Author's note: I'm having problems showing breaks between scenes - my asterisks and extra spaces keep disappearing. Sorry for any confusion when reading my chapters. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Chapter 12

Lost in thought, Ryan opened the French doors from the veranda. He stopped short when he saw Zach and Kendall on the couch. They were reclining, snuggled together, each holding tumblers that probably contained scotch. They had their eyes closed as if they might be dozing. He inwardly cursed. It seemed like all he ever did lately was intrude on them. Every time he saw them together, it was a painful reminder of how much he'd messed things up. The cosmic joke of it was that even when he wasn't messing up, people were taken from him anyway. He'd lost Gillian. She wasn't going to be resurrected like others have been lately - her heart was put in another person.

One would think that when he found love again he'd hold on and never let go. Nope. He was given three more chances at a lasting love – twice with the same woman, and he'd tanked them all. So just when he'd decided that he was going to give romantic love a pass and concentrate on giving his all to his son…Spike was taken away from him.

Wrapping everything up in a nice puke green bow was his dead not-father showing up to announce that he was actually his not-dead father. Chris had given a somewhat reasonable, if cryptic explanation for his actions, and Ryan had accepted them for the time being because there were more important things to deal with. If nothing else came out of it, Ryan had a much better understanding of how his own actions – faking his death and then showing up again later – must have hurt those who cared about him. There was not much that was more humiliating than to grieve for someone, to have your gut burn with the unfairness of their time on earth cut short as well as your time with them - only to find out later that their time wasn't cut short after all. They were still very much alive, having chosen to bail in the most cowardly way possible. It was the easy way out. Life dealt Chris a bad hand so he spiraled out of control and almost cost his former best friend, Jackson, his life. Ryan spiraled out of contro. His loving wife tried to help him out of it, but he thought he was so far gone that he ran away rather than try to fix it. Dixie made a terrible choice when she was at the lowest point of her life and didn't feel like she could come home and face her demons without trying to undo her decision. But it can't be undone. Even if she and Tad find Kate, the years that had been lost…

Ryan wanted to be angry at Chris for letting Madden get loose, for trying to help Dixie clean up her mess. The truth was that even if Dixie had never met Madden and was happily raising her daughter, Madden still would have come after Erica. He still would have created Spike and then taken him away. His son.

Kendall opened her eyes and saw him standing there. "Ryan."

Zach's flew open as well. "Any updates?"

Ryan stepped into the room and shook his head. "Chris got a phone call that he said was unrelated to the investigation. I told him we'd strategize in the morning and then left."

Kendall sat up. "Did he tell you whether or not he's your father?"

Ryan glanced over at Zach. "You told her?"

Zach smiled ruefully. "She made it clear to me that if I didn't tell her all my secrets, I'd be taking them to the grave."

Kendall nodded. "I've learned quite a lot in the past hour. And not just from Zach. Josh paid me a visit."

Ryan sat in a chair. "Oh man, I think I know what he told you. About him and Erica?"

Kendall stared at him. "You knew?"

Ryan nodded. "Erica told me about it awhile back."

Kendall threw up her hands. "Okay, whatever secret society you people have going, I really want to join. I'll pay the dues, whatever it takes."

Ryan stood up and walked over to the couch. He kissed Kendall on the forehead. "Why don't we all get some sleep so that in the morning we can better focus on finding our son."

Kendall looked up at him. "You never answered my question about Chris."

Ryan sighed. "He is my father. The journal was faked so that he could cut all ties with me. So all the rage I had last year that I thought was genetic was really about me being a giant pain in the ass to the people that loved me. Goodnight." He walked out of the room.

Kendall sighed and leaned against Zach. "He's going to be wrestling with some pretty big demons tonight."

Zach nodded. "Yeah, I know all about those."

"He had the right idea, though. We should go to bed."

Zach gave her an incredulous look. "That's what I've been saying for hours."

She laughed and got up from the sofa. They stopped in the kitchen to check on Josh, and saw that he was still talking to Myrtle. They said goodnight and headed for their guest room.

When they were finally back in bed, Kendall slipped her hand underneath Zach's t-shirt, and began kissing his neck. He put his hand over hers, stopping her progress. Kendall looked up and saw the reluctant expression on his face. She narrowed her eyes. "If you're not going to make love to me because you're afraid I'm going to break, then you might as well get out of bed right now and don't ever plan on getting back in. Capiche?"

Zach's lips twitched. "All things being equal, I think I'd prefer to make love to you."

