A/N: Sad to say that after a week in the hospital and another week in hospice, Mom passed away a few weeks ago. I am in the process of settling her accounts and all the details that go with that, but hopefully things will be calming down soon. Here is the next chapter.

Kayla stood in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the living room, leaning against the door jamb as she absently wiped a just-washed coffee cup with a dishtowel. Her eyes were riveted on her husband, watching him silently, wondering what was going through his mind.

Immediately following the conclusion of the interrogation of Lance Carlton, Roman had driven them back to the safe house, where Hope had remained with a mildly resentful Stephanie, attempting to placate the girl who had vocally maintained the opinion that she should have been permitted to accompany her parents into town. Hope was clearly happy to relinquish her duties back to Kayla, and she and Roman had not lingered to visit. There was much work to do on the case, so they had returned to the station as soon as Steve and Kayla were safely inside the house.

An easy lunch of bologna sandwiches and tomato soup had been eaten in near total silence at one end of the large conference table. Stephanie, still smoldering over the fact that she had been left behind, seemed to realize that her father was in no mood to hear her complaints, so she waited, determined to air her grievances later. After rising from the table, Steve had retreated to the living room where he sat moodily on the sofa, staring at the black screen of the television, his brow furrowed in contemplation. Kayla did not need to ask the source of his abrupt plunge into deep thought; she knew he was rehashing Carlton's interview, turning over every detail in his mind, and attaching it to the treatment he had received at the hands of his captors.

It had been painful for her to hear a firsthand account of the years he had been held prisoner, but it had been important that she was there with him to support him. Even now, she could still feel the tightness with which he had held her hand while Carlton had spoken.

Behind her, in the kitchen, Stephanie wiped the soup bowls dry and returned them to the cabinets, expressing her objection to the injustice and unfairness of being left at the house while her parents had seized the opportunity of an hour or two of freedom.

"I still don't understand why I couldn't have gone with you and Dad," the teen complained as she returned the final soup bowl to the cabinet and closed the wooden door. Passing the refrigerator, she opened it and removed a can of her favorite soda. "It would have been nice to get out of this house for a while, you know?"

Distracted by her husband's apparent depression, her daughter's objections to being left behind during the interrogation was a mere drone in the background, the words barely recognized. It was the popping sound of the tab being opened on the soda can that finally forced Kayla to blink herself back to full awareness.

She understood that Stephanie had felt left out, but she and Steve had not wanted to subject her to the things that would likely come out in the interview. They were things that they would explain to her later, on their terms.

"Mom, are you even listening to me?" Stephanie prompted, impatiently.

Withdrawing into the kitchen again, Kayla said, "I'm listening, Stephanie. I know you're bored, but we all have to deal with that. I promise, we'll be out of here soon. Most of those guys are in jail now, and it's just a matter of time before we catch Vaughn."

"It just isn't fair!" Stephanie protested. "You two got to escape this place for a while, but I was stuck here the whole time! If you didn't want me going to the jail with you, you could have let me spend some time with Jeannie. You could have dropped me off at the Pub and picked me up on the way back here. Uncle Roman wouldn't have minded."

Kayla couldn't help but smile at the youthful logic. "The Pub is miles out of Uncle Roman's way, and whether or not he would have minded is not the point. Driving you all over town would have defeated the purpose of being here at all, wouldn't it?'

"I would have been safe with Grandma and Grandpa."

"We don't know that. If Vaughn is watching the Pub, he might have seen an opportunity. We just can't risk it. All it would have taken was for you and Jeannie to step outside for a few seconds or move into an area where no one was around."

"We would have stayed inside," Stephanie protested.

"Would you have?" Kayla asked, pointedly. "I know you, Stephanie, and I know you're at an age where you're stretching your wings a bit, finding your independence, and there's nothing wrong with that. But this isn't the time to be taking unnecessary risks. You're old enough that I shouldn't even have to be explaining this to you."

Stephanie could not argue with that, but made a frustrated gesture at her inability to present a realistic argument. "Okay, but did you have to give me a babysitter while you were gone? That made me feel like a child!"

"Hope wasn't a babysitter, sweetie," Kayla said, patiently. "She's a police officer, and she was here to protect you from anyone who might be out there, waiting for a chance to get you alone."

