A/N Thank you for your reviews. And thank you to all who are following the story. I still just write for enjoyment.

Leonard finally recovered enough to say, "Where's Penny? If you have hurt…"

"Relax, Lenny, your precious Penny is okay. But her staying that way depends on you listening to me and doing exactly what I say. Is that clear?"

Fighting to calm down, knowing he needed to think clearly, "Yes."

"All right, now first of all, don't hang up. If you cut me off, you will never see Penny alive again."

"I understand."

"Now, leave your apartment immediately. I am parked in a blue car just outside the front exit. When you get here, get in on the driver's side. I am armed so don't plan on trying anything foolish. Besides, if you should get the better of me somehow, I will never tell you where Penny is and she will die. I have made it so I need to get back to her. Are we clear?"

While they were talking, Leonard had been typing an email on his computer. She went on, saying, "You should be able to be out here in less than two minutes. If you aren't, I will leave and you will not see her again."

Leonard quickly typed; Cheryl has Penny. I am going with Cheryl and sent it to Sheldon.

He then quickly took the elevator and exiting the apartment, entered the car. Cheryl smiled at him as she pointed the gun at him, "Very good, Leonard, now start driving. Turn left on Western. And be sure not to try anything. As I said, Penny needs us to get back."

Then she smiled, "I almost forgot. Throw your phone out the window."

Sheldon had just finished his shower and sat down in his spot to watch some TV when his Laptop beeped saying he had an email. Knowing if he didn't check, it would continue to bug him, he reluctantly walked over to look. What he saw shocked him badly. It took him a few moments to comprehend what it meant.

He thought of answering but didn't want to maybe let Cheryl know Leonard had sent the message. Although the message did imply he had left his apartment.

He quickly made two calls. First to Kurt, telling him what had happened and to meet him at the office and a second call to the police. He was lucky enough to find Detective Harding still on duty.

Harding said he would get his partner and meet him at the office.

When everyone had arrived, Sheldon informed them he had been able to access Leonard's phone to find his location, but the bad news was, it had not moved and was near Leonard's apartment.

Harding told them he had put out an alert to look for her car, telling them it had just left the apartment.

As they wondered what else they could do, Sheldon suggested if they couldn't locate them, maybe they could at least try to think if where she was taking him. They knew it could just be into the woods or some remote area but it was also possible it was someplace associated with Cheryl.

With a little trepidation, Sheldon asked if it would be okay if he would check out any charges on her credit card. Maybe she had used it near where she had Penny.

Harding shook his head and then looking at his partner, shrugged. "I'll pretend I never heard that."

As Sheldon stepped away pulling out his phone, Harding went on, "I suppose we could check her phone, maybe she made some calls."

Rachel nodded and added, "We should also check out her bank. Maybe she used an ATM."

Telling Howard it was a matter of life and death, Sheldon soon had the information sent to him.

Harding soon had the information from the phones but nothing stood out.

The bank inquiry yielded no ATM use recently but did let them know she had all but cashed out her account.

But in looking over the credit card receipts, one immediately caught their attention. It was for a rental car.

Harding quickly contacted the Rental Car Office and got the make and license number of the car. He then updated the message to look for that car as well. But one hope was dashed when they found there was no GPS trace on the rental.

In going back over the credit cards, they saw that one of the recent ones was for gas at a Station in Moorpark, a small town about 47 miles from Pasadena.

With nothing else to go on, they decided to check it out. Harding started to tell Sheldon and Kurt that the police would handle it, but knew they wouldn't listen and it was better they worked together.

They decided to take two cars. Sheldon and Kurt said they would try to find the phone and join them there.

When they all arrived at the Gas Station, Sheldon told them that the last call on the phone had come from Penny's phone. They all agreed it was more than likely Cheryl.

They went inside and Sheldon and Kurt let Harding handle the questioning.

He showed his badge, "We need to ask you a few questions."

"Always glad to help the law. What do you need?"

He showed him the credit card receipt and a picture of Cheryl, "Do you remember anything about this woman?"

The man looked surprised and then smiled, "I don't need the picture, I have known Cheryl since High School."

Seeing the look on their faces, "She and I were in the same class."

Harding recovered, "Where was that?"

"Well, right here at Moorpark High School."

