"What are you doing there?" Laurie fought down the terror in her heart, seeing the man standing in the Brown's doorway.

"We're moving some furniture as we were told, ma'am." The big man returned nervously, then another voice, eerily familiar , came out of the home. "Who's out there?

Abby yanked at Laurie's arm, feeling they were in danger. "Well, got to be going." Abby said, then both of them started to edge back to their horses.

Seeing the first robber take a step toward her, Laurie dropped all pretense and ran toward Brick, yelling to Mike, "Go home to Daddy." Abby vaulted on to her horse Tony and took off, not seeing Laurie stumble then climb on to Brick.

Moments later the dog was streaking toward the ranch as the women rode, then heard a shout from behind them. "Stop them, don't let those two get away!"

Terrified, Laurie urged Brick on, but she had only ridden a few feet when she felt something whiz past her face. Suddenly she heard a yelp, then saw Mike go down. "Mike, go to Daddy". She screamed, then saw him get up and limp off. Lowering her head, she jerked the reins to spur Brick on when a loud report went off, then she felt something hit her shoulder. Abby whirled her mount around, then rode back toward her.

"Laurie!" She screamed, then a second shot startled Tony and he threw Abby hard to the ground.

When she hit, the wind was knocked out of her and she lay motionless. Laurie fell too but managed to land on her seat, then scrambled onto her feet, trying to get to her friend's side.

"Abby" she screamed then "called", "Rick, help us, we've been shot!"

"No you don't, Mrs. Simon!" that voice sounded again, then someone tackled her from behind, knocking the wind out of her.

Before she could get up, a hand was over her mouth and she was dragged up off the ground.

"No!" she uttered a muffled protest, only to feel her arms yanked behind her. She saw a man coming at her, then the voice she knew from somewhere came again.

"Let's get out of here, sooner or later she'll be missed." Jeff? No, it couldn't be Jeff from the Center? she thought, dismayed. "What about the other one?" the big man yelled.

Twisting in her assailants grasp, she struggled in vain as she heard him laughing. "Forget her, she's dead. You are a fighter, Mrs. Simon. I'm sorry to do this, but I need you to stay quiet so we can get out of here."

Laurie froze, wanting to scream, then a cloth was over her mouth, something sickly sweet in her nose.

Dizzily she thought "Chloroform…" then everything went dark.

"Laurie! Abby!"

Rick called their names loudly as A.J. drove the Jeep over the paved driveway toward Temple and Towne's home. Already Ron had put in a call for back-up from Robbie, who had also radioed Rob Gomez in Silver Rock.

As they approached the creek, a barking noise and hoofbeats brought the vehicle to a screeching halt.

"Mike!" Rick was out of the jeep and running toward his dog, who was laying on the ground while Brick and Tony seemingly stood guard over him.

"Good boy, good dog!" he choked, seeing the pleading look Mike gave him as he picked him up. Giving a pat to both horses, he told A.J., "Call Rudy, Mike's been shot, I think someone just grabbed Laurie and Abby."

Taking the wheel of the Jeep, he slapped Tony and sent him to the barn as A.J. climbed on Brick and took Mike back to the ranch. Ron and Towne got back into the vehicle and drove at full speed toward the Brown's house.

As they approached, they saw Abby laying on the ground, and Ron immediately jumped out and ran to her.

"Abby!" he cried, then the sound of a flooded engine caught Rick's ears.

Seeing Abby sitting up and reaching for her husband, Rick focused his attention on the truck still parked in front of his friend's home.

"Towne?" he said tensely. "Pull it in front then let's move." The former detective growled.

Rick gunned the Jeep in front of the truck, then he and Towne leaped out and stuck their guns through the windows of the cab, taking the lone driver by surprise.

"Freeze!"

"Don't shoot, please don't shoot…..It wasn't my idea!" the man blustered, then yelled with pain as Towne hauled him out of the truck and threw him against the side.

"Where is she, where's Mrs. Simon?"

"I don't know, man, I swear. Jeff took her and drove off. I'm just the wheel man, that's all. I didn't hurt her." A scared look crossed the robber's face as Ron ran up to him, snarling, "You're lying, Abby says she saw them carry her off. If you don't tell us, you're going to fry for kidnapping and burglary and attempted murder all by your lonesome!"

"Ron." Rick came up behind him, then put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Instantly the chief of detectives simmered down. "Is Abby all right?" Rick asked worriedly.

"I think she just got the wind knocked out of her, Tony threw her when this lowlife fired at them." Ron told him, then Rick stared at their prisoner.

"Who are you, and who's this Jeff, is he the one who kidnapped my wife?"

"Uh, I'm Carl Randolph, yeah, he drugged her cause she fought him, then he put her in his jeep and drove off, but I don't know where, honest!" now the guy was sweating. "Jeff's from around here, I only met him through some guy in jail."

"Listen, you're going to tell us everything, or like my friend said." Rick stared at him, "You'll be lucky if you do end up in the chair."

Rick threw the man at Towne, who used his belt to secure the now cringing robber, then helped Ron get a tearful Abby into the jeep. "Rick, Laurie was trying to get to me, then this guy grabbed her and put something over her face. I saw him put her in a jeep, then take off." She choked.

