The four men looked at one another grimly. Jeff then looked down and began reading from his hastily scribbled notes.

"Female, approximately 30 years old. On her way home from work; stopped at the bank to deposit the days receipts. Got out of her car to use the bank depository. Walking back to her car she was grabbed from behind and hit with a blunt object which was not recovered. She remained conscious – barely – and was transported by car to the old train station that closed down last year. Removed from the car and carried to the platform at the rear of the building where she was sexually assaulted. Found by some college kids walking along the tracks. Now at Kirkland Memorial Hospital with scrapes, bruises on her wrists and a concussion."

He flipped the small notebook shut and looked up. "That’s six women in three different towns in the last three weeks. Damn, why can’t we catch him!" He sighed in frustration, then continued. "I’ll go to the hospital now and talk to her; see if she can remember anything that can help us. Can we get together tomorrow and I’ll fill you in?"

The other men nodded in agreement. Jeff turned to Fenton as they left the office. "We probably don’t need to bring Frank and Joe in on this until Monday. Let them enjoy the rest of the weekend."

"Thanks." Fenton smiled gratefully. "We’ll see you tomorrow then."

Jeff left for the hospital as Fenton, Ezra and Con rejoined the festivities. Laura approached her husband with a look he knew all too well.

"You’re not leaving too, are you?" she asked, arching one eyebrow.

"And face the wrath of Laura Hardy?" Fenton joked. "Not a chance."

"Has there been another one?"

"Mm-hmm. Jeff is going to see the victim now. Ezra, Con and I will meet with him tomorrow. I’m not bringing the boys in on it until Monday."

"Good. By the way, when are you going to stop referring to them as ‘boys’? They are grown men, you know."

"Maybe when you stop referring to Joe as your baby."

"Touche." Laura smiled ruefully as Fenton kissed the top of her head.

They looked at the room full of guests who were now being entertained by Joe’s animated retelling of Frank’s bachelor party.

"Earlier tonight Ezra said they had grown into fine young men and we had every reason to be proud of them. I am proud that they decided to follow in my footsteps, even if they are turning out to be better at it than I am."

"That’s only because they learned from the best." Laura squeezed his arm.

"More than anything they’ve done, I’m proud of their relationship. I have never seen two brothers who are closer than they are. After everything they have been through together, I don’t think there is anything that could ever come between them." Laura nodded in agreement, smiling at the obvious affection her two sons had for each other.

Several hours later, after the last of the guests had left, Laura was trying to convince Frank and Callie to go home.

"You are not supposed to clean up after your own party! Besides, Joe and Vanessa volunteered to stay and help me."

"Joe volunteered to clean?!" Frank asked incredulously.

"I think it was more like Vanessa volunteered him." Fenton chuckled.

"I don’t know about that." Callie said. She stood at the entrance to the living room, peering into the semi-darkness. "It doesn’t look like there is a whole lot of cleaning going on in there right now."

Frank, Laura and Fenton joined her and peeked into the living room, which was now lit only by the glow from the fire in the fireplace. Minutes earlier Joe had rummaged through his parents CD collection, telling Vanessa he could not clean without music to distract him. As Vanessa continued to pick up discarded plates and napkins, depositing them into a large trash bag, Joe had put a disc in the CD player and turned off the lights. They were now wrapped up in each others arms, dancing slowly, oblivious to the four pair of eyes that were watching them.

"Why don’t we let them have their privacy, hmm?" Laura said quietly. She herded the other three back to the kitchen, Joe and Vanessa never having noticed them.

In the living room, Joe and Vanessa slowly swayed to the music, with Joe softly singing along serenading his fiancé. As the song ended Joe pulled away just enough to look directly into Vanessa’s eyes.

"How long has it been since I told you how much I love you?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, at least an hour." Vanessa smiled. "You’re overdue."

Joe leaned in closer and whispered, "I love you, Baby."

Vanessa wondered, as she had so many times in the past, why Joe never let anyone else see this side of him. He was always openly affectionate with her in front of his family and friends, but never in the gentle, romantic way he was when they were alone. Then again, she liked knowing there was a part of himself Joe did not share with anyone but her.

Holding Vanessa close, Joe realized once again how lucky he was to have found love twice in his life. After Iola was killed, he was sure he would never love anyone like that again. He had been awfully hard on himself for never telling Iola how much he loved her before she died. He had assumed, as most 17-year-olds would, that there was plenty of time for that in the future. Once he realized he had truly fallen in love with Vanessa, he promised himself not to make the same mistake with her. He took advantage of every opportunity to tell Vanessa how much he loved her. He never let a day go by without telling her exactly how he felt.

