Scarcely had Laurie finished reading the letter, when Rudy Wells came rushing in, followed by Oscar Goldman. Briefly the Simon's offered a hug to their friends, then Rick handed the threatening note to Oscar. He looked over at Laurie. "Honey, can you call Steve and have him meet us here?" "Sure, Dad." She replied, grateful that he had thought of their friend. As she left the room, Rick whispered, "thanks, Dad. Keep her occupied." Oscar briefly smiled, then turned his attention to the note.
Silently he read it, as Rudy checked Ramona over, then had Andy help him take her into Rick and Laurie's bedroom.
"Dad?" Rick saw the frown on the older man's weathered face.
"Son, call Rob. We need to stall for time until we find out who, and where they have Robbie. Rudy?" he looked at the doctor as he came into the room.
"She's all right, just a little bruised and in shock from what happened. She wants to talk to you, pal, then I'm going to give her something to help her rest."
Immediately Oscar went into the bedroom, followed by Rick and Laurie. They found their daughter-in-law sitting up, holding Andy's hand in hers.
"Honey, I'm here. I'm sorry this happened, but we'll find Robbie and bring him back safe." He said. Ramona nodded, a look of relief on her face.
"I know, Uncle Oscar, but …I think I know who took him, they had masks, but I think Tom Moonwalk's the one who gave me the paper, then pushed me out of our truck. He had that nasty edge to his voice, like at Robin's party."
Rick grew furious as Oscar hugged her, then said, "That was good, Ramona. That gives us a lead. We'll talk to Rob and make them think you're doing what they said. Now you rest, okay?"
Ramona nodded, then tears filled her eyes and Laurie took her in her embrace and just held her as the others slipped out of the room. "Mom, it's not right. Robbie and I had such a good time, and he …he told me he was going to tell Rob he didn't' want to be Chief, unless the council took over some of the job. I was so happy."
"I know, honey, I know. You have been so supportive and willing to listen to him. But you helped so much with what you remembered and saw, I know Robbie's going to be all right." Laurie told her, encouragingly. After a few moments Ramona was ready to sleep, and Laurie let Andy sit with her for a few minutes.
Coming out of the bedroom, she found the three men in conference around the kitchen table, and started to join them, only to hear a beep at the front gate.
"Stay back, darlin'." Rick ordered, rushing past her and going to the front door.
He peered out, then saw his brother's sports car. Quickly he pressed the buzzer to let him in, then went out side in the early morning air to meet him.
"Rick, any word?" A.J. climbed out of his car, then Rick saw Rob Gamez come out of the passenger side. "Rob, thank God. Did Oscar get a hold of you?"
"Yeah, and there's one thing I bet you forgot. Robbie's watch." The sheriff gave a half-hearted grin as Rick shook his head.
"Bright, real bright. I should have thought of that. Let me see if we can trace it."
Within minutes the five men had triangulated their transmitters to track the younger Simon, but with limited success.
"He's not that far, looks like he's in Silver Rock." Rick said, pointing to the map Rob had unfurled. "What time are the results to be revealed?"
"7:00 pm, that when the Election committee meets. That doesn't give us much time." Rob acknowledged. "I just wish I knew where Moonwalk and his cronies would be holding him."
"Wait a minute…." Laurie spoke up. "He owns a store in town, what if that's where he's got Robbie?"
Rick could have kicked himself. That was great, what if the bad guys decided to hide his son in plain sight! "That was brilliant, sweetheart." He dropped a kiss on her cheek as he went to grab his gun.
Rob instantly went into sheriff mode. "Okay, I want you and A.J. to follow me to town, then Oscar, you wait five minutes, then head out. Laurie, you and Rudy are in charge of Ramona and the children."
Rick saw she was hesitating, then retraced his steps and kissed her again.
"Laurie, darlin', I need you to stay here and protect Ramona and the children, okay? I won't worry if I know you're in our safe place. You can keep track of us with your transmitter, okay?"
He saw his wife's shoulders relax, then she turned to him and embraced him.
"I will, my love. No one's going to hurt my Ramona again, or the children!"
As Rick and A.J., then Rob, then Oscar left in separate intervals, Laurie fixed some coffee and sandwiches, then checked on her daughter-in-law. Opening the door silently, she found both Andy and Ramona sound asleep.
