Whatever Viki was talking about faded into the background of Dorian's mind. She couldn't do anything about it at this point anyway. She had personally prepped the mayor for the debate and was now a mere observer who had the confidence to leave the reputation of the Lowell campaign in the mayor's hands. Although she didn't agree with a lot of his politics, and he certainly had his downfalls; what she did admire in him was his shrewd, go-getter attitude, and his willingness to let her mold and change him for the better. Any man who was so willing to take her advice to heart couldn't be as Neanderthal as his first impression indicated; and each day Mayor Lowell seemed to improve at Dorian's urging. Perhaps it would be an uphill battle to gain that Chief of Staff position again – Mayor Lowell had made it quite clear that he would not endorse her, but she loved that word that had gotten her involved in his campaign in the first place: "governorship."

As Viki spewed statistics about crime rates and endorsed the Llanview police department, Dorian's mind drifted from the mayor to David. He was sitting beside her with his camera crew and she had managed to assure him in the brief moment that the cameras were not filming that she would always love him. It was not a lie, but this latest harebrained project of his was not something she could allow into her personal life. She had bigger fish to fry and better plans to throw her clout behind. Besides, David was too distracted with himself to listen to her advice.

The candidates began to debate about John McBain. Dorian, knowing the conflict Mayor Lowell had with the officer, had tried to correct a bad situation involving the mayor's son, Justin, by asking the mayor to contact John about Cole working undercover. It was unfortunate that the mayor had not been able to contact John before the debate. She found this strange - she had never had any difficulty contacting John McBain for any reason – but it was conceivable that John preferred to avoid taking calls from the mayor.

There was some commotion beside her and Dorian turned in her chair to see what Ford, Markko and David were looking at.

Apparently, there were cops in the room. She looked up to see John McBain himself in the background with his usual unapologetic, unenthusiastic expression. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if perhaps John had come to speak to the mayor regarding the situation with young Justin. She also wondered, for a split second, if John was indeed aware of why the mayor would have tried to contact him, and the lieutenant was there to chat with her about telling the mayor about confidential police work. She knew she could hold her own against John if that were the case.

Her head jerked back to the front as Mayor Lowell offered his rebuttal concerning Powell Lord and blamed John for the serial killer coming to town. Dorian shivered. That serial killer had kidnapped and attempted to kill her niece, Blair. She took a deep breath. Thank God Blair was alright.

Of course, Dorian knew that it was not John, but Todd who had caused Powell Lord to come to Llanview - Todd, who had incited the disgusting situation years ago that inspired Powell to take revenge. Perhaps it was rather brilliant of the mayor to turn the story around make it sound like it was John's fault, but Dorian wished he would have spun it to mention Viki's relation to Powell and implicate her brother instead. Dorian did not agree with the mayor in the least, or his intent to keep Todd's name out of the proverbial mud in hopes of garnering some shred of support from The Sun, but she understood why he was saying these things.

Dorian fidgeted a bit as John crept to the front of the room and stood below Mayor Lowell's lectern. The corner of her lip perked. John had every right to defend himself, but the mayor - she hoped - could use it to his advantage.

As she expected, John interrupted and he and the mayor traded insulting words before John tried to stop the debate. Dorian started to shake her head - she didn't think John had gotten that pathetic….

Dorian blinked and her eyes widened when John suddenly announced that he intended to arrest the mayor. She didn't even have time to question whether her ears deceived her when the crowd behind her erupted into murmurs. Someone just to the back of her laughed, and she jerked her head in that direction. It must have been Natalie.

Confident that this was a vendetta gone too far, or a stunt orchestrated by Viki, Bo, John or any combination of the three, Dorian leapt to her feet and stepped into the thick of things. Without thinking, she pulled the media – David, Markko and Ford included - closer as cameras flashed toward the stage. In the back of her mind, she believed that John must have had a justifiable reason to arrest the mayor; but her own reputation was at stake by association and she had to take a defensive position. It was not only her job to support the mayor - she also had to make herself look innocent in the process.

She voiced her protest to John and turned to try to signal David to stop recording his ridiculous reality show, though she knew it would do no good.

