Peter Caine closed his eyes and reached out into the elements. Energy began to circle around him. That glow from years ago, wrapped around his field of vision. Building and massing into waves of electricity. Opening his mind and body, Peter surrendered himself to accept the energy of nature. The power of the howling winds flooded into his fingertips with a rush. It thundered into his body with an intensity which threatened to burst his heart. *Control the energy, Peter. Do not be consumed,* called that distant voice from years ago. Summoning the discipline of his training, he grasped the power and focused it into his limbs. Into his lungs and empty stomach. Once he'd fortified himself, Peter relaxed from his trance and felt the power of nature fade back into the chilled air.

The screaming pain was temporarily eased. Fortified by the infusion of energy, he was strong enough to move. The urge to collapse was gone. For the moment. Now he could once again focus on the goal. Help for the broken body he'd left miles behind him.

Kat was completely silent. Staring up at him with bright green eyes twinkling. Awestruck by what her tiny body had just felt. Peter pulled her up so that her could kiss her curly head. "You felt it, too, didn't you, Tadpole? Maybe your daddy will let me teach you a few of my tricks one day." She giggled in reply and he smiled. This child had no idea the peril they were all trapped in.

Neither did Peter Caine...until he saw the wolf growling at them from fifteen feet away. The animal was a dirty gray with hackles spiking and mouth snarling. The slightest trail of foam dripped from his mouth as the animal bared it's fangs at his intended prey.

Peter rooted himself to the spot. No sudden movements. No sound. No way out. With Kat in his arms, battling the beast one-on-one wasn't an option. He had to come up a way to dig them out of this disaster. *If it's not one thing, it's another. Right, kid?*

*******

Paul and Kermit were driving back up the same stretch of highway they'd driven the night before. In silence. Kermit's wheels were spinning on nothing but coffee and desperation. If someone had kidnapped them, this driving was useless. There had been no phone calls. Anyone from his past wouldn't skip the enjoyment of making him suffer by claiming credit. Peter's enemies, he wasn't so sure about.

Right now, this highway was the only focus. When he had talked to Savannah on the phone, he guessed that she and Peter had been about where he and Paul were now. What had happened after that?

He couldn't think about that now. If he thought about them hurt or dead, he'd lose control. What good would he be to them then? Using every bit of reason that remained, he pushed those vile mental pictures out of his mind. Think. Dammit. Pay attention. There must be something you missed on this highway last night.

Then he saw it. "Crystal Springs - 12 miles" the sign read. The advertisement below literally flashed out at him. "STOP!" he yelled. Paul skidded to a stop at the small gravel road.

"What is it? Did you see something?"

"That sign. Drive down this road and we'll check there," Kermit directed as his heart started pounding.

"Now, wait a minute. What makes you think they went there, Kermit?"

"You see that sign," he pointed to the ad for the antique store. For the first time since this ordeal began, he smiled. "That sign would be a Savannah-magnet. She's dragged me through every antique shop between here and Canada. They were going to stop and let the baby unwind for a while. I'd bet a million that this is the place."

"Peter was paranoid about being late. Do you think he'd go twelve miles out of the way just because Savannah wanted to shop?"

Kermit laughed out loud now. A lead. What he'd been waiting for hours to stumble across. "My wife could rule the world by batting her eyelashes. Peter Caine would be at her mercy."

That was enough for Paul. A shot in the dark was better than nothing at all. He turned onto the road and sped toward Crystal Springs.

When they reached the little town, they headed straight to the antique shop. The clerk hadn't seen them but she hadn't been there the previous day. She suggested they try the cafe down the street. Kermit walked in and sank down on a stool at the counter. Paul decided to check out some other shops on the street.

Chrissy walked over to wait on her new customer. Another stranger. This one looked like he'd been put through the ringer. He was a tall man, in his forties. Dark hair streaked with gray. His clothes looked like he'd slept in them and if he removed the sunglasses he was wearing, Chrissy was certain she'd see dark circles under his eyes. The weight of the world seemed to be on this man.

"What can I get for you, mister?"

Kermit looked up and pulled out the picture of Savannah and Kat. "Have you seen this woman? She and the baby would have been here yesterday. They would have been with a man with..."

"Sure. They were here. That baby is just precious! Oh, wait..." She dropped down behind the counter. When she came back up, she had Kat's toy in her hand. "The baby dropped this. I was hoping they would come back for it."

