Sighing, he leaned back against the couch staring up at the ceiling. Noticing the distinctive pattern in the ceiling plaster, he shook his head in disgust.

Closing his eyes, he bit his lip. He still couldn’t say the word, even to himself. The very few times he talked openly about it, he still substituted the word ‘assault’ or ‘attack’. Aside from the episode in his father’s office when he lost his temper, he just could not say ‘Vanessa’ and ‘rape’ in the same sentence.

From down the hall he heard the rapid fire ‘tap-tap-tap’ of Vanessa’s fingers flying over the keyboard and knew she was writing in the journal Dr. Jennings had suggested she keep. At first, she was resistant to the idea of purposely thinking about the rape and how it had affected her. She just wanted to forget it ever happened and get on with her life. She wanted everything to be the way it used to be. Sadly, she had come to realize things would never be the same again; her life, and Joe’s had been permanently altered.

With encouragement from both Joe and Dr. Jennings, she had begun the journal a few days earlier and was surprised at how much it helped. Joe’s patience had been endless as he listened to her rant, rave, scream, yell and cry – whatever she needed to do to make it through the day. But even in her current state of confusion and depression, there was an invisible line she would not cross with him. She knew there were things she needed to say, feelings she needed to express, that Joe simply would not be able to handle.

He had been by her side, holding tightly to her hand, when she gave her statement to the police. His facial expression never changed but with each graphic detail she had been forced to describe, his body language and the look in his eyes left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was on the verge of a total melt down. She had found out, in a round about way, that when he had left her room that day, Joe had gone out into the hall and completely broken down, sobbing in Franks arms. She felt there wasn’t much she could control in her life these days, but she could control never having to put Joe through that again. Her journal was one way to ensure that. She had the freedom to voice her thoughts and fears without worrying she would hurt him again.

‘She must have a lot to say today.’ Joe thought as the tapping of the keys continued. At Vanessa’s request, after going to the hospital to see Shauna, they had stopped at Prito’s for lunch. Joe had been so proud of the way she had handled herself today and made sure to let her know it. ‘The least I can do for her is catch the son of a bitch.’

He glanced back down at the mass of papers surrounding him, getting more depressed by the second. 'Who are you kidding? There are a lot more people working on this who are much better than you are at deciphering these patterns. Frank can't even figure it out, what makes you think you can?' He berated himself.

He let his head drop forward, hoping to release some of the tension in his neck and shoulders. He hadn't even realized the typing had stopped until Vanessa settled onto the couch behind him. She reached down, resting her hands on his shoulders. The muscles beneath her hands were rock hard and very tight. She could almost feel the tension emanating from them.

Slowly she pressed her thumbs into his shoulders, making small circles, varying the amount of pressure she used. The previous year when she had asked Joe what he wanted for his birthday, he had jokingly replied he wanted her take a massage class so she could help him relax after a hard workout at the gym. To his surprise and delight, she had done just that. Ten minutes later she leaned forward, letting her arms fall down around his neck.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Mmm-hmm." came the muffled reply. A few seconds later he leaned his head back, resting it in her lap. "Thanks, Babe."

"Anytime." She leaned down kissing him, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

Vanessa sat up and rolled her eyes reaching for the phone. "What lousy timing." She muttered.

'Today is full of surprises!' Joe thought raising his eyebrows. Sequestering herself in the apartment and refusing to acknowledge anyone other then Joe or her mother, Vanessa had not even answered the phone since coming home from the hospital.

"Hello?" Vanessa said softly. After getting no response, she repeated the greeting a little louder.

"Vanessa?" It was Callie's surprised voice. She had fully expected Joe to answer the phone.

"Yeah, believe it or not it's me." She squeezed Joe's shoulder, smiling down at him.

"Wow, I didn’t expect…I mean it's been so long…" Callie was uncharacteristically tripping over her words. "I'm sorry, Van. I was just so surprised that you answered the phone."

"I know. I guess I just figured it was time I started to rejoin civilization." Ruffling Joe's hair affectionately, she untangled her long legs and pushed herself up off the couch. Wandering over to the sliding glass door, she stared out at the late afternoon sky and continued her conversation with Callie.

