Chapter 3

When Kati got to the country club, Kevin was already there. He stood up when he saw her approach the table.

"You look lovely," Kevin told her while he held out her chair.

"Thank you." Kati sat down and nervously picked at the bun she had pinned severely from her face.

"Could I order you a drink? Some wine maybe?" he asked.

"No thank you."

A waiter appeared with menus and and glasses of water. She gratefully took the menu and held it in front of her. Kevin mistook her discomfort for shyness. He found it endearing.

Kati wished he would hurry up and bring up the subject of the job. She felt his eyes on her and after several uncomfortable seconds she couldn't stand it any longer.

"Did I get the job?" she blurted.

Kevin smiled lazily and took a drink of his water. "Yes, you got the job."

"Really? Oh that's great! Thank you Mr. Buchanan." Kati jumped up from the table and shook Kevin's hand. She gathered her purse and gave him a genuine smile.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay and have dinner with you. I have so much to do!"

And with that, she rushed out of the country club.

Kevin was left sitting at the table with a "what the hell happened" look on his face.

On her way out of the country club, she bumped into a very male figure. "Oh excuse me," she said. And then she looked up. She gave an audible gasp when she recognized the man she had bumped into once before. The same butterflies began flittering in her stomach.

"Do I know you?" Todd asked. He heard her gasp and assumed that like everyone else, she was afraid of him.

"No," Kati said and hurried on to her car.

Todd watched her go with mild curiosity. She was very pretty but looked too fragile. He went on into the country club looking for Sam. He had to get his legal help soon before Asa told Bo that her was back in town.

Sam was out by the country club pool. He was looking at the stars and wishing Nora was with him when Todd approached him.

"What do you want Todd? I'm not in the mood to deal with you tonight."

"I bet what I have to say will change your mind," Todd hinted.

"I can't imagine," Sam said. "Okay, fine. What do you have to say?"

"Nora isn't dead."

"Excuse me? That's not a funny joke Todd. You're really pushing it."

"Sam I'm not joking. I followed Lindsay this afternoon. She went to some guy's house and they were talking about hiding Nora. So I snuck in a window..."

"You broke into someone's house?" Sam asked.

"Will you listen! I looked around upstairs and I saw her, Nora I mean, and she was laying in bed sleeping. Maybe they drugged her; I don't know."

"Okay, right Todd. I don't suppose you could tell me where this place is?"

"I can show you."

Sam took a deep breath and then said "Well, let's go."

Kati was back in her hotel room wondering what she would wear Monday morning. As she was trying on different outfits, she let her hair down from the ugly bun she had put it in earlier. It fell in soft waves around her shoulders. She looked in the mirror and remembered running into the man outside the country club. She unconciously ran her fingers through her hair and wondered if he would find her attractive.

"Get a grip Kati," she said to herself. "You don't even know the man!"

But later, as she lay in bed trying to fall asleep, she couldn't get him off her mind.

When Sam and Todd got to the house where Nora was being held, Sam knocked on the door.

"I'm telling you Sam, we should just sneak in. This guy will only deny it."

"Todd, I'm not sneaking in."

Todd rolled his eyes and said "Whatever."

After several minutes it became apparent that no one was going to answer the door. "Now will you try it my way?" Todd asked him.

"Okay, show me," Sam relented.

They went around back and went through the same window Todd had used earlier to enter. Then Todd led the way through the house to the room Nora was in. She was still there, and still sleeping.

"Oh my God! Nora!" Sam rushed to her bedside and held her face between his hands. "Nora wake up! Wake up!"

Nora's eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times before recognizing Sam.

"Sam," Nora said very weakly.

"I thought you were dead! Who brought you here? What's been going on?" Sam kept firing questions at her. For the moment, all Nora could manage was "How's Matthew?"

"He's fine. You'll see him soon." Sam told her. "First we've got to get you to the hospital."

"No! I want to see my son!" Nora cried.

"You will, I promise. But I want to get you checked out first." Nora didn't argue.

It was enough that Sam had found her. She knew she would see her son very soon.

Todd went with them to the hospital. Nora had slept the whole way and hadn't even seen him.

While the doctors were checking Nora out, Sam spoke to Todd.

"Thank you for finding her, Boomer. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"You can get me out of this legal mess I'm in." Todd replied.

"Consider it done," Sam said.

When Monday morning came, Kati got ready for her first day on the job. She didn't want to take any chances with her appearance. She had to look professional and she had to let Mr. Buchanan know that she wasn't interested in him as anything other than her boss.

She decided to wear a suit jacket with her skirt and while she wore her hair up, it was not as severe as it had been for her interview.

During the drive to work, she wondered if she would get to be a reporter right off the bat, or if she would have to prove herself first. She was a very good reporter, but since she had worked at so many places, and never for more than a year, she figured she would start out as a copy editor.

She was 29 years old and in the six years since college, she had worked at six different newspapers in six different towns. She always had a restless feeling, but she didn't know just what it was she was searching for.

Kevin was eagerly awaiting kati's arrival. He hadn't spoken to her since she rushed out of the country club. He had been hoping for a nice dinner and a chance to get to know her better. When she walked into the newsroom, he rushed to her side.

"Welcome to your new job! Are you ready for the tour?"

Kati smiled and nodded. Kevin showed her around the building. When they came back to the newsroom, he led her to a desk. She noticed it wasn't far from his.

"I'm going to start you out as my assistant," Kevin told her. "Then we'll see how you do, and decide where to put you next."