Contrary to her concern, the mayor encouraged the press, trying to divert their attention to John and his apparent wrongdoing. He once again pointed out how John's vendetta was distracting him from fighting the drug problem in Llanview.

Mayor Lowell was wrong. Dorian knew the drugs were a particular concern to John. She had just been discussing that with the mayor and she had a sinking feeling since this didn't add up. She stepped sideways to get a better view of the mayor's face, but could not read guilt on it.

John confirmed her uneasiness when he agreed to discuss the drug problem and directed the room's attention to Officer Fish.

Dorian spun to the officers in the back of the room who were standing next to the loudspeaker, and looked back and forth between them and the mayor before standing in place and finding herself lost in the words that played over the P.A. system.

The mayor's voice that played on the recording was undeniable. He was suspicious that while working undercover, Cole had connected the drug ring in town to him and if so, he wanted someone to kill Cole.

The room spun. Kill him? In the surreal blur, Dorian could see the mayor in handcuffs, Viki's concern, and tons of camera bulbs flashing. She was at first shocked, then sickened, and felt like she turned in slow motion - as if through water - to look at the mayor.

His face revealed the truth.

As soon as her eyes landed on Lowell, Dorian's eyes closed and her heart sank. She had told the mayor about Cole. She was the reason he had put the hit out on Cole. He had lied to her about trying to contact John earlier in the day. And precious Hope and Starr….

Hope and Starr….

She shot a glare of vehement disdain at the mayor and listened in as John explained the situation to Viki and Charlie.

She concealed her panic well as she butted in to inquire about Cole.

John reassured her that Cole was safe, and went on to further implicate the mayor with the numerous drug busts that were being made in connection to him.

The mayor continued to insist on his innocence. Dorian was so shocked as she put it all together that she could barely hear him.

John commanded the other officers to take Mayor Lowell away, but they paused in front of the lieutenant as Dorian stood next to him. The mayor seemed confident that he would be safe in court.

Dorian stepped away in a daze, distancing herself. She would have no other choice but to testify against him. The police led the mayor away as the crowd dispersed in chaos. No one seemed to want to leave, and she was desperate to, though still almost too stunned to move.

In what seemed an instant, the police began to rush out of the room. John touched his hand to her back as he passed by her.

Her thoughts raced in the timeless space. She wondered if she had been recorded, too. She hoped not, but it seemed only logical.

Todd would be on the recording, too. He had been to visit the mayor earlier about keeping Starr and Hope safe. Would he be blamed? No, she had gotten to the mayor first and she knew it. John must have known it too.

She knew Cole was safe, but she hadn't asked about Starr and Hope, and now the police were gone. She looked around, a bit lost, and her eyes met Viki's.

How dare she look so concerned?

Dorian tossed her head back and started to leave. She needed to go home. She needed to make sure Starr and Hope were safe, and perhaps do some damage control. It was possible that Starr was aware that Cole's cover had been blown.

David hustled to get her on camera, ever concerned about his stupid show. She rolled her eyes at him, betrayed, and turned to the media as they questioned her.

She tried to stave off their questions. All she could think about was leaving. She forced herself to not grasp at her collar or necklace - to stay put and stay calm.

This interrogation is over, she told herself as she emphasized the end of their questioning and reminded herself to breathe as she made a deliberate about face and as calm an exit as she could force herself to make.

Her driver was waiting and switched off the car radio as she slid into her seat. "Get me home - now." She grabbed a water bottle and took a drink before she buried her forehead in her palm and propped herself against the car window with her eyes closed. "Please hurry."

She knew the streets well enough that she didn't have to open her eyes until she was home. Police cars with their lights flashing lined the street and drive.

"Oh, dear god." She grasped the door handle and would have left her purse behind if her arm had not been hooked through the handles.

"Doctor Lord!" her driver called when she jumped out of the back seat as he was still rolling to a stop.

She cut through the grass to get to the front door faster, but someone outside grabbed her arm.

"Hold on a minute, ma'am, the police are still securing the area. You can't go in there."

"I live here!" she yelled at him.

He gripped her arm harder. "You can't go in there," he repeated.

