"Sweetie..." she says quietly, as she flicks the light on, looking toward the bed.

She stops, squinting, focusing...and does a take, blinking, not sure she's seeing correctly. Walking over, she calls for her again.

"Starr?"

She touches the bed, grabbing the comforter and pulling it down. She's not there. Blair starts looking around...and doesn't see her anywhere. She calls again, thinking maybe she's hiding somewhere.

"Sweetie...come on, no games now...we gotta get you ready for school, okay? So...come on out."

She walks over to the closet and opens it up...nothing. She wanders around the room, growing increasingly nervous. Finally, she notices how chilly it is in the room. She walks over to the open window, curtains blowing softly. Her heart starts racing. She whirls around behind her, checking the room again, then back out the window. She pokes her head out and looks down into the shrubs and bushes outside, then pulls it back in. She bites the inside of her cheek as she feels her heart sink like a rock. Looking around again frantically, she spots the dresser, where a couple of the drawers have been left slightly open. She runs over and pulls them all the way out...and sees that some of her clothes are gone.

She starts shaking her head as she runs out of the room. "Ohhh...no...no..."

The door slams behind her.

About an hour later, Sykes walks up to the Cramer house, followed by Bo Buchanan. They knock on the door. Dorian answers, still in her robe and disheveled. She steps back to let them in and shuts the door behind them.

Sykes glances up the stairs, seeing a couple of officers coming down from upstairs. They nod at each other as they walk out. He looks back, into the living room, where Bo and Dorian are. He walks in and sees Blair, sitting on the couch in her robe, face buried in her hands, crying. Dorian rubs her shoulders as Bo sits on the table in front of her. Sykes stands behind Bo, hands folded, looking down solemnly at them, watching them carefully.

Bo gently touches Blair's arm. She looks up, with the saddest, most frightened face he's ever seen on her. He sighs, handing her the box of tissues. She takes it from him and grabs a bunch, blowing her nose. Tears continue streaming down her cheeks.

"Hey Blair."

She nods at him, trying to smile, but it doesn't work. She just starts sobbing again. "Oh, God..."

Bo glances up at Dorian, then leans in closer to Blair, speaking softly. "I need you to tell me what happened."

She sniffles, then clears her throat. Dorian comes around and sits next to her, wrapping an arm around her. Blair grabs some more tissues, then straightens her hair. She speaks with a cracking voice.

"Ummm...I...uh...I went to wake her up, and...uh...she...she was gone...I checked the closet. But then I saw that the window had been left open...and, uh...now that I think about it...the door was shut all the way. I NEVER shut her door all the way."

Bo nods, turning to look at Sykes. They exchange glances...Bo gestures for him to head upstairs. Sykes nods and walks out, up the stairs. Bo turns back to Blair and Dorian.

"Don't you have a security company?"

Dorian nods. "Yes, we DO...that's the strange thing. NONE of the alarms went off...and I know there's a sensor attached to every window. You can be sure they're gonna pay for this one."

Bo puckers his lips a little, thinking. "Hold off on that for now, Dorian. It may not have been their fault anyway."

He looks back at Blair. "Okay...okay. Um...Blair do you know of ANYONE who might have a beef with you?"

They look at each other, and despite themselves, crack up at that. Blair wipes her face again, sniffling. "Well...there's a lot of folks who don't like me...duh."

Bo sighs. "Well, how 'bout this...do you know why anyone would want to go after STARR?"

Blair shrugs, sighing too. "Other than money, Bo...I have NO clue. I mean...she's just a little girl..."

With that, she starts crying again. Dorian hugs her tightly, looking at Bo. "So what now?"

Bo gets up. "Now? Well, I'm gonna go check upstairs, see what I can see. Nobody touch ANYTHING up there until we're done checking it out. Blair, get me a recent picture of Starr to put on the news and in the papers...and...we'll start tapping the phone, try to get a line on these bastards when they call in finally." They nod, and Bo walks out, up the stairs. He passes some detectives in the hall, and nods as he heads for the bedroom. He walks in and sees Sykes snooping around, checking things out with gloved hands.

