Riley groaned as he awoke on a hard bed. He didn't open his eyes for there was excruciating pain in the front of his head. It all came flooding back to him as he tried to gain control of his senses. He and Jacqueline were taking a walk (rather romantic walk he would say) when a man low baseball cap approached them, immediately grabbing Jacqueline as they tried to make a run for it. Riley at thrown a punch at the guy as they tried to run off (he could feel the swelling in his knuckles now), but he was laid out by a lady with a shotgun. His semiconscious body had been dragged into the back of a truck before being hit over the head again.

"Riley? Riley, hun, wake up!" Moaning he opened his eyes to a darker room. The blurred figure sitting beside him slowly came into focus.

"Emily? Emily!" Riley stupidly jerked up in his excitement only to receive more dizzying pain to his head.

"Lay back down, son. You got hit pretty hard," soothed Emily, helping him gently lay back down. He took in the sight of her, ignoring the bruises on her arms and torn clothing.

"You're alive." She nodded, but didn't say anything. "That's fantastic. We have to tell Ben and Patrick!"

"That'll be a little hard to do." Jacqueline stood from the corner chair. Riley hadn't even noticed her until now. She looked better off than Emily in appearance.

"Jacq, you're ok!" She nodded shaking her hair over the large gash on her forehead. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, but we're probably still in South Dakota," reasoned Emily, taking a pitcher of water and pouring Riley a cup. "We didn't board a plane and they were with me until late last night when they left to go get you. I believe they were only gone for little over an hour."

"Maybe we're closer than we think. Someone could find us!" Riley slowly sat up and looked at the two women in front of him. He had to stay positive.

"I'm sure Ben hasn't slept since you two disappeared."

"They're looking for you too," comforted Jacqueline. Emily moved over a bit so her student could have a seat on the bed. Jacqueline helped herself to the water Emily had set back on the dresser.

"They better be," laughed Emily. However, she bent over clutching her stomach. Riley and Jacqueline exchanged a worried look as the older woman gasped in pain. She laid flat on her back between them, sideways on the small twin bed.

"Professor, are you alright?"

"I think she broke my ribs," wheezed Emily. "I'll be fine in a minute." Sure enough, the pain subsided in a couple of minutes.

"What did they do to you?" asked a worried Riley, helping her back into a sitting position.

"The woman, Cynthia, asked me how I would like to have some company here." She nodded her head to her fellow captives. "I told her to go to hell."

"I could see where that would make her angry, but enough to break a rib?"

"Well something cracked and I'm hoping it's only a rib." She winced again as she resituated her weight. "I'm not exactly young enough to just bounce back after a good beating."

Footsteps came from the hallway outside of the room, causing the three to fall silent. Clint Wilkinson came in with a tray of soup and bread. Jacqueline stood up in anger at the sight of her classmate and friend. He looked distracted at the sight of her, but tried his best to hide it.

"Clint? You're behind all of this?" she asked, shocked.

"I'm sorry Jacq," he muttered to the floor, "You weren't supposed to get mixed up in all of this. You did nothing wrong…But they did."

"Then let her go," argued Riley. His heart beat rapidly at the thought that he was the reason she was here. What a great way to start off a relationship. Clint glared at him.

"She can't leave now! None of you can."

"What good is this doing?" asked Riley. Clearly, they didn't want them dead or they would have killed them already.

"You all killed my father," he hissed. "You left him to die and us to suffer."

"Now, now, Clint, don't get too excited now." Cynthia sauntered into the room with her shotgun in hand. She was still wearing a huge, worn overcoat that must have been her husbands.

"But if you wanted to kill all of us, you've had plenty of opportunities to get rid of us all at the same time." Emily lifted her aching, tired, aged body off the bed. It was time to find out what this insane woman really wanted.

"You're right." Cynthia got in Emily's face. "I want your family to suffer, not just die. I want them to feel the pain they have caused. You see, what I know about your son is a bunch of cops isn't going to stop him for searching for his best friend and the possibility his mother is alive. He was willing to turn himself into the FBI for your life before."

"That was only because your good for nothing husband abducted me!" snapped Emily. "He was the one threatening lives! He deserved to die!"

"Don't you dare talk about me husband like that," roared Cynthia. The calm, collected woman who walked into the room just three minutes before was gone. "He was only doing what he had to do. And what would your son do for your life this time? Huh? Perhaps he'll give his own!"

"You bitch!" Riley pulled Emily back as she lunged towards Cynthia. At the same moment, the gun went off with a loud bang causing all three of them to hit take cover.

"Mom!" yelled Clint. He struggled with her for a moment before prying her hands away from the trigger. There was a nice sized hole in the wall of the cabin, in line with where Emily had been standing moments before. "Come on, Mom," he pulled her shaking body from the room.

"Are you ok?" asked Jacqueline in concern. Riley was still holding a very pale Emily. Both of them nodded slowly.

"She's insane," whispered Riley, still in shock. He couldn't figure out how no one managed to get shot.

"I'd say schizophrenia or perhaps bipolar disorder," said Emily. "I shouldn't have pushed her like that…I didn't realize…it just made me so-"

"Professor, its fine. No one got hurt." Jacqueline sat down on the edge of the bed. "A crazy woman is controlling whether we live or die," she shuddered. Riley took a seat next to her, taking her hand. Emily busied herself with the soup that was still sitting next to the pitcher of water on the dresser.

"Look, Jacq- I'm sorry I dragged you into this…"

"Well this definitely wasn't the way I pictured this date going, but I don't blame you Riley." She tried to give him a smile.

"But he just said that you would have never been taken-"

"And he's right, but there is nothing we can do about it. And we'll get through this." Riley squeezed her hand and sighed.

"It's a good thing someone in here is an optimist." Jacqueline laughed. Riley put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "So maybe you can help me out in that department."

"I'll do my best," she grinned, snuggling closer to him.

"Here you are." Emily brought over three bowls of soup. "If you think they are trying to poison us then don't eat it, but to be honest with you, I'm taking my chances with the poison than starve to death."

"Well, we are being optimistic about this now, so there is no poison in this soup." Riley licked his lips and brought the spoon up to his lips. "Ewwww. I hate broccoli!"

A/N: Ok, I was going to give you an estimate on how long this story was going to be, but now I'm not so sure. So expect at least four more chapters. But it could be three or five. I don't know. Next chapter Ben will be trying to find his family! Yea! Ben to the rescue! Leave me love!!