"You know it!" his attacker replied and let go. Joe turned and faced the man who had grabbed him. He stood eye to eye with Joe and had blond hair and green eyes. At thirty years old, he was dressed the same as Joe and had a blond mustache. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Next time you split, give a person some notice, huh?" he asked.

Joe gave a slight acknowledging nod with his head, but never answered aloud.

"Let's go," the man said and headed over to the trucks. Recognizing the man as his partner from Craig's description, Joe followed Jim and climbed into the truck.

Joe followed the route Frank had given him when he had downloaded the department's files. Close to lunch time, Joe pulled into the dump and depositied the morning's trash.

"Let's head over to Zoe's Place for lunch," Jim suggested as they were washing up.

Joe nodded his consent, following Jim to his car and climbing into the passenger's seat. Jim drove for eight blocks before coming to a stop in front of a small cafe on the side of the road. Upon entering they took a booth in the corner.

"The usual?" the waitress asked, coming over to take their orders.

Joe gave a brief nod and Jim smiled. "You bet, sweet thing," Jim said, winking at her. After she had left, Jim looked over at Joe. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Around," Joe replied, shrugging his shoulders like it wasn't important. "You seen Kelly lately?" Joe asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sure," Jim said and guffawed. "She sure ain't happy about you leaving and not telling her," he added.

"How do you know?" Joe asked.

"The day after you took off, she came over here while I was eating and demanded to know where you were. I never did convince her I didn't know," he added, shaking his head. "Man, she's trouble with a capital T. Why do you hang out with her?"

"You know why," Joe hedged.

"Her daddy's got the connections," Jim said with disgust. "All those connections are gonna do is land you behind bars. Take it from me kid, jail's no place to be," he added knowingly.

"I'm cool," Joe said with a smirk.

"You're dumb!" Jim contradicted him and stood up. "I'll be back in a few," he said and went to the men's room.

"Hi Jonny," said the waitress, coming over and setting his order in front of him. "Been missing you," she continued. She was about five foot four, had blond hair and blue eyes. Her waist was so small he could have wrapped an arm around it and had room to spare.

"Kelly's been in here every afternoon looking for you," she said.

"I've been out of town," Joe told her. "Will she be back this afternoon?" he asked nonchalantly, picking up his coffee.

"Yeah," was the answer. "She's got it bad for you." Joe took a sip of coffee. "Remember Jonny," she cautioned, "you hurt her and her dad will kill you."

"I'm not afraid," Joe told her, looking into her eyes.

"No," she said, smiling. "I can see that. You know, I can't put my finger on it, but there's something different about you," she continued.

"Same old me," Joe replied, quickly looking down at his lunch.

"No," she denied. "You're smarter than you were." She seemed to wait for Joe to say something but when he didn't she continued, "I don't know what you've gotten into by hanging out with Kelly and her dad, but be careful," she advised him with a slight catch in her voice. Joe looked up in surprise.

'She cares about Jonny,' Joe thought in surprise.

"I know what I'm doing," he told her with a small smile. She nodded and left as Jim came back to the table.

"You're a fool, Jonny," Jim told him, sitting down. "That Zoe's wild about you, but all you care about is yourself," he added in disgust.

"There's nothing wrong in looking out for number one," Joe told him, looking into Jim's eyes with a challenge.

"Unless you hurt people who care about you," Jim countered, not backing down.

"And you didn't?" Joe asked with contempt. He was trying to find out why Jim had been in jail.

"No!" shouted Jim, slamming a beefy fist on the table and jarring the dishes. Some coffee splashed on the table but they ignored it. "I was framed by that rat!" Jim declared hotly.

"What rat?" Joe asked.

"Kelly's old man," Jim said to Joe's surprise. "You can kiss up to him if you like, but he's going down and he'll take you with him."

"What do you care?" Joe demanded in fake anger. "It's my life."

"I know you got troubles," Jim said a bit more calmly. "I want to help."

"Why?" Joe asked suspiciously.

"Because I think you need a friend," Jim stated.

Not knowing how he should respond, Joe picked up his gyro and bit into it. Jim followed suit. Neither spoke a word until they arrived back at work.

After work Joe went back to Zoe's Place. "Kelly here yet?" he asked Zoe as he came inside the establishment.

"In the corner," she told him and cocked her head to the right.

"Thanks," he said and went and sat down beside Kelly in the booth. "I'm back," he said to the brunette who sat next to him. She looked at him, her mouth set in a straight, disapproving line. Her green eyes flashed angrily, but she said nothing.

"I'm sorry I never told you," Joe continued.

"Sorry?" she practically screamed. "You're sorry? I thought we had something special," she told him. "There's no way I'm going to let you hurt me again Jonny. Take off!" she ordered.

