I have a new story now, called "College Days'. Yes, it is a Piper/Leo story, I hope you all read it!

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Chapter 10: Piper's Determination

"Hello, Piper," a man's voice said.

"Who is this?" she demanded. She looked at the officers on the other side of the room and he gave her a thumps-up. They were recording the phone call and racking where the call came from. The idea was to keep him on the phone for two minutes until they could locate his position. They had rehearsed this before. She was to ask as may questions as possible to keep him on the phone.

"You know who this is. I have someone who wants to talk to you."

The next thing Piper heard made her heart clench. "Mommy!" Laurie sobbed in to the phone.

"Laurie! Where are you? Are you..."

But McGunther must have taken the phone away from her since Piper could no longer hear her daughter's anguished sobs.

"Don't worry. She's fine," McGunther's easy-going voice said.

"Don't you dare hurt her."

"I won't have a reason to if you follow my directions. I have no interest in your daughter. You're the one I want. I'll meet you corner of Fifth and Broadway at three forty-five in the morning. No cops. No boyfriend. Nobody but you." He hung up.

"Damn," the officer said. "Only a minute and a half. Not enough to get an exact location."

"But did you find a possible area?"

"Yes. I've squared it down to a forty mile radius." He pulled up the map that they were trying to locate him at. "He's somewhere south of Bellwood and North of Lincoln Avenue."

"Alright, people," the lead investigator, Proctor, called out. "This is what needs to be done. Nigel, you take the tape of the phone call back to the lab and break it down. I want to hear every track. Weiss and Vaughn, look up all the property McGunther owns. He may have some property in this area. Look for any land his known associates own too. Bristow, I want a list of all abandoned building in the area. Everyone else, start planning to catch this guy."

Proctor walked over to Piper and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're going to find her, I promise."

Leo pulled Proctor aside. "You're not really going to let her meet McGunther, are you?"

"Of course not. That would be signing her death certificate. The best thing I can come up with is to find one of the officers that looks like her and have her take Piper's place."

"No one on the force looks like Piper," Leo commented. "The closest one is Sandy, but she's fifty pounds heavier and a foot taller than Piper."

"Good point. I guess we'll tail him after he realizes Piper isn't going to show. Hopefully, he'll lead us back to the kid."

"Yeah, hopefully," Leo echoed emptily.

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Piper couldn't believe they weren't going to let her meet McGunther. It was her daughter's life they were gambling with. She was planned on doing whatever it took to get Laurie back safely.

But most of all, she couldn't believe Leo agreed with them. It was his daughter too. How could he side with the police on this?

"I can't believe you, Leo!" she yelled at him later. "Don't you want to get you're daughter back?"

"Of course I do! But I don't want to loose you either. Piper, I don't think you grasp the whole concept yet. McGunther is a rapist and he wants you. McGunther wants to rape you."

"Right now, I don't care. I just want Laurie back."

The steely determination of her voice was beginning to scare him. He placed his hands gently on her arms and made her look at him. "Piper, I'm not letting you do this. I love you too much to loose you. I promise I will find a way to get out daughter back." Leo hugged her close.

Piper hugged him back, but didn't respond to his promise. She was going to meet McGunther and get Laurie back, regardless of what any one told her.

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Piper and Leo both slept in the living room so they could be near the phone and recording stuff incase McGunther called again. Well, Leo slept. Piper, on the other hand, stared at the glowing red numbers of the digital clock.

When three o'clock rolled around, Piper silently got up from the couch and went to the kitchen table where her purse and car keys were sitting. She grabbed them and slowly headed towards the front door. She hadn't turned on any lights in case they woke Leo, but in return she could see where she was going. She had to keep one hand on the cool wall to prevent herself from running into anything.

She screamed in terror when her hand passed over warm flesh instead of cool wall.

"You didn't think I was going to let you do that, did you?" Leo asked.

"Leo! What are you doing? I thought you were asleep!"

"I knew you were going to try this, so I pretended I was asleep."

"How did you know?"

"Because I know you."

They stood there for a moment. "Are you going to let me by?" Piper asked.

"Nope. Piper, you are not doing this."

"Yes, I am. Now get out of my way." She tried to push him out of the way, but her one hundred and ten pound frame was no match for his one hundred and ninety, muscular body.

"No, you're not."

"Leo, I am going to get my daughter back! Now get out of my way!" She tried to push her way forward, but Leo held her back. "Let go of me!"

"I don't think so," he said and he picked her up. He carried her to the couch as she pounded on his shoulder continuously.

"Let me go!" He did as she commanded and dropped her on to the couch.

"You are going to sit down and listen to me," he told her, fed up with his games. "You are going nowhere. You are going to let the police do they're job and get Laurie back. I won't have you risking your life when they can get her back with out harm."

"Leo, I'm not going to sit here and wait for the police to follow leads and hopefully find Laurie. I'm going to find her myself."

"You're not going to be any use to her if your dead."

Piper didn't answer. She just looked at the floor.

"Because that's what he'll do. He'll have his way with you and kill you, just like all the others. He doesn't care about giving Laurie back to you! He probably wouldn't even take you to her."

"Leo, maybe you don't understand me when I say I am going to find my daughter," Piper said, her voice low and serious.

"She's my daughter too, Piper. I want to find her just as much as you do."

Piper stood up. "Then why won't you let me do this?"

"Because I am not going to lose you too."

Piper ignored his words. "Laurie is the most important thing in my life. If I have to give my life for hers, I will." She began walking towards the door.

"Piper…" he called after her, but she didn't stop. "You're not the only one feeling guilt over her being taken. You promised her the bad man wouldn't hurt her, but I swore to protect you both. It was my job to protect her. I failed at that. I am not going to fail again and let you die."