"Okay," Kati said. An assistant was better than a copy editor, she supposed. Still, she had hoped to start off as a reporter.

"Is there anything you need right now? A cup of coffee maybe?"

"No thank you," Kati replied.

"Okay. Here's the story I'm running on page eight tomorrow. Could you make sure I have everything spelled correctly?" He handed her a sheet of typing paper.

"Sure." She took the paper and smiled. After he left, she muttered to herself, "Copy editor."

By now, Sam had told Bo that Nora was alive. He also informed him that Lindsay had known about it and kept her hidden, with help from Colin.

First, Bo wanted to see Nora. He walked into her hospital room. She was asleep. She had an IV in her arm and was still pretty bruised up, but Bo thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"Red." It was spoken barely above a whisper. But she heard it.

She opened her eyes. No other words were spoken. There was no need. Bo came to her bedside, and laid his head on the bed beside her hip. As she stroked his hair, he wept.

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Chapter 4

Sam watched from the doorway. He didn't know how to feel or react. He knew Bo had missed her and grieved for her just as much as he had. And he wondered if Bo was still in love with her.

When Colin had discovered Nora was gone, he immediately phoned Lindsay. Colin decided to leave town before anyone could connect him. He wasn't sure whether Nora had left herself, or if someone had found her. His first thought had been that Lindsay had moved her, but when he learned that she hadn't, he thought it best to get out of town.

Lindsay, however, felt confident that no one would connect her with Nora's kidnapping.

Todd called Blair and asked her to meet him for lunch. She was wary, but too curious to pass it up.

They met at an out of the way restaurant. Todd didn't want to take anymore chances of being seen before Sam had a chance to get him out of his troubles.

"Alright Todd. I'm here. Now what do you want?" Blair asked

"Nice to see you too," Todd sneered.

"Come on Todd. You know we don't do niceties."

The waiter came and took their orders. They waited until he was gone before getting back to their conversation.

"How is Starr?" Todd wanted to know.

"She's fine. She's at camp for the summer."

"Did Max want her sent away?" Todd was a little angry at the thought.

"No Todd. She begged to go," Blair answered truthfully. "Is that all you wanted?"

"I need your help."

"What for?" Blair asked.

"To get Jessica home," Todd answered.

"I would love to do that Todd, but I don't see how I can help. Asa won't exactly listen to me."

"But he'll listen to his son," Todd said.

"You mean Ben?" Blair laughed. "He hates him!"

"Ben?"

"I thought you knew that," Blair wavered. "I can't say anymore Todd. Forget you heard that." Blair got up to leave. "I mean it Todd, forget it."

She left Todd sitting there.

"Well, well, well," Todd muttered.

Tuesday morning, Sam went to see Bo at the police station.

"Is it Nora?" Bo rose from his seat behind the desk.

"Nora's fine. I came to see you about Todd," Sam told him.

"Todd Manning?" Bo asked.

"Do you know another Todd?"

"What about him?" Bo wanted to know.

"He led me to Nora," Sam answered.

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. Thanks to Todd, Nora is safe and sound."

"Well I'll be," Bo managed.

"I promised him I would help him out of whatever trouble he may be in," Sam told him.

"You mean for the attempted shooting of R.J., and the fake bomb at the country club?"

"Exactly."

Bo thought a moment. "Well, we have no proof that he did those things. It's R.J.'s word against his."

"Would R.J. drop the charges?" Sam asked.

"I seriously doubt it. He wants Manning's head for leaving town with Tea," Bo replied.

"But R.J. has no proof, right?"

"None that I'm aware of."

"So this shouldn't be a problem."

"No," Bo said. "He'll probably walk away from it."

"Then let's get it over with," Sam said.

"Let's get a court date set. As long as Todd promises not to run, I won't make him sit in jail while we wait."

"I think I can convince him. Thanks Bo."

Todd was wondering what to do with his new information about Asa when Sam called his hotel room. Sam told him about his conversation with Bo.

"So you think you can stick around Boomer?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Todd replied.

"Your court date is Friday. I got it for as soon as I could."

"Thanks Sam."

When Todd got off the phone, he went and stared out the window. He had a few days to plan what he would do about Asa.

He wouldn't be able to check on Jessica until this was over though. He hoped she would be okay.

Jessica was on the road. The band was playing at a new club in a couple of days. This club was a lot closer to home, which comforted her, but also made her nervous. Will had been trying to talk her and Christian into going home, but Jess wouldn't hear of it.

"Not until you've been cleared," she had told him.

But she was worried abouat her mom.

"Everything will be okay," Christian told her. She held onto his hand and hoped he was right.

Sam went back to the hospital to see Nora. She was doing much better.

"The tape," she told Sam.

"What tape?"

"Jessica and Christian made a tape of Asa confessing. I had it with me on the train."

"I'll find it," Sam promised.

Bo couldn't find Colin. He needed to question him. He was about to bring Lindsay in for questioning when Sam phoned him.

Sam told him about the tape. Bo decided to get a search warrant and go to Colin's house.

When he got there, he looked everywhere, but found no tape.

Lindsay was listening to the tape. She couldn't believe her good fortune. Now she would be able to get her son back home and out of trouble. Then it dawned on her that if she turned the tape over to Bo, she'd have to explain how she had gotten possesion of it. She was trapped.

Thursday morning when Kati got to work, Kevin was waiting for her.

"Tomorrow I'm taking you to the courthouse with me. There's a case that will be front page news," he told her.

"As she went to fix his cup of coffee, she thought "Now we're getting somewhere."