Chapter 21

Most people would have begun to feel the slightest bit of regret for thinking that La Kane could be captured and subdued. Not Greg. He was quite confident that he could not only keep her with him, but tame the wildcat as well. She would eventually purr in his arms, of that he was thoroughly convinced. For the moment, he would have to concentrate on capturing her again. Though part of him was annoyed at the inconvenience, another part of him was thrilled by the challenge. She was an amazing, formidable woman, which made the prospect of success that much more satisfying.

The last of his staff members left about fifteen minutes ago. It was time to storm the fortress, as it were. Much as he hated to admit it, Erica had been right about his servants. While they were extremely loyal to him, he could not risk the possibility that one of them might have doubts for even a moment. It had happened before, though rarely. Too much was at stake in this situation. The house was now completely empty, save the two women and two children. Greg adjusted the baby monitor on his belt. Even the nanny had been dismissed for the day. He couldn't have her questioning why he would keep his infant son in the same house as two insane women. Fortunately the boy was fast asleep at the moment.

Greg exited the gardener's shed, gripping the axe in his hands. It should work quite well on the kitchen door. He paused when he saw movement near the back of the house. Stealthily, he crept over, using the hedge as cover. As he got closer, he saw a figure sidling along the wall of the house. To his amazement, he noticed the figure had a mane of curly brown hair. Kendall? He moved closer and saw that it was indeed Kendall. He also saw that Bianca was with her. A man he didn't recognize was in the lead. How the hell had they found out about the chalet?

Greg wished now that he had called in some muscle. When it was just Erica and Greenlee, he thought himself perfectly capable of containing the situation. Now there were three more people to contend with. With a sinking feeling, Greg realized it was likely that more were on the way. He was a bit bewildered that Slater and Lavery weren't part of the group. Unless they were on the other side of the house. Greg dismissed that possibility. Slater would never have let Kendall out of his sight in a dangerous situation like this. No, it was more likely that, for whatever reason, these three were acting alone. Greg didn't have much time. He was not yet ready to give up on the notion of having Erica to himself. Failure was not an option.

Greg set the axe down and pulled out his gun. He watched as the unidentified man rounded the corner of the house. Bianca soon slipped out of sight. Greg quietly glided up behind Kendall and snaked his arm around her throat. He put the gun to her head and pulled her around to where the others had gone. He barked out, "Bianca!"

Bianca and the man whipped around, stunned to see that Kendall was now being held hostage. She struggled against him, and he pressed the gun even harder against her ear. She stilled. "I would say it's a pleasure that you could join us, but I don't tend to look kindly on uninvited guests. Dropping in on people is such a rude practice. I thought your mother taught you better than that."

Bianca pursed her lips, her eyes cold. "Where is she?"

"Let's go inside and fetch her, shall we?" Greg nodded towards the service entrance, which came in next to the kitchen. Bianca and the man marched ahead of him and Kendall. Once they were inside and standing next to the kitchen doors, Greg bellowed out, "Erica! Greenlee! We have visitors. Some family members have traveled a long way to see you."

After a moment, Greenlee's muffled voice called out, "You must really think we're stupid to try something like that. What's the matter, can't find anything to break down the door?"

Bianca looked over at Greg. "What the hell is going on?"

Kendall chuckled. "I bet I know what happened. Greenlee and Erica are barricaded behind there and Madden can't get to them. Way to go, mom!"

Greg hissed in her ear, "Shut up!" He watched with interest as the man rushed over to the kitchen door, placing his hands on the wood. "Greenlee? It's Max. I'm here with Bianca and Kendall." Judging by his reaction to hearing Greenlee's voice, he must be the latest man she's enchanted. Perhaps her child wasn't Ryan's after all.

There was a long pause. "Max? Oh my God! You came to rescue me! I don't believe it, how did you even know I was missing? Never mind. You said Kendall and Bianca are with you?"

"Yes they are. Madden has a gun to Kendall's head."

Bianca called out. "Mom, are you there? It's Bianca!"

There was another pause. "Erica's indisposed at the moment. If Psycho Doc has a gun to Kendall's head, I guess that means the rescue attempt has failed."

Leo scowled at Madden. "He does have the upper hand. For the moment."

They heard a regretful sigh. "Kendall? I know that Greg is threatening your life, and I really wish I could open the door…" There was a sniffling sound, and then she wailed, "I just had my baby. He's in here with me and… I have to protect him. I have to keep him safe. Please understand."

"Oh God, Greenlee, of course I understand! You do whatever you have to do to protect your child. Is…is Spike in there with you guys?"

Greg pressed the gun against her even harder. "Don't call him that! He's safely up in his nursery, thank heaven. The smartest thing I ever did was keep him away from those two."

Kendall's breath hitched. "I want to go see him!"

"You'll see him only when you've convinced your mother to open that goddamn door."

Bianca went up to the door. "Greenlee, what did you mean when you said that mom was indisposed? What did Greg do to her?" She looked back at Greg to glare at him. A slight widening of her eyes was his only warning of what was to come.

He shoved Kendall to the side and whirled around, barely able to sidestep the cast iron pan that came swinging through the air. Apparently, while he was outside, Erica had gotten out of the kitchen in order to ambush him. She lost her grip on the heavy pan as it came down, and it clattered to the ground.

She lunged at Greg and he backhanded her. The blow was so strong that she crumpled to the ground unconscious. Kendall screamed and rushed for her mom.

The man named Max charged him, and Greg brought the gun up and fired it into his abdomen. He collapsed, and Bianca shrieked, "Leo!!"

The baby monitor started vibrating, and the sounds of a crying baby echoed from the device. Kendall looked up from her mother. "My baby!" She turned to Greg, eyes blazing. "Take me to him, now! The gunshot must have scared him."