Tiptoeing out, she met Rudy in the kitchen, and served him a sandwich and coffee as they listened to each of the guys as they arrived in Silver Rock.
"Can you hear me, sweetheart?" Rick called in as Rob went to the Sheriff's office to check in.
"Loud and clear, love. Any sign of anything suspicious?" Laurie asked, then was startled by him swearing..
"What is it, Rick?"
"Laurie, let me talk to Rudy a minute."
Handing her transmitter to their friend, she went to check on the children, hoping they were still asleep. Once she was out of earshot, Rudy spoke.
"What is it, son?"
"Rob just came back to the truck. There was an envelope left for him at the desk, Robbie's watch was in it, and a picture of him with a rope around his neck." Rick's fury was palpable over the speaker.
"My God, I can't believe the viciousness of these people." Rudy answered, quietly angry. He looked to see that Laurie was coming back into the room.
"Believe it, Rudy. But I'm not going to let these bastards hurt my son. We're going to make a search of the buildings around here, then I'll call you when we come back."
"Okay, son. Here's Missy." Rudy handed Laurie back her watch, and she spoke anxiously.
"Anything, Rick?"
Just then the lights in the ranch house flickered, then blinked on and off.
"Oh no, we're having a power outage." Laurie said, going quickly to the kitchen and returning with several battery-powered lanterns. Scarcely had she lit them when all the power went off.
"Laurie?" Rick didn't hear anything for a moment, then her voice came back on .
"Darling, we've had a blackout. I just got the lanterns on when all the lights went out, is it like that in town?"
"Not here, oh, wait a minute."
Just as he spoke, Rick saw A.J. come toward him in the early morning light, only to see the street lamps go out. For a moment there was only the brightening sky, then a few lights in the Sheriff's office went on.
"Everything's off except for Rob's office, and, oh, the Tribal Center. Laurie, you and Rudy better pack up Ramona and the children, and come here, where we can keep an eye on them." Rick advised.
"Good idea, son. I'll take charge of the girls and we'll call you when we come into town." Rudy answered. Laurie pretended to be offended. "In charge, huh?"
"Yes, sweetheart, mind your Uncle Rudy now, capice?" Rick wanted to laugh, imagining her expression.
"Capice, my stubborn husband. We'll be there in a little while."
Within minutes they had woken up Ramona and Andy, then Lala, and David. Bundling a few supplies and toys into a bag, Laurie made sure Rex was in his doghouse, then turned off the lights and joined the others as they crammed into Laurie's jeep.
As they drove to town, a dazed Ramona asked, "How did the power go out, did anybody know?"
"I don't think so, honey. Let me check with Rick." Rudy hit the transmit button on his watch, "Son, can you hear me?"
Only a crackling noise sounded, and Laurie shook her head.
"We must be near some electrical station or something, we'll try closer to town."
By the time they reached Main Street, Laurie was concerned by not being able to reach Rick or Oscar or Rob. Ready to turn around and park, she spotted a familiar van.
"Rudy, there's Robin and Ian's car. Let me drop you and Ramona and the children at the Clinic, Rudy. I'll go find them."
"All right, Missy. Don't you go anywhere by yourself." He warned her, then directed her to park next to the emergency ward entrance.
As the doctor led the way into the hospital, Rick's voice sounded, "Rudy? Laurie?"
"Son, we're here, Missy was getting worried."
"I'm sorry, we had some kind of electrical interference, Rudy. Where's Laurie?"
"I just had her drop me, Robin's car is here and she's going to meet them."
At that moment, Laurie was walking from her jeep to the Tribal Center, when she decided to peer into some of the older shops, hoping to see any sign of her son. As she
passed the old relics shop that Tom Moonwalk owned, she saw a light flicker in an adjacent store.
"Mama!"
Laurie turned, excited, then embraced Robin as she ran into her arms.
"I've missed my girl, did you see your father?"
"Yeah, he's at Rob's office, he wants you to meet him there…what was that?"
Laurie followed her gaze into the windows of the shop she had just looked in.
"There was a light in there a moment ago, there! I just saw it again!"
"So did I, this isn't Moonwalk's shop though." She stepped forward and tried the door, only to find it locked. Peering between the buildings, she gasped.
