"Like thieves in the night, they've come. Like thieves in the night, they'll be greeted!"

Steve had only moments before returned from the properties' hi-tech surveillance room. Installed and fully implemented more than twelve years prior, the room filled with the best electronic, computerized equipment the industry had to offer, could easily rival those employed by the nation's security agencies. Both David and Steve insisted on the extreme need for security for their families' safety and the privacy they'd sought in purchasing the deserted strip of beachfront property.

Having moved into a room with a view of the beach, David Monfert turned from the telescope to face his friend. His son Jody was somewhere out there with people who had forced their way onto property that clearly informed the public that it was private. They forcibly retained his son and Steven's daughter, never bothering to announce their presence. Whatever they wanted one would assume it would also be forcibly demanded. Yet, he knew if there was anyone he trusted in the whole world it was Steve. In the past, he'd trusted Steve with his own life many times.

"So, what's our plan of action?" he asked. Dave was confident one was already being formulated in that calculating tool Steve called a mind.



---




Stephanie Monfert watched the wall of monitors programmed to comb the joint properties of Trawmon's Landing. She paid particular attention to those trained on the immediate beach and the grounds close around the two homes. With her electronics background, every piece of equipment in the room yielded exactly what she wished. In a matter of minutes, she'd have a complete picture of every heat projecting body on the properties.

Beside her, Paulette tried vainly to get through to the local sheriff's office. Either lines were down because of the storm or someone had insured no communications left the landing. The latter was her guess. Whoever those people were out there, they were not here without knowledge of the lay of the land. She didn't want to alarm the others, but they needed to know what they were up against.

"It seems we're cut off from the rest of the world," she informed Stephanie. "Whether from the approaching storm or our intruders I can't say. The only sounds I get are static and a recorded message to hang up and dial again."

"Paulie, we've got to do something about the kids. We don't know what these people's plans are. Hell, we don't even know who they are."

Paulette, the mother, agreed with Stephanie. She too had an urgent need to locate and secure her daughter. Yet, Paulette the pragmatist, respected her husband's ability to analyze a situation, coming to the correct conclusion more oft than not. Living with him the past eighteen plus years--including the one before they married--made her an authority on his rare talent.

Like Jody Monfert's uncanny abilities to read her daughter and the weather, Steve Trawberg could size up, sum up, and divert take overs. After all, that was his business. He'd done it every day of his life for more than twenty years, and he was damn good at it.



---




"JB, this little hellion is harder to hold on to than a mare with a burr under her saddle! Whatever we're gonna do, it'd better be quick."

Almost blending into the steadily darkening evening, the voice that answered might have belonged to the air. "Just make sure she stays put. It's never been my intention to hurt anyone. Unless circumstances force my hand." His voice cryptically conveyed his meaning. Ryan decided to cool it--for now.

Nearby, Jody sat, gagged, hands cuffed behind him, ankles shackled together. He could make out Ryan by her light-colored clothing, but the men who held them captive blended into the gathering darkness. He had to do something . . . before Ryan did something rash. She was never one to use tact.



---




"Paulie, look here!" Stephanie pointed to a cluster of red dots on a monitor, her finger tracing from one end to the other. Paulette rose from her matching captain's chair to get a better view of the monitor. Even as she did, several of the dots moved, shifting in their positions nearing the Trawbergs' home.

"I think I'd better get the guys. Right now!"