"Happy Birthday to you!"

"Speech, speech!" Rick called, then snickered as the birthday boy shot a stern look at him.

"Very funny, Rick. I'll remember that." He warned, then smiled as Laurie handed him a glass of punch.

"All right, since my son-in-law wants a few words of wisdom from the old man…" Rudy groaned, then Linda snorted, "Old my foot."

"Okay, honey, I earned that." Oscar grinned then dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"Seriously, I just want to say thank you to my girls, my family and my friends, for remembering this day, and for keeping me young."

He flung up his hand. "That's all!"

Laurie wiped her eyes, then held up her glass. "to Dad, the youngest man around."

As glasses were raised, both Laurie and Linda hugged Oscar, then teased him as he blew out the candles with one strong puff. "I'm sorry Steve missed this, of all times to have to renew his pilot's license." Rudy sighed.

Seeing it was almost 2, Rick caught his son's eye, then went to get his jacket.

Stopping by his wife's chair, he whispered, "Be good, darlin', we'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Love you." She beamed up at Rick, then kissed him.

"Be back soon."

As he went to the front door, he saw Oscar's head raise up, then nod.

Going out to the driveway, he groaned as he saw the right front tire on his truck sporting a nail.

"Robbie, we'll have to take your cruiser, look."

"That's okay, Pop. We can pick up a spare at the garage. " Robbie chuckled as his father responded, "I knew having a sheriff in the family had some perks!"

As they drove to town, Rick filled his son in on the status of the hunt for the drug lord.

"What I don't like is that Oscar has the sense the FBI doesn't want this Carlos to be found. I think he's ready to give up helping the OSI once and for all."

"Uh, Pop? I think we've got trouble." Robbie's voice was calm, but Rick was immediately on alert.

"The delivery van in back of us?" Rick looked in the rear view mirror, it had pulled out of Rocky Peak Canyon a few miles back. It came to him at once; Laurie's premonition.

"Yeah, I'm calling Rob. Silver Rock 1 to Station, come in, Rob." Robbie radioed.

Rick turned on his transmitter, then found Oscar answering. "Rick, where are you? Did you and Robbie go in his cruiser?"

"Yeah, Dad, my truck has a nail, but listen, we're being followed by a white delivery van. Our location is just south of the Silver Peak turnoff, oh crap…." Rick started to swear as a loud crack came from somewhere, then his son started to fight the wheel. "Silver Rock 1, I'm on my way, Robbie!" the sheriff responded.

"Hold on, Pop, I think the hydraulics have gone out!"

Suddenly Rick had an idea. "Robbie, shift into first, then steer for the rocks, then turn a hard left, now!"

As Robbie followed his instructions, the cruiser seemed headed for the boulders lining the highway, then at the last minute he managed to pull the vehicle along side the rocks, slowing the car enough that he was able apply the brakes..

"Rick, I'm coming, hang on!" Oscar's voice came loudly from his transmitter.

Abruptly a popping noise sounded, then Robbie yelled "Hang on, we're going to hit!"

Rick lunged forward and pulled the hand brake as a last resort. Amazingly, the cruiser screeched to a halt, then tilted as if ready to rollover, only to come back upright.

Caught off balance, both father and son were hit with the front airbags, causing Robbie to black out.

Rick shook his head, dazed, then saw smoke start to pour from the front of the car.

"Robbie, we've got to get out of here!" he urged, seeing his son's eyes flicker. Unhooking their seatbelts, Rick managed to climb out, then pulled Robbie out of his seat and halfway out of the vehicle.

At once someone grabbed him from behind, then a hand covered his face with a cloth.

"Let go of me!" Rick tried to struggle away from the fumes filling his nose.

He realized he was being drugged, as his arms and legs stopped obeying him, and he felt himself being dragged.

"Laurie!" he "called", then from a distance he heard someone yelling as he blacked out.

"Rick!"

Laurie dropped to her knees as she "heard" his cry. Rudy caught her arm, then lifted her onto the sofa.

