Eric Stormer was content with his life. OK, that was not true. He was happy, excited and very much satisfied. His editors were happy and satisfied too. Coming to Seaford was the best decision ever. Following Kim Crawford was even better. The girl was like a gold mine of stories. He would admit that at first he may have fudged the facts a little to create a catchy headline. He only heard one guy at the pizza joint talking about the other guy dating Kim briefly. But once Eric knew the boy's name and that fact that he played football, the story was too easy to make. All Eric did was follow some fan discussions, Seaford High's Facebook and then stalk the students' social media pages to find out that Kim had in fact dated one guy on the football team, albeit briefly... And then he found a treasure trove of the information and gossip. One Donna Tobin did not like Kim Crawford and had plenty to say about the latter. His editors liked the spin of the social climbing girl and the story was printed.

Then the fundraiser happened and Eric's coverage was truthful if leaning slightly towards salaciousness. He was even able to sell the live footage to the TV media outlets, because it had Ricky Weaver in it. He saw the interaction between Kim and Jack over the plate of pastries and could not figure out the reason for such a peculiar behavior. He saw, of course, that Kim and Jack were together and Ricky was merely a friend but that did not sell, so it was spun as the possible confrontation between a jealous boyfriend and a pretty girl.

Eric did not feel any remorse over this. In his mind he had a job and Kim Crawford, connected as she was to the rich and famous, basically should have expected it.

He did follow up on the pastry incident. All he had to do was find the girl who was working that particular station and see what she had to say. The girl was as perplexed as he was, because according to her Jack did not want Kim to eat the macaroons. Something about poisoning. Now, Eric knew already that Kim had food poisoning earlier and that it required a hospital stay. Was she allergic? And Jack was being protective? It made the most sense, but was also quite boring. Once again, Donna Tobin and her hatred of all things Kim Crawford was helpful. Although it was not in any way confirmed by anything or anyone, Eric felt that teen pregnancy was such a good story that it got published anyway. It was a day later, after most tabloids reprinted his story, that the in-house legal counsel came down on him and his editors shouting about liability, libel, defamation and costly litigation. It seemed that their lawyers were anticipating a lawsuit from Ricky Weaver, because Eric's article essentially implied that he was sexually active with an underage girl. In an effort to clean up, the editors pulled off the story from their website and tried to delete all the links to it. Eric was reprimanded, but the damage was done. He was told to return, but his guts were telling him to stay on and he prevailed.

At first, he thought that his gut feeling was wrong, but then Bobby threw him a good story. Custody battle was not quite as exciting as the love triangle, but there was plenty of drama, to say nothing about the fact that Bobby essentially admitted he was Kim's father. Eric felt validated. He was the one to break that particular story and despite all the official denials, here it was: Bobby's asserting parental rights over Kim!

Then came an even better morsel of news: according to one Ricky fan, Kim was going to LA to see him. Without Jack or Bobby. Oh, this was going to be good.

In the end the visit was not what he hoped for. It seemed that Kim was in town for auditions and that was a good story; though not as good as secret rendezvous with a mega-star. He was following Kim and her bodyguards out of the city, still hoping for the juicy detail, when he was spotted and they tried to evade him. Eric, having lost them, stubbornly followed on the most predictable route to Seaford, when he came upon a car wreck...

It was the car that Kim was driven in - one of Bobby's cars.

Eric, heart hammering in this chest in fear and anticipation, jumped out of the car and approached the wreck. What he saw was shocking and devastating. The car was at the odd angle, not quite upside down, and jammed against the slope of the hill. The driver was pinned under the caved in door and Eric could not tell if he was breathing. Kim's bodyguard was out of the car, bloody and unconscious. Eric knew where Kim was supposed to have be sitting and went to check only to find bloody prints on the window where she should have been and the door ajar.

He heard a noise behind him and turned to find the bodyguard trying to move and moaning in pain. He ran to the guy and helped him up. Only now he saw that the guy had a wound where shoulder connected to the chest, high enough to miss the heart. His own heart hammering fast and hands shaking, Eric tried to apply pressure on the wound, vaguely recalling something like that from numerous movies and TV shows. The bodyguard jerked away from the pressure and the pain must have woken him up, because he opened his eyes, looked straight at Eric and slurred, "I lost her. I lost her."


Jack hadn't realized just how much he would miss Kim these past days. He missed her at school and at the dojo, he missed the closeness they had when they were together. He missed talking to her about everything. They talked of course, but it was different on the phone. He also missed kissing her, touching her... His dreams were restless. She was in them, of course she was, but she was out of reach and he was chasing after her in them. He couldn't wait for her to come back. The last conversation they had was after her audition. She was breathless and excited, but also uncertain and doubtful. She was sure she did a good job, but was not sure about everyone's opinion on her performance.

