AN: Many thanks to Neoinean, who showed me how to put in section breaks. Hope this is easier to read now!

It had been silent for hours. Richie had pulled, tugged, twisted and struggled until he was afraid he had broken one of his wrists. He lay still and waited to find out what was going to happen. At some point, he fell asleep because he found himself being gently shaken awake.

"Shhh," someone warned him, taking the tape off his mouth.

"Where am I?" Richie whispered. There was no answer. "What's going on?" Still no answer. He opened his mouth to ask another question, when whoever was with him shoved a spoonful of cereal in it. Instinctively, Richie spit the food back out. "What is that?" Someone took his jaw in their hand and put another spoonful of cereal in it. When Richie closed his mouth, they clamped their hand over it and didn't move it until he had chewed and swallowed. A few seconds later, there was another spoonful of Corn Flakes and then another until, presumably, he had finished the bowl.

Then they put their hand behind his head and supported him while they tipped a glass of water to his lips. He drank it all. The stranger lay him back down then tied a cloth gag around his head. Again, Richie heard the door close, then lock.

"Where were you?" Collin demanded when Mary entered the small apartment.

"Work."

"No you weren't. I went by to see you. They told me you left early."

Mary sighed and sat down on the couch. "I took the kid some food."

"You did what?"

"I took him some food."

"Why the hell would you do something like that?" Collin grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet. "What if someone had seen you?"

"No one saw me," she jerked her arms out of his grip. "And even if they did, I have every right to be there."

"You risked a lot going to that kid."

"I let you kidnap him, I'm not going to let you starve him, too."

"What if someone had seen you?"

"They didn't."

"Don't you do it again."

"The hell I won't. He needs to eat."

Collin grabbed Mary again. "You will stay away from him. All he needs to do is keep quiet and make us a shit load of money."

"You told his parents you wouldn't hurt him." She twisted and pulled, but couldn't get loose this time.

"Let me take care of the kid."

"Then take care of him!" she yelled.

Collin back handed her. "Don't you ever talk to me like that again," he told her. Mary put her hand to her stinging cheek. "Oh, Mary." He took her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, baby." He stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I'm just so worried that we'll get caught. And I just want to make sure we don't take any unnecessary risks." He held her out at arm's length. "You know I love you, don't you?"

Silently, she nodded.

Duncan and Tessa had fallen asleep on the couch. Duncan woke up around nine the next morning, with Tessa still asleep on his chest.

"Tess..." he gently shook her awake. "Tess, wake up."

Slowly, Tessa opened her eyes. "Duncan...tell me it was all a dream."

He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. Richie's gone."

"What day is it?"

"Saturday."

"When can we get him?"

Duncan looked at the abandoned not on the coffee table. "Tuesday morning."

"We have to call the police!"

"We can't."

"They didn't say we couldn't!" she argued, sitting up. "We have to do something! We can't just sit around here for three days wondering what's happening to him!"

"We can't call the police."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"Just sit tight." He tired to put his hand on her shoulder. She slapped his hand away.

"How can you say that? How can you be so calm?" she screamed. "There is a scared child out there at the mercy of who knows who! And you're telling me you aren't even going to bother looking for him?" she was pacing the room.

"What good will that do, Tess?" Duncan asked.

"What? How can you say that?" She went into the kitchen and fished around in a drawer for her cigarettes.

"Because we have no idea where he is or who has him. We have no leads to follow. All we can do is get the money and be ready to get him home."

"How can you say that?"

"Look, Tess, this is all we have to go on!" He snatched up the ransom note. "This is it!" He shoved it under her nose. "Richie's handwriting, calling us mom and dad and saying that if we don't pay up, he's not coming back! Where do you want me to go? Tell me where to look and I'll go!" he yelled. "And put that thing out!" He grabbed the cigarette out of her hand. "They can kill you!"

"I don't care!" She lit up another one. "I'm worried, Duncan, I'm scared! Do you have any idea what they could be doing to him, right now? And how is he to stop them?" She started to cry. "What if they hurt him? He's just a child!"

"We just have to trust that he'll be okay."

"What if they kill him?" she asked. "What if all we find is his body?"

"Don't think like that..." He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Richie's going to be okay."

"I'm so scared," she whispered, dropping her cigarette in the ash tray on the counter, then taking her place back in Duncan's arms.

"Me, too," he admitted. "Me, too."

Richie had lost all track of time. He felt as if he' been alone for days. He didn't know if it was light out; he didn't know where he was; he didn't know who had him, he didn't know if they had left him; he didn't know if they were coming back. Without warning, he started to cry. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't scared.

Who was he kidding?

He was terrified. He was scared out of his freaking mind! He had already wet himself a few times. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't move. He could barely even breathe. He was freezing. He was wet. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't know how long he had until they came back for him. He didn't know if they were even in the same building. He didn't know how long until he got to go home. He didn't even know if he was going home.