Stephanie sighed in a typical annoyed teenager fashion, but did not offer any more arguments. Carrying her can of soda to the kitchen door, she looked at her father, still sitting moodily on the couch. "What's wrong with Dad?" she asked. "He's been so quiet ever since you got back."

"He's okay," Kayla told her, quietly. "After all those years he spent with those guys and everything he went through to escape from them, it just wasn't easy for him to face the men who held him prisoner like that, and to hear all those things they said."

"So, what did they say?" Stephanie asked, moving back into the kitchen.

Kayla's brief pause was barely discernible, but Stephanie noticed it. "They pretty much confirmed everything your father said. That they were hired to keep him from escaping, and that their employer is looking for something he thinks is in our old house."

Stephanie knew her mother was glossing over the interrogation, deliberately withholding the bad things to spare her the pain. "They were mean to him, weren't they?"

Kayla nodded somberly and affectionately reached out with one hand to gently brush a loose strand of blonde hair from her daughter's face. "Yes, I'm afraid they were. He hasn't told me the things they did to him and I'm not sure I even want to know. I certainly don't want him to talk about it if it's painful to him. One thing we found out that we didn't know before," she added, understanding her daughter's need to know some of what had happened. "Your father had a bad reaction to the drug they used to make him appear dead. They aren't sure if they overdosed him or if they had just injected him too many times to keep him under, but something happened during the last dose that . . ." She shuddered and cringed at the impact of the words, even before they were spoken. "It nearly killed him. One of those men said that he was under a long time, and it was years before he was himself again."

"So that's why they were holding him so long instead of letting him go?"

"Yes, but . . ." She stopped, reluctant to complete the sentence, to validate their intentions with words.

Stephanie understood. "They weren't going to let him go, were they? They were going to kill him, once they got whatever it is they want from him."

"Yes, it appears so."

Stephanie looked down at the soda she had placed on the countertop, pondering how close she had come to never getting the chance to know her father. "Wow, that must have been awful, listening to the things those guys were saying."

"It was."

"So, what are they going to do with those guys?"

"I don't know. I would expect they will be tried, and if convicted will spend some time in prison, but I don't know if that will be here or in England. Maybe both, since they committed crimes in both countries. One of them volunteered a lot of information, so Shane has suggested the law be lenient with him. They hope his testimony may help capture Vaughn. He's the one they're really after. Him and whoever is funding this project."

Stephanie sighed again, bewildered by the mystery that had all of them puzzled. "I just don't understand it. What could be so important that they would do all this? I mean, it must have cost a fortune to hold Dad for that long."

"That is what we're all wondering. And not only that, they went to extreme lengths to keep your father there. They stole a lot of items from the I.S.A. to use as security devices to alert them if he tried to -"

The intercom buzzed, the harsh, unexpected sound that made all of them jump in startled reaction to it. Stephanie nearly dropped her can of soda.

"I hate that sound!" she said, vehemently, slamming the half-drunk can down on the countertop.

Kayla did not respond, even though she agreed. The intercom buzzer was wired so that it could be heard in every room, but it seemed especially startling in the kitchen.

"Mr. Johnson, Bo Brady is here along with your mother, sister, and brother in law," the guard announced from the gate.

"Send them in," Steve responded.

Kayla returned to the living room, but Stephanie stopped at the kitchen door to watch unobtrusively.

Removing his feet from the coffee table, Steve got up slowly, rubbing his hands against his jeans as if to dry them. "I can't believe I'm so nervous about meeting Momma again," he said when Kayla joined him.

"Well, it's been a long time," Kayla said, gently. "I'm sure she's every bit as nervous and excited, and absolutely elated that her son is still alive."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I wasn't even this nervous the first time I saw her after she had left me in the orphanage. A lot of years had passed, but I'm a lot more nervous this time around." He finger-combed his hair then rubbed his hand along the angle of his jaw, smoothing down his beard. Last, he readjusted the eye patch. "Do I look okay?

Kayla smiled. "You look wonderful, but I don't think Jo is going to care how you look. She's just going to be happy that you're back, safe and sound."

"Okay, I'm ready for this," he said, more to himself than anyone else.

A few moments later, they heard Bo's SUV enter the clearing and come to a stop near the front porch. It was followed by the sounds of the car doors being opened and closed, and then there were footsteps on the porch. Steve felt his heart beating a little faster while Bo keyed in the security code, then opened the door.

