"Wait, Joe," he said.

Joe turned around, awaiting his brother’s response. He had to admit that he was shocked by Frank’s appearance. Although his brother had just gotten out of the shower, he had dark circles under his eyes. It didn’t look like he had slept at all.

Concerned, Joe asked, "Frank? Are you okay? You look terrible."

"I’m okay," Frank said, but his eyes betrayed his words. Joe didn’t push the issue, but clearly something had happened last night to make his brother upset. That had to be it. In their hotel room the previous night, Frank had seemed fine. Actually, he had seemed more than that- he looked happy, and in love, the way Joe was used to seeing him. Now, however, he looked clearly upset, and Joe had a feeling that whatever it was, it somehow had to do with Jenna.

"What did you want, then?" Joe asked. "I’ve got to get Van if we’re going to be heading to the museums."

"That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Frank replied.

Curious, Joe looked at him and asked, "Yes?"

Frank looked uncomfortable, but spoke anyway. "Listen, Joe. I’d really like to check out the museums with you. We’re more skilled in investigations. The girls can stay here and see what they can figure out."

Joe was surprised. Personally, he had been looking forward to spending some time with Vanessa, and he was almost positive that Frank would want to be with Callie. "Um, why?" he had to ask.

"Because," Frank answered, simply.

Joe met Frank’s eyes, tired of all these games. In this trip, he’d watched Frank go on an emotional roller-coaster, but, somehow, they’d gotten closer. Still, he had a feeling Frank wasn’t about to go further at the moment. He had to try, though. With a sigh, he looked at his brother. "You’re not going to tell me what’s wrong, are you?"

Frank, tired of lying and emotionally drained, could only reply, "Nope."

"And it has to do with Jenna, right?" Joe kept up.

"Yup."

"And Callie?" he insisted. "I thought things were going better with you two!"

To Joe’s shock, he thought he saw Frank get teary-eyed as he tried to evade the question. Feeling badly, Joe dropped the subject. "Okay, bro. I’ll tell the girls about the switch in plans."

Frank nodded silently, grateful for the reprieve, as Joe headed out the door.

Having a few minutes to himself, Frank sat down on the bed, and wiped back the tears that had begun to form in his eyes. He’d be mortified if Joe saw him cry, and he just hoped he’d be able to hold it all together, even for a little while, until he could honestly decide what to do.

Frank had to admit that he’d never felt so- empty- before in his entire life. Somehow, all the thoughts he had considered over the past few days seemed silly and trite. How could he have even thought about leaving Callie? She was everything to him- trustworthy, honest, funny, and unquestioningly, at least until this point, loyal. He had stayed up all night, totally flustered. Never, in a million years, would he even think about Callie’s devotion to him. Had he really treated her that badly? Had he thrown her into someone else’s arms?

No, he said angrily to himself, this is NOT my fault. But, a nagging thought in the back of his mind said otherwise. In all the time they’d been together, Callie trusted him completely; he had always felt that. She didn’t question him when he was gone for weeks on a case, or when girls called him or flirted with him. As a matter of fact, she had always given him his freedom. Ironically, that was what perhaps made him want to be with her the most. Was that because she was out with other guys? he couldn’t help but to question.

And now, faced with the reality that this might really be IT with Callie, he had no idea what to do. Next to Joe, Callie was really his best friend in the world. She knew his secrets, his shortcomings, his insecurities; yet, she loved him just the same, and without condition. When he was upset or angry, he often went to her before Joe, and she was generally able to calm him down before he talked to his brother. When something good happened, or he was happy, Callie was the person he went to in order to share that. He loved her, and he always had. None of this- absolutely none of it- made any sense. Why would she do this to him?

With a heavy sigh, Frank lay back on the bed, trying not to think of it. However, the harder he tried, the more he saw Callie’s face- first smiling, happy, and supportive. Then came that picture, the one with her and Dave, which he’d practically memorized, although it made him sick.

At once, Frank reached into his pocket for the photograph, and crumpled it up, throwing it in a ball on the dresser. To look at it again would be to validate that it was real. He simply couldn’t do it any longer.

At that moment, Joe entered the room. "Ready to go?" he asked, looking at his brother, who was plopped on the bed.

"Yeah," Frank said softly, getting up. " Let’s solve this case, huh?" He headed out the door, determined to do something- anything- to keep his mind busy, since his heart didn’t seem to be doing so well.

Throughout the day, Frank and Joe retraced their steps, checking and rechecking their progress as they went along. They spent hours looking over records of insiders and people who had access to the museums, but the lists were often so long or complicated that they revealed virtually no new information. It seemed like ANYONE would be able to gain access to these museums; all it took was an ability to take a test.

"I just don’t understand why these would have started so recently," Frank grumbled to his brother. "I mean, I guess we could go through applications for tour guides in the last year, but that list would be kind of extensive."

Joe sighed. "Kind of extensive? Frank, there are thousands of applications through the federal government each year for everything from high school volunteers to people who really want to be in law enforcement, to historians. Do you know how long that would take? It’s a gigantic task, like saying the Grand Canyon is just a giant hole in the ground! We can’t do that."

