"Try that again, and you’ll end up joining your brothers," the man angrily threatened, pushing the knife even further to Jason’s face.

Jason could only stare at the knife blade in terror. He wanted his brothers so much, yet he knew that when they came, they would be killed.

*******************

Frank quietly walked into Staci’s room. She had a large bandage on her left leg and left arm. Also, there was an IV that was dripping medicine into her arm to prevent infection. She was staring at her hands, looking sad.

"Staci?" Frank whispered.

She looked up. "I’m sorry, Frank."

Frank hugged her gently to him. "No, don’t be sorry. You did everything you could to protect Jason. You even put your life in danger."

Staci sighed. "Have you heard from the Vet yet?"

Now it was Frank’s turn to sigh. He had not even given Boomer a second thought since seeing the crime scene at the house. He looked into Staci’s face, and knew she was very worried for her dog.

"I’ll have Joe call and see what they say," Frank promised her.

"I’d appreciate that," Staci said, smiling slightly.

Frank was about to kiss her when a voice thundered into the room.

"Thank god!"

Frank and Staci turned to see Mr. Rivera, Staci’s father, in full police uniform. He looked pale, and was nearly out of breath.

"Dad, did you run all the way from Bridgeport to here?" Staci asked, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" Mr. Rivera demanded, coming over to them.

"I was babysitting for Frank when an intruder came in. Boomer tried to protect us but ended up getting stabbed," Staci quietly replied.

"Did you see who did this?" Mr. Rivera asked.

"No, he wore a mask," Staci replied.

"I called the station and got the next two days off. You’re coming home with me as soon as the doctor discharges you," Mr. Rivera commanded, leaving no room for arguments.

"Mr. Rivera, I promise I’ll find out who did this to your daughter," Frank vowed, his eyes flashing fire.

********************

Joe hugged Vanessa again. "It’s okay beautiful, you did the best you can, and I’m proud of you for that."

"I just wish I could have done more," Vanessa sadly replied.

"You did all you could," Joe said, kissing her gently.

"I’m just worried about Jason. I don’t think your mother can take any more heart break," Vanessa told him.

Joe looked into her eyes. "I know, but she’s got to understand Aunt Gert and Uncle Matt were only looking after the twins’ best interests."

"Joe, there’s something I should tell you about my own mom," she said, looking into his face with haunted eyes.

"What?"

"The same unfit mother declaration happened to my own mom a long time ago," Vanessa quietly said.

"What? That’s impossible, your mother is way cool. How could they say that?" Joe asked.

"When my father died, although we had the insurance polices to take care of his burial, some bills, and a fund for my college education, there wasn’t much left over. It left my mom having to work full time to take care of me. One day I got very sick and showed up at school. When the nurse asked why I hadn’t stayed home, I told her why," Vanessa explained.

"Let me guess, child welfare was called," Joe said, hugging her.

Vanessa nodded, "They declared my mom unfit and made me live in this stranger’s home. My mom was devastated. I had never seen her cry so much as the day I was in that court room."

Joe swallowed. That was the same reaction his own mom had had.

Vanessa took a deep breath and continued. "My mom was in a state of depression after that. She worked so hard to get enough money for day care that she had collapsed from exhaustion. Eventually she won out and she got me back. But when I told her what had happened to Laura, she looked like she wanted to cry all over again…So you see, my mom and I are going to back your mother up all the way because we know exactly what she is going through."

Joe smiled at her. "What would I do without you beautiful?"

Vanessa didn’t reply but only gently kissed him on his lips.

Frank, who looked very tired, interrupted them.

"How is she?" Joe asked, concerned over how sad his brother looked.

"She’s fine. Her father is with her now. I want to see how Boomer is doing," Frank replied.

"I’ll go call the ASPCA," Vanessa offered, walking off to find a payphone.

Joe sighed. He had to talk to his brother about their mom.

"Frank, about Mom…" Joe started to say.

"I know, she’s just depressed. We’ve got to convince her that Aunt Gertrude’s idea is the best," Frank said.

Joe sighed. "That’s not going to be easy. I don’t have the heart to do so right now."

"Why do you say that?" Frank asked.

Joe retold him the haunting story that Vanessa had told him.

"My God. No wonder she’s so protective of her. I had no idea," Frank said.

"Neither did I. But Frank, we can’t let Mom go through that," Joe begged.

Frank hugged him. "I know, baby brother, I know. But I think something might prevent both of them from getting the twins."

