Carter turned on a small television set that was in the corner of the office, and he and Steve sat watching it. Steve mulled over the last hour's events in his mind. He hadn't brought up the kinder plan himself, Carter had, and he had backed him. But the looks he had received from Carter were worrying him. Had something he had said had made Carter suspicious of him? What if the situation had been another test, to assess his mettle? If so, he didn't do very well. He might have passed one test by not letting Jesse go overnight. Surely that would have proved his worth? But Steve made up his mind to watch himself even more carefully.

Harley joined them in the office, wiping his hands on a towel, all evidence of blood gone. He had changed his shirt. Just then the phone rang. Carter reached over and picked up the receiver without moving his gaze from the TV. "Yeah? … Okay." He reached over and pushed the speaker phone button.

Max's voice emitted from the speaker. "Hey guys, I've got some news."

Steve muted the TV and they leaned forward expectantly.

"What do you make of this: Mr Haughton-Handley has gone to work."

Harley gave a loud exclamation. "He did? Only a couple of hours ago he was sobbing into the phone worried sick about his son."

"My thoughts too. I've been observing him for a while. He works in a huge glass fronted building. Makes my job easy, I can watch him from the car. He's strolling around, laughing with the secretaries. The guy looks like he hasn't got a care in the world."

"Something's not right there," Carter said. Steve gritted his teeth. It was all very well hiding the real Nathan Haughton-Handley but the father needed to go along with the plan too, and not just on the telephone. He probably didn't imagine anyone would be following him.

"Hold on," Max's voice said, sounding alert suddenly. "Someone's just been shown into his office. It's a guy I've seen before. He went to his house yesterday. He wasn't someone we identified when we did research on Mr H."

"Cop?" suggested Harley.

"Nah, he's too old to be a cop. He's got white hair, with a moustache to match." Steve felt his blood run cold. No! Max was talking about his father. He didn't want Mark to be involved in this too. It was bad enough that Jesse was caught up in it. But of course his father was involved if he and Jesse were.

"Follow him," Harley was saying. "Call us back if you find anything out. Greg's delivering some photos to his home address."

"Okay," Max said. "Oh, looks like he's leaving already. I'll call later." The line cut off.

"Looks like it's a waiting game again," Steve said, getting to his feet. "Well, I'm beat, I'm going to go back to my apartment for some shut-eye."

"You better stay here," Carter said, eyes on the TV still.

"What's the point?" Steve asked uncertainly. Inside, his brain was telling him to get out of the warehouse so he could call his father and warn him about Max tailing him and advise him not to go back to the beach house. "We could be waiting hours. I want some sleep."

"Something's going on," Carter said, turning to face him. "Something out of the ordinary. I think we should all stay here until Max gets back to us with some news."

"You want a rest, I think there's an inflatable mattress in one of the boxes in the main room," Harley offered.

"Thanks, but I guess I'll just wait it out," mumbled Steve, sinking back onto his chair. He wanted to push it further, but Carter had a close eye on him, and he didn't want to arouse suspicion. Carter was always the friendliest to me until today, he thought, puzzled. What could I have said to make him watch me so carefully?

Steve did truly feel that a nice long sleep was precisely what he needed. The lack of sleep combined with all of the tension and worries of the last couple of days were taking their toll. Now new concerns were spinning round in his head. But Max was an observer. He wouldn't hurt anyone, not yet anyway. He might find out more than Steve wanted him to, but he was sure his father wouldn't be harmed. If a call went out later for action, then Steve would just disregard his cover and walk out to warn Mark. If Dad's life was in danger, there would be no question of that, he told himself. Having persuaded himself that all would be all right for the moment, and having made a plan of action for later if needed, he relaxed a little, and settled in for the wait.

X X X

Greg arrived back shortly, announcing a successful trouble-free delivery of the photos. Harley filled him in with Max's report. It was mid-afternoon before they heard a vehicle draw up outside. The door banged and Max walked in. He looked disconcerted. Steve scanned his face anxiously, waiting for news.

"We're in trouble," Max stated flatly.

Harley sat up straight. "What do you mean?" he asked apprehensively.

"The boy upstairs?" Max said. "He's not Nathan Haughton-Handley."

Everyone gaped at him. "Then who is he?" asked Greg in shock.

"I don't know. But I followed the old guy to a house in Malibu on the beach. He had a key, so it was his own home. I went round the house and there was a guy sitting out on the decking at the back. He was small with blond hair. The old guy came out and brought him a drink. He called him Nathan. We have the wrong person."

There was silence for a while as everyone digested this. Steve's mind was racing. What would they do with Jesse?

"So Mr Haughton-Handley must know we don't have his son," Carter said slowly, working it out. "But he is pretending we do, on the phone. That explains why he's gone to work and doesn't seem worried. But who is the old guy?"

"Does this mean the cops are on to us?" Greg blurted, sounding panicked. "It must do!"

"I don't think so," Max said. Steve felt that his eyes flickered in his direction as he said it. "They are trying to catch us. But they can't know anything about us, or they would have moved in to save the captive we do have. Somehow you made a mistake and grabbed the wrong−"

"So it's our fault?" snapped Harley.

"Relax," Max said, keeping his voice calm. "You got the wrong guy but they still haven't a clue how to catch us."

"But what do we do with the guy upstairs?" said Greg.

"I phoned the boss," Max replied. "He's going to be here very soon. He didn't want to discuss it on the phone. He'll sort it out."

Steve felt a surge of adrenaline. The boss! Things were getting dangerous but as soon as he had seen the boss he could sneak out and call Cheryl. It was nearly over. They all heard the purr of an expensive car pull up outside. Steve took a deep breath. Crunch time.