Duncan lay quietly in bed next to Tessa. They hadn't spoken in three days.

"Tess?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about how I've been acting."

"Me, too," she admitted. "I'm just so worried about him and I can't sleep, I can't concentrate on anything."

"I know how you feel. I'm so frustrated that I can't help him. I'm not used to being at someone else's mercy. I guess, since I can't take control of that situation I'm just trying to take control of everything else. If you want to watch the news about it, that's your choice."

Tessa sniffed and snuggled into Duncan's arms. "I'm so sorry."

"Me, too." He held her close, taking comfort that one member of his little family was close enough to comfort. "Just another two days and it will all be over."

"The whole country has been sending in donations to the fund to raise the ransom for eighteen year old Seacouver native, Richie MacLeod. The total of the account is not being released, though an official statement released just this morning there is now a reward if the teen is found and returned unharmed."

Tessa turned down the volume. "Is this a good idea?" she asked Duncan. "Aren't we just going to get a lot of calls from people who just want the money?"

"Probably. But maybe someone will have something useful."

"We can't kill him," Mary insisted as Collin flipped through TV channels.

"Hey, who's in charge here?"

"You said you wouldn't hurt him."

"I changed my mind."

"You think you can get away with murder?"

"We've gotten away with kidnapping, haven't we?"

"If we're getting away with it, why are you so nervous?"

"Because we're not going to get the money. This is a nation wide case now, there's no way we can just give the kid back now."

"What were you expecting when you sent the note to the cops?"

"I don't know!" he yelled.

"So what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we have to get rid of him and anything tying us to him."

"You are not killing him!"

"Then we'll just leave him and let him die on his own, I don't care."

"So we take him home."

"And risk getting caught?"

"We didn't get caught the first time."

"Now people are looking for us."

"No cops," Duncan insisted pacing Lieutenant Travett's office.

"Mr. MacLeod..."

"They said no cops," Tessa said.

"I know that, but we can't let you..."

"What? Can't let us handle it? You're why we're in this mess in the first place. We were this close and now we have to start all over!" Duncan snarled, leaning across the lieutenant's desk.

"And we want you to get your kid back."

"Then let us take the money and get him back! Why do you have to be there?"

"Do you want these people caught or not, Mr. MacLeod?"

"I just want my son back!"

"So we all want the same thing," Travett said, putting his hands up. "We just need a plan."

At two in the morning, there was a loud pounding on Collin and Mary's apartment door. "Open up!"

Collin knew who it was. His money was due to Benny two hours ago. He collected himself and opened the door.

Two large men in expensive suits walked in and pushed him into the wall. "Where is Benny's money?" one asked.

"I don't have it yet," Collin explained. "But I will, I just need a few more days."

"You've already missed your deadline."

"I know. I tried to call. I have a plan."

"A plan is not good. Cash is."

"I understand that. Please tell Benny that I need one more week. And in return for his generosity I will pay him double what I owe him now."

"If you can't make what you owe now, how are you going to double it?"

"Like I said I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you. It's for your own protection. I don't anticipate this going downhill, but just in case, I don't want you to go down with me."

The second man pulled out a cell phone. He spoke quietly into it, hung up, and nodded at his more vocal companion.

"You have five days."

"That'll be perfect. Thank Benny for me."

Duncan stood in their bedroom, staring at the suitcase full of money on the bed. The top was open and he mentally recounted the money by adding the thousand dollar bundles. The five hundred thousand dollars was there, just as it had been when he counted the money at the bank, when he put it in the bag, and when Tessa counted it the night before.

Tessa came out of the bathroom and silently told him how nervous she was and knew he was. Tonight was the night of the second ransom drop. They were both nervous and scared. They steadfastly refused to plant a tracking device in the bag, put any traceable marks on the money, wear wires or anything the police suggested. They didn't want to do anything that might upset the kidnappers. If they were cocky enough to send a note to them through the police and then tell them no police, they were cocky enough to think they could get away with not playing by their own rules.

