You idiot, Sandburg! Did you really think the Chancellor wouldn't tell her daughter what you planned to do? But he'd never thought the woman would actually try and do something to him. Not so close on the heels of Stoddard's accident. It would be too suspicious.

  Unless you just disappear. The words whispered through his mind, sending a chill through him. Blair's struggles increased as they reached the passenger side of the car.

  The man grabbed him by his upper arms and held him firmly, painfully in place. "I'm supposed to take you somewhere so you can talk with a friend of mine, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as you can speak, I've done my job." His grip tightened. "You get my drift?"

  And Blair did. This man would be more than happy to hurt him if he continued to struggle. He twisted his hands uselessly behind his back, his gaze locked with that of his kidnapper. Satisfaction burned behind the man's eyes, his advantage over the situation clear to both men.

  Blair abductor laughed again, a low, satisfied chuckle. "Yeah, I thought you'd see it my way, sport."

  Blair gritted his teeth in frustration as he allowed himself to be placed in the back seat of the car and driven to a destination he could only guess at.

  /

  /

  /

  Jim checked his watch.... again. He rubbed absently at the back of his neck as he tried to decide what to do. He had expected Blair half an hour ago and was beginning to worry. Maybe I should have driven to Rainier and gone to that meeting with him after all...

  He lifted the receiver on his phone, determined to try Blair's cell phone one more time. But just as he punched in Blair's number, Rhonda's voice reached him from across the bullpen.

  "Jim? There's a call for you on line three. It's Officer Brayden."

  Jim acknowledged her with a nod, then reached down to punch the button for line three. Brayden had been following Dr. Stoddard's progress almost as carefully as he and Blair had been, and had even taken a couple shifts guarding the professor's hospital room. "Tom," Jim spoke into the receiver, "Ellison here."

  "Detective," Tom acknowledged. "I'm over on Trundle, near the university. I was making my usual rounds through the neighborhoods over here when I spotted Sandburg's Volvo parked on the side of the road."

  Jim stood, an icy blade of fear beginning to knife its way into his heart. "What? Is Sandburg there?"

  "No, sir, he isn't. The car is sitting at the curb. At first I thought maybe Sandburg had stopped to see someone in the neighborhood, so I didn't think much about it. But then I noticed that the driver's side window was down. I really just stopped to roll up the window for him, as it's drizzling out here, but then I noticed that there's a pretty expensive looking laptop in the car, as well as a backpack. It just didn't make sense to me that Sandburg would leave his car open and unlocked like that with all his stuff still inside."

  Jim ran his hand across his face in frustration. "No, you're right. That's not like Blair at all." He sighed, pushing away the number of disturbing scenarios that assailed him. "Listen, Tom, I'm coming out there. Tell me exactly where you are on Trundle..."

  /

  /

  /

  Jim made the trip across town quickly, the police lights in his truck allowing him to cut through the late evening traffic with relative ease. Pulling up behind Brayden's police cruiser, Jim exited the Ford and strode purposefully toward the officer, who was standing next to Blair's abandoned Volvo.

  "Still no sign of Blair?" Jim asked as he approached the young officer.

  "None, sir," Brayden answered.

  Jim exhaled a long sigh and looked slowly up and down the length of Trundle, his gaze sweeping across the homes and lawns situated along the residential street.

  "I tried the ignition," Brayden said, pulling the detective's attention away from his slow surveillance of the neighborhood.

  "The keys were in the Volvo?" Jim asked, surprised.

  The officer nodded. "The car started right up. No problem."

  Jim nodded slowly in acknowledgment of the news. Something was definitely wrong here. He knew there was absolutely no way Blair would have walked away from his car without taking the keys and locking up. Not willingly, anyway.

  "Do you think Sandburg is just visiting someone here in the neighborhood?" Brayden asked from behind him. "I could knock on a few doors."

  Jim opened his mouth to answer when a small spot of whitish substance near the curb behind Blair's Volvo caught his attention. Walking quickly to the spot, he crouched down. He was aware of Brayden's presence right behind him, watching carefully over his shoulder. "Do you carry a knife on you, Tom?" Jim asked, glancing up at the young officer.