Piper had acted like she hadn't heard a word he said until those last few words. She spun around to face him, her eyes ablaze with anger and sorrow. "I was your job to protect her! Then why aren't you doing anything about it? Why are just standing there, waiting to let that guy kill her?" She stopped her rant and grabbed her stomach in pain. She doubled over and fell to the floor, moaning.

"Piper!" he cried and went to her side on the floor. "What is it?"

Piper just moaned in response. Leo lifted her up and placed her on the couch. He felt her forehead and realized she was burning up. He went to the kitchen and got some ice. He gently placed it on her forehead. "Piper, honey. What's wrong?" Leo looked closely at her for the first time and realized her eyes looked glassy.

Leo was scared. What was wrong with Piper?

The phone rang and Leo scrambled to answer it, not bothering to set the recording equipment.

"Leo?" Morris's voice said from over the phone.

"Yeah? Did you find her?"

"Not yet, but we have a lead. I'm on my way over," he said and hung up before Leo could say anything else.

Leo knelt by Piper on the couch. "Piper," he whispered, smoothing her hair out of the way. "They have a lead on Laurie. Darryl's on his way over."

Piper's eyes seemed to look better, less glassy. Her skin was still warm and papery. But she seemed to be aware again and she was trying to sit up.

"Whoa. Not so fast. You are not going anywhere."

"Leo, I'm fine," Piper protested in a weak voice.

"Oh, really? Then what was that a few minutes ago?"

"I don't know," she admitted. She tried to sit up, but was over come by a wave of dizziness. "I think I'm going to lay down."

"Good idea. I have no clue what's wrong with you, but it can't be good."

There was a knock at the door, followed by a voice. "Leo, it's me."

"Come in Darryl."

Darryl stepped into the house and came into the living room where Piper was lying on the couch. He took one look at her and asked, "What the hell happened to you? You look like shit."

"Thanks, Darryl. It's nice to see you too."

"I didn't mean it like that. I guess no one looks good under these circumstances."

"Darryl," Leo interrupted, "Do you have any leads?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. The audio people at he lab separated the recording into tracks. On one of the tracks, you can hear distinct train whistles."

"So?" Piper asked.

"Combined with the relative location they got from the call and looking at property he owns, we've been able to pinpoint it to one possible place. He owns a storage facility not far from a pair of train tracks just South of Bellwood. We have a swat team going in there as we speak."

Piper sat up. "Darryl, be honest with me. Do you think she's there?" she asked hopefully.

"I really do."

"Thank god," Piper said with a sigh of relief. Leo sat down next to her and held her hand. "When will we find out if they found her?"

"Any minute now. A tactical team will call me the minute they get any information."

The next forty-five minutes were excruciating. All Piper could think about was her daughter and how scared she must be.

Leo thought he was going into shock. He just found out he had a daughter and his daughter was now missing. And Piper. She didn't look well. She seemed to be doing better since they received the news about Laurie, but she still didn't look well. Her eyes were still cloudy and she felt warm to the touch. But Leo didn't say anything about her condition. The main thing was getting Laurie back safe and sound, and Leo knew that is what Piper's condition depended on.

The seconds seemed to tick by. Finally, Darryl's cell phone let out a high-pitched ring.

Piper and Leo stared anxiously at him as he talked on the phone. From their side of the conversation, they couldn't tell if the news he was receiving bad or good.

"Thank you, Bristow," he said and hung up.

He slowly turned to face them. The suspense was killing Piper. With tears in her eyes, she asked, "Did they find her?"

The few seconds it took Darryl to smile seemed to be the longest of her life. "They found her. She was alone in a warehouse. She's being taken to St. Mary's Medical Center."

Piper's elation over discovering her daughter was alive quickly dissipated. "Why are they taking her to a hospital? Isn't she alright?" Piper's anxiety was so apparent in her voice that Leo made her sit down on the couch.

"She's fine. She's being taken to the hospital just as a precaution."

"Can I see her?"

"Of course. Leo will drive you over there."

Piper jumped up and hugged Leo. "They found her!" she exclaimed.

Leo tightly hugged her back. He shared her elation over finding Laurie. "Let's go see her."

"Just be careful," warned Darryl. "McGunther's still at large."

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Piper walked quickly down the halls of the hospital, turning wherever the signs pointed her to the children's ward. Once she was in the hallway of Laurie's room, Piper picked up pace until she was practically at a run.

Then Piper saw her. A nurse was holding her hand and leading her down the hallway. "Laurie!" Piper cried and ran to her daughter.

Laurie looked up and saw her. "Mommy!" she cried and broke free of the nurse's hand. She sprinted down the hallway until she was in her mother's arms.

Piper dropped to her knees and hugged her daughter tightly. Piper couldn't believe she was back in her arms. "Oh, Laurie," she said with tears flowing down her face. "I thought I lost you." She kissed the top of her forehead.

"I was so scared, Mommy," Laurie said in between sobs.

"I know, Sunshine, I know."

Piper held Laurie for a few more moments, thankful to have her back. She felt Leo behind her and knew it was time. She wiped her eyes and looked at Laurie.

"Laurie, there's someone I want you to meet." She moved out of the way so Laurie could get a clear view of Leo. "You're Daddy."

Leo bent down to Laurie's level. The tears in his eyes were apparent. "Hi, Laurie."

Laurie threw her arms around Leo's neck.

Laurie didn't have to say anything. That response said enough. Leo hugged Laurie tight, finally seeing her as his daughter. "I love you, Laurie."

"I love you too, Daddy."