"I'm on my way." How could this have happened? Why didn't he see it coming? Why hadn't he protected her? "What do we have?" He asked as he threw his coat over his desk chair. "Do we have any leads on where she is?"

"The techs are working on tracing the call. They said that they want Sean and Cheryl released and in exchange they will release Lily, but not until then."

Martin sank into his chair. "We can't do that. We won't do that."

"We'll get her back. I promise."

"Don't let Jack hear you say that." He shook off the negative thoughts he was having. They would find her, it was what they did. He couldn't allow himself to think of the times they had been too late or worse. "I better call her parents." Checking his watch, he sighed. It was only two am. They were going to know that something was wrong. Nothing good requires a phone call at two in the morning.

"How are the parents taking it?" Danny asked when Martin hung up the phone.

"Not good, but I managed to keep them in London for the time being. What have you got?"

"I need to contact Lily's assistant. I keep getting voice mail at the office."

"Yeah, the office is closed for the winter break. I'll call Diane. What do you need?"

"I need all the files on that Kentucky militia. Maybe we can get a lead on what group these two moved onto."

"It's a long shot, but it's worth a try."

Danny lightly slapped his friend's shoulder. "We'll find her."

As Martin hung up again, Vivian called Martin into the conference room. "Martin, you know the drill. I just need to ask a few questions."

"Because you need to make sure I'm not a suspect? Viv, this is my fiancé we're talking about. I would never do anything to hurt her."

"Hey, I know that. I just need to get a little background on her. I only need to know what she's been doing since we put Cheryl and Sean away."

"Yeah, OK." He sat down with a sigh. "Well, she's been staying with me because Congress is in the midst of their winter break. She's been doing some work remotely, but mainly, she's been relaxing and working on planning the wedding." He found himself smiling as he thought back to the conversation he'd walked into the middle of the night before. "It's been a battle between our two mothers."

"Mom, both Martin and I do not want the wedding of the century. Please, something small, family only preferably, and maybe held at the estate. We don't need to rent out the Waldorf Astoria." She had rolled her eyes with a grin as Martin kissed her softly. "No, Mom, we're not getting married in London." Her smile was gone as she shook her head. "Mom, it's late over there and Martin just got home here. We'll talk about this tomorrow, I'm sure."

Martin took her into his arms as he laughed. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this by yourself. You could have my mother call me at least. I know how to deal with her."

"I will do nothing of the sort. You need to have your head in the case so you can save the day. I've learned how to appease your mother."

He laughed again and kissed her. "OK, but if she gets to be too much, you have her call me."

"I will, but I actually don't have a problem with your mother. It's mine who is driving me crazy. Something as simple as choosing the photographer for our engagement pictures has turned into a battle about who has more standing and will sound better in the caption."

He kissed her forehead and held her close. "There are worse things that you two could be fighting over."

"When you find that out, let me know, Secret Agent Man."

"It's normal for a bride-to-be to be completely stressed." Vivian smiled. "When is the wedding?"

He laughed. "We haven't quite decided yet. Or I should say, our mothers haven't quite decided yet. Lily wants an early spring or fall wedding and our mothers are pushing for June. I'm almost positive that the mothers will win."

"I'm sure they will. I know my mother did with mine and I wasn't an ambassador's daughter." Her smile faded as she got back to business. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary this past week? Anyone hanging around in the lobby or did Lily mention anything strange when she went out during the day?"

"I didn't notice anything, but Lily did mention that someone recognized her when she went shopping for groceries last week."

"It was really strange, Martin. I mean, I'm used to being recognized in DC, but not here in New York." Lily said as they did the dishes.

"Did you recognize him?"

"No, but Daddy's appointment was covered in every major newspaper so that doesn't surprise me. I guess I'm being paranoid."

"You are not being paranoid." He took her into his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. "Maybe it's your first brush with the paparazzi." She laughed. "Do you want me to pull the security tape and take a look?"

"No, you don't have to do that. I feel better just telling you about it. To hear it out loud I hear just how crazy I sound."

"Tiger Lily, you are not crazy. I think it's just someone who likes to read the society pages, but I will look into it for you."

"Thank you, Honey." She smiled and kissed him. "You don't have to though. You're right. He wasn't dressed like a bum or anything. He did have on a designer suit. I was just caught off guard."

"Did you look into it?" Vivian pulled him back from his memory.

