He'd never misjudged a single situation in his entire professional life. He was always the one in control. Cool and collected… always the one with the upper hand. He was never wrong.

So what the hell happened?

Somewhere along the line he had been careless. Could it be, maybe even arrogant? Anyway you looked at it, the situation had been completely misjudged.

"Have you ever cleaned a fish?" The voice spat venom into his ear as his face was pressed onto the table. "You start with a sharp knife…" and the man's thumb ran along the blade of the cleaver placed in his line of sight, "…you start low by the tail… and then you split them open up to the head. And you let their guts just slide out…" A hand pulled at his hair and lifted his head up so that the cleaver could be held right against his neck. He was afraid to swallow in case the blade cut his Adam's apple. "What do you think it feels like? To still be alive and watch as your innards drop out your belly?" He was a soldier by nature… born brave… but even he quaked at that. "I'll let you find out… and just before you die… you can tell me!"

While he eyed the cleaver in disbelief, as it rose into the air, he realised he'd made a fatal error, one he would pay for in pain, blood and finally death.

...

The doctor refused to sign off Noah's release until his blood pressure stabilised, but it was one thing telling him he needed to relax, and quite another actually doing so when he had no idea what was happening with Luke. Noah wanted… no… needed… to have Luke in his sights. The mob wanted him dead for fuck's sake!

Eventually the nurses allowed Maddie and Jonathan to visit. The child clung unsure to Maddie's hand as they entered the room. His little frown of confusion relaxed instantaneously as he laid eyes on Noah in the bed. Before Maddie could even speak he was pulling forward eagerly so that she had to grip his hand to hold on to him.

"It's okay." Noah said "He can come up. I'm fine."

Released from her clasp the boy scrambled up on the bed to sit in the crook of Noah's arm. He stared expectantly up at him.

"Hi." said Noah, "I missed you. Did you miss me too?"

Maddie and Jonathan exchanged confused glances.

The small hand briefly touched Noah's mouth, the brow crinkled with concern.

"Oh…" Noah reassured him, "I was sick, wasn't I? But I'm all better now, okay?"

Again a little nod before he handed Noah the sheet of paper.

"What's this? Is this a picture for… me…?" The last of the words faded away softly as his eyes took in the drawing. The emotion he felt had no words. But if he had to describe it, he'd most likely call it a warming. As though he'd always had a bulb stored somewhere deep inside him and this amazing gesture, so simple, was all it took to turn on the light. He pressed his knuckles to his lips and felt how his breath staggered against them, felt how the tears started to come.

The last drawing the boy made of himself was now stuck to the kitchen fridge at home. But in that image he stood alone. In this new picture he was featured in the middle of the page and standing to his right, holding his hand, was a tall man with similar colouring and to his left, also hand in hand, another man with yellow hair and brown eyes… And unlike the picture on the fridge, in this drawing, the child was smiling.

"Wow!" Noah sniffed as he wiped at his eyes, "This is the most beautiful picture I've ever seen." And it really was. He kissed at the boy's forehead, "Thank you."

The baby blue eyes shone for a moment before the frown returned and his finger pointed to the man on the left.

"Um… I guess you're wondering where Luke's gone, ha?"

A tiny nod of the head…

Noah smiled as best he could, "He had to go and see some people but he'll be back soon. I bet he'll just love this picture you made! I'd say this is one for the fridge!"

This time Noah was rewarded with a tiny smile that, despite how bad and terrifying things were at that moment, actually made him feel better.

"We love you, kid. You know that?" and Noah kissed his forehead a second time.

"Noah?" Maddie spoke, breaking the spell between the man and child. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Thank you both so much for coming!"

"Noah what happened to…?"

She didn't finish the sentence but he knew what she was asking. He was sure Maggie would have told her what had happened. He shook his head, perplexed, "He's at the station now… I don't know…"

"And…?" Jonathan gestured towards the boy.

"It's a really long story…" He didn't want to say too much in front of the child and he was grateful when they both picked up on that. "Right now I just want to get out of here so that I can check on Luke but my blood pressure won't come down!"

"Noah your body's just been through an ordeal! You need to relax and give it time to heal."

"How can I do that Mad's? I have no idea what's happening right now!"

"Look," suggested Jonathan, "the poor boy has been here all night. Perhaps I should take him back to your place while you two catch up?"

"That would be brilliant if you could. Thanks!"

But the boy had other plans. He clung to Noah with a vicelike grip that surprised all of them. Noah tried to talk him into it, but he was determined to stay on the bed and eventually Noah gave in.