"Aw, babe," Joe soothed her, taking her hand and holding fast as she tried to snatch it away. "I didn't have a choice."

"Your old man?" she asked, relenting a little. Joe nodded, taking the out she was offering. "What happened?" she asked.

"He had a heart attack," Joe improvised.

"I thought you didn't care about him," Kelly said suspiciously.

"I don't," Joe quickly assured her. "But I am his heir," he added.

"Mmm," she murmured, curling up to him. "With all that money and dad's connections, we could be rich beyond our wildest dreams."

"Don't I know it," Joe agreed, pulling her close. "Am I forgiven?"

"Do you need to ask?" she asked, pulling his head down and kissing him.

Across town, Frank had just arrived at Sarah Barnes' Boarding House.

"Hello," he greeted the woman who answered the door. "I'm looking for a room."

"You got references?" she asked in a crackling voice.

"Yes, ma'am," Frank replied and pulled out the letter his dad had written for him.

She looked it over and asked him in. "The room is fifty-five dollars a week," she told him. "You're responsible for all your own meals and I don't allow pets or hot plates," she added.

"That's fine," Frank agreed to the terms. He pulled out the money for the first week and handed it to her. She led him to the second floor and stopped at the third door on the right.

"This is it," she said handing Frank a key. "Jonny's on your left and the bathroom is beside his. Tony's across the hall and the other room is empty."

"Thank you," Frank said, taking the key from her.

"Here's your letter back, Fred," she said, returning the letter he had given her earlier. Frank thanked her again and went into his room. After looking around, he returned to his rental car and grabbed his suitcase. After unpacking, he rapped on Joe's door to see if he was back yet. Receiving no reply, Frank left to get some supper.

When he got back he saw Joe unlocking his door. Joe saw him and motioned for him to come inside.

Inside, Frank split his dinner with Joe. "You look beat," Frank said sympathetically.

"I am," Joe admitted. "I drive the truck in the morning and Jim dumps the trash but we switch places after lunch," Joe told him. He then proceeded to tell Frank about his meeting with Kelly and about what Jim had told him at lunch.

"I'll have Dad run a background check on Jim and Kelly," Frank promised. "You'll have to find out her dad's name before we can run a check on him."

"Oh yeah," Joe said, getting up and going over to the bed. "I found something. We need to find out who these phone numbers belong to and this address," he added, handing Frank the notebook he grabbed from beneath the bed.

"Who's Zoe?" Frank asked after looking through the notebook.

"Zoe's Place is the restaurant where we had lunch today," Joe explained. "Zoe owns the place and works as a waitress there," he added, sitting back down. "I think she has a crush on Jonny."

"Oh?" Frank aksed, lifting his eyebrows in question.

Joe told him about his conversation with Zoe. "You know, Jonny doesn't sound like a very nice guy," Joe continued.

"I agree," Frank said. "Jonny may have vanished because he got in trouble with the law," Frank hypothesized.

"But wouldn't they have contacted Mr. Harrison?" Joe wondered.

"Probably," Frank replied with a shrug. "But I'll check it out anyway. I think I'll go have a talk with Zoe tomorrow," he continued. "Maybe I can get something out of her."

"Great," Joe replied, yawning. "I think I'll take a nap before the party tonight," he added.

"What party?" Frank asked in surprise.

"Kelly invited me to a party at her house," Joe explained. "She'll be here at eight to pick me up."

''Knock on the wall when you're ready to leave and I'll follow you there,'' Frank ordered. Joe nodded then went to make sure the corridor was clear before Frank returned to his room.

At eight o'clock, Kelly knocked on Joe's door. ''Right on time,'' he said, giving her an admiring look as he took in her appearance.

She was wearing a long, sequined, silver evening gown which made her hair look dark and fashionable as it sat on top of her head, braided and curled into a bun. Her eyes sparkled as she looked into his.

''As always,'' she replied, giving him a quick kiss. ''Let's go, Joe,'' she urged.

''Let me get a jacket,'' Joe told her. He grabbed his jacket from a chair. The chair fell into the wall that connected with Frank's room. ''Oops,'' he said righting the chair before following her out the door.

Frank followed the twosome outside as he had promised to Joe, keeping a safe distance. He made it to his car but was halted before he could unlock the door.

''What're you doing?'' asked the muscular man who had grabbed Frank's arm and was now holding it painfully behind his back.

''I was going for a ride,'' Frank answered and then gritted his teeth as his arm was pushed further up his back.

''It looked more like you were spying on our friends,'' a second man said, his face so close that his nose was touching Frank's.

''Who are your friends?'' Frank asked innocently.

''Shut-up!'' ordered the muscle man, squeezing Frank's arm tighter.