Angela, Isadora, Diego, and D'Artagnan were the only ones allowed into the Alcalde's office as the complaints were being filed. After they left, rejoining the other De la Vegas, Victoria, and Jessie at the tavern, the Baros were interrogated.

"You let them out on bail?" Jessie asked her husband in disbelief as he also joined them a while later, just as the three Baros also exited his office, heading for the church.

"The man's older son died, so the rape case is closed, and beating one's servants isn't a crime. As for the señorita's identity… it's a complicated matter. Her only proof is a finger print. But… as most of Diego's 'ideas', the possibility that the lines on our finger are unique to each person, while interesting, is merely an unproven assumption... a speculation at best." De Soto stated.

"Diego's ideas are usually right, Ignacio! Even you know that!" His wife defended her friend.

"All her documents are made on her true name." D'Artagnan pointed out. "Isn't that proof enough?"

"Doña Luisa stated that her true stepdaughter died just a few weeks before her father, and she gave her name to an orphan girl so that she'd be able to raise her. She made quite a good case, Señor, and it's her word against the Señorita's. At least she agreed to allow her to leave with you, so be happy about that!"

"So what? That woman will get away with keeping Angela's fortune and mistreating her her entire life?" Victoria asked, enraged.

"I'm afraid there's not much else I can do in this case." De Soto answered.

"Isadora!" The woman they were just talking about called from the tavern's entrance. "We're going home." The woman's tone was icy and it prompted Angela to hold onto her sister's hand tighter.

"She's not going anywhere with you!" She uttered.

"She is my daughter, you ungrateful wench!" Doña Luisa replied as she made her way in and grabbed Isadora's hand. For a few moments, the teenager was caught in-between her mother and her sister, as neither one was willing to let her go. So she had to decide, and released Angela's hand, just looking regretfully at her as she allowed her mother to drag her out.

D'Artagnan stopped her older sister from following her. "She's right! She has no power over you anymore, but Señorita Isadora is her daughter!" He told her.

"They will harm her!" She simply stated. "I can't allow her to be harmed. I have to go with her."

"If you do, what do you think Don Manolo will do to you after what happened to his son?" Diego asked, also watching the woman and her daughter head for the carriage in which they had come to the pueblo. "Father," he then addressed Don Alejandro, "I believe the Señorita would be safer if she came home with us."

Angela stared inquisitively at him, and Diego smiled kindly at her, the look in his eyes reassuring her that he was not going to harm her or let others do so.

"You are right, Son! This young lady has already been through enough, and it would be safer for her to come to the hacienda!" He replied.

ZZZ

It was almost midnight. Angela, Felipe and Don Alejandro had been asleep for a couple of hours at that point, while D'Artagnan and Diego were in the cave. The tall caballero was showing his friend some of his inventions, just as they heard knocking on the hacienda's main door.

"Don Diego! Don Alejandro!" Victoria's voice called.

The tall caballero hurried towards the house, fearing something bad had happened to have prompted the woman he loved to come in the middle of the night. D'Artagnan followed him at a slower pace, barely exiting the secret passage when Diego was already opening the door. The young woman looked apologetically at him, then suddenly found herself pushed into his arms as Don Manolo and six of his vaqueros made their way inside, all armed with guns pointed at the caballero and the taverness.

"Buenas noches, Don Diego!" Don Manolo greeted.

Realizing he hadn't been seen, D'Artagnan hurriedly made his way back to the cave and watched through the spy hole.

"What is the meaning of this?" Diego asked, his voice filled with ire.

"I want the maid! Get her for me!" Don Manolo ordered the caballero, pointing his gun at him and Victoria, while his men were doing the same.

"Don't do it, Diego! He will kill her!" The taverness asked.

"What's going on here? What are you doing in my house?" Don Alejandro asked as he made his way to the front of the hacienda and came face-to-face with the intruders.

"They want the señorita," Diego informed him, then addressed Don Manolo's men. "If you harm her, you'll end up on the gallows! And don't believe for a moment your patron will be able to do anything to save you! I'd suggest you leave, Señores, before this situation escalates further."

