As Frank and Callie made their way to the National Air and Space Museum, Callie suddenly clutched Frank’s hand tightly. Turning to her, Frank met her eyes with concern.

"Cal? Are you okay?" he asked.

Callie bit her lip, and looked up shyly at him. Frank tried not to smile. One of the things he loved so much about Callie was that although she was courageous and independent, she still had an innocence about her that he always wanted to protect. He saw such innocence in her eyes now, and waited for her to speak. "Frank, I… I know you said you want to do this, but really—it’s okay. Don’t bother with Jenna. Her type doesn’t really listen too well after all. Why not just leave well enough alone?"

Frank gently squeezed her hand in return. "I don’t expect you to understand, hon. You’re not the one who acted like a moron—I was. And personally, I AM curious as to why Jenna went to all this trouble to set us up. I mean, aren’t you?" he asked.

Callie shrugged and managed a small smile. "Whatever makes you happy," she replied.

"Thanks," he responded with a wink, releasing her hand and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

Callie looked up at him, the Museum now plainly in sight. "Do you think we should call Joe and tell him what we discovered?" she asked him.

"Well, we should be back soon enough," Frank answered, but then paused to look at her. "What do YOU think? I guess it couldn’t hurt."

"I think we should," Callie replied, hugging Frank around his waist. "Believe me, I hope this will be over sooner than later, but I’d rather Joe not worry about us. Besides, what’s the harm? Do you have your phone with you? Mine’s at the hotel."

"Good place for a cell phone," Frank said to her, teasingly.

"Just hand me the phone," Callie replied with a smile.

First, Callie tried her hotel room, but Vanessa didn’t answer. Then, she tried Joe’s room, but he didn’t answer there, either. Finally, she tried Joe’s cell phone, but it went directly to his voice mail, as did Vanessa’s. With a sigh, she called Joe’s cell back and left a detailed message, explaining their theory about how and why the Mints were going to be the next targets of these thieves. She also told him where they were headed, about when they’d be back and added, at the last minute, a request that Joe please get take-out and not eat all of it before they got back.

Frank watched all of this in amusement and tenderness. It was just like Callie to be thoughtful like that, and equally like her to get in a quip or two at Joe when the opportunity arose. Still, he couldn’t help but to be pleased how well Callie and Joe had gotten along on this trip and how their relationship was growing steadily more closer. Although he had no idea where this case was going, he at least knew where the next targets would be, and he was excited about getting his personal life straightened out—hopefully. He hoped Joe and Vanessa had come across some new information today, and then they could discuss the case.

When Callie hung up, Frank reached for her hand again, and thought to himself for the hundredth time what a fool he had been. Together, they walked up to the Museum.

Jenna Barkalow was watching Frank Hardy come to the Museum walkway with his little girlfriend, and felt the color rise to her cheeks. How DARE he come here! She had her sources, and she knew that the two had gone to see Dave Shaunessey, that stupid model. He must have told them everything, she thought bitterly. I’ll have to make sure that he pays for that. There were two things that Jenna detested and would not tolerate in her life. The first was nosiness. The second was not getting what she wanted. And she had wanted Frank Hardy.

It had been just her luck to find out that he was an investigator. At first, it had seemed innocuous enough. He was young, still. And, an opportunity to spend time with him presented itself if she could talk to him about the Museum robberies. Of course she knew where and when things would occur; that hadn’t been a problem. However, as she realized that Frank and his pesky brother really were understanding what no one else seemed to be figuring out, she had been worried. On the other hand, it gave her a great opportunity to spy on them, to let her sources know where they’d be, what they were thinking. She could distract them with phony leads and false ideas. And, in the end, she knew she’d win over Frank.

But she hadn’t; she had come close, but she hadn’t. Very few men could resist her, and she was angry- very angry-that Frank had managed to. Of course- Why else would he be here? She only knew that he’d have to suffer. Better yet, she thought silently, as a smile began to creep up her face, let the girlfriend suffer. Give him one more chance. If not, they’d die together. And she knew exactly how to do it. In two days’ time, a whole lot of people would be suffering anyway, and she would be gone, richer than her wildest dreams, vindicated to preserve her family legacy.

