buenas dias, rosario. where is who? wh. what do you want? unsettlingly, the kidnapper says nothing, staring at her. jessica tries to remain calm under his angry gaze. then suddenly, the kidnapper turns and exits the room. jessica breathes a sigh of relief. but it catches in her throat as he returns ten seconds later -- with a baseball bat. grim as death, he stalks toward her -- no, wait. and reaching.her, he hauls back and swings -- no! please--. . smash! the bat connects with a wooden beam an inch above jessica's head, obliterating the rotary dial telephone that hung there. as phone guts shower down on her, the lead kidnapper turns and stomps away, slamming the attic door shut and locking jessica in the darkness. only now that they're gone does jessica allow her fear to show through. trembling, tears running down her face, jessica finally breaks down, pleading to the empty attic-- wha. what the hell is happening?! the attic's suffocating silence is the only answer she gets. wait! don't hang up! ryan puts the phone back to his ear. there's not much time! i need you to go to the police. my name is jessica martin; i've been kidnapped! please. i know what you're thinking, but it's real! i'm in an attic somewhere. i think they're going to kill me! you need to- no! you don't understand! suddenly, the cellphone blips twice in ryan's ear. he pulls it away and looks at its faceplate. goddamn it, listen to me! the phone i'm on. it's shattered! there's no dialer! i've been clicking wires together for hours trying to get someone, anyone, and you 're the only connection i was able to make! if you hang up, i may not get anyone else. wait! don't hang up! don't hang up!! but -- click! ryan flashes over to the next call. --an you hear me?! no! don't! they're going to kill me! they're going to kill me!! a silent beat. a calculated look in her eyes. ryan pulls the phone from his ear and is about to hang up. when he hears the one sound that stops all men cold. on the other end, jessica begins to cry. please. i just need help. but ryan won't be manipulated. these men!!!-- jessica stops herself short, quieting the rising hysteria in her voice before it gives her away. she glances anxiously at the attic door, then continues, more in control. these men killed my housekeeper. my dog. you have to help me. ryan bristles at being saddled with anything, much less this. please. you're my only hope. what's your name? that catches ryan off-guard. he stalls, not wanting to make this personal. --please, just tell me your name! ryan glances around the street, his eyes falling on a stone fountain outside a french restaurant. johnny. what if it was your mother who was calling for help? how would you feel? goddamn it, how difficult is it to hand this phone off to the police?! i'll pay you! five thousand dollars. no, wait! wait!! even if there's a eighty percent chance i'm lying, you nave a one in five chance to make five grand f9r a lousy twenty minutes of your life. haven't you ever bet on a horse or bought a lottery ticket? i'm talking one-in-five odds, twenty minutes. ryan slaps the radio off. please. . . oh thank god! you've got to help me. my name's jessica martin and i've been kidnapped. this morning five men broke into my home in brentwood and kidnapped-- mooney strains to hear. his eyes go wide and he quickly jots notes on a pad. mooney's eyes shift as three tweakers, wide eyed and sweating profusely, are led inside by their arresting officers. hello? officer? hello?! oh my god. what? i don't- the masked leader slaps her sharply across the face! jessica wants to collapse to the ground, but remains sitting to keep the phone hidden behind her. the leader bends down and yells right in her face. at work! why, what do you want--? slap!!! this one's even nastier than the first. please, he should be at work! that's all i know. the leader nods, then turns away. jessica exhales with relief that he didn't spot the phone. but her victory is short-lived as: no! no--.'.' stay away from my son! johnny!! my son -- suddenly, as ryan reaches the first landing -- static starts breaking up the call. oh my god! what's happening?! no, don't! stop. you can't lose me-- stop! johnny, goddamn it, stop! johnny, what time is it?! johnny! johnny, listen to me. my son's school lets out at 1:45. no. there's not enough time. you have to pick him up before they-- please please stop standing there! he 's just a little boy! go! ryan grunts in frustration. where are you now?! you've got to go faster, johnny! how should i know?! i'm an obstetrician. they don't want anything from me. what--? no. he's an accountant. i make more money than he does. no! i don't know. none of this makes any sense. jessica starts losing it completely, upsetting ryan so much that he takes the next corner too fast and -- skkrrash! -- how much time do we have? ryan checks his watch. it reads: "1:40 pm". he enters. ricky. martin. he was named before the singer ever- he's eight years old. blonde hair. green eyes. small for his age. he's wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue pants-- i don't remember. i don't pack it! rosario, our housekeeper does! sometimes craig, but. jessica begins to sob, which causes ryan to panic further. i wish i could give you more. now ryan's running. he yells into a bathroom. was that the bell? was that the bell?! he'11 go to the parents' pick-up spot. oh god, they're going to get him! yes? relieved, ryan turns and races for the front of the school. what--? no! unless they have our escalade. ricky'11 think it's rosario and hop right in! she's got a point. ryan picks up the pace and arrives at the pick-up spot. scans the lot. black! 