"He's coming around," the voice cried. Frank's thoughts cleared enough to identify the voice. It was Bess. "Frank? Frank?" she cried. "Frank, wake up?"

"Ooohh," he groaned again. He opened his eyes to find Bess kneeling worriedly over him. "What happened, Frank?"

"Somebody hit me," he said, slowly sitting up. Someone else dropped down next to him. Frank felt hands on his shoulders. He turned to find that Joe had pushed through the gathered actors and various stagehands to reach him.

"Frank? What's going on? Did you find the girls?" Joe searched Frank's eyes anxiously. He turned to Bess. "Maybe we should call for paramedics. He doesn't look too good."

Frank pushed Joe away and staggered slowly to his feet. Kevin appeared at his shoulder, offering his assistance as Frank stood up. "Thanks," he told Kevin. Gingerly, he probed the back of his head. He could feel a good size lump forming along the base of his skull, but his fingers came away clean. No blood. That was good. He turned to Joe and Bess. "I don't need paramedics. I'll be fine. And yeah, I found them. They were right here." He turned and searched the crowd that was beginning to disperse now that the excitement seemed to be over.

"They're not here now," Joe said. "What happened here, Frank?"

"I saw a gray van go by," he said. "When I followed it, Greg and some guy were getting out. He was here, Joe! I saw him."

Kevin and Joe's eyes widened. "He was here?" Kevin said. "Did he hit you?"

"Someone did," Frank said. "I don't know who exactly, but I was standing right here in the doorway, telling Nancy and Ashlee that we had to go right then. Nancy yelled out my name and as I turned, someone cold cocked me on the back of the head. Last thing I heard were both of them yelling my name." 'And Laurie screaming,' he thought. 'Can't forget that.'

"So you don't know if it was Greg or the other guy that hit you?" Kevin asked hopefully.

"No, Kevin I don't." He looked at Joe. "You haven't seen the girls?"

"No," Joe said. He looked at Bess. "Have you?"

Bess shook her head. "No, I thought you guys had left. Then someone shouted that there was a guy collapsed on the floor back here, so I came running. You were the only one here, Frank."

Frank groaned again, suddenly feeling nauseous. "This just couldn't be happening." He felt Joe guiding him to a chair.

"Frank?"

"I blew it Joe. I blew it. I should've been faster. I should have seen it coming." He looked up as someone passed Bess an icepack, which she in turn passed onto him.

"Thanks," he said. Looking back at Joe, he continued. "I let him get her, Joe. That's my kid he took. And Nancy. He took Nancy. And Ashlee. I'm sorry, Joe. I should've been faster." Frank closed his eyes.

"We'll get them back," Joe said, kneeling in front of Frank. "Believe me, we will."

"I can't believe he did this," Kevin said. "I don't know him at all, do I? All this time, he had me fooled. He's really a creep, isn't he? How could I love a guy for so long and not know he's a creep?" Bess patted Kevin on the shoulder. He gave her a sad smile. Turning to Frank and Joe, he spoke again. "What do we do to get Nancy and Laurie back? Before he does something crazy?"

Joe frowned. "You mean Nancy, Laurie, and Ashlee; don't you, Kevin?"

"He won't hurt Ashlee ," Kevin said. "I don't want to think he'd hurt Nancy or Laurie, either. He thinks of Laurie as his little girl. We tried several times to adopt one of our own, all his idea, and were turned down every time. Seems it's very hard for gay couples to adopt. So when Nancy came along with Laurie, it was the perfect setup. He got to play father to this adorable baby girl and I got to be uncle and have a great new friend. No, he won't hurt her. I don't understand why he'd do this? Does he know you guys are closing in on him?"

"I don't know," Joe said. "You tell me. Does he?" Joe crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Kevin.

"I haven't said a word. In fact, I didn't even know he was your suspect until he nearly knocked Nancy off the roof this morning! And I've been with you guys ever since."

Frank sighed. "He knows. Maybe it's just instinct. But he knows. And somehow he knew exactly where we were. Someone had to have tipped him off. We need to figure out who that someone is because they can lead us to Kevin. He's getting ready to cut and run on us. He suggested to Nancy that all four of you," Frank turned his gaze to Kevin, "pack up and go somewhere else just the other day. Nancy refused. He's getting ready to do just that, but he doesn't plan on leaving Laurie behind." His heart sank at the thought of just meeting his daughter and then not getting the chance to know her.

"So why take Nancy or the other girl?" Bess asked. "Seems they'd be more trouble than they're worth. Why didn't he just hit them over the head like he did you?"

