The last boy off the bus pauses to thank Jarod for taking the place of his Dad, who couldn't be there because of an extended business trip.   Jarod tells him that he was glad to be able to "hang out" with him.   Ryan's mom, Cindy Wells, comes over and adds her thanks ... Ryan hops in the back seat of their car and is ready to head on home.

As Cindy pulls away from the chapel, her car is broadsided (on Ryan's side) by a truck!   Both Cindy and Ryan are knocked unconscious ... and Ryan is bleeding.   Jarod yells to anyone in the crowd who might be listening to "call 911."

At the hospital, Ted Wells, Ryan's father/Cindy's husband arrives.   As he is talking to Jarod, the doctor comes out of the surgery and tells him that Cindy will be fine - she has only suffered a concussion and a dislocated shoulder ... but his son, Ryan, has sustained damage to both kidneys -- one of them is already beyond repair and the other is failing quickly.   The doctor goes on to say that Ryan has a unique blood type that has a rare glucocidic (sp?) compound in it ... it's hereditary, and Cindy is not a match - so it must have come from his father.   Ted is ready to "go on the table" immediately, to give Ryan the kidney he needs to survive, but the doctor tells him that blood tests must be done first and says he will send a tech over to take care of it right away.   Without a new kidney, Ryan won't survive more than 48 hours ... there is no time to waste!

At The Centre, Miss Parker leaves the elevator and walks down the hallway toward her office.   She is waylaid when Lyle pops out from around a corner.   Offering up a bouquet of fresh flowers, he says, "Forgive me?"   He is trying to make amends for not being with Miss Parker when she was in the hospital (see At The Hour of Our Death), but Miss Parker doesn't seem inclined to accept Lyle's apology.   Quickly switching to "Plan B,"  Lyle hands Miss Parker a box of candied snails, telling her that they are not easy to find!   But the snails don't fare any better than the flowers did - Miss Parker ignores Lyle's remarks about having "other responsibilities" and continues toward her office.

Once there, she tosses Lyle's flowers into a trash can, opens a drawer and pulls out her Daily Planner.   When she opens it, she finds a picture of Thomas paper clipped to the front ... he is grinning wildly, waving, and wearing absolutely nothing!  He holds a strategically placed pillow and nothing more ... Miss Parker laughs and says something about that being her "good" pillow, but the moment is interrupted by Mr. Raines, who enters Miss Parker's office from behind her, without knocking.   Mr. Raines remarks that Miss Parker has been smiling a lot lately for someone who has had such a "lack of success" in finding Jarod.   He tells her that her work has become "unfocused" ... that perhaps she has become distracted with personal affairs.   Just as Miss Parker begins to reply, the conversation is interrupted by Broots - who has also entered her office.   Broots attempts to beat a hasty retreat, but Miss Parker demands that he remain, saying that Mr. Raines was just "slithering along."

Broots has managed to capture some newsreel footage of Jarod at The Little White Chapel, by using his new 223 channel satellite dish.   Looking at Jarod on the tiny screen held by Broots, Miss Parker's day suddenly takes a turn for the better.

At the hospital, Jarod asks Ted how the blood work came out.   Ted says he hasn't heard from the lab yet and Jarod offers to go check in his stead, so that Ted can stay with Ryan.   As he arrives at the lab, Jarod overhears the chief technician on the phone, saying she's short handed, backed up and that the assistant she has been promised hasn't shown up yet.   Jarod immediately assumes the role of the missing assistant, sends the chief tech on a break and begins the process of doing Ted's blood work himself.   To Jarod's dismay, Ted is not a match for Ryan and Jarod realizes that this can only mean one thing ... Ted is not Ryan's biological father!

Jarod confronts Cindy with this news and she reluctantly admits that she has never been absolutely certain who Ryan's real father is ... she had a brief fling with another man, just before settling down with Ted and the onset of her pregnancy was so close in time to the two incidents that either man could have been the father.   The other man, she explains to Jarod, was the complete opposite of Ted ... dark and dangerous ... and she has had no contact with him since - has no idea where he might be found.   All she can do to help is give Jarod his name:   Luther Ecksley.   Jarod says that since Luther was "trouble" maybe he has a police record and tells Cindy that he will begin looking there.   Cindy pleads with Jarod not to tell Ted about any of this, but Jarod tells her that, sooner or later, Ted will have to find out - because Ted cannot be the kidney donor for Ryan.

Jarod's search for Ecksley reveals that he does have a criminal record ... a long and terrible one.   But it doesn't lead Jarod to Luther and Jarod has to resort to walking around the  seedier part of town, showing Luther's picture to everyone, in order to get a real lead on him.   He finally gets directed to a bar, whose main patrons are the low-life of the streets.   An attempt to bribe the bartender fails and as Jarod begins to walk out of the bar, he is struck from behind with a pool cue - by a man who quickly gets the better of Jarod and then tells him that he'll never find Luther Ecksley because the man is rotting away in a Mexican prison.

At the Cadrenas Federal Prison in Mexico, Jarod arranges to speak with Ecksley.   Jarod explains the situation to him and tells Ecksley that he's going to attempt to arrange a temporary release for him so that he can donate the kidney for his son.