"Can you tell us where she lived?"

"I can tell you, but it won't do you any good; they tore the house down about five years ago when they built the mall."

"Do her parents still live here?"

"No, after the Stepdad died, her Mom moved away. I heard she died a couple of years ago."

"Is there anyone in town Cheryl was close to?"

"Most everybody has moved away. But she did hang out quite a bit with Glenda Hastings."

"Where could we find her?"

He smirked, "This time of night she is probably at the Dew Drop Inn."

Harding asked him the last time he had seen Cheryl. He told them it was actually the day before. She had come in and filled up. He had been surprised that she was driving a different car. When he asked about it, she told him hers was in the shop and she was driving a rental.

Then he added, "There was another thing. She paid cash instead of using a credit card."

When he had no more to add, they got a description of the Hastings woman and thanked him. Harding gave him his card and telling him if he should see her, that she should try to stall her and give him a call.

The four of them moved over by their cars, Harding spoke first, "Well, what do you think?"

Rachel answered, "I think this is still the best chance we have. There must be some reason she came up here. We should at least talk to this Glenda."

They all agreed and drove downtown. When they went inside, there were very few people there and they immediately picked her out.

They walked over and Harding sat down next to her at the bar. Getting her attention, he flashed his badge, "Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

She looked around at all of them, "What's going on? I didn't do anything. Why the posse?"

Harding had to smile, "Were not after you, we just wanted to ask about Cheryl Cummings."

Relaxing, "Okay. What has that big boobed bitch done now?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"No reason. Just that I thought maybe she finally decided to start charging for it."

"Henry Grant told us you and she were friends."

"We ran around with the same group in High School but that was a long time ago."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Now that you mention it, I did see her a couple days ago. I was surprised because the last time I knew she was in town was when she came for her Stepdad's funeral." She paused, "I was surprised she came then."

"Why was that?"

"Those two never got along." She hesitated again, "There were rumors there was something going on between them."

"Something?"

"You know, that he was was boning her." She smirked, "Not that anyone wouldn't understand, the way she was built even back then."

"Is there any place you used to go? You know, some place you hung out away from everyone."

"No, not really. Usually just at the drive in or up on make out hill"

Harding asked if anyone else had any questions. When they all said no, they started to get up when Glenda stopped them, "Now that I think about it, I do remember one time. Nah, it probably doesn't mean anything."

"What was it?"

"Well, one night, Cheryl and her man of the moment were about doing it at the drive in. Everybody told them to drive somewhere and just do it."

"Gordon, that was his name, said, "We were hoping that we could either go to her house or mine. I am bummed doing it in a car."

"Then Cheryl started to say something. It was like, My Mom does have…, then she stopped."

"When we asked what she was going to say, she laughed and said My Mom does have the hots for Gordon."

"Everybody laughed and we forgot about it. I only mention it because I had the idea at the time she was going to suggest a spot." She shrugged, "Like I said, I shouldn't have brought it up."

Harding asked, "Is Gordon still around?"

She looked at him, "He died in a motorcycle accident a couple weeks later. Crazy, huh."

Sheldon then surprised them by breaking in, "Do you know what her parents' names are?"

"Her mother's was Debra and her stepdad was Warren. I never heard her talk about her real father."

"I don't suppose you know her mother's maiden name?"

"Actually, I do. Cheryl often thought about changing her last name because of how she felt about her stepdad. It's Warner."

Thanking her for her help, they left and noticing a diner across the street; headed over and after ordering their beverage of choice, discussed what they had learned.

Sheldon spoke first, "I find myself intrigued by the last thing Glenda said. What if Cheryl was going to suggest a spot? Her saying her Mother does have could mean her mother had a tie to some property."

Rachel broke in, "It could even be possible it was someplace she owned."

Harding smiled at Sheldon, "So that's why you wanted her parent's names."

Kurt pointed out, "But now she is dead."

Harding said, " We could still find out if there was any property she did own. We would need to check the Register of Deeds for this county."

Kurt asked, "What county are we in?"

Sheldon worked at his phone, "We are in Ventura County and the county seat is Ventura, which is 39 miles away."

Harding looked at his watch, "It's already 10:00. It won't be open until morning. We can call them then."

