STOLEN CHANCES - PART NINETEEN

PREVIOUSLY

Viki says that she would call Carlotta and Todd hangs up the phone. He searches for a chair as his legs suddenly start to feel like they were made of rubber. Panic grips him and he has a dreadful feeling in his heart. He can call the penthouse and Viki can call Carlotta, but Todd knows in his heart that Tea won't turn up. He can feel that something is wrong. And it scares him to death that he doesn't know what.

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Todd walks into Llanfair, leading Michelle by the hand. They were met at the door by a police officer. Todd's heart fell into the bottom part of his stomach and he felt is legs go weak again. He looks around frantically until he finds his sister crying on the sofa.

"Viki? What's going on here? Did you hear something about them?" He runs over to where she's sitting, trying to read her face for clues as to what's going on with his apparently missing wife and children.

"Mr. Manning, a message was faxed here earlier regarding Mrs. Manning, your daughter Starr and a little boy named Ryan," a young officer tells him.

"Ryan's my son," Michelle says softly as the tears begin to flow down her face. Her head was starting to throb from her injuries, but the pain was only physical. Her little boy was missing and that fact brought on a pain far worse than a headache. Her heart was crying out in agony, longing for it's missing piece, found only in Ryan.

"Mrs. Carpenter called us as soon as it arrived," the officer continues. "It appears to be an FYI that this creep has got your family held someplace. My guess is that a ransom note is soon to follow. All we can do right now is search the area for your wife and the kids. They've only been gone a few hours, and if you've already gotten a message, chances are they're still in the state. And if the kidnappers want ransom, then they're probably some place pretty close. Don't worry. We'll find them."

"So basically, you think we should just sit around and either wait for you bumbling idiots to somehow stumble across my wife and kids, or we sit here and wait for the kidnappers to ask for ransom? There's no way I'm going to sit here and do nothing. That person stole everything that means anything to me and I'm not going to let him get away with it!" Todd yells to the officer.

"Mr. Manning, I'd advise you to calm down and have a seat." A voice from the doorway warns. They all turn around to see Commissioner Sykes coming into the room, guiding a distraught Blair. He leads her to one of the empty seats before walking up to confront Todd. "Believe me, Mr. Manning. There's nothing for you to do that won't make things worse for your wife." He stares at Todd until Todd sits back down, seemingly defeated.

"Now that the three of you are here together, I need to know something. Do any of you know anyone who would want to hurt your children? Who would kidnap them?" Sykes continues.

"Todd's the common link here. Why don't you ask him. It's not like he doesn't have people who want to kill him. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them snatched my little girl as some sort of payback," Blair hisses, looking over at Todd with a hateful glare. "And as far as she's concerned," she says pointing to Michelle, "I'm sure she's involved. I knew she would be trouble for Starr. I knew it the minute I saw her."

"Shut up, Blair. This is not the time time for your pettiness. My wife and my kids are gone. The only thing important here is finding them." Todd says sadly.

"Commissioner Sykes, I think I know who might have done this. You should check out a man named Roscoe. Roscoe Wallace," Michelle admits. "Roscoe and I have a bumpy past. He thinks I owe him something and he came to town to collect. After I wouldn't give in to him, he . . . he . . .", she breaks down into tears. Todd goes over to her and puts his arm around her.

"It's okay, Michelle. He can't hurt you anymore. Sykes, I found Michelle a few hours ago in her hotel suite unconscious and in a pool of her own blood. He tried to kill her," Todd finishes for her.

"Michelle, is this true? This Roscoe Wallace assaulted you tonight?" Sykes questions her. She nods her head and he continues. "And you have reason to believe that he may have kidnapped your son?"

"The guy was here tonight at the party. In fact, he was here with Blair! Blair, what's going on here? What do you know about this?" Todd demands to know. The question, however, is interrupted by the ringing of the fax machine. Another message was coming through. They all ran over to see if it was from the kidnapper. Everyone except Blair. She sat as if in a coma, suddenly aware that her involvement with Roscoe has something to do with her daughter being missing.