Broots and Miss Parker arrive at the chapel in San Diego.  When Broots asks Miss Parker if she goes to church, she tells him that after the things she has seen and done that church is the last place she should be.   Broots replies, "or maybe the first ..."   After searching Jarod's former room and coming up empty, they find a partial picture of Ecksley in the trash that is ready to go out to the dumpster.   That bit of paper, coupled with the Reverend Jack Collins' statement that Jarod is probably already across the border and into Mexico (looking for some inexpensive church pews) send Miss Parker and Broots on their way.

The warden won't grant the temporary release that Jarod is requesting, but does give Jarod enough information (intentionally, but discreetly) to give Jarod the opportunity to effect a jailbreak - which he does.   As Jarod is leaving the prison compound with Ecksley hidden in his truck, Miss Parker and Broots are arriving.   Jarod leaves, and Miss Parker and Broots enter the prison grounds.

Safely away from the prison, Jarod brings Ecksley to a car that has a change of clothes in it and tells Luther than he plans to get them back into the US by blending in with the tourists in Tiajuana.   Moments later, Ecksley hits Jarod from behind and knocks him out -- takes the car and the clothes and leaves.   Jarod awakens, realizes what has happened, spins around, throws his hat on the ground, screams, "Damn!" and runs back to the truck.

At the prison, Broots and Miss Parker are stuck in the warden's office, waiting for the lockdown caused by Ecksley's escape to end.  The warden denies any knowledge of Jarod or what he may have wanted, even though Miss Parker says that one of the guards overheard Jarod speaking with Luther about a kidney transplant for his son.

Back at the hospital, Cindy has finally told Ted the truth and he is having a difficult time accepting it.   Jarod arrives, Cindy asks him if he's found Ecksley and Jarod tells her that he hasn't.   Cindy is disconsolate over Ted's reaction and Jarod reminds her that she must remain strong - for Ryan.

Away from the prison and on The Centre jet, Broots has located the young boy in need of an emergency kidney transplant.   Miss Parker directs the pilot to head back to San Diego.

At the seedy bar, where Jarod got hit from behind the first time, the man who hit him (Ray) receives a phone call from Ecksley telling him that he is out of prison and wants to meet with him regarding finding the man who gave him up to the Federales and stole his ten million dollars. 

Since Ray is the culprit, he prepares to grab the ten million and flee, but Jarod is waiting for him outside in the alley and clues Ray into the fact that Luther called from right around the corner and is waiting for Ray to lead him to the money, in order to kill him.   Jarod gets Ray to agree to a scheme whereby it appears as though Ray has shot Jarod.   Then Ray gets in his car and leaves and, sure enough,  Luther follows.   From the back seat, Jarod reminds Ray to stick with the plan unless he wants to end up a dead man.

They arrive at a garage or warehouse (it was dark and hard to see) and Jarod tells Ray to find a good hiding place, saying "When I make my move, you make yours."   Luther arrives and begins looking for Ray with a flashlight and a gun ... calling out to him ... telling him that he knows he's the one who stole the ten million dollars.  Luther fumbles around in the dark for a bit, then hears a noise, swings his flashlight around and encounters Jarod.   He is stunned!  He thinks that he saw  Ray shoot Jarod in the alley.  Ray creeps up behind Luther and knocks him cold.   As Ray goes to retrieve the money, Jarod picks up Ecksley's gun and tells Ray to hand over the money.   Ray protests, saying that he "stole it fair and square" but Jarod plans on giving it to the chapel and takes it away.

Luther awakens to find himself in some unknown motel room, handcuffed to a bed and prepped for surgery.   Jarod asks Luther how it feels to wake up someplace, in pain and not knowing where you are.   He tells him that is how he felt after Luther knocked him out and how Ryan feels in the hospital.   Jarod then administers the anesthetic and removes a kidney from Luther.   When he is done, Jarod places the "Housekeeping, Please Make Up This Room" hanger on the door knob and leaves Luther there.

At the hospital Jarod tells Cindy that he has just spoken to the nurse, the kidney seems to be "taking" and everything is just fine!   She goes to call her parents, leaving Jarod alone with Ray.  Jarod takes the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart chat with Ray regarding what comprises being a father.   Ray accepts the good sense of Jarod's dissertation and just as Jarod spies Miss Parker and Broots heading his way, Ted says, "If there is ever anything I can do for you ..." an offer Jarod immediately accepts.

Miss Parker and Broots approach Cindy and Ted and Miss Parker asks them if Jarod has been there.   Ted professes not to know what she means, says they are waiting for their son to get out of surgery and asks to be left alone.  With nothing more than a raised eye-brow, Miss Parker retreats - while Broots wonders how the transplant could have taken place without Luther Ecksley having been checked into the hospital.

Back at the motel, the Mexican authorities (including the warden), have found Luther - who is apparently none the worse for wear, in spite of having had one of his organs harvested.   They make preparations to return Ecksley to jail.

Jarod adds the newspaper clipping regarding Ryan's successful surgery to one of his red books, and walks away as ... the screen fades to black ...

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