So it wasn't until the child grew tired and nodded off that the three friends were able to change the subject from general chat to the more serious issues at hand.

...

She checked again, but there was no doubt. The money wasn't there. This was the second missed payment. The son of a bitch had definitely cut her off! What the fuck did he think he was playing at anyway?

She logged off the internet cafe computer, finished the dregs of her coffee and paid the cashier, before storming outside for a cigarette.

The problem was he no longer took her threats seriously. He no longer seemed as obsessed over his reputation as he used to be. And it was that obsession she had played on for years. It was her meal ticket!

But now she hadn't heard from him in months and she no longer knew where he lived. She leaned back thoughtfully, lifting one foot against the glass facade of the cafe and inhaled deeply on the smoke. This was a major problem! No money meant no drugs! And without her daily fix… To top it all off she owed Kenny a tidy sum! And she knew what Kenny would do if he didn't get what was owed to him.

Suddenly a thought came to her. She dropped the cigarette butt and squashed it out with her foot before hastily returning to the 'Wash-'n-Go'. She hunted through the reception desk drawer looking for something she had stashed there months before.

"Come on!" she cried in frustration, "Where the hell is it?" and then "Aha! Got ya!"

"Hey Michelle! Where's your kid got to then? I ain't seen 'im around 'ere in a while!" Said a regular customer whose name she could never remember.

Why the hell would he want to know that! She certainly didn't give a damn so why should he? (She felt a faint pang, somewhere deep inside but she had learnt long ago to ignore it). In fact it had been a relief to find the brat missing! (She couldn't take care of him…). The older he got the more he started to drain on her… He cost too much money! And she needed the money!

"I sent him to a relative…" was her vague answer as she fumbled with the folded sheet of torn off newspaper she'd retrieved from the drawer. She stretched it flat on the table and searched the tiny photographs until she found the familiar face that had caught her eye a few months back. The reason she had kept the clipping at all.

"New Talent in Town" the article read. "This celebrity news reporter has his eagle eye trained on new talent Noah Mayer currently filming in downtown Los Angeles…"

Los Angeles!

...

The Detective came around the table to where Luke sat and leaned over him; placing three photographs down in front of him. "Julius Maite. Aged forty-eight. Body found in a rented apartment at five o'clock yesterday afternoon. Tortured to death."

He felt like throwing up. "Jesus!" His eyes were glued on the mutilated corpse in the pictures. His brain struggled to comprehend the situation. What had he gotten himself into? He was exhausted. All he wanted to do was go home and curl up in bed with Noah.

"Mr Snyder, I'm sure you're able to see things from my perspective. Yesterday morning I received an anonymous tip off that you hired a man who goes by the name of Julius to embed himself within one of LA's biggest crime syndicates; only for this man…" and he stabbed one of the photographs with his forefinger, "…this Julius… to later turn up dead?"

"You think I killed him?"

"No, Mr Snyder, I don't believe you did. That is not why you're here."

"Then…I'm sorry but I don't get it?"

"The pistol found inside Mr Maite's apartment is the same make and calibre used in the shooting of Marco Di Alberto."

"Gianni's father?" Things were just getting worse and worse. He rubbed his hands through his hair.

"That's correct. Four of his men were also found dead in the house."

"But I still don't understand… All you found was a pistol? Why does that mean Julius did it?"

"Until the ballistics report comes back we don't know that for sure, but the way in which Mr Maite was tortured is a special kind of death this family is notorious for. But of course we can't prove that."

Luke felt his stomach seize up, "But…" Suddenly things were starting to make sense. "Oh god! This is why? This is why they tried to poison me, isn't it? Because they think I ordered the hit?"

"Now you see where I'm at? You are a member of a large crime syndicate family… The Grimaldi family… an important member…"

"Detective, I don't consider myself a member of that family."

"And yet you head up their main shipping operation…?"

"Yes, but I would never arrange to have somebody killed!"

"Even after they allegedly bombed your office building and shot at you and your partner? You did hire this man, did you not…?"

"Yes! I'm not denying that!" Luke looked around the room in frustration. "Look! I wasn't raised a Grimaldi Detective. My biological father left me the company just before he tried to disappear and now he's in prison. I have never been directly involved in any illegal activity! The year before I came to LA I hired Julius to help me clean up the Oakdale branch. I'm trying to eradicate crime from the company not perpetrate it! Just speak to Margo Hughes at the Oakdale police station! She'll tell you! Julius was instrumental in cleaning up that branch and so I hired him to do the same in LA! But I never once instructed him to kill anybody! I wouldn't do that!"

The detective eyed him sceptically. He had to admit… he knew how to read people, and the kid didn't seem to be lying.