"Rudy, Rick's been hurt, he called for me, someone's got him, I know it!" Laurie gasped.

Immediately Rudy turned on his transmitter, "Oscar, are you there yet?"

After a few tense minutes, a terse Oscar replied.

"I just got here, Robbie's all right, just dazed. Rob got him out of the car just before it went up. Rudy…someone got Rick. Rob saw him take off, but he had to take care of Robbie first. We're putting out an alert now."

"Oh, no." Laurie swallowed, then got control of her voice with an effort. "Dad, tell Rob he did the right thing. Take care of my boy. Please."

"He's okay, honey. He got hit with the airbag, but he's going to be fine. We'll find Rick, I promise."

Oscar's voice was firm when he said that, and Laurie let out a deep breath. "Thanks, Dad."

Hours later, Rick opened his eyes, then groaned, as his stomach turned.

"Now I know how Laurie feels, ugh." He thought dizzily.

"Welcome back to life, Mr. Simon. Or death, it's your choice."

A man's voice, very familiar.

Rick tried to move, only to discover he was chained to a wall, the metal cuffs cutting into his wrists.

"Who are you?" he managed, his throat dry.

"Oh, that's not important now, what's at stake here is your life, or if that doesn't mean much, that of your son and grandson. You don't want anything to happen to Robbie or Andy, do you?"

Anger cleared Rick's head. "You bastard, you touch my family and I'll…." He tried to get to his feet.

Pow! A fist came out of the darkness, and he was smashed against a wall.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Mr. Simon. I'll do the ordering around here." At once Rick knew who his captor was.

"Now, about the drugs you found in the stream, or rather, what your grandson found in the stream."

"I wondered when you'd bring that up, Gregson." Rick said harshly.

There was silence, then a sigh.

"I was afraid you'd remember that Oscar and I are the only ones outside the family who know the truth."

The OSI chief remarked.

"Yeah, well, I told you the truth then, and it hasn't changed now. I didn't see any other drugs." Rick insisted.

"Come now, Rick, may I call you Rick?" the man chuckled as Rick spat "You can call me nothing, I wouldn't lie about a thing like that, it's not worth my families lives to cover up a thing like that."

He could see Gregson's shadow now, standing still, then a macabre chuckle.

"It would be a pity if you were telling the truth, but then again, I think you're holding back on me, Rick. I'll let you sleep on it."

Rick heard the man's steps coming closer, then he grabbed Rick by the head, then forced a rag over his face.

He panicked, realizing Gregson was putting him to sleep again. Holding his breath, he felt like he was going to suffocate, then Rick let his head fall forward.

Immediately the cloth was removed, then footsteps echoed away.

As the sound of a door clanged shut, Rick opened his eyes, then took a deep breath.

"Laurie, sweetheart, can you hear me?" he "called".

No answer, so he must be too far away to reach her. Twisting to look at his watch in the dim light, he saw it was missing from his wrist.

"Damn." He groused, then realized he felt sick to his stomach. Looking around, he caught sight of a bucket, and managed to slide it toward him with his feet. Instantly his insides turned, and after a half hour, he was finally able to stop throwing up.

Taking several deep breaths, Rick wondered where he was being held. Glancing around in the semi-darkness, he saw nothing but four stone walls, and a metal door. He next turned his attention to the chains holding his wrists, only to see that they were solid metal.

Suddenly it occurred to him, Gregson believed he knew something about the drugs in the plane wreckage, what if he did go after Robbie or Andy?"

"Laurie, sweetheart, can you hear me?" he "called" again, Damn, he had to warn them against Gregson.

As he tried to reach his wife, A.J. was busy pacing the floor at the sheriff's station in Silver Rock, as Robbie was repeating what he remembered of the attack.

"I should never have left town." A.J. told Robbie, when he finished. The younger Simon shook his head.