Collin loaded his rental car with what he needed to put his plan into motion. Three brand new, still sealed in their package, blankets, brand new shoes and a new pair of gloves.

Duncan got on the phone to tell Lieutenant Travett that they were on their way.

"Is there any way I can persuade you to keep in some sort of contact with my men?"

"I told you, I'll call as soon as we have Richie and give you all the information we can."

"Mr. MacLeod, you better have a photographic memory, because there's no way we can catch up with them. You're going to give them a head start that we won't be able to close."

"That's not my problem, Travett. I just want that boy home as soon as possible."

"Listen to me, MacLeod. Our men are under a lot of pressure to close this case. We all want your boy back, but we need to catch these people. They're making us look like fools."

"Do you think I care what your department looks like? You're the reason I have to do this! I want you and your men to be ready to do your job after I have Richie right in front of me. Not a second before." He slammed the phone down.

Tessa looked at him from her seat on the couch. "When are we leaving?"

Duncan looked at his watch. It was forty five minutes before the drop was scheduled. "Now."

She stood, took his offered hand and they left.

Richie had been left alone for two days. He had just about given up all hope of them coming to get him when he heard someone approach the locked door of his cell. He knew it was the man, he could tell by the foot steps. Hands sat him up and sat him on the side of the mattress. Richie swallowed what little moisture he had in his mouth waiting for the gag to be untied. When it was, he hoarsely whispered:

"Please, I'm hungry."

He was quickly fed two ham sandwiches and a bottle of water.

"When am I going home?"

He got no response, but the sound of tape coming off a roll. The man in the room with him covered his mouth with the tape, continuing the gag around his head a few times. Then he reinforced the blindfold and the tape that bound his ankles together and his hand behind his back. Then he taped his thin thighs together and then kept his arms from any movement by wrapping tape around his biceps and chest.

Richie tried to fight the bindings but had no energy to do much more than annoy his captor.

He stuffed cotton in Richie's ears, then picked him up and put him over his shoulder.

Duncan and Tessa stood at the foot of the founder's statue listening for any signs that someone else was there. All they could hear was the sounds of early morning.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

No one came. There was no clue left for them. Nothing out of the ordinary was found, despite their desperate search.

"Duncan," Tessa whispered, terror written across her face. "Where is he?"

Duncan got out his cell phone and dialed Travett's number. "What the hell did you do?" he demanded as the line picked up.

"Where are they?" Travett asked.

"Not here! What did you do?"

"Nothing! I don't have any men closer than three blocks."

"They must have seen them!"

"MacLeod..."

"You were so worried about your precious department's reputation. Now how do you think this is going to look?"

Collin pulled the rental car up to where he had arranged to meet Mary that night at one a.m. Mary got in quietly and Collin drove off.

"Where are we going? The park is that way," Mary said as they made a left, instead of right hand turn.

"New plans."

"What?"

"We're not going to do the drop."

"What?!"

"We're dumping him."

"Collin!"

"Do you want to get away with this or not?" he snapped. "I got us this far. I'll finish it."

He got on the highway and headed north, towards Canada.

"Where is he?"

"Trunk."

"Do you have to do that?"

"Just shut up."

They drove twenty miles out of town then Collin pulled over near a wooded area by the highway. Making sure there were no cars coming on the long, straight stretch of road, he got out and motioned Mary to get out, too.

He put on the new shoes and had Mary put on his. Then they put on their gloves and took the supplies into the underbrush. They laid out one of the blankets then went to get Richie.

Confused about what was going on, Richie silently allowed them to haul him out of the trunk. When Collin started wrapping him in a thick blanket, he started to wonder what was going on. Collin took Richie's shoulders, Mary his legs and they carried him to where the first blanket had been laid out. They covered Richie's already nearly mummified body with a third, larger, ground colored blanket.

When they got back into the car, Collin shined his high beams where they had left the teen, he was invisible from the roadway. Collin pulled back onto the road and finished the trip north, checking them into a hotel twenty miles from the Canadian border, and thirty from where they had left Richie.