"There you are!"

Viki turns around. "Oh, Kevin...is something going on?"

He tries to catch his breath. "Going on...are you kidding? Where have YOU been?"

She shrugs, about to answer, but he continues.

"Mom...Starr Manning's been KIDNAPPED."

Viki stands there, frozen for a second...then shakes her head. "W-what..."

Kevin nods, walking up to her. "I guess it happened last night sometime."

She covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh, no...has anyone...I mean...do we know..."

He rubs her shoulder. "I dunno...details are still coming in, but things are sketchy, at best. We haven't been able to talk to Blair yet."

Viki holds a hand up. "No, that's alright...I...uh...don't think we should bother her now...but..."

Kevin lowers his voice. "Well, here's the thing, Mom...uh...this isn't solid, but...rumor has it at the PD...that...uh...they're probably gonna go after Todd."

Her eyes widen. She opens her mouth in shock. He tilts his head, biting his lip.

"There's been no ransom demand as far as anyone knows...they think he may have had her kidnapped...that he may be planning to flee the country with her or something."

Viki's hand slices through the air. "Kevin, WHERE did you hear that? I mean, if she's only been gone since last night, how do they KNOW there'll be no ransom demand? I think you're being VERY premature...and so are they. Don't you dare print that rumor."

Kevin notices her change in tone, getting curious...and annoyed.

"Like I would just go off half-cocked and print something like that. Thanks for the confidence."

She opens her mouth, an instant response ready...but stops, realizing she's saying the wrong things. She takes a breath, and gently touches his face.

"I'm...that was...that was stupid of me. I know you wouldn't do that, I'm sorry."

He steps closer to her, sensing tension. "Mom...you KNOW something, don't you?"

She sniffs, glancing at the door to make sure it's closed, then back at him. She pauses, not sure if she should say anything. Suddenly, an idea pops into her head...she whispers to him.

"Kevin...WHERE did you hear that rumor?"

"You're changing the subject."

"I know...but I need to know...where...I mean, WHO told you that? Was it one of the detectives?"

He looks at her strangely. "What's it to ya...what does it matter?"

Her heart starts racing, realizing she's probably onto something. "It DOES matter...tell me."

He folds his arms, growing increasingly suspicious. Finally, he shrugs.

"It was John Sykes, I just talked to him," he says, seeing her eyes widen, and her face pale. He leans in. "So...so WHAT? Mom...WHAT is going on?"

She's still reluctant to tell him, to let anybody else in on it, and possibly put Todd and Tea in danger... but she remembers...Sykes already knows where Tea went. She covers her mouth with her hand, then looks at Kevin.

"Oh, Kevin...I have the worst feeling....oh," she says, running over and grabbing her purse. She dumps it out, looking for the paper with Dr. Atherton's number. She doesn't find it, and curses, realizing she must have left it at home. She puts everything back and grabs her coat, heading for the door. Kevin stops her.

"Mom, WHAT? Tell me!"

She hurriedly puts her coat on, then whispers to him. "I WILL tell you what's going on...but not right now. Because if I'm right...Todd...and Tea...they're in trouble."

She grabs the doorknob as Kevin whirls around. "WHAT? Todd AND Tea? What are you saying, is she WITH him? You...you know where they are, don't you?"

She turns and points at him, speaking firmly. "Kevin...I TOLD you, I WILL tell you what's going on, but NOT NOW. I am begging you...DO NOT breathe a word of this to ANYONE...and don't run ANYTHING about Todd being investigated, do you hear me?"

He shakes his head. "I thought you learned, Mom. He doesn't care about ANYBODY...NO ONE...not even YOU."

She shuts her eyes. "This has NOTHING to do with that."

"Oh, really?"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to get into this now, there's no time. PLEASE, Kevin...just do what I ask. Keep a lid on this, and don't print ANYTHING until you hear from me, got it?"

He throws his hands up, shaking his head, frustrated. "Yeah, fine...whatever."

Viki pulls her coat closed. "I'll be at home if you need me," she says, and takes off.

