She stands there for another moment, face wet, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself. Her mind is filled with images of Starr, now in danger...because of her. She laughs to herself, amazed at how well Sykes planned this out...he knew exactly what to do. She sniffles again, suddenly realizing she doesn't have any more time to waste if they're going to find her. She wipes her eyes and nose roughly on her arm, then walks over to the dresser, where her cell phone sits in its charger. She grabs it and dials.

RJ walks in to the club just as the phone rings on the bar. The bartender picks it up as RJ takes his coat off.

"Uh, yeah, he's here, hold on."

The bartender holds the phone out to him. RJ grabs it. "Yeah?"

Nothing for a second, then a whisper of a woman's voice. "RJ..."

His eyes widen. "Oh, finally," he whispers. He looks around quickly, then grabs the phone off the bar and goes behind the wall so no one will see him. He speaks quietly, hearing the strain in her voice.

"Are you alright? News about Starr is all over the place."

"Viki just called to tell us."

"They got Blair to press charges."

"We know."

"What are you gonna do? I mean, you can't come home...but that freak is gonna be after you."

"Oh, RJ..." her voice trails off. He can hear her sniffling, and sighs, checking over his shoulder.

She clears her throat finally. "...we need your help."

"Anything...what do you need?"

"Listen...Sykes had to have hired someone to take Starr. Now he'll have to meet this person eventually...if you could just trail him, you could find out where she is...and tip off the PD."

RJ sighs again, shrinking back, not crazy about the idea. On the other end, Tea shuts her eyes for a second.

"Please...I know how risky this is...but, please...I'm begging you..."

He takes a deep breath. "Well...guess I can't waste time talking to YOU now, can I?"

She sighs, relieved. "Thank you."

He nods. "What ARE you gonna do?"

"I...I don't know."

"Well, you better figure it out, fast."

"Yeah..." she grimaces, feeling that nauseous wave again. She swallows. "Uh...listen, I gotta go."

"Mmmm. Okay...I'll get on it right now."

Another tear leaks out of her eye. "Thank you, RJ...thank you so much."

"You guys take care...and call me."

"I will...you be careful too." She punches the "end" button and throws the phone down on the bed, covering her face with her hands. She stands there, stock still for a moment...then she drops her hands, her brow creased, sensing something. She puts a hand over her mouth, and walks to the bathroom quickly, closing the door.

Tea comes back down the stairs a few minutes later with one of her bags. Joely looks up from the couch in the living room, and gets up to meet her. She looks at Tea with sad, sympathetic eyes.

"He's outside waiting for you."

Tea sighs. "I should have known something like this would happen."

Joely's brow crinkles. "What do you mean?"

"Every time things start to go well for us...and I mean EVERY time...something terrible happens. You'd think that'd tell us something."

Joely smiles, shaking her head. "Well, somehow...I just know...you'll be alright."

Tea shakes her head right back. "I...I don't know, Joely. Some really awful things have happened to us before, but... this...this is different."

"It's no different, Tea."

"Yes it is...the minute Sykes decided to involve Starr...it became something very different. Now her life is at risk...and it's my fault."

"Don't do that. There was no way you could have known."

Her eyes mist up again. "Yeah, well...fact is if I'd stayed back home, none of this would have happened."

She puts her coat on, throwing her purse over her shoulder. She heads for the door, and Joely follows.
Tea stops in the doorway, seeing Todd waiting for her outside, leaning against her rental car. She takes a deep breath. Joely leans against the door, and touches Tea's arm. She turns and looks at her.

"Tea...remember what I told you both before. You two have something so rare, so very special. It's been strong enough to keep you both devoted to each other so far...it'll get you through this, too. Don't start blaming, even yourself...just trust it. Trust him. Believe me...you'll be alright."

Tea closes her eyes a second, letting a few tears fall. Joely sighs, then reaches out and hugs her.

"They won't get anything out of me. So just be careful...and try not to worry. Starr will be home before you know it, you'll see."

Tea lets go of her, and smiles a little smile. Then suddenly remembering, she reaches into her pocket pulls out a piece of paper, and hands it to Joely, who reads it.

"It's my cell phone number...in case of, I don't know...anything."

Joely smiles, nodding at her as she heads out, walking down the steps and down the dirt path to her car. Todd stands up, holding his hand out. She reaches into her pocket, pulls the keys out and tosses them into his hand, as she gets in the passenger side. He gets in the driver's side and starts it up. They look at each other, but only briefly, as Tea looks down at her lap.

