"No. And he was absolutely livid about it. Said he would get even if it was the last thing he did."

"Get even?" Frank pounced on the words. "With who?"

"He said he would get even with the person who caused it all, even if it killed him."

'Joe!' Frank thought, exchanging a worried look with Sam.

"Are any of Tilghman's associates serving their sentences here?" Sam asked.

"Only two. Technically, they all should have served out their sentences here, but Fenton and Ezra Collig were afraid if that happened, they could easily put their operation back together and run it from the inside. I think our criminal justice system is one of the best in the world, but it certainly isn't perfect." Pierce looked at Frank. "Your Dad and Chief Collig were instrumental in making sure there were no more than two or three members of the organization serving in any one prison facility. And that took some doing, let me tell you. Tilghman's operation was huge and very well run."

"Do you know if Tilghman's son had any contact with either of the men serving here?" Sam continued.

Warden Pierce leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully for a moment. Leaning forward, he pressed the intercom on his phone.

"Yes sir?" a voice replied.

"Is Nathan Wells on duty this afternoon?" Pierce inquired.

"Yes he is, sir."

"Could you ask him to come to my office, please?"

"Yes, sir. Right away."

Looking at Sam and Frank, Pierce explained, "I seem to remember Tilghman's kid did visit one of the men who worked for Tilghman. He came almost every day and then suddenly stopped. Can't remember who it was, but Nathan Wells will know. He's my best guard. Nothing that goes in here gets by him and remembers everything."

"Sir, Officer Wells is here." The voice floated out of the intercom.

"Send him in please."

Seconds later the door opened to reveal Nathan Wells. From his seat, Frank looked up, up, up at the man. He knew his jaw must be on the floor. 'He has to be almost seven feet tall!'

The dark skinned, dark eyed, muscular giant took in the look on Franks face and let out a loud, infectious laugh.

"I...I…I'm sorry." Frank stammered, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to stare."

"Don't worry. I get it all the time." The guard said extending his hand. "Nathan Wells."

Frank stood up and shook hands with the man. "Frank Hardy." He introduced himself, suddenly feeling quite small despite his own lean, muscular 6'1" frame.

"Fenton Hardy's son?" Wells asked.

Frank nodded and smiled. He and Joe got that question so often that every once in a while Joe would jokingly introduce himself as 'Joe Hardy, Fenton Hardy's son.'

"I guess you get that just as much as I get the open mouthed stare."

"You're probably right." Frank laughed.

Officer Wells turned to Sam and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't tell me...Sam Radley?"

Sam stood and shook the man's hand. "You are good. I haven't been around here in many years."

"I never forget a thing that goes on around here."

"Which is exactly why I asked you to come here." Warden Pierce said. "Sam and Frank are here on a case and think we may be able to help them out. Do you remember which inmate it was that Josh Tilghman's kid used to come see after he died?"

"Jesse Baumgarten."

"That was quick." Warden Pierce said, impressed. "You're sure?"

"Positive. After Baumgarten arrived here, it didn't take him long to decide that once he got out he wanted to stay out. He's been on the straight and narrow ever since. He's a trustee now. Never a problem. Really took advantage of everything the system offered to improve himself. He took classes to finish high school; even enrolled in college and has been taking classes towards a degree. He's one of the ones who really want to make good when he gets out of here. I believe he's coming up before the Parole Board soon. He'll probably get out early for good behavior."

"Do you know why Tilghman's kid stopped coming to see him?"

"Yes. Jesse didn't want to see him anymore and asked him to stop coming."

"Do you know why? That seems odd. Most inmates want the company, no matter who it is."

"Jesse said at first the kid just wanted to know about his father, since he hadn't had any contact with him in eleven years. Jesse felt bad for him and gladly met with him almost every day. But as he told the kid more and more about his father, he started asking about the operation and how it had been brought down. Initially he answered all the kid’s questions but he said the kid started to obsess on this one person who he felt was totally responsible for his father ending up in prison. Pumped Jesse for all kinds of information. Jesse got really nervous when he started saying he'd get the guy if it killed him, and make him pay for destroying his family." Nathan suddenly turned and looked at Frank, worry evident in his eyes. "By any chance do you have a brother?"

"Yes." Frank swallowed hard.

Nathan's eyes grew wide. "Joe Hardy?" he asked although he already knew the answer.

Frank nodded, unable to find his voice.

"Has he been hurt or threatened recently? Is that what you're working on?"

"No. Well, not directly anyway. His fiancée was raped two days ago. We're trying to find the guy who did it and so far all of our leads have pointed to Tilghman. Obviously it couldn't be him but it was suggested we check out his son."

"Maybe you should talk to Jesse Baumgarten. He said the person Tilghman's son was so obsessed with was a Joe Hardy."

A heavy silence hung in the air, making Frank very uncomfortable. The case that had frustrated him at every turn suddenly was making perfect sense. Josh Tilghman's son was now in Bayport and obsessed with making Joe pay for something he was not responsible for. It was apparent he was making good on his threat of revenge by going after Vanessa. Frank was certain Tilghman's son was the man they were looking for. After hearing what Officer Wells had to say, he felt an urgency to find Tilghman's son as fast as possible. If he really hated Joe as much as it appeared, the assault on Vanessa would be just the beginning of whatever revenge he had planned.

"Can we talk to Mr. Baumgarten? Now?" Frank asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Wait here. I'll see if I can convince him to see you." Warden Pierce said. He stood up and left the office accompanied by Officer Wells.

"Don't panic, Frank." Sam said once the men had left. He had seen the worry and fear in Frank's eyes. "We'll talk to Baumgarten. At the very least we'll finally have a name. And we already know a lot more than we did a few hours ago."

Frank knew Sam was right, but it didn't do much to calm his fears.

"Sam, there's a lunatic out there who is after my brother. A very smart lunatic who obviously knows Joe very well. He wanted to cause Joe as much pain as possible and knew going after Joe directly wouldn't do it. Instead, he went after the one person Joe loves more than anyone in the world. And I'm sure that was just for starters."

"Which means you - and everyone else Joe loves - is now in danger." Sam replied, gravely. "The only person who we can be sure isn't directly in the line of fire is Joe himself."

Frank thought of how much research Tilghman's son must have done on Joe to know exactly how to hurt him the most. He realized Sam was right - he was a target now.

'Or am I?' he thought as his blood ran cold.

"Sam." He said, almost afraid to put his thoughts into spoken words. "This guy knows the best way to hurt Joe is with emotional pain. He knew if he raped Vanessa that would hurt Joe more than anything he could physically do to Joe himself."

"Yes." Sam replied, following Frank’s train of thought so far.

"And what would hurt Joe more - to see Dad and me in physical pain or emotional pain?"

"Oh, no." Sam paled as he realized what Frank was implying.

Frank lunged across the desk grabbing the phone. He had to talk to his father immediately. If he were right, Laura and Callie would be the next victims of the serial rapist.