Max wasn't quite sure how she made it home, she was vaguely aware of driving to the airport to board her father's corporate jet, but the entire flight was a blur to her. Emily had slept through the frantic flight, which she would be eternally grateful, although she was fussing in the back seat of the car now. Josh, Max's mind screamed, my baby. She could feel herself trembling, and couldn't form the words to ask the questions circling in her mind. I want Kenny, she thought, it'll be okay.

"Max?" Jill said quietly, as they pulled into the drive. "Honey? We're here."

"What? Oh," Max replied coming back to reality, as her house came into view.

Jill watched the still figure beside her for a moment before replying. "They're doing everything they can . . . Jimmy won't rest until he finds him."

"I know," Max said softly.

"You ready to go inside?" Jill asked. "Someone looks ready for a nap, and I know people are waiting for you."

Max nodded wordlessly, as she stepped out into the darkness of the driveway. Unbuckling Emily from her car seat, she gazed down at the lit up house below, and counted the number of cars in the driveway around her. Who, she thought, who would have wanted to steal our child? What the hell did we do to deserve this? She lifted Emily into her arms, and inhaled the scent of baby powder mixed with shampoo. Feeling a wave of dizziness come over her, Max braced herself on Jill's car.

"Let me help you," Jill said quietly, seeing the torment in her friend's eyes. "It's been a rough few hours."

Max nodded again, reluctant to hand over Emily, even to someone she trusted with her life.

"Okay," Jill continued quietly. "I understand."

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Kenny paced the length of the living room, unable to sit still. I should be doing something, he thought, not just sitting here. Max, he thought, where are you? He needed to see her, and Em, just to know that they were okay. He hadn't lost them, Kenny wasn't sure if he could handle it if they were gone too.

"Jill called 15 minutes ago," Jimmy said carefully to his pacing friend. "I'm sure that they'll be here soon."

"I can't just sit here," Kenny lamented. "Damn it, Jimmy, some asshole has Josh!"

"And we're looking at every possible lead," Jimmy replied, not that there were a lot, he thought. "We'll get them."

Both looked up, as the front door opened and the two women came in. Jimmy met Jill's eyes, before he turned to an exhausted looking Max. Pale, with dark circles under eyes, she looked lost to him.

"Here," Jill said softly, prying Emily from her. "It's okay."

Max nodded slowly, relinquishing her hold on Em. Meeting Kenny's equally devastated expression, she just wanted to touch him, and make sure he was real.

"Kenny?" she asked softly, not able to disguise the tremble in her voice. Don't let it be true, she prayed, but just by looking at him she knew it was.

He shook his head, as he drank in the sight of his wife and daughter. "Max . . . I'm so sorry, Honey."

She heard the crack in his voice, and knew that he was holding it together by a supreme effort. Slowly she walked toward him, and was in his arms in a matter of seconds. Wrapping herself tightly around him, Max let herself relax somewhat for the first time in hours. She felt him tug her closer to him, and hold her like he was never going to let go. She buried her head in Kenny's chest, wanting to block out the world around her. Willing herself not to cry because she knew she would never stop if she did, Max clung to him like a lifeline.

"Kenny, Max," Jimmy interjected reluctantly, not wanting to interrupt the obvious private moment, but knowing there was information to be shared. "We have some stuff to talk about."

Kenny inhaled the honey scent of her hair, and she looked up at him with the hurt and confusion dancing in her eyes. He wrapped one arm around her waist, as they turned back to Jimmy, and knew that he had to be strong for her through this. Glancing over at his sleepy daughter in Jill's arms, Kenny realized he was never more glad to see two people more then Max and Emily in that moment. Glancing down at Max again, he hoped that Jimmy would have better news now then he did a few hours ago.

"Why don't we go into the living room?" Jimmy suggested.

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"He is cute," the woman said, tickling Josh's feet. "Looks like his Dad."

"Shut up," the man growled. "I hate that . . . he should have been mine."

