Lance returned to the den a few minutes later with the phone in his hand and a stunned look on his face. He sat down in the chair beside Tabitha, but didn't say a word.

"Lance, what happened ? Did you talk to the other guys ?" Tabitha prodded, trying to get him to speak.

"Yeah, I talked to Justin. He's going to call the other guys to meet us here. Then we'll figure out a plan."

"That's good, right ?" Tabitha was confused by the look on Lance's face. Why was he so upset by his conversation with Justin ?

"Yeah, that's good. Tabs, um, there's something else."

"What ? What is it ?"

"Your townhouse..it's gone. Darden must have set it on fire," Lance spoke slowly as if to make sure that he worded it carefully enough for her to understand.

"No. There must be some mistake," Tabitha protested in a whisper. She didn't dare look at Ariel to find out her reaction.

"No, Justin was positive. He heard the sirens and he went to see where the fire was. It's all gone...completely burned to the ground."

"Everything ? Nothing is left ?" Lance's words were starting to sink in. Everything that she'd owned was in that townhouse including the only pictures she had of her parents. Tabitha's vision began to blur with tears once more. She felt Ariel cling to her tightly and refuse to leave her when Lance tried to coax her into his arms. She heard the doorbell ring a few minutes later and Lance rush to answer it. This noise was followed by whispering between Lance and Justin. She heard Justin talking to Ariel and convincing her to come to him for a minute. Then she felt Lance wrap his arms around her, trying to comfort her, but nothing he could say or do was going to help the situation now. After a while, her vision went black and she passed out.

Tabitha awoke to find herself in Lance's bedroom with Ariel lying beside her. Ariel was still awake, eyes staring at the ceiling blankly. Tabitha's face was sticky with dried tears so she got up to wash her face. As she moved on the bed, Ariel turned to her and grabbed her arm. Don't leave me, she mouthed.

"I'm not leaving you, sweetie. I was just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back, I promise," Tabitha assured her. Ariel nodded and went back to staring at the ceiling. Tabitha hurried to wash her face and get back to her daughter.

When she returned to the bedroom, Lance was sitting on the bed talking to Ariel. He looked up as Tabitha sat down beside him and he sighed.

"Is she going to be OK ?"

"Of course. We've been through tough times before and we made it. This time is just a little different, that's all."

"I'm sorry. I feel like all of this is my fault," Lance apologized.

"Why would you think that ?"

"Because if I hadn't left you six years ago when you were pregnant with Ariel, you'd never met Darden and he'd never done all of this to you."

"That's true, but then I'd never have had Adam, and I wouldn't give him up for anything."

"Not even 20 million dollars ?" Lance joked weakly.

"Did you guys come up with a plan ?" Tabitha questioned as she tried to shake herself back to reality. While she was sleeping, her dreams had been of her life being perfect and having Adam back. It was difficult to remember all that had happened in just a few hours.

"Yeah, I think so. The only problem is that Darden hasn't told us where to bring the money yet."

"You guys have the 20 million dollars ?" Tabitha asked incredulously.

"Of course not. We're not giving that asshole any of our money. We have a better plan than that."

"So what is the better plan ?" Tabitha wasn't sure that ignoring Darden's request for money was going to work.

"We're going to gather all our security guards from when we toured and the police and we're going to meet him with enough firepower to blow him away."

"Excuse me ? Who's going to do the shooting ? I know that you hunt, but what about the other guys ? I wouldn't even let Chris or Justin near a gun."

"We're not going to be the ones with guns, just the police and security. All of them with guns will be enough without us arming ourselves. We're just going to be there as a distraction to get Adam out safely."

"How do you know that Darden won't kill Adam if he finds out you don't have the money ?"

"We don't, but we're confident that the police can take him down before he does anything to Adam."

"I wish I was as confident as you are," Tabitha sighed. She didn't like the plan at all, but she knew that it was all they could do. She was afraid that they'd all be killed, including Adam.

"I know. You're just going to have to trust me. We can do this," Lance assured her as the phone rang. "I'll get it. Hello ?"

"Put her on the phone."

"Put who on the phone ?" Lance asked as if he didn't already know.

"Tabitha ! Put her on the phone right now or the kid gets it."

"Ok, just a minute. Don't do anything," Lance handed the phone to Tabitha quickly. It's Darden, he mouthed.

"I'm here, I'm here."

"Good, don't let your loverboy answer that phone again or you'll be sorry. Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. I want you to meet me at our secret place tomorrow morning at 6:00. Bring the money and you'll get Adam back safe and sound. If you don't have it, then you'll find me, but you'll never find Adam," Darden laughed evilly.