She rested her hand on his cheek. "Good answer. Here's your reward." She pulled him to her, sighing as his strong arms went around her, providing much needed solace in a world gone mad.

Leo's cell phone blared Chris's ringtone. He jerked awake and took it out of his pocket. Disoriented, he answered it before he remembered that he had planned to ignore Chris and Vanessa. "'lo?"

"Vanessa just called me and told me that you've disappeared and won't answer her calls. She also mentioned that you decided last night that you weren't going to play dead any more. Please tell me you haven't done anything that can't be rectified."

Leo rubbed his face, trying to wake up. "Well, right now I'm in Bianca and Maggie's guest room. They ordered me to take a nap, since I didn't sleep much last night. They pretty much know everything."

"Goddamn it. Goddamn it! You've really fucked things up." He sighed, and was silent for a long time - never a good sign with Chris. "I can't deal with this right now. There are more important things at stake."

"You wouldn't happen to be in Pine Valley, would you?"

There was another pause. "Yes I am. How did you know?"

"Bianca told me that Erica is missing, as well as Ryan's son. Considering how much Ryan and Erica mean to you, I'd be surprised if you didn't conduct your own investigation. For all the lectures you've given me about not getting personally involved, you do it a hell of a lot yourself. Is there any news?"

Chris sighed again. "No, there isn't. And only a very few people know I'm back, so keep your damn mouth shut. You may want the world to know you're still alive, but I don't have the same desire."

"Well, it's too late where Bianca and Maggie are concerned. They know about you."

"Jesus Christ, you've got a big fucking mouth."

"I'd say I was sorry that I'm making your life miserable, but I promised myself no more lies. Here's some good news, though. Greenlee is on her way back to Ryan, even as we speak."

Chris chewed on that for awhile. "Does she know about you?"

"I told her, but she didn't believe me. She thinks I'm a con man – how's that for irony? Anyway, her jet should be landing in a few hours."

"Finally, there's something in this whole mess that's falling into place. Greenlee and her baby should be a welcome distraction for Ryan."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to see them, but he's still going to worry about his other child."

"Yeah, whatever. In light of what you just told me, I've got to go take care of a few things. I'll deal with you later." Chris disconnected the line.

Leo swung out of the bed and trudged into the kitchen. Bianca and Maggie were at the kitchen table, talking. They looked up when he came in. Bianca stood up and came over to him, slipping her arm around his waist. "You weren't in there very long. You still look like hell."

Leo smiled wearily. "I slept a little, but I got a phone call. It was Chris, wanting to lecture me about my bad behavior. Get this – he's in Pine Valley right now, investigating Erica and Spike's kidnapping."

Bianca urged Leo to sit down. "I'm furious about what he did to you, but at this point I don't care who finds them. Hopefully Chris's contacts will uncover something that can't be found through regular channels." She started to pull out the fixings for sandwiches.

As they ate lunch, they made plans to fly to Pine Valley. Bianca had held off going there at Jack's urgings, but with no progress in the search she wanted to be by Kendall's side.

Leo's cell phone went off again. Chris's ringtone. He ignored it. When it continued to ring, Bianca pointed out to him that Chris might have some news about Erica and Spike. He put down his sandwich and answered the phone. "Leo, I've been talking to some people over at the Pine Valley airport. Greenlee's pilot filed a flight plan, but it was canceled because Greenlee never boarded her jet. I've been trying to get ahold of someone over at Charles De Gaulle, but haven't had any luck. Did she change her mind?"

Leo frowned. "Greenlee changes her mind a lot, but she seemed pretty determined this morning. God, I hope nothing happened to her. I'll see what I can find out on this end." He hung up the phone.

Standing up, he said, "Greenlee never made it to the jet. I've got a really bad feeling, Bianca. I need to go to the airport and see if she's alright."

Bianca stood up. "I'll go with you." She looked at Maggie. "Will you stay here with Miranda?" Maggie nodded.

Leo squeezed her shoulder. "You've got enough on your plate right now; you don't need to add my drama."

Bianca folded her arms. "Greenlee is my cousin. It's my drama, too. I'm going with you."

Greenlee pushed back from the dining table. Despite the sumptuous-looking luncheon that Greg's chef had prepared, neither she nor Erica had eaten a bite. Madden sat at the end of the table, smiling and eating and chatting as if he weren't completely psychotic. She'd had enough. She stood up. "I'm going to my room."

Greg expelled a longsuffering sigh and also stood. "Let me escort you."