At this point, Greg was beyond fed up. He stared at Erica, lying on the ground, and decided in that moment that he was done with her. It was time to collect his son and leave this place. Kendall would make the perfect hostage for his getaway. "Fine. Come with me." He waggled the gun in the direction of the main hall. Kendall squeezed her mother's hand and then leapt to her feet.

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Never had Zach been so frustrated with technology in his life. Cell phones were a wonderful thing, but under certain circumstances they weren't worth a damn. Fortunately there had been reception out where he and Ryan were stranded. After they reached the farm house and paid an extremely hefty fee to the farmer for the use of his car, they had been able to call the man named Joe and get directions to the chalet. He also called Kendall, but she was still apparently without reception. He was forced to leave her a voice mail letting her know that he was using Vanessa's phone, and he was on his way. Once they were on the road, the reception crapped out. Later there was a clear patch, and he impatiently checked his voice mail.

There was one from Kendall telling him she got his message and she and Leo and Binks were at the chalet. She said she was turning her phone off because they were going to try and sneak inside and she didn't want any distractions. When Zach heard this, he slammed his fist down on the dashboard.

Ryan, who was driving, looked over at him. "What happened?" Zach relayed the message. "Son of a bitch! What the hell is Leo thinking allowing Kendall and Bianca to go inside with him?"

Zach exhaled. "He's probably too worried about Greenlee to try and argue with two Kane women. There's no way in hell Kendall would patiently wait in the car when her child could be inside."

Ryan shook his head. "Point taken. Well, it's probably going to be another hour before we get there. Hopefully Chris is almost there."

A half an hour later, Vanessa's phone rang. It was Chris. "We've arrived at the chalet. There's a car here, outside the gate. I assume its Bianca's. No sign of them. How far out are you?"

"About 20 more minutes. I got a message from Kendall a half an hour ago saying that the three of them were going to try and sneak inside. She said they were turning their cell phones off so there'd be no distractions."

"He took Kendall and Bianca with him?! Jesus Christ, what the hell is the matter with that boy? You'd think he hasn't learned a goddamn thing in four years. I better not wait for you guys to get here; I need to find out what's happening. I'll have the phone on vibrate. When you arrive, call this number. If I'm able to, I'll answer and give you an update. No sense in both of us going in blind. The better we can coordinate, the less likely we'll mess things up. If I don't answer, that means there's too much going down and you need to approach swiftly but carefully. Don't just charge in, you got that?"

"Got it, Chris. You know I don't have to tell you to do what it takes to keep them safe. I know Tad and Dixie want Madden alive, but…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll do my best to keep my word to Dixie, but it's not going to be top priority."

"Go do what you gotta do. We'll get there as soon as we can." Zach hung up the phone and looked at Ryan. "Can't you get this piece of junk to go any faster?"

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Leo had never felt such excruciating agony. He kept thinking of what people said about gunshot wounds to the stomach being slow, painful deaths. He couldn't die. Not now of all times. Kendall told them earlier that according to one of Zach's messages, Chris Stamp was on his way with David. Leo hoped this was true. If anyone could help him, it would be David. The question was whether he would get there in time. He was losing a lot of blood.

Bianca was a basket case. Her mother was unconscious, Greg just took off with her sister, and her best friend was mortally wounded. She pounded on the door. "Greenlee! Open up! Greg is gone and Leo's been shot. We need something to stop the flow of blood."

He heard the sound of furniture moving from within. The door opened and his beautiful Greenlee stood there. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and then turned to glare at Bianca. "Why did you call him Leo? Don't tell me you believed his lies. This isn't my husband, this is Max Prentice. He's a con artist." The last sentence was said in a squeak.

Bianca sighed and shouldered her way past Greenlee into the kitchen. She came back a moment later with some hand towels. She pressed them against Leo's wound, causing him to groan. He felt himself starting to slip into unconsciousness. He heard Binks saying, "Greenlee, it really is Leo. I know this is hard to take in, but it really is him."

Something within him, something that was afraid he was going to die for real this time, made him shake his head in denial. "No, she's right. I'm not her husband. That man died a long time ago." He looked at Greenlee with pain-glazed eyes. "I'm so sorry for trying to resurrect Leo. I should never have made you mourn his death all over again."

Bianca squeezed her eyes shut. "Just stop it! Both of you. No more lies, no more denials. I can't deal with this crap! You're Leo – end of story!" She opened her eyes and sighed. "Where the hell are Chris and David?"

Greenlee tore her eyes away from Leo. "David Hayward? He's coming? Who's Chris?"

Bianca swiped a tendril of hair from her eyes, glancing with concern at her mother, who hadn't moved. "Chris Stamp. He's not really dead, Greenlee. In fact, he's the one who saved Leo and Vanessa from the falls and made them fake their deaths."

Greenlee stared at her in incredulity. "What? That's insane! Is this another lie that Max told you?"

They heard sounds from the main hall. Bianca called out, "Hello? We need help, a man's been shot!"

Footsteps approached and two men rounded the corner. Leo looked up and saw his brother for the first time in four years. David stared at him. Frowning slightly, he whispered, "Leo?" Leo nodded slightly, and then winced in pain. David rushed over, falling to his knees next to his brother. "What happened?"

Bianca sighed in relief. "Madden shot him in the stomach."

Greenlee stood frozen, watching David examining Max's wound. Why did David think he was Leo, too? What had Max been up to since she last saw him? She wondered if she should even care about his lies. The fact that he had been looking for her and found her was monumental.

She heard a voice exclaim, "Erica, no!" Greenlee shifted her gaze and was flabbergasted to see Chris Stamp, alive and well, staring down at Erica's unconscious form.