Sykes snatched the fax from the machine and began to read it. He passed it to Todd when he finished.

"The kidnapper's made a ransom demand," Sykes announces. "The details are in the fax."

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Tea is sitting in a small room, gently rocking Starr on her lap.

"Tee, I don't like this game. I want my mommy and daddy," Starr cries.

"I know sweetie. I know. But you know how sometimes your nanny cleans up your toys and after that, you can't find your favorite doll baby? Well, somebody came and picked us up and now your daddy doesn't know where to find us."

"But he'll find us, right Tee?"

"He'll find us, Mija. He has to," Tea says, hugging Starr tighter as the little girl begins to drift to sleep. "How are you doing over there?" she asks Ryan. He looks so scared. And she couldn't do anything about it. All she could do was love them the best that she could and that Todd found them soon.

"Do you think they'll really find us, Tea?" Ryan asks in a sad tone that broke Tea's heart. She lays the sleeping Starr on the bed and walks over to Ryan. He lays his head on her lap and begins to cry. "I'm scared. And I want my mommy and daddy, too."

They both sit there, crying together and comforting each other. They both jump when the door slams open.

"Isn't this sweet?" Roscoe retorts snidely. "Mama Tea and the little brat."

"What do you want with us?" she asks, standing up to face him.

"You certainly are a brave one. And beautiful too. I must admit that Mr. Manning has excellent taste in women. Michelle, the lovely Miss Cramer, and you. He got lucky 3 times in a row." He smiles as he lifts his hand to stroke her cheek.

"Keep your hands off of her!" Ryan yells, stepping between Roscoe and his stepmother. This attempt at bravery by the little boy amuses Roscoe.

"That's cute kid. Real cute. But don't do it again. I can hurt you, little boy and you don't want that," Roscoe says, his sinister grin turning into a scowl. "But if I don't get what I want by this time tomorrow, you'll know what it's like to be hurt. So, you better hope your daddy comes through for you," he says as he turns around and walks back out of the tiny room.

"Tea, I don't like him. He's mean and scary. What are we going to do?" Ryan cries.

"I don't know, honey. But we have to get out of here." But how, Tea wonders to herself. She couldn't let the kids know how scared she was. They needed to feel that she had everything in control. God, please let me know what to do. I have to get my kids to safety, she prays silently closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

A few hours later, she's awaken by the chiming of bells. She's heard those bells every hour since they've been there and was starting to get annoyed. Suddenly, she bolts up. THE BELLS AT THE CHURCH! She'd know them anywhere. They had a distinctive chime that she's never heard anywhere else. They were still in Llanview, she surmises. She couldn't believe it had taken her so long to realize. According to the bells, it was almost 4 a.m. She didn't have long before sunrise. If she was going to act, she had to act now.

"Ryan," she whispers, nudging the boy. "Ryan. Wake up." Ryan sits up, still halfway asleep. He rubs his eyes and looks around, realizing that he was still living his nightmare.

"Listen to me, Ryan. You have to be a brave little boy for me and get your sister out of here."

"How are we going to do that, Tea? That mean man is keeping us here and he wants to hurt us."

"I'm not going to let him hurt you, honey. But you have to go now, before he wakes up. Remember those bells we've been hearing? I know where they're coming from. We're really close to the church. That means, if you can get Starr there, you two will be safe. Do you think you can do that?"

Tea wakes up Starr and puts on her shoes and jacket, while Ryan works on opening the tiny window in the corner of the room. He's finally able to wedge it open enough for him and Starr to crawl through.

"Tea, aren't you coming?" Ryan asks before leaving.

"Sweetie, I can't. There's no way I could get up to the window. And I definitely couldn't squeeze through it. You have to take care of Starr for me until you find your dad. I have faith in you. I know you won't let anything happen to her," she says, giving a reasurring smile and kissing him on his forehead.

"Buena Suerte, mijos," she whispers as the two little children make their way out the window and on their way to freedom.

TO BE CONTINUED