"Joe?" he said, not wanting to startle his brother, who was apparently caught up in some very disturbing thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you come in," Joe stopped long enough to acknowledge Frank’s presence and then resumed his pacing.

Frank quickly crossed the room and grabbed Joe’s arm, concerned at his sudden mood change. Even taking into consideration Joe would be a little worried about the verdicts, he was still way too wound up for Frank’s liking.

"Stop, Joe," Frank said in a comforting but no-nonsense tone. "Tell me what’s wrong."

"Nothing," Joe insisted trying to pull his arm away. "Nothing’s wrong. I’m just nervous, that’s all."

"Bull," Frank replied deciding a little tough love was the best answer. "Now, what’s going on."

"I just told you, nothing’s wrong!" Joe retorted, his voice rising. Pulling his arm away, Joe resumed the frenzied walking from one end of the room to the other.

"Are you worried about the verdict?"

Joe stopped mid-stride and Frank assumed he’d hit the nail on the head.

"Look, Rashman will be found guilty. He’ll go to prison and you’ll never have to worry about him again. It’ll be over, Joe," Frank told him, hoping to dispel Joe’s obvious fears to the contrary.

"Will it?" Joe asked, a note of anxiety in his voice.

"Yes. It will," Frank replied confidently.

Joe looked at his brother a moment longer before turning away.

"Unless you know something I don’t," Frank said, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Joe didn’t reply. Instead, he walked to the balcony doors and stood staring through the glass at the morning commuters slowly making their way to work.

"He said prison wouldn’t stop them," Joe responded quietly.

"Who said?" Frank asked, walking over to stand behind his brother.

"Craig Rashman. He said it’s never over. Not until they’re dead. And Keith Rashman is still alive," Joe told his brother, no longer able to keep the fear out of his voice.

Frank closed his eyes, thankful Joe’s back was to him. He knew the anger and hatred he felt for Rashman was clearly visible on his face. As he had so many times in the past six months, Frank questioned why he hadn’t killed Keith Rashman when he had the opportunity and a justified reason. Taking a moment to calm himself, Frank put a hand on Joe’s shoulder and squeezed, reminding Joe that he was not alone.

"He was just trying to scare you, Joe," Frank said softly.

Joe turned and looked at his older brother.

"It worked," he whispered.

In that instant, Joe ceased to be the cocky young man who had no fear and could easily fight his way out of any situation. Suddenly he became the scared little boy who crawled into his big brother’s bed in the middle of the night, seeking protection from the monsters that came calling. At that moment, Frank knew he would never forgive himself for not slaying this particular monster when he had the chance.

"You don’t have to worry about him anymore, little brother," Frank tried to reassure Joe. "He’ll never get near you again; not as long as I’m alive." He felt Joe flinch and wondered what in the world could have Joe so jumpy.

He waited patiently, knowing if he did Joe would eventually reveal what was really troubling him.

"I’m not worried about me, Frank," Joe finally spoke, a quiet fear in his voice. "I’m worried about you."

"Me? Why?" Frank asked stunned.

"As far as Keith Rashman is concerned, you murdered his brother. I know how I’d feel if I thought someone had purposely killed you. I wouldn’t stop until…" Joe snapped his mouth shut, unable to put his biggest fear into words.

‘What if he kills you?’ Joe thought terrified, certain if he spoke the words aloud, they would become fact. Logically he knew that was totally irrational, but his heart wouldn’t let him take that chance.

"He’ll be obsessed with getting even, Frank. Getting even with you."

Frank sighed as understanding dawned on him. He knew exactly what Joe was thinking but was too afraid to say.

"Joe," Frank began in a reassuring voice, "the chances of that happening are about one in a billion. Probably more."

"Prison won’t stop him, Frank!" Joe said, his voice rising slightly. "It didn’t stop Craig and it won’t stop him. Keith Rashman won’t rest until one of you is dead!"

Frank’s heart broke just a little as the terror in Joe’s blue eyes jumped out at him. "Well, I can promise you one thing, little brother…it won’t be me who ends up six feet under," Frank said confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Joe asked, fear permeating every word.

"Because you’re giving him way too much credit. Yes, he’ll hold me responsible for his brother’s death and he’ll probably want to get even with me," Frank acknowledged, "but it will never happen."

Joe immediately started to protest but Frank held up a hand, silencing him.

"Just hear me out, okay?" Frank requested.

Joe looked at his brother warily, eventually nodding his consent.

"Once Rashman is convicted – and he will be convicted – he’ll go straight to prison. Maximum security. Before he even gets there the FBI, the D.A., the local police, even Dad will make sure prison officials know every single detail of this case by heart. From Dad’s initial investigation of Craig Rashman to what happened last night," Frank looked at his brother earnestly.

"Joe, Keith Rashman will be watched so carefully he won’t be able to blink without prison officials knowing about it. Add to that the fact that once he’s been convicted, his employer will want to have nothing to do with him and his personal vendetta." Leaning forward, Frank ticked off the points on his fingers.

"He’s in maximum security prison, being watched twenty-four hours a day by guards who know the only thing he’s living for is revenge against our family. That right there makes his chances of escape pretty close to impossible. When the syndicate he worked for makes it known they want as much distance as possible between him and them, the other inmates will have nothing to do with him. Now he’s isolated and alone to boot. I could go on and on, Joe," Frank said shaking his head, "but the bottom line is once he’s transferred to prison it will be virtually impossible for him to plan and pull off an escape, let alone any kind of attack on me."

Joe looked at his brother skeptically, having experienced first hand Keith Rashman’s single-minded resolve to do anything to get what he wanted.

"On the one in a billion chance he did somehow manage to escape, we’d be notified before he even made it off prison grounds," Frank concluded. "Joe, I have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning than I do of being killed by Keith Rashman."

Joe thought about everything Frank said for a few moments and then gave his brother half a scowl, still not entirely convinced.

"A one in a billion chance is still a chance," he muttered.

Frank couldn’t hide a smile, noting the fear in Joe’s troubled blue eyes had lessened considerably. "True, but I’m always careful. And I’ve got you watching my back."

"You got that right!" Joe said vehemently.

Frank grinned at the tone in Joe’s voice as if he were challenging anyone to take pot shots at his brother.

"You really do believe everything you just said, right?" Joe asked. "I mean you weren’t just telling me what you thought I wanted to hear, were you? You know, to make sure I got through this morning without spontaneously combusting or something?" Joe eyed his brother.

"Hmm…I may have to think about that," Frank teased. "Watching you spontaneously combust sounds pretty entertaining."

Frank smiled and headed towards the door. If Joe were reverting to wisecracks, it meant Frank had been able to get through to him and, for the most part, allay his fears.

"You should be so lucky," Joe retorted in mock-disgust brushing past his brother.

Upon reaching the door, Joe opened it but paused before walking through. "Thanks," he said without turning around and then quickly disappeared down the hall.

Frank noted the gratitude in Joe’s voice and his easy relaxed body language; a welcome change from the fearful words and frenzied pacing of a few moments earlier.