Pulling into the garage in the apartment complex, Joe stifled a yawn as he prepared to leave the car. All he could think about now was going home and dragging Vanessa into bed for a nice, long nap. The thought of sleep actually brought a smile to his face and he even heard a small laugh of glee escape his lips. Noting Frank’s expression, he ascertained that Frank had heard it, too. Suddenly feeling pretty dopey for want of sleep, Joe finally let the yawn escape and motioned for his brother to follow him. Frank nodded and began to walk after him. Joe took only a quick minute to notice that although Frank looked as tired as he felt, Frank’s mind was clearly on things other than sleep. Nodding encouragingly at him, Joe was about to walk into the building and head onto the elevator that led to his apartment when he noticed that Frank had stopped.

Sighing, Joe wished he could fall asleep on the spot. Still, he was about to follow Frank when Frank stopped him.

“Go ahead,” Frank began. “I’m just going to talk to the officers over there”. He paused, motioning to the two cruisers parked in the distance. Continuing, he said, “Those are the cops who were assigned to Callie and Vanessa. I recognized them from before.”

Looking at the direction into which Frank had pointed, Joe surmised, “You’re going to fill them in on everything, right? Make sure that Collig has them up to date?”

“Actually, I was going to find out why they’re both down here instead of in front of your door,” he pointed out plainly.

“Oh.” Joe replied. Frank did have a point there.

Frank had to smile at his younger brother’s expression. Joe looked so—forlorn—about a delay in sleep that it was almost comical. He, on the other hand, knew that he couldn’t sleep; at least, not yet. He had to straighten things out with Callie. If I can, he thought silently. Pushing the thought—the fear---to the back of his mind, he found himself telling Joe, “Go in. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Besides, you’ll have some time with Vanessa alone. I’m sure that Callie will give you some privacy.” Saying her name out loud caused a pang in his heart. Still, he felt better now, somehow, knowing that he might have the power to undo some of the pain he had caused, however inadvertently or unintentionally.

Looking relieved, Joe muttered a quick, “Will do” before heading upstairs.

As soon as he opened the door, it took only a moment for him to see Vanessa. Hurling herself into his arms, she hugged him tightly. Joe took a moment to return the hug. “This is even better than sleep,” he whispered to her softly, content. Tilting her face up to his, he kissed her deeply, letting all the confusion and action of the past two days slowly melt away.

It was several minutes later, at least, when he heard in the background a throat clearing. Breaking apart from Vanessa for a moment, he turned sideways and glanced at Callie, who looked embarrassed. Giving Vanessa a quick wink, he turned to Callie.

“What?” he asked, innocently.

Normally, he knew, Callie would have had some sort of quick comeback for him about his sense of discretion. When she didn’t speak immediately, it hit him that it must be painful for her to watch him, knowing what had been going on with Frank. He also noted at the same time that Callie appeared to be looking out the still open door, waiting.

At once, he spoke, still keeping an arm firmly around Vanessa’s shoulders. “He’s coming.”

Seeing her the relief in her eyes gave him some hope. She had been worried—really worried—about Frank, and that meant that she still loved him; that much was clear.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “I’ll... um... wait in the hallway.”

“You don’t have to do that, Cal,” Vanessa began, but was immediately cut off by Callie. “No, no. It’s fine. Really. Anyway, Frank will be here soon.” Then, with a small smirk that she couldn’t help, she added, “It’s way too hot in here, anyway.” With a small flourish, she gave Joe a quick affectionate squeeze on the arm before heading out and silently shutting the door behind her.

As soon as Callie left the room, Vanessa sprang into action. Wrapping her arms around Joe, she hugged him tightly again before half dragging him to the couch. Once there, she nestled into Joe’s arms and smiled happily. Holding her, Joe settled back, pulled her against him, and slowly closed his eyes. THIS was what he’d been waiting for. Sleep was so close…

“Joe?”

He didn’t hear it the first time, apparently, as he’d later find out. Actually, he didn’t hear his name at all. It wasn’t until he realized that his body was moving from being gently shaken that reality hit—he wasn’t sleeping.