"I know," Frank said, disappointed.

"Well, what Museums haven’t been hit?" Joe asked, surprised he hadn’t thought to ask that before.

Now it was Frank’s turn to look at his brother in amazement. "About 10,000," he replied sarcastically.

"Whatever," Joe said, shrugging off his brother’s remark. "There are a lot of museums around here, but not THAT many! There can’t be over fifty in the surrounding area. Besides, almost all of them, with the exception of the Babe Ruth Museum, took place around the Mall area. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a good place to start?"

Frank nodded. He spoke to Joe. "I’m sorry, Joe. I didn’t mean to snap at you. That’s a really good idea, actually. I just wish we knew which one to start with."

Joe smiled, glad to have his brother’s approval. "I’ll call the girls," he said to his brother. "Maybe they have some ideas. Do you want to talk to Callie?"

"N…no. Not right now," Frank said.

Joe was surprised, and he was also upset, seeing how upset Frank looked. He couldn’t imagine what had been going on. "Okay," he said lightly, trying to avoid the subject. "I’ll be right back."

With that, he went outside and dialed the girls’ room on his cell. Callie answered.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey, Cal," he answered. "It’s Joe."

"Really?" Callie teased. "I thought some random guy just got our number."

She sounded happy and vibrant, the way she normally did. Maybe she didn’t know that Frank was upset. Joe started to contemplate that, but then stopped himself. He could worry about that later. For right now, he had a feeling he was onto something. "Cal?" he began. "Listen, Frank and I might be onto a lead. We have some ideas we’re checking out. We were just wondering if you found out anything."

There was a pause, but Callie came back a moment later. "Um… well, we’ve been trying to figure that out all day. We have some theories. But- they’re kind of stupid sounding at the moment."

"Go ahead," Joe prodded. Anything was better than nothing at all.

"Well," Callie slowly began, "You asked! Vanessa and I have no idea about the colors or why the museums were hit, so we decided to look at WHAT was taken, you know? We tried to find a pattern to it."

"Did you?" he asked.

"Like I said, this is going to sound silly," she said in reply. "But here ya go. With the exception of the baseball, all the items seem to have something to do with, like, prison or escape, right? You have original plane designs, which could indicate a flight away. Handcuffs are obvious. The "Refugee" painting has to do with escape. Even the silly thing with the money changing hands- in that case, the prisoners couldn’t escape. Um, the baseball?! I have no clue. Maybe it was Ruth’s final escape from the Park, or escape from greatness."

When Joe didn’t respond, Callie felt herself blush. "I told you it was silly," she said, after a minute.

"No, actually, that’s a great thought!" Joe said with admiration. He laughed. "It’s a bit of a stretch, but – original. I like that! Did you or Vanessa come up with that?!"

"We both did," he heard Callie say.

"Tell her I’ll give her a big kiss for that later!" Joe joked with Callie. He could practically see her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, it’ll give her plenty of time to escape!" Callie quipped back, amused. She was happy Joe hadn’t laughed at them.

"Bye, Cal," Joe said with a smile, and hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, Joe returned to see his brother, and told him the girls’ theory. Frank pondered it for a minute, and then smiled despite himself. "That’s …. Different," he said at last.

"Yeah, I know," Joe said, thinking the same thing. "But I’ll be darned if they’re not right more often than not, and maybe there IS something to it."

Frank nodded. "Maybe," he said.

"And if it’s true, and you were a criminal, what museum would you hit?" Joe asked.

"I think the bigger question is WHY would they do this? If we’re not reading into it too much, and the girls are right, we have yet another case of criminals who are leaving messages. But why?!!" Frank was growing frustrated. The brand of criminals against whom they were pitted lately were very smart, making them very dangerous.

"Maybe they’re leaving clues for us?" Joe asked.

"Nah," Frank said. "Not for US. We’re not important. But someone is. Last night, Callie…" he paused, as the sound of her name reminded him of everything, "she, uh, mentioned that the use of the word "defendants" might be significant. Maybe she’s right. I mean, some defendants do…escape…" Frank’s eyes lit up as he tried to make the connection.

Joe caught on at once. "I see where you’re going with this," Joe said at once. "Maybe they ‘prevailed’ or something. Good idea!"

"Yeah, thanks," Frank said with a smile. "That still doesn’t help us figure out anything yet, though."

"Yet," Joe repeated.

Frank smiled.

"So anyway, if you’re a criminal, and you want to hit a fairly popular museum, where would you go? What would mention ‘escape’?" Joe asked.

"I don’t know, but we should look at that angle," Frank replied.

After searching directories for a listing of Museums in the Mall area, and trying to make the connection, first Frank, then Joe, looked at each other.

"What’s the most popular Museum in D.C., or one of the most?" Frank asked excitedly.

"The Smithsonian!" Joe exclaimed. "The American Art Museum is pretty popular. I’m SURE they have to have something, some painting or drawing, having to do with escape, right?"

"That’s exactly what I was thinking!" Frank said.

"Well, I guess that’s where we’ll be spending the night, then," Joe finished.

Giving each other a high five, the brothers set out for the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, hoping to crack this case at last.

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