"Don't worry about that now, we don't have much time," she argued. "They'll know that we're gone soon, and they'll put two and two together."

"Shame we couldn't get the daughter, she picked one hell of a weekend to go on vacation."

"One should be enough for now, and we'll make them pay for what they put us through."

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"So there's nothing?" Max managed to get out, as she listened to Jimmy's account of what happened that night that Josh was kidnapped. "How can there be nothing?"

"We lifted some partial prints from the ladder, and there were some muddy footprints leading into the woods," Jimmy countered. "And we found an abandoned boat on the other shore, with some tire tracks leading off."

Max nodded, as she tried to process the information. "How? I mean . . . who would do something . . . he's only a baby."

"We'll find out," Jimmy promised, trying to believe that himself when he looked over at his two young friends. "You have to believe that."

"Who though?" Kenny asked. "It's been almost 12 hours . . . if they want money, we don't have a lot."

Max swallowed the bile rising in her throat, as she thought of her private jet ride. "My parents do."

Jimmy nodded, hoping that the kidnapper would contact them soon because if they didn't, well then odds of finding Josh alive would go down significantly. "We'll look into that as well. Hold on."

Kenny and Max turned to look at each other, as Jimmy took his call into the kitchen. Kenny ran his hand through his wife's long hair, and she snuggled in closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Not knowing exactly what to say to each other, they sat there in silence for a few minutes and drew comfort from each other's presence.

"Kenny?" Max asked almost hesitantly, as her haze began to clear some.

He wrapped his arm more tightly around her before replying. "I don't know. Max, I don't know what happened. One minute he was sleeping upstairs, and then he was gone. We should have gone with you."

Max shook her head, and tried to choke back her tears, but a few trickled down her cheeks anyway. "You couldn't have known . . . Oh god, Kenny, some lunatic has him."

"We'll get him back."

Max tired to block out the facts that she knew about kidnapping, but they kept circulating in her thoughts. "I'm scared."

Jimmy rejoined them silently, knowing what to come was going to be utterly devastating. Both parts, he thought, as he watched them not as his deputies for a moment, but as any other crime victims. They're strong and capable, Jimmy thought, and so in love. They've survived a lot until now.

"That was Skeeter," Jimmy began, as they turned back toward him hoping that it was good news, "Two things. One, he and Kneelson found a shirt matching the description of the one Josh was wearing in a dumpster."

Max gave a strangled moaning sound, as she leaned in closer to Kenny.

"He wasn't," Kenny struggled to get out, trying not to picture Josh lying in there as well. "Josh, he wasn't in there?"

"No," Jimmy verified. "No signs of foul play either. They found a diaper too, and we're hoping to lift some prints off of it. If they wore gloves when they broke in, they might have not thought to wear them when they changed him."

"What else?" Max whimpered, trying to get thought of these people touching him out of her head.

Jimmy gazed at the woman who was like a second daughter to him for more then ten years, and looked over at Kenny who had been like a son. He hated the fact that he had to be the one to tell them this, but he would never have let someone else do it, Jimmy rationalized.

"Most kidnappings are by people the victims know," Jimmy began, not wanting to cause them any more trauma, but knowing that it was unavoidable. "Two nights ago Jen Davis and Danny Shreve escaped from Cornerstone Mental Hospital."

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"This can't be good," Skeeter said, picking up the bag left in front of the Sheriffs's office door. Opening it slightly, he saw a stack of Polaroid pictures inside, and a folded note. Ignoring the building dread inside him, he motioned Pete over. "Take a look at this."

Pete took the bag gingerly, and pulled out one of the photo's. "Shit."

Skeeter peered over his shoulder, and had to agree. "Shit."

"You want to call Jimmy again?"

"We have too."

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"Danny?" Max stuttered at Jimmy's statement, "Danny?"

"Are you sure?" Kenny added, as he felt Max shudder beside him. "How could he get out?"

"Well he's done it before," Max practically whispered.