Smiling with relief at this small sign of normalcy, Joe picked up the papers in front of him and resumed the task of trying to break the pattern of attacks. After another hour of studying the information on the papers that surrounded him, Joe let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

Vanessa, having ended her phone conversation, was once again looking out the sliding glass door. She glanced back at Joe.

"Why don’t you come over here and look at this." She smiled at him.

Getting to his feet, Joe walked over to Vanessa and stood behind her. Tentatively he put his arms around her neck. Unless she approached him first, he was still a little unsure of when it was ok to touch her and when it might set her off. Much to his surprise, she removed his arms from around her neck and wrapped them securely around her waist, leaning back against him.

Prior to the rape, Joe would often enthusiastically grab Vanessa from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and enveloping her in a tight embrace. However, when Vanessa was attempting to escape the night she was raped, Chris Taylor had grabbed her around the waist and savagely thrown her to the ground. Her first day home from the hospital when Joe put his arms around her waist thinking it would be a familiar, comforting gesture, she had nearly jumped out of her skin. Within seconds, she was huddled on the floor crying and begging him not to touch her. He had cursed himself mercilessly that day and every time he thought about it since. He had been with her when she gave her statement to the police and listened to every horrible detail of that night. He felt he should have known better and still had not forgiven himself for that mistake.

"Look at that," she said softly. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

Following her gaze, Joe looked out at the incredible pinks and purples of the late afternoon sunset.

"Actually, it's the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he whispered and then kissed her on the cheek. "You're the first."

Vanessa pulled his arms tighter around her and leaned her head back for another kiss.

"Thank you." She said, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"For what? I haven't done anything."

"Loving me. Supporting me. Letting me take out all my anger on you." She looked up at him "I'd say that's something…that's everything." She turned to face him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, Joe. I haven't said it nearly enough. I never would have survived this without you."

"For better or worse, Baby. That's what the vows say."

"We haven't taken them yet." Vanessa reminded him.

"I'm practicing." He grinned at her as the intercom buzzer announced a visitor.

"It's Callie. I invited her over." Vanessa told him. "You know - gossip, girl talk." She giggled in response to his raised eyebrows.

'That giggle!' he looked upwards as if praying. 'Thank you! I thought I'd never hear it again!'

Answering the knock on the door, Vanessa greeted Callie with a warm hug.

"I'll go in the other room so you two can gossip in private." Joe said collecting his papers. He kissed Vanessa and gave Callie a quick hug before disappearing down the hall.

Sitting at the desk Joe once again began sifting through the details of the case. Hoping that a fresh start would give him a new perspective, he listed the day and date of each rape, studying the information for what seemed like the hundredth time. Although some of the rapes were committed on the same day of each week, not all of them were. The number of days between each attack was also not the same. Sometimes two days, sometimes four, sometimes six. Joe blinked and looked again.

An idea began to take shape as he started a new list, this time with three columns:

Looking over this new list, he felt a familiar rush of adrenaline. He knew that according to the established pattern, Taylor had planned to commit four rapes in Bayport. If he was right about this, the next rape would be six days after the last one. He immediately dialed his father.

"Fenton Hardy."

"Dad, I think I figured out the pattern!" Joe said excitedly.

"Hold on. Let me see if I can conference Frank in." Fenton was just as excited that Joe had initiated the phone call as he was about the fact that they may now have the break they needed to catch Taylor.

Joe waited on hold for a moment then heard his fathers voice again. "Joe? Frank is here. What have you got?"

"Ok, the first rape was in Angel Beach. The next two were in Southport. The first one was two days after the Angel Beach attack. The second was two days after that. The next three were in Kirkland. The first one was four days after the last Southport attack. The next one was four days after that and the third one four days after that. The first one in Bayport was…" 'Vanessa!' He paused a moment and took a deep breath. "That one was sic days after the last attack in Kirkland. The next one here, Shauna, was six days after that. If I'm right about the pattern the next one will be…"

"…six days after that!" Frank finished for him excitedly.

