A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been so busy… but I must confess, I wasn't that inclined to write this chapter. I love it when you review, and when I don't get that many, I get to thinking that no one likes the sotry. I was really tempted to end the story last chapter, in fact I originally had an authors note at the beginning saying that it was the last chapter, but I took it off. So here I am, writing more. And, once again, I must congratulate myself of my mad skills at predicting Third Season stuff.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN AN AREA WHERE THE THIRD AND FOURTH EPISODES OF SEASON THREE HAVE BEEN BRAODCASTED, DON'T READ BELOW! THIS MEANS YOU, CIARAROCKS!

Well! I'm very proud of myself, indeed. I totally called, like, so much of this. Who said Ryan and Marissa would do it? I did. Who said Jimmy would leave Julie? I did. Who said they would have a bitchy teacher who hated Marissa? I did. I'm feeling very pleased with myself right now.

END OF SPOILER ALERT.

Disclaimer: Don't own the OC. If I did, there would be a lot more flying elephants in it.

…Just kidding.

Marissa assumed that after the Not-Really-Cheating incident with Ryan, the Atwood's would get back to normal. Madison assumed that an elephant was going to show up on her doorstep and do the Macarena for her birthday that year. Both mother and daughter were wrong. Very, very wrong.

Marissa hung up the phone one day, an annoyed look on her face.

"What is it now?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing much… Madison's day care is closing down. Apparently, one of the owners had been taking money from them to buy cars and go on expensive vacations. So they're out of money, and now Madison has nowhere to go after school. They recommended this place-" Marissa glanced down at the sheet of paper she had been writing in. "-called Cool Kid's Care, or something stupid like that. They kept badgering me to write down the name and number, so there it is."

"Are you going to call it?"

"I guess. It can't hurt."

Ten minutes later, Marissa was off the phone again and frowning slightly. "That's odd."

"What is?"

"I talked to the manager of Cool Kid's whatever, and they sounded okay, just… kind of weird."

"Weird as in typical Newport weird or Julie Cooper weird?" Ryan asked, pulling open the pantry and grabbing some chips.

"I guess Newport weird…. He just sounded really distracted-"

"Probably cause he has all these parents calling in, asking about them-"

"-and he kept going "Hold on," and yelling in Russian or something to someone."

"They don't have to be from America to be good at watching kids."

"And when I asked if I could come in and check it out, he immediately said no way, that I never needed to go there, they'd send a bus to school for Maddy at three and drop her off here at five, so there was no point in me going there. And then, when I asked at least where the locations were, he shrugged me off again, saying that I didn't need to know, but it was "in the Newport area." There are a million places in the Newport area! He could have at least narrowed it down to a hundred!"

Ryan sighed. "Marissa, it's fine. I think someone at work sends his son there, and he says it's great. Let's just try it, alright?"

"Do we have to?" Marissa whined.

"Don't you want the best for our daughter?"

"Of course! Which is why I don't want to send her there! Something's not right about that place, Ryan, I'm telling you. If you call them and ask, you'll see how weird it is."

"Fine." Ryan picked up the phone and hit redial. "It's busy."

"See? See! They're probably calling Target, asking how much garbage bags cost and if they're big enough to fit the bodies of five-year-old's into!"

"Marissa, contrary to what you might think, not everyone in the world is a serial killer."

"You don't know that."

"Am I a serial killer?"

"You might be. Maybe, when you go to work, you're really out there in the Middle East with a bazooka!" Marissa pointed an accusing finger at her husband.

"It's really interesting that I have time to fly halfway across the world, murder hundreds of innocent citizens, fly back and still be home in time for dinner, isn't it?"

Marissa sighed. "Okay. I get your point. But I still think we really ought to check out some other places."

"I'll compromise with you. We'll send her there tomorrow, and if she doesn't like it, we'll take her out and find somewhere else for her to go, all right?"

"Fine," Marissa grumbled. "But if I hear one negative word about Creepy Kid's Crap-"

"Cool Kid's Care-"

"-Then she's gone."

"Okay."

So off went Madison the next morning to her new daycare. Marissa anxiously awaited her arrival home, hoping Madison would tell her it stunk so they would have an excuse to find a better one. But her daughter arrived home all smiles, laughing and saying how much fun she had had.

Over the next few weeks, Marissa grudgingly accepted Maddy's happiness at Creepy Kid's Crap. But she talked to the manager, and insisted on picking her daughter up every day, claiming it was right by her office and she would have no trouble. Only when she threatened to pull Maddy out did he concede. But when Marissa arrived each day to pick her daughter up, things seemed… odd there. There were no crayons or markers for the kids to color with. There were only a few dolls or toy trucks, and other than that, Marissa couldn't imagine how they kept the kids entertained.

So she wasn't surprised when she got a call about it the next week. She was making a salad for herself when the phone rang. She grabbed it without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello, Mrs. Atwood?" a male voice asked.

"Speaking."

"This is the Orange County Police Department."

Marissa rolled her eyes. For the last time, it was the next-door neighbors who egged the Murphy's across the street!

"We're calling about your daughter, Madison."

Marissa paled. What was wrong with Maddy? It was those damned day care people, she had sworn from the start that they were no good. She had told Ryan that they were not to be trusted, but no, just because "some idiot from work recommended it doesn't mean that it's good. He could be wrong!"

"Mrs. Atwood, please calm down."

Marissa swallowed nervously. She hadn't even realized she had been ranting out loud.

"I'm going to ask you to stay calm, please. You might want to sit down."

Legs shaking, Marissa slowly lowered herself down onto the couch. "Yes?"

"Mrs. Atwood, I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but your daughter has been kidnapped."

A/N: Woot! Cliffy! MAJOR cliffy! Review!