I'm glad a few people are enjoying this. Please keep the reviews coming and I will be happy to continue posting.I've been so disappointed with the show lately that I've just been adding chapter after chapter to this story and it's up to 41 and still going.As a disclaimer, I just want to say that I have limited knowledge of computers and the military so if anything in my story is implausible then please forgive me and I hope those of you who know better will be able to enjoy it anyway. Emmy

Danny walked into the Montecito like a zombie, his cell phone clutched firmly in his hand. It had been almost twelve hours since he'd seen the video and he had yet to hear from the kidnappers. He knew he should have slept—he would need his strength for the days ahead--but he couldn't bring himself to rest. Thoughts of what might be happening to Mary had plagued him throughout the night and every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the look of terror on her face.

As his eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of something out of the ordinary his cell phone vibrated in his hand.

"Good morning, Mr. McCoy. Did you sleep well?" It was that same distorted voice and Danny knew that they must be watching him. The FBI had said as much in their briefing and it was too much of a coincidence that they'd called him the minute he'd walked in the casino.

"I want to talk to Mary."

"You are not in any position to be making demands, Mr. McCoy."

"Please. Please just let me hear her voice. I want to know she's okay," Danny couldn't disguise his desperation as he pleaded with the man. Silence followed and he was almost afraid that they'd disconnected the call, but then he heard the faintest of sounds.

"Danny?"

Danny's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest as he stood in the middle of the lobby with his phone pressed as close to his ear as possible.

"Mary? Are you okay? I promise I'm going to get you back, baby. Just hang on okay."

"I'm okay, Danny," her voice was quivering as she spoke and Danny knew she was anything but. "I love you," she whispered before a quiet sob escaped her lips.

"I love you too."

"That's more than enough," the voice was back.

"You bastard. I swear, if you hurt her…"

"Listen to me very carefully. A package will be delivered to you today. Do not attempt to trace its origin. In this package you will find a thumb drive. You will upload the information on this drive to your office computer at precisely midnight tonight. Do you understand?"

"Midnight?" Danny questioned incredulously. "I want Mary back now."

"Patience is a virtue, Mr. McCoy. Now, do you understand your instructions?"

"Yes," Danny said through gritted teeth and the call was abruptly disconnected.

The urge to throw his phone across the room was so great that Danny could barely control it. He took several long breaths trying to calm himself, but it did very little good. Once he thought he could move without screaming in frustration he headed up to his office.

---

"Hey, man. How was the big night? You finally gonna tell me who's been warming your bed," Mike called out to Danny as he stalked across the room and up to his office.

"I think I deserve to know…I mean, you owe me big time," Mike stood up to follow Danny who had yet to even acknowledge him. "There's only so much Delinda one person should be forced to endure."

Danny took the steps to his office two at a time and slid the door closed rather forcefully, catching Mike just as he stepped inside. "Whoa! You trying to decapitate me or what?"

Finally noticing his friend's presence Danny looked up distractedly, "What?"

"Danny, haven't you heard a word I've said? What's going on with you, man? Did something happen?"

The kidnapper's words filtered through his mind. No one could know Mary had been taken. He quickly tried to cover, "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. You know how it goes…up all night…," Danny tried to give him a sly wink, but he was sure it looked as awkward as it felt.

"Well, okay…if you're sure," Mike was hesitant to let the subject go as he tried to gauge Danny's strange mood.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Listen, I've got a lot of things to do so…if you don't mind," Danny waved his hand in dismissal and Mike gave him one more questioning look before exiting the office. The second the door closed Danny frosted the glass and put his head in his hands. This can't be happening. Had they been after Mary all along? Everything they'd found had pointed to Delinda and Danny had been so distracted with protecting her he'd let the most important thing in his life…he couldn't even finish the thought. He had to focus. He wasn't going to do Mary any good like this. Danny cued up his computer and reviewed the security personnel reports Mike had finished up the night before.

It took him almost four hours to scour through every single detail of the lives of each member of his team, but he'd still come up with nothing. Maybe if he could figure out how they were able to watch him he could figure out how to bypass it so he could at least let Ed know what was going on. He picked up the phone and called Mike who was down on the floor.

"Hey, Mike. Remember last year when those college kids hacked into the surveillance system?"

"Yeah. It took us forever to get the muppets off that one monitor."

"Yeah, we just had to check for a signal broadcasting from the hotel, right?"

"Well, it was a little more complicated than that, Danny. You see…," Mike launched into a long diatribe of explanation and for once Danny took meticulous notes.

"Okay, thanks, Mike. Gotta go," Danny cut him off as soon as he had the information he needed. Before he could do anything else his cell phone vibrated on his desk.

"What are you doing, Mr. McCoy?" the voice that had come to be familiar spoke.

"I'm working—just like you told me to do."

"Working on finding us…this will be your last warning. And just in case you don't think we mean what we say…" Danny's heart stopped as he heard Mary's voice in the background cry out in agonizing pain. Her voice begged her tormentors to stop and Danny's pleas joined hers before the call went dead. Stunned into silence, Danny sat at his desk taking in ragged breaths. They were everywhere. There was no way he could get Mary back without doing exactly what they said.

The sudden need to be close to her overwhelmed him and Danny flew from his office and out of the security room. In a daze he made his way to the residences until he finally stood just outside her door. Using his passkey, he entered the apartment and was suddenly bombarded by her scent. He made his way to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, burying his head deep in her pillow. He took it all in—the sweet smells of her shampoo, the lotion she put on at night and a hint of something suspiciously close to his own aftershave. Danny opened his eyes for a moment and noticed one of his dress shirts hung across the chair next to the bed. He smiled sadly as he realized she'd been sleeping in it. In that instant, all the strength he'd been holding onto left him and uncontrollable sobs overtook his body.

---

The ringing phone woke Danny from a restless, but exhausted sleep. Ignoring it, he stumbled from the bed and made his way to the bathroom, shocked at the face that greeted him in the mirror. Despite his jaunt into unconsciousness this afternoon, he looked like he'd aged ten years since yesterday. His face was marred by red blotches and stubble and his eyes were swollen from crying. If he was going to do this on his own then he'd have to take back some semblance of control. He couldn't let anyone suspect that something was amiss.

Danny splashed cold water on his face as the answering machine finally picked up the call that had woken him. He was barely listening as a young girl's voice filtered through the apartment.

"Miss Connell, this is Sherry with Dr. Overton's office. Dr. Overton wanted to know if we could reschedule your appointment to Wednesday instead of Monday. Give us a call at the office and let me know if that will work for you."

After hearing the message, Danny prayed that Mary hadn't come down with something that would make this ordeal even more miserable. Drying his face, he sighed and took one last look in the mirror to make sure he was presentable, but his eye was drawn to something sitting on the back of the sink. The long white stick encased in plastic looked out of place and for a moment Danny thought it was some sort of digital thermometer. Curious, he picked it up and held it so he could read the display. All the blood drained from Danny's face as the sterile digital letters stared back—suffocating him with an entirely new terror. PREGNANT