Laura’s face had gone pale. She looked sick.

"Matt, what’s wrong with her?" Gert demanded.

Matt felt one of Laura’s wrists. "She’s fainted, but her skin feels warm. Has she been drinking enough water, and eating properly?"

Fenton sighed, "No. I’ve hardly been able to get her to eat anything for the past two days."

"Let’s get her up to her room. She needs all the bed rest she can get," Matt declared.

Fenton carried her to her room. While the men waited outside, Gert changed Laura into her nightgown, and covered her with a blanket. She couldn’t help but feel that she was somewhat responsible for Laura ending up like this. She opened the door and let her brother, and nephews back inside. Matt went to his car, and retrieved his medical bag. By then Laura had started sweating and mumbling incoherently.

Frank went to the bathroom, and brought back a small bowl filled with water and a washcloth. Joe went to the kitchen, and began to boil water for tea. Frank then joined his brother in the kitchen, and began to prepare some soup. Fenton watched numbly as Matt gave his wife a checkup.

"For now she needs to rest, and build her strength back up. I have some medicine here for her fever," Matt replied as he pulled out a bottle from his bag.

"Fenton, I’ll take care of her. Right now you need to get Jason back," Gert said.

Fenton sighed, knowing she was right. "All right, just give me a few minutes."

Gert nodded and went downstairs to see how her nephews were doing. Hearing a knock at the door, she opened it.

"Is this the Hardy residence?" the unfamiliar person asked. He was slightly short, with balding hair.

"Yes, it is," Gertrude replied.

"I have a certified letter for Gertrude Hardy from the child welfare administration," the man replied.

"I’m Gertrude Hardy," she replied.

The man handed her the letter and walked away. Gertrude temporarily forgot about Laura’s condition, and excited opened the letter. She knew this had to be the letter confirming her and Matt’s adoption of the twins. As she began to read the letter, her joy turned to instant heartache.

"Dear Miss Gertrude Hardy…" the letter began. "This letter is to inform you that a petition has been filed to contest your attempt at the adoption of the twins Jaclyn and Jennifer. Please take note that you are to report to Judge Hawthorne’s courtroom on Thursday at 10AM."

Her heart leapt into her throat. How dare they deny her the right to adopt the twins? She could be a good mother. She knew she could. She looked for a moment at the ceiling, and thought of Laura who was lying sick in her bed. When she had told Laura that she and Matt were planning to adopt the twins, she had been hurt by the way Laura had reacted to them. After all they had the twins’ best interests at heart. Then the way Laura had treated her, she couldn’t believe the way her sister-in-law was acting. Now she knew exactly how Laura had felt the day the twins were taken from her. It was as if someone had deliberately broken her heart. She swallowed hard. They should have talked to Laura about their plans from day one. She sighed and stuffed the letter into her pocket.

"Who was that?" Joe’s voice broke the silence.

"Huh?" Gertrude said, looking up.

"What was that?" Joe asked again, a tray in his hands.

"Somebody…looking for their dog," Gertrude managed to say. She didn’t want to upset her nephews. They had enough to worry about.

"Oh, okay," Joe replied.

"Here, I’ll take that. Have you heard anything about Jason yet?" Gert asked.

Joe shook his head. "No. But we have a feeling he knows who all are friends are around here. That’s why we might have to call in outside help."

Gert nodded and took the tray upstairs. Joe went back into the kitchen to talk with his brother.

"Outside help? You’re thinking of Cliff?" Frank asked.

Joe nodded, "He’s the only one of our closet friends that doesn’t live in Bayport. He could help more than Biff or the others could."

"You’re right. He’s the only one. I wonder if he could get here in time," Frank said.

"If we call him now he could. Where would we meet up though?" Joe asked.

"The drug store. We could ask Matt to fill out a prescription for mom, and we can call and meet him there," Frank replied.

Joe nodded and went to call Cliff. Cliff readily agreed and said it would take him less than an hour to get there. He got the directions to the drug store from Joe before hanging up. Meanwhile Frank had finished heating the soup and poured it into a bowl on a tray. He put some crackers, napkins, and a spoon next to it. Joe poured a large glass of water, and set it on the tray. Frank carried the tray upstairs as his brother followed him. Their mom was resting comfortably in her bed with Matt checking her pulse on her wrist. Gert took the tray and put it on the desk. Fenton came over and ushered them out.

"She’s going to be fine. She just needs to rest," Fenton replied.

