Linda didn't remember screaming for her son, but she did remember when she found her bedroom torn to pieces and realized with a terrifying clarity that Ferb had tried to hide in there. It was the place he'd run to, the place he felt safest, to hide from his mother. But Emily had gotten her special boy back, whether he'd wanted to go or not. It hadn't been safe enough.

Shaking with horror and grief, she collapsed and started crying. She didn't know anything but pain until Lawrence came barreling upstairs, calling for her. He stopped in the doorway, looked around at the room, then flew forward, asking what was wrong. She finally realized how Ferb had felt for all those years as she looked up at her husband and couldn't speak. She just sobbed harder, hiding her face in his shirt as she clutched at him.

'Emily stole him! She stole Ferb!' she wanted to scream, but it was only a speech bubble over her head. No matter how much she tried and fought, she couldn't say a word. Not a single one. She was mute. 'Oh Ferb,' she thought to herself as she cried. 'I never knew it felt like this.'

"Dad?" Phineas said, his voice shaking. Linda looked over to see a piece of Ferb's shirt, stained with red streaks, in Phineas's hands. That's when Lawrence went cold against her.

"Ferb?!" he demanded, his voice high and wild.

Adrian appeared in the doorway, his expression hollow. "The police are here," he said softly. "They want to talk to you."

"About what?" Lawrence asked, his eyes wide.

"The neighbors heard shouting and a ruckus so they called."

"Oh, heaven help us," Lawrence moaned. "Come on, Linda. We have to talk to them. There has to be a reason. He's okay. He's got to be."

Phineas looked down at Ferb's shirt then sat down by Linda. "Dad, you go. I'll sit here with Mom."

"Of course. Talk to them," Lawrence murmured. He stood up and went downstairs with Adrian.

Phineas sat numbly by his mother for a moment then pulled out his cellphone and dialed Candace.

"Hello?" Candace asked over the sound of chatter.

"Candace," Phineas croaked. "Ferb… it's Ferb…"

"Phineas?" Candace asked sharply, and the chatter died down around her. There was a lot of sounds and Stacy calling out. "I'm coming home. What's happened?"

"I don't know. Don't step on the glass. Come in the front. There's police out front."

"Police?!" Candace gasped. "Oh, hurry up Stacy! I'll be there soon, Phineas."

"Drive safe. Please drive safe. I don't want you to get hurt. Not you too."

"It's okay, Phineas. I love you. I'll be there soon."

Phineas hung up and curled an arm around his mother. "It's okay, Mom. Candace is coming home."

Linda whimpered and looked at Phineas. "Gardening Supplies," she said vaguely.

Phineas frowned at Linda. "Mom?"

"Gardening Supplies," she murmured again.

Phineas, with years of practice with Ferb, knew these words were important. But he wasn't sure what she meant. "I can go and get them?" he asked.

Linda shook her head and wiped at her cheeks. There was a screech outside as a car hit the brakes nearby. A car door slammed.

"That's Candace. I'll get her," Phineas said. "You rest." Then he was gone.

But rest wasn't what she was going to do. She staggered to her feet and stumbled to the computer. It was on, and though usually she didn't like the kids or Lawrence to leave it that way, this time it was fine. It saved time. They had limited time, and Linda had spent enough of it crying. She was going to get her boy back. Sitting down, she logged in to LifeCircle again and clicked straight for Emily's profile. There was a post.

'Had a nice trip to the States, but it's time me and my baby get home. Leaving at nine tonight. At the park until then.'

Linda screen-shotted the message and added it to the Gardening Supplies folder. Without shutting anything down, Linda went downstairs and grabbed the rental keys off of the cabinet. She walked right by everybody and out the door. Phineas and Candace were talking and turned to look at her.

"Mom?" Phineas asked in alarm.

"Where are you going?" Candace demanded.

Linda didn't answer and got in the rental car. Candace came flying around to the front and banged on the door. Linda let them both in then started the car and left. Lawrence and Adrian came running to the door, and Lawrence cried out for her. Linda didn't stop. She had to scour the parks. She hit the gas and Phineas and Candace both screamed in surprise.

"Mom!" Phineas shouted. "We need to be okay to find him!"

"We're going to the park," Linda said shortly, but she eased up on her driving.

"Which one?" Candace asked.

"I don't know," Linda said. "Name them."

Phineas did so, listing twelve parks. Linda turned to head for the nearest one. There was silence as they pulled in.

"Look for red cars," Linda said, remembering the odd vehicle pulling out of their neighborhood.

"Mom?" Phineas asked.

"Whoever spots the most red cars will get ice cream," Candace said calmly. "Come on, Phineas. I bet you can't beat me."

Sniffling, Phineas turned to look out the window at the parked cars. "There's one," he said.

Linda glanced at it. "Too dark. We want a bright, cherry red. And look for a pink plate with hearts on it on the front or the number DG29J on the back."

Phineas began to realize what Candace had already figured out. Linda knew something about what was going on. Something to do with the gardening supplies and Ferb, and now this. He straightened and peered hard at the cars. "I see two on the other lane over there, Mom."

Linda pulled by them, but neither were right. After circling the parking lot twice, she turned back onto the street and headed for the next park. Traffic was picking up, though; and she slammed a closed fist on the steering wheel.

"I have an idea, Mom," Phineas said.

"Do it."

