"How…?"

Nick smirked at Selana's shocked expression. "It was easy, honey," he said sarcastically. "I've been working with Eric this whole time…ever since we first met in high school. After you got away with Kiara, which was pure luck, by the way, I contacted Eric. We did an extensive background check on Kiara and found her criminal record, and we knew that the robberies weren't coincidence. We've been in the area ever since. It was only a matter of time before you answered one of my calls, which we traced to your exact location. And here we are, one happy family again."

'This can't be right…' Sel thought. 'I have to be dreaming…' But, had it been a dream, she probably wouldn't have felt the cold stab of betrayal. Despite this pain, she pushed back any trace of sadness or deceit and forcibly replaced all emotion with anger. It wouldn't do her any good to feel sorry for herself…and right now the best thing to do was to try and formulate a plan to get away. If she waited too long to try and escape…God knows what Eric and Nick had in store for her and Kiara.

Thinking of Kiara, Sel stole a glance over at her. She couldn't find any expressions on Kiara's face…she just seemed to be…thinking. Hopefully, she was thinking of an attempt at escape, too.

Kiara was, as Sel suspected, deep in thought. Eric and Nick would probably kill them later, but right now they'd need Kiara and Sel to tell them where the rest of the money was. She already knew that Eric thought of Sel as a brainless idiot, so would he assume that Kiara had planned all of this?

As if to confirm her thoughts, Eric said, "I have to admit, that whole robbery thing was quite admirable."

Sel quickly noted that Eric was talking more to Kiara than to her. More fuel for her anger…

Kiara, angry as well at how Eric treated Sel, was about to open her mouth to say something back to him, but in a split second a plan came to her. Why not let him believe Sel was just a lackey? Why not take credit for the planning of the robberies? He'd be sure to watch her more carefully, then, which would mean that Sel would have a better opportunity to escape! And then, the next thing Eric knew, his sister would be engineering an ingenious plan to get Kiara and herself out of his grasp, and when Sel stepped out of his shadow, he'd be forced to realize that he'd underestimated her all along! It was perfect! Of course, she'd have to communicate this plan to Sel somehow, which would be more difficult…

For now, she smirked and tossed her head, saying, "I try."

Sel was horrified for a moment. Kiara was acknowledging the fact that she'd been the brain of everything? But that wasn't true! Sel hadn't thought she was so vain…but maybe she was just pretending. She glanced at Kiara, who winked at her, and she almost breathed a sigh of relief. Kiara had a plan of some sort!

But even if Kiara had a plan…she just couldn't let Kiara tear apart her reputation. Anyways, it would have been out of character to keep quiet.

"That's not true! Kiara, you know that I was a big part of the robberies!" she blurted out, glaring at her friend.

Kiara laughed. "Yeah, you tripped the alarms and almost got us caught half the time."

It was a lie, but it did get a short laugh out of Eric. Sel hoped that winning Eric's admiration was part of her plan…because if so, she sure was doing a good job.

This time, when Selana opened her mouth to deny this accusation, Eric quickly ordered Nick to 'shut her up'. Nick hastily went to the back of the van where Kiara and Selana were, crouched next to Sel, and roughly put a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Looks like Kiara would have to do this on her own…but Sel knew she was clever enough to think of something if this plan would fail.

Safely back home, Kevin reflected that Katie had never told him why she needed money. She hated being a criminal; she always had…she wouldn't resort to crime unless her plight was really desperate. Last time…

Last time, her younger sister had been kidnapped and held for ransom. Katie never talked about it now, and Kevin didn't press her, but something happened when she was delivering the money…something bad always happened to Katie. She'd be a lot safer if she just stayed away from criminal activity—actually, everybody would be, though it was at times fun.

Kevin had already guessed that Eric was behind Katie and Chels' kidnapping. He knew where Eric lived, but he doubted Eric would be dumb enough to take them there…he must have some other hideout. Booting up his computer with the intention of finding that hideout, Kevin thought briefly that Nick was probably the other captor—he didn't know of anyone else who'd had recent connections with Katie and Chels.

When they reached their destination, Eric and Nick wasted no time in dragging Selana and Katie into the house, both blindfolded. They were both put in separate rooms so they couldn't help each other escape. Eric dealt with Katie (he was very intrigued by her and wanted to know more about her…) and Nick handled Sel.

Nick put Selana in a room where he knew she couldn't escape, a place in the basement with no windows, no weapons, nothing…just a chair. Four boring grey walls and a chair. Nick tied Sel tightly to this chair, making sure that there was no possible way she could escape. He'd already taken off the blindfold and the gag; he was almost hoping she'd say something to him, how shocked she was that he was behind this, or begging him to come back to her. But to his surprise, Selana stayed completely silent, grimly staring ahead like none of this was even happening. Even when he tied the cords binding her to the chair much too tight, so that it was surely uncomfortable, she remained staring, not complaining or even moving. Out of sympathy he loosened the cords, but still she didn't have anything to say.

Nick had known Selana for years, and she'd always had something to say to him. No matter what it was, she always said something. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd started talking about cranberry sauce as he was tying her up, but she'd remained completely silent. She really must be shaken up.