Kermit took the frog from her and pulled it to him. It smelled like her. That sweet, baby smell of powder and innocence. He closed his eyes and thought of her gnawing on Froggie. Those teeth were really giving her a hard time. She needed this right now.

"You're her father, aren't you?" Peter had told Chrissy that he was driving his friend's wife and daughter to some cabin somewhere. She had laughed at his monumental effort to let her know that he was absolutely single. "Has something happened to them?"

"They're missing," he said, still holding onto his little piece of Kat. "How long were they here? Anything you can tell me might be important."

"They were here at about this same time yesterday. Guess they stayed here about forty-five minutes or so then they left." The man had pulled off his glasses. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking. "They did have a little trouble while they were here."

Kermit sat up. "What kind of trouble?"

"Well, we have three resident drunks who come into town once a week and harass people. Even the nicest places have a few jerks, huh? This is such a little bump in the road, the only law we have is the county sheriff who's never around. Anyway, these guys tried to manhandle your wife and your friend kicked their butts all over the street," Chrissy laughed. "Most entertainment we've had here in months. Somebody needed to teach those guys a lesson."

The anger was warming him up in a hurry. Thinking that somebody tried to hurt her....He could rip somebody's fucking head off right now. Now his rage had a focus.

"Mister, if something happened to them after they left, I'd bet those guys had something to do with it. They can be real nasty."

"Who are they and where," he said, putting his glasses back in place.

"Deke's the big guy," she said, pointing out the window to three men leaning on a pickup truck across the street. "Joe and Raff are the two winners with him."

Before she finished, Kermit was already out the door and stalking across the street. Paul, who had already gotten the same story from a man in the hardware store, was trying to intercept him. He'd called the sheriff and he was on his way there. As wound up as Kermit was, he could do anything.

Before anyone had a chance to react, Kermit had Deke down on the hood of the truck, hands around his throat. "Heard you had a problem with my wife yesterday?"

Paul opened his jacket, revealing the gun tucked into his belt to warn off the other two men. Not willing to take a bullet for their partner in crime, the men backed off.

"I...don't know...what the hell you're talkin' about." Deke was turning red and tugging on Kermit's arm.

"Oh, now, don't lie. Your nose might grow and I'd have to cut it off," Kermit hissed into his face.

"Oh...that blonde? Yeah...yeah. We were just kidding around with her then we left," he lied, trying to get the enraged man off of him. Deke's mouth got the better of him and he added, "If you can't find your ole lady, maybe she's wrapped around that guy she was so friendly with." That remark earned him a mouth full of the ex-mercenary's fist.

This was getting out of control fast. Paul noticed one of the men actually biting his nails. He knew something. Kermit was squeezing the wrong guy. This guy was a loud-mouthed asshole. If he knew anything, he probably wasn't going to tell. They needed to focus on the other guy. Paul grabbed the back of Kermit's coat and tried to pull him off. "Kermit. Let him go."

Kermit kept his grip on the man's throat. This was his only link to Savannah and he wasn't letting it go. "You're not giving orders anymore, Paul. The mission's over and if this bastard doesn't tell me what I want to know, I'm tearing his sorry head off! Then I'm moving on to the other two," he yelled and gave Deke's head another slam onto the hood.

The sheriff's car pulled to a stop in front of the confrontation. When he got out, the guy who'd been chewing his nails, Joe, started running. Paul chased him, tackling him and pinning his arms behind his back. "Now, do you want to tell me your little secret, buddy?" Paul asked as he sat there, his knee in the man's back.

Joe had never been much on fortitude. What they'd done was way beyond whistling at women and breaking beer bottles on cars. There was a baby in that truck. He was a coward but he wasn't going to jail to protect those other two. "I tried to stop him. Honest," Joe gasped as he squirmed in the dirt.

"SHUT UP, JOE!" screamed Deke. Kermit flung him onto the ground and headed toward Paul. The sheriff collected Deke and his partner and put them in cuffs for safekeeping then stowed them in his car.

Paul had pulled the man to his feet when Kermit threw himself at him. Grabbing two fists full of Joe's shirt, he pasted him against the wall. "Tell me! What did you do?" the detective spat into his face.

The sheriff forced himself between Kermit and his rattled suspect. "Joe, you fess up or I'm gonna let this man loose on you."

"Okay! Okay!" he begged. "Get him off me."

Reluctantly, Kermit released the man. "Deke said we were just going to get even with the guy for the fight. We followed 'em when they drove out of town. We were just gonna stop the truck and kick the shit outta the guy. That's what Deke said." Joe was staring at his shoes. "But the guy wouldn't stop. We chased him down every back road in the county for fifteen minutes. Raff shot out one of his tires and he went off the road and wrecked."