"I'm perfectly capable of making it there myself! You certainly don't have to worry about me escaping or getting into mischief. You've covered all your bases. You're very thorough, Dr. Madden. You're a fucking genius. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Why the hell couldn't you have used your talents to discover a cure for cancer or bring about world peace? Why do you waste that brilliant brain of yours on victimizing women and children? I don't get it. Please tell me!" Her voice got louder and shriller with each sentence."

Greg threw his napkin down. "That's enough out of you! All that negativity will affect the baby."

"I will say whatever I goddamn want, it's my baby! Mine, Dr. Madden! You didn't have a damn thing to do with creating him. You…." Her voice broke off as a sharp pain knifed through her.

Her face must have reflected her agony, because Erica leapt to her feet and rushed over. Madden advanced, and Erica hissed at him to back off. "Greenlee, are you okay? Is everything alright, honey?"

Greenlee clutched at her stomach, fear engulfing her. "I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine."

Madden shouldered his way past Erica. "Did you just have a contraction? Describe it to me."

Greenlee backed up. "No! No contractions. I'm not in labor. I'm not going to have this baby here." She grimaced as another wave of pain rolled through her body. Then she felt wetness on her legs. "Oh God, no. No!" It wasn't a false alarm this time. Her water just broke.

Kendall picked at her muffin, having no appetite despite the fact that Myrtle had just pulled them from oven. Zach didn't look any more enthusiastic about his, even though he usually wolfed down whatever she baked him. In fact, the whole atmosphere around the Montgomery breakfast table was damned depressing. Her cell phone rang, and she quickly checked the display. Binks! She stood up. "It's Bianca." She went down the hallway to the guest room and closed the door so she could have some privacy. "Oh Binks, there's still no news about Mother or Spike. Everyone here is driving me crazy, especially Zach. He won't let me do a damn thing because he's obsessing about my health."

"Kendall, I know that things are pretty bad right now, just try to hang in there. Listen, I've got some news that's both upsetting and…well…promising."

Kendall frowned. "This should be interesting. Spill."

"Greenlee has been in Paris the past few months – I didn't know about it until today. Apparently she was planning to fly back to Pine Valley this morning, but she never made it. I'm at the private hangar where her grandfather's jet is parked. According to the people here, she arrived early this morning, and the porter took her suitcase to the jet. He never saw her again, and neither did the pilot. The limousine service that dropped her off didn't leave with her, either."

Kendall sat down on the bed. "I don't understand, she's wandering around the airport somewhere?"

"We're trying to find out more, we're questioning everyone we can find. The only other thing we've been able to learn is that a private jet landed not long before Greenlee arrived. It came here from New York. I didn't recognize the name of the company that owns the jet. The pilot left the airport and we can't get ahold of him. They're trying to find the porter who might have helped the passengers with their luggage. Kendall, I've got a bad feeling about this."

Kendall stood up and paced. "What bad feeling? What are you trying to say, Bianca?"

"Kendall, that jet took off from New York only a few hours after Mom went missing. What if it was Madden? What if Greenlee saw him with Mom and Spike and he kidnapped her, too?"

Kendall sat down again. "Whoa, Binks. That's a pretty far-fetched theory. Of all the places in the world, Madden runs off to Paris? And he runs into Greenlee?"

"Kendall, considering all the freaky coincidental things that have happened in our lives, I'm inclined to think that that is exactly what happened."

Kendall was silent for a long time. "Bianca, if this is true, I need to be there. I'm going to see when the next flight to Paris is scheduled. I'll call you back." Before her sister could respond, she hung up and dialed her travel agent's number. "Barbara, I need to get booked on the next flight to Paris. When is it?"

After much keyboard tapping, Barbara responded, "There are only two flights going out today. One of them is actually in just a couple of hours. I don't think you'll want that one. You'd pretty much have to leave right now to make the flight. The other one leaves at 8 pm. You want me to book that one?"

Kendall bit her lip. She didn't want to wait until 8 pm. On the other hand, she couldn't possibly make the one leaving in two hours. It would take longer than that just to convince Zach to let her go. Unless…unless she didn't tell him she was going. Kendall winced at the idea of taking off without telling Zach what she was doing. But he was being such a pain in the ass, and she desperately needed to find her son. She glanced at the overnight bag that she had brought over from the condo. "Barbara. Book the flight leaving in two hours. I just need to stop off at the condo to get my passport. Bye." She winced again. As soon as she was on the plane, she would call Zach and tell him the truth. He and Ryan could take the flight leaving at eight and join her in Paris.