  "A pocket knife, yes," Brayden said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the small instrument.

  Jim took the knife from Tom and scraped a small amount of the dull white substance onto the blade. He held it up, not needing his sentinel vision to ascertain what it was. Stone dust.

  "Detective?"

  Jim stood and pulled a small evidence bag from his coat pocket. Depositing the substance into the bag, he sealed it and handed the knife back to Brayden. "I'm pretty sure this is the same substance I found at the scene of Stoddard's hit and run," he told the officer. "I want you to take this back to the station, have Serena Chang in Forensics look at it right away."

  Brayden accepted the bag, his eyes wide in astonishment. "You think the same person who hit Professor Stoddard was here, with Sandburg?"

  Jim swallowed and looked absently down the dark stretch of road beyond Blair's car. "I'm sure of it," he said quietly. Reaching over, he squeezed Tom's shoulder. "Do one other thing for me, will you? Call Captain Banks and fill him in on everything we found here. Ask him to put out an APB on Blair and tell him I'll call him as soon as I can."

  "Yes, sir," Brayden said, stepping back as Jim crossed around him and walked briskly back over to Blair's car.

  The detective opened the driver's side door of the Volvo and reached in to retrieve Blair's laptop and backpack. He paused as he reached across to pull the keys from the ignition, stopping to conduct a quick scan of the interior of the small car, searching for the sight or smell of blood. Nothing. Thankful for the fact that there was no evidence of Blair being injured before leaving his car, Jim rolled up the driver's side window, punched down the lock and pushed the door closed.

  Turning to Brayden, he thanked him for his help. Moving quickly to his truck, he pushed Blair's belongings over to the passenger's side, then climbed into the cab, slamming his door behind him. He glanced down at his watch as he considered his next move. How long has Blair been missing? He had no way of knowing, but something in the pit of his stomach told him that he didn't have much time if he was going to find his friend in one piece.

  Blair sat quietly in the back seat of his abductor's car and stared out at the trees that lined the dark road they had turned onto a few moments before. They were in an area on the outskirts of town--he knew that. But he had no idea what was at the end of the road they were on.

  He gasped in pain and bit at his lower lip as the car hit a pot hole, the resulting tremor causing him to bounce back heavily against his cuffed wrists. That'll bruise for sure, he thought to himself, then almost laughed as the irony of his concern hit him. Sure Sandburg, he chided himself as he glanced up at the man who had taken him hostage, You'll be lucky to come out of this with nothing more than a couple of bruised wrists.

  His attention was torn away from his captor as the car came to an abrupt halt. Leaning down and looking ahead through the windshield, Blair saw that they had come to a high chain link fence. The headlights of the car illuminated a large, professionally stenciled sign attached to the gate in front of them: "Greater Cascade Stone Works--Danger--No Trespassing."

  Oh, this is just great! he told himself as his abductor exited the car and made his way up to the gate. A gravel pit. Dark. Isolated. Just perfect. He watched as the man entered a series of numbers into an automated entry pad. There was the muted sound of the lock releasing, then his captor pushed the large gate open. Returning to the car, he shifted into gear and drove slowly through the entrance to the gravel pit. Blair turned in the seat and watched out the back window as his captor exited the car again and closed and locked the gate behind them.

  "Almost there, sport," the man called back to him as he settled into the driver's seat again and began driving slowly toward a lighted structure several yards ahead. Blair studied their destination as his abductor drew closer. The structure was a metal construction trailer. A set of wooden stairs led up to a battered door, beside which a sign had been attached to the side of the trailer: Office.

  Seconds later, the car stopped. His captor pushed open his door and made his way around to Blair's side of the car. Blair grunted as he was hauled forcefully from the sedan and led up the steps to the trailer. Pushing the door open, the man shoved Blair into the large room, then kicked the door shut behind them. Blair heard the unmistakable sound of a slide lock being engaged, then he was pushed roughly forward into the room.