"No, wait !" Tabitha begged. She knew it was pointless to argue with Darden, but she had to try. Unfortunately, Darden had hung up and wouldn't listen to her anyway.

"What did he say ?" Lance questioned.

"He wants me to meet him at our secret place tomorrow morning at 6. He said that he'll give me Adam if I have the money, but that I'll never see Adam again if I don't," Tabitha sobbed.

"Don't cry. Our plan is going to work, I promise."

"Lance is right. Our plan is foolproof. Darden can't fight off all of us," Justin backed up Lance's words as he entered the room.

"Where is your secret place, anyway ?" Lance inquired.

"It's at his cabin in North Carolina. We went there a couple of times while we were dating."

"Do you know how to find it ?" Justin asked the question this time.

"Yeah, it's easy to find although it's pretty far from civilization. Our cell phones won't work so we'll have to have another way to contact someone if we need help."

They were all sitting there thinking over Tabitha's words when Ariel crawled into her mother's lap. She took her mother by the hand and led her downstairs to the den where they had been when Adam was kidnapped.

"What is it, sweetie ?" Tabitha was puzzled by Ariel's behavior. What was it that she was trying to tell her ?

Ariel pointed to the picture of their townhouse with the three of them standing in front of it. All gone ? she mouthed to her mother as she pointed to the house and then Adam.

"Oh honey. Yes, the house is gone, but we're going to get Adam back. Don't worry," Tabitha comforted Ariel as she held her in her arms.

Mama OK ? Ari OK ? Ariel asked soundlessly as she pointed to the two of them in the picture.

"Of course. Adam will be OK too, I promise." Ariel nodded in response to her mother's answers and then ran down the hall to the living room. Tabitha followed her and found her standing in the doorway, staring at the person sitting on the couch.

"What the hell are YOU doing here ?" Tabitha shouted at Amber.

"Back off bitch ! I was at Justin's house when Lance called and I came over here with Justin."

"Well get out ! We have enough problems without you being here," Tabitha ordered.

"Fine, I'm leaving, but this one goes with me," Amber stated as she brandished a knife. Tabitha backed away. What the hell was going on ?

Before she could move, Amber picked up Ariel and carried her out the door. She drove away with tires screeching and Tabitha trying to chase her down. Tabitha ran down the street as fast as she could, but finally had to slow down because she was out of breath. The last thing Tabitha saw was Ariel's scared face staring at her through the back window of Amber's Jeep. She sat down shakily on the sidewalk, face in her hands. How could all of this happen in just one day ? She didn't understand why Amber had kidnapped Ariel. Was this some kind of coincidence or was she connected to Darden somehow ? A series of flashbacks clicked through her mind with Amber being the common factor in all of them. All of a sudden, she looked up and realized that Amber was Darden's little sister. Tabitha had never realized that before because Amber had changed her appearance drastically. She had highlighted her brown hair, put in blue contacts, and she had lost about 50 pounds. She was also three years older than the last time Tabitha had seen her.

Tabitha stood up and wiped off her pants. She raced back to the house to tell Justin and Lance what had happened. The sight that met her eyes was almost too much of a shock for her system. Justin and Lance were standing outside Lance's house, watching it burn.

"Oh my God," Tabitha swore as she reached Lance's side. "They're a family of damn pyros."

"What are you talking about ?" Lance queried as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Amber. She's Darden's little sister. She kidnapped Ariel and then she must have set the house on fire right before she left. Maybe she had it on a timer or something. I don't know, but we've got to get to the cabin as soon as possible. I don't care if we get there before 6 in the morning. I want my kids back and I want them back now !"

"Amber did this ?" Justin asked incredulously. He couldn't believe his girlfriend was capable of something like this.

"Yes, I knew she was trouble."

"Why didn't you recognize her before now ?" Lance spoke once again.

"She's changed a lot since the last time I saw her. She must have done it so she could help her brother terrorize me. She never did like me and after Darden left, her hatred must have been fueled by his accusations that I cheated on him with Lance."

"I thought she liked me," Justin said weakly. He felt physically sick that he had been dating someone like Amber.

"I'm sorry guys. This is my fault," Tabitha apologized.

"No, don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong," Lance stated. Tabitha put her arms around him and held him tightly. She couldn't believe that both of their homes were gone.

"Let's go. We don't need to stay and watch this. Justin, can we go to your house and get things together ?"

"Sure. I'll call everyone and tell them to meet there immediately. I'll see you guys there in a few minutes," he finished as he got into his car.

Tabitha and Lance stood a few minutes more, holding tight onto each other and weeping over their lost belongings and family members. Then they climbed into Lance's car and rushed to Justin's house.