"My niece and her baby are in there … my daughter…." She struggled against him and pried his fingers off of her arm before he caught her around the waist with his own arm and pulled her to a squad car.

"Ma'am, we are still securing the scene!" His tone was more forceful now. "Please let the officers inside do their jobs."

She struggled harder. "Let me go! This is my house!"

Another police officer joined them and they pushed her into the back of the car and shut the door.

"Oh, my god, no. You can't do this!"

She tried the door but couldn't find a way out. She leaned to the other door and collapsed in the back seat for just a moment with her head on her arm as she panicked.

The police officer still stood outside. "Let me out!" she screamed, pounding on the window with all her might. "Let me out of here!"

He turned and gazed at her with a look that could have been interpreted as callous.

She gasped for air and almost wept against the window, her face contorted in pain. "Please, please…."

The officer looked down at her from outside and then slipped into the front seat. "Ma'am?"

"No," she gasped to him. "No, you have to let me out of here, please."

"I understand that you're concerned for your family, but we have to keep you safe. Can you cooperate with us on that?"

She put her hand to her chest. Her heart was beating so hard that it hurt. She swallowed. "Where is John McBain?"

"He's inside."

"What about Bo Buchanan? Can I talk to him? I want to talk to Bo, now."

"He's down at the police station booking the mayor right now, but if you'll be patient…."

"Patience is not one of my virtues," she half-gasped and half-snarled. "Listen, you have got to let me out of this car." She tried to be calm and reasonable. "I'm claustrophobic."

His look was skeptical, then compassionate. "You know I've heard that line a thousand times, but … you seem like a nice lady. I'll make you deal. You promise me that you won't go in that house until we give the all clear, and I will let you out of this car and keep you as informed as possible."

She nodded again. Her throat was tight and her chest heaved as she breathed. "I just want to make sure my girls are alright."

He climbed out of the car and opened her door, holding his hand out in chivalrous fashion to help her out of the back seat. She accepted his gesture, and he laced his fingers through hers as he closed the door. His action accomplished two things - calming the civilian and keeping her from running into a potentially dangerous situation.

Dorian took a deep breath of the outside air and steadied herself. She gazed over at the police officer who, other than his hand clenched in hers, seemed much more interested in the movements of his fellow police men and women and his radio than he was in her. The sounds of sirens - ambulance sirens? – drawing near the house were just a small part of the chaos ensuing around her.

She tried to interpret the static, indiscernible voice on the officer's radio. "Was that John? Did he say the area is secure?"

"There are men down in there, Mrs. Lord. It is best you wait."

She didn't bother to correct her title, instead offering. "I'm a doctor…."

As she spoke, a screaming ambulance pulled into the driveway and two EMTs jumped out and were directed into the house. She froze as she watched them.

"Listen." She turned to face the officer, her voice adamant. "You tell John McBain that I'm out here. I want to know if my family is alright. You can at least do that, can't you?"

The officer took a deep breath and sighed as he considered her before turning his head away and speaking into his radio. "Lieutenant?"

"Kinda busy in here - what is it?"

Dorian, her hand still interlaced with the officer's, stepped closer and tilted her head to the side as she listened.

"I have the owner of the house out here. She's pretty upset. 10-25 on the minors?"

There was an arduous pause. "10-23."

The officer looked back at her without an answer, exacerbating her worry. She looked down at her fingers, trying to concentrate on not tensing her hand against his.

She coughed and grasped her purse, twisting around to toss it onto the roof of the squad car and unclasp it with her free hand. She cast a sideways glance at the policeman and continued to cough as she stirred in her purse.

He was relentless.

"Do you happen to have any water?" she wheezed.

He put his free hand on her shoulder and led her around to the back of the car, popping open the trunk. She was careful as she slipped her feet out of her heeled shoes, standing on her toes so he wouldn't notice. When he leaned into the trunk to retrieve a bottle of water, she jerked her hand away from his and ran toward the house.

"Hey!" he called after her, water bottle in hand.

She managed to dodge and slip in between a couple of other policemen on the sidewalk before they realized what was going on, but stopped in her tracks when a stretcher rolled out the front door and toward her.

