Mark checked the house number for Jesse's friend Nathan again as he drove along the street. The afternoon was passing and it was almost a full day since anyone had spoken to Jesse.

He drew his car up outside the address and stared in surprise. Two police cars were outside, as well as an expensive looking Mercedes. Mark got out and went up the path. A police officer stopped him. "Can I ask who you are looking for, sir?" he asked.

"I wanted to see Nathan Haughton-Handley," Mark said. "What's going on here?"

"What did you want him for?" the officer asked suspiciously. He grabbed Mark by the arm as if Mark might try to run away. Mark looked back with surprise.

A plain clothes policeman appeared from the front door. "Mark!" he exclaimed. Mark was relieved to see a familiar face; he recognised the man as someone Steve had worked with before on cases.

"Hello, Jim," Mark said. "What's going on? I came looking for Nathan."

Jim looked at him. "Come inside. I don't know what's brought you over here but as you can probably tell something has happened."

Mark followed Jim inside. Mark saw a pale and not very healthy-looking young man sitting at the kitchen table, with an older gentleman seated next to him. There were about three policemen inside.

Jim pulled him to one side into the lounge across the hall. "It's a bit odd really," he said. "Mr Haughton-Handley Senior got a sinister phone call about an hour ago saying that his son had been kidnapped and they were holding him to ransom. He has until tomorrow at 9am to drop five million dollars at a certain location if he wants his son back. Of course, he called the police straight away. Mr Haughton-Handley is worth a lot, between you and me, and he didn't doubt the threat. But when we arrived here to look for evidence, the son, Nathan, was here quite all right, and knew nothing of any fuss. So we're guessing it's just a crank."

"Didn't Mr Haughton-Handley call his son before he called you?" Mark asked, peering over Jim's shoulder into the kitchen.

"Yes, but there was no answer. Nathan thinks it must have been while he was in the shower. But why are you here?"

"I was looking for a friend of mine. He didn't turn up for his shift this morning at the hospital. I know he planned to visit Nathan last night, so I came to see if he had done so," Mark said.

"Come and ask him," said Jim.

Mark went into the kitchen. Nathan looked up as he approached and Mark was struck by Nathan's blond hair and short frame. He looked very similar to… "It's not a crank," Mark said quietly, stopping in his tracks as the realisation hit him.

"Huh?" Jim said.

"I'm a friend of Jesse's," Mark said, quickly taking a seat next to Nathan. "He visited you last night, didn't he?"

"Yeah," said Nathan. "He didn't stay long though. He…" His voice trailed off as he grasped what must have happened. "Oh my God, he looks like me. He let himself in and out of here because I was in bed. They must have thought…"

Mark turned to Jim. "Jesse and Nathan look very similar. Nathan is still here, but Jesse has been missing, and no one has seen him since last night. It is pretty obvious what must have happened. The kidnappers think they have Mr Haughton-Handley's son Nathan, but instead they have Jesse." Mark felt a chill creep up his spine at the thought of Jesse being at the hands of ruthless kidnappers, but pushed the emotions aside. He would think about it later.

Jim's eyes widened.

Suddenly Mr Haughton-Handley Senior sat up straight. "Listen! In all my concern about my son, I forgot. I received some letters trying to blackmail me, threatening to ruin my business. I ignored them, but they were probably linked. They're in my briefcase somewhere." He reached for it.

After a brief rummage he produced two brown envelopes and pushed them across the table to Jim. "They are identical," he said.

Jim opened them and glanced over the contents. "I recognise the style," he said. "This is from a group who has been staging extremely well researched blackmail scams across LA for some time. I must ring Cheryl," he finished, with a look at Mark.

Mark understood straight away. This must be the people that Steve was working undercover with. Anxiety hit him like a wave, and thoughts rushed through his head. He had thought Steve was working with people who were doing wrong, but were essentially non-violent and not doing things to endanger the lives of others. But it seemed that now they had stepped up to kidnapping, which always involved a level of violence. It sounded like Steve was in a more dangerous situation than Mark had expected.

Not only was his son caught up with these criminals, but now one of his best friends was too. Still, if Steve was there then he could protect Jesse, couldn't he? Although that might threaten his cover. Or what if Jesse said something that broke Steve's cover? He probably wouldn't realise Steve playing a role; if he saw Steve he would probably think he was being rescued. Mark put that thought aside, it was too large a worry and he couldn't do anything about it. Jesse would most likely be fine, Mark realised, Steve could tell them it was the wrong guy. Mark was sure he could do it without breaking his cover. But then they would have no use for Jesse. Who knows what they would do then. Mark's thoughts see-sawed back and forth.

"We must make them believe they have the correct person," Mark blurted out to Cheryl as soon as she arrived. He explained that if they realised otherwise Jesse may be in danger.

Cheryl understood. "I'll explain to Steve," she said. "I don't think he knows they have captured Jesse. He's not infiltrated that far into the group yet, Mark," she said, and regretted it as she saw the doctor's face drop as he knew that Steve wouldn't be watching out for Jesse.

"I'll ring him now," said Cheryl, and she turned away and dialled on her cell phone. A minute later, she turned back. "There's no answer," she said. "I daren't leave a message in case someone else picks it up. I'll keep trying," she promised. She thought for a moment, but decided not to tell Mark about the bomb. Best that he didn't know about that one for now.

A police officer entered the kitchen. "There's no sign of Dr Travis's car," he said.

"He definitely came in it, I heard it draw up outside," Nathan said.

"We'll put out an APB on it," Cheryl said. "But it looks like these guys are pretty thorough. They probably took it with them. The neighbours?" she enquired of the officer.

"Nobody saw a thing," the man said. "It must have been very quiet, and very quick."

Mark sat back in his chair, feeling extreme frustration that he could do nothing to help Jesse or Steve out of their difficult situation. Worries of what might happen came back to circle round in his head, and he couldn't stop himself thinking out all the what-ifs. Shaking his head to clear the concerning thoughts, he got out his phone and dialled Amanda.