"North," Kendall replied sarcastically. "You'll know more when you need to know more, and not a moment sooner."
Danny shook his head in annoyance, but kept his eyes on the road.
"This makes you crazy, doesn't it? Not being in control…not knowing what is going on," Kendall said as he smiled. "Observing people is a funny thing. You probably already know this because of your job, but you can find out so much by just watching people. You and I never met before today, and yet, I feel like I know you better than I know most people. You try to hide who you really are, but I know what really makes you tick."
Danny didn't really want to engage with Kendall. He didn't care to hear about all Kendall had observed while watching Kathryn for all that time, but he knew that was the best way to gain an advantage in the situation. So, he answered, "I doubt that. I doubt that you could really know anything by looking at some pictures."
"It was so much more than the pictures, Danny. It was the way you looked at her, the way you touched her, the way you controlled her…"
"I never controlled her, Kendall," Danny responded quickly wanting to distance himself as far as he could from Kendall.
"Sure you did. Kathryn has a way about her…a vulnerability…an innocence. It makes men like us want her. We want to possess her."
"You're wrong," Danny whispered.
"Am I? You just don't want to see that we are alike."
"I'm in love with her. I'm not obsessed with her."
Kendall laughed at that, and then replied, "There's a fine line between love and obsession. You can't tell me that when you screw her that you don't like the feel of controlling what is inside of her."
Danny didn't respond.
"I'll take your silence as agreeance."
"No. I don't agree, but I'm not going give you what you want. You want me to tell you what it's like with her because when you were with her you never really had her," Danny said as he couldn't contain his anger anymore. "You had to get her drunk to sleep with her. You raped her. And then you needed her mother to convince her to stay with you. She never wanted you, Kendall. She told me that. She told me that she never loved you. She told me that she was only with you to make her parents happy...and that makes you a crazy, obsessed freak."
Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Kendall swing the gun in his direction. He tried to turn his head, but the butt of the gun connected with the side of his jaw within seconds. The car swerved into the next lane before Danny regained control, and pulled over to the side. Blood was spurting out of his lip. Before he could recover, Kendall swungthe gun again -- this time underDanny's eye. He desperately wanted to retaliate. He wanted to hit back, but he couldn't.
"You are in no position to question me, Taylor. I should kill you right now," Richard said as he raised the gun to Danny's temple. "I could drive the rest of the way on my own, pick Kathryn up, and get to Canada before they find your body."
Danny silently berated himself for opening his big mouth. He couldn't let it end like this. "She'll never go with you without a fight, Kendall. She won't go with you unless she knows that I will take care of Michael. You know that…that's why you are bringing me to her."
Richard lowered the gun and replied, "Right. Michael is really the wrench in this whole plan, isn't he? I know that Kathryn won't want to leave without him. I actually thought about taking him, too. I thought it was the only way, but he looks so much like you. I couldn't look at that little bastard's face every day and know that he was a product of your time with Kathryn."
"I'll convince her. I'll convince her to go with you, Richard. I just want her to be OK. I don't want to see her get hurt, OK?" Danny said as he thought he would say anything just to get to her.
"OK. Let's keep driving."
Danny put the car back in gear and pulled back on to the freeway while holding a napkin against the bleeding wounds on his face. He and Kendall drove in silence for another half an hour until Richard directed him to get off the freeway. They were in upstate New York heading into mountains.
Richard directed Danny down a secluded dirt road to an isolated cabin at the base of a mountain. As Danny put the car in park, Richard pointed the gun at Danny's temple again. "Here are the rules. When we go in there...you don't touch her. You don't talk to her until I tell you to talk to her. And if you try anything...anything...I'll shoot her right in front of you. And then after you watch her die...I'll shoot you, and then your precious son will be an orphan just like you. Now put these on one of your wrists," Richard said as he handed Danny a pair of handcuffs.
"What's this?" Danny asked as he took the cuffs.
"My insurance that you won't try to be a hero. Put them on now," Richard said as he tapped the gun against Danny's head. "One more thing...you're going to tell her that you don't love her anymore. And that she is better off with me. Understood?"
"Yeah...understood," Danny said quietly as his mind raced of what he could do to overtake Richard.
"OK...get out of the car, and put your hands up as you walk to the door."