He saw Sheldon wanted to say something, "What is it, Cooper?"

"I know it is a long shot, but the more time passes, the more likely Leonard and Penny could be killed."

Rachel sighed, "He's right. We should at least try."

Harding shrugged, "All right. If were going to do it, let's do it right."

He took out his phone, "Patch me through to the Police Department in Ventura."

"This is Detective Harding of the Pasadena Police Department. To whom am I talking?"

"Sergeant Hudson, I need your help. We have a woman who has been kidnapped and you can possibly assist us."

"Thank you. We need you to get someone to open the Registers of Deed office."

"Yes, I know what time it is, but every minute could be important."

"Thank you, we're on our way. If you get there first, start to look for any property owned at any time by a Debra Cummings or a Debra Warner. If you don't find anything, try Cheryl Cummings or Warren Cummings. If you should find anything contact me at this number."

After he hung up, Rachel asked, "Maybe we should have just let them check it out. We could wait for a call."

Harding answered, "You're probably right, but it may be under another name or they may need a little prodding. I would feel better if we were there."

Rachel nodded.

Harding turned to Kurt and Sheldon, "Since we are going all out, I am going to use the siren. You had better ride with us." He smirked, "You can ignore the bars."

At that time of night, with the Siren blaring they made it in twenty-five minutes.

It turned out they had to wait ten more minutes before the Sergeant and a disgruntled Mr. Williams arrived.

Once inside though, Mr. Williams was eager to help. However, nothing except the house showed up under any of the names. As they all tried to think if anything else they could try, Sheldon spoke up, "Maybe it is under a relative. Did either her father or mother have siblings?"

They called Glenda Hastings. She informed them that Cheryl had an uncle named Isaac. He was her mother's brother.

Thanking her again, they looked for anything under Isaac Warner. To their surprise and gratification, they found that he owned a small farm fifteen miles from Moorpark.

Locating his number, they got him on the phone. Stunned to hear from the Pasadena police, he told them he had not been on that property for ten years. He had hired someone to work the fields, but as far as he knew, no one lived in the house. He just got a check every year from the farmer who worked the land. He didn't even know if the house was still standing.

Thanking him, Harding hung up. Muttering something about in for a pound, he got on his phone again. After explaining the situation, "Yeah, I know, Lieutenant, it's a long shot, but I think we need to try. I need a helicopter. I want it to check out the farm. But tell them to not get too close."

After he gave the location, "Have them see if there is still a house on the property or any other buildings. Patch them through to me when they are over the site."

"Thanks, Lieutenant."

"Yeah, I hope it's not a dead end, too. I'll keep you posted."

Thanking the Sergeant and Mr. Williams, they hurried out to their car. Even with the siren, it would be over an hour before they would reach the farm. That is, if there was anything there to see.

They had been on the road for about a half hour when Harding got a call, "This is Harding."

"The house is still there. What's that?"

"And a garage. Any sign of life?"

"No, that's all I need. Can you wait until someone arrives? I am going to call the State Police."

"Thanks."

He got back on his phone and told the State Police the situation and admitting they could be wasting their time, had them sent a couple cars to the site. They asked them to not go in until they arrived.

Afterwards, Harding would shake his head at how crazy this all was.

When they arrived, they rendezvoused with the State Police. They informed him they had been there for about twenty minutes and there had been no movement. As Harding had requested, they had made no move toward the house.

All of them walked up to where they could observe.

After a few moments, Rachel spoke up, "It looks to me like we could get to the garage without being seen. We could see if her car is there."

At first, Harding wondered if it was worth the risk, but they needed to do something. One of the troopers made his way.

He soon excitedly returned, "It's in there, alright. I checked the plate. It's the rental car."

All of them were stunned. This crazy idea had worked out.

Now they needed to decide how to proceed. Not wanting to waste any more time, they determined they needed to have someone risk trying to look into the house. Maybe they would get lucky and they could risk killing her without too much risk to the others. Or at least get an idea of where everyone was.

Just as Harding started out, there were two quick bangs.

Rachel shouted, "Those were gunshots!"

A/N I quickly want to say I know nothing about the town of Moorpark. It just happened to be located where I could use it. I apologize to its citizens if I offended them or their city in any way.