"No, I never did. We got another case and she never mentioned anything more about it. I guess we both thought it was just someone who liked reading Page Six." He shook his head. "Maybe I should have asked a few more questions."

"I'll get the tapes from the market for that day. We'll find him. Anything else seem strange?" Martin shook his head. "What was her plan for today?"

"She said that she might go shopping, but I don't know where. She normally hates shopping so I'm guessing it was to look for the wedding. I honestly don't know."

"It's OK. We'll find out."

Two hours and one more ransom call later, Jack Malone paced an empty warehouse. The kidnappers were late and probably weren't coming. He was fuming. He had gotten them to agree to a meeting that was looking like a setup to throw them off the case. "Damn it!" He got back in his car and slammed it into gear. He should have known better. They weren't going to come out to meet him, even with the million dollars in flash money he had in the briefcase on his passenger seat. "Where are we?" He barged into the tech's office. "Tell me we have a location of that last phone call because they didn't show."

"I have the general location of the cell tower, but nothing solid."

"I'll take it." He scribbled down the address and called out for Danny to join him. "Call me when you know more."

Martin stared at Lily's photo up on the white board in the bullpen. How had this happened? It was the one question Ambassador Anderson repeatedly asked him and it was the one question he couldn't answer. How had they missed the signs that the two suspects were aligned with a militia group? And why was he sitting at his desk fielding phone calls from senators and Lily's parents instead of being out in the field looking for her? She'd been missing for almost twelve hours, it was one in the morning, and the best they could come up with is a general location up in Westchester that agents had been combing for hours with no luck. "Samantha, what's going on? Is there any news?"

"You'll know when I know. So far our search has turned up nothing. I'm sorry, Martin."

"Yeah, OK." He hung up and slammed his fist into the desk. They were looking for his fiancé. He should be out in the field interrogating suspects, not stuck running the tip hotline.

"Hey, Martin, I just got a call from Jack. They have a lead and need everyone. Do you want to drive?" Vivian spoke to the younger agent two hours later. He'd done as he was told, followed every tip, and she could tell it was killing him. He needed to be in the field, to be active, and she understood. "Come on. Let's go."

It wasn't until six that night, a full twenty-four hours since Lily's abduction, when a solid tip led them to an abandoned farmhouse near the small town of Beckett, Massachusetts. They had called ahead and the Hartford office of the FBI as well as the Massachusetts State Patrol rolled up to the two-acre property, but there were no lights on, the place looked abandoned, and Jack was suddenly scared that they had been led off track again. He knew, as everyone did, that their chances of finding Lily alive were dwindling with every passing hour, but the night soon erupted with gunfire and he took cover behind his sedan. The militia boys were not going to give up their homestead without a fight.

Martin fired back, fighting through the flashbacks of the night he'd been shot. It was what he had to do to get Lily back, but when the shooting stopped and they cleared the house, Lily was no where to be found. He searched each room and the basement himself, finding no trace that she was there. How could she not be there? "Where the hell is she?" He slammed the leader into the hood of the sedan before Jack could pull him off. "Where the hell are you keeping her?"

"Martin," Jack pushed him into another cruiser, "we'll find her. We've got agents combing every inch of every acre. We'll find her."

Danny searched the back barn on the lot, checking each horse stall, under each plank of fallen wood, and found nothing. He wasn't going to go back to Martin empty handed, he didn't have the heart, but there was no sign of her. Even the troopers sent into the woods were walking back with nothing. As he began his slow walk back to the front of the property, his flashlight caught the outline of another dilapidated structure. "Did anyone check this?" He called out and suddenly he was swarmed with agents and troopers.

Martin heard Danny's question and began running. If there was somewhere else to search, he was going to search it. He wanted to be there when they found her and he was. Entering the structure from the rear entrance, he found the love of his life, his bride-to-be, and best friend chained to an old and rusty metal bed frame. Her beautiful body was splayed out on a musty mattress, her clothing ripped, and she was shivering. "I need the paramedics here!" Unlocking her handcuffs, he quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around her before he took her into his arms. She was going into hypothermia. Her skin had a pale gray hue, her body was shivering uncontrollably, and she wasn't conscious. "Lily, Honey, it's me. It's Martin. We're going to get you to the hospital. You're safe now." He kissed her forehead, but she was cold to the touch. "Where are the paramedics? I need blankets over here!"