Silbie raised her nightshirt to make sure she still had on her panties.

Logan made a strangled noise. Something between disgust and exasperation. She wasn't sure which.

"Are you kidding me? You think I'd undress you while you were sleeping? Jesus, Silbie. I know I aggravate you, and I realize now that the set incident was sexual assault, and I'm sorry. I don't want you to worry about me. It won't happen again. I'm not a perv." In one motion, he rolled out of bed and headed for the door.

Silbie came to her feet. "Stop! It's just—seeing you in bed with me—well—I..." She couldn't finish the sentence because she didn't know what she thought. But, his expression broke her heart. She had to fix this. With two more movies ahead of them they needed to have a good relationship.

He turned to face her. "I know you're serious about some guy. All the flirting shit I do is just—well, according to my therapist, a defense mechanism. I got in bed with you because sleeping on the couch was killing my back. It was broken when I was twelve, so I already have the spine of a seventy-year-old. Look, I even stacked pillows between us so we wouldn't touch."

Now she felt worse than ever. He'd never complained during the few action scenes they'd done together. There was so much she didn't know about him. Maybe it was time to change that. "What do you mean a defense mechanism?"

"You don't really want to know about my weird psyche, do you?" He rubbed the back of his neck, then leaned against the jamb. "Cause I'm one messed up dude."

She sat on the edge of the bed and patted the area next to her. "Come here. Tell me all about Logan Foster."

At first, he hesitated, and she thought he might leave, but then he moved to the bed and sat beside her, leaving enough distance so they didn't touch.

"Dr. Minton says I joke around so if someone doesn't like me, I can blame it on the teasing. You know—not the fact they don't like me. The real me."

"But doesn't that trait show the real you?"

"It's complicated. Has to do with me trying to be accepted into all those foster homes. Joking identifies with happiness, and everybody likes a happy person. At least most do. Didn't work out for me so much. But I guess it's a good theory."

"How'd you break your back?"

His bottom lip quivered and he turned away for a moment, then faced her, his eyes hard and cold. She'd never seen him like this. Clearly, a serious injury at such a young age had left more than physical scars. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"One of my foster dads threw me down the stairs."

A gasp caught in the back of Silbie's throat. "Oh, my God. Logan. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. At least it got me away from him. The next home wasn't so bad. Dr. Shrinky-Dink, she hates it when I call her that, anyway, she says everything that happens, good or bad, plays a part in where we end up, and since I've landed in the movies, I need to let go of the anger."

"Have you?"

"Hell, no. But, I'm working on it. Having Jolene in my corner helps. Man, that day she came home and found me in her pool, I thought she might kill me, or call the cops."

Silbie scooted to the head of the bed, propped pillows behind her, and covered herself with the sheet. If Logan's doctor wanted him to talk, then maybe Silbie should encourage him. "I thought she approached you at your job, but you were at her house?"

Logan stretched out across the mattress and rested his chin in his elbow. "I was working for a landscape company. My boss dropped me and another guy off that morning to finish laying sod and planting shrubs at Jolene's. She wasn't home, so Jeff said if it we got it in gear and finished before our ride came back, we should take a dip in the pool.

"We stripped to our underwear and jumped in. We hadn't been splashing around long when she came out of the house, red hair flying, waving a pistol, and screaming like a banshee. I jumped out of the water in one quick leap. Jeff was like a deer in headlights.

"God, she was scary as hell. She narrowed her eyes, swung the gun back and forth between us, and said, 'y'all didn't pee in my pool, did-ja?'"

Logan burst out laughing. "It's funny now, but at the time I feared for my life. Jo is terrifying."

Silbie laughed too, because she could just see the scene play out. "What did you say?"

"No, ma'am. She stepped back and eyed me. Told me to stand up straight. Turn around. At that point, I was willing to do whatever she wanted to keep from being shot. Then she said the last thing I ever expected to hear. She asked if I'd ever thought about being in the movies. I decided she was nuts. Which made her more dangerous.

"Anyway, I owe everything to her." Logan slid off the bed and stood.

Apparently, their session was over.

"I'll go back to the couch."

"Stay. You take the bed. I'll double up with Maia. That's what I should have done to begin with. I was being a bitch. Sorry."

"I deserved it. You're right. I should have called before showing up here unannounced. But I'll fix it. Tomorrow, I'll go back to California. Hopefully, the paparazzi will go with me."

"No. I don't want you to do that. Maybe if we give them what they want, they'll leave. I think half their fun is trying to get pictures of people who try to avoid them. Let's take a new approach. Act like we don't care. Hell, even pose for them."

"Reverse psychology?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, but that means we'll have to get a little touchy-feely. We need some ground rules, so I don't overstep."

She smiled. "As long as you keep your tongue in your mouth and not mine, I'll be okay."

Owen worried his captors were losing interest. They weren't taking him out to play as often. During his last covert visit with the other prisoner, Sam explained a new cement plant had opened, and since many of the village men had taken jobs there, they were probably too tired for night hunting.

If he and Sam no longer provided entertainment, how long before... He couldn't finish the thought. He wouldn't allow himself to give up hope. Sam mentioned the captors wanted money. Surely, they'd make a ransom request. Even so, the US didn't pay for the release of prisoners. Not even civilians.

Still, there was a glimmer of hope. Dante could borrow against the company. If it was still growing like it had been when Owen left, then the value was substantial. Maybe not enough for the amount they'd ask, but this place was almost a slum, so they might take what they could get.

