"I can’t get through – his phone’s busy or turned off; all I’m getting is voice mail!" Joe slammed down the receiver of the telephone on Antonio’s desk in frustration. "What can have happened?"

"We need to go to the hospital," Bella said dully from her seat on the couch. Tony was slumped beside her, his head thrown back and his eyes closed. "We need to go there…and we need to be here, with my grandmother. And we need to find out what’s happened with Frank and Uncle Fenton…and Dominic. I don’t know what to do first."

"The housekeeper will be here with your grandmother, Tinkerbelle." Joe reminded her. "We can head over to the hospital now, if you want to. And I’ll keep trying to get hold of Frank." He gave Tony a sharp look. "You okay, Prito?"

Tony opened one eye, then closed it again. "Yeah. Still catching my breath." He sighed deeply and sat up. "Frank knows you’ll be trying to get through to him; keep trying."

* * * * *

Frank and Fenton both shrank back from the incandescent flare, instinctively shielding their eyes from the blinding light. Incredible heat washed over them, and flames crackled….The police cars behind and to the sides of them were already activating their lights and sirens, and calling for emergency vehicles, for fire crews from every available source.

"The whole place could go up!" Frank choked. "If the storage tanks catch…!"

His father nodded silently, his narrowed gaze still riveted to the appalling spectacle in front of them. "I think if that was going to happen, it would have happened already." he said finally. "If there can be anything lucky about this, it seems to be that the tanks weren’t opened yet, and the tanker was full. Gas fumes are more explosive than the gasoline itself."

Moving slowly, Fenton opened his door and got out of the Volvo; Frank was about to follow when he realized that his cell phone was ringing. Still gazing at the blazing inferno, the elder Hardy boy picked up the little instrument.

"Hello?"

"Frank! You’re there! I’ve been going nuts!" Joe’s voice hit Frank’s eardrum like an aural attack. "What’s happened?"

"It’s…all over, Joe." Frank drew in a deep breath. "It’s all over."

"What? What’s all over? What happened?"

Frank gulped. He had despised Dominic Scarpetti, but he hadn’t been prepared for this grisly ending of the man’s life. He felt shaky, and a little sick as he watched his father and several police officers stand in a group, talking while fire crews worked frantically to smother the blaze. Sirens resounded through the air as more emergency vehicles pulled up.

"Frank? You there? Tell me what happened!" Joe repeated again.

"We followed him into New Jersey." Frank said at last. "He tried to get away by driving through a service station….But there was this tanker truck there…he hit the truck, Joe, and everything exploded—" He heard Joe’s gasp, and suddenly realized the impact this story would have on his brother. "I’m sorry, Joe, I—"

"Never mind," his brother answered grimly. "Are you all right? You and Dad?"

"Yeah….I guess so." Frank responded, still watching the flames with haunted eyes. "How’s Bella’s grandfather?" he asked then.

"Alive." Joe replied. "They took him to St. Vincent’s Hospital. We’re heading there right now – nearly there."

"Okay, I’ll tell Dad. We’ll be there when we can, I guess."

"I’ll call you a little later, bro….you sure you’re okay?" Joe’s voice was very gentle now.

"I’m – I’ll be all right." Frank assured him. "Thanks. Give my love to Bella. I’ll talk to you in a little while, then." He closed his cell phone and slowly got out of the car.

Joe set his cell phone on the console beside him as he pulled into the hospital parking structure. Surreptitiously he glanced into the back seat where Bella sat huddled in misery. How in the world am I going to tell her?

Tony shot him a questioning look. He had known Joe too long for the younger Hardy to be able to fool him. Joe frowned, and shook his head. His expression was clear: I’ll tell you later!

Bella roused herself as Joe pulled into a parking space. "What did Frank say?" she asked.

"Uh—" Joe fumbled for words. "The chase is over. Dad and Frank will be here as soon as they can."

"So Uncle Dom’s been arrested?" Bella’s voice was tentative. She still was having trouble believing that her own flesh and blood relative – her father’s older brother – was responsible for her mother’s death…despite the pain in her mouth where he had slapped her to the floor.

Sensing there was more to the story than Joe wished to tell at the moment, Tony pointed at the entrance to the ER. "Isn’t that the ambulance crew that brought your grandfather in, cara? Maybe they can tell you something more about his condition when they got here. Joe and I will be right there."

Distracted from her questions, Bella scrambled out of the Aztek and hurried over to the paramedics. Joe and Tony followed more slowly.

"So what is it?" Tony asked, as soon as the girl was out of earshot.

Joe repeated what Frank had told him. His voice shook – talking about cars blowing up and burning always made him feel queasy, now. Tony wrapped an arm about his friend’s shoulders.

"We can’t tell Bella yet," he said quietly. "Let’s wait and see how Antonio is, first."

* * * * *

"I’ve been in too many waiting rooms like this." Joe muttered softly, to no one in particular. He glanced around uneasily. Hospital emergency room waiting areas gave him the heebie-jeebies; as he had said, there had been far too many instances of sitting in them, waiting for news.

"I wish we’d hear something, " Bella replied in a forlorn whisper. She was seated on a couch next to Tony, while Joe occupied a chair a few feet away. "Why doesn’t someone come and tell us how my grandfather is?"

"Scarpetti?" a voice interrupted the conversation. The three teens looked up, and Bella jumped to her feet.

"Here!" she cried.

A thirtyish woman with brown hair pulled into a pony tail, dressed in a pale blue lab coat, was approaching. She smiled reassuringly at the anxious group.

"I’m Dr. Markham." she said. "Mr. Scarpetti is out of danger," she went on, and Bella heaved an enormous sigh of relief. "He’s been moved to a room in the cardiac wing. You’re relatives?"