"Thank goodness," Joe replied, feeling somewhat relieved. Frank sighed a little, causing his father and brother to look at him.

"What’s wrong?" Joe asked.

"Nothing…" Frank muttered, then added, "So much for going to see the girls." Fenton smiled understandingly, knowing how much Frank loved Staci, and how much he was worried about her. Then, he asked,

"Have you two thought about a game plan for tonight?"

"We called in Cliff Troup. We figured he’s probably the only one the killer hasn’t seen with us lately, other than that, there’s not much else we can do," Frank replied.

"We’re going to meet up with Cliff in an hour, and then come back here. From there we’ll form our game plan," Joe promised.

Fenton nodded, and went to his office. Matt filled out the prescription, and gave it to Frank. In a few minutes, the brothers were at the drug store waiting for the prescription to be filled. It wasn’t long before they saw Cliff come into the store.

"Hey, what’s going down?" Cliff asked.

"We’ll explain at our house. We can’t take any chances," Frank replied.

Twenty minutes later, they were in Fenton’s office. Fenton was taken back by Cliff’s size, being that he had the build of a linebacker, but sensed that Cliff was a person to be trusted. He shook hands with him as they all took their seats.

"Okay. Now do you have any idea who this person is?" Fenton asked.

"We have a vague idea. We know we’re being stalked by someone who claimed that he loved us, but because we didn’t love him, he hates us now," Joe explained. "He’s sent several messages. The one sent by the arrow, the one on the baseball..."

"Did you see anybody drop them off?" Cliff asked.

They both shook their heads. "No. Boomer, my girlfriend’s dog, almost caught up with him once, but that’s been the closest," Frank replied.

"The police are positive it’s a serial killer?" Fenton asked.

Frank nodded, "All the victims have been killed in the same way, and all of the victims have similar appearances."

"Then there’s what Professor Manning told us," Joe added. He retold what Professor Manning had concluded about the killer to them.

Upstairs, Gert was brushing Laura’s forehead with damp cloth. She was burning with fever, and had start mumbling. Despite the low tones, she could tell what Laura was saying.

"I’m…not a bad parent…I’m a good mother…I didn’t force him to drop UCLA…I love those girls…I’m a good mother…" Laura said as she tossed slightly in her sleep.

Matt shook his head. Gert looked at him, and knew he didn’t understand, at least not yet. She quietly handed him the letter that the messenger had given her.

"What?" he whispered, looking up at her in shock.

"I know. I can’t believe it either, but we can’t tell the rest of the family. Not now," Gert replied.

"Then one of the victims who had been found alive, said the word chem before dying," Joe said.

"There were the two incidents you told me about that happened here. Did Boomer seriously hurt the guy? Wouldn’t he have gone for treatment?" Cliff asked.

"We don’t know. Con hasn’t reported in with a hospital report about someone with dog bites," Frank replied.

"In the mean time, have you guys been inside the Kenforth Mansion?" Fenton asked.

"I’ve been by that mansion before. There’s a heavily wooded area that surround it. I do know that the house is in disrepair, so there’s no telling what’s inside. What we need you to do Cliff is keep an eye out. We need you to call the police the moment we get Jason out of there, and if the guy comes out of there to stop him. Right now, you’re the only one of our closet friends that hasn’t been seen around here. That’s why we need you to do this," Frank explained.

Cliff nodded, "That’s cool. I’ve got a cell phone I can use. What does Jason look like?"

Fenton showed him the most recent photo he had of Jason.

"Okay. I’ll do my best, but don’t worry I can handle myself. Are you sure you can trust the voice on the phone?" Cliff asked.

"Right now, it’s all we can do," Joe replied.

Fenton handed Cliff a pair of goggles. "These are night-vision goggles. Use those instead of a flashlight. Frank and Joe have their own sets in their van."

They discussed the case some more until Gert brought down a dinner of sandwiches and iced tea. She still didn’t know how to break the news to them. Seeing the looking on her nephews’ faces, she knew now was not a good time. She went back upstairs to check in on Laura.

It was later that night, close to the meeting time when they left. A short distance away from the mansion, Frank pulled the van to the curb, and Cliff got out. He walked about two blocks before seeing the mansion that the brothers had described to him. The entire mansion was surrounded by trees and underbrush, which would provide him the cover he needed. He picked a spot, and started his surveillance. Frank and Joe went to the front gate to wait for 9PM…