Snooki set after a gnat that got caught in her web. You need to break out of this place.

"Yes, Snooki. I know I do. But, as you pointed out earlier, what would I do for food or water? Who the hell knows how far it is to the next city? If it's more than three days on foot, no way I can make it. With my bum leg, I might not even make that."

"They're going to make the money demand tomorrow."

At first, Owen thought he must be losing it because he actually heard that. God, he was going insane. Bad enough, he talked to a spider, but now she really was talking back! He snapped his head toward her web where she worked to spin the bug into a cocoon.

"Are you talking to me," he asked.

"Yes, I am," Sam Fields said.

Owen drew a breath, and rushed to the back wall of his hut. "Thank God. I thought I was losing my mind. How do you know about the demand?"

"I heard some men talking. They have my phone. They want to make a video and send it to my contacts. There's no reception here, so they're taking us somewhere else. Not sure where. I gotta get back."

Before Owen could ask more questions, Sam was gone.

There's your chance to escape.

"Maybe. Without a time, location, number of guards, or means of transportation, there's no way to put a plan in place. It'll have to be a spur of the moment attempt. Those don't always go well. Especially, since Sam and I can't collaborate beforehand.

"Besides, if someone comes up with the payoff, we could be out of here in a matter of days without risking our lives. This trip will give us a chance to measure how far we have to go before we see another town. Then we can put a plan in place. Escape before the exchange is made—or they decide to kill us."

For the last few weeks, Dante's life had turned upside down. He'd met the HBI. Board of directors. Three men, two women. A privately-owned company, with Bea the principal stockholder, the directors seemed more of a formality. Even if they all joined together, they couldn't outvote her. He was beginning to understand what a shrewd businesswoman she was.

With her plans for his real estate company in the works, and a manager already in place, that freed Dante to travel with her.

He followed her into Brook Meadows Country Club, pausing to let her to introduce him to the Dallas Cowboys owner and the city mayor. Awestruck, Dante mumbled his greetings. Damn, did people in Parkers Prairie, Texas know how connected and rich Bea really was? He doubted it.

She'd surprised him again by knowing the man they were about to meet. How often did a person need the services of private search and rescue teams?

When they entered the meeting room, a man who looked to be in his forties, rose and offered a handshake to Bea, then him.

"Vince Granaderos. Nice to meet you both."

"Likewise, Colonel."

"Please, just Vince or Granaderos. I've been retired a while now." He motioned to the chairs opposite him. Once seated, he spoke again. "Since last night's phone conversation, there's been a development. The Chicago Sun-Times received a video sent from a man named Sam Fields. He's a regular travel contributor to the paper."

Granaderos focused on Dante. "Your brother is also in the clip." He palmed his phone and turned it for Dante and Bea to view.

His chest tightened as Owen came on the screen, looking more like a corpse than the brother he knew. He studied every detail from the video-four men wearing hoods and clutching rifles, Owen and Fields barely standing against the gray concrete walls. Not much to go on. Owen's voice filtered up through the phone.

When the recording ended, Dante shook his head. "Something's not right. He said to tell Hezit to pay the money. Who the hell is Hezit?"

"You sure he doesn't know anyone by that name?"

"I don't know every person he's ever met, but any guy with enough money to pay a quarter million dollars? Yeah, pretty sure I'd know him."

The Colonel nodded. "Just a second." He tapped his phone several times, typed the keypad, then turned his attention back to Dante. "I have my Intel division, along with my investigation department on it."

"Aren't those basically the same thing?"

"No. Intel will study everything in the video. They'll break it down frame by frame, looking for any clue to the location or who made it. The other department will search for a connection to Hezit. If your brother has ever had any social media contact, legal agreements, private purLogans, memberships, fraternity affiliation—hell, if he's ever dated someone named Hezit, we'll find it."

"How long will that take?"

"Could be hours. Could be days. My guys are the best in the field. They may get lucky and find him right away. Since you're in real estate, ever sold a house to someone by that name?"

Dante ran his hand through his hair. Did this guy really think he remembered every sale they'd made? "If this guy has that kind of money, he probably bought a high-dollar property, and I wouldn't forget that kind of deal. Just curious as to why the video was sent to you."

"It wasn't. Once your wife contacted my company about a possible rescue, I communicated with the Army. Since the demand included a soldier, the Times turned the communication over to them, and in return, they called me. Little known fact—the military contracts rescues. We do the work. They get the glory."

Bea cocked her head. "So, does that mean our deal is off and you're working for them?"

"No. Still working for you, but we'll use their aircraft and closest landing strip. They'll also have eyes on us during the mission."

"Why do that when they probably have military in the area?" Dante asked.

"Because it's what we do and gives them plausible deniability if things go south. Every branch of the military is represented in my company. Only the best of the best. We've completed assignments in some of the most difficult and extreme environments in the world. Central and South America, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, just to name a few.

"Even though we specialize in search and rescue, we also offer a suite of Security consulting and training programs. Everything from risk mitigation to tactical for international private entities as well as foreign governments."

Granaderos' phone chimed. He read the text and smiled. "We have a location."

Bea leaned forward. "You're kidding."

"No, ma'am. Sometimes the obvious choice cracks the code." He swung his attention to Dante. "Hezit spelled backwards—your brother is in Tiz'eh, Iran."

How do we feel about Logan now?

And snapppp, things finally started to amp up for Owen.

TEASER: "I know. I wanted a private moment with you."