Ooooh this chapter is going to be good! Or at least I think it will. I don't know you might have a different opinion. Either way, there will be a lot of action, and maybe a few things revealed about the past?

Mal gently pushed the soft cotton of Molly's shirt up, being careful not to wake her up. He let his hand rest against the swell of her stomach, smiling when the baby kicked at his hand. His son. He quickly pressed a kiss to her stomach, pulled her shirt down, and kissed Molly's cheek.

He couldn't believe that in a matter of weeks he would be a father. A baby would live in the nursery down the hall and depend on his parents for basic human needs. It scared him a little, if he was being honest, but he also couldn't wait to hold his little boy in his arms.

He gazed at Molly's sleeping face lovingly. She was curled up against his side as best she could, her protruding belly getting somewhat in the way. He wrapped an arm around her waist and slowly lowered himself to lie next to her. As he drifted off to sleep, he smiled.

Jared stepped carefully around trees and dead leaves, walking as silently as possible. He was headed west; he'd caught a glimpse of the hunters' map and saw a large portion of the west side of the forest circled in red. It was a few miles out from the lodge, but he had no idea where he was or how far away the hunters were; for all he knew, he'd been in the red circle for hours.

A branch snapped close behind him- too close. He froze as he realized he wasn't alone. Spinning on his heel, he lashed out at his follower, only to end up on his back on the forest floor, pinned under someone else's body.

"Malia!" He hissed under his breath. "What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"

"Your butt," she muttered, picking herself up off of Jared. "What do you think you're doing? And why are we whispering?"

"I think I'm following a proper lead. You shouldn't be here."

"Number one, I'm your partner. I'm supposed to help you investigate. Number two, you shouldn't be here either. And number three, do you realize how much danger you put yourself in, wandering off after the hunters by yourself? Don't give me that look. I know exactly what you're up to."

"Well then you know that in all of the missing persons cases, at least one of the hunters was involved in their trials, with the exception of Kathryn. I know you went over the files, and I know that you noticed that too."

"Still, you should have told me what you were doing."

"So you could talk me out of it? I don't think-" He was cut off by the sound of a gunshot, not too far away. Seconds later, another one followed. Was it just his imagination, or were they getting closer? Malia looked around, dread filling her as she realized they were particularly sparse chunk of the forest.

"Jared, follow me." She grabbed his hand and ducked low, leading him towards a more dense part of the forest that would offer them more cover. There was another gunshot, and Jared knew that he wasn't just imagining them getting closer. Jared surveyed his surrounding quickly; the horrible gnawing in his gut was becoming physically painful.

"Malia," he whispered, "something's wrong." His eyes darted back and forth, and he stopped short when his eyes caught on a patch of freshly overturned dirt. Someone had been digging just a few feet away. The dimensions were similar to that of a grave.

"Malia!" he whispered more urgently.

"Jared, come on, we have to keep moving. We can't let them catch us here." She stumbled suddenly, knocking aside a piece of the underbrush. Her hand flew to her mouth as she glanced down.

"Oh, God." A bloody hand had been uncovered, clutching a piece of camouflage fabric tightly. Malia was certain that they had just found Marvin Alexander's killer. Jared bent down and began brushing away clumps of dirt, revealing the once beautiful face of Kathryn Winters. A bullet had been placed right between her eyes. Crackling and snapping sounds pulled their focus back to the present.

They ducked into a thick cluster of bushes and huddled together, just in time. Jason Schimmer emerged from the trees just a few meters away. He held the branches back as the two others, Richard Stark and Peter Desir, carried the body of a young man, also shot between the eyes.

"How you guys doin' there?" Schimmer asked. The pieces fell into place, and Malia trembled. She barely dared to breathe, certain they could hear her heart trying to burst out of her chest.

"Ugh, this guy's been staring at me for the last ten minutes," Stark complained. "Couldn't we have at least closed his eyes?" Desir said nothing; he simply stared at the ground.