Bo entered first. "Hey, Steve," he said in greeting, then stepped aside for the others to enter. Jo Johnson entered next, and stopped just inside to stare at the son she thought she had lost fifteen years earlier, her eyes verifying the joyous news she had been given. Her hand went to her lips, as if to stop them from trembling, and tears filled her large blue eyes.

"Stevie," she whispered, moving toward him, arms outstretched.

"Momma," he responded, taking her into his arms for a much-anticipated embrace.

With her sense of touch the final proof that her son was really alive and was truly there, Jo wept unashamedly. Clinging to him in euphoric exhilaration, she was so overcome with emotion that she sagged in his arms, weakened by the overwhelming elation. He supported her, alternately rubbing her back and patting her while she wept with joy.

"It's okay, Momma," he said. "Everything's okay now."

Justin stood quietly to one side with his wife, watching the reunion between mother and son, while Adrienne and Kayla wiped tears from their cheeks. Stephanie, still standing in the kitchen doorway, sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes.

Pulling back, Jo cupped her son's face in her hands, gazing up into his eye. "If I had known you were alive and being held against your will, nothing on this earth would have kept me from going over there and demanding your freedom," she declared. "I swear I would have gotten you out, one way or another!"

"That would have been a sight," he said jokingly in an effort to cover up his own emotion. "You, Kayla, and Adrienne taking on those crooks like a platoon of storm troopers!"

"They would have been no match for the three of us!" Kayla said.

"You can bet on that!" Adrienne agreed.

"Hope and I would have been there with them," Bo said.

"And so would I," Justin said. "Steve, we're all glad you're back."

Jo released him, and he extended a friendly hand to his sister's husband, who took it firmly. "Thanks, Justin," he said. "Thanks for bringing Momma up here. It means a lot to me."

"I don't think a herd of wild horses, and certainly not a band of criminals, could have kept her away."

"I never thought I could be this happy again!" Jo exclaimed, giving her son another hug.

"I know what you mean," Kayla agreed. "I thought I was doing well on my own, but now that I have him back, the happiness I feel now makes me realize that I was merely existing. I was content with my life with Stephanie and my job, but I never stopped missing him." She looked into his face, grateful that he was there with her, and he reached out to take her hand. Snapping out of her mood, she gestured toward the arrangement of the sofa and chairs. "Let's sit down and catch up. Can I get you anything?"

"A glass of iced tea would be wonderful, if it isn't any trouble," Jo replied. "It was a long flight."

"It's no trouble at all," Kayla assured her.

"Go ahead and sit down, Mom. I'll get it," Stephanie offered from the kitchen door, then she looked around the room. "Anyone else want some?"

Nods and verbal affirmative responses indicated that everyone would accept a glass of iced tea, so while her parents sat down to visit with their guests, Stephanie went into the kitchen to brew a pot of tea.

Over the next hour and a half, Steve described some of the things he had experienced at the hands of his kidnappers and answered the expected questions while they all listened attentively, shaking their heads with dismay and disbelief. Bo offered his thoughts on the law enforcement side of the issue.

"That is just so incredible," Adrienne said. "I never in a million years would have expected that something like this could happen. Certainly not to our family!"

Justin was interested in the legal ramifications and the deal that had been offered to one of them in exchange for information to help prosecute the others. "So, this Carlton guy is basically being allowed to get off scot-free? Are you okay with that?"

Steve thought about that for a moment, giving the question consideration before answering. "Well, I'm sure they will give him some kind of punishment, but you're right. Compared to the years I lost because of him and the others, community service may as well be scot-free. He'll be able to go home to his family in a few weeks. I was separated from mine for years. I missed seeing Stephanie grow up, missed her first birthday, her first steps, her first words, her first day at school. I'll never get any of that back, and it isn't fair. So no, it doesn't sit well with me, but of all the guards, I have to say that he was the kindest to me, and the only one I felt had a conscience where I was concerned."

"He could have gone to the authorities at any time, but he chose not to," Kayla said. "And I'd be willing to bet he did everything he could to find you and bring you back once you escaped. And if you hadn't escaped, if they had brought this whole sordid affair to a conclusion, what would he have done when you weren't needed any longer? Would he have stepped in and tried to help you? Or would he have allowed Vaughn's people to murder you?"

Steve shrugged. "Good question. Still, he may be risking his life by agreeing to testify against those guys. That does count for something. He's always going to be looking over his shoulder, wondering if one of Alamain's henchmen is back there. I feel bad that his family may be in danger too."