4. 7. wait, no. 3 -- oh my god, i don't remember! no! no-- no, johnny, you have to listen to me-- . .' but ryan's had enough. he turns to leave -- lord of the rings! i forgot his father bought him a lord of the rings lunchbox last week! ryan's heart stops in his chest. he turns to see the boy with the lord or the rings lunchbox racing down the school steps and up to one of the waiting escalades. what's happening, ryan?! oh my god. there are three cars between ryan and the escalade. don't lose them! if you follow them back here, you can tell the police where they're holding us! johnny! can't you go around it? there's an ungodly amount of opposing traffic-- but suddenly there's a break in the flow! seizing the moment, ryan slam-sh ifts the rent-a -cop car's uni-cylinder engine into gear and starts to tear around the bus -- but has to swerve back as a speeding trash truck rounds a bend and almost creams him! what?! did you lose him? ! oh thank god! what's happening?! are you okay?! what?! yo u lost-- you let them get away. ryan wants to snap at her, but guilt crushes it right out of him. he knows she's right. look, johnny, you've got to go back to the cops-- goddamn it, stop thinking about just yourself! you can explain everything to them later! don't you have a charger? what's going on? did you find one? johnny, don't lose me! johnny--! yes. what's going on?! i'm here! ryan hops out and races inside-- you found a charger? thank you for doing all this, johnny. good, it sounded like a porn star name. it's okay. i know. you don't have to tell me -- thank you, ryan. but before they can say any more, suddenly-- n-no. jessica scoots away, trying to draw greer's eyes in another direction from the phone that lies out in the open. but i am going to, aren't i? what? i don't understand--? greer winds up and bam! hits jessica in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to fall to the ground. i. i don't know what you want me to say. i swear-- wait! the bleachers behind left field at dodger stadium! that's where we first met. please! believe me. that has to be where he means. i swear to god. then he stands, looking away for just a moment -- but long enough for jessica to nudge the phone back behind the beam! ricky! please! please, believe me! ricky plays innocently -- while hodges now cocks his pistol. please, he's just a child! no. no.' i swear that's all i know! greer gives a sigh of disbelief -- okay! . okay. lax airport! there's a bar called left field. that's where we met. we were in college on our way to mardi-gras. please god, i swear that's the truth. don't kill my son! you won't get away with this. when i didn't show up at the hospital, someone must have called the police-- do you honestly expect me to believe we're going to walk away from this alive? but greer isn't listening to her. he strides back into the room, listening to the noise under her voice. how can i shut up? you threaten to kill my child and you expect me to act like a mute?! if this -- suddenly, it hits ryan like a punch to the face. and he scrambles, trying to cover the phone. i'm here. i'm okay. do you think i like gambling with my son's life? don't you see, ryan? once they get craig, we're all gonna die. be realistic. does letting us live benefit them in any way? no! the only chance he's got is if you can get to the airport and find him before they do. ryan, please! there's no time! just get to the airport-- look, i have no right to ask you this ryan, but you re my family's only chance. and i am asking. something in the way she says that last sentence, a mixture of strength and vulnerability, gets through to ryan. and against his own will, he's swayed. where are you now?! twenty minutes! oh my god, ryan, you've got to drive faster! please-- sorry. i just. do you think god will forgive me? for what i've done. for giving up craig. ryan is moved by the emotion in her voice. i don't know. i don't know. my son and i are going to die here, ryan. they already have us. but maybe i could've saved craig. the truth of this has a profound effect on ryan. and just when jessica is about to lose herself to despair -- ryan finds a resolve within himself even he didn't know he had. i'm. ere, but y. reaking up! ryan?! i'm here! her voice says she can't believe her ears. relieved, ryan jumps in the cadillac xlr and tosses his phone on the passenger seat, next to a laptop computer. guns the engine and stomps the gas. as he passes the ruins of his rent-a-cop car, he slows just enough to open the cadillac's door and snatch up his bag of verizon goodies laying on the pavement -- then peels away. practically frothing at the mouth, simon cowell chases after on foot, cursing as his beautiful new cadillac disappears in the distance -- i thought they. i thought i was-- what? hurry, ryan! just find craig! ryan hops out -- but stops when the car calls out to him. wait, ryan! what about me--?! ryan searches the car and finds the handset in the armrest. as he grabs it and races after greer into the airport, a traffic cop comes up to the car. "left field" is in terminal c. he's thirty-eight. six feet. trim build. thinning hair. i don't know! we have completely different schedules. i was fast aslee p-- -- a suit. he wears glasses, thick