"Put him down there," Schimmer ordered. The other two men complied, and Desir looked around nervously.

"What's up with you, man?" Stark asked him, clapping him on the back. "You've been weird for this entire trip."

"Do you really think we should be doing this?" Desir grimaced. "I mean with all the cops up here, don't you think it's a bit risky?" Schimmer laughed a deep, booming laugh.

"We haven't been caught yet," he pointed out, "and I don't plan to be caught anytime soon either. Quit worrying. We've been careful. Besides, we're the good guys."

Jared was pretty sure neither him nor Malia were breathing in that moment. They were so engrossed in the conversation in front of them that they had no idea which one of them had shifted, snapping a branch and giving their position away. Either way, the three hunters were all suddenly looking in their direction, and unless a rabbit decided to scamper out from the bushes, they were about to be gunned down.

"Run!" he whispered in Malia's ear, pushing her to her feet as he shoved her in front of him. The bullets started whizzing past their ears as Jason started screaming!

"After them! Don't let the get away!"

"If you ever find yourself being chased, never run in a straight line." Jared's mind dredged up the memory of his father telling him that when he had begun training him to be a police officer.

"This way!" He yelled desperately. He caught Malia's arm and yanked her to the right. The tree they had been running towards exploded in a shower of splinters as a bullet struck it. "Zig zag!" He wove between the trees and rocks, never letting go of Malia's hand. They continued to flee, the hunters' voices growing more and more distant.

"Where... are we?" Malia gasped in between pants. Jared turned in a small circle, trying to orient himself. He had no idea where they were, no idea which way the lodge was. He closed his eyes, focusing on his sense of hearing, like his father had taught him. Distantly, he heard running water; in the same second, he heard the voices of the hunters again.

"Come on! Hurry!" He began running again, forcing her to follow him. The trees started exploding again as they were hit by bullets from the hunters' rifles. Jared yanked Malia to the left, out of the line of sight, and skidded to a stop.

"This is you plan?" Malia shrieked over the roar of the waterfall.

"Just trust me!" He backed up a few steps, took a running start and threw himself over the cliff just as the bullets started whizzing by them again. He disappeared into the mist below. Malia growled under her breath before running towards the edge. She threw herself skyward as more shots rang out, and then plummeted downwards to the river below.

Later and elsewhere:

Mal fidgeted nervously, his phone clutched between his hands. Ken had called a few hours ago, informing him that his son and Malia had gone out with them for the scavenger hunt and never returned. This was exactly what he had been afraid of.

He'd already called his ex-wife, and one of the officers had called Malia's parents then informed him that her mother would be arriving on the next flight. Molly had arrived a few hours ago and was pacing around in the bullpen. Mal had already forbidden her to accompany him to the lodge, and planned on keeping Malia's mother from following him, too.

Mal ran a hand over his face, groaning inwardly. He couldn't stop his mind from imagining the worst possible scenarios. One of them got hurt and they got lost. Both of them got hurt and were unable to look for help. One of them was killed.

What if both of them had been killed?

Mal resisted the urge to throw up and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't stand not knowing, but he had to wait for Malia's mother to get there so he could inform them of what was going on before he could leave. A few units had already been dispatched up to the lodge; all he could do was wait.

A commotion arose from outside his office. He heard a woman yelling and was about to see what was going on when the door to is office opened.

"Sir, Malia's mother is here." He nodded to Officer Armento and brushed past her, trying to plan what he would tell Malia's mother.

"I am a former FBI Agent, and I demand to know what happened to my daughter!" Mal's breath caught in his throat as he listened to her yell. He didn't dare to let himself hope, but quickened his pace and rounded the corner. The woman he assumed was Malia's mother had one of the officers by the shirt and was yelling in his face. Seeing Mal arrive, the officer pointed to him, and the woman turned, a warm smile spreading across her face. Mal's eyes widened as he felt shock and disbelief cover his face.

"Natara?"

"Mal, there you are! Now, can you please tell these useless idiots to tell me where the hell my daughter is?"