Her cell phone rang, and she looked caller i.d. She picked it up, and said, simply, "Yes, daddy?" As she listened, the smile she had worn thinking of her revenge quickly changed into a frown. So, Joe Hardy and his little girl had been logging into some computers. That means they had probably figured it out. Well, maybe. Joe wasn’t that smart. She listened to her father, who had just been on the phone with his accomplice, and smiled. Soon, she’d also know six other men who would work with her family. They’d be unstoppable. She got chills thinking about it.

"Daddy? I’ve run across a little problem," she said into the phone. "And I’d like to get rid of it. Here’s my idea." With that, she informed her father of exactly what she was going to do, and she heard him laugh. What did death matter to her father? If he was caught, he’d die anyway. He already escaped it once; now it was his duty to ensure that his plan would prevail and his friends would be pardoned. He’d do it with a bang, too, Jenna though wryly as she spoke, knowing the double meaning to her transient thought. As she hung up the phone, she nodded her head for her friend, Sage Tyson, to come over. He was also undercover as a "guide". His father was awaiting the death penalty; he had all the motivation in the world to help her, and knew what had been going on. After a minute, he nodded and left. Jenna waited for Frank and Callie.

Joe and Vanessa stood outside the library in shock. "I can’t believe it!" Joe exclaimed. "Jenna?! SHE’s involved? I mean, I guess she must be, or at least know what’s going on. Unbelievable!" he finished, still shaking his head.

"You should call Frank and tell him what you found," Vanessa suggested, as they started walking to the Metro.

"Yeah, I guess I should," he said, thoughtfully. "I should also tell him our theory that the next hit- the big one- is either the White House or the Supreme Court building. Maybe I should call Brian, too."

Joe reached for his phone, which he had turned off when they had gone into the library. As soon as he lifted it up, he saw that he had missed a message. Muttering under his breath at the bad timing, he dialed into his voicemail and listen to the message from Callie.

Vanessa saw his face go pale. "Joe? What is it? Who was that?" she asked, concerned.

Joe turned to her in astonishment. "That was Callie. She and Frank are on their way to see Jenna- right now! We have to call them! Callie also said that they came up with a theory that the Mints are going to be hit next- but which one? And, if so, how does that discount our theory?" He related to Vanessa how Frank had come up with that thought via the slogan "So Defendants Will Prevail," and she shook her head in amazement.

Joe immediately went to call Frank, but he kept getting a busy signal, as if the line was disconnected or all circuits were busy. He tried Callie’s phone- that went to her voicemail. He left a message for her at once.

Looking at Vanessa, Joe couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that something very bad was happening. They decided to return to the hotel and wait for Frank and Callie. Before that, though, they agreed to check out the National Air and Space Museum anyway, in the unlikely event that Frank and Callie were still there. Joe held onto Vanessa’s hand tightly as they approached the Metro station, praying that his instincts would be uncharacteristically wrong.

Jenna headed out of the Museum, purposefully running into Frank and Callie. "Oh!" she said, feigning surprise. "How ARE you?"

Frank met her eyes evenly. "We’ve been a lot better," he said to her. "And we need to talk to you- now."

Jenna tried not to get too annoyed at the way Frank was holding onto Callie. She checked Callie out again, and admitted that she WAS good-looking. But not as good-looking as me, she had to add. And she won’t be so pretty soon. She tried not to smile. "Okay," she said to them. "Let’s head to the back, where we can talk in private, without so many people."

Callie eyed her suspiciously. That had been almost too easy, as if Jenna had been suspecting that they were coming. But that’s impossible, Callie concluded. She linked her fingers through Frank’s as they walked to the back in silence, and Callie realized, for some reason, she was afraid. Let’s go back, Frank. We don’t need to do this, she mentally pleaded with him. But, Frank didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength with her. Instinctively, she moved closer to him, and she saw him give her a reassuring wink.

The back of the Museum was quiet, almost isolated. It wasn’t exactly dusk yet, so Washington, D.C., seemed quiet, tranquil- almost serene. The occasional biker or pedestrian passed by, but there was no real transportation around. Callie, for some reason, felt like this was the calm before the storm, and she had no idea why. Like Joe Hardy, she’d always had a keen sense of instinct, something Frank either didn’t have or chose to ignore most of the time. The stress was beginning to get to her, and she fought back the beginnings of a headache again. My doctors would kill me if they knew that THIS was my vacation, she thought, ironically. Reaching into her purse, she slipped on her glasses quietly.