Her heart leapt into her throat again as the stretcher rolled by her. It was Shaun. They already had him on fluids and were holding a bag valve mask to his face. He had been shot in the chest, was covered in blood, and didn't seem to be breathing. She reeled.

A female officer slipped her arm around Dorian's shoulder as she saw the EMTs hurry to load Shaun into the ambulance and drive away. Dorian tried to edge away from her, but looked around and saw she was surrounded. "I'll go in with you," she heard the female voice say into her ear as she let go of Dorian's shoulder.

The front door stood open as officers exited the scene. She got the distinct feeling that they did not want her to be inside her own house.

John stood just inside the door, and a bruised and bleeding Todd sat on the stairs, looking like hell; but what caught Dorian's eye and held it was the pool of blood on the floor of the foyer. She froze in the doorframe and stared at it.

Is that all Shaun's? she thought to herself, trying to calculate how many pints might be there. She reeled and grasped the doorframe as she looked back and forth between Todd, John, and her house with desperation in her eyes.

John blinked back at her. Todd avoided her gaze.

Her throat was so dry she had trouble speaking. "The girls?" she breathed.

Todd and John exchanged a glance, and neither of them answered.

Dorian rushed across the foyer, turning toward the kitchen to find more blood smeared against the doorframes, floor, and walls. She covered her mouth with her hand and spun toward the living room. More blood.

"Starr!?" she screamed in a wispy, scratchy voice. Her frantic hope was to be answered by the sound of feet running down the stairs or a voice calling back from another room.

John stepped forward as Todd winced. "They're not here, Dorian."

Did he mean they weren't there to start with or they weren't there anymore? "Where are they?" she breathed.

Todd looked up at her. "Some drug thugs broke in here and took them." He shook his head as if he was at a loss for words. "They would have seen Shaun and me dead, and now they have Starr and Hope."

Dorian crept forward and clasped the banister on the staircase with both hands to steady herself. "Oh, oh … my god," she whispered.

John looked at her as if he knew something.

"John?"

He nodded at her. "The mayor."

Her eyes widened as a memory flashed through her mind. "That hateful man that came to the campaign headquarters today…."

"Sergei," John clarified.

Todd looked down at his outstretched palms. "Hateful? Sounds like you had better dealings with him than we did."

Dorian covered her mouth with one hand again and sank to her knees beside the stairs, averting her gaze from the pool of blood next to her. "He said he was a volunteer," she whispered to herself, feeling rather stupid for not questioning the suspicious behavior on the part of the mayor.

Dorian's cell phone rang, startling her as she remembered the purse hooked on her arm. She grabbed at it in a near panic and answered. "Hello? Oh, Langston, thank goodness…."

John watched her as she spoke, and he exchanged an occasional glance with Todd.

"No no no. Honey…." Dorian looked over at Todd and clamored to her feet, heading for the kitchen. She stopped just outside the kitchen doorway, leaning on a counter and burying her face against her free hand, her voice cracking. "Langston, darling, Starr and Hope have been kidnapped."

There was a pause before Langston's voice rose in pitch and she spoke so fast that Dorian struggled to discern her words through the phone. "Kidnapped? What? Who would … why? Where are they? Do the police know? What are we going to do?"

Dorian let a couple of tears stream down her cheeks until she was able to answer. "I um, I don't know just… listen. Do not - I repeat - do not come home right now."

"Dorian? I want to know what's going on. Where should I go?"

"Um, Starr… and little…." She choked again and had to gather herself. "Hope," she continued, "the police are looking for them, okay? Some drug bosses found out that Cole…." She almost dropped the phone, leaning over the counter for support and failing in her attempt to keep herself from breaking down in tears.

"Cole? Cole what?"

Dorian coughed once. "Cole was working undercover for the police as a drug dealer." There was a silence. "They found out and tried to have Cole killed."

"Ohmigod!" Langston cried out. "Is he okay!?"

"Yes, yes, Cole's fine." Dorian waved her hand around in the air. "But when that didn't work, they came after Starr and Hope, and they're gone … and Shaun's been shot…."

The silence filled the phone speakers between them before Langston spoke again. "Dorian?"

"Just don't come home, sweetheart."

"Where should I go?"

