Her phone had beeped several times since she had entered her room, but Laura had made it a point to ignore her daughter's persistent voicemails. She paced back and forth several times, rubbing her forehead. Tracy's scowl held firm in her mind, but Laura had to think that going to Luke was the right thing to do.

Laura looked to the dark suitcase sitting in the middle of the bed. She hadn't been in the room but a moment before going tearing off for the Haunted Star. It wasn't a terrible idea to try and freshen up. With that in mind, she moved towards her suitcase.

Two heavy knocks came at the door, and Laura set down the clothes in her hand.

"Laura—Laura, open up, it's me." Luke's voice sounded stronger than it had earlier, and Laura hoped Tracy wasn't lurking behind him. She opened the door, and took a step back, as her ex-husband walked past.

"I'm surprised to see you," she said, closing the door. "I thought for sure I wouldn't see you until tomorrow. You know, with how tired you appeared to be earlier."

"My mind's been going a mile a minute," he said.

"Mine too," Laura said, taking a step closer to him. His features drooped, as she tilted her head, and touched his cheek. "But you told me we'd find Lucky, and I tend to believe you against my better judgment."

With a small smile, Luke turned inwardly, his rough lips brushing her palm. Laura dropped her hand.

"I ruined your party," she said.

"You did," he said. "But, in all honesty, I probably fouled things up by having it in the first place. I rushed things."

"I'm not the one you should be explaining that to, Luke," she said, moving towards the bed. She unzipped and pulled at one shoe, letting the shoe hit the floor. "That's the point of being the ex-wife rather than the wife."

Luke sat next to her, as she unzipped and pulled off the other shoe. She could feel the proximity of his closeness, and in another time, would have rested her cheek on his shoulder without so much as a second thought.

Laura stood, and turned to face him.

"Why are you here, truly?" she asked. Luke looked up, and Laura felt his eyes melting her resolve.

"It's been a long time." His voice lowered.

"So, it has." Laura rested both palms against her lower back. Luke pulled a buzzing mobile from his pocket, sharing an annoyed glance with Laura before answering.

"Yeah—Hey Sweet Pea, yeah, I've talked to your mother. She's fine. No, I said she's fine, Lulu. No, I don't think you need to worry about her. Yes, I'll tell her when I see her. I promise, I'll make sure she calls you back. I gotta go. Love you. Bye."

Luke tossed the phone to the side.

"Is she alright?"

"Her mother showed up out of the blue, disrupted a festive gathering, and she doesn't have any details. How do you think she is? We're both worried."

"About Lucky?"

"About both of you," Luke stood. "Hell, about all of us. It's been a rough year, and we both haven't always played with both decks."

Luke's voice paused before saying, "Lucky is missing, right?"

"Do you honestly believe I would fly thousands of miles across the ocean to what, break up your little party with a fake kidnapping?" Laura's voice tensed, only halfway to its snapping point. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I wanted to be sure."

"Sure that this trip was about Lucky and less about you and Tracy? I was in Paris. How would I have known about you two beforehand?" Laura raised an eyebrow, and Luke looked away.

There was a knock at the door. Laura rolled her eyes before moving to answer.

"Well, well, looks like I'm a little late to the party," Scott said, sneering. He stepped forward into the hotel room, and looked to his ex-wife. "Laura, always a pleasure."

"Scotty," Laura said.

"What the hell do you want?" Luke asked.

"Straight the point per usual, Spencer." Scott pulled a manila envelope from his pocket, and held it out to Laura. "I figured if I haggled the front desk receptionist long enough, he'd crack and give me your room number. I also figured I'd find the two of you together. Looks like I wasn't wrong on either account."

As the envelope was opened, several 8x10 color pictures were pulled out. Laura put her hand over her mouth, but didn't gasp. She handed the pictures and envelope to Luke.

"Where did you get these?" Laura asked.

"When I got home from the party, they were sitting on my doorstep. I wouldn't have opened them, but they weren't labeled or anything. They look pretty serious."

"And you didn't get a name or a face?" Luke asked, shuffling through the pictures. Pictures of both of his sons bound and gagged on a cement floor now filled Luke's vision, and Laura watched his brain click into gear like old times.

"I didn't see anyone."

"Okay, but why would someone send you these?" Laura asked. Before Scott could answer, Luke supplied an answer of his own.

"They probably thought he could be useful and complete the cycle," Luke said. "He'd run to you, and you'd run to me. Saved the kidnappers a trip and minimized our lead time."

"He's right, Laura," Scott said.

Laura took the photos, and as she shuffled through, Lucky filled her thoughts. Tears of sudden hot anger sat at the corner of her eyes, waiting for permission to fall.

Laura's phone buzzed from across the room, and Luke reached the device first. Laura nodded to answer. Only instead of answering, he took a deep sigh, swiping several times. She wiped at her eyes, and didn't bother to ask how he knew her passcode.

"Good news?" Scott asked, as Laura sat on the bed.

"More photos," Luke said.

"Sounds like whoever is responsible isn't your average goon. They aren't wasting any time, and neither should you," Scott replied. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Luke shared a look with Scott that wasn't his usual hateful spite that everyone around town knew well. He handed Laura's phone to Laura.

"They've already gotten two of my children. I don't want them getting Barbara Jean or Lesley Lu or Rocco. Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes open. Can you do that?" Luke looked Scott dead in the eye, and Scott paused for only half of the time Laura imagined.

"I can do that," Scott said, nodding as an unspoken vow was exchanged. "Anything else?"

"That's it," Luke said.

"Then, I should go. Goodbye, Laura," Scott said.

"Goodbye, Scotty," Laura said. Scott left, for the first time Laura can ever remember, without a slump to his shoulders while shaking his head.

"I'm impressed," Laura said, slapping her knee before she stood. "It's always taken a lot for you to speak civilly to Scotty."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Luke said.

"You told him to watch out for Bobbie and Lulu and our grandson. You forgot to have him keep an eye on Tracy."

"I didn't forget," Luke said, moving towards her.

"You didn't? What does that mean?" Laura watched him sit next to her. Luke picked up the pictures, and exhaled.

"Tracy knows how to stay low when the situation calls for it. I don't have to protect her; she knows how to protect herself."

"Unlike me then," Laura said, her voice fading. She caught Luke's eye, and her guard slipped several notches before she caught herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go there."

Luke frowned.

"Let's focus on getting our boy back, alright? Once we know he's safe, we'll have all the time in the world to wallow in our past," he said.

"They have both of your boys."

"I know, and that raises the stakes." Luke looked to the photos. Laura reached for him, giving his forearm a gentle squeeze.

"We'll find them," she said. Luke's expression changed, as he brought one picture closer to his face than the others. "Luke?"

"Lucky and Ethan aren't the only ones they grabbed."

"But, there are only two people in the photos. Lucky and Ethan."

"Look again," Luke said, handing the photo over he had just held close to his face. Laura's eyes once again scanned the image. Her eyes focused, as Luke pointed to the space underneath his older son. "There. If you aren't looking closely, you'd miss it. Where's your phone?"

Laura handed him her phone, and Luke once again bypassed the passcode without thinking. She scanned the photo a second time, as Luke fiddled with her messages. When she couldn't spot what Luke was pointing at, she leaned towards him, looking at her phone screen.

"There," Luke said, picking the third photo Laura had been sent, a similar one to the one in Laura's hand. Once chosen, he flicked his fingers across the screen to make the photo larger. "That's an arm."

"And a bun," Laura replied, pointing to the corner of the screen, now able to see what Luke was seeing. "A red-headed bun at that. Once you see those two things, you can see that Lucky was clearly trying to shield whoever that is."

"Holly."