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Chapter 8: Plan in Action

Over the next two months, Piper realized she was falling for Leo all over again. She loved being near him, being held by him.

And Laurie loved him too. Leo treated Laurie like a normal person. He didn't talk down to her just because she was three. He gave her the same respect as he would to an adult.

Piper loved to watch the two interact. It warmed her heart to know Leo genuinely liked Laurie. Laurie acted like a different person around Leo. Normally, Laurie was a cautious child. She wasn't a recluse, but she wasn't so outgoing as to where she would talk to strangers. But Laurie was surprising outgoing with Leo. She would tell him things and show him things that she usually only told Piper. Piper wasn't even sure if Laurie was a close to Prue and Phoebe as she was to Leo.

When Piper woke up that morning, she stretched luxuriously in bed. Leo, lying beside her, stirred and woke up. "Hey there," she said to him.

Leo didn't reply. He just put one arm around Piper and moaned, "Sleep…"

Piper laughed and untangled herself from the bed and Leo. When she walked out of the room, Leo was snoring.

Piper went into Laurie's room where the little girl was already up and playing with her dolls.

"Hello, Mommy," she said, giving Piper a hug around her knees.

"Good morning, Sunshine. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Is Leo going to eat with us?"

"He's still sleeping."

"Oh. Can we wait for him?"

Piper was surprised, but happy, by her request. "Sure, if you want to."

"No need to," Leo said from behind her. "I'm up now."

"Leo!" Laurie squealed and hugged him around his knees.

"Hey here, Sunshine. Why don't we get some breakfast?" he said with a yawn.

"Some one's tired," Piper joked.

"You kept me up all night," he said with a smile.

"I did? You didn't exactly make it easy to fall asleep either."

Laurie, walking down the stairs in front of them said, "You two are silly.

"We're silly? Well you're silly to," Leo said and he began to tickle her. Laurie squealed with delight and began laughing uncontrollably. Piper watched the two, laughing.

Leo stopped tickling Laurie and whispered something to her that Piper couldn't hear. Before she knew it, both Leo and Laurie were tickling her. It was a family moment, one of many to come, Piper hoped.

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Darkness was falling and Scott McGunther knew it was time to put his plan in action. Dressed in black, he headed out of the house and towards the black SUV. He clutched his side, pretending to be in pain.

"Help," he cried as he knocked on the glass.

The officer rolled down the window. "Sir, are you alright?"

McGunther stood up. "I'm fine. But you're not." He pulled out a tranquilizer gun and shot both of them. They were both knocked out before they could call for help. He wasn't going to kill the cops. He wasn't that stupid. The whole police force would be after him if he did.

He snuck around to the back of the house. From there he entered the house and slowly climbed up the stairs, careful to make sure they made no noises underneath his weight.

He kept near the wall in the darkened hallway. He tried the first door to his left and found it empty. He turned to his right an opened the door to his right. Jackpot. Laurie was fast asleep in her bed. He bent over the little girl and put a hand over her mouth.

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Piper was fast asleep when a loud thump woke her up. She sat up in bed and thought he heard other noises.

"Did you hear that?" Piper asked Leo, who was now sitting up beside her.

"Yeah." There was another noise. "That sounded like the back door. I think someone is trying to break in." He began rummaging in the draw of the nightstand by the bed. In the darkness, Piper could see the faint outline of a gun. "Go check on Laurie. Stay in her room and lock the door until I come back."

Piper just nodded and followed Leo out of the room. As he went down the stairs, Piper went into Laurie's room. The first thing Piper saw was Laurie's empty bed. Thinking Laurie may have gotten scared and gone into Piper's room, Piper looked for her there. But Laurie was nowhere to be seen.

Her heart pounding, Piper went back into Laurie's room. She looked closer at the bed and saw what she had missed before. A folded white piece of paper. Piper opened it and her heart stopped.

NO cops, NO authorities if you want to see your daughter ALIVE again. Wait until I call.

That was it. Nothing more. Piper dropped the note and ran into the hallway, screaming. The paper fluttered harmlessly to the floor.

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Leo had his gun drawn, holding it defensively in front of him. He slowly went down the stairs, not wanting to give the intruder any indication he was after him.

Leo just hoped Piper followed his advice and stayed in Laurie's room. Piper was headstrong and Leo knew she would come down here if she thought he was in danger.

Leo stepped on something soft. He looked at the ground and saw Laurie's stuffed bunny rabbit. He didn't know what it was doing down here. Piper had given it to Laurie when she put her to bed.

Leo picked up the stuffed animal and continued on his way. He was almost to the kitchen when he heard Piper's blood-curdling scream. He tore up the stairs, not caring if he made any noise now.

When he got to Piper, she was saying incoherent things. It wasn't until he read the piece of paper on the floor that he understood what was going on.

Someone had kidnapped Laurie. The noises they heard must have been the kidnapper escaping not entering the house.

Leo left the hysterical Piper and ran outside of the house to the black SUV. He was about to knock on the window when he saw the two officers slumped over. He checked their pulses and saw that they were alive. They had been shot with tranquilizer darts, nothing more.

Leo ran back to the house and called his superior. Minutes later, he heard sirens.

He climbed up the stairs to where Piper was still standing where he left her. Her hysteria had seemed to pass, but now she was sobbing. Leo pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried.

"Why Laurie? Why her? She didn't do anything!"

There was no reply Leo could offer. He just held her and let her cry.

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Author's Note: I wonder who took Laurie? Thanks for all your reviews, you guys have been great.

By the way, I now have a website for Charmed. I hope you all will join!

http:3charmedsisters.