Back at the PD, Sykes sits at his desk, watching in silent pride, seeing all the activity he's caused. The place is absolutely swarming, people running around like crazy trying to find little Starr. He looks back down at his desk, flipping through papers, trying to look busy. Suddenly he remembers Bo wanting a report from the security company, and gets up, looking through his notes. Just then Bo comes into the squad room from down the hall, and walks over to him.

"Man, I hate talking to the press."

Sykes grins at him, putting his coat on.

"Where you off to?"

"Security company," he replies, loading his pockets up with stuff.

Bo nods. "Right. Oh...did they put the tap on the phone yet?"

"I think they're working on it...you might want to radio over and check, though."

Bo nods again, heading into his office. Sykes starts to walk out, but Bo turns back around suddenly.

"Oh, John, hold up," he says. Sykes turns around to see Bo waving him inside. He walks in and Bo glances around quickly to see if anyone's listening. He waves at Sykes to approach him, and lowers his voice.

"Just between you and me for right now...I just talked to Hank."

Sykes cocks his head, looking interested...but he knows EXACTLY what he's going to say.

Bo rubs his chin. "It would seem...that Tea has taken a leave of absence." He makes quote marks with his fingers.

"Really?"

"Yeah...she's been gone for a few weeks now. What a co-inky-dink."

Sykes grins, raising an eyebrow. "Hmmm."

"Strange, though...I got the feeling Hank was...almost afraid to tell me about it. Like he knows something."

"Maybe he does...he IS her boss, after all."

Bo squints at him. "Yeah, well...I might ask the same of YOU."

He shrinks back. "Me? Why?"

"Oh, come on, John...you...and Tea...have a little thing going on. Don't tell me you didn't know she was gone."

Bo notices Sykes' eyes taking on a different look as he sniffs, shaking it off. "Well...I figured she went somewhere, when I couldn't get a hold of her, but...she didn't say anything to ME...about ANYTHING. Besides...we don't have a little thing going on. In fact, there's NOTHING going on."

Bo folds his arms. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

Bo stands there, waiting. Sykes takes a deep breath as he buttons his coat up.

"Listen, Bo..." he starts, then pauses, trying to find the right words. "Tea...she, uh...she still loves Manning...period. End of story."

Bo puckers his lips a little, somewhat embarrassed. "Mmmm. Sorry..."

Sykes shrugs, turning to leave. He stops at the door and turns back quickly, a strange look on his face.

"Well, I suspect she's about to have one last rude awakening. And maybe this time she'll finally get it, when she winds up in the cell next to his."

He turns and leaves in a huff. Bo raises an eyebrow, hearing the sudden iciness in his voice. He watches him leave, then sighs, shrugging it off.

The phone rings in Joely's office. Her assistant sprints over from across the room to her desk.

"Atherton Foundation?"

"Oh! Yes...hello...is Dr. Atherton in?"

"Not right now, I'm sorry...she's out of the office until this afternoon. Would you like to..."

From her living room at Llanfair, Viki rubs her temple. "Uh...listen, I'm sorry to cut you off...but, this is urgent. My name is Viki Carpenter..."

"Oh, hello, Ms. Carpenter..."

"Yes, hi...listen, I really, REALLY need to speak with Todd Manning or Tea Delgado. I've tried Tea's cell phone and can't get through...can you find them?"

There's silence as the assistant mulls it over.

"Please...I know I should be speaking to Dr. Atherton, but this is an emergency...it's about his daughter."

The assistant does a take. "Oh...OH. Oh, of course, of course...uh...only thing is it's still quite early here. Um...why don't you give me a number where you are, and I'll run over and try to get them for you."

Viki sighs, relieved. "Thank you so much."

The assistant grabs a pen and paper, scribbling down Viki's number.

"Okay...I'll get this to them right now. Okay. Bye."

She drops what she's doing and runs out with the note. She sprints down the hall and out the back, running for the guest house. She bounces up onto the porch and bangs on the door. She waits for a moment...no answer. She bangs on the door again...and waits...still nothing. She pokes her head in the window, but can't see anything. She sighs, looking at the urgent message in her hand. Then she looks all around, as far as she can see in any direction...thinking maybe they're walking closeby...but she doesn't see them. She sighs again, biting her lip. Then she throws her hands up, walking back to the main house with the note.