"I'm telling you the truth Detective!" As he said it his eyes were drawn outside the office window, through the hustle and bustle of the busy police station, where they immediately fell on Noah, who was in the process of questioning a female sergeant at the reception desk. He held the small child on his hips and turned to gaze in the direction of her finger, as she pointed to the Detective's office where Luke was being interrogated. Luke immediately shifted in his seat and raised his head feeling the familiar hammer in his soul as the worried blue eyes locked with his through the glass.

"Um, Detective? Is there anyway I can have a moment with him?" Luke asked.

The Detective looked over at Noah and shook his head, "I'm sorry but no. I can't have you conferring with anybody right now."

Luke's heart sank and he stared longingly through the glass. It was hard to be so close to him and not be able to hold him… talk to him, especially after what they had just been put through. "Could you at least go out there and explain the situation? He just got out of the hospital and I don't want him waiting around here for hours when he should be at home resting."

He watched through the glass as the Detective approached Noah and Noah listened intently. After a few exchanged words Noah's eyes began to brim with tears and he stared desperately back over at Luke.

"It's okay." Luke mouthed, "Go home. I love you."

Noah swallowed hard and appeared to think things over but then finally nodded at him. He raised his hand in a soft wave that Luke returned and he left the station with the child clinging to him like a baby monkey to its mother.

"Detective?" Luke asked him a moment later as he returned to the room, "Do you have any idea what it feels like to watch the person you love drink a glass of poison that was meant for you? I just want out of this thing!"

...

Luke and Noah loved him. He knew this. They told him every day what a clever, nice and handsome boy he was… he was special… and they were glad he was there. They kissed and hugged him too… and they gave him nice food and even ice-cream! He liked that… He wanted to stay with them always.

But Joshua had said he would come back for him. And Noah had also said Joshua would come back. And he didn't know what would happen after that. So now he was scared. He didn't want to go away.

Luke told him in the hospital that he would be right back but he didn't come back. So something was wrong, right? And then he was at the police station and the man said he couldn't come out to see them and Noah had cried. He didn't know why Luke had to stay there but he wished he would come home. He wanted Luke to come home.

He was crying now. He couldn't help it. But it was okay to cry… Noah wouldn't be mad…

...

Noah sat on the end of their bed and sighed. As tired as he was he had been completely unable to sleep. He'd tried phoning the police station for information on Luke but they wouldn't tell him anything. Not even how much longer they planned on keeping him.

"But have they even charged him with anything?"

"I'm sorry sir." came the standard reply, "We are unable to release that information."

Suddenly, as he sat there, the house began to feel exceedingly empty. He hated how it brought back memories of all those days without him. Those terrible days before Luke came back into his life… A part of him wanted to call Luke's family. Especially Lucinda! She'd know what to do! But he was pretty sure he knew how Luke would feel about that! They couldn't risk putting another person they loved in danger.

So instead he could do nothing but wait! Wait and pray that somehow the police would realise their error and let Luke go. They still needed to figure out what the deal was with the kid.

He could hear Maddie and Jonathan talking in the lounge and he thought back to what she had said in the hospital.

...

"Noah, just be careful with this child."

"Maddie you don't…"

"I can see how attached you are Noah! But the fact that you have him could get you and Luke into a lot of trouble! Kidnapping is serious Noah! Prison serious!"

"I know Maddie! Luke and I have discussed this already. We know we have to find his mother… We just haven't had a chance with everything else we've had to deal with!"

"And if you do find her? What then?"

He knew she could see the sadness in his eyes. He tucked a curl behind the boy's ear as he slept and shook his head, "If he needs protection then we'll do what we can. The first priority will be confirming whether or not he's my brother."

"And if he's not and you have to give him back?"

"Please Maddie! I can't think about this right now! My head can't take it!"

"I'm just worried about the two of you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

...

Now as he watched the child paging through his 'Noah's Ark' book on the floor of their bedroom he wondered just what it would mean if their theory was wrong and they had to give him back. The thought turned his stomach into a tangled mess.

The doorbell rang and he heard Maddie yell, "Coming!"

He heard the door open and Maddie saying, "Hello? Can I help you?"

He heard a reply. "Is there a Noah Mayer living here?"

At the sound of the woman's voice, the boy bolted upright and made a keening sound as he scrambled to Noah for protection. His eyes bore the look of a frightened puppy, pleading and helpless as he pulled with hands and feet to drag Noah into the closet. When Noah didn't move he flung his little arms around Noah's legs and buried his face between them. Noah tried to calm him down, but it was useless. The boy was utterly terrified…