Frank was extremely exhausted, he knew he hadn’t had more than a few hours of sleep since Joe was kidnapped, he was about to settle down in the chair to take a nap, now that he felt that Joe would be all right, when he heard a startled gasp at the door, he looked up and saw his mother and sister standing in the doorway. Frank got up and immediately went to hug his mother, and his sister, trying to reassure them.

"He is really much better," Frank said. "Dr. Dawson said that the respirator is coming out tomorrow morning, the pneumonia is clearing up quickly."

"That’s good," his mother said, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by what she saw, Frank guided her over to the chair he vacated. She gave a small smile. "Frank, you look tired, why don’t you lay down for a bit?"

"I will, but right now I’m hungry," Frank paused at the door. "Tell me if Joe awakes. The doctor said he should awaken tomorrow, but he didn’t really expect to regain consciousness today."

As he was leaving, he noticed Elizabeth hanging back, "What’s wrong, Elizabeth?" he asked her.

"I knew he was hurt bad, and I knew he was hurting, but nothing could have prepared me for this," Elizabeth said, as she buried her head in Frank’s chest.

Frank stroked Elizabeth’s hair, he knew how she felt, he wasn’t prepared for how bad it was, "Don’t worry, he is improving rapidly."

"Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked, moving back from him.

"I’m sure, ‘E,’" Frank said, adopting the nickname that Frank and Joe sometimes called her.

Elizabeth smiled at that, and nodded and went to sit beside their mother.

Frank continued on down the cafeteria, he knew he wouldn’t eat much, he never had a big meal when he was tired, but that is something that never stopped Joe, he continued on down to the cafeteria, he gasped when he saw Alexis Davenport in the cafeteria, eating her dinner in there.

Frank went to get him something, he sat down across from her, and asked. "Are you visiting someone?" he asked.

"I’m waiting to meet my Father and brother," Alexis replied.

"Did you manage to locate them on your own?" Frank asked, knowing that neither his father nor had he or Joe had time to locate him, and what was this about a brother? He asked himself.

"Apparently," Alexis replied, with a small smile. "Your Dad stumbled across my brother, which I never knew I had while trying to find your brother, he is coming to meet me with my Father this evening."

"That’s great," Frank exclaimed. "Joe and I saw a Richard Davenport in Southport." Immediately he realized where his dad must have met up with Alexis’ brother.

"Did you and Joe call him?" Alexis asked, curious.

"No, we didn’t get a chance, Joe and I were busy with school and practice, we were going to do it on Saturday, to make sure we caught him at home, but Joe was kidnapped Friday night," Frank explained.

"You don’t have to explain it to me," Alexis said, she had heard the brothers were close, she was hoping herself to form a close bond with her brother, she always wished she had a brother, as she only had sisters from her adoptive parents real children. "I’ve waited this long, it will be worth it once I meet them," she continued.

"How do your adoptive parents feel about you looking for your real Father?" Frank asked, curious.

"They have supported me through the whole process, they told me they couldn’t imagine what they would do if they were separated from their family, I still consider them family though, but I am excited about meeting them," Alexis said.

"I think I see what they mean, I couldn’t imagine being separated from my family," Frank said.

"My adoptive parents didn’t even change my first name, but when I turned eighteen, I legally changed my name back to my birth name, but I grew up near Chicago, my family moved when they adopted me," Alexis explained.

"Was it nice where you lived?" Frank asked.

"It was okay," Alexis answered. "The houses were kind of close, where I’m living now, there is some space between houses, and I like it much better, more room to garden."

"My Mom likes to garden, she says it helps her relax," Frank said. "I guess she would need it, since my Dad and us are away sometimes on cases, and she worries."

"I noticed, your yard looks great, I could get some tips from her," Alexis observed.

Feeling refreshed, but still a little tired, Frank decided to go back up to see Joe, he felt like he should sleep, but if he got that tired, he could always sleep in the extra bed in Joe’s room, as Dr. Dawson said he could, as Joe was getting steadily better.

"Hi Mom, where’s Elizabeth?" Frank asked, upon entering Joe’s room.

"She went to call Vanessa and Callie, she thought it was safe now, since the Draven’s have been caught," Laura explained. "You look tired, why don’t you lay down, I am going to meet Elizabeth down at the cafeteria for something to eat, and we can keep Ms. Davenport company. I suppose you’ve seen her?"

"Yes, she’s really excited on meeting her birth family," Frank replied.

"She explained everything on our way here, her adoptive parents sound like wonderful people, I met a couple who adopted their children, just before I met Fenton, and there was no way they were going to support their children finding their birth parents, and their story is much like Alexis’. They said it would be too painful if they chose to only spend time with them." Laura explained.

"I don’t think her adoptive parents have anything to worry about, it was only happenstance that her Dad remained where he was," Frank said. "Sorry," he said, stifling a yawn. Yes, he thought, it would be a good idea to lay down, with Joe out of danger and the killers finally behind bars, things were becoming much more relaxed around here, so Frank took off his shoes and got into the extra bed, he was glad hospital provided areas for families to sleep with loved ones these days, he could remember a time not long ago, when hospitals weren’t too crazy about the idea.

"Have a nice nap," his mom said as she patted his hand, "I’ll wait for your Father downstairs." With that Laura Hardy left the room, she quietly closed the door until there was only a crack and went down to the cafeteria to meet up with her daughter, they were so anxious to get to the hospital, that they forgot to eat something at home.

