Beach House, Hamptons

When Daniel returned to the beach house, because he hoped that Emily had finished her errands, he first caught sight of the gun that was lying on the table in the living room. Hesitantly, he picked it up and stared down at it. He didn't know where the gun came from or who it belonged to. But that it was accessible lying around raised new questions. Where was Emily, and what was the weapon doing in his house? He put it back on the table and then ran up the stairs. "Emily, are you there?" He shouted, but didn't get a reply. Everything seemed to be normal. So apparently no one had tried to break into the beach house. He reached for the cell phone and dialed her number but got only her answering machine again. Something was wrong, and his mood gradually changed from being mad that she was not answering his calls, to real concern that something might have happened to her. It was still too early to inform the police. But if she stayed vanished, he had to call them in. Vanished! It shot through his mind. What a strange, odd coincidence that his father and his wife had disappeared on the same day! Was it really just a coincidence, or had they both been abducted? He couldn't wait any longer. He had to seek for her! He reached for the gun, put it in his pocket, and had just set his foot on the porch as he saw Nolan and Charlotte running up the stairs.

"Is Emily at home?" Nolan shouted at him, completely out of breath.

Daniel shook his head slowly and frowned. "I've been looking for her all day," he said. "She didn't respond to any of my calls." He took a deep breath. "Julian is at the hospital." He saw Charlotte looking at him with a shocked expression. "He's fine," he continued quickly. "He had a high fever and then got a febrile seizure. The doctors have everything under control. He just has to stay at the hospital for a while."

"Poor little boy!" Charlotte looked at him. "Does Emily know about it?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. As I said, I tried to reach her on her phone, but she didn't answer." He saw his sister exchanging glances with Nolan. "What's wrong?" He asked suspiciously. "Do you know something I don't know?"

Charlotte looked again at Nolan, who nodded reluctantly. "We believe she is trying to find Dad's kidnapper," she began.

"What... why?" Daniel stammered incoherently. "What does Emily have to do with it?"

"We were at the South Fork Inn," Nolan took over the conversation. "We were the ones who found the suite empty and then informed the police who identified the blood spot on the carpet as Conrad's." Nolan looked at him uncertainly. "You know about that, don't you?" He asked hesitantly as he watched Daniel staring at him with wide eyes. "It was all over the news."

"Yes, I know about it," he murmured, lost in thought. "I just don't understand what you have to do with it." He looked back and forth between them. "Charlotte?" He turned to his sister to get the answer.

"I... I can't tell you," she said hesitantly as she tried to avoid his gaze. "I just know we have to find Emily."

Nolan nodded. "We promise you that you'll find out everything, but it's more important now that we find Emily," he repeated again.

"What does Emily have to do with all of this?" When he didn't get an answer immediately and saw Nolan and Charlotte exchanging nervous glances again, he reached for the gun he had hidden in his pocket. "Then maybe one of you can explain to me what this is doing on the table in my living room...?" He fumbled with the weapon in front of Nolan's nose.

"Oh my God...!" Charlotte gasped, horrified. "You were right." She looked at Nolan. "He was really here!"

"Who the hell was here?" Daniel had enough of the secretiveness of the two. "Who was here, and where is Emily?" He demanded to know.

"David has her..." Nolan confessed.

"David?" Daniel echoed, looking confused. "You mean David Clarke?"

Charlotte nodded. "We assume that he first kidnapped Dad and apparently now Emily, too," she confessed desperately. "We warned her that this would happen. That's why Nolan had sewn a tracker into her clothes and asked her to record the conversation with David, if he were to appear in the beach house." She continued quickly when her brother didn't react. "She should turn on the tracking device when she leaves the house so we can locate her. But that has been an eternity. We have not received any sign of life from her since four hours! So we guess he might have spotted the tracker and then..." She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Daniel's horrified expression.

"I don't think he harmed her," Nolan interfered.

"What makes you so sure?" Daniel tried to remain calm despite the panic he felt.

"Emily is his..." Charlotte continued, but was interrupted by Nolan.

"Charlotte, don't...!" He warned.

"No, Nolan." She shook her head stubbornly. "It's time he learns the truth."

"What truth?" Daniel felt his stomach twitch nervously. "What are you hiding from me?"

Charlotte cleared her throat, then looked at him with a steady gaze. "Emily is in reality Amanda Clarke," she confessed to him frankly. "And David Clarke is her father..."