Laurie cried out at the bloodied face of her "little brother", his right eye already black and blue. Tied hand and foot, his torn shirt revealed cuts and scrapes that showed the beatings he had already received.

She rushed to his side and managed to kneel down next to him, balancing herself precariously with her bound wrists. She grasped his hand and whispered, "A.J.? It's Laurie."

He groaned, then fell silent as she squeezed his hand, hoping he wouldn't verbally respond to her.

She turned and angrily told Pearson "You bastard, what did you do to him? What kind of animal are you? You kill, you maim, you attack women, now what? How can I help him when you've probably beat him to death!"

With a malicious smile he stepped forward and backhanded her, then replied "You'll speak when you're spoken to, Mrs. Simon."

Laurie glared at him, then froze when he leaned forward and said, "I like a woman who's feisty, you'll be a lot of fun to play with if you don't do as I say. Now you take care of your brother-in-law here, I want him conscious tomorrow so he can call in to the judge and say he's not testifying."

"I'm not a doctor, how can I help him when you hurt him so badly?" she spat out, and then flinched when Pearson came towards her again.

"Here." he handed her a first aid kit, and a bottle of water.

"If he's not ready to talk in the morning, I'll put a bullet in his head, and you'll be begging for the same when I'm done with you." Turning away, he left the room, only stopping in the doorway and smirking at her.

"Have a good night, Mrs. Simon."

As the door closed, Laurie shivered at the sound of a deadbolt, then heard her name whispered.

"Laurie."

Looking back at A.J., she saw one eye was open, and his lips were moving.

"A.J., thank God. Don't try to move, let me see what that creep did to you." she told him, gently trying to check his arms and legs, then pressing cautiously around his ribs.

A low groan verified he had been hit in the side, and she saw him take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, A.J., I'll try to make you more comfortable." Laurie felt like crying when he murmured, "honey, I'll be all right. How did you get here?"

"They grabbed me from your house; they thought I was Linda at first. Pearson said they'd kill everyone in the house if I didn't come with them." she replied, then saw her watch light up.

"Rick, can you hear me?" Laurie hit the send, and then listened as she gave A.J. some water.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" his voice sounded anxious.

"I'm all right, Pearson locked up me up with A.J., darling. Rick, they beat him up, and they're going to make him tell the judge that he's changed his mind about testifying." she explained, her voice shaking a little.

Rick's anger grew, then he calmed down, realizing he had to concentrate on finding them.

"Laurie, it's going to be all right, we've got an idea whereabouts they've got you two, only we have to wait until daylight to start searching the buildings. How is A.J.?" he asked worriedly.

"He's in pain, love, he might have broken ribs, and his face….." she gulped, then said, "they hit him in the right eye, Rick. It's almost swollen shut."

Just then A.J. asked to talk to his brother, so Laurie handed him her watch as she began to wipe his face and put a couple of bandages on the cuts around his eyes and mouth.

"Rick, I'm okay. Listen, we've got to get out of here, This Pearson doesn't mess around, if I don't do what he says, he'll kill me and …hurt Laurie."

"I won't let him; I promise you we'll be there as soon as we can. A.J., do you see any windows or anything that can tell us if you're in a factory or storage facility?" Rick looked up as Oscar came into Ron's office and held up a piece of paper.

"Douglas Manufacturing –closed plant on the other side of town." he read, then he told

his brother, "A.J., we think you're at a plant on the outskirts of Phoenix, is there anything in the

room with a name or …"

"Wait a minute, Rick, there's some boxes on the floor here, they're labeled DM, Inc." Rick got excited as he relayed the information to Ron and he immediately got some units to head in that direction on a silent code status.

"Okay, little brother, we're on our way. Let me talk to Laurie, and we'll come in as soon as we can." he confidently told A.J.

"I hear footsteps; Laurie wants to talk to you, quick." The younger Simon handed the watch back to Laurie.

"Darling, be careful, these guys are brutal. I'm going to see if I can untie A.J. then try to pick the lock, just in case we have to make a break for it." She relayed to him, then whispered, "I love you, Rick. Come for us as fast as you can, my love."

"I will, sweetheart. I love you too. Please don't take any chances or back talk them, I'll let you know just as soon as I can when we'll be outside." He warned her, hoping she'd play it safe.

"Yes, Rick, I'll be good." She sighed, then heard Rick say comfortingly "That's my Laurie, I'm going to leave our link open, just in case."

"All right, love. I don't hear anything now, here's A.J..." She then handed her watch to A.J. so he could give Rick what little information they hadn't covered.

As daylight started to show over the horizon, Rick and his son climbed stiffly out of his truck, grateful that they had finally narrowed down which building his brother and wife were being held in.