Duncan and Tessa had a lot of money, but did they have $150,000 dollars to blow on him? It wasn't as if they had any real attachment to him. He had been living with them for a month...if even that. Sure, they seemed to like him, but enough to spend $150,000 dollars for him? If they did, he supposed he'd be in debt to them for the rest of his life.

Suddenly, he really really really wanted to go home. He had always wanted to go home, but the more he thought of the loft, the more he cried, the more he wished he was home, in his nice warm bed, in those damned pajamas Tessa was always trying to get him to wear.

He coughed and gagged as he tried to breathe. He was making so much noise he didn't hear the door open and someone walk in.

He gasped as someone roughly grabbed his shoulders and sat him up.

"Shut up," a voice hissed. The same voice that had dictated the ransom note to him.

Richie tired to force himself to calm down. The voice's hand grabbed his jaw and squeezed it, shaking his head. Richie's breath stuck in his throat as he felt a gun press up against his temple. They pulled the gag out of his mouth and shoved a piece of pizza in.

"Eat it."

Richie bit off what was in his mouth and barely had enough time to swallow before he was forced to bite off more. He had barely taken a fifth bite when the gag was put back and he was dropped back onto the bed.

"Keep quiet this time."

Duncan sat at the computer in the office working on inventory. It was going smoothly, everything was matching up. Richie had been working hard getting everything organized for him. He had found all the pieces and matched them up with their inventory cards. So now all Duncan had to do was go down a check list and check it against the computer.

"Agh!" He heard Tessa yell from her workshop. He sprang to his feet and was through the door in a split second.

"You okay?"

"I just burned myself." She put her finger in her mouth.

"Don't do that." He took her hand in his and looked at the burn. "Looks painful."

"I'm alright."

"You should put some aloe on that."

"I'll be fine!" she snapped, taking her hand back.

"Tessa..."

She sniffed and turned away.

"Are you okay?"

"What if he's hurt?" she asked turning around. "What if he's hurt? Who's taking care of him?"

"Oh, Tess..." He put his arms out and she cuddled into him. "I'm sure he's fine. And in a few days we'll find out. I have the money all ready for them. All we have to do is make sure we have whatever he may need ready for him when we bring him home."

Days passed and no one had come yet. The room was silent. Richie was starving. He really had to go to the bathroom. He stubbornly refused to soil himself any further and, as patiently as he could, he waited for one of his captors to come with food, so he could ask to use the restroom. He held it for as long as he could, but in the end, his body won the fight.

The only question was when were they going to come for him?

Collin and Mary got into their car out side their apartment four blocks away from the run down house where they had left Richie.

"Do we have everything?" Collin asked.

Mary looked in the back pack sitting in her lap. "I think so."

"Tape?"

"Yes."

"Masks and gloves?"

"Yes."

"Walkie talkies?"

"Yes."

"Camera?"

"Yes."

"Knife?"

"Yes."

"The gun?"

Mary took a shaky breath. "Yes."

"Good. Let's get our money." He smiled at her and put his hand on her knee. "This is it, we're going to be rich. This kid is setting us up for life."

"Let's stop and get him something to eat," Mary said.

Collin sighed and put the car in gear. "What is with you and this kid? You like him or something?"

"His parents are trusting us to take care of him. I think giving him some food is the right thing to do."

"We've already fed him."

"Just stop so we can get him a burger. Some fries. Something."

They drove through Burger King and got Richie a Whopper. They drove around for half an hour until heading for the house Mary's parents had left her.

"Just remember what I said," Collin said to Mary. "Don't say a word to him or his parents. Just give them the picture and get the money."

"How am I supposed to get the money?"

"The boy will tell them what to do. That's what the Walkie Talkies are for."

They checked to make sure no one saw them and then stopped at the house, headlights off, and pulled into the garage.

"Keep your mouth shut," Collin hissed taking the bag from her.

They got into the house and each put on a pair of gloves.

"Give him the burger, sit him up, tape his mouth and leave him." Collin gave her the burger and roll of duct tape.

Mary nodded and went down the hall to Richie's small prison.

Richie shifted to face her when he heard the door open. He started talking to her through the gag.

"Shh," she told him, taking it off.

"Please," he whispered. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Shh," she told him again, unwrapping the burger.

"Please," he begged her. "I really have to go. I've been holding it forever."

Mary put her finger to his lips then put the burger in his mouth. Richie chewed and swallowed. "Please," he asked again.

She didn't say a word, but continued to feed him the burger until he had finished it. When he was done, she wiped away crumbs and mayonnaise from his mouth then tore off a piece of tape and covered his mouth with it.

He again tried to speak to her through the gag. At first quietly, then louder, then yelling when he heard the door close.

She went down the hall and into the living room. "How much longer?"

"Two hours."