"What?" Joe asked.

"What’s going on right now. Con Riley already knows that Jason’s been kidnapped. Eventually the courts will find out it was because of that guy that’s after us. Even though Gert would be living in a separate house, the courts may find that her relationship to Dad and us might make the situation too dangerous for the twins. Besides we’re already on thin ice with Jason," Frank explained.

Joe nodded. He knew full well that this wouldn’t look good for their parents’ adoption of Jason. Then he thought how it would be if neither family got the twins. Perhaps that what would be the best. Babies are always adopted the fastest. They’d get a good home. He had seen the list of couples wanting to adopt. It was as long as his arm. He couldn’t take his aunt being hurt by Laura, or his mother being hurt by Gert any longer.

"Joe, what are you thinking?" Frank asked, noticed the long look on his brother’s face.

Joe sighed. "I almost wish that the twins were adopted outside of our family."

Frank was shocked. "How can you think something like that?"

"Because I can’t stand seeing mom hurt any longer. Even if Gert adopted the twins, and Mom ended up agreeing, it would never be the same between Mom and Aunt Gertrude. There’s always going to be a feeling of resentment between them. And I don’t want any of them to go through what Vanessa’s mom went through."

Frank nodded. He knew what Joe was thinking. He too, couldn’t stand to see either his mom or his aunt like this. If only there was some place the twins could go without being in harms way…

"Frank, there’s a problem," Vanessa voice called out from behind him.

They turned around to find her face pale.

"What? What’s wrong with Boomer?" Frank asked in a small voice.

"He’s in bad shape. The doctors are going to do everything they can for him. His lung was damaged, and he lost a lot of blood," Vanessa quietly replied.

"This is going to devastate her. She loves that dog," Joe remarked.

"Something strange is bothering me about Boomer," Vanessa remarked.

"What?" Frank asked.

"Boomer deliberately attacked the arm with the weapon in it. It’s almost as if her were trained to do that," Vanessa said.

Frank thought for a moment. "I’ll have to ask her about that."

It was then that Mr. Rivera came out from Staci’s room. He looked very tired.

"How is she?" Vanessa asked.

"Asleep. She’s still worried about her dog though," Mr. Rivera replied.

"I called the ASPCA. They said that Boomer is in bad shape, but they’re doing everything possible to help him," Vanessa told him.

Mr. Rivera nodded. "Thanks for calling. I don’t know what she would do without that dog."

"Mr. Rivera, where did Boomer get his training?" Joe asked.

"He went through the police K-9 training course. I wanted to have a good protector for Staci when I wasn’t home. So we got a German Shepard puppy, and she and him went through the K-9 Dog and K-9 officer training program," Mr. Rivera explained.

"Mr. Rivera do you want us to tell Staci about Boomer?" Frank asked.

Mr. Rivera shook his head. "No. Let her sleep now. I’ll tell her when she wakes up."

Mr. Rivera left them outside the room to get coffee, and to inform Chief Tellman of the developments.

"Wow. I wonder why Staci didn’t mention that?" Joe asked.

"I guess she just wanted everyone to like Boomer, because he is a good dog," Frank replied.

"I know. Did the ASPCA give you any hope that Boomer would make it?" Joe asked, looking at Vanessa.

"They said that if they can stop the bleeding, then Boomer has a very good chance of surviving. He’s in surgery now," Vanessa replied.

"That’s good to know. That dog saved all of you from being killed," Joe remarked.

"I know," Vanessa remarked.

Joe looked at Frank, and knew he was trouble by something. He could understand about feeling troubled. Not only had this vicious person had kidnapped Jason, he had nearly killed the women that they loved in the process. Now Boomer was fighting for his life, Jason was God knows where, and Staci was in a hospital bed. Joe felt extremely lucky that Vanessa had only had minor injuries. He took a deep breath. His anger was causing his temper to flare up. He closed his eyes and tried to count. He knew he had to calm down, but the more he thought about what had happened to the people he cared about, the more his anger grew.

Frank looked over at his brother, and knew what he was thinking. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Easy baby brother, you’ve got to keep a clear mind."

Joe nodded, but didn’t say anything.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Vanessa asked.

"Not right now. What you can do is stay here. If you can, ask Mr. Rivera if you can stay at his house while we work," Joe said.

"She can stay as long as she needs to," Mr. Rivera’s voice came out from behind him. "Staci’s going to need all the support she can get while Boomer is at the vet."

"Okay." Vanessa agreed. "Can you drive me by my house so I can pick up some clothes?"