"I don't know," Frank said. He started to shake his head, but stopped as a sharp pain shot through it. Wincing, he shifted the ice pack and continued, "He caught me by surprise. He had another guy with him so maybe he planned to take Nancy to try to keep Laurie calm. Or he wanted to try to convince her to go with them. I don't know. And I'm lost on Ashlee." He looked at Joe. "Sorry. I don't what to think on that one. Hostage? Get rid of the witness? I just don't know." His shoulders slumped. This day had already been too much and it seemed that it wasn't closed to being finished.

"Umm, question?" Bess asked. "We need to find him before he decides to relocate, don't we? I know I've been out of the loop on her life for a while, but I'm betting now that Nancy's let you meet your daughter, Frank, she's not going to let this guy disappear with her. And if he tries to take off with Laurie, Nancy's going to fight him. Right?"

"Right," Frank said, his heart sinking even further. She'd fight him to the death over Laurie if she had too.

Joe was deep in thought. "Kevin, what did you mean by 'He won't hurt Ashlee?' He barely knows her. If he's using her as a hostage..."

"I suppose she might be a hostage, but I really doubt it," Kevin answered. "He's too big on that family thing to hurt her. Using her as a hostage would break any bond they've formed."

"Family thing?" Joe asked, suddenly puzzled.

"Yeah," Kevin said. "You mean you didn't know?"

"What should he have known, Kevin?" Frank asked, putting his icepack down.

"Ashlee is Greg's half sister. They weren't raised together; and don't spend much time together; but they're still siblings. Greg's mom ran out on him and his dad when Greg was a toddler. Apparently she started a new life somewhere out on the East Coast. Greg located her about six, maybe seven years ago after his dad died. When he came back from his trip, he brought Ashlee back with him. He's the one who got her started in modeling. That's how I met Greg. He was on a shoot, watching his sister work."

"Sister?" Frank and Joe asked together.

"Yup. Sister," Kevin confirmed.

Nancy shifted the best that she could, trying to find position that was even slightly comfortable in the kitchen chair that Kevin's companion had tied her too. She twisted her wrists against the ropes, quietly trying to work at least one hand free. Ashlee lay across from her, sprawled out on the couch, remote in hand, flipping through the TV channels on a random basis. Nancy strained to try to hear Laurie's voice. Kevin had taken her into the other room to play with some toys that he must have gathered from the house earlier that day.

Nancy frowned as she watched Ashlee. This was a twist that no had seen coming. Ashlee and Greg were in this together, that was obvious. Earlier, when Greg had ambushed Frank in the doorway of the dressing rooms, Ashlee had yelled Frank's name. But it wasn't too help out; it was to distract him. She had made it across the room to try to help Frank, only to be pushed back by the little twerp that had come in behind Greg. When she turned slightly, she could see that Ashlee had grabbed Laurie and was passing her to Greg.

Greg had ordered his companion to grab Nancy and get her out in the van. While attempting to calm Laurie, who had started to cry, he had appeared to be arguing with Ashlee over the fact that he was taking both of them. Ashlee had been clearly not happy with that. She had tried to get Greg to talk to her in the van ride to this house, but to no avail. Any time she opened her mouth to speak, Ashlee had interfered.

"Ashlee?" Nancy was wrist was beginning to burn from rubbing against the rope. She would have to try something else.

Ashlee ignored her.

"Ashlee? Talk to me? What's going on here?"

Ashlee heaved a sigh. "Don't you ever get quiet?" she asked.

"Look, Ashlee," Nancy tried again. "I don't know how Greg managed to get you mixed up in this, but I can help you..."

Ashlee laughed. "How can you help me? I don't need help. I know exactly what I'm doing." She sat up, placing the remote on the coffee table, and met Nancy's gaze. "And you think you're so smart. You have no clue what's going on, do you?"

"Sure I do," Nancy said. "Greg's running an illegal adoption agency on the East Coast, using a web site he placed on the internet. He buys infants from the runaways he has contact with on the west coast, then charges large fees for the families to adopt these babies. Somewhere along the way he got greedy, and started taking money from people that he didn't have a baby for. That's what tripped him up, Ashlee. One of those couples went to the authorities. I'm betting he got you involved either by hiring you to pose as one of the mothers-to-be; or you may have sold him a baby somewhere along the way."

Ashlee laughed. "Well, you actually got it half right. Should I applaud?"

