After meeting first with Warden Pierce, then Officer Wells and finally Jesse Baumgarten he had begun to understand he was not over reacting in his fear for his younger brother. He and Sam had been up until almost one in the morning briefing Fenton Hardy on everything they had discovered at the prison. Jesse Baumgarten, it turned out, had been a wealth of information and only too happy to share it with Frank and Sam in the hopes of getting a good recommendation for the Parole Board.

They now had a name to work with - Chris Taylor. When Tilghman's wife remarried and had his parental rights revoked, her new husband had adopted Tilghman's son resulting in the new last name. The rest of the information had been chilling for Frank to hear, but at least now he understood what kind of person they were dealing with.

Chris Taylor had been very close to his father prior to his arrest. As he got older, he spent all his free time researching old newspaper articles about his father, gathering as much information as possible. At one point he brought transcripts of the trial to Jesse and asked for clarification and explanation of certain points. Jesse said Chris had zeroed in on Joe as the sole reason Chris' father had been taken from him. The fact that Josh Tilghman died on his son's eighteenth birthday served only to cement the hatred he had for Joe. One day Chris told Jesse he would "get even" with Joe and "make his life a living hell". After that, Jesse had refused to see him again.

Rolling over onto his side, Frank watched Callie sleeping peacefully. Being a firm believer that information was power, he had told Callie everything and asked her to consider leaving town on a mini-vacation until Taylor was caught. He knew his father was going to ask the same of his mother. Even the remote possibility that either of them could be targeted by Taylor and have to go through what Vanessa was living right now, terrified him. Callie had refused, as he knew she would, but promised to be extra careful about her surroundings and do her best to avoid situations where she might be totally isolated and alone.

He sighed again as he recalled the conversation with his father. While Fenton had concluded it was possible that Taylor would go after Laura or Callie, it did not mean he and Frank were out of danger. He had agreed with Sam's assessment that the only member of the Hardy family who was not in any physical danger at this point, was Joe himself.

Further worrying Frank was the fact that he could not tell Joe any of this. Their close relationship was already showing signs of strain and he knew the coming days would put it to the test. Even with Joe so caught up in trying to help Vanessa deal with the rape, he was more determined than ever to catch the man who had assaulted her and was insistent that Frank and their father keep him informed of everything. Frank had called Joe the night before as promised but had a hard time with the half-truths and outright lies he had to tell his brother. Until and unless Joe remembered the weekend he had been abducted by Tilghman on his own, Fenton remained insistent he not be told anything that could trigger those horrible memories. This left Frank no option but to leave out huge chunks of information, or flat out lie. As Frank finally fell into an uneasy sleep, the worry and concern he felt for his entire family invaded his dreams.

Less than five hours later he was back at Phil’s. As much as he hated hacking, at times it was a necessary evil and this was one of those times. He knew he was looking for a needle in a haystack and even though he was an expert on the computer, he would never be able to find what he was looking for without someone infinitely more proficient at it than he was. He knew only two people he could ask for help – Vanessa and Phil and turning to Vanessa for help was obviously out of the question.

"Chris Taylor.’ Frank said, disgustedly. "Why’d he have to have such a common name?"

"Frustration getting to you?" Phil smiled. "You’re starting to sound like Joe. Don’t worry, if he is living in Clayton Beach I will find him."

Frank watched his friend work the computer, fascinated. Occasionally he’d stop Phil to ask a question about how or why he was doing something, but for the most part he just watched in awe.

‘Now I know how Joe feels when he watches me on the computer!’ Frank thought wryly.

"Ta-da!" Phil said smugly. "Christopher Taylor. 155 Benson Avenue, Apartment 325. Lucky for us Clayton Beach is a small town. Believe it or not there was only one Christopher Taylor!"

"Phil, I love you!" Frank exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh oh. Don’t let Callie hear you say that."

"Come on, let’s go. It’ll take us over an hour to get to Clayton Beach and we have to stop at the police station first."

"Why?"

"Sam and I really lucked out last night. One of the inmates at the State Prison is an artist. Jesse described Chris Taylor and the inmate drew a sketch of him. We faxed it to Chief Collig and he was going to have someone put it through the enhancement program they have on their system. It’ll give us a rough idea of what he might look like now. I figured if we got an address we could take the picture and show it around to the neighbors. If they recognize him, at least we’ll know we’re on the right track."

"What are we waiting for! Let’s go!"

Joe sat in the waiting room flipping through the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. He had looked through the entire magazine twice and had absolutely no idea what it said. Glancing down the hall again, as he had been doing every few minutes for the past hour, he sighed and threw the magazine on a table. Waiting was the one thing he did not do well at all. Standing up he paced the small waiting room, looking at his watch, out the window, at the pictures on the wall - anything to keep from looking down the hall yet again. He was waiting for Vanessa who was having her first session with Dr. Leslie Jennings of the Rape Crisis Counseling Center. Staring out at the traffic several floors below, he wondered what Frank was doing. They had spoken briefly the previous night and Joe’s gut instinct told him Frank was not giving him all the information he had and was, in fact, probably lying to him, although he had no idea why.