She texted him when she was leaving LA and Jack only had to wait a few more hours before he got to see her again. He would admit to being totally in love with Kim, when even few days of separation nearly rendered him incapable of functioning.

He was at the dojo, pounding away at the dummies, since Kim wasn't there to spar with him and guys were not exactly a challenge, even if he fought two of them together. He was ready to start his bo staff practice, when his cell phone rang with Bobby's ring tone. It was distraction that Jack needed so he answered.

"Yes?"

"Jack, my boy, you have to come to my place immediately. Detective Jones called me and said that we should all gather because he has some news. I hope they have something from that note. Come quick."

This was a good news. Jack was excited and drove to Bobby's quickly. He got there and found that Kim's parents already present.

He chatted with Kim's mom, who also got the call from Kim about the audition. They were comparing notes about Kim and her chances at getting the role, when the defective came in. He had an unreadable expression on his face and it made something in Jack ttenseand coil.

Defective Jones cleared his throat and began.

"I am afraid I have some bad news. Earlier today the car that Kim was travelling with her security detail was found on the side of the highway exit. It seems that it collided with something and flipped several times down the hill."

No... No... No...

He was interrupted by a sharp scream from Kim's mother, who clutched her chest and was blinking away tears. "How is Kim?" she croaked out.

"We don't know."

"What? I don't understand. What do you mean?" Kim's dad was standing and staring the detective down.

"Only two people were found at the car wreck: her bodyguard and the driver."

No... No... No... Kim... Not her...

"Jeremy? What did he say? Where is Kim?" Bobby was already dialing someone.

"He is in surgery right now. He was unconscious, so he could not be questioned."

"And the driver?" Bobby again.

"Severe blood loss. Also unconscious."

"No... No... No..."

"I am sorry Mr. Brewer... I know you are close..."

"Where is she? Where could she be?" Jack's voice with hoarse and the panic in it was evident to all.

"There was blood where Kim should have been seated. She was buckled in, we assume. But..." The detective was silent and Jack, who was already standing took steps closer to him. He stopped when Chuck put a hand on his shoulder.

"But Jeremy had a gunshot wound and his gun was used as well..."

No... No... No... NO!

He must have screamed the last part out, because Chuck's hand in his shoulder became and vise grip and the detective looked at them apologetically. He rubbed his hand over his tired face.

"Kim's gone."

Jack was certain his heart had stopped beating. There was dead silence and he didn't move a muscle. He could not. He could not breath. It's like the air itself was gone and his lungs refused to do what they were supposed to. The pain that flared through his chest was slow and thorough. His chest, hollow now, and useless lungs were making him light headed, but it didn't matter. Kim ... was ... nooooo.

His knees buckled and unable to stand he sank back onto the couch.

A loud crying finally permeated his hearing and it was Kim's mom, sobbing and clutching his hand.

"I am sorry. At this point our working theory is that Kim was taken, kidnapped."

"She's not..." his mouth refused to say the words, but the detective understood.

"We believe that the collision was intentional. There is a chance that there will be some demands. However, Kim is probably hurt. From the collision..." His tone implied that her kidnapper may or may not be adding to that right now and Jack's fists clenched tight. "The F.B.I is involved, and they've been looking for her."

Jack tuned him out, clutching the edge of the couch as he tried to control his ragged breath and calm his racing heart. She was alive.

Her mom was still holding his hand and he squeezed it. Once be was able to draw a full breath, he turned to the detective.

"I need to see Jeremy. Which hospital are they in?"

"Jack, your parents..."

"Will understand. Besides, I am emancipated."

At everyone's curious looks, be added, "child labor laws and such. It was for the movie."

"We are trying to keep it quiet for now. FBI does not want to make them move too soon. We were able to convince the reporter to keep hush as well."

"What reporter?" Chuck's tone was heavy.

"Eric Stormer. He was the one to call in the 911. He happened upon the scene. According to him, the bodyguard came to briefly to say that he lost her."

"He didn't just happen on the scene." Jack's voice was like gravel. "Eric Stormer practically stalked Kim for his stories. How did he know that she was in LA?"

"Why does it matter?" Chuck was looking at Jack with a strange mix of hope and exasperation.

"Because, her stalker, the one who left those messages and tried to poison her, should have believed that she was here. Yet, she was taken when only few people knew she'd be out of Seaford. We need to know how Eric knew this, so we can figure out how the stalker knew it."

Jack had a goal, a plan, a course of actions. He needed to bring her back.