"Anything?"

Sykes stands up, shaking his head. He gestures toward the window, and Bo walks over to it, checking it out. Sykes leans against the wall, taking his gloves off.

"Place is pretty clean, as far as I can tell. Looks like whoever it was took some of her clothes, too... but...other than that...guess we'll have to see if we can get any prints off this window."

Bo nods, thinking. "Yeah, yeah...get 'em over here now."

Sykes squints at him, seeing the wheels turning in Bo's head. "What?"

Bo looks closely at the window. He sees wiring attached to it...a sensor, just like Dorian said. He shakes his head.

"Something's weird here...this sensor looks fine...I expected it to be cut or...something. How the hell did they get in here without ANY alarms going off? Has anyone talked to the security company yet?"

Sykes shrugs. "Dunno...probably not. I'll get on it."

Bo nods, wheels still turning. He starts wondering aloud as Sykes turns to walk out.

"I just wonder WHY...why Starr...of all people."

Being the only two in the room now, Sykes grins smugly, sensing where Bo's headed...EXACTLY where he wants him to go. He turns back, putting on his best concerned, good-cop voice.

"Hmmm...good question. Wonder if it's got anything to do with Manning?"

Bo turns to look at him, pointing and nodding. "I gotta tell ya, John...if NOBODY calls in a few hours demanding cash...I'm gonna be leaning on him."

Sykes tries to hide his grin. "Thinking he kidnapped his own kid?"

"Well, think about it...I mean, he and Blair had a nasty custody battle over her, if I remember right. Then that whole thing with his faking that...multiple...whatever disorder. Nobody knows WHERE he is now...and there's no CHANCE of him coming back to town without him getting lynched by SOMEBODY. I wonder...if he's planning on staying lost...and just decided to take Starr with him."

Sykes nods, doing the victory dance inside. "Interesting theory."

Bo heads for the door. "Let's go. Oh...and REMIND me, John...if we don't hear ransom demands today...remind me to call Tea in for questioning. Nobody knows Manning like she does...and if ANYONE knows where he is, it's her."

Sykes follows behind him, heading back downstairs, a huge smile on his face.

Back in the motel, D sits with Starr at the table, watching cartoons. Starr sits, clutching Fred the frog, as she takes a few sips of milk. D looks over at her, noticing she's hardly touched her sandwich. He sighs...feeling badly for her, and not knowing why. He's never had a problem committing crimes against the rich before...why should he feel sorry for this little brat? She's probably gonna grow up to be a snob, just like her parents probably are.

He watches her as she sits quietly, staring off into space. He swallows hard, trying to figure out where this bad feeling is coming from. Break-ins were his specialty, but this was the first time he'd ever kidnapped anyone. He looks back at the TV, watching cartoon animals bonking each other over the head senselessly. As he stares at the TV, he slowly realizes why he's feeling sorry, and even a little worried for her. It's that guy who hired him. Something was really off there...he remembers the way he heard him whispering to her. It was so...COLD. D thought HE was a pretty icy dude, professional... he realizes he has NOTHING on the guy who hired him. He wonders what the guy really wants with her...it sounded like he was trying to get to her father by kidnapping her. He looks back at Starr, who still sits stock still and quiet, finally turning and resting his elbows on the table.

"You really should eat, you know," he says quietly.

Starr looks at him nervously, sucking her lips in and biting on them. She shakes her head and tightens her grip on Fred. D sighs, realizing she has no idea what's happening. There's nothing he can say to calm her...he should just be happy she's being quiet. He gets up, taking her plate and looking at her empty glass.

"Want some more?"

Starr stares up at him, with her huge, frightened face. But he's speaking softly to her. She looks at him carefully for a moment, sensing something about him...something that says he's probably not going to hurt her. She takes a deep breath and nods, cautiously. D grins, glad for some response from her, and goes to refill her glass. As he turns his back to her to open the fridge, she ducks her head down slightly and lifts Fred's head to her lips. She shuts her eyes and whispers.

"Fred, you gotta talk to Daddy, right now...tell him...tell him to hurry. Tell him I'm really scared."

To be continued...