Nancy continued. "You're lucky to still be alive, Ashlee. He killed Jennifer Price. I talked to one of her friends. She told me that Jennifer had talked to Greg right before she died. It won't take much to get the authorities to reopen her case, once Frank and Joe take what we have to the detective in charge."

Ashlee shook her head. "Greg wouldn't hurt a fly. He never laid a finger on that girl."

Nancy tilted her head to one side. "Really? How about Joe, then? That van we rode in to get here? Be willing to bet you a year's salary that it's the same one that ran Joe off the highway."

"It's not Greg's van. It belongs to that kid that runs errands for him." Ashlee leaned back against the couch. "He was told to keep Joe from reaching that Carter girl. Not to nearly kill him. Boy, did he mess that up!" She frowned. "I should've got rid of him for screwing that up. I really do like Joe. I hadn't planned on getting him hurt. Just goes to show you that when you want something done right, you should do it yourself." She stood up, stretched, and looked at her watch.

"Didn't plan to hurt Joe? Little late for that, don't you think? In addition to landing him in a hospital, now you've helped Greg kidnap his niece. And he's getting pretty attached to her lately."

"Yeah," she said. "I noticed that. He's spent more time this week with the two of you than he has me. Oh well, he'll have to get over it, won't he?" She walked past Nancy toward the other room.

Sticking her head in the door, she asked to Greg, "Our flight doesn't leave until 6, right?" She paused as Greg answered. "I'm getting hungry. I'm going to McDonald's to pick something up. Want anything?"

Ashlee crossed the room and picked up her purse. Fishing her keys out, she looked at Nancy. "How about you? Cheeseburger? Big Mac?" Nancy didn't answer.

"How about that? Here I am trying to be nice, and now you shut up. I'll bring you back a cheeseburger and some fries. And a Happy Meal for Laurie. What's she like? Burgers or chicken nuggets?"

Nancy sighed. Best to just play along for now. Sooner or later, she'd find an opening to get what she needed out of Ashlee or Greg. She hoped. "Get her a cheeseburger. No pickles. With a Coke. It's what she always orders."

"All right," she said. "That I can handle." As she started to open the front door, she called out to Greg, "You might want to bring Laurie in here to play so you can keep your friend company, Greg. She's already got one hand almost free from those ropes." She opened the door; then turned to Nancy and winked. "You know Nancy, I think I'm going to make a great aunt. Don't you?" With that, the door closed behind her.

Greg walked into the living room, holding Laurie. As Nancy studied his face, she saw it. The same eyes, chin, cheekbones. 'Aunt,' Ashlee had said. That was the connection.

Frank steered Nancy's car back through traffic toward Kevin's house. Bess had practically thrown a fit to come along, but Frank had been afraid that she might get hurt. Finally, he had convinced her that she needed to stay on the set. He would call her and keep her updated; and if they hadn't found Nancy and Laurie by the time Bess was done filming for the day, she could join them.

"What's the plan?" Joe asked. Frank looked at him.

"Plan? I'm supposed to have a plan? Why am I always the one that's supposed to have a plan?"

"Cause you're older. And it's your kid and your girlfriend that's missing." Joe said.

"Excuse me. Age is not a factor here and did you say girlfriend? She is not my girlfriend. I'll give you points for the kid thing though." Frank tapped the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for the light to change to green.

"I have an idea," Kevin said.

"I'm all ears," Frank said.

"Well, maybe they took them to someplace Ashlee would stay. Like maybe her apartment, or a favorite hotel or something. Maybe we should be going through Ashlee's things, instead of Greg's. Look for clues there."

Frank and Joe were silent for a moment. Finally, Joe spoke.

"As much as I hate to admit this, he does have a point."

"Yeah, he does, Frank agreed. Flicking on the turn signal, he made a right and pulled into the nearest parking lot.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked.

"It'll be faster for you to drive us to your girlfriend's apartment than if I drive and you give me directions." Frank got out of the car, waited for Joe to switch sides, then got back in on the passenger side."

Joe grinned. "Fasten your seatbelts then guys. 'Cause I'm in command now!" He darted out into traffic, cutting two cars off as he slipped into the left turn lane.

Frank grabbed the dashboard. "Get us there in one piece, okay? We won't do anyone any good lying in a morgue!"

"Yeah, yeah, oh ye of little faith. Oh, and about Ashlee being my girlfriend. I'd say after this, I'm on the market again."

"Really?" Kevin asked from the backseat.

Joe shot him a glance in the rearview mirror. "Not that market."

"I knew that," Kevin said.