The rest of the weekend flew by much too fast. Monday morning found Joe in his mothers kitchen giving her a very spirited recount of his adventures at Stone Mountain the day before. After making himself a cup of coffee, Joe finally joined Frank in their fathers office. It had been expanded when Frank and Joe officially joined his practice, but most discussions still took place in Fenton’s private office. Fenton was sitting behind his desk, on the phone. Every so often he would make notations on the pad in front of him.

"Hey, big brother! How was the anniversary celebration?" Joe said with a mischievous smile. Sitting in one of the leather chairs, he threw a leg over the arm of the chair and gazed steadily at his brother, waiting for a response.

"Very nice, thank you." Frank smiled.

"Very nice? That’s it?"

"Yes, that’s it. Joe, it was our six month wedding anniversary! What are you expecting – details??"

"Well yeah," he grinned, eyes twinkling. "I’ll be celebrating some of those myself one day. I need to be prepared."

"Somehow, I don’t think you’ll be needing any advice from me."

"Seriously, how was it? Did Callie like the earrings?"

Frank smiled remembering the look of shock on Callie’s face when he had given her the present he had picked out. That was followed by squeals of delight when she opened the diamond stud earrings that matched the diamond necklace Frank had given her on their wedding day.

"Yes, she loved them." He smiled at the memory. "So how was your day? What did you and Vanessa do?"

"We went up to Stone Mountain with Tony, Biff, Chet and their girlfriends. Skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling – it was awesome!"

Frank smiled at his younger brothers enthusiasm. If there was speed, excitement or danger involved, Joe wanted to be right in the middle of it.

Hanging up the phone, Fenton cleared his throat and looked pointedly at his younger son. "Glad you could join us." He teased, arching an eyebrow. Joe was definitely not a morning person.

"I’m here now, Dad," he winked. "What’s on the agenda for today?"

Fenton’s voice became serious. "I’m afraid there was another rape."

Joe’s smile instantly vanished. "When?"

"Saturday night." He picked up the pad he had been writing on and flipped it back to the first page. "A female, approximately 30 years old. She was on her way home from work and stopped at the bank to deposit the days receipts. She had gotten out of her car to use the bank depository. As she was walking back to her car, she was grabbed from behind and hit with a blunt object. She remained conscious and was driven to the old train station that closed down last year. She was removed from the car and carried to the platform at the back of the building where she was sexually assaulted. Some college kids walking along the tracks found her."

"Let me guess," Frank concluded. "No witnesses and the weapon hasn’t been found." He sighed. He knew the details and the patterns by heart.

"Exactly like the others."

"What’s this one – number six?" Joe scowled.

"Yes. I met with Jeff, Con and Chief Collig yesterday." Fenton held up a hand as Joe attempted to protest being left out of the meeting. "Joe, I know how badly you want to catch this guy. But you had plans with your friends yesterday and Frank had plans with Callie that couldn’t be changed." He smiled at his older son. "Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much."

Joe seemed somewhat pacified as Fenton continued. "I want the two of you to go to Kirkland this morning." He looked at his notes again. "The Four Seasons Shopping Center. Kirkland National Bank. That’s where she made the deposit." He shuffled some papers around and came up with a photograph. He pushed it across the desk. Frank picked it up and studied it as Joe stood up to look over his shoulder. An attractive woman with brown hair and deep brown eyes smiled back at them.

"She parked right in front of the bank. See if she or the assailant might have dropped something when he grabbed her. The bank and most of the stores were closed but ask around anyway. There is a restaurant at the other end of the shopping center that was open." Shaking his head, he looked at his sons. "Six rapes and no one has seen a thing. He hasn’t made one mistake. Unfortunately, this guy is really good."

Frank and Joe exchanged glances. They weren’t used to seeing their father so frustrated by a case.

"After you’re done there, go to the train station. Go over it with a fine tooth comb. I’m not saying the detectives didn’t do their jobs, but you might pick up something they missed. When you’re finished, head over to the Kirkland Police Station. Everyone involved in the investigation will meet at noon and compare notes. There will also be a profiler there from the FBI. Hopefully she can tell us something new. We have to stop this guy before he strikes again." His next words gave the brothers chills. "If I’m reading his pattern right, his next victim will be here in Bayport."