Danny did as he was told and walked up to the door.
"Open the door," Richard ordered.
Danny walked through the door into a sparsely furnished living room. Richard came in behind him and closed the door. "Where is she?" Danny asked.
"Door on the left," Richard said.
Danny walked toward the door, and turned the knob. "It's locked."
"Right. I'll get that," Richard said as he put the gun to the back of Danny's head, and unlocked the door with his free hand. "Open it."
Danny took a quiet breath as he opened the door. And there she was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. When she saw him, her face momentarily lit up. She pushed up off the bed to run to him, but then she saw the wounds on his face and the desperate look in his eyes. Then she saw Kendall coming in right behind him with the gun.
"Stay where you are, Kathryn, or I put a bullet in his head," Richard said coldly.
Kathryn stopped dead in her tracks. Danny's intense eyes told her to keep her distance. While her brain told her to listen, her heart wanted her to run to him because she never thought she would see him again. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched him helplessly as Richard attached the other cuff to the pipe on the other side of the room.
Danny silently winced as he saw Kathryn's tears. Seeing her again was almost too much for him to handle. He truly thought she was dead. And now that he was cuffed and couldn't overtake Kendall, he wasn't sure how he was going to get them out of this.
"What...What are you going to do?" Kathryn asked as she looked at Kendall with confusion.
"Well, Danny has something he wants to say to you. And then you and I, along with little Mara, are going to started our new life together. How are my girls doing?" Richard said as he walked toward the crib that Danny hadn't even noticed was there yet.
"Mara needs her mother, Richard. She's sleeping now, but she misses her mommy. This...this will never work."
"You're her mommy now, Kathryn. All she needs is you. And it looks like you are doing a fine job," he said as he looked at the sleeping baby.
"I'm not her mother, Richard."
"But you are...Danny can attest to that. He found Meryl's body earlier today. She had an unfortunate accident...I'm sorry to say."
Kathryn looked at Danny as fear overcame her. She was scared because she realized that if Richard killed his wife, he was capable of anything. She was scared because she was fairly certain that Richard planned on killing Danny to complete his crazy fantasy.
Richard continued, "Danny read your e-mail yesterday. And although it might be hard at first, he agrees...your relationship must come to an end."
"No...," Kathryn said as she shook her head and started to walk toward them again.
"No...Kathryn...don't," Danny pleaded. "He's right. You were right in your e-mail. We should never have been together in the first place. We're all wrong for each other. You belong with Richard."
"Danny..." Kathryn said as her mind swirled with confusion.
"I know you're concerned about Michael, but he'll be fine. I'll take care of him...you know that. I'm setting you free, so you can start your life with Richard. The life you should have started a long time ago," Danny said as tried to sound sincere for Richard's benefit, but his heart ached as he watched the confusion and hurt in Kathryn's eyes.
Kathryn didn't respond. She just sat back down and put her head in her hands.
"I know this will take some time to process, darling, but it's for the best," Richard added. "We belong together. Deep down, you know that."
Danny couldn't look at Kathryn anymore so he looked down at his feet. Just as Richard was about to continue his plea, his cell phone rang. "Hello," he answered. "Yes...Yes...I have the papers ready. Let me call you back in a minute. I need to locate them."
Richard hung up the phone. "I have some business to take care of to prepare for our trip. I'll be right outside this door. Don't go anywhere," he said as he looked at Danny and smiled. Then he closed the door and locked it.
As soon as he closed the door, Kathryn stood up and ran to Danny. She threw her arms around him as he held her for a moment. He wanted so much to just get lost in this moment and hold her forever, but he knew he couldn't. "Kathryn...Kathryn...we can't. You have to sit down, baby. If he sees us like this, he'll kill us."
Kathryn started to step away as she held his face for a few more moments. Then she sat back down. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"Jack's ten minutes behind us. They'll set up a perimeter outside and will wait for some kind of signal from me. I didn't anticipate the handcuffs. This makes getting the gun away a little harder."
Kathryn just nodded and finally had to ask, "Is Michael...is he OK? Richard said he would hurt him if..."
"He's fine. He's with your parents and they have an agent with him. He misses you."
Kathryn smiled slightly as she started to cry again. "Are you OK? You look like you're hurt."
