Michael regained consciousness with a groan. His head was throbbing. His hands were tied with rope. Fortunately, whoever had tied his hands was clearly not familiar with how to make knots. Unfortunately, that someone was in the room with him.

Michael got himself into a seated position. He was in a storage room. There were four men by the door, and they all had guns. Michael was pretty sure one of those guns would match the spot on his head that was throbbing.

Maria Daniels was there, too. She wasn't tied up. But she clearly wasn't part of the group either, Michael was relieved to see. One of the men was rifling through Michael's wallet. He saw Michael sit up.

"So, Mr. Knight, back with us?"

"Call me Michael."

"All right, Michael. What are you doing here?"

Michael shrugged. "Prank on the new guy."

"Who just happens to have a business card for the Executive Director of the Foundation for Law and Government? I don't think so." He tossed the wallet at Michael, then pointed his gun at Michael. "Two choices: do what I tell you or I shoot him."

"Go ahead," replied Maria, a little too cavalierly for Michael's comfort. "I only met this guy once, today in the lunchroom. For all I know, he's part of your gang and this is all just for show. Find another chemist to make meth for you."

"I had another chemist. But he got cold feet when the DEA shut down one of our . . . distributors and fled. I figure we have tonight to make one final batch and then skedaddle."

Maria shook her head and said firmly, "I won't do it."

"You leave me no choice, Ms. Daniels. Tommy?" One of the men left the room, and the man continued, "The reason Tommy was late to the party is that he was out gathering us some insurance. You may not care about Knight over there. But what about your little girl?"

Maria gasped and went pale. And then they heard the sound of flesh on flesh, followed by a scream and a voice sobbing, "Mommy!"

Michael was furious and started to stand up. But Maria just laughed grimly.

"Do you think, Josephson, that a mother wouldn't recognize her own child's voice? That's not my daughter."

"Mark, take Tommy and go get the girl for real this time. It's dark out now, so break into the house if you have to. Bring her back here. We'll take Ms. Daniels to the lab and get things set up."

"What about Knight?" asked the fourth man.

"Leave him here. He's not going anywhere. And we may need him later."

Mark left. Josephson gestured at Maria with his gun. She took a step back, tripping over Michael. He felt her put something behind his back as she whispered her anguished plea.

"Save my daughter. Please."

The fourth man grabbed Maria by the arm and yanked her to her feet. Then all three left.

Finally alone, Michael wasted no time getting the ropes off. Reaching around, he found Maria's purse, where she had hidden it from Josephson's sight.

Marveling to himself at her quick thinking, Michael picked it up and headed for the nearest exit. As he ran for the door, he called Kitt for pickup.

His partner pulled up just as Michael exited the Brem Chem facility. "My, what a fetching accessory, Michael. It goes so well with your outfit."

"Fetching is right," replied Michael as he got into the car. He rifled through the purse. "Aha!"

"Shouldn't you be rescuing the damsel in distress, not robbing her?"

"I am. Two thugs are going to kidnap Maria's daughter, to force her to make meth. You and I have to get there first. We have her purse, which has her wallet –"

"Which means we can find her home address."

"Exactly. And we have her house keys, too. Right, we're looking for 512 Meadowbrook."

"I have located the house and am plotting the fastest route there. By the way, Michael, I took the liberty of contacting Agent Rinaldi. He and his team should be here by 10:00, perhaps sooner."

"Thanks, pal."