"Not at all, I have to go by my house, and get some things for Staci," Mr. Rivera replied.

"Why would you need clothes and stuff if the doctor just wants her to stay overnight?" Frank asked, becoming nervous.

"It’s the leg wound. Although it only needed five stitches to close, it’s deep enough that the doctor wants to keep her here, so they can check for infection. He says it’s just precautionary since they don’t know if the knife was sterile," Mr. Rivera explained.

Mr. Rivera and Vanessa left the floor, and went to their homes in Mr. Rivera’s police cruiser.

"Frank, what do you suppose we should do in the mean time? I’m not sure we should call Mom. This could put her in the hospital," Joe said.

"I know. Let’s just hold off for another day. If we don’t have something by tomorrow night, we’ll call them. I just hope we can have something by then," Frank replied.

"I just have this feeling we’re missing something," Joe remarked.

"I know. Why don’t we keep Staci company until her father returns? Then we’ll go home, and go over the stuff we have," Frank suggested.

Joe agreed, and they went into Staci’s room. She was still asleep. The wounds seemed to swell slightly, but Frank knew the swelling would go down soon. Joe put a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder as he watched his girlfriend sleep.

Mr. Rivera came in an hour later with a duffel bag full of stuff. He was grateful that Vanessa offered to gather the things for her, as he didn’t want to accidentally open his daughter’s personal things. The house felt empty without his daughter and Boomer there. His blood filled with rage at the man who had attacked them, but the badge he kept pinned to his shirt kept that rage in check. It was going to be up the Hardys to bring the knife-wielder down.

"Hey." Frank whispered. "Did the Vet call?"

"Yeah. Boomer is going to be fine. He’s going to be laid up for a while, but the Vet says he’s one very lucky and very brave dog," Mr. Rivera replied.

Frank and Joe left Staci’s room, knowing she was under some of the best protection available. As they drove home, Joe thought about the perishables in that they had bought at the store that had now spoiled. They stopped at an all-night grocery store, and bought more stuff to replace the stuff that had spoiled. On the way home from the store, Frank called Con Riley, and got the all clear to clean up their house. There was no way they could let Laura return to that scene in her home.

When they got home, they put all the food away, and looked around at the mess the intruder had caused. They knew the locks on the house would have to be taken care of. Joe took out a camera, and began to take extra pictures of things.

"We’ll have to get a security bar for the back door, and maybe the front door too," Frank told Joe as he relocked the back door.

Joe agreed, and they continued assessing the damage. Lots of blood now stained the carpet and floors. They were lucky that the stains were still fresh. After taking pictures of the mess, Frank got out from the basement his mother’s carpet rug washer. He was grateful that the stain cleaner got the stains out. Joe had turned the coffee table back up, and made sure it was in place.

"Frank, we’re lucky. Other than the blood, there wasn’t much else done except the coffee table being turned over," Joe said.

Frank nodded, "Yeah. Let’s go over all our evidence."

Just as they were about to go into their father’s office, the phone rang. Joe picked it up, and immediately had the answering machine recording it.

"Hello?" Joe asked.

"Joe?" came the small frightened voice.

"Jason?" Joe said, his eyes going wide.

"Joe. Help me! No, wait, don’t help me," Jason said.

"Where are you?" Joe demanded, wondering why Jason was speaking so weirdly.

Frank listened intently, his mood going into overdrive as he heard who the caller was.

"What do you mean don’t help you?" Joe asked.

"He’ll hurt you if you do," Jason warned him.

"He? He who?" Joe asked.

Jason’s voice disappeared into the background, and Joe could hear intense breathing on the line.

"Who are you?" Joe demanded.

Silence. In the background, he heard Jason crying.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Joe demanded again.

"I loved you both. But then they turned you against me. Now you all have to pay the price," the dark voice answered.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Joe demanded, his patience on the breaking point.

"Come to me tomorrow night at 9. If I see any cops, I’ll slit his throat faster than you can imagine. I’ll be waiting at the old Kenforth mansion on the outskirts of town. Come any sooner and he dies painfully," the voice warned.

"No! Stay away, he said he’s going to hurt you!" Jason’s voice screamed from the background.

"If you don’t come, I promise I will kill him," the voice warned again.

There was a sharp click, and the line went dead. There was nothing but the hum of an open line.

Frank and Joe both stared at the receiver, thoughts running through their heads. They both realized that the countdown had no started…and there was no turning back.