"Guys, we're ready to go." Ron and Oscar came over to him.

"Where's our entry point?" Rick scanned the cracked asphalt and broken windows of the warehouse, then nodded when Oscar said "the back side, the loading dock seems to be where we can enter, no sources of heat there. Robbie, you cover the parking lot, just in case Pearson tries to run that way."

Ron checked his weapon, then radioed the back up units, "stay silent until I give the signal, no radio communication as of now."

As the four men advanced on the debris-strewn steps of the building, Rick "called" to Laurie, "Sweetheart, we're just in the back of the wherehouse, were you able to unlock the door?"

"I just got it open, darn thing was jammed, wait a minute, someone's coming." Rick could hear a rustling sound over his transmitter as Laurie went to the back of the room to sit with A.J..

"Well, you're awake, Mrs. Simon. How is our patient?" a leering voice sounded. Oscar pointed to Rick's watch and he immediately lowered the volume so it wouldn't give them away. At once Rick heard Laurie yell, "Now!" The sound of fighting erupted, then A.J.'s voice. "That way, sis!"

Just as they made entry into the empty shipping area, footsteps sounded in the distance and quickly they took cover on one side of the dock as Oscar and Ron hid behind a dumpster.

Two men entered the room and headed toward a van parked on the ramp. "Go ahead and get it started, Pearson's going to bring Simon out and leave the woman here. After he calls, kill her and set the place on fire."

Enraged Rick saw Johnson give the signal and at once he and Oscar came out of hiding. "Freeze, Phoenix Police, drop your weapons!" Ron commanded.

Startled, the criminals stopped dead, then threw down their guns. Quietly Oscar told them, "One sound and you'll both be dead. Rick, go find Laurie and A.J., we'll be right behind you in a moment."

"Thanks, Dad." Rick acknowledged, then quickly ran down the corridor to the coordinates that were on his transmitter.

As he approached the area shown on his watch, he heard loud voices, and turned up the volume to hear the sounds of running, then his wife's voice, "Go that way, A.J."

Rick quickened his pace, then almost ran into his brother and wife. He caught hold of both of them then heard Pearson's voice "Don't move, any of you!"

Startled, the three Simons turned to see Arnold Pearson as he brandished a gun, then grabbed Laurie and dragged her down the hall then through a door, slamming it shut.

Furious, Rick ran ahead A.J. and flung the door open, finding it was a side entrance to the parking lot in back of the plant. The faint sunlight showed Laurie struggling with the murderer, as he tried to subdue her and put her into a waiting car.

"Let her go!" Rick hollered at the murderer, and he whirled around, surprised, giving Laurie the opportunity to jerk herself free and dive out of his reach to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Robbie hiding behind a dumpster.

Pearson pulled his gun and laughed as he started to turn toward her, saying "She's dead unless you drop your gun."

Without a word Rick dropped his gun, then as Pearson aimed his weapon toward him, shots rang out, catching the criminal in the chest and sending him crashing to the asphalt. Rick breathed a sigh as he realized his son had saved both their lives.

He rushed to his wife's side as she tried to get to her feet, "Rick!" she cried, then collapsed into his arms. "Don't let go, please don't let go." She cried, her breath coming in sobs. Rick kissed her, gently stroking her face. She then saw Robbie. "Honey, how did you get here?"

"I came with Pop, Mama." He hugged her gently, then she squeezed his hand as Rick told her, "He saved our lives, darlin'. Nice shooting, son" Robbie embraced him, then he went to help process the now dead suspect.

Rick heard running steps then he was joined by A.J., then Oscar and Ron raced around from the front of the loading dock.

"Sweetheart, it's all right, you're safe." He tried to comfort her as she shivered, seemingly in shock, then he saw her torn blouse and blood trickling down her face. "Did he hurt you, darlin'?" he asked, furious.

He pulled a handkerchief out and dabbed at a cut above her right eye.

"Yes, he …hit me, Rick. A.J., is he all right?." Laurie managed to catch her breath as Rick held her tightly and rubbed her back. " "Nothing a little home cooking won't cure, thanks to my big sis!" A. J. carefully leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Ron shook his head, "Don't forget a visit to the emergency room, just to make us feel better!"

Laurie saw he was including her and she started to protest, only to have Oscar fix her with a stern look. "Yes, he means you, honey."

Forestalling any arguments, he picked her up as Rick propelled A.J. toward Ron's police cruiser.

Sighing, Laurie replied, "Yes, Dad.", then giggled as her husband winked and added "I knew I had something in common with your father."

"Yes, son, we do." Oscar grinned as he carefully lowered her into the back seat as A.J. slid over. "We're the only people she listens to!"As he released her, Laurie put her arms around his neck and kissed him, saying "And don't you forget it!"