Jenna moved close to the side walkway, which was relatively obscure. Finally, she turned to them. "Oh, I didn’t know you wore glasses, Callie," she said, surprised.

Almost instantly, Frank turned to Callie, concerned. Why was she wearing her glasses? Was she in pain? Jenna’s voice brought him to face HER again, though. Frank noticed how Callie had pointedly ignored Jenna’s question.

"Jenna," Frank cut in, angry. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Do I?" Jenna asked, innocently. "Come now, baby. Don’t be mad."

Callie stiffened at once. Baby? Was this girl insane? Frank was equally puzzled.

"What?!" he stammered.

"Well, what do you want to say?" Jenna asked.

"We know about Dave Shaughnessy, and how you paid him off to set Callie and me up. We know you’ve been lying to both of us. Why?" Frank asked, straightforwardly.

At once, Jenna reached into her bag and pulled out a gun, leveling it straight at Frank and Callie. "You ask a lot of questions," Jenna said evenly. "I don’t like nosy people."

At the sight of the gun, Frank gasped and instinctively shoved Callie behind him. "Put that away!" he demanded to her. "Are you crazy?!" he asked in disbelief.

Jenna just smiled. Callie felt chills run through her spine as she looked at Jenna around Frank’s shoulder. There wasn’t a shred of compassion in her eyes. Was all this over Frank? She swallowed, hard, and held onto Frank’s arm.

"Crazy?" Jenna said at last. "I wouldn’t say that. There is a fine line, though, between genius and insanity. Have you ever heard that?"

"What do you want?" Frank asked, running through a thousand ideas to get him and Callie out of this. At the moment, nothing seemed feasible.

"The cell phone- on your belt," Jenna said. "Throw it in the lake."

"What?!" Frank cried.

"Now," Jenna said, calmly.

Slowly, Frank reached for his belt and did what he was instructed to do.

"Walk ahead of me," Jenna said firmly. "Don’t try anything. MOVE!"

Frank grabbed Callie and put her in front of him. If Jenna was going to shoot, at least he’d be hit first and maybe she could get away. He kept a hand on her back and could feel her trembling as she walked along with him. Oh, God. What have I done? He asked himself, numbly. He looked around for a chance to escape, but there was no way he could get both himself AND Callie away in time. He’d even settle for getting Callie to safety alone, but he couldn’t talk to her.

Finally, they reached a side street. A van was parked there, rather inconspicuously. "Get in!" they heard Jenna order.

Frank slowly turned around, hands raised to show he wasn’t going to try anything. "I said get in!" Jenna barked again.

"Jenna," Frank said in desperation. "Let Callie go. Whatever is going on is between you and me. Please. I’ll do whatever you want."

Jenna smiled and chuckled. "Oh, no honey. Whatever is going on, as you say, is between all of us now!" She was serious for a moment. "Wait- so you don’t know?!"

"Know what?" Frank asked her.

"Never mind," she said. "Now!" she shouted.

In that moment, two men, dressed all in black, grabbed him and Callie. Frank winced as he saw Callie slammed up against the van, sending her glasses flying, and forming a small cut on her face, close to her eye. Although he knew he was being handcuffed, it was far more painful to see Callie being handcuffed and manhandled. He felt a gag being placed over his mouth so that he couldn’t speak, and the same was done for Callie. Then, the back door was opened up, and first Frank, and then Callie, were tossed roughly in the back before the door was slammed shut and locked. As the vehicle took off, they were both sent flying roughly against the van walls, having no idea where they were going.

Frank managed to crawl next to Callie, which was difficult since his hands were behind his back. He wanted to talk to her to see if she was all right, but he couldn’t. He could only look at her, and he saw the terror in her eyes as she fought back tears. He felt his heart stop, knowing he had gotten her into this. I can’t think about that now, he grimaced to himself. I have to think…of a way out…

The van kept tossing them violently around and, by the time it stopped, both Frank and Callie had aching shoulders. Someone came into the back and blindfolded them. Frank felt himself begin to panic when he heard Callie’s muffled cries for help. He had no idea where they were being taken, although he was roughly pushed forward several times and from the echoes and footsteps it sounded like a big hallway of some sort.

Finally, they reached some sort of door, where Frank was pushed in and forced to his knees. He felt Callie fall next to him, and was both horrified by her winces of pain and relieved that she was still with him.