  He squinted and blinked against the harsh light. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he noted that old metal desks, chairs and file cabinets filled the room. All available surfaces, as well as a large portion of the interior walls, were littered with invoices, order sheets, and other business forms. And sitting behind the desk at the far end of the trailer, smiling with smug satisfaction, was Susan Edwards. The man who had dragged him to this place locked a beefy hand around Blair's upper arm, and forced him down the length of the trailer and up to the desk Susan was occupying.

  "Blair," she smiled up at him sweetly, "I hope my friend didn't startle you too much by bringing you out here like this."

  "What do you want, Susan?" Blair asked pointedly, not willing--and definitely not in the mood--to play games.

  "Relax, Blair," she said, her smile slipping just at bit, "I just wanted to talk to you."

  "You wanted to talk to me," Blair repeated with disdain. "Did it cross your mind to call me on the phone? Or here's an original thought, Susan--you could have just stopped by my office!"

  The smug grin slid from Susan's face. Standing, she moved around the desk and stood in front of Blair. Quietly, she said, "I wanted to make sure you'd listen to what I had to say."

  "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Susan, but having me abducted on the side of the road, handcuffed, and brought out into the middle of nowhere does not exactly put me in a listening mood!"

  Susan sighed and looked over Blair's shoulder at the man standing just inches behind him. Inclining her head, she said simply, "Take the cuffs off of him, Jerry."

  "Wait a minute here," Jerry protested. "I don't think that's a good idea..."

  "I'm not asking you to think," Susan spat out. "Uncuff him. Now!"

  Blair felt his abductor's hands on his wrists, roughly pulling his arms into a position where he could get a key inserted into the cuffs. There was the small clink of metal hitting metal, then Blair felt his wrists come free from his bonds. Bringing his arms around in front of him, he began to massage his wrists where the handcuffs had rubbed into the flesh.

  "I'll make this very simple, Blair," Susan told him, stepping back to lean against the metal desk behind her. She folded her arms across her chest and said, "I'm aware of what you told my mother. And I know you have evidence that proves that my thesis material was falsified--a gift from Dr. Nahim, no doubt." Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Blair. "I also know you turned down my mother's very generous offer regarding your student loans. Pity. We could have avoided all of this if you'd just been reasonable." Pushing away from the desk, she paced slowly to the other end of the small trailer. "But it seems you feel a need to do the 'right thing' here."

  "What do you want?" Blair ground out.

  She whirled toward him, her eyes dark with anger. "I wanted to ask you to not go forward with what you know. I planned to appeal to you as a fellow academic. After all, what's the point of going forward? Who have I hurt? No one, Blair. No one!. The thesis was filed away and forgotten. Why couldn't you and Dr. Stoddard just leave it that way?"

  Blair's gaze shifted to the door at the other end of the office. Jerry stood between him and the only exit. There was no way he was going to get out of here unless they let him go. And they weren't going to let them go unless he told them what they wanted to hear. He looked back at Susan. "You have a point," he said, trying his best to sound sincere. "Maybe I could extend you some academic courtesy," he suggested, shrugging. "Lose the paperwork on your thesis."

  Her laughter rang out. "Oh, please, Blair. I didn't get where I am because I'm stupid. My mother told me how adamant you were about seeing that I'm punished for my part in Dr. Stoddard's accident. She also told me about your attitude during an incident regarding a student by the name of Brad Ventriss." She had stepped up to Blair now, and glared into his eyes. "You remember Brad, don't you, Blair? My mother wanted you to compromise in that situation, but you wouldn't hear of it. And that was nothing compared to this." Again, she folded her arms across her chest. Then cocking her head to one side, she smiled at him. "So what makes you think for a second that I'll believe you now when you say you're willing to compromise in this situation?"

  Again, Blair shrugged his shoulders. "It was worth a shot."

  "Yes, I suppose it was." She sighed heavily. "But since none of that will work with you... well, you've forced me to resort to a more... basic method."

  "And what would that be?" Blair asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of exactly what she meant.

  Her eyes narrowed and her features took on a feral expression. "That would be my colleague." Her eyes flitted momentarily to Jerry, who still stood behind Blair. "It was easy to bring you here tonight, Blair. It'd be just as easy to make you disappear. Forever."