Phineas picked up his cellphone and dialed. He waited. Then, "Isabella? I need the gang to scour the parks. We're looking for a cherry red car with a pink heart plate on the front and the license plate DG29J. We have to find it as soon as possible, and we know it's at a park. We've looked at Sunset Park, but we're stuck in traffic." There was a pause. "I'll explain later. Find it, Isabella. Please. This is the most important thing we've ever done."

Phineas hung up. "We'll find it, Mom. Everybody's looking, and bikes are easier to get through traffic."

Linda exhaled. "Good. Candace? Do you have your phone?"

"Yes."

"When we find it, I want you to hit record and do not stop. Follow me and stay back. Those are your instructions. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom," Candace said, still calm as could be.

"Mom?" Phineas asked.

"Yes, Phineas?" Linda replied.

"What's going on?"

"Ferb is in trouble."

"But what happened?"

"His mother has decided that she wants custody of Ferb without getting the courts or your father involved," Linda said, sounding so much like Lawrence that it startled her. She suddenly understood why he'd described his divorce with Emily in the way he had.

As they inched through rush hour traffic, Phineas's phone rang. "Hello?" he asked. Then, "What? You found him?"

"Where?" Linda demanded.

"Danville Central," Phineas said. His face suddenly went pale. "He's what? Are you sure? Okay. We're headed that way. Keep an eye on him, Isabella."

"That's the one nearest to the airport," Linda muttered, quickly calculating a route. "We need a plan for when we get there."

"If Isabella's there, the other Fireside girls won't be far behind," Candace said. "Isn't it the time for them to sell cookies?"

"They could be more eyes," Linda said. "And maybe she'll stop and talk to them."

Phineas dialed Isabella back and began to relate the plan to her. As they talked, they expanded it even more. Baljeet and Buford arrived at the park while they were talking. The first thing that had to be done was to get Ferb out of Emily's reach. If the red-stained shirt was any indication, she hadn't changed her philosophy of hurting her own son to get her way. By the time Linda pulled in, the park was mostly empty except for a cherry red car.

"Candace, start recording," Linda commanded. "Record the car and plate if you can. Then we need to get Ferb and Emily out of that car."

"Bathroom," Phineas said at once. "If we can convince Ferb to ask."

"Convince?" Candace asked, pulling out her new phone.

"Used to, he'd wet himself instead of asking to go if Emily was having a bad day," Phineas said quietly.

"We can't approach the car," Linda said after a moment of shocked, horrified silence. "She'd recognize all of us from LifeCircle."

Phineas dialed Isabella. "We're here, and we need to communicate to Ferb that he should go to the bathroom. Do you have the cookies set up? Good. We're in the parking lot."

"Get going, Candace. And no matter what, keep recording Emily. She's a dangerous woman and this will go to court,"

"Give me a minute to get set up," Candace said, unbuckling and opening the door.

She casually walked into the park then made a show of recording nature. Linda turned to Phineas. "Find Buford and Baljeet, Phineas. And when you can, you get Ferb away from her."

"Mom? What are you thinking of doing?" Phineas asked.

"I haven't studied self defense for no reason," Linda said grimly. "You just stay away from Emily and get Ferb away when you can. Go on, Phineas. And be careful."

Phineas got out of the car and ran for the Fireside Girls table. He talked with them, exchanged some money for cookies, then headed off in a different direction. Linda turned her attention to the car and saw Isabella crab-walking below the view of the driver's window. She stretched up and made several signs before ducking down and skittering away. She stood up by Linda's car and rapped on the door. Linda let her in then they watched as Emily stepped out of the car. She went around to the back door and blocked the inside of the car from view. Then Ferb stepped out, a jacket covering his upper body. His eyes were hollow and blank as he wordlessly pulled up the hood before his mother took his arm and led him toward the bathroom.

Linda turned off the car and got out, Isabella following. "What should I do?" Isabella asked.

"Call Lawrence and tell him where we are," Linda replied. "And you stay back. She's dangerous."

"I know," Isabella said solemnly. "I saw Ferb. He looks awful."

She pulled out a phone and dialed as Linda speed-walked through the park to the bathrooms. Baljeet saw her and broke away from Phineas and Buford. He hurried toward the bathroom, acting like he really had to go. Emily was standing guard. Her full attention was taken by Baljeet, and Linda slipped around the other side of the building and listened to Emily shout for Baljeet to leave. There was a pause and the door opened.

"How about a stroll around the park. Once 'round then we head to the airport?" Emily asked.

Silence, but they began to crunch over the gravel as they headed for the path. Linda trailed them to the Fireside Girls's stand then hid behind a tree. She watched as Ferb handed his mother some money. His face became sad then hard as she walked to the stand. She made sure Ferb couldn't talk to any of them even though she didn't know they knew him. Ferb glanced around and spotted Candace, who was obediently recoding. Candace encouraged Ferb to run, and he hesitantly stepped away once. Twice. Three times. Then he turned and ran as if his life depended on it. Emily spun around and the look on her face was hellish.

"Ferb Fletcher!" she shouted. "Get back here!"

Then she took off after Ferb. Linda stood up after she passed and hurried after her. She didn't make it in time to stop Emily from grabbing Ferb. When she did, she jerked him around to face her then slapped him so hard that he hit the ground, dazed. Linda heard the Fireside Girls screaming in horror as Emily tried to haul Ferb to his feet. He was as limp as a rag doll, which gave Linda just enough time to grab Emily as she reared back to hit him again.

"Get your hands off my son," Linda growled, a threat in every syllable.

"Mum," Ferb croaked, tears of relief in his eyes. But his expression suddenly turned horrified. When Linda looked back up at Emily's face, she knew why.