‘Between Vanessa not wanting me to leave her side and Frank not wanting me around at all, I’m going to need counseling myself pretty soon.’ He thought dejectedly.

He heard a door open from somewhere down the hall and quickly looked in that direction. Dr. Jennings was approaching him – alone.

"Where’s Vanessa? Is she alright?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, Joe, Vanessa is alright. She’s just using the rest room. I wanted to speak with you for a moment." She sat down and motioned for Joe to do the same. "It took a lot of courage for Vanessa to come here today. Most women don’t want to talk about being assaulted for weeks, sometimes months. The fact that she remembers so vividly and dreams about it is actually a good thing."

"How can her waking up in the middle of the night screaming be a good thing?" Joe scowled.

"It’s a sign that she is strong enough to acknowledge that it happened and start to deal with it. I just wanted you to know this first session is always the hardest. She told me how supportive you’ve been since the rape, even when she hasn’t been in the best of moods. If you can continue to do that, it will give her some stability; something she can count on. She feels as though she has completely lost control of her life. If she knows you will be there for her, doing what she asks, she’ll sense that she is regaining power over her own fate. It’s the best thing you can do for her at this point."

Joe simply nodded, knowing that meant he would not be leaving Vanessa’s side for more than an hour or so when Andrea came to see her.

"I’ll be honest with you, Joe. Most men don’t handle this as well as you seem to be doing. I’m sure with your support and patience, she’ll make great strides in her recovery. She’ll probably be more upset today than she has been since the rape occurred," Dr. Jennings continued. "But it will get better. Trust me."

"If you say so." Joe said, skeptically. He couldn’t imagine Vanessa being more upset than she had been the past two days and was glad Andrea would be waiting for them when they got home. Looking up he saw Vanessa coming down the hall towards them.

He stood up and swallowed hard. She had obviously been crying very hard and it was apparent she was extremely upset. Visibly trembling she hurried to Joe’s side, clutching his hand tightly, standing so close to him she was practically standing on top of him. Automatically, he put his arm around her protectively and kissed the top of her head.

"So I’ll see you tomorrow, Vanessa?" Dr. Jennings smiled at her.

Vanessa nodded silently tightening her grip on Joe’s hand.

"Thank you, Dr. Jennings." Joe said as they turned to leave.

As they left the office Joe tried to think of something to calm Vanessa and cursed himself when he came up empty. ‘I could really use some advice right about now, big brother.’ Joe thought, wondering once again why Frank was so obviously avoiding him. The drive home was made in complete silence, except for the occasional sniffle from Vanessa.

When they arrived home, Andrea was waiting for them as promised. She and Vanessa went up to the apartment while Joe sat on the front steps for a few moments. He leaned back on his elbows and tilted his face up towards the afternoon sky. Closing his eyes he felt the warmth of the sun on his face. He tried to clear his mind of all the pain and emotional turmoil of the last few days.

Bayport had been having unusually warm weather for this time of year with temperatures sometimes getting close to 70. He remembered when he had heard the predictions for the unseasonably warm weather the previous week; it seemed like a lifetime ago. He and Vanessa had made plans to retrieve his motorcycle from his parent’s garage where it resided during the winter months and take a ride up the coast. She had been so excited about it. Even though Joe had taught her how to ride herself, she still loved nothing better than to ride on the back while he drove, with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. If he concentrated, he could feel the wind on his face; Vanessa holding on to him, pressed tightly up against his back; hear her laugh with excitement and a little bit of fear when he pushed the speedometer faster than he knew he should.

He sighed and opened his eyes. He missed her laugh so much. There were times when he was afraid he would never hear it again. As he had done so many times in the past few days, he thought bitterly about how one random act by a total stranger had such a devastating effect on their lives. ‘So help me God I’ll find you and when I do…’

Shaking his head, he slowly got up and walked into the apartment building, collecting the mail on his way. Walking into the apartment, he heard voices coming from the bedroom. Absently he began sorting through the mail, tossing the bills and junk mail aside. A plain white envelope addressed to him, with no return address, caught his eye. Opening it, he removed the piece of paper and unfolded it. As he read the typewritten message, his hands started to shake:

"Your fiancée was not a random choice. She was my intended target all along. I will destroy your family as you destroyed mine."

Several miles away, Fenton Hardy was opening an envelope almost identical to the one Joe had just opened. Reading the note it contained, he turned pale:

"Vanessa was just the first. Payback has begun. I will get my revenge."