  "Susan," Blair began, his throat constricting at the thought of being at the mercy of the man who had abducted him. "I haven't been hurt yet... there's still time-"

  "I don't plan to hurt you, Blair" she interrupted sweetly. Stepping closer, she reached out toward his face. Blair jerked back from the touch. She smiled, chuckling softly. "It's simple," she began, moving back to the desk, leaning against it again. "You agree to give me the evidence you received from Nahim, keep your mouth shut about everything you've learned, and you'll still be breathing tomorrow morning."

  Blair stared at her in astonishment. He knew Susan was desperate to hide what she'd done, but he hadn't expected this kind of threat. Some part of him had even hoped that what happened to Dr. Stoddard had really been an accident, a situation that had simply gone too far. Now he no longer knew what to believe, was unsure just how far she would go. All he did know was that he had to get out of here. Back to Cascade. To Jim.

  "Where are the Impact Statements?" Susan asked when he remained silent.

  "They're locked in my office," he said. "In my file cabinet."

  "And where's the key to the cabinet?"

  "On my key ring, but my keys are in my car."

  "That's fine," Susan said, nodding her approval. "Here's my final offer, Blair. You give me your word that you'll drop this and I'll have Jerry drive you back to your car, get the keys, then escort you to your office where you'll give him the papers. After that, you're free."

  Blair blinked several times as her words settled over him. "I'm suppose to believe that if I hand over that information, you'll just let me go?"

  "I know you, Blair. You're a man of your word. You tell me you'll drop this and I trust that you will. We'll all put this behind us and that will be that." She smiled benignly and turned to her partner. "What do you think, Jerry? Does that work for you?"

  Jerry stepped forward, and for the first time since they had entered the trailer, Blair had a chance to get a good look at his abductor. What he saw dashed all his hopes of getting away, of getting back to Cascade. The man's eyes blazed with disgust--even hate--as he glared at Susan. "You're an idiot, Susan." Grabbing the front of Blair's jacket, he pushed him down hard into a nearby chair. "You think this lying hippie is going to waltz into his office, turn over the papers, and that'll be the end of it?"

  "We'll have the information and with Stoddard in a coma-"

  "You think I give a damn about that information?" Jerry moved to her, literally towering over her. "This isn't about your thesis anymore, Susan. It's about me."

  When Susan remained silent, only gaping at him in surprise, Jerry huffed out an angry sigh, then pushed past her, pacing the same length of the office she had paced earlier. "Do you really think I brought him out here so you could talk to him? Even if he keeps his promise to drop this entire thing, he still knows we took out Stoddard. And that's a whole different ball game." He glared down at Blair. "I know you and that cop buddy of yours have been trying to find out who hit that old man for days now. I know you won't drop that investigation no matter what you say. So I'm going to drop it for you."

  Blair's heart pounded heavily in his chest as the threat slammed into him.

  "What are you saying?" Susan breathed, her voice edged with worry.

  Jerry's attention shifted to her. "Exactly what you said. I plan to get rid of him. Forever."

  Susan paled, staggering backward slightly, one hand lifting to her throat as she seemed to finally grasp exactly what was happening. "J-Jerry," she stammered out, "I was just trying to scare him. I didn't really mean-"

  "Don't you think he knows that!" he shouted. "You're bluffing. He's bluffing. Everyone is bluffing here except me." He stalked up to her, his eyes blazing with rage. "I told you from the beginning to let me handle this, do it my way. But you thought you were so smart. You wanted to talk to Stoddard, but I knew the real solution was to kill him. Unfortunately, my aim was off. But that can be fixed," he promised darkly. "Then you wanted to try to scare the hippie away by slashing his tires. When that didn't work you fell back on your 'let's talk with him' routine."

  Jerry glared down at Susan. His fist clenched and unclenched at his side. "Did you give any thought to what could still happen after this talk? Of course not! You may be bright in the academic world, Susan, but you are flat out stupid when it comes to dealing with problems. There are some problems that just won't go away by simply talking about them."