Kermit's face turned ashen. He was clenching his fists. All he could envision was a fiery wreck. Kat and Savannah. His whole life going up in flames. Somebody was going to die for this.

The sheriff moved in on Joe. "Did you check to see if they were alive, you little shit?!"

Joe, still staring at the dirt on his boots, said, "No. It was on Boone Road, Sheriff. It's a hell of a drop."

"Get in the car," Paul said, shoving Joe toward his vehicle. "You're gonna take us there." Kermit, on the other hand, went straight to the patrol car, with the sheriff on his heels. He pulled Deke out through the window by his hair.

"You'd better pray these locals hide you, you son-of-a-bitch," Kermit growled into the man's face. "After I find them, I'm coming back for you and I'm gonna do things to you hell hasn't even thought of yet. If they're dead, you'll die. No matter how many I have to take out to get to you. Say your prayers...while you have the time."

*****

"Nice doggie," Peter whispered to the snarling, gray animal. Backing slowly away, he sized up his new obstacle. No weapon. No safe haven for the baby. No way to fight the enraged creature foaming to sink its teeth into a newfound enemy. Animal instinct soaked up the detective's fear and spurred the beast's fury.

Both hunter and prey circled one another. Searching and waiting for a weakness. Any object Peter selected to hurl at the wolf would only serve to aggravate the challenge. Running would be useless. Four legs could beat two any day of the week. Especially two banged-up legs carrying a baby.

Peter dug down into his soul. Trying to center himself. Trying to use the power of the spirit to find a solution. Perhaps he could focus his energy into the spirit of the anim....

Before his thought could complete itself, Kat began to whine and wiggle inside his jacket. The killer instinct of the stalking animal locked onto the target. Flying through the air with the grace of a fine-tuned killing machine, the wolf lunged toward them.

Reason faded. Reflex and training commanded Peter's limbs. Power resonated from his hands as he swooped them forward to force the energy of the wind and his life-force outward. Capturing the charging beast in mid-air. For one terrifying moment, the wolf paused in space. Suspended by the swirling forces of nature. Then, he crashed backwards into the ground. Yelping and limping, the beast retreated in search of less fortified prey.

Time to revel in success was nonexistent. His act of preservation cost Peter the reserves he had left. Will was all that remained. Every step had to be ordered. Body battling against the mind. One screaming for rest. One screaming for deliverance and forward motion.

The pain in his knee was throbbing with a jagged rhythm. Sweat had mingled with the blood on his forehead and had begun dripping into his eyes once again. They had reached the two hour mark. His little "energy boosting" trick had lost its effects. Kat was wet, hungry, and howling. *Go ahead and cry, Tadpole. Might do it myself,* he thought, patting her back through his jacket. Peter Caine had faced the fact hours ago that when help arrived for Savannah, it would probably be too late. A heartbreaking reality. But Katherine was alive and well. For now. If he had to crawl on hands and knees to get her home, he would. Peter was her only ticket back to her father.

Peter had his hands resting on the side of the cliff. This was the lowest point he'd found. He couldn't go on walking. This was the point where he would make his attempt to reach the road and freedom for both of them. "Hold on tight, kid."

Peter tightened the strings at the bottom of his jacket and zipped Kat more firmly into his chest. Wrapping the hand of his good arm around a root, he pulled himself up the steep grade. *There must be some Shaolin trick for one-handed climbing, huh, Pop?*

The pain in his body was screaming almost as loudly as the baby in his coat. As was his regret. The remaining fifteen feet might as well be fifty. He tried repeatedly and failed to make one inch of progress. *Dammit, this can't happen. What the hell am I going to do?* In the moment of his despair, he heard salvation. Coming down that unreachable gravel road.

His heart pounding, Peter knew he had to find a way to bring whoever was in that car, to him. At the bottom of a cliff. Unseen from the road. In a flash of inspiration, he remembered the mirror in his pocket. He backed away from the wall of the cliff and held the mirror directly above his head. A ray of sunlight connected with the glass and flashed a blinding light upward.

*****

The sheriff was flying down obscure gravel roads. Joe sat in the passenger seat, now resigned to whatever fate awaited him. On his own now. Deke and Raff were in the hands of a deputy. He understood that they were traveling down a road that would more than likely lead to three dead bodies. Past the point of caring about his fate, Joe spoke up, "It's about five miles down, Sheriff."

