A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews. And thanks to my beta: Leeese!

Disclaimer: Don't own OTH


Chapter Twenty Two

Lucas was busy making breakfast when he heard footsteps. He smiled as he saw his wife enter the kitchen. She smiled in return as she walked over to him. "Good morning, my handsome husband," she said as they shared a loving kiss. "What are you making today?"

"I'm making scrambled eggs and bacon," Lucas replied. "How are you feeling today?"

"I would feel better if you didn't have to leave today," Brooke said sadly. "I feel safer when you're around."

Lucas gave her a comforting hug. "I know it's hard. It's hard for me too. But I don't want you to get stressed out because I'm out there searching for your stalker. Even though I don't like it, I will go into hiding so that we all can be safe, including our baby."

Brooke looked down at her belly. "I just hope that our baby can last until after this person is caught."

"You know what I can't wait for?" Lucas asked her as he placed his hand on her belly. Brooke turned to him curious. "I can't wait until we find out whether our baby is a boy or girl. Maybe we'll get lucky and we can find out about the gender early like Nathan and Haley did."

Brooke couldn't argue with that one. "What do you want our baby to be? Besides healthy?"

Lucas thought for a moment. "If I had to choose, I would like a son. But I wouldn't mind having a daughter either as long as she looks like her beautiful mother." Brooke gave him a smile as they heard a cell-phone ringing. He could tell by the ringtone that it was his phone and he knew who it was. "That's Peyton's ringtone," Lucas told her as he walked over to his phone. Brooke was surprised, but she didn't have a chance to say anything as he answered it. "Peyton, what's up?" he asked her. "Did you find anything out?"

Peyton was quiet for a moment. Lucas had a feeling that there was going to be bad news. He waited anxiously for her to speak. He could hear her take a deep breath before she started to speak. "Lucas, your mom's missing." Lucas's stomach flip-flopped. "I came by the restaurant to see if I could help her out and Bevin told me that she never showed up to work. So I drove over to her place and found her car was there, but she wasn't. I already called Agent Hargrove and he told me that he wants you and Nathan to go ahead with the plan. He'll worry about your mother."

"Thanks, but I think we're going with a different plan," Lucas replied before he hung up his phone.

Brooke noticed the worried look on his face. "Lucas, what's wrong?" she asked him in a concerned tone.

Lucas didn't have a chance to answer as the doorbell rang. He walked through the house and over to the front door. Brooke was right behind him. He opened the door and Nathan stormed in. "I suppose you have heard too?" Nathan asked his brother.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, and I think that we have only one choice."

Brooke was still clueless. And she was starting to hate it. "Lucas, what is going on?" she demanded as Rachel and Haley appeared at the front door. "Why was Peyton calling?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about, Brooke," Rachel assured her. She knew that it was better for her not to know.

Haley gave her a look. "Is it or are you just saying that to try and calm us down?" she snapped. Clearly, Nathan and Rachel hadn't told her what was going on either. "Because it's not working." She then turned to her husband. "Nathan, you promised me no more secrets. Now what is going on?"

Nathan and Lucas exchanged looks before turning back to their wives. Nathan then took a deep breath before speaking. "Mom is missing," he told them. Haley and Brooke instantly grew worried. "But it's obvious that it was a kidnapping. She didn't show up for work today, but her car was in her driveway. So the kidnapping must have happened right after she got home last night."

"And I think this cat and mouse game has gone along far enough. So we're going to talk to Dan to see if he could convince his men to let Mom go," Lucas added. Brooke and Haley were shocked. Neither of them had expected him to say that.

Nathan then turned to Brooke. "But that would mean that you can't testify against him," she told her.

Brooke couldn't believe him. "Are you serious? He needs to be in prison! Even though Daunte was a criminal too, he didn't deserve to get shot like that!"

Nathan didn't say anything at first. "I know he does, but this wouldn't be the first murder he would be getting away with."

Haley looked at her husband in disbelief. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" She didn't let anybody answer. "Even if you do convince Dan to let her go, how do you know that he will keep his word and leave all of us alone?"

"Because he never goes back on his word," Nathan replied. He took a deep breath before he said, "I just can't say the same for his men."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "He's right. We've all seen them at their worst. Even I have. Who knows what they will do when they find out that they have been fired? They are going to be pissed off."

"So you're saying that we might be risking our mom's life more if we do go to Dan?" Lucas asked her in a worried tone.

Rachel didn't answer for a moment. Everyone looked at her anxiously. "It's not her who I'm worried about. It's Nathan. He loves you more than anything. That's why he couldn't hurt Haley or your son."

"So I'm the one who has to suffer?" Lucas exclaimed angrily. Even though he already knew Nathan was the favorite son, it still hurt to hear it aloud. He then had a thought. "Wait a minute, weren't you the one who got him to confess in the first place?" he asked her. Rachel nodded. "Can't the police just use your testimony?"

Rachel knew that he had a point. "They could, but Dan's lawyer could also argue that he didn't know I was a cop. And the confession would be useless. Besides, I'm sure my testimony wouldn't be enough. And Brooke was the one who saw everything."

"So what do you propose we do? Leave Deb in the lion's den?" Haley asked Rachel. "And wait to see if they contact us? Or wait until they come and find us? Because I know that they won't let her go until they get what they want."

"And that's me dead," Brooke replied quietly.

Lucas embraced his wife in a tight hug, trying to comfort her. "We're not going to let that happen. We'll figure out a way to bring Mom back safely without losing you or our baby." At least, he hoped so. He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried himself.

"What if they go after my parents next?" Brooke asked him as he tried to calm her down. She couldn't bear if anything happened to her parents. "Or even Haley's parents? I don't want them to go through that worry again. And I don't want anybody else to get hurt because of me."

Lucas looked at her hard. He knew what she was planning to do. Yet, he hoped that he was wrong. "You're not thinking what I hope you're not thinking." Brooke was about to respond when he didn't even let her get a word in. "Absolutely not! You are not going to give yourself up to them."

"Do you have a better idea?" Brooke asked him.

Rachel spoke up before Lucas could answer his wife. "No, but we'll think of one," she replied. "I'm not going to let you give yourself up to them. And I'm not going to let them hurt Deb either."

"How do we know that they haven't hurt her already?" Brooke pointed out. Unfortunately, nobody could answer that. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to stick with the plan and leave it to Agent Hargrove and his team to find Deb," Rachel told them.

Nathan was thoughtful as he and Lucas quickly ate their breakfasts, packed up their bags and said a few heartfelt good-byes to their wives. He didn't say anything until they were in the car. "I don't care what Rachel says. I'm going to see Dan," he told his brother.

Lucas looked at his brother shocked. He couldn't believe what his brother was telling him. "After what we've just talked about, you still want to see him? What if by going to talk to talk to Dan, the situation only gets worse? And you risk all of our lives because you went to him? Including your son and your niece or nephew?" he exclaimed angrily. Now that he had found out that Brooke was still pregnant, he wanted to make sure that his family was safe.

"Dan is the only one who can help us," Nathan replied. "And if his employees do decide to get revenge, they'll be going after me, not Brooke. After all, you heard what Rachel said about how Dan feels about me. The best way for them to get back at Dan will be to go after me."

Lucas wasn't convinced. However, he could tell that his brother wasn't going to change his mind. "I hope you're right, Nate. I hope you're right."