"It's okay, Abby, we'll find her. Let's get you home." Rick tried to comfort her.

All the way back to the ranch, Towne and Ron hounded Randolph for information, but got very little out of him other then he was terrified of what "Jeff" would do to him if he told anything else.

Rick was heartened to find Robbie and Sheriff Gomez already at the house, and Rob took charge of Randolph, promising to find out "who" the guy was in jail. Rudy took charge of Abby, then seeing that she was just bruised, persuaded her to lay down in the guest room.

"Pop, this Jeff, it couldn't be the new guy at the Cultural Center, could it?" Robbie asked, then Rick blanched.

"Son, you might be onto something; Rob, can you call the Chief and see if that Jeff, what's his name?"

"Fischer, Pop, Jeff Fischer, wait a minute, his twin brother is also the new trainee at the sheriff's station in Window Rock!" Robbie exclaimed, then Rob shook his head.

"Guys, I hope you're wrong, cause if you aren't…he could be the "guy" Carl Randolph is talking about. We'll have to be real careful not to let it slip we suspect them."

Easier said then done, Rick decided that night, pacing in the living room while Oscar manned the phone and Ron and Towne looked at maps of the caves in the area. Temple and Linda had taken the children to A.J.'s in Phoenix, so the guys could concentrate on finding Laurie. Cecilia insisted on staying to take care of Abby and to wait for word on her daughter-in-law.

As every hour passed, Rick's worry increased. He couldn't reach Laurie at all, and to make matters worse, Oscar had had to tell him something that left him enraged.

"Son, I got a call from Gregson yesterday, since Laurie has been a "retired agent" for over five years, we can no longer use the long-range locater to turn her watch on or find her position." Oscar put his hand on Rick's shoulder, then gripped it firmly as he blustered, "no, they can't be so, Oscar, you can't…"

"I'm sorry, Rick. The Secretary and I are not exactly on speaking terms since that incident with the plane two years ago." The older man sighed, then Rick saw his reddened eyes.

"Dad, I'm sorry, too. You've been…I've never needed your help in handling this more." he admitted, then hugged Oscar.

"And I won't let you down, son. My girl, if we only knew if she was all right. Wait a minute, check your watch, Rick."

As Rick looked at his transmitter, he suddenly got an idea. "A.J.? Robbie?"

Both men came to his side then he held out his wrist, pointing to the darkened watch light.

"What if we all turn our watches on, Dad. Isn't there a chance we can still activate Laurie's watch by remote?"

"Let's find out? Rudy?" Oscar got up from the dining room table, then intercepted the doctor as he came out of the guest room.

As the five men worked, Laurie slowly regained conciousness.

At first she thought she was still asleep, her eyes wouldn't open, and when she tried to open her mouth…

God, no, she was dead.

Then she realized her arm was throbbing, and slowly she was aware that she was alive, with her wrists and ankles tied with rope, and a gag in her mouth.

"Why can't I open my eyes?" she wondered, then tried to turn her head and found she was blindfolded.

Laurie wanted to be sick, her equilibrium was never good when her eyes were closed, and only able to breathe through her nose, then she remembered, Abby, no….

"I'm glad to see you awake, Mrs. Simon."

Startled, she heard a voice to the side, then a hand touched her face, loosening the gag from her mouth.

"Here, have a drink of water." A cup was held to her mouth, and she choked on the first mouthful, then managed to hold down a few sips.

As the cup was moved away from her lips, Laurie managed to gasp, "Thank you. Abby, is she all right? Where am I?"

"I don't know, but you're not far from home. You're safe as long as I get what I want." That voice, it was Jeff Fischer from the library.

"Please, you can have whatever you want, only let me go, please. My arm hurts." Her voice wobbled, as she tried not to beg.

"Yes, ma'am, I tried to patch it up as best I could. I'll take you home, as soon as the sheriff pays my price. In the meantime, you'll remain my guest. Now, I'm going to let you rest, then in the morning you can talk to your husband and convince them to do as I say." Fischer's voice had a determined edge, then Laurie felt his hand on her face again.

"No, please, I promise not to scream. I'll be sick if you put the gag back in." She hated begging, but she felt ill.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Simon. I'm not taking any chances, but I'll try to make you more comfortable." The man hesitated, then pulled the gag up over her mouth,

"Close your eyes, and I'll untie your blindfold. Keep them closed until I tell you to."

Nodding, Laurie did as he said, then felt the cloth drop away. A moment passed, then Fischer's voice sounded. "Okay, you may open them. Nothing to see in the dark anyway." He chuckled, then said, "I'll be back."

As his steps faded away, Laurie opened her eyes, then uttered a muffled gasp as she saw stars.

Stars in the sky, through a crack in the roof of some kind of rock ceiling.

"God, no." she was in a cave of some kind, like when she was kidnapped on their first anniversary.

"Rick, please hear me, I'm scared." She "cried" out, then was reduced to tears when she heard a faint response.

Not in her mind, but from her watch.