“You have to call her,” Joe said seriously, as he peered intently at the older man.  “As intuitive as women are, they still aren’t mind readers!”

“That’s a probably a good thing!” Sam laughed and Joe had to grin.

“Probably…” The teen shrugged, “But unless you call Ethel, she’ll never know that her obvious feelings are reciprocated. I mean you do like her…right?”

“Well yeah, I do,” the sleuth admitted quickly and then frowned, “But I just don’t know—” he hesitated and fingered the card nervously, “I mean, I’m too old for this kind of stuff—”

“You’re breathing aren’t you?” Joe cut him off with a snort, “There is no such thing as ‘too old;’ love knows no age limits. Geesh, just take a look at my parents – it’s downright embarrassing at times!”  He rolled his eyes.  “I don’t think they know they’re supposed to be too old!”

Sam had to smile at that. Anyone who spent any time with Fenton and Laura could feel the deep affection and love they had for one another.

Still, he sat back in the chair and sighed heavily, rubbing his face distractedly with his hand.  “I just don’t know what she could possibly see in me – what any woman could see in me!”

Joe sized the man up carefully. He had known ‘uncle’ Sam all his life. He shrugged and said nonchalantly, “Me neither, but then again, I’m not a girl!”  When Sam looked at him sharply, Joe laughed, “I’m just kidding. Look Sam, you have a lot to offer any woman and she’d be lucky to get you.”  When the man still looked skeptical, the teen continued, “You’re a truly nice guy; warm and caring – but not weak….Strong and intelligent – but not overbearing! You’ve got a great sense of humor and a clever wit. You’re dependable, reliable and you’re good at taking care of people.”  He paused and his vibrant blue eyes locked on the hazel-colored ones watching him.  “Sam, just take a good look in the mirror before you sell yourself so short!”

The man was actually blushing, and Joe found that amusing.  He had never seen this side of him before.

Sam seemed to consider this for a few moments and then shrugged and put the card back in his pocket.  “Maybe…but I don’t have time right now anyway.”

“There’s always time,” Joe started and then chuckled fondly, “unless you’re Frank, that is.”  He shook his head, thinking of the cases he and his brother had been on when Joe’s ‘taking the time’ to appreciate the feminine influence was not as ‘appreciated’ by his brother!

“I’ve just never been lucky in love,” Sam admitted, “I mean, here I am, a man in my forties, unattached and never been married – what does that tell you?”

Joe shrugged.  “That tells me that you’ve never met your Ms. Right, that’s all. Come off it, Sam – what about this woman?  Ethel?  Do you think she’s been any luckier than you, if she’s been reduced to picking up men in the Chief of Police’s office??”

Now Sam had to laugh as he said indignantly, “Hey!” And then he became more somber.  “Seriously Joe, I have no idea how to act around a woman I find attractive!”

“Well then, don’t act. Just be yourself.”

“Easier said than done,” Sam groused, “Do you have idea how long it’s been since I’ve been out on a date?”

When Joe raised his eyebrows, the question unasked, he continued.

“T-ten years?” Joe finally stammered; his eyes wide in disbelief.

“I’ve been busy,” Sam shrugged by way of explanation.

“You wouldn’t!”  Sam looked horrified and Joe smiled sweetly:

“Try me.” He headed towards the bedroom door.  “Call her.  I’m going downstairs to see if there’s any stir-fry left over.”

Sam hardly heard him as he took out the card again and just stared at it. ‘I really should call her,’ he thought to himself but still made no moves.  ‘I really should…’

* * *

Frank pulled up in front of the jewelry store and parked the car.

“It’s 8:30 p.m., Frank, I don’t think they’re open,” Callie said, glancing across at her boyfriend.

“Probably not,” the dark-haired teen agreed absently, and then got out of the car.  Callie followed as he walked around the perimeter of the store, glancing in through the windows.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, glancing around nervously, half expecting the police to show up at any moment.

“Just checking,” came the distracted reply and the girl rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration, recognizing him in ‘investigator mode.’  ‘Frank can be downright exasperating at times,’ she groused to herself, feeling a pang of sympathy for Joe.  She hated playing twenty questions with her boyfriend for every piece of information, and while she was sure he didn’t do it on purpose, it was still maddening!!

“Aha,” Frank said a few moments later when he found a half-open window. He slid it open all the way and then hoisted himself up.

“What are you doing?” Callie repeated, nervousness edging her voice.

“Don’t know yet.”  He flashed her a smile, “I’ll be right back!” and was inside the room before she could properly form a protest!

* * *

Frank couldn’t believe his luck when he found the open window.  He wondered where the coach was, deciding he must have left in a hurry not to have noticed it.

The dark-haired teen knew that Joe had wanted him to wait so they could go together to confront Coach Iago, but Frank preferred his brother not to be here, concerned about what might happen if Joe did come.

Glancing around the office, the young sleuth really had no idea what he was looking for or had hoped to find.  In truth, he had been expecting the coach to be here so he could talk to him….Seeing the computer, Frank decided that was as good a place as any to start.  So, flicking on the monitor, the teen sat down at the desk, moved the mouse and then blinked in shock as the screen lit up. He could not believe what he was seeing!

‘No,’ he thought, ‘this couldn’t be – could it?’

But as he started reading the open word document, he knew exactly what it was. It was a confession.

Frank started to read it, his stomach tightening with each word:

Dear Fenton Hardy,

I am so very sorry about how things have turned out. If you are reading this, then I am dead, for I am putting this document in my safe so it can be found when the police search it.

Chances are that I am missing, as that is how my partner prefers to work. So I am taking this opportunity to make sure he does not continue to get away with what he has done, been doing or will do. And since you have such a personal stake in all this, I thought you should know.

First things first, I so pleased to see that both your sons have grown into such fine young men. They always had potential. Tell Frank that he was the finest Assistant Coach I ever had the privilege of working with – as brief as our relationship was. He was, and still is a great kid and a pleasure to spend time with.

And I am relieved to see that Joey has moved on past that one dreadful day. I heard about his suicide attempt and cannot help but feel responsible for it. Tell him how sorry I am about what happened – it was never supposed to be that way. And I am just very thankful that you were there to save him.

Tell Joey that I’m releasing him from his promise.  He can tell what he saw – what he witnessed.  Make sure he understands that, no matter what, it was not his fault and there was nothing he could have said or done that would have changed things.  My partner is a cruel man who enjoyed making the child believe he could have prevented Tex’s horrific death.  But that was just not so.

I wan

Frank scrolled up and down the document. “That can’t be it,” he muttered. “There has to be more!  Who is this ‘partner’?”  But there was nothing!  It looked like the coach had been interrupted or something when he was typing it.  “Damnit!” Frank hissed and then, after quickly printing out a copy of the confession, he started to search through the other documents, desperately looking for more information.

He felt the blood drain from his face when he opened a temp file and found the threatening letter that the chief had shown him and his father.  ‘So Iago was the one who sent it,’ he thought to himself as he continued his search, ‘but who is his partner? There has to be some sort of clue.’

And then he opened a file marked ‘My Pictures’ and got his answer.

Three men were standing in front of a small shed in a wooded area. One was Damian Iago. The second was a red-haired the boy didn’t recognize but the third – Frank’s jaw dropped open in shock; the third was Oscar Smuff!