Toby re-entered consciousness with a dry-heaving fit that clenched his stomach into a knot.

"It's the chloroform wearing off. It'll pass." said the man behind the wheel. He wondered briefly why he wasn't frightened before he drifted back into a fitful sleep. The man behind the wheel smiled, ran a hand over the blond curls in the passenger seat, and they drove on in silence.

Now only four cars behind, Richard wondered when the maroon Taurus would finally stop and what he would do when it did. He tried to approach the situation the way he did all his business deals: figure out what the client wants more than anything, then use it as a bartering chip. Either offer it in exchange for what you want, or withhold it until you get what you want. It seemed the Taurus already had what he wanted, leaving Richard at a definite disadvantage. But he knew the next rule of business dealing: He who speaks first, loses. And Richard never lost. He would wait until the Taurus laid his cards on the table, and then he would make his move.

* * *

"Sarah it's been over three hours. Now, you'll never run out of gas but that's not an excuse to drive straight through." Jareth tried reasoning with her, as her concentration had been lapsing more and more throughout the conversation.

"Are you joking? I'm not just pulling off the road when Toby's out there!" Sarah tightened her grip on the wheel, as if she were afraid he'd try to wrench it from her right there.

Before they could get into it, the cell phone rang. Sarah's arm shot out towards her purse where it stuck out, but Jareth had it to his ear before she even made contact.

"Where is he?" he asked without any preamble.

* * *

At a phone booth 400 miles away Richard stopped and looked at the phone in his hand, almost in disbelief. Somehow, he knew who he was talking to. It was crazy, but he saw the owl in his mind as clearly as if it were still perched on his car hood.

"West Virginia." he answered, "Heading west. I don't know how long I've got or how often I can call. They only stopped for gas."

A pause as he heard the voice relaying the information to Sarah. Heard her swear. At the same time, he saw the man finish paying and head back to the car.

"I've got to go. Tell her it wasn't me." he asked. He hung up and ran to his car before he got a reply. He wasn't sure he wanted one.

* * *

"Why west? Why any of this? I thought kidnappers asked for ransom or something." Sarah had moved past the agitated stage, her questions didn't have the same ring of hysteria from earlier that day.

"Sarah, do you have any idea how many children disappear each day?" Jareth asked.

"Are we counting the ones in which you have some involvement?" It wasn't sarcastic; she was smiling as she said it.

Instead of answering, he took a moment to appreciate her ability to cut the tension with humor. Most people in her position would be home wringing their hands and praying the police could find their missing loved one. Or worse, they would be half-crazed, stalking the highways with a gun. Sarah was worried, yes, and frightened, but much like their encounters in the Labyrinth, she was in control. He wondered if she realized how much he respected her for that.

"You know, you're really quite incredible, Sarah." he said. The comment made her blush, but he didn't pursue it. Hardly the time to be making confessions, Jareth thought to himself before answering his previous question. "Hundreds of children go missing every day. And yes, some of it is courtesy of yours truly. Then of course you have runaways and parents who kidnap their own children. But after that the numbers are still monstrously high. And there are rarely any ransom notes or anything that could be construed as motive."

"Wow, you really know how to cheer a girl up." she said, trying to block out the ugliness of his words but knowing he was right.

He reached over and placed a hand over her own as it rested on the steering wheel. "You don't realize how fortunate you are. In the midst of all these tragedies, of which your brother would become just another statistic in an overtaxed system, you have an advantage."

She smiled softly, a glow re-igniting behind her eyes. "West."

"Exactly. West…and me" he added as an afterthought.

"Yes," she echoed, glancing at him before returning her focus to the never-ending black top, "and you."