"It didn't seem to bother him too much that your family was in danger, once you had escaped," Kayla retorted. "Not enough to come forward and put a stop to it. Personally, I'd like to see him put away for a long time."

"You realize, of course, that you have ample grounds for a lawsuit," Justin said. "This type of case isn't my area of expertise, but I'd say you have an excellent shot at a substantial settlement from both Vaughn and Alamain."

Steve's expression indicated that thoughts of a lawsuit had never crossed his mind, and he exchanged a surprised glance with Kayla. "Well, as much as I would like to see these guys, especially Vaughn and Alamain, taken for everything they've got, I really don't want their money. It's . . . I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's 'dirty' money, if you know what I mean. It won't change what they did to me, what they took from me."

"No, but compensation could help get you started on a new life," Bo said. "Normally, I'm not a person who approves of lawsuits, but in this case, I will make an exception. There is nothing frivolous about this. After everything they did to you, they owe you at least that much."

"Lawsuits generally take longer to settle than they're worth in the long run," Kayla said. "There are always appeals that go on for years, and this case will be complicated through international law. Alamain has an army of crooked attorneys who will do everything they can to protect him. I'm just not sure it will be worth the effort to take him on like that. We don't need the money, and frankly, I'd just like to put this all behind us and move on."

Justin nodded. "I can't blame you for that, but you know it's an option if you ever decide to pursue it."

"We'll keep it in mind."

Jo drained the last of her second glass of iced tea. "That was delicious, Stephanie."

"Thank you, Grandma," Stephanie said, starting to rise. "Can I get you another glass?"

"No, no. Keep your seat," Jo said, waving her granddaughter back into her chair. "I've had all I can hold in one sitting. I'll just return the glass to the sink. I need to stretch my legs a bit."

Steve quickly downed what was left in his glass. "I'll go with you," he offered.

"You don't need to do that," she protested. "Keep your seat, son. I can find the kitchen."

"What, you don't want to spend a few minutes alone with your oldest son?" he quipped, his eye twinkling happily.

"Why, of course I do," she protested, pretending to be indignant, but she knew he was joking.

Together, they walked into the kitchen, and placed their glasses in the sink.

"They forgot to install a dishwasher in this place," Steve explained. "Kayla's all right with that, but Stephanie thinks we've gone back to the dark ages."

Jo laughed. "She's a good girl, but I'm afraid young people today have no idea how good they have it."

"I'm not so sure they do have it so good," Steve said, thoughtfully. "I think past generations actually had it better. We didn't have the conveniences they do now or all those gadgets that provide their entertainment, but we learned self-reliance, how to work for the things we wanted or needed. As kids, we learned how to play and how to use our imaginations. Nothing at all is left to the imagination these days."

She nodded. "I agree."

"So," he said, changing the subject abruptly. "You know pretty much everything that has happened to me over the last fifteen years, but what about you? How have you been?"

She froze briefly and took her time before answering, pondering the subtle implications of his question and the reason behind it. She understood exactly what he was asking. Feeling a little self-conscious and perhaps with a sense of being waylaid, she said, "Kayla told you about what happened, didn't she?"

"She told me a lot of things," he replied, keeping his voice light and nonjudgmental. "She told me that my old friend, Marcus Hunter, passed away a few years ago. Man, that was a shock. He always seemed the picture of health."

"He was a good man," she said. "And a good friend."

"Yes, he was. I miss him terribly. Kayla also told me about Adrienne and Dimples adopting twins before having a child of her own, which is fantastic. I already knew about him having a baby with that witch – sorry," he added quickly when his mother directed a reproachful glare his direction. "With Angelica. Devereaux, who is anything but angelic." He paused to scratch his head in utter bewilderment. "What the hell was that boy thinking?"

Jo shook her head in agreement with his question, but did not answer in words that would appear critical of disparaging of the son in law she adored.

"Kayla told me that things were rough for Adrienne and Justin both, for a while, but they both seem very happy, now," Steve continued. "She also mentioned that the three of you are living happily in Dallas, and that Justin's law practice is going well. And yes, she told me about what happened to you. I hope you don't hold that against her."

"No, no!" she responded quickly. "Of course not. Of course, you would want to know everything that happened while you were away. It's just . . . well, it wasn't a very good time in my life. Certainly not one I'm proud of. And it's something I'd just as soon forget," she added with a sigh. "I took a life, son, and that is something that's hard to live with."