"Uncle A.J., you couldn't have known what was going to happen. As it is, Mom had a premonition about Pop and I and Andy being attacked. Because we were warned, Andy wasn't with us yesterday, and Pop was taken instead…" Robbie stopped, trying to clear his throat, then wiped his eyes.

"I know, son, I know." A.J. hugged his nephew, grateful he was all right. "We'll find him, this animal who attacked you won't get away. Now I need you to get some rest, it's been a long day. I'll take you home."

Just then Rob came out from his office with Oscar. "Robbie, how do you feel?" Oscar asked, worried.

"I'm okay, Uncle Oscar, just so worried, is there any word?" Robbie asked, then his face fell as the older man sighed. "No, son. We did find the delivery van your attacker used in a parking lot in Chandler, only it was set on fire, the technicians at headquarters couldn't find a thing inside. We'll go over the trail again tomorrow, maybe we'll find some clue to your dad's whereabouts in the morning."

"Have you talked to Laurie tonight, Oscar?" A.J. asked, thinking of the anguish she must be going through.

"Yes, A.J., she's been working the phone, talking to Ron in Phoenix. She's been more worried about Rick and Robbie and the rest of us then herself." Oscar responded wearily, then rubbed his eyes.

"Light's a strong woman, but she's going to need you with her tonight, Oscar." Rob told him, putting an hand on his shoulder. " Why don't you guys go home, I'll let you know if I hear anything or if there's any news."

As A.J. walked his nephew out to his car, he watched the former government agent mechanically go to his car and drive away.

"Uncle A.J., I'm worried, I think Uncle Oscar suspects there's more then a drug dealer at work here." Robbie said.

"Since when did you start reading minds, no, don't answer that." A.J. grinned, then saw a glimmer of humor in the young man's eyes.

"Well, it's something he said, about no cooperation between agencies, if the OSI found this "Carlos" first, they'd have to let the FBI have him, with no guarantee of co-operation."

"Good thinking, son. In the morning, why don't ask Oscar about paying a visit to headquarters and asking if they can contact the FBI and see if they know anything." his uncle said enthusiastically.

"And if they hold anything back, we'll let Mom loose on them." Robbie added, bringing a grin to A.J.'s face.

"Wake up, Rick."

A splash of water woke him, then shaking the water from his eyes, he was blinded by a light shone in his face.

"I'm awake, what do you want?" Rick said groggily. Sudden awareness hit him, and he made out the shadow of Gregson, outlined in the brightness of the glare.

"To talk, but first, here's some water. Can't get a man to talk if he's thirsty." The agent chuckled.

Suspicious, Rick reached for the outstretched container of water, then drank slowly, not wanting a repeat of his upset stomach.

"That's enough." At once the bottle was jerked out of his hand.

Taking a deep breath, Rick faced the man. "All right, what do you want to know."

"That's better, Rick. Let's start from the beginning. What did you find after Andy brought you the plastic package." Gregson asked.

"I told you and Oscar everything, after Robbie took the kids back to the house, we followed the stream up the hill, then saw the plane wreckage. We didn't go any further until Rob came, then we looked through the rocks and found the rest of the plane." Rick retorted, then he felt dizzy.

"Wait a…minute." His head started spinning. Suddenly he knew, the water was drugged.

"Feeling funny, are we? Well, Rick, you're going to tell me the truth, exactly the truth. Now, let's start again." Gregson kept fading in and out.

"Laurie, please hear me!" Rick tried to call to his wife.

"What did you find in the wreckage, Rick." Now the voice was hypnotic. Rick automatically repeated the whole story again.

Gregson sighed at the end of it. "I almost believe you, Rick. Maybe we'd better go after this another way. I'll be back."

As the man turned to go, the light was shut off, then Gregson halted.

"You will sleep now, Rick. You won't wake up until I come back." He added.

Rick felt his eyes closing, then he slumped down, unable to resist.

"Rick! Where are you?"

He faintly heard his name being called, and he managed to respond. "Laurie…..don't trust him, don't…"

He slumped over, unconscious..