"We're looking into him and Jen as suspects," Jimmy continued. "And I'm placing a guard here. There is no way that they're getting back in here. I promise you that."

"That son of a bitch," Max replied, as the thought of him anywhere near Josh made her want to kill him. Why won't he leave me alone? She closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the memory of the bastard raping her all those years ago, and the fact that he had Josh . . . I can't listen to this, her mind screamed. My baby, she thought as she whimpered again. "Danny?"

"Dammit," Jimmy spat, as his phone beeped again. "Shit. Hello? Hold on a second."

"Take it," Kenny interjected, as he clutched his shattered wife to him. "I mean, it could be about Josh."

Jimmy nodded, as he made his way back toward the kitchen and Kenny turned back to her. "Max, Honey."

She lifted her head, as he trailed off lost in the pain as much as she was. "What do they want with him? "

Kenny shook his head, and he couldn't get the way Max looked that night in the woods after Danny had raped her. Pale, shaky and terrorized, she looked like she had lost everything to him. I thought I'd lost everything, he thought. Knowing his own pain was mirrored in her expression now, he realized that they were both wrong. Why us? Why our boy?

"We don't know if it was them," Kenny replied lamely, not believing his own words and sighing. "If he hurts him . . . I swear I'll rip his balls off."

Jimmy observed them both before venturing back into the living room, unable to hear their voices from the distance. Arms wrapped around each other, with Kenny practically having Max in his lap. He looks like he's keeping her up, Jimmy thought, as much as she is supporting him. Wait, he cautioned himself, I have to see them myself first. No more bombshells tonight, let them rest before the media pounces.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, as he made his way back in. "There are some leads I have to look into, if you two think you'll be all right on your own. Kneelson and Brown are parked out front."

Jimmy didn't miss the quick glance between them before Kenny finally answered him. "Leads?"

"Nothing solid yet," Jimmy replied swiftly, not wanting to worry them more then they were already. "Get some rest, and I'll be by when we know something for sure. We will get them, no one is getting any rest until we do."

Jill joined the threesome hesitantly, not liking the hopeless lost expression on Max's face, nor the obviously exhausted one on Kenny's. "I'll stay if you want me too, you both need to sleep. I'll give you something for that."

"I don't want anything," Max finally said quietly, finding her voice.

"I think we'd like to be alone for a little while," Kenny offered, just wanting to be with Max and Emily for a bit.

Max nodded in agreement, not up to the company at that moment. I just want the world to go away, she thought, why do these things keep happening? God, Danny, go away.

"Okay," Jill agreed, not feeling offended by their dismissal when she could tell that there was a lot more occupying their thoughts at the moment. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"And me," Jimmy added, before he went off to find out what Skeeter and Pete had found in the paper sack.

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"Just like a plump little pig," Danny sneered, as he twirled the knife around in his hands, as he stared down at the sleeping child in front of him. "I wonder where the bacon is?"

"Shut up," Jen snapped. "You don't want to do that, it's not part of the plan."

"The plan sucks," Danny shot back. "They'll have to know that we're gone by now, and those women that helped us break out, well no offense, they were fruit cakes."

"We wouldn't be free if it wasn't for them," Jen countered. "Or have this child here without their help. We'd still be sitting in that god-damned hospital, while the people that put us there were living their lives like nothing had ever happened."

"Max," Danny said thoughtfully, as a mixture of love and hatred flooded through him. "This should have been our child, damn her for marrying him. She knew what he was like. Bitch betrayed me."

Jen nodded. "Well now it's our turn."

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Jimmy focused all of his attentions on the bagged photographs that Skeeter had handed him when he walked into the office five minutes ago. Feeling the bile rise in his throat in response to the images in front of him, he swallowed quickly to keep it down. Josh, he thought, recognizing the child instantly. With his mother's red hair, and Kenny's sturdy build, Jimmy would have known him anywhere. Hands propped him, and his red tears stained face would have been enough to enrage Jimmy. The knives, he shuddered, seeing the dozen butcher's knives pointed at the toddler, sick bastards.