The vaqueros looked at each other, seemingly starting to hesitate.

"Shut up, caballero, or I'll shoot you this very instant!" The don ordered him.

"Don't threaten my son!" Don Alejandro warned. "You have no right to come into my house and threaten us!"

"I have the right to do anything I want! The sooner you learn that, the better! Now! The maid I said! Get her here!" Don Manolo requested again.

"What makes you think she's here?" Diego asked.

"If she is not, this wench lied, and I will kill her for it!" He answered, pointing a gun at Victoria.

"No!" Diego exclaimed as he stepped between the gun and the young woman. "If you want to harm her, you'll have to go through me!"

"I see… This whore's played quite the trick on you! I pity your blindness, De la Vega!" Don Manolo stated disparagingly.

"How dare you?" Don Alejandro asked, raising a hand to strike the insolent intruder.

"I would appreciate it if you'd stop referring to her with such words. Victoria is an honorable woman." Diego uttered as he placed a stopping hand on his father's shoulder, even if he was, himself, barely able to contain his ire.

Don Manolo stared at him but, this time, Diego didn't glance away.

"Find her!" The don eventually ordered his men.

"No! Wait a minute! You don't have the right to enter my house!" Don Alejandro tried to stop the three vaqueros who started searching the house.

As the men left the room, taking advantage of the fact that he was dealing with fewer men, Diego attacked Don Manolo, grabbing his right arm and twisting his wrist to make him drop his gun, then punching him, causing the older man to fall on top of two of his vaqueros. Seeing that his son had attacked the intruders, while Diego was fighting the other don, his father ordered Victoria to hide and went to help his son, smashing a vase on the head of one of the vaqueros before he was able to help his master.

"That's enough!" One of the three men who had left to search for Angela stated, as he returned at hearing the commotion, and pointed a gun at Don Alejandro's head.

Diego, noticing his father was being threatened, stopped his attack and raised his hands, stepping away from the other intruders.

"You punch well for a coward!" The don said. "Turn around!" He ordered.

As the caballero did so, he searched for Victoria's eyes, hoping that, if he the don dared to shoot him in the back, her face would be the last thing he saw before he died. Don Manolo didn't shoot, though. Instead, he took a beautiful vase and smashed it on his head, causing him a rather deep cut and leaving him unconscious.

"Diego!" Victoria shouted and ran to help her friend.

"Cabron!" Don Alejandro uttered, glaring at Don Manolo, barely stopping himself from trying to strangle him, and only doing so because he knew such attempt would have only ended in his death, which was of no help to his son. "You will pay for this! I'll see to that!"

"It is you who will pay, old man!" He answered. "Where's the wench?" Don Manolo then asked the men who had gone to inspect the rooms.

"We only searched one room so far, Patron. We'll go search the others." One of them answered, then signaled for the others to follow him.

In the meanwhile, Victoria had ripped off some of the bottom half of her skirt and was trying to stop Diego's bleeding and wake the caballero up, while Don Alejandro was still being kept at gunpoint.

"She's not in any of the rooms! There's nobody else in the house!" The same man who had stopped the fighting a while earlier said as they returned to the main room, some 10 minutes later.

"Where is she?" Don Manolo then asked Don Alejandro.

"She and Señor D'Artagnan already left Los Angeles. They're probably halfway to Santa Barbara by now!" He answered defiantly after realizing that the other three people in the hacienda must have heard the commotion in time and escaped.

"I don't believe you." Don Manolo informed him "Take her!" He then asked his men, indicating towards the taverness. "I'll release her in exchange for my servant! You have till sunrise to find her and bring her to my hacienda!"

"Touch a hair on the Señorita's head, and I will personally make you regret it!" The old caballero threatened as he kneeled by his son trying to keep pressure on his wound, just as his unwanted guests were leaving with Victoria.

Don Manolo was the last to follow his men but did so only after also hitting Don Alejandro, leaving him unconscious, next to his bleeding son.