"So," Fenton began to recap what Joe had just told them. "After the initial attack in Angel Beach, the next two, both in Southport, were each two days apart. The next three, all in Kirkland were each four days apart. So far, the ones here have each been six days apart. And if he follows this pattern he intends to commit two more rapes here."

"Each six days apart!" Frank reiterated. "That's his pattern. Two days apart, move on to the next city. Those are four days apart. Move on to the next city. Those are six days apart…Joe, this is great! We can catch this guy in three days!"

"Good job, Joe." Fenton said proudly. "Based on what Agent Wells said, I think we were all expecting something more complicated."

"Yeah, that must be why I was able to figure it out. It wasn’t too complicated." Joe replied sarcastically, the initial excitement of his discovery having worn off very quickly. "After all, I’m no Phil Cohen." Joe knew it was a cheap shot, but he was still stung by his brother’s dishonesty. He wanted both Frank and his father to know he was not about to forgive and forget with no explanation for their behavior.

After an awkward silence, Fenton spoke again in a much more subdued tone.

"I’ll call Jeff and Chief Collig and arrange for a briefing tomorrow morning. Can you call Andrea, Joe? I really want you to be there."

"You bet I’ll be there. It’s the only way I can be sure I know what’s going on."

"Joe, listen to me…" his father began.

"Call me when you know what time the briefing will be. Goodbye." Joe hung up leaving Frank and Fenton feeling bad once again.

"Dad?" Frank said softly. "Do you think he’ll ever forgive us for this?"

Fenton sighed heavily. "I know how difficult this is for you, son. But we’re doing it to protect him. Unfortunately I think he is going to remember that entire weekend - and soon. When he does, and has time to recover from it, I’m sure he’ll understand why we had to be less than truthful with him. At least…I hope he will."

"Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dad. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Frank."

Hanging up the phone, Joe leaned back in the chair. He had so many conflicting emotions fighting to get out he sometimes felt like he didn’t know which way was up. He missed his brother desperately but also felt he could no longer trust him. He hadn’t meant to make that crack about Phil just then, but sometimes his anger and emotions got the better of him and he found himself saying things without thinking. Still, he was not about to let Frank forget how he felt about being pushed aside and replaced in what was the most important investigation they had ever taken on. Reaching for the phone, he called Andrea to ask if she could stay with Vanessa the next morning.

Later that evening as they were getting ready for bed, Joe told Vanessa he would be gone for a few hours the next morning to attend a briefing at the police station. He did not want to tell her more until everyone involved agreed on the pattern and a plan of action.

"I already called your Mom. She’ll be here first thing in the morning." When Vanessa didn’t say anything, he continued. "Unless you don’t think you need her here. I can call her back and…"

"No!" Vanessa said quickly. "I admit today was probably my best day so far but let’s not get carried away." She gave him a little smile. "I’d still rather not be alone just yet."

Joe opened his arms and Vanessa let herself be swallowed up in his warm, protective embrace. "What you did today took a lot of guts and you handled it all with such class. I am so proud of you."

"Thanks, but I couldn’t have done it without you. I know you weren’t crazy about the idea but you supported me anyway. Thanks for believing in me."

"Always, Baby. I’ll always believe in you."

"Joe? Do you think you can catch him before he hurts someone else?" Vanessa asked quietly.

Joe pulled away just enough to look at her. Although she had begun to laugh and smile again over the past two days, the fear was still clearly evident in her eyes.

"I’ll know more after the briefing tomorrow, but I have a really good feeling about this. I think we can catch him before he has a chance to hurt anyone else. I’ll do my best, Baby. I promise."

After coming home from the hospital, Vanessa had told Joe her biggest fear was that the man who had raped her would come back and attack her again. Prior to receiving the anonymous letter, when Joe thought Vanessa had been just another victim chosen at random, he had tried to reassure her that was unlikely to happen. The chilling letters he and Fenton had received made it clear to him that her fears might very well be justified. Since she had not wanted to leave their apartment, he felt there was little chance of that happening. He had not told her about the letters and hoped he would never have to. However, now that she seemed to be regaining an interest in the outside world, he might have no choice. He knew that would erase all the progress she had made in the last two days. The urgency he felt to catch Taylor had increased dramatically.