"I called RJ. He'll start tailing Sykes as soon as he can, so, uh...hopefully he'll find her soon."

Todd lingers on her for a moment, trying to think of what he wants to say to her. But his mind is a mess...all he can think of is Starr...and Sykes. He looks away, shaking it off, and throwing the car in reverse.

Joely watches as the car turns around and heads down the dirt road, back to the main highway, watching until their lights disappear into the woods. She stands at the door for a while, eyes closed, thinking of a little prayer for them both.

Later that night, back at the Palace, the elevator opens up and Sykes steps off, taking a quick look around. He heads for Tea's room, taking the lock picking tool out of his pocket. Wearing those familiar gloves, he grabs the doorknob and looks around again. Then he carefully inserts the lock picker, making sure he doesn't scrape or damage the lock. He gently jimmies it around, turning the knob until it clicks. He glances around one last time, then steps inside quickly, closing the door.

He stands by the door a second, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. He scans the room, trying to think of the best place. Finally, his eyes fall on the dresser. He moves to it quickly, taking the unused plane ticket out of his coat pocket. He opens the top drawer, then smirks, as the smell of Tea's perfume wafts out. He gently places the ticket underneath some of the satiny lingerie, burying it. He closes the drawer carefully, then heads for the door. He takes one last look around, nodding his satisfaction, then slips out.

Starr comes out of the bathroom, in her pajamas, with Fred dangling out of one of her hands. D looks up from his chair in front of the TV as she comes around. She smiles, but it's a nervous, uncomfortable one. D smiles back, then looks at his watch.

"Well, kiddo, I think you'd better hit the sack."

She sighs. D gets up, turns off the TV and gently walks her over to the bed. He holds the covers up for her as she climbs in, then pulls them up over her, tucking her in.

"All set?"

She turns on her side and nods, frowning, clutching Fred. D kneels down beside the bed as Starr looks at him questioningly.

"What's your name?"

He draws back a second, thinking it over, knowing he shouldn't be getting friendly with the hostage. Even so, his thoughts go back to the man who hired him, and he feels sorry for her, seeing how little she really is, how innocent. He sighs, knowing that if he doesn't talk to her, she'll just become more frightened, and start causing problems.

"D's my name."

Her brow crinkles. "Just D?"

He nods, shrugging. He glances down at the floor, then back up. "How 'bout you. Got a name?"

She nods, her head rubbing on the pillow. "Starr."

He smiles, raising his eyebrows. "Wow. Nice name."

"Thanks."

D slaps his knees, starting to get up. "Well, Starr...you try to sleep, okay? I'll be real quiet."

She watches him as he gets up. "D?"

He looks at her, as she sighs. "What's happening? Why can't I go home now?"

He takes a deep breath, settling back down. He looks behind him and just decides to sit down, holding his knees with his arms.

"Hmmm. Well, those are good questions. I know you must be really confused, huh?"

She nods. "Did I do something bad?"

D's face softens at that. He smiles sympathetically, his voice low. "No. No, no, no ...not at all. Actually, I don't think this whole thing has ANYTHING to do with you."

"Then...why am I here?"

He takes another deep breath, trying to come up with the best explanation. Starr looks at him anxiously, as he thinks. Finally, he cocks his head to the side.

"Well...I guess the best way to explain it...is that, uh...we're playing a game."

She props herself up on her elbow. "What game?"

He pauses again, making this all up as he goes along. He runs a hand through his hair.

"It's a...kind of...uh...hide-and-seek kinda thing, I guess...well, no...well...actually, it's part hide-and-seek, and part...trade, I guess."

He looks at her to see if she understands. She blinks at him, her eyebrows and nose crinkling.

"That sounds weird."

He laughs, nodding. "Yeah...yeah, it is. Sorry, guess I'm just not good at explaining things."

"Will I EVER get to go home?"

He sits up on his knees. "Of course you will...real soon. Now you stop stalling and go to sleep, okay?"

She sighs, lying back down as D tucks her back in. He turns the lamp off by the bed, watching her as she pulls the stuffed frog to her chest, hugging it and closing her eyes. He smiles at her gently, then walks to his chair, grabbing his cigarettes and lighter. He opens the door slowly, taking another look at her, sighing.

"Actually, kiddo, it's more like fishing...and you're the bait," he whispers sadly, then steps out quietly.