rims, like buddy holly or-- bingo! the buddy holly glasses is what did it. ryan sees a man in the distance hurrying in his direction -- craig. what?! the guardsman's superior officer examines it. is it real? ryan, you've done so much. i don't know how to repay you. an awkward, emotional pause falls between them. i will. i promise. craig? craig stops dead, hearing the voice. scans the cobweb-filled room, seeing nothing -- then from the depths of the shadows, jessica materializes looking haunted and lifeless as a ghost. no, don't hurt him! jessica struggles and, with an annoyed shove, greer sends her spilling into craig. she hugs tightly against him. when craig gets his wind back, he comes to his knees and manages to croak out-- who are they, craig? craig doesn't know what to say. tell them, craig. tell them they have the wrong family. tell them they've made a mistake-- but something in his eyes disagrees. what?! what is it? you hid it downtown? wait! wait!! she brushes past hodges and hugs on tight to her husband, tears flowing from her eyes. v hodges goes to pull them apart, but greer stops him. he knows this is going to be their last time together. pretend i'm telling you that i love you. there's an open phone line in here. you'll have help at the office, but if you give these men what they want, we're dead. jessica kisses her husband on the lips and withdraws, leaving craig with an utterly confused expression on his face. but before his look can betray him-- ryan?! they're going to fegan securities, 4th and figuroa. wait, we -- --ve to think! what -- --re we going to do? ryan. ? ryan, please answer me i but ryan just sits there. afraid to move. terrified to discuss craig. you have to talk to me! ryan, please you have to talk to me--.' the sweat from his hands causes the tiniest slip -- and as he catches himself, there is a soft metallic boooong from the stressed metal. unable to ignore her pleas any longer, ryan carefully pulls the cellphone from his pocket and presses it to his ear. desperate to console her, ryan -- bang!! the tarpaper roll flies down the chute. ryan looks up to see it angrily launching itself right at him! he has to let go of the walls to avoid being hit. he presses himself to one side but -- wham!! the bloodthirsty roll bashes his wrist -- and he drops ryan?! oh my god, ryan?! ryan--?! no, don 't h urt m e-- deason roars up and grabs jessica's neck with one hand. hurls her across the attic and into the old mirror, shattering it in a million pieces around her. desperate for anything, jessica palms a tiny shard as she struggles to her feet. a two-inch chip. don't hurt me, and i'll do anything. anything. . there is a promise in what jessica offers that deason responds to. his fist flashes toward her throat, making her flinch. but rather than hitting her, he wraps his meaty fingers around her throat, almost daring her to stop him. jessica trembles, but that is all, and just as deason begins to enjoy his work, jessica jabs at his face, but he predicted as much and easily moves to deflect it -- snickk! -- she flicks her wrist up and slices the underside of his upper arm. deason flinches a little bit, like a bee sting, then laughs as he notices the tiny shard in her hand-- brachial artery. pumps up to 30 liters of blood per minute. and there's only five liters in the human body. three seconds later, deason crumbles. and jessica leaves the attic. baby! are you okay?! get down! get down! and jessica ducks out of view just as the-- baby, listen to me. i want you to get away from this window. i want you to go to the other side of the room as far away from the door as you can -- honey, i'm getting you out of there! i'm only gonna be gone a second, and then we're gonna go home, but you have to do this first. it's gonna be loud, but don't be scared, okay? now go find somewhere safe like i told you. baby, please! it's okay now. we're gonna go home! ricky, please! somehow, the kid digs deep and finds the courage to run to the escalade, where his mother scoops him up into the cab just as-- the kitchen door bursts open and greer's team spills out into the yard. they spot her instantly. come on! come on!! jessica rocks the car forward, and back. forward, and back. and just as it finally comes loose -- krrraaashhh!! the window next to jessica's head explodes in a shower of tempered glass, shocking us. two arms snake in and wrap around jessica's neck. greer. but jessica stomps on the gas, hoping the big car will pull her free. it doesn't. as the escalade surges away across the lawn, greer's vice-like grip holds, pulling jessica out the broken window and -- thump! -- to the guest house debris below. as jessica watches in horror: nobody! ricky run! find help! ricky's paralyzed with fear. run! ricky bolts from the car. tell me why i shouldn't kill you. for the first time, greer actually looks frightened. recognizing the homicidal look in her eyes, he sputters, but nothing comes out. ryan, weak and pale with blood loss, looks up at his guardian angel. i. i have to. thank you for keeping your promise. as the cops move in and drag greer to his feet, ryan calls out to him. craig's very weak, but the doctors say it looks promising. he's probably going to have to walk with a cane, but that's the worst of it. i'm just thankful. chloe senses that jessica and ryan might need a moment alone. i can't believe i almost lost everything that means. i don't know how i can ever thank you.