“MMMMMM?” It was all he could manage.

“Joe? Hon? Wake up.” NOW he heard it. He also recognized the tone. Vanessa wanted to talk.

“Come on, babe. Open your eyes.”

Crap!!!! Even in his half conscious state, Joe began weighing his options. Pretend to sleep. Pretend to have a hearing problem. Pretend…

“Joe!”

Uh oh. He KNEW that tone, the one that told him he wouldn’t win and he shouldn’t even try. Damn, this day kept getting worse! With a deep sigh, Joe slowly sat up and opened his eyes with more effort than he thought he could muster. He found himself wondering if it was even possible to literally feel bags forming under your eyes. Pulling back from Vanessa, he saw her looking at him, intently, waiting.

“Van?” He asked, weakly.

“Yes?”

“Is this gonna be a quick question, or is this going to be the “I need to put on a large cup of coffee” discussion?” Seeing her expression, he rubbed his eyes for what seemed like the millionth time and reached over to her, patting her knee. “Don’t be mad, babe. I’m not being sarcastic; I just really need to know.”

Vanessa stared at him for a moment, knowing that they need to talk, now, even though Joe looked like he was about to keel over. Although she felt bad, she simply smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek before getting up and responding, “I’ll start the pot.”

Watching her bound into the kitchen, Joe was surprised that, although he was exhausted, he wasn’t the least bit upset with Vanessa. As she scooted around the kitchen looking for everything, he was struck again by how much he loved her. Even now, her boundless energy and enthusiasm created a glow around her, even though he knew that she was probably still very scared about everything that had happened. With her ash blonde hair and long white summer dress, she looked like an angel. She looked like… a bride. Someday. He smiled at the thought.

Fifteen minutes later, having accepted his fate, he took a cup of coffee from Vanessa. He could tell that her patience was wearing thin. Wryly, he surmised that that was what he must look like to Frank, all of the time. He decided that he could delay this or just get to it, so he decided on the latter, praying that he could somehow manage to think quickly enough to give her just enough information so that she’d be comfortable, and not quite enough to make her nervous. Nodding at her and with a smile, he gave in. “Go ahead—what do you want to know?”

Looking relieved, Vanessa reached over and squeezed his hand. “First,” she began, meeting his eyes, “How ARE you? Thanks for calling me yesterday with an update. I know you must be exhausted, and that I’m not helping the matter…” She smiled, then went on, “But I’m worried about you. So much has happened.”

He could barely believe it. Vanessa was the one who had witnessed a heinous crime, knew two of the victims, and was under a clear threat. She was the one who had lived under so much stress these past six weeks. Yet, she was worried about him. It was enough to make his throat catch for a minute. She was incredible. “I’m okay,” he finally managed. “I really am—more than okay.” He squeezed her hand in return.

“Is it true?” she went on, anxiously. “I mean, did you really get the guy?” The fear in her eyes was palatable, and Joe felt it deeply. Still, he didn’t know how to answer her. “Well, I didn’t do much, actually,” he admitted. “But yes. The police have this guy in custody. His name is Jimmy Dee. He confessed to the crimes, and to killing Roger Timms. So… I mean, yeah. Everything seems good.” Well, that was the truth. Finishing, he reminded her, “But the third guy, Charlie Hughes, is an ex-Marine, and he’s still at large. So you HAVE to be careful.” Unable to help himself, he reached over and hugged her tightly. “Because, you know…”

“I know,” Vanessa responded quietly, resting her head on his shoulder.

After a few moments, they slowly broke apart. Joe, relieved, settled back into the sofa. NOW, he could get some rest.

“Joe?”

“MMMM?” Something inside told him that his reprieve was now over.

“So what aren’t you telling me?” She stared at him, pointedly.

“Wha---“ He began, but was instantly cut off.

“Cut it out, Joe,” she retorted. “IF you really believed that this case was over, you’d be acting a lot more relieved. But you’re not, so spill it—now.”