Kermit held onto the door handle. Grasping the metal to keep from smashing his fist into Joe's skull. If his family had died at the bottom of one of these cliffs...Joe would be the first of the three killers to meet his maker. The detective's stare bore an imaginary hole into the object of his hatred. Envisioning how he'd make him beg, and suffer, and die....

Paul was focused on Kermit. He knew what Kermit was feeling. The thought of finding his son broken and lifeless twisted in his mind also. Paul knew what Kermit would become at the sight of his dead family. What Paul was uncertain about was whether or not he would stop him from killing those men. At this moment, he couldn't be sure if he could or would stop him. Free agents like Kermit and himself had dispensed justice...their own brand of justice...around the world. In places where no law existed, except their own. Those instincts would take over. Their justice would be swift and bloody. Red hot revenge.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!!" The sheriff yelled as he slammed on the brakes. The patrol car did a 360 in the middle of the gravel, spraying dust and rock into a cloud.

Paul shook his head to get his bearings and shouted, "Dammit, what was that?"

The sheriff, white after his near trip off the side of the road, answered, "You saw it too? Damn near blinded me!"

"What? What did you see!?" Kermit was yelling and coming out of the side of the car. Paul was running over to the side of the cliff with Kermit on his heels. Peering over the side, Paul was greeted by the sight of his battered but grinning son - holding the rearview mirror of a car in his hand. A dark curly head was peeking up from his jacket.

"Hey, Dad...what took you so long?" Relaxing, he fell back against a boulder. Time for someone else to take over.

Kermit was all business. The sheriff had already slapped a rope into his hand after anchoring it to his patrol car. The rope burned into his palms as he descended. Ignoring his raw hands, Kermit slid down the side of the cliff to land beside the younger detective.

"Look who's here, Tadpole." Peter unzipped his jacket to free the hyper child to fall into her father's trembling hands.

"Da-da-da-da!" Kat squealed her delight at her father's touch.

Her dirty little face was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Kermit crushed her into his chest, choking back the tears of exhaustion and relief that threatened to streak down his face. Quickly, he examined the scrapes on her rosy cheeks and found them to be only superficial. "Oh, baby. Daddy's here," he cooed into her ear as she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the tattered chew toy she'd been deprived of. "Froggie missed you...almost as much as Daddy."

"Eeeeeeee!" She gasped with joy at her friend's return, immediately jamming a frog leg into her mouth.

Paul had joined them and wrapped his arms around his son. "You look like hell."

"You would, too, if some assholes drove you off a cliff and...."

"Where's Savannah?" Kermit pulled his attention away from his child and focused on his wife. She wasn't here. That meant one of two things....

"She's back there," he pointed in the direction of his two hour trek. "'Bout five miles. Hurt too badly to move." Urgency flooded out of his every pore. "Kermit, she was alive when I left her but you've got to get to her...quick."

The brief moment of peace he'd experienced faded back into dread. He and Paul put their energies into getting Peter and Kat back up to the car then raced the remaining miles to the wreck.

By the time they reached the sight of the accident, the two rescue units the sheriff had summoned had caught up to them. Kermit handed his daughter over to one of the volunteer fireman that manned the unit and went after his wife. This time, the repel was more difficult. He hit the ground beside the twisted wreck. That anyone had walked away from that mangled pile of sheet metal was beyond luck. Savannah's luck was ticking away. Before Paul or the rescue team could join him, he tore out through the trees to get to her.

*****

In the middle of her swirling delirium, Savannah Griffin was trying to hold on to any remaining shred of reality. Visions of her husband would appear and fade. Instant relief, then sorrow. The sounds of Kat crying begged her to rise and search. Then the cries would fade into howling wind, then the howling of animals. Twice, she raised the gun to fire into the terrifying sounds and failed.

The pain in her body had been replaced by a frightening numbness. All that remained was the raging heat. Comforting warmth lulling her into sleep. As her consciousness faded in and out, she prayed. Prayed for the strength to hold on. He would come. She knew he would come. She prayed that he wouldn't come down that hill to find her dead body. For his sake and hers.

What remained of her hearing locked onto a crashing sound approaching from her right. Branches snapping with the force of tremendous pressure. The howling was once again burning into her mind. *Shoot anything...* she thought. Peter's gun felt cool in her palm. Savannah could hear the rapid advance. Summoning her last reserves, she raised the weapon and fired in the direction of the attack.

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