Lori and Della were finally able to breathe for the first time in days. Lori had com over to stay with her sister when she had called and told her about the kidnapping. Lori never wanted to go through anything like that again. Della found herself wringing her hands and crying for joy now.

But Perry was busy with the police. There were lots of questions to be answered. Sally was very young and had been traumatized but there were two men who had been murdered at the cabin and he needed to know what she knew.

As Perry held his daughter in his arms, he asked her if her Uncle Steve and Larry had been good to her. He thought that if she had seen them murdered that she would tell him then.

"Oh they were all right. They had lots of movies for me to watch and they bought me a video game. But they kept telling me that Aunt Michelle and my cousins were coming and I didn't believe them." she told him.

Perry took a breath and realized that she didn't seem to know that her uncle and that terrible gardener were dead. But he asked her as casually as possible "When was the last time that you saw them ?"

Sally was worried that she might be in trouble . She had left for a walk to town. She was afraid of her Uncle and Larry for some reason. But she loved her daddy and knew that she should tell him the truth. "How did you leave?" he asked her.

"I was alone in the cabin after they left to go into town. I had meant to follow the road, but stay in the woods in case they came back. But I got lost and couldn't find the road. I walked and walked until I found the river. My other daddy had told me that if I followed the flow of the water I would find people. I slept in the woods under a tree and walked today until I saw this house." she told him.

Sally was safe and that was all that mattered, but the last time that she had seen her uncle and Larry they had been alive. "Do you know what time it was when they left yesterday?" he asked her.

"It was early, I was still eating breakfast." she told him.

Perry had to find out these things there was murderer out there someplace. "Sally, did anyone else ever come to the cabin while you were there?" he asked her.

"Yes, there was a man that came and it seemed as though they were arguing. But when I walked into the living room they made me go back to my room. I couldn't see him very well because I was sent back to my room too quick. So I peaked through the door lock ." she told him. Then there was the man that was talking to them out in the driveway. They were talking for a few minutes and then he walked up the road."

Perry was still holding Sally in his arms and asked her "Did you see that man? Would you recognize him if you saw him again?"

"Oh yes, he didn't see me, but I saw him from the window. Uncle Steve said his name it was Hermit."

Perry knew right away who the man was. He had known Jim Burns for years and he was the man that had found the two men murdered. Things did not look good for his friend either. "Did anything else happen while you were there?" he asked her.

Sally just shook her heard and said "I hope you don't mind, but I took my old backpack and favorite blanket from the cabin. "

That just made Perry hold her tighter. As they went back to LA it was a much merrier mood. Paul Drake did not think that he had ever been as worried as he had been the past few days. But, Sally was all right and life was good once more.

Della had called Michelle Jones. She was upset very upset with Michelle's nephew in law, but knew that Michelle was now grieving. Someone had murdered the man and there was now the grieving process that was happening at Michelle's house now.

Michelle Jones could not believe what Steve had done. She would have killed him herself if she had known what he had done. Sally had been through so much for a young girl of only nine. But, she was now relieved to find out that Sally was fine. She was now on her way to Mary's house to see what she could do to help her. She couldn't help but wonder how Mary was handling her husband' s murder and the fact that he and his friend Larry had been the kidnappers. The kidnappers that everyone had been looking for was her husband and his friend Larry. They had not been out looking for the kidnapper, they had been hiding the little girl in the cabin that Bob and Nor had once owned.

As Michelle pulled up to Mary's home she was met by her children. The house didn't seem very solemn in fact if Michelle hadn't known any better, she thought that Mary wasn't very upset about her husband. As Michelle spent the day with the family she was wondering if Mary had known about the kidnapping. It was just the way that she had been acting. 'But' she reasoned to herself ' people handle grief in different ways.

Finally the police statements were done and Perry and Sally along with their friend Paul Drake headed back out to their home. As the car pulled into the Mason driveway Della came running out of the house and took Sally in her arms. Lori stood there with tears in her eyes and as the family went up the stairs to their home they felt safe once again.

But for Jim Burns things were not going well. The police had finished their investigation and had shown up at his cabin late that afternoon. He was under arrest under suspicion of murder and he needed a lawyer.

Things were not going to be quiet at the Mason household for long.