Weakly, Joe sighed. He couldn’t win. “I told you the truth, Van,” was all he could manage.

“What didn’t you tell me? I know how you lie by omission, my dear.”

Damn, she was good. With a small curse muttered under his breath, he decided to tell her the truth. “It doesn’t feel right, Van. But—I mean, there’s DNA evidence from the first gang rape about all three men, in addition to a confession.. and all evidence, physical and circumstantial, leads everyone to the conclusion that things are as they should be.”

Vanessa’s eyes grew wide. “Leslie Smith was gang raped?!” She gasped.

Now Joe did close his eyes. How had he let that slip? Trying to recover, he stammered, “Well, yes… BUT—“

“But you should have told me that,” she finished for him. Shaking her head in shock, she went on. “Come ON, Joe! That’s something you should have leveled with me about in the first place. I’m a big girl—I can handle it.”

“I guess you’re right,” he admitted. “We just didn’t want to scare you any more than you were already.”

“Okay,” Vanessa finally gave in. “I disagree, but okay.” She crossed her arms. After a few minutes, she spoke again. “The guy—this Dee—he had the… eyes, right?” She shuddered at the image.

“Yeah, he did. That’s what makes this case so hard. I mean, everything FITS. It’s just small details that bother me.”

“Are you SURE that the guy in custody confessed AND had DNA evidence? And that DNA wasn’t corrupted in any way?”

“I’m sure,” Joe replied, grudgingly.

“But what if he had a brother or something?” Vanessa asked, gripping at straws.

Despite himself, Joe laughed. “You mean like an evil twin or something?” he asked. Seeing the look on Vanessa’s face, though, he stopped. It wasn’t really the time for kidding around.

“I don’t know much about Dee’s family,” he had to admit. “And Frank would really be the one to ask about that, because his specialty is Forensics. BUT--- on a basic level I know that each person’s DNA is unique. His DNA was at the first crime scene and, as results come back from the later two, they’ll probably be at those scenes as well.”

Vanessa contemplated the scenario. “But—the guy, Hughes I think his name is, who’s still out there… he doesn’t have those icy blue eyes does he?”

“No,” Joe replied. “I saw his profile. He has brown eyes.”

After some consideration, Vanessa mentioned, “But I .. and Callie… we were threatened by Dee, then. So if Dee is behind bars, and Hughes never really threatened us, then maybe we ARE safe.” Seeming to convince herself, Vanessa grew more confident as she continued. Gently, she said to Joe, “ Maybe for once, babe, you ARE wrong. I mean…” She hesitated.

“What?” Joe inquired, listening.

“Do you think maybe I could get a look at Dee’s picture? If nothing else, I’d feel better. Trust me, I would know those eyes. They’re… chilling.” She met his eyes.

“I can do that,” he finally answered. “As a matter of fact, you’ll probably be called in as a witness anyway and will be asked to identify him.” Maybe Vanessa was right—maybe all of the minor issues with the case didn’t mean anything. Perhaps he had been too personally involved and was looking for something—anything—to make sure that Vanessa was totally safe. Looking at the evidence, he allowed himself to relax a bit. It wasn’t the first time he would have been wrong. Still, he couldn’t totally shake his doubt. “If nothing else, Van, you’ll still have police protection until Hughes is caught. I think Frank was making sure that all of those details were in order.”

Letting out a small breath, Joe yawned, stretched, and began to close his eyes, after blowing a kiss to Vanessa. At least that was it, for now.

“Speaking of which…” Vanessa cut in.

Wishful thinking. Joe knew he was past the point where caffeine would save him. Opening his eyes again, he managed to get out, “I thought we were done.”

“Sorry, babe—you thought wrong.” Vanessa smiled.

“This is torture, Van—come on!” He begged, and did his best little boy expression, hoping to charm her into a small rest. He could almost taste the sleep. But it kept eluding him…..

“Only one more thing—scout’s honor,” she replied, crossing her fingers.

“Go ahead,” he responded with a sigh. Crossing his arms, he leaned back and nodded, encouraging her to get on with it.

