? What do you think of your Ranger now that you know the truth about what a heartless murderer he is?"

I met Steph's gaze again and prayed that she would say that she hated me. Maybe if he believed that, he would let her go. As it currently stood, I was pretty sure I wasn't getting out of this alive, but maybe, just maybe, if she played this the right way, she could walk away from this ordeal.

Steph met Auric's gaze and spat out, "I think you're an asshole whose dumb-ass brother got what he deserved."

Auric's fist flew, connecting with her cheek and throwing her head back into the cross. Knowing this might be the only opportunity I got, I threw my knife into the guard's neck and knocked the gun from his hand. Then I turned toward Auric with my weapon drawn.

He was standing beside Steph with a detonator in one hand and a knife in the other. "I should slice her pretty little neck. Let you watch as the blood runs like torrents down her chest to puddle on the floor at her feet. Watch your face as the life drains from her body. The other option is to let her go and let you live with the knowledge that one day, I will kill her."

He placed the knife to her skin and started to slice.

I pulled the trigger, and the bullet landed between his eyes. I ran toward Auric, wrapping my hand around his that held the detonator. I looked up to tell Steph we were safe and saw the blood running down her throat, just like Auric had promised. I met her eyes and could see the fear there, the fear that Auric had gotten his wish and that she would slowly bleed to death.

I screamed into the mic hidden in my shirt. "Bobby, get in here. The son of a bitch cut her! Ram, EOD suit—now! Countdown's at fifteen minutes."

"Babe, the guys are coming. We're going to be fine."

She tried to speak, but the movement caused more blood to drip from the wound on her neck.

"Steph, don't talk. Trust me, mi amour! Everything will be fine."

I prayed that I was right…

TBC -

A/N: It's supposed to snow this weekend. I love snow but you know what is better than snow? REVIEWS!

LOL!

Next chapter ASAP!