Hero

LEBRON

               Fifteen minutes passed as our captive sniper led us to where Adrian was. Now that a sniper was involved, I believed this was more than a kidnapping. I had a feeling this had something to do with the RIA. Our captive turned toward us.

               "Um..." he said, "This is it," he pointed at a rollout window of a building. "Up there, through that window, and you'll find the kid."

               "Thanks," I said to him, "We'll put that kidnapper in his place," I turned back to the sniper. "You're not off the hook, either, pal. You'll be seeing each other in jail." I handcuffed our captive to the railing of the building, and then Rodriguez, Samantha, and I headed to the window.

               "Send Sergei my apologies!" he shouted before we went. All three of us stopped. Sergei?

               "Rodriguez, I think you should stay here with Samantha until I return," I whispered.

               "No way," he whispered back, "I'm going with. This tragedy with Sergei affected me, too, so I'm helping with it." He turned to Samantha. "But I do think that you should stay here, Sam. It's too dangerous for you, and if one of us dies, then we'd still have a chance of the police coming and capturing Sergei if you're still up here."

               "No way, TeddyBear!" Sam shook her head at him.

               "...TeddyBear...?" Rodriguez muttered, "Please don't ever call me that again."

               "If you die, then I die, too!" She crossed her arms. I walked up to her.

               "Then, if you die, I assume that Antonio dies, too?" I asked her. She thought. After a while, I sighed. "Look, Samantha, don't look at it like we're trying to protect you. Think of it like we just want you to look after..." I gave the sniper a stern look. "Our little friend here. I know that if he tries to escape, you'd be the only one to catch him," I looked Samantha up and down. "Especially seeing how strong you are." Just a little encouragement should do it.

               "Really?" she asked, "You think that about me?"

               "Of course I do," I said, "Now, please stay here and watch him for us." Rodriguez and I turned to leave again.

               "Okay!" she yelled after us, "I'll do my best!" Gullible or not, I was proud of Samantha. Yeah, we'd do our best, too.