Danny feared he had broken at least one rib, he felt so fragile, he tried to force himself into a sitting position, which he managed not without a lot of pain. His wrists and ankles were tied and he was still securely strapped to wooden beam but thankfully he was no longer gagged.

He thought for a moment about screaming for help but then realised it would be futile and he was probably miles from civilization, he's a detective he reminded himself He will have thought of everything, probably picked up tips from cons at jail.

Suddenly, he was startled by coughing from the corner Daphne! He strained his eyes to see her in the darkness; she was curled up on her side, her back to him. Should he call out to her? He didn't want to startle her, she probably didn't know there was anyone else here but he had to see if she was OK.

"Hey can you move?" He shouted to the bundle in the corner. Startled, she looked up, Danny could see her more clearly now, her wrists and her ankles were bound but her movement was no further restricted.

"Who's there" She demanded in a scared voice "Jake?"

"Hello my name is Danny I'm an FBI Agent I'm over here" Danny did his best to wave a leg in her direction. "I'm tied to the big post, can you move at all?"

"I, I could probably crawl, how do I know I can trust you?"

"You have no choice Daphne, if you don't help me, I can't help you"

He watched as she began to crawl across the floor, he smiled encouragingly as she got closer. For the first time Daphne could see this man clearly, he was a handsome guy wearing a suit like an agent should but was he telling the truth or was this just another of Moss's mind games.

She stopped at a safe distance from him, fearing those seemingly tight bonds would come loose at any moment and he would attack her. His face was covered in similar bruises to her own but it could still be a trick, she proceeded with caution. "What happened to you?"

Danny smiled sheepishly "I uh was trying to find you and was er taken by surprise by Jake"

"That wasn't a very smart thing to do" she replied, providing Danny with a reminder for the second time that day, how foolish and rash he had been. She remembered his initial introduction "The FBI are looking for me?"

"Yes they are and they WILL find us" Danny stated confidently, trying his best to be reassuring. "Do you uh have any idea where we may be? I was unconscious when I was brought in"

She shook her head sadly, "For all I know we could be in New Mexico" Danny knew they would have to sit tight, he vowed he would do all he could to protect her.

Despite his efforts to stay awake, Danny and Daphne fell asleep after spending hours talking, trying to keep their spirits up. Moss walked in and immediately stirred them from their slumber.

"Aww well look at that isn't that sweet" he mocked noting how close the pair were." He strode over and roughly yanked Daphne to her feet "Sorry sweetheart gotta have a little talk with Danny boy here". He pushed her into the arms of the oncoming Jake who took her away. Danny swallowed hard, not wanting to contemplate what he might do to her.

"Come on Moss just tell him what you want and get this over with, you've had your fun"

"I've only just started Danny; Fred Jones will get his comeuppance. Now I want you to watch something." Danny watched as a screen appeared on the wall a fuzzy picture finally came to life and Danny gasped in horror at what he saw. Martin and Samantha in Freddy's apartment sat around expectantly waiting a phone call. Moss whistled in delight at Samantha "Who is that fox?"

"You leave her alone" Danny snarled.

"Looks like they are waiting for something, shall we give them what they want"

Danny was about to reply, when Moss silenced him with duct tape once again. "Sorry Danny you may have a secret code with your friends". He dialled the number to Freddy's apartment. Danny watched helplessly as his colleagues rushed around, oblivious that their every move was being monitored. Fred answered the phone only to be told he wanted to speak to the blond agent only. Martin and Samantha exchanged worried glances, they were being watched again.

Samantha calmly took hold of the receiver "Hello?"

"Who am I speaking to?"

"This is Samantha Spade, who is this?"

"Oh I think you know who I am Samantha, don't play games it could cost your friend his life"

Samantha felt her throat tighten at the mention of Danny "What is it that you want, were all getting tired of your games"

"Ok let's be serious then, I want 2 million dollars for the return of the agent." Moss deadpanned.

Martin looked up shocked. He was suddenly making money demands? This didn't make sense at all.

Samantha was also surprised at the demand but ploughed on professionally "And what about the girl, when are you going to release Daphne?"

Moss chuckled "Sorry no can do I'm afraid, I'm offering to let your friend go take it or leave it" Both Martin and Samantha knew that Moss was not going to give up Danny that easily but what other choice did they have, it could be the key to finding Daphne. They had to make sure of one thing first though

"I need to have evidence that Agent Taylor and the girl are still alive first" Samantha demanded firmly. She heard Moss sigh, then static for a while, before the unmistakable sound of Danny howling in pain and a desperate cry of 'Sam'. Both she and Martin winced at the pain in Danny's voice as they heard him wheezing in the background before Moss picked up the receiver

"Proof enough for you" he jeered.

"The girl" Samantha demanded struggling to keep her voice steady after hearing Danny being attacked.

"Ask Jones to open up his email, there's all the proof you'll ever need." Moss watched on the screen satisfied as they gasped in horror at the image of Daphne being hit by Moss's balled up fist as Jake stood in the background, holding today's newspaper. He watched also as Agent Taylor spat blood on the floor and tried to recover from the kicking he had given him. "Ok this is how everything is going to work"