ZZZ

In the meanwhile, Felipe, who had woken up at hearing the noise, had rapidly gotten dressed and made his way to Angela's room, taking full advantage of the temporary interruption in the searches caused by the fight Diego had started. Waking her up and indicating for her to remain quiet, he snuck her out the window and towards the nearby stables, not even giving her time to put on her shoes.

A while later, when he spied the intruders heading away, he left Angela there and slowly made his way towards the house, checking to see if they had all left. Spotting Diego and Don Alejandro lying on the floor, unconscious, he hurried to wake them up, fearing the worse at seeing the bloodstain around his adoptive father's head. Don Alejandro recovered rather quickly, and stood up slowly, a hand to his head.

Getting Diego to regain consciousness, however, took some more effort. His head wound was rather bad and was still bleeding, but he had been through worse.

"Felipe! Where were you? Where's Senorita Angela?" Don Alejandro asked as they helped Diego to a chair.

The young man signed that he was going to the kitchen when he saw the intruders, so he ran to warn the young woman and took her to hide her.

"You did very well young man." The old don replied.

"Are you alright, Father?" Diego inquired as he finally regained consciousness. "Where is Victoria?" He proceeded to ask as he noticed the woman he loved was no longer there.

"They took her. Don Manolo asked us to deliver Señorita Angela to him in exchange for her life, and we must do so by morning." Don Alejandro told him.

"How long since they left?" His son inquired as he stumbled on his feet and fell back onto the chair.

"Stay put, Diego! You are badly injured." Don Alejandro ordered. "I will go get De Soto to help us and send Jessie to check on your wound."

"No… I'm alright, Father!" Diego tried to assure him.

"Nonsense!" The don stated as Felipe was cleaning his father's head wound, causing him to hiss from time to time. "There's a bloodstain on my floor and it's you it came from."

"Victoria…" The younger man replied as he tried to stand again, stumbled, and had to support himself on Felipe.

"There is nothing you can do for her. De Soto and the lancers will handle this. I'll make sure they do!" The Don answered.

"No… Not De Soto! We must find another way…" Diego mumbled as his father helped Felipe keep him still long enough to bandage his head.

"There's no other way! We need the Alcalde's help and he will help! I'll make sure he does!" Don Alejandro replied.

"De Soto will get her killed." His son warned.

"You must give me to Don Manolo!" They heard Angela from the hallway. Still barefoot and in her nightgown, she had followed Felipe into the house and listened in on the conversation. "He will kill Victoria if you don't! I know he will. The man is a monster!"

"No!" Don Alejandro said. "No, my dear! You've been through enough already."

"My father's right. We need to find another way." Diego replied.

"Perhaps we can get Zorro to help." Don Alejandro suggested.

"And how do you suggest we find him?" Diego wondered as he could barely stand at the moment, but was hoping he might feel better after some cactus tea and a tonic. "No… I think we should wait, Father. Let's not do anything in a rush…"

"Wait? Diego, this is Victoria we're talking about!" The old don stated disapprovingly. "We only have a few hours to save her."

"I know… But, right now, I can barely think straight. I need some time to consider a plan…"

"And what will your plan achieve?" His father wondered. "Where is Señor D'Artagnan, by the way?" He asked as he just realized the man was missing.

Diego looked around and remembered he had noticed his friend return to the cave as soon as Don Manolo had entered the house.

As he was remembering this, Zorro walked through the door. The younger man looked a lot like Diego with his mask, no beard on his face, and his light-brown mustache replaced by the fake one Felipe had used a few weeks earlier when he impersonated Zorro.

"Where are they?" He asked as both Diego and Felipe stared at him in disbelief.

"Zorro! How did you know?" Don Alejandro asked, surprised by his appearance. "Don Manolo left with Victoria. He's demanding Señorita Angela in exchange for her." He proceeded to inform him.

"Where is Señorita Angela?" The masked man wondered.