"I’m his granddaughter," Bella replied. "His wife isn’t well enough to be here just now." She glanced at the boys. "This is my cousin and a friend."

"Well, your grandfather is a very lucky man," Dr. Markham told her. "The myocardial infarction he suffered was mild. His EKG is almost back to normal. We won’t know the extent of the damage until we can do a catheterization, but I have every reason to believe he’ll make a full and complete recovery….The paramedics said you performed CPR on him after the attack?" Joe and Tony nodded, and she smiled approvingly. "You definitely saved his life; you should be very proud of your actions today."

We saved his life…. Joe thought morosely. But what kind of a life? To know that his son killed his brother’s wife, shot up his home, didn’t care that his father suffered a heart attack…and died in a fiery explosion trying to escape? That’s a lot to come back to…even for a crime lord as tough as Antonio.

"I’m so glad." Bella sighed again and sat back down. "I don’t think I could have stood it if – if I’d lost – someone else."

"Is he conscious?" Tony asked, and Joe wondered if his thoughts had mirrored Joe’s own.

"Off and on," the doctor replied. "He did regain consciousness briefly, but he’s been sedated." She smiled. "Who might he be asking for, when he said ‘Bella, angioletta"?

Tony’s eyes twinkled. "Only one person here that resembles a cherub." he said, and winked at Bella, who blushed.

"Can I see him?" she asked timidly.

"For a few minutes," the physician nodded. "but I must caution you not to say anything that might upset him. Even though he appears to be unconscious or asleep, it’s entirely possible that he will hear everything you say to him."

"I promise," Bella said earnestly. "I’ll be back in a few minutes," she added to the boys, and followed Dr. Markham toward the elevator. Joe and Tony settled back down to wait.

A few minutes later, however, Tony glanced at his watch, checking the time – and suddenly froze. "My gosh! The restaurant!" he yelped. "Nobody called Alexander to tell him what happened!"

Joe began to chuckle; for some reason the situation struck him as funny. "It’s a good thing Harrington’s already gray," he noted. "because having us work for him the past couple of days would be enough to turn anyone’s hair white!"

Tony extended his hand for Joe’s cell phone. "I’ll do it," he declared. "I’m getting real experienced at telling Alex the various reasons you and I can’t come to work!"

Tony had just finished his conversation with the restaurant manager when Frank and Fenton strode into the waiting area. They looked remarkably similar just then…both tall, with dark hair and eyes – and similarly grim expressions. Frank, especially, looked pale and haggard. Ordinarily cool and self-possessed, Frank had had his nerves stretched to their limits today.

When he reached Joe’s side, Mr. Hardy hugged his younger son tightly for a moment. There had been no time, at Antonio Scarpetti’s, for the investigator to express his relief that Dominic’s pistol had held no more bullets. But now he could let Joe know how he felt.

"Where’s Bella?" Frank demanded.

"She’s with her grandfather," Tony replied. He quickly related what Doctor Markham had told them. "She should be back in a little bit." he concluded.

"She’s going to want to know what’s happened with Dominic." Joe said sadly. "How can we tell her that her uncle is dead? First her dad, then her mother…Mom and Antonio nearly died….And now her uncle. She’s been through so much already….How can we tell her?"

"You just did." a voice said, and Joe jumped. Bella was approaching them slowly, her face ashen and her blue eyes expressionless. Whatever emotions the men thought she might have expressed upon hearing the news, they were doomed to disappointment. Her tone was flat, unreadable.

Frank reached out to touch her shoulder and pull her close. If she lashed out at him like she had against Joe upon hearing of her mother’s death…well, his sore ribs would just have to stand it, that was all. But there was no such reaction from Bella. Instead, she merely shrugged out of his embrace.

"What? Are you expecting me to cry about him?" She gazed stonily from one anxious face to another. "That monster pretended to care about me, and then killed my mother. I’m glad he’s dead."

Fenton’s heart went out to his young niece. He couldn’t blame her for a single word of what she’d said, but he knew that later on she would feel badly about it. She had too good a heart to wish that excruciating pain on anyone…even Dominic Scarpetti.

"He said he didn’t kill my father." Bella continued flatly. "But I wonder. Now we’ll never know."

* * * * *

"Laura, how much more can she take? She lost her father and then her mother. She came close to losing you, and then her grandfather…right after she met both of you! She learns that an uncle she had come to trust wasn’t just responsible for her mother’s death, but actively caused it! And now she finds out that he’s died, too. And with the exception of her father’s death, it all happened in less than a week’s time. Nobody should go through that kind of pain…but I don’t know what to do to help her."

Fenton Hardy stretched his long legs out wearily and sighed. His wife looked at him with sympathy from her hospital bed. Laura was still pale, and she tired easily, but the doctors had assured her and Fenton both that she was making a routine recovery, and would be able to leave the hospital in another day or so.

Upon leaving St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fenton had announced his intention of traveling across town to Lenox Hill and spending the evening with his wife. The boys and Bella had returned to the apartment above Marco’s; Bella insisted that she didn’t want to go home alone to her house just then, the only indication that she was feeling upset over the day’s occurrences. And now Mr. Hardy was telling Laura everything that had happened…seeking comfort as well as dispensing information.

"Fenton, I’ve been thinking about Bella…a lot. Since Gertrude moved to Florida, her room has been empty. I think we should ask Bella if she would like to move in with us for a while. I realize she’s almost an adult…but right now she needs family….she needs us."

"She may not want to come." Mr. Hardy cautioned. "Right now she’s confused and bewildered…and after all, she hardly knows us at all."

"She may not want to come." Laura agreed. "But we can ask. And," she added, her blue eyes twinkling now. "Frank and Joe would love to have her move in with us….Trust me on this one, honey. I know how they’d feel about this."