"Kind of disturbing," Skeeter grimaced, breaking into Jimmy's thoughts. "Uh, there is a note too."

Jimmy took it silently, the image of the toddler surrounded by knives burned in his memory and read:

These knives will move closer until you do as we ask. Such a shame that such a beautiful little boy might get so many scars. Stay away, don't come looking for us. We'll be in touch.

Jimmy turned back to the pictures silently, searching for a clue in where they could have been taken. Stupid to stay in Rome, or anywhere near by, he reasoned. The roadblocks were set up less than an hour after Josh was taken, they can't be far. Looking at the white sterile windowless walls surrounding the child, it could be anywhere.

"We can't show them these," Jimmy finally said. "Any prints back yet? Any on these photos?"

"No on both," Skeeter replied. "We're working on the ones from the ladder and diaper, but the press has picked up on this Jimmy. We've started to field calls, and some vans have been pulling up."

"Damn vultures," Jimmy muttered. "Okay, this looks like it could be a hospital room of sorts. Let's get going on that, I'm going to rush along those prints."

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Kenny dropped a kiss on her forehead, as they slowly made their way upstairs after the others had left. She leaned in closer to him, not trusting herself to be able to keep moving if she didn't. He tightened his grip around her waist, as they reached the second floor landing. "You need to get some sleep," Kenny finally said hoarsely to his shell shocked wife.

"So do you."

Kenny brushed her hair back from her face. "Ssh. I want to check in on Em, go on, get changed . . . you look like you're about to drop."

Max wanted to argue, but stopped at the pleading in her husband's eyes. "Okay."

He cupped her face in his hands. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied softly, not wanting to be apart from him, even for a few minutes. "Kenny? She'll be all right in there? Alone?"

Kenny nodded to her tentative question. "I'll make sure of it."

"Okay," she said softly again, longing to crawl under the covers and let the world around her disappear. The brick in her chest was crushing her heart, and a haze seemed to fall over everything.

Kenny leaned in and kissed her again, before slowly venturing into Emily's room. He gazed down at the sleeping girl in wonder. She looked so peaceful to him. I hope Josh is resting happily, wherever he is. Straightening the blanket that covered her, Kenny was taken back at her resemblance to Max. Studying her more closely he realized that Emily was the spitting image of her mother, except for her dark hair. Well, I said I wouldn't mind a girl who looked like her, Kenny thought to himself, as he watched her chest rise and fall. Thank you for having Max take her to Boston, whoever is up there, thank you. Bending down to give a good night kiss, he vowed to bring her brother home. Moving silently out of her room, his exhaustion hit him as he went into their bedroom.

Max watched the way he came in, with his shoulders hunched and moving like he was 100 years old. "Is she sleeping?"

Kenny nodded. "Yeah, she's had a long few days too."

Max sunk down on the bed beside him, as the silence of their home echoed around them. "Yeah."

"Max," Kenny said quietly, seeing that she was lost in thought and he had a good idea of the direction that her mind was going in. "He won't hurt him."

"You don't know that."

"He has some obsession with you, and Josh is a part of you," Kenny said gently. "He wouldn't destroy that."

Max shook her head. "He's crazy Kenny. And he has Josh."

He saw the tears that Max had kept clamped down for the last 24 hours shimmering in her eyes, and Kenny yanked her into his arms as they fell in heaving sobs. Holding her tightly against him he felt her tremble and shake, as a flood of tears fell. Not knowing what to say, he just held onto to her, as tightly as she was holding onto him, as she cried her eyes out. Pins and needles crept through his arms, but he didn't let go. He couldn't let go, even as her sobs receded. Tilting her tear stained face up, and all Kenny wanted was for the pain around them to disappear. Just for a little bit. Leaning in he kissed her softly at first, but as she responded to his touch they fell back against the cool sheets and lost themselves in each other.