"She's right over…" Don Alejandro answered, turning towards the place he had last seen her, just minutes earlier, to find that she was gone.

The other three men also looked around puzzled. A short while later, as a search for her begun, they heard the sounds of hoofs heading away from the hacienda.

"She's going to give herself up!" Diego remarked, trying to stand again, and falling, once more, back onto the chair. "We must stop her!"

"I'll go after her!" Zorro uttered.

"Wait!" Diego ordered, then turned to his father. "Father, I think you should wake up some of the vaqueros! We'll need help!"

"You are right, Son!" The don agreed. "Felipe, prime some pistols and some muskets!" He proceeded to order his grandson. "If it's war that man wants, it's war he shall get!"

The younger man nodded and followed his grandfather, heading towards the small storage room where the muskets were held.

"What do you think you're doing?" Diego asked the masked D'Artagnan as soon as his father left.

"I saw that you needed help, but it took a while to shave off my beard and my mustache." He replied.

"You could have come to our help as yourself!" The caballero pointed out.

"That is true…" D'Artagnan stated as if the thought hadn't previously crossed his mind. "But I thought it better to come as Zorro if I was to take Tornado."

"You need to go back to the cave and change!" The caballero demanded. "And you can't ride Tornado!"

"I can! He's right outside and hasn't caused me any trouble. Besides, I don't have time to change. I need to go after her! I promised her grandparents to bring her home safely!" He uttered.

"You can't go! Not like this!" Diego protested as he stumbled and had to support himself on his friend to stand up. "Don't you understand? The lancers have orders to shoot Zorro on the spot!"

"I'm dressed in black and it's night outside. They won't even see me!" D'Artagnan pointed out. "Don't worry, Diego! I will save her and your Victoria. And you will stay put for once, and be grateful for my help!"

As he said that, he forced Diego to sit back in his chair and left in a hurry before the caballero could do anything to stop him.

"He's taken Tornado!" Diego told Felipe when the younger man returned to the room.

"Of course, he has, Son! It's his horse!" Don Alejandro remarked as he made his way towards the library and heard his last remark.

Felipe gave Diego a panicked look, but words were not needed as they both shared a concern about D'Artagnan's ability to ride the stallion.

Don Alejandro left with Felipe and five of his men, another two having been sent, one to ask for Mendoza's help, and another to wake up Jessie Kent and bring her to the hacienda to look after Diego. As soon as they were gone, though, the tall caballero stumbled towards the cave, where, not finding any already-made cactus tea, he only drank the tonic and changed his blood-stained shirt for a fresh one, then returned to the house before making his way to the stables. There, noticing Esperanza was gone, after a few moments spent trying to clear his head, he saddled Luna - Tornado's foal - and stirred her towards the Baro Hacienda, completely forgetting to take any weapon with him. In truth, it was doubtful he could have handled any in his state, but he couldn't leave Victoria at the mercy of others if there was anything he could do to save her.

ZZZ

Victoria was carried into the Baro Hacienda by one of Don Manolo's men, as his wife and stepdaughter - both covered in fresh bruises - as well as the don's remaining son all made their way to the sala, at hearing the commotion.

"What is she doing here?" Doña Luisa asked at seeing the bound and gagged Victoria brought in and dropped, unceremoniously, on the floor.

"She's my guarantee that the De la Vegas will bring that wretched whore. I told that old man that I would kill the taverness should he not bring her by sunrise, and I intend to keep that promise." The don explained.

"What? No! Are you mad? They will tell the Alcalde!" Doña Luisa stated and found herself slapped by her husband.

"Never dare call me mad! You lied to me! I lost my son, my heir, because of you! You and your treasonous daughter are just as guilty as that maid of yours and those lancers, and you shall all pay dearly for his death!" The don stated with wide eyes, looking as crazy as his wife was realizing he was. "And that idiot Alcalde will not dare raise a hand on me since he knows exactly how close a friend I am to the governor!"

Victoria stared at him with ire-filled eyes, frustrated about being unable to do or say anything and worried about Diego.