Chapter Four

After leaving the press conference, Natalie returned to the police station and took a seat outside Bo's office. It had almost been 12 hours since the girls had been taken, but to Natalie it seemed like 12 years had passed.

She felt numb.

The chloroform had knocked her out until almost 3am, giving whoever had taken the girls a five hour head start on the police. When Natalie had come to, she had been hysterical, rushing from room to room hoping that maybe they had managed to get away and hide somewhere. But the girls were nowhere to be found. That's when she called Bo.

Despite the early hour her Uncle had been there within minutes, followed by a team of officers and CSI's who tore the house apart searching for clues. The commotion had awoken both Nash and Jessica from next door who took it upon themselves to alert the rest of the family. Within the hour most of the Buchanans were either at the house or the police station.

But, the police still had nothing. No prints, no DNA, no fibers – and worst of all, no motive.

"Natalie honey, I need to talk to you in my office," Bo's voice rang out and broke Natalie from her thoughts. Wordlessly she stood up and began to walk toward Bo's office, trying to remain composed remembering that if she lost it she wouldn't be any help to her children.

Natalie had just taken a seat and Bo was about to shut the door when he noticed Michael McBain run into the station. "Michael, could you please come in here." Bo asked as he continued to hold the door open.

"I just got off work and Marcie filled me in. Has there been any news?" Michael asked as he knelt down in front of Natalie and pulled her into a tight hug.

Tears began to form in the corner of Natalie's eyes as she met Michael's concerned gaze. "Who would do this Michael? Who would take my girls?"

Michael shook his head, a few tears forming in his eyes. "We'll get them back Nat." Taking a hold of one of Natalie's hands, Michael took the seat next to hers and faced Bo, his expression serious. "Has there been any news Bo?"

"Not exactly." Bo sat on the edge of his desk and turned his attention to Natalie. "Honey, the reason I called you in here is because I just received a phone call I think you should know about."

"A ransom?" Natalie asked her breath hitching as she continued to grip Michael's hand.

Bo shook his head. "This morning a picture of the girls was slipped under the door to a hotel room in Baltimore with a cryptic note on the back… It was John's hotel room."

Natalie felt as if she had been struck. "I don't understand," she said, her voice shaky. "No one has been able to find John… No one knows where he is…"

"Well whoever has the girls knew. He just called as few minutes ago and faxed over a copy of the original," Bo handed a sheet of paper across to her. "At first he thought whoever had sent it had the wrong room – chalked it up to part of a custody battle, but then he saw the press conference." Bo took a deep breath unsure of how Natalie would take the next part of his news. Finally he just came right out and said it. "He's on his way to Llanview."

Both Natalie and Michael's heads jerked up in surprise. Michael spoke first. "John is coming back?"

Bo nodded. "He'll be here in a few hours."

The drive from Baltimore to Llanview wasn't a long one, only about two hours, but it gave John a lot of time to think. He started out by trying to compile a mental list of all the cases he had worked within the last four years that had gotten ugly – but John came up with nothing. His work as a PI generally kept him away from people and his cases were typically over very simple matters such as finding out if a spouse was cheating or tracking down tenants that had skipped town. None of them had become violent and he doubted this kidnapping had anything to do with the life he'd built over the last bunch of years since he left Llanview

So he thought back to his time in the FBI and his cases in Llanview, hoping something would jump out at him. Before the first hour of his trip he had a couple of possibilities and found his thoughts turning to the one thing he had been avoiding thinking about – Natalie. And their children.

Of course he had often thought about her in the past four years, in fact the only two possessions that he continued to carry with him from place to place were a framed photo of her that he had swiped from Roxy's desk on his way out, and the Saint Jude medal that stillwas around his neck. But usually all thoughts of her were of their past as John never let himself entertain the impossible idea of a future between them.

Because even after four years he still loved her beyond all reason.

Knowing that within the hour he would be back in Llanview and having to face her was terrifying. He had no idea what to say to her and no idea what to expect. Did she still hate him? Would she yell? Scream? Blame him? After leaving town John wanted nothing to do with the reality of Natalie. He refused to let Michael or Eve mention her, and when they continued to do so John just stopped calling. He had assumed that she would go back to Cristian and finally get the happy ending she deserved, but John didn't want to know about it.

But now he knew that wasn't true.

After getting over the initial shock that it was Natalie on the news pleading for the safe return of her children, John's suspicions had been piqued. First by the last name of the twins – Buchanan, then by the use of the first name Eve, and finally by the resemblance Eve had to him. But his suspicions had been confirmed just as he was leaving the office and heard the newscaster going over the girl's details.

"They were born on August 16th 2006..."

As soon as he heard their date of birth, he knew for sure. Eve and Sydney were his daughters – and John had no idea what to do with that knowledge.