Todd slowly backs his way out of some brush and leaves, leading Tea through by the hands. He tosses his head around to free his hair from some of the branches. She steps carefully, eyes closed and giggling. She hears their feet crushing leaves and branches, nearly tripping on some of them.

"Are you TRYING to kill me?"

He smiles at her, leading her forward slowly, but saying nothing. He looks behind him, seeing what he wants to show her. He looks back at her as she walks cautiously, eyes closed, chin out, listening.

"What do you hear?"

She turns her head slightly. "Uh...air...and all this brush I'm killing myself on...some birds...and...oh, wait... what is that..."

He grins again, still inching her forward. Finally, he stops when he gets close enough. He lets her hands drop out of his, and walks around behind her. He covers her eyes with his hands. She laughs, placing her hands on top of his.

"What ARE you doing?"

"You gotta guess...or you can't see."

She sighs. "Great. I nearly kill myself getting here, and I won't be able to see it anyhow."

He smiles. "I think you have a pretty good idea already."

They stand there for a minute in silence, as she listens again, carefully. Finally, she cocks her head to one side.

"Sounds like... is it...water?"

His smile gets bigger. "See, I told ya. You knew."

He lifts his hands away from her eyes, letting her hands drop. Tea blinks slowly, getting adjusted to the light. Then her mouth opens in surprise...right there in front of them, is a huge lake. She smiles, bringing her hands up under her chin, rubbing them together as she takes in an amazing view of the water, glistening with flecks of early morning sunlight. She turns her head in both directions, just looking at the sheer distance she can see all around in this clearing...nature, undisturbed and peaceful. She can only think of one word to say, quietly, under her breath.

"Wow."

Suddenly, she feels his arms around her waist pulling her back. She smiles, leaning back into him, tipping her head to the side so he can rest his on her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's what *I* said," he whispers.

She lifts her head back up gently, touching their heads together, and laughs to herself. He looks at her strangely.

"What's so funny?"

She sniffs, the cold air making her nose run a bit. "When I was on my way up here, I thought this was a really weird place for a therapist to set up a practice. Hmmm. Now I see how wrong I was. This is the perfect place."

"Yeah, well...you know doc gets all her business from the local militia nuts."

She laughs. "Uh-oh...is there something you wanna tell me? Does this mean we're gonna be living in a log cabin with no indoor plumbing? Are you gonna hunt for dinner every night? Oh, God...am I gonna have to skin rabbits and deer and all that? Ewwwww..."

He cracks up, tightening his grip on her waist, nestling his head against her neck and shoulder.

"I was afraid you wouldn't love me anymore if I told you I gave all my money to the Freemen..."

She busts out laughing obnoxiously at that one.

"...but I think you and Starr'll LIKE living off the land and all that crap...nice change from the Penthouse."

She sniffles again, wiping her eyes. "...oh, okay...all that crap, or the penthouse. That's it, Manning. I'm leaving you."

They both crack up, nearly tipping themselves over. After a moment, Todd whispers to her.

"That's too bad. I was thinking of building here."

"Building what..." She starts laughing again suddenly, going limp in his arms. "...the bomb shelter?"

Todd makes a goofy face, shaking his head as he holds her up. "You're so weird, Delgado."

She regains her balance, standing back up on her own, her laughing fit dying down finally. She wipes her eyes again, sighing, then rests her arms on his.

"Ohhh, man...mmm...okay, sorry...um...building what?"

He rests his head back against hers. "That house I told you I wanted."

There's silence for a moment, as Tea takes that in, her eyes widening.

Her mouth opens slightly, as he turns his head a little, placing his mouth right by her ear.

"You remember...with the springer spaniel..."

They both speak at the same time. "...and the picket fence."

She tilts her head to the side to look at him. Still resting on her shoulder, he tips his head to see her better, and their eyes lock.

"Well?"

They look into each other deeply for a moment. Finally, Tea smiles her famous smile.

"I think...that's the best idea you've ever had."

He smiles back. "Good...now I just need Shorty's o.k."