But that wouldn't stop Nick from being cocky about this. He'd beaten her…he was in control now. He stood right in front of her, and even though she seemed to stare right through him, he grabbed the sides of the chair and straddled her, an I'm-better-than-you-and-I-know-it smile on his face. This snapped her from whatever she was thinking about. She tensed up and glared at him.

"Get off me."

He tilted his head to the side and his smile grew bigger. "C'mon, Sely, we're still a couple, right?"

If she could have, she would have hit him with all her strength. "You cheated on me, bastard. You were probably sleeping around from the moment we started dating."

He frowned and sighed. "True…" He smiled again. "But you were always my favorite, Sely."

Selana didn't say anything, but continued to glare at him. He stood up and backed away.

"Well, darling', you're obviously pretty angry and confused, so I'll let you cool off and then come and see where I can get. I'd better check in on Katie and Eric, anyways…because I think Eric has a crush on someone, and I'd better make sure Katie's okay…" He paused for a moment as new fire came to Selana's eyes. Obviously Selana and Katie were pretty close. "I'll be back, love." And with that, he left the room.

Eric was standing outside the door, waiting for Nick. "Done already?" asked Nick, a sly expression on his face.

Eric caught the suggestion in his voice but chose to ignore it. "I have some work to do, so you can go ahead and start interrogating them now. Our main concern is where the money is hidden. I'll be on my computer." He started to walk away.

Nick stopped him by asking, "What about Kiara?"

"What about her?" Eric turned to face Nick again, slightly annoyed.

"I thought you'd want to take care of her yourself," said Nick, smirking.

"You thought wrong."

Eric had never been good with girls. During puberty, he'd become more interested in them, of course, but he'd never had a chance with any girl he'd liked. He'd convinced himself that relationships with those of the opposite gender were pointless, and he avoided contact with any female other than Sel. Nick's point of view on this was much different, and he enjoyed graphically describing his encounters with women to Eric. Eric had learned how to tune him out over time.

Kiara was interesting enough, but Eric wouldn't admit to himself that he was attracted to her in any way. Nevertheless, the first thing he did on his computer was to pull up the cameras monitoring Kiara's room. She was sitting there exactly as he'd left her, tied to the chair with her head hanging down. Eric forced himself to get to work researching her; he knew all there was to know about Sel, but Kiara's background was still shrouded in mystery.

About an hour later, Eric checked the cameras again. Sel was alone in her cell, but Kiara…Nick was straddling her, playing with her hair. Eric grabbed his cell phone and called Nick's, ordering him to come upstairs right away. He then watched to make sure Nick got off Kiara and walked out of the room.

Eric took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself...he'd never been that angry before; it didn't make sense!

Nick strode into Eric's room and leaned against the wall. "What?"

"Come here," Eric said, trying to keep the anger he was feeling out of his voice. Nick walked up behind him, and Eric replayed the little scene caught by the video camera in Kiara's cell. "What is that?" Watching the video again had fueled his anger, and he couldn't keep it out of his voice now.

"A form of interrogation," Nick said calmly, plopping himself down onto Eric's bed. "She wouldn't tell me where the money was, so I threatened her. If you hadn't interrupted me, I'm sure I could have…persuaded her to tell me whatever she knew." He paused to take in Eric's face, his grin spreading. "You're jealous."

"Not jealous, just…disapproving," said Eric, refusing to look at Nick.

"You wouldn't mind if I did that to Sel…"

"Yes, I would," Eric lied. "There are cameras in her cell, too, and I, personally, don't want to see that." He paused, trying to think of how to word his next statement in a way that might make Nick believe he was telling the truth. "Contrary to your current beliefs, women aren't toys, not even if they're tied to a chair and completely helpless. We're criminals here, not rapists."

"Ok," said Nick, clearly not buying it. He headed toward the door, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "It's pretty obvious you like her, Eric. If you want to use my bedroom tonight…"

"Get out," Eric said, struggling to keep from shouting.

As Eric and Nick were preoccupied with Kiara, Selana had managed to free one of her hands. Nick hadn't tied the ropes too tight; he should have known that she could get out, but he had seemed distant, thinking about something else. As a matter of fact, Eric had seemed focused on something else. Something must be up.

After her right hand was free, she worked on her left. This proved to be difficult because her hands had been tied behind the chair. Finally, both hands were free. From there it would be easy to untie her legs and waist.

Once she tossed aside the rope, she hurriedly scrambled under the camera in the corner of the room. If they didn't see her escape, she was better off. She started towards the door but stopped herself. Despite her immediate instincts to flee, she remained in the corner, watching the door and waiting for it to open. If she left the room now, Eric and Nick could be waiting for her. And she had no idea where Kiara was. Besides, the room might be locked from the outside. If she stayed in the room, she had the element of surprise on her side. They wouldn't know if she had left the room or stayed.

Eric was supposed to be watching the monitors, but his mind kept wandering. He couldn't stop thinking about Kiara. He had no idea why he would be interested in her. She was just like any of the other girls he'd met…well, that wasn't true. In a way, she was the exact opposite of all the others. The little he knew about her was just…intriguing. He wanted to know more.

