He had to leave--he had to find Cece. There was plenty of time, surely. Abe glanced back over his shoulder at the arched doorway where Ava had disappeared. He would need to be back in--he checked his watch--exactly thirty-eight minutes. Fine. But he couldn’t just stay there! Not when Cece had taken his gun and then presumably fired three shots in the woods.

He stepped over a fallen branch and pushed leaves from his face. His ears still rang with the sound of the gun -- it couldn’t be that far off. Problem was, not much moonlight was able to push through trees. And since he was too nervous to turn on his flashlight, it was slow going. With each step he listened carefully, trying to figure out whether--

“You have no choice, Celine,” a deep voice came from Abe’s left. He turned quickly, searching, willing his eyes to become more acquainted with the dark. There! He could just barely see two figures about fifteen feet ahead, facing each other in the night.

“Funny, that’s what I was going to say to you, Monseiur.” As Abe crept closer, he saw that Cece and her opponent each pointed a gun towards the other, neither able to move for fear of drawing fire.

Abe heard a moan--there were two men lying on the ground nearby.

“Your men are going to bleed out if you don’t do something,” Cece continued sweetly. “Kneecap wounds can be fatal, you know.”