Finally, he heard Jenna say, "I can take it from here, boys. Thanks. Just get off the blindfolds. Actually, wait here one more minute." Evidently, they did as they were told because soon Frank could see as the blindfold was removed. Callie’s blindfold was also removed.

Frank looked around, and realized at once that they were in some sort of marbled room- it looked like a basement. It was cold and hard and, Frank noticed, it had a very step staircase leading to the bottom… and who knows what was there?! It reminded him of a tomb.

Jenna reached behind his head and undid his gag, as she did for Callie. The two coughed loudly, trying to get their bearings, and to get rid of the awful taste and the dry feeling in their mouths.

Keeping an eye on Callie the whole time, Frank asked again. "Jenna, please," he sputtered. "Let her go! I’ll do whatever you want."

"Walk to the staircase," Jenna ordered, and Frank felt himself roughly lifted to his feet, as Callie was. Much to his surprise, the two men undid their handcuffs, but continued to watch them. Jenna, Frank noticed, had somehow come in possession of a much larger gun. He felt the sweat on his forehead. He watched as Jenna gave the men a nod, and they left, waiting, presumably by the huge marble door for her.

Frank stood with Callie by the top of the staircase, facing Jenna. He was afraid to move—Jenna looked like she might actually use the gun.

"Okay," Jenna said at last. "Frank, you have a choice. You can come with me, or go with Callie."

"What?" Frank asked, startled.

"You heard me. I’ll spare your life, give you another chance to become reacquainted with me."

"Fine," he replied, trying to buy time to think of something. He could almost feel Callie’s fear surrounding him. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere no one will ever look," Jenna replied steadily. "Now, are you coming or what?"

Frank was desperate. "I… I mean…"

"Oh, shut up!" Jenna said, annoyed. "Clearly you don’t want to see the light. What’s she got that I don’t, anyway?" Jenna asked, nastily.

"That’s what this is about?" Callie gasped, feeling woozy. She wasn’t used to this much activity anymore.

"Go to the foot of the staircase- both of you!" Jenna ordered. Frank and Callie did as they were told.

"Now," Jenna said to Frank, "Push her!"

"What?!" Frank and Callie cried together.

"I said push her!" Jenna said, keeping her gun trained steadily on both of them. "I’ll give you a moment to say good-bye."

Frank looked down the staircase. It was a horrible, steep drop. He looked up. He wasn’t close enough to run at Jenna. Oh, God.

Caught in an impossible position, Frank took Callie in his arms and held her tightly. He’d never, ever push her or hurt her in any way. What was he going to do? Callie clung to him tightly, not speaking, tears streaming down her face. Frank felt his own tears start to form, but pushed them back- or tried to.

"Never!" he said fiercely to Jenna. He turned Callie towards the staircase, still holding her, so that he’d be the first one to get shot, if that happened.

Jenna looked bored. "Frank, you either push your girlfriend down those stairs, or I’ll shoot YOU, and the force of it will not only kill you, but push her down anyway. You choose. OR," she added on second thought, "I could have one of my guys push her while you watch, and then shoot you. So many possibilities."

Frank held Callie tightly to him. "No! WHY are you doing this?" he begged, unable to stop his own tears.

Jenna shrugged. "I don’t like it when people are nosy, and I don’t like rejection. You were nosy; you rejected me. Besides, you were coming too close."

"To what?" Frank asked in disbelief.

"You’ll never know," Jenna said. "Look, I’m tired. Boys!" she called. "It’s time to show the little lady a quick way down. Say good-bye to your girlfriend, love." Jenna said with a smirk.

"No!" Frank cried, holding on to Callie for dear life.

The next minutes passed by in slow motion, as horrific events often do. Frank felt himself being pulled back by someone totally by surprise who must have sneaked up on him. He felt Callie being ripped from his arms. He struggled with all his strength and came… so close … to being set free. In absolute horror, he watched as some man, dressed in black, pushed Callie – hard- and saw her flailing as she sailed back through the air-- and went flying down the staircase.

In one instant, just one- their eyes met- and time stood still.

"No!" Frank screamed as the unearthly sound emanated from his throat. Oh, God- this couldn’t be happening!

And then- he, himself, was thrown forward against the railing.

"You had your chance, Frank,"

Those were the last words that he heard before he saw the gun, and he heard the gunshot ring out. He felt the bullet slam into his body- it felt like a thousand shards of glass had exploded in him. That was all he remembered.

And then- it was done.

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