“Frank…” She began.

“Oh, no!” Joe cut her off. “Stop right there. Seriously, Van—I don’t want to go there! It was bad enough yesterday at the hospital. I can’t even THINK about this right now. Frank’s business is his business, period. I am officially out.”

Vanessa pounced. “B.S., Joe! You are NOT out! I spent all last night with my best friend in the world who’s just brokenhearted about Frank. You can’t tell me you don’t care about Callie!”

“I didn’t say…” He tried to cut in, but stopped when he saw that resistance was futile. When Vanessa had a point to make, she would make it. Period.

“I just can’t believe that Frank would do this to her! And for what? Nancy Drew?! She should just keep her poison claws to herself! What kind of … woman… and I use the term loosely, would try to steal away someone’s fiancé? HUH?!” She glared at Joe.

Reminding himself that he still had to kill his brother, he managed to stammer, “I don’t think that’s exactly what happened, Van...”

“What?!” Vanessa shouted. “How can you say that?!”

Joe sighed. Vanessa’s fierce loyalty to her friends mirrored his own. But he couldn’t be this infuriating... could he?! He would have contemplated it further had not Vanessa continued on her tirade. It would have been funny under normal circumstances to see her this fired up. Then again, under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been the target! Thinking of his brother and how he’d get his own pay back on him, he muttered to himself, “I guess I’ll take one for the team…”

“What?!”

Raising his hands in the air as a sign of helplessness, he recovered quickly. “I said you’re being mean!” He winced- that was pretty bad.

“I’m being mean?!” she bellowed. “How? And what exactly are you going to do to fix things?”

Joe snorted despite himself. “Van, calm down!” He laughed. Although that could have fueled her fire more, he saw her waver... slightly. “I’m honored that you have faith in me to fix things—I really am—but how on earth am I going to get in the middle of Frank and Callie’s relationship? And what do you want me to say about Nancy?! There’s only so much I can do!”

Vanessa, still worked up, found herself slowly coming down from her high. Still, she went on. “You know, this is all Frank and Nancy’s fault. But it’s more Nancy’s than Frank’s because she should keep her hands off other people’s property!”

“Uh-huh.” Slow her down, Joe. Slow her down. It was the only way he could think of to end this. Let her expend her energy. Besides, he didn’t disagree with her—totally.

“But, really, Frank’s so—stupid! Did you know he was like this?!”

Despite himself, he felt a flash of color rise to his cheeks. Vanessa was everything to him, but still—only HE could say something about Frank and get away with it. Vanessa saw the color in Joe’s face and realized the line she’d crossed. Slowly, the wind was dying from her sails.

“S… Sorry..” She managed.

Joe took a deep breath and held Vanessa’s hand. “Van,” he said evenly. “Frank’s NOT an idiot. He made a mistake, and I think he knows that. So please--- lay off my brother. Let me deal with him. In all these years, he’s been nothing but loyal and good, so please just cut him a break.” He met her eyes and smiled, sadly. “And yes, I care about Callie. You know I do. I know she’s your best friend, and she’s been a really close friend to me, too. I want to see her happy, and, until now, both she and Frank HAVE been happy. But I’ll level with you. No matter what Frank does, when push comes to shove… I’ll back HIM. It’s just the way it is. And—“ He rubbed her hand…”I would expect you to back whoever you’d like. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. But no matter what—just promise me that nothing that happens with Frank and Callie will affect us, okay? It’s just not fair—to anyone.”

Vanessa felt herself melting. Joe was right, and she knew it. Slowly, she leaned in towards him, and he pulled her close.

FINALLY…. Joe thought happily, closing his eyes again.

“But Nancy Drew?!”

“Van!” he shouted, in exasperation.

“Okay, okay.” Vanessa smiled, content to give in. For the time being, at least, the case was forgotten.

Joe fell asleep immediately. Vanessa cuddled next to him, resting. She heard the cop outside her door on his cell phone and felt safe.

She did not know her world was about to be shattered…..

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.