He placed his arm around her, drawing her closer. "We all do things we're not proud of later, Momma. Kayla explained that . . ." Unable to use the word "insane" in connection with his mother, he concluded, "Well, she said you weren't in your right mind when it happened."

"I don't even remember most of that time, and I'm perfectly happy to leave it at that. I felt like I was in a fog all the time, just numb with grief. The doctor at Bayview said I was blocking it out. I don't understand how all that stuff with the mind works, why we behave the way we do in certain situations, but one thing I'll never forget is the hopelessness and the depression after you were gone. We'd had so little time together. Only five years when you were a little boy, and then only three more years after I found you again. It wasn't fair."

He pressed his lips against the side of her head. "I know, Momma. And I wasted a lot of time resenting you for leaving me in the orphanage."

"Lord knows, I deserved it," she said in a frustrated, self-loathing voice.

"No, you didn't," he contradicted. "You did what you felt you had to do to protect Jack and me. You may have gone about it the wrong way, but you loved us. I understand that, now."

"I did love you, son," she reaffirmed. "I always will. It's just that there were few options for abused women back then. There was no place to turn, no one to help. We were always told to go home and be better wives, because the abuse was probably something we brought on ourselves." She shuddered. "There was so much ignorance in those days about things like that."

"I know. Kayla explained that to me, even when I didn't want to hear it."

"She was also so supportive of Adrienne and me, so helpful," Jo said, gratefully.

"That's Kayla," he agreed. "She has a heart like no other, and she doesn't have a cruel bone in her body. I don't know where I'd be today if not for her. She made me see things in myself that I never knew existed."

Jo leaned into him, her arms going around him again in a motherly embrace. "I love you so much, Steve."

"I love you too, Momma."

She drew away then. "Now, let's get back to the others before they start wondering about us."

Together, they returned to the living room and took their seats again.

"So, what were you talking about while we were gone?" Steve asked, cheerfully.

"Well, I was trying to convince Justin and Adrienne to stick around at least a few more days before they head back to Dallas," Kayla said.

"We came up here on the spur of the moment," Justin explained. "I have cases pending, clients who are depending on me. That's why I had gone into the office on Saturday; to try to wrap some of them up before we go to trial, but then I got that call from the police telling me that Adrienne had been kidnapped, and I'm afraid everything else sort of went out of my head."

"And the boys are back in Dallas, parceled off to friends," Adrienne added. "They're good boys, but you know how teenagers are."

"Well, send for them," Kayla urged. "I'd love to see them!"

"Yeah, so would I," Steve agreed. "I've never seen them." His eye swept the small living room. "Damn, I wish we had more room in this house. We'd just move all of you in here."

"I'm sure Mom and Pop would be happy to put you up at the Pub," Kayla suggested.

"No, I couldn't impose!" Jo protested. "I am going to stay here to get to know my son again, but I'll take a room at the Inn. And I won't make a nuisance of myself, I promise. I know the three of you are getting reacquainted yourselves."

"You could never be a nuisance, Grandma," Stephanie said. "It'll be great having you around."

Justin and Adrienne looked at each other. "What do you think?" she asked.

"You'd like to stay here, wouldn't you?" he asked.

"Yes, I really would."

"Okay, tell you what. You two stay here, and I'll fly back to Dallas just long enough to wrap up those two cases, then the boys and I will fly back up in a day or two. How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect."

"All right, then." Turning to his cousin, he said, "Bo, if you wouldn't mind, would you take us to the Inn, and then run me out to the airport again?"

"I'd be happy to."

"You'll come back this evening, right?" Kayla urged. "There's a nice ham in the fridge that Hope picked up for us. I could bake it for supper along with some sweet potatoes and green beans. Oh! Someone will need to stop at the store for hot rolls. It's the one thing she forgot."

"We can do that," Adrienne said.

"Could you bring Jeannie with you?" Stephanie begged. "I need someone my own age to talk to for a while."

Bo smiled. "I'll see what I can do, but of course, that's up to Kim and Shane."

"Thanks, Uncle Bo."

Everyone stood up, and Steve and Kayla saw their guests to the door.

"We'll see you this evening, then," Kayla said.

"And we'll come early enough to help with supper," Jo promised. "And don't try to argue!" she added, quickly.

Kayla laughed. "All right, I won't."