kind of a strange chapter, but it's setting up for future chapters.

"Wait! Calm down! Tell me once again Claire," Jill said. While Jill and Marlin were walking home from the supermarket, Claire had come running up to them frantically shouting. She looked panicked and kept saying something about Hamilton. Jill knew how much Hamilton frightened Claire, so her twin's panic worried Jill.

"Hamilton's done something terrible!" Claire cried out. "Th-there's a girl she's missing! I think Hamilton has something to do with it! "

"Okay Claire," Jill replied. "Even if that's the case, why are you upset about it? "Claire looked at her sister incredulously. How could Jill not feel the same guilt she felt?

"Jill! don't you understand? He's gone off the deep end! What if we're in danger too!"

"Claire," Jill soothed. "If that is the case, we will prepare. But I don't think he has any idea where we are."

"What about your friend here," Claire said craning her neck toward Marlin. Jill had forgotten all about Marlin standing there in the hustle and bustle and craziness of Claire's news. She looked towards Marlin and attempted a smile.

"Don't worry about me," Marlin stated. "As far as I'm concerned, your secret is safe with me. I don't like nosy people, and I don't like gossip."

"How can I be so sure?" Claire asked skeptically.

"Claire," Jill said. "You can't be sure. But at this point you don't have much of another choice right now." Claire looked between her sister and the strange man standing next to her.

"Do you trust him?" Claire asked. Jill considered that question for a moment. Did she trust Marlin? That was a heavy question. She trusted him to keep his mouth shut. He didn't seem like the kind of person that would spread gossip.

"I trust that he'll keep our secret," Jill said confidently.

"Then that's enough for me," Claire stated.

"Thank you for coming to the supermarket with me," Jill replied turning to Marlin. "As you can see we got a bit of a family emergency going on here." Marlin smiled in understanding.

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help you," Marlin replied. With that, he turned on his heel and headed towards Vesta Farms.

"Do you think he's looking for us?" Claire asked Jill.

"I can only assume at this point he is," Jill replied.

"Do you think anyone here recognizes us?" Claire asked. Jill shook her head.

"Claire, we are safe here. Hamilton has no real way of finding us. And if and when he does, we will be prepared for him," Jill said.

"You keep saying that, how are we going to be prepared?" Claire asked.

"Our powers, we're going to hone our powers Claire," Jill stated simply. Claire gawked at her sister, wondering if she heard her correctly. Hone their powers?

"We did a lot of that on the road," Claire argued.

"For entertainment, Claire it's time we learned how to protect ourselves using these powers," Jill said. Claire's eyes widened. She felt simultaneously excited and frightened at the same time.

OOOOO

Dakota heard the door opening. She turned her head and to her dismay saw Mr. Hamilton Blake enter the room. His smile was frightening. The young girl backed as far into the headboard of the bed as she could. Hamilton walked over to her.

"Did you think you could reject me so easily?" Hamilton asked he caressed her cheek softly Dakota felt a shiver disgust go down her spine. The gag that was placed over her mouth prevented her from screaming out."I'm going to teach you a little lesson about that!" Dakota's eyes widened. She wasn't quite sure what Hamilton was going to do to her. Fear coursed through her. Hamilton raised his hand and swung it forward. It connected with a loud smack against her cheek. Her face stung for a moment. Tears rolled down her cheeks, she had never been hit so hard in her life.. At the sight of her tears, Hamilton laughed viciously. "You my dear are my leverage. You're going to help me get my life back." He exited the room, leaving Dakota alone in the bedroom again.

Tears continued to stream down the young girl's face as she contemplated her future, or if she even had one. She doubted this man would allow her to live at this point. At least Hamilton hadn't been as touchy as the other man had been. Dakota sighed, resigning herself to the fact that her short life was probably going to come to an end soon.

OOOOO

Maya sat in her living room with a letter folded in her lap. It had been the first communication between her daughter's captor herself. The letter had been nearly typed up. She unfolded it to read the message again, now that her husband was home.

"I have your daughter. She is alive and well. She will not be if you do not cooperate. I will contact you soon. DO NOT CONTACT THE POLICE."

"We have to show this to Detective Cranston!" Chase exclaimed.

"No!" Maya shouted. "The note says not too!"

"They always say that!" Chase insisted.

"Chase you're going to get our daughter killed!" Maya sobbed. She buried her face in her hands.

"Maya, honey," Chase stated.

"No!" Maya shouted she ran into the bedroom. Chase sighed. Dakota's disappearance had put a strain between him and his wife. He at one point thought Maya was annoying. Somewhere along the line he had fallen in love with her. But now it felt like they were strangers again. He picked up the letter and the envelope. Even if Maya would be angry, Detective Cranston would finally believe that Dakota had been taken against her will.

OOOOO

Dirk stared at the letter in his hand. He had been truly surprised that Dakota had been abducted. It really bothered him that there was a ransom note. The Watson's weren't exactly rich people. They had very little to offer a random kidnapper. This was no way this could be random. First thing he needed to do was figure out who had gotten this letter on the island. To his knowledge there was only one way to get goods on and off the island. That was through the ship. Dirk sighed and made his way to the docks.

"Evening," Pascal the captain of the ship greeted Dirk.

"Evening," Dirk replied. "Have a few questions for ya."

"About that girl's disappearance?" Pascal asked.

"Yes sir,"Dirk answered.

"Not much I know bout that," Pascal said.

"I'm more concerned with a letter that Mrs. Watson received today, Dirk stated. "How do you get letters that need up come here?"

"I pick up all letters from the post office in Madison, right on the mainland," Pascal replied.

"Who knows that?" Dirk asked.

"Anyone who lives here, or any family member of people here who live on the mainland," Pascal informed. It all pointed back to Hamilton Blake. He would have a working knowledge of the island with his son being mayor. It was time to go have a serious talk with the mayor and his wife.