Eric stood without even glancing at the monitors and grabbed his gun, which was lying on the desk. He shook his head in an attempt to rid his thoughts of Kiara as he stuffed the gun in his belt. He had to concentrate on more pressing matters, like what he was going to do with Selana. Eric knew that Nick wanted to keep her alive, but she had screwed up one too many times. And this time, she had been completely defiant. There was no way he could make her obey him any longer. She had to be killed. As for Kiara…he'd keep her alive until he got bored with her. If he got bored.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked, eyeing Eric's gun.

"My sister has to be dealt with."

"You can't do that!" Nick sprang to his feet. "She's your sister. How could you kill her?"

Eric sighed. "She disobeyed me. And you can't possibly tell me that you 'love' her. You were never faithful to her…I think I treated her better than you did."

"You're right…" Nick said slowly, but he still looked a little concerned. "I meant that…don't you want to make her suffer, first?"

"I plan to."

"Eric…let me have a bit of fun with her, first. Just for an hour, or less. And when I'm done with her, you can do whatever you want with her," Nick said.

"No. I've made up my mind. I will kill her, and I'll do it now." With those final words, Eric strode away, down the stairs and towards the makeshift prison cells. Nick hesitated for a moment or two, but then followed. He wanted to keep Sel around, and Eric knew that. If Eric wouldn't respect his wishes, he wouldn't respect Eric's.

Kiara was just as he'd left her: sitting in a dejected silence. She looked up at him as he locked the cell door behind him. He sauntered across the room and flicked off the camera, her eyes following him warily. His next move was to straddle her again and lock lips with her. She jerked her head away and to the side, sputtering: "But I thought Eric—"

Nick grabbed her hair and yanked it so she had to face him again. "Eric is busy killing Sel," he sneered. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak again, but he took the opportunity to shove his tongue into it. He knew this was stupid, but he figured he had to take his anger out somehow. If—no, when—Eric caught him…well, Nick had taken the precaution of grabbing his own gun, so he'd be fine.

Selana heard the lock turning and tensed. This was it, she thought. She wondered for a moment if it was Eric or Nick or both coming through the door, but after the moment passed it didn't matter. When the door swung open, she lunged at the figure in the doorway, grabbing him in a chokehold. Selana knew it was Eric by his blonde hair. She was pleased when she realized she had caught him by surprise. For the first few moments, Eric acted instinctively: grabbing at her arm and trying to breathe. But soon he reached for his gun. Fortunately, Sel was prepared for this; she snatched the gun from his belt and rammed the butt end into his head. He went limp instantly. Selana released her hold on his neck and let him fall to the ground, where blood from his head wound formed a pool. Satisfied, she quickly tied his hands and feet with the ropes that had been used to restrain her.

When she was done, she left the room in search for Kiara. She held the gun in her hands, ready to fire; she still had to worry about Nick. To her dismay, there was a whole hallway of doors. Kiara could be in any one.

Nick had unzipped Kiara's cat suit by the time Sel found the right door. He was kissing Kiara's neck, one hand tangled in her hair and the other in her suit. Something in Sel snapped. Before she knew what she was doing, she had taken aim and pulled the trigger.

Kiara screamed as Nick slumped forward onto her shoulder, blood gushing from his lower back. Sel stood frozen for a few seconds, shocked at what she'd just done, but Kiara's horrified expression snapped her out of her reverie. She pushed Nick onto the floor; he stared up at her, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. She shuddered and turned away to untie Kiara. There was blood on Kiara's neck, torso, and suit, and her wide eyes were locked on Nick's prone form. Sel had to jerk Kiara up and half-drag her down the hall, up the stairs, and into the garage. They jumped into Eric's car, where Sel reached for the ignition but realized she didn't have keys. "Wait here," she ordered Kiara, before dashing inside to search for keys.

They drove in a shocked silence through the night, arriving at Kevin's house somewhere around 2am. Shivering in the cold night air, they huddled in front of the door as Sel rang the doorbell.

Kevin was startled out of a very weird dream by the second ring of the doorbell. He yawned, stretched, and slowly made his way to the door, scratching his stomach as he went. The doorbell rang again. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered, pulling back the curtains to peek outside.

He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked a second time. He yelped as he realized that it really was Katie and Chelsea, fumbling with the locks to throw the door wide open. "Katie! Chelsea! What—" He stopped, realizing they were staring at him, and wondered why. Then it dawned on him: He was dressed only in his boxers. "Oh, um…well…it's kind of late, you know, and…um…come on in."

They stepped inside. He closed the door and muttered something about getting dressed, but Chelsea stopped him. "No, that's ok…we're…tired, and…it'd best if we all went to bed…" He nodded his agreement and glanced at Katie. There was blood on her neck and in her hair, and she had a red mark on her neck—a hicky. She silently turned and walked to her room. She looked…sad, scared, and numb…and he wanted to know what was wrong. He looked at Chelsea as she walked away, and saw the same expression on her face.

He went to bed, but didn't find any sleep that night.