"Rick!"

He heard his name, her "call"….terror, fear… "God, no!" he thought, then rage filled him and he nudged A.J. to move over, then slid past him and down the short ladder.

"What…what's wrong?" A.J. sat up from his vantage point in the camper, then grabbed at his brother as he started to climb out of the truck. "Rick…where are you going, you'll be spotted." Just then a muffled cry sounded, "Help!"

"Laurie..she's in danger…she's calling out…A.J….look!" He pointed at A.J.'s condo, where smoke was coming out from under the garage door.

"Rick, I'm calling Ron…wait a minute, who's that?" Rick saw what A.J. was looking at; a man running out of the shadows of the parking area.

"Get Ron, then follow me!" Rick was already running along the driveway, then veered into the set back between houses and cold-cocked the stranger as he snuck along the garage wall. Taken by surprise, the tall, thin man fell like a rock, and Rick made sure he was unconscious before turning toward the smoking building. Suddenly the front door of the condo opened, and a frantic Cecilia came rushing out. "Rick! Rick! Where have you been? Where's A.J.?"

"He's coming, Mom…now call Robbie and Rob…Laurie's in danger…" he half-hugged his mother, then went to the garage and hit the manual open switch. The door made a funny noise as it started to open, then stopped.

"Damn!" Rick swore, then yanked at the door, managing to open it halfway. Crawling underneath, he immediately began to cough as he realized Oscar's car was running. Staggering to his feet, he started towards the vehicle, then saw two figures, one trying to get to his feet, the other….

"Dad?!" At the sound of Rick's voice, the older man looked up, then choked "Son….help me…..knocked out…" At once Rick was at his wife's side, lifting her into a sitting position.

Laurie was moaning his name, then as he scooped her up in his arms, her eyes fluttered open.

"Sweetheart, stay with me….we'll be out of here in a moment." Rick said, trying to reassure her. With Oscar leaning on him, Rick carried his precious burden as far as the garage door, then saw a stick wedged into the door mechanism.

"Oscar, can you pull that out?:" He asked, then watched gratefully as the other man pulled the stick out of the door.

Immediately the door went up, and Rick and Oscar made their way out of the smoke-filled garage. At once they were surrounded by Ricky and Rudy, Linda hanging on to A.J., and Ron Johnson. Cries and questions filled the air as Rick was embraced from all sides.

"Thank God! I should have known…." Ron commented, as he took the woozy Oscar from Rick's grasp. Rudy led the way into the house, where Rick gently placed his wife on one sofa, while Oscar almost collapsed on the other. Cecilia came into the room with Rudy's bag, then took her place next to Oscar.

"Ambulance is on the way…now who the hell is that guy Jaime's threatening to kill?" Ron added, once he saw Rudy working on Oscar. "She says he's the one who did this to Oscar and Laurie?"

"He's Arnold Thorpeson, also known as Arnold Thorpe…the brother of the Secretary." A.J. volunteered angrily, and Oscar pushed aside the oxygen mask Rudy had placed on him. "He's the reason you and A.J were sent to that reunion…" he started, then stopped, wheezing.

"Easy Dad, it's okay. You and Rudy had no way of knowing….you two were the real targets. Arnie was always whining about he was going to tell his brother this, and he was going to tell his brother that…. I guess once he was made secretary, Thorpe decided to clean up his brother's mess." Rick explained, his eyes riveted on Laurie's face. Her eyes were open now, and when he saw tears filling them, he drew her to him. "Darlin'…can you hear me? It's all right.. I'm sorry, I should never have left you …"

"Rick….you came back to me…I knew you wouldn't leave me…" she interrupted, then kissed him, silencing his apology. At that Linda made a noise, then A.J. took her in his arms as she sobbed, "I thought you were gone…you better not ever do that again! Where have you been?".

"With me." Steve Austin came into the room, his arm around a relieved Jaime. At once everyone started talking, until Rick let out a whistle. "Okay..one at a time!"

"Steve, you knew they were alive?" Cecilia demanded, then subsided as he replied, "Yes, I found them in the ravine after their truck crashed. When Rick told me what had happened, I thought they were still in danger. So Rick and A.J. left their watches in the cab and I helped them up to the highway. Once we figured out it would be safer if you thought that the guys were dead, we got a used camper shell for my truck, and found a vantage point where we could watch over you and the girls."

"Oh, Steve….thank you for saving them, and I'm sorry I got mad…." Cecilia apologized, nearly in tears and at once Steve hugged her. "It's okay, Cecilia….I know what we did was cruel, but we had to make sure you and Linda and Laurie were safe…."

"And I had to see that my Laurie was okay…that she knew I would never just leave her." Rick kissed her forehead, and she relaxed against his chest. "And you kept your word, thank you, darling." Laurie whispered, her eyes bright with happiness.

"Well, I'm taking our would-be killer off Jaime's hands, and I'll be back for your statements, guys." Ron promised, earning a hug from each of the women.

Watching their assailant taken away, Rick felt his wife shiver, and he cuddled her to his chest. "I'm here, sweetheart…..Okay?"

"Yes, love….I just want to look after you for weeks and weeks…" Laurie declared, then giggled as Rick kissed her, saying, "Works for me!"