"Anywhere … anywhere that you feel safe and comfortable. We'll, uh … we'll stay at The Palace tonight? I'll call you when I leave here, okay, darling?"

"Dorian? … Make it soon? I'm really afraid for Starr and Hope."

Dorian's concerns melted away as Langston's frightened tone of voice reached her ear. "Of course, sweetheart," she comforted. "Soon. I, uh… I need to take care of a few things here. I'll pack an overnight bag for you okay?"

"See you soon."

Dorian regretted to step back into the foyer. Her voice carried her apprehension. "Has anyone called Blair?"

"I tried," Todd answered, frustrated. "Twice so far."

Dorian frowned at the phone in her hand. "I've been trying to get ahold of her for a few days now. I hope she's alright." She looked at John, who shuffled his feet and averted his gaze.

Dorian stepped over the blood on the floor and onto the stairs, looking down at Todd and wondering if the blood on the steps next to him was fresh or leftover. She winced. "I'm just going to grab a few things upstairs."

"Dorian," John called after her.

She paused.

"We've still got pictures to take up there. Try not to move anything around."

She almost fell and nearly fainted as it occurred to her that the kidnappers had gone upstairs as well. Hope. The name rang in her mind and she somehow managed to pull herself up the stairs despite the fact that her feet couldn't feel the floor under them anymore.

She headed straight for the nursery.

"Ohh," she squeaked to herself in the doorway, taking one step inside and dropping to her knees again at the sight of the disheveled room. "Dear God in heaven…." The crib was overturned, Hope's belongings were scattered everywhere, and the most disheartening sight of all - more blood. If it was Shaun's blood downstairs….

She crawled out of the room backwards and fell into a sitting position with her back against the wall in the hallway, sick at her stomach. As a doctor, the sight of blood was something she had grown desensitized to, but this was too much.

Had Hope witnessed that blood being spilled? She must have been so frightened … and to be in the hands and at the mercy of some brutally cruel person…. So much blood….

The possibility that Hope had been hurt was too much for Dorian to bear. Reality faded from around her. Instead of the wall behind her, she felt the warmth of Mel's body. His arms wrapped around her, inviting her to cry in the shelter of his strength. Just as soon as she envisioned him, in a matter of mere moments, he was gone – reality flooding back at the sound of a nearby voice.

"Doctor Lord?" It was the female police officer again. She crouched next to Dorian and put her hand on her shoulder. "Do you need help?"

Dorian's knee-jerk reaction moved her mouth faster than her mind could catch up to control it. "Help?" she blinked at the officer. "No, I don't need help," she growled. "My nieces need help!" She pushed herself to her feet as a couple of officers with a camera and black cases passed by her on their way into Hope's room. "Why aren't you trying to help them?!"

The officer at her side remained steady and calm. "The police are doing everything they can to help your family right now. I promise you that. Now … we let you walk into an active crime scene investigation here. We're trying to work with you. But you need to show us a little bit of cooperation, too, okay?"

A shaken Dorian swallowed and nodded. "Yes, yes of course," she relented, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I lost my temper."

The officer nodded with compassion in her voice. "Can I help you gather some things to take with you until we're done here?"

Dorian tried to rebuild her bravura. "That would be most appreciated," she smiled. Her fake confidence was a miserable failure.

She treated the officer like her own personal assistant as they packed a couple of overnight bags. She was so shaken that she didn't realize she had already packed her toothbrush when she went to search for it again. All she could think about was Starr and Hope, and how, as inadvertent as it may have been, she was at fault in her nieces' kidnapping.

Still, she couldn't admit it. If she could have strangled Mayor Lowell at that very moment, armies couldn't have pried her fingers from his yielding throat. It was such a shame that he was already behind bars, but lucky for him. Better than he deserved. Dorian wasn't one to spit, but she would have been more than satisfied to project her saliva through the bars of his jail cell. He had betrayed her on every possible level. She had fought for him - stood up for him and his son - tried to help him. He had used her, used her to gain information about Cole, and thrown her family to the wolves. Her expectoration was too good for him. He was a dog - no, that was insulting to dogs - and he deserved to have his nose rubbed in every mess he had made in this town, including the horrific scene her home had become.