"I'm fine. It's nothing...just a scratch. How about you? Did he...did he hurt you?" Danny asked as he feared the answer considering the things he heard Kendall saying earlier.
Kathryn shook her head. "No...he...uh...brought me up here when I was unconscious. When I woke up, the baby was here. He told me that he wouldn't hurt me as long as I took care of the baby. So that's what I've been doing."
"Is she really OK?"
"Yeah, she's doing well," Kathryn answered. "Danny...I was so scared. When I made that phone call...he said he would kill Michael if I tried anything. I couldn't say anything. I was so afraid that you would believe..."
Danny looked down as he remembered that for a few hours he did believe that she left him. "It's OK...you did fine. You're alive...that is what is important. We're going to get out of here, but he has to think that you are OK with leaving. If you fight him, he will shoot us."
"What should I do?"
"The key to the cuffs is in his left jacket pocket. You need to try to get that key. Maybe if he takes his jacket off...I can distract him and you can go for the key."
"OK," Kathryn answered with hesitation. Just as she was about to ask for further direction, Kendall re-entered the room.
"Are we getting reacquainted? I hope not too much...since this reunion is going to be a short one."
Kathryn's mind was racing with how she could help Danny. She decided she had to take a chance. "I think you're right, Richard. I think seeing Danny again has sealed the deal for me. It's time for me to move on."
Richard looked at her skeptically. "What do you mean, Kathryn?"
"I mean that I'm tired of always struggling. I'm tired of never knowing where I stand. When I was with you, everything was so clear. There was no drama. I was too young to appreciate it, Richard. You've made me see that I made a huge mistake when I left you at the alter. How can you ever forgive me?" Kathryn asked as she walked toward him.
"I've already forgiven you for that, my darling. But how can I really believe you?"
"Richard...you never gave me another chance. You never pursued me after I left you. I didn't know how strongly you felt...until now. I mean...you did all of this...for me. I...I can't even put into words how it makes me feel," she said as she stood inches from Richard.
Danny watched as he worried about what Kathryn was trying to do. He was afraid Richard wouldn't buy it.
But Richard was buying it. At least he wanted to believe it as he lightly touched Kathryn's face. "I did do it all for you. You have know idea how much I have done for you," he said as he leaned down to kiss her.
But Kathryn backed away. "Not here. Let's go out there," she said as she motioned toward the living room.
"No way. I've been watching you with him for a long time. If you really believe in us, then it won't bother you that he is here," Richard said as he nodded toward Danny.
Without hesitating, Kathryn stepped toward Richard and kissed him on the lips. He put his hand on the base of her neck to pull her even closer to force a deeper kiss. She felt his tongue invade her mouth as his hand moved down her body. Kathryn did her best not to gag as Danny looked at the floor hating that Kathryn had to get close to Kendall. After a few moments passed, Kathryn finally pulled away and said, "Does that prove that I believe in us?"
"It's a start," Kendall replied as he kept a firm grip on her body.
"As long as I know that Michael is taken care of, then we can start our lives together. I'm sorry that I doubted us. I just never knew how you really felt."
Kendall finally released his grip as he nodded. "Good girl. I knew that we were destined to be together. No hard feelings, Danny?" he said as he turned to Danny.
Danny didn't respond. He just kept looking at his feet.
"Danny boy doesn't like to lose," Kendall said with a sarcastic grin.
"I know, but he lost me a long time ago. Actually, he never really had me. It just took you to help me realize it, Richard," she said as she also looked at Danny. "But I do need to know that I can trust him...that I can trust Danny will care of Michael. You will, won't you?" Kathryn started to walk toward Danny. "You won't go off the deep end again, will you?"
"No, I won't. I'll take care of him," Danny said coldly.
"Good," Kathryn said as she grabbed a baby bottle from the table next to Danny and then turned back to Richard. "Richard, I ran out of clean bottles a couple of hours ago. Do you mind if I go to the kitchen and sterilize this one? Mara will be up soon and she'll be very hungry."
"Of course. We'll both go. I think Danny will be OK without us for a few minutes," he said smugly as he lead Kathryn out of the room.
After Richard and Kathryn left the room, Danny looked down at the table. Kathryn slipped the key under a stack of diapers. He quietly reached over and grabbed the key. Within seconds, he had himself unlocked.