Somewhere in the forest

Emily felt the exhaustion and stress of the past few hours when she returned to Conrad to the dugout. She felt slightly dizzy, for she hadn't eaten or drunk for hours, and the tiredness gradually came over her. Just a little more time to wait, she tried to keep herself awake. At first, she had to help Conrad. She went to him and carefully removed the blindfolds and then the tape that had been pasted over his mouth. She didn't know how to free him from his chains, since she had no key. But perhaps this would help him, too. "Conrad?" She said cautiously, because he still didn't move. "Conrad, it's me, Emily." She looked around in his prison. There was nothing there she could treat his wound with. But luckily it was a superficial lesion, so it could be assumed that he wouldn't bleed out. Looking around, she noticed a bucket of water in a corner. There was even a ladle in it. She scooped a little water with it and then went back to her father-in-law and poured it carefully over his head. And indeed, the involuntary shower awakened him from his unconsciousness. Emily quickly went back to the bucket and took fresh water, which she then held to his mouth. "Here, drink this!" She demanded, and made it clear that he actually took some sips from the ladle.

After he had drunk enough, he opened his eyes and then looked at her dazed. "Em-ily...," he stammered faintly.

She nodded and looked at the chains with which he was bound. No chance to open it on her own, though she would have wanted to free him, because the chains had already left bloody gashes on his wrists.

Conrad moistened his dry lips. "What... what are you doing... here?" He asked wearily.

"Saving you," she said, pulling a handkerchief out of her trouser pocket, pressing it against his wound. "Help is on the way," she added, as he continued to look at her perplexed. "Can you remember anything? Who did that to you?" Tense she waited for his answer. On one hand, she was glad that she had found Conrad alive, on the other hand she feared that he suspected her who was responsible for his abduction. But to her great relief, he shook his head.

"I was... in my suite at the... South Fork Inn," he recalled. "There was a knock at the door. A... man came in and then..." He interrupted the sentence and looked at her with glassy eyes.

"And then?" She urged him gently.

"I... can't remember...," he stammered.

"So you don't know how you got here?" She asked. Although she had no idea herself how he had gotten here, she knew from her father's report that he had been put out of action with a tranquilizer dart. She looked at him. Apart from his wound on his head, he seemed to be doing fine. No sign of a more serious injury. So he had not been tortured. And he'd recognized her and knew he'd been in the hotel before being kidnapped. So obviously he didn't suffer from amnesia, which could be a possible consequence after a fall on the head.

He looked around and then looked at her questioningly. "Where am I?"

"In an old dugout," Emily replied. "Someone kidnapped you from the South Fork Inn and then brought you here." She gave him a scrutinizing look. "You really can't remember anything?"

"No, nothing." He looked up at the chains that held his arms in position. "Can you... get rid of them?"

"I wish I could. But I have no key or anything to break the chains." She hoped that Nolan had at least a pair of tongs to break them. The waiting was tugging at her nerves. She didn't know if the order kidnapper would return. She had received too little information from her father to get an idea of the situation. How dangerous were the men whom her father had ordered to kidnap Conrad? Apparently, they were capable to do anything for money. She recalled her last conversation with her father and wondered if he had managed to reach the airport, and if so if he had succeeded in getting out of the country.

"How did you find me?"

She had expected this question, but she didn't know what to answer. She couldn't tell him the truth, so she had to come up with a lie again. "Charlotte noticed how you left the Manor," she began hesitantly. It was still the part that was not a lie. "And since she was worried, she asked me for help, and we followed you to the South Fork Inn." Also not completely wrong. "Then we saw someone dragging you out of the suite against your will, and I followed the kidnapper's van up to here." It was the only plausible explanation she could think of how he got to this place.

"Kidnapper?" Conrad echoed, frowning. "Who has an... interest in.. kidnapping me?"

"Someone who believes he can grow rich by kidnapping the captain of industry, Conrad Grayson and demand ransom from his family," Emily suggested, shrugging. Or someone who wants to take revenge, she thought quietly. She wondered what had happened to Conrad if her father had completed his plan. Would her father-in-law had voluntarily retreated and left the country? And if he had refused, how far would her father have gone? She shuddered at the thought that he might have been able to commit a murder. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she noticed too late that somebody was approaching the dugout from outside. Only when she heard a crackling sound did she raise her head. "There's someone coming!" She whispered and peered out the door to see who came to see her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized Nolan's blond hair. "It's Nolan and Charlotte!" She said and ran outside. But she stopped abruptly when she saw that the two had not come alone. "Daniel?!" She exclaimed, startled, just staring at him for a few seconds. The cool, derisive look he gave her didn't only give her the chills of an ominous foreboding, it also kept her from throwing herself in his arms. And when he greeted her and said her name, she knew her biggest fear had come true...

"Hello... Amanda."