"Why would you do that?," Hannah asked when she heard Michael's proposal.

"Aw, my wife ran off on me," Michael said. "She took the kids, the house, the money, everything. I have a car and I am living in a rat-hole motel. I need some cash to get started again. I'm not gonna find myself a rich woman to shack up with. So, I thought that you're not hurting anyone. So, why not let you have your niece back?"

"Have they told you what happened?," Hannah asked.

"A little," Michael said. "I just know that she had some spot in the attic that she lived in. I guess she was not very happy, but she had food and clothes and shelter. So, what the hell? You want her or not?"

"Yeah, I want her," Hannah said. "Name the place and time."

"Tomorrow," Michael said. "That beach right there. Noon."

"Deal," Hannah smiled.

"You bring the fifty-grand, I bring the lady," Michael said.

"Then, you lead your team away from us," Hannah said.

"They'll be looking the other way," Michael said. "I will make sure of that one."

As Hannah was about to accept the deal, Travis hurried into the room and turned on the TV.

"Mom, don't trust him," Travis said. "Look at this."

On the news, a woman was standing in front of the camera. "We have received word from an anonymous source that the young woman, Lantana Kempton, was kept locked in the attic for almost a dozen years while her aunt and uncle sold drugs to neighborhood children and her own children assisted in these sales. Lantana was rescued by FBI and CIA teams that were working together. She is currently under guard at an undisclosed location. CIA agent Michael Westen is the man who is now in charge of her safety at this time. He is believed to be in the process of going undercover to try to apprehend Hannah Russell and her son and daughter at this very moment."

Hannah looked at Michael. "Michael Westen," she said. "Welcome to my home." She pointed a gun at him.

In the van, John knew this was bad news. He and Jesse, who had finally arrived, looked at each other.

"Now what?," John asked Jesse.

"We think of something fast to get Mikey out of there," Jesse said. "I just have no ideas."

"We better think fast," John said. "Or Mike is dead."

Jesse knew John was right. Michael could never talk his way out of this mess. Could he?

"What the hell is this?," John snapped. "The media knows better than to reveal these kinds of details! And that so-called anonymous source needs to be found and charged with something! He or she has just jeopardized my best agent's life!"

"We'll get a team on this, John," Jesse said. "This person needs to go down."

"You don't think it could be Lantana or Keith, do you?," John asked.

"Are you crazy?," Jesse asked. "Why would they do that? They know it's because of Michael and Sam that she is even alive now. Did you see how sick she was when she was found?"

"I hope you're right," John said. "For everyone's sake!"

In the house, Suzie and Hannah held guns at Michael while Travis used duct-tape to secure him to the chair. Suzie found his gun and took it.

"Well, Michael," Hannah said. "You have two choices. Tell me where Lantana is or we kill you and find her ourselves."

"I really don't know that," Michael said. "Only my superiors know that information. They don't share that with everyone. I don't even know how the news people got that."

In the van, John was on the phone. "Who the hell is leaking to the media?," he demanded to know. "Michael's life is now in danger because his cover has been blown! I want people talking to Lantana, Keith, Sam, Janet, and everyone who knows Lantana. I want that done immediately and I want it all recorded." He slammed his phone down.

"What do we do?," Jesse asked.

At the hotel; Lantana, Keith, and Sam were also not happy to see the news story.

"Who gave them this?," Sam asked. He opened the door, where Janet was still standing. "Janet, you need to make some phone calls," he said. "We may need to move Lantana."

Janet, who had her cell-phone in her hand, looked at him. "I was just told," she said. "We're working on that now. I also have some back-up coming to help me keep Lantana safe here until we know more." She briefly paused. "Sam, she cannot leave the room," Janet said. "And keep her away from windows."

"I can do that," Sam said. He returned to the room.

"Guess I'm trapped again," Lantana said.

"Sorry, Lantana," Sam said. "Until we know you're safe. I am sorry."

Lantana sighed. "Well, at least you're not chaining me down," she said with a sarcastic smile.

"And you have company," Sam added.

Lantana sighed. "I have company that I can trust," she said.

At the beach-house, Michael was still captive and had a gun still pointing at his head.

"Where is Lantana, Michael?," Hannah asked, still in his face. "We're not playing Jeopardy here. I want to know now."

Michael kicked the nearby table. "I do not know where Lantana is," he said stiffly. "My superior is the only one who knows that. He won't tell me because he was afraid this very thing might happen."

"Suzie, bring me the phone," Hannah said. "We'll call his superior and we'll find where she is."

Suzie brought the cordless land-line. They dialed as Michael recited John's phone number. After a moment, John answered.

"John, we have a problem here," Michael said. "If you don't tell these people where Lantana is, they kill me."

"Mike, what is going on?," John asked.

"John, right?," Hannah asked as she pulled the phone away from Michael. "I need to know where my niece is. Or I kill your man."

Travis punched Michael. John and Jesse both flinched when they heard the sound and heard Michael's yelp.

"OK, hold on," John said. "Let's talk about this. How about we get you a secure route anywhere you want to go and let you take Lucas and Ryan with you? You'll stay free while Lantana does also."

"Do you think I am stupid?," Hannah asked. "I want Lantana here now."

John heard the sounds of Michael being struck three more times. He looked at Jesse. "It's three against two," he mouthed. "We need to do something."

Jesse sighed. He wrote on a sheet of paper and showed it to John. It read: "Let's get Sam here and use Lantana as bait."

John couldn't believe what he just saw. He then nodded. "Hannah, you win," he said. "We'll exchange Lantana for Michael. You can have the house back."

"One hour," Hannah said.

John ended the call and looked at Jesse. "Call Sam," he said. "Tell him to hurry."

At the hotel, Sam took the call. When he was finished, he looked at Lantana. "Lantana, we need your help," Sam said. "I really hope you're strong enough."

"For what?," Lantana asked.

"To save Michael's life," Sam replied.

3