Before his mom left the room, Frank looked over at Joe, although he still looked bruised, he was much improved, and he closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost immediately.

* * * * *

"Thanks to all your hard work, Fenton, these people will spend the rest of their lives in jail," Betsy Nicholas, the DA for Bayport said. "But, we only wish we found them before they got to Joe."

"I know," Fenton agreed. "I had most of the evidence, but no idea where they would strike next," he sighed, regretfully.

"Don’t feel guilty, Fenton, you found him in time, that’s all that matters," Ms. Nicholas replied.

"That’s not the point, all those boys that died at their hands, this has proved to be one of my toughest cases to crack," Fenton explained. "So the DA for Johnston, Pennsylvania is asking for extradition, I think they should, they would only face a few charges here, and wouldn’t guarantee sending them away for the rest of the lives, I would rather them be prosecuted somewhere else where I can guarantee they won’t get out."

"Some people would insist that they would be prosecuted, but I know you know, they should be put away for the rest of their lives, and that town has seen two deaths by this group," Ms. Nicholas commented.

"Just as long as they don’t get out," Fenton replied. He looked at his watch, and then back as Ms. Nicholas. "I better get back at the hospital, I am meeting someone there."

"Oh, I was amazed when you told me about stumbling upon the brother of your client," Betsy said. "Well, I let you know what happens with the extradition hearing."

Fenton nodded. With that he left the courthouse and drove over to the hospital, when he arrived he met up with both Callie and Vanessa who were just arriving, the rest of the boys’ friends were already in the waiting room.

"Mr. Hardy, do you know how Joe is?" Vanessa asked.

"The last time I heard he was improving, did Elizabeth called you?" he asked.

Vanessa nodded. "She said, the doctor came in and said that his pneumonia wasn’t as bad, but that was all she would tell me."

"Don’t worry, he’s improving then," Fenton told her.

They entered the hospital, Fenton immediately recognized Officer Davenport when he entered the waiting room, but they was an older man that closely resembled, which he assumed was Richard Davenport.

"Officer Davenport, glad to meet you, is this your Dad?" Fenton asked.

"Yes, it is, Dad this is Fenton Hardy, Alexis hired her to find you," Raymond told his father.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances," Richard said, referring to Joe’s kidnapping.

"It’s okay, Frank and Joe were helping me on it, but I believe you may want to meet your daughter, she has some photos when she was young she showed me, do you have any to compare, if not there are always DNA tests?" Fenton explained.

"Yes, I brought several before she was adopted," Richard replied.

Fenton, Richard, and Raymond made their way to the cafeteria, where Fenton arranged for them to meet, along the way Richard explained the circumstances under which he was separated from his daughter. "I was working hard to support the twins, so I would be gone a long time, Melanie and I lived with her sister, she got sick and died before I could get home, her sister, Theresa wasn’t able to get in touch with me, due to the fact that the phone lines were down where I was at, she never thought of calling the neighboring town, so the children were put into foster care, it was a particularly tough time on me, couldn’t get back home," Richard stopped, then continued after awhile. "By the time I got back home Alexis had already been placed for adoption, because their papers had been misfiled, and the family had already moved and forgot to leave a forwarding address, fortunately I got Raymond out of foster care, went back to college and got a better job. I always wondered where they went to."

They continued their walk to the cafeteria, off to the side, Fenton spotted his wife, and daughter with Alexis Davenport. Richard pulled out his wallet and some of the pictures he carried with him when Alexis was a baby. He couldn’t believe it, in the twenty-three years since he last saw her, she hadn’t changed all that much, he just knew it was her.

Alexis got up, "Dad?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Alexis? It’s you, it has to be," he replied, excitedly. Alexis ran up and they shared a hug, she stepped back, and looked over at Raymond, they resembled each other strongly, with the same hair and eye color.

"You are my brother?" she asked, not believing that she had a brother.

"Apparently so, always wished I had a sister growing up," Ray replied.

"I always wished I had a brother, my adoptive family had two daughters of their own," Alexis commented.

"You also have a half-brother, he’s in the military, I called him though, he’s anxious to meet you on your next leave," Richard said. "I re-married after I got more settled," he added.

"How did I end up being put up for adoption?" she asked.

Richard explained the whole turn of events that led up to her and her brother being put into foster care, and her being mislabeled as an orphan and being put up for adoption. She absorbed it, relieved in a way to know that he hadn’t given her up, and had prayed someday to be reunited with her.

Meanwhile, Fenton walked over to his wife and daughter while the happy reunion was taking place. "Where’s Frank?" he asked.

"Asleep, the last time I checked, he really needed, and by the looks of it, so do you," Laura admonished her husband.

"Don’t worry, once I check on Joe, we’ll wait in the waiting room, maybe we can take a nap there, I won’t feel safe going home until Joe wakes up." With that Fenton made his way up to Joe’s room, he peaked in, he noticed that Joe indeed looked a lot better, the medicine went a long way to reducing the swelling, and he looked over at the other bed, and noticed Frank sleeping peacefully, which he felt relieved, since Frank hadn’t slept much. He quickly turned around, not wanting to disturb Frank, and went back down to the waiting room, to report to everyone any progress.