Volunteering to drive, Joe took the now familiar route to Kirkland and pulled into the parking lot of Granston Domestics less than an hour later.  Prior to their leaving, Frank had called and spoken to the manager, explaining who they were and why they wanted to meet with her.  She gladly agreed to their request and they soon found themselves seated in her office.

Gazing around, Frank smiled inwardly at the neat surroundings, with not so much as a paper clip out of place.

“Thank you for meeting with us, Ms. Rawlins.”  Frank said graciously.

“Believe me, if one of our employees is involved in these thefts I want to know about it.  Granston Domestics has a spotless reputation which is why so many of the more well to do families trust us to come into their homes.”  Greta Rawlins replied, her dark eyes flashing.  “Now, how can I help you?”

“We’ve already spoken with all the victims and found they all contract with your company for some type of domestic help.”  Joe explained.  “We did get the names of the employees and matched them against the employees at the insurance company, hoping we might come across a match of some kind but it didn’t pan out.”

“Then we realized it might be someone who works here in the offices rather than someone who actually goes out to the homes.”  Frank continued.  “We were hoping to get a complete list of employees that we could match up to the list of employees we have from the insurance company.”

“Certainly.”  Greta replied, inserting a blank disc into the computer.  “All I ask is that you keep it confidential.”

“Of course.” 

“Would it be possible to get a schedule for any of your clients in the Bay Estates or Ocean View areas of Kirkland ?”  Joe requested. 

“Yes, no problem.” Greta replied, her fingers working the keyboard.  “Did you want a hard copy also?”

“Just the schedule.”  Joe replied, quickly.  “And if you could look it over and point out any homes that have cancelled a regularly scheduled visit for the next week or so, that would be a big help.”

Frank smiled at his brother, not having thought of having the manager basically point out when the next theft might possibly occur.

A moment later she popped the disc out of the computer and handed it over to Frank, then reached down to the printer under the desk and retrieved the schedule for the next two weeks.  Taking a red pen from a drawer, she circled three different dates on the schedule before handing it over to Joe.

“Those are people who normally have help come in every day, but on the days I have indicated, they’ve notified us they’ll be out and won’t be needing it that particular night.”

“Thanks.”  Joe said taking the schedule and scanning the dates and names. 

“Anything else?” Greta asked, helpfully.

“I think that’s it for now. Thank you very much.”  Frank said, standing and extending his hand.

“You’re welcome.”  Greta stood, shaking hands with both Frank and Joe.  “Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do. And please keep me informed of your progress.”

“We will.”  Joe replied before following his brother out the office door.

As they walked down the hall, Frank noticed a rest room and indicated towards the door.  “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Ok.”  Joe said, continuing on down the hall.

A few moments later, Frank emerged into the lobby, empty except for his brother, and stopped short, gasping inwardly.  He watched as Joe popped a pill into his mouth and washed it down with a cup of water from the cooler. 

The little voice in his head began screaming at him that Joe was indeed taking prescription drugs for something other than their intended purpose.  The proof is right in front of you, the voice told him.  You saw it with your own eyes.  If you really love your brother, you’ll confront him and get him the help he needs, no matter how mad he gets.

“Ready?”  Joe’s voice, cut through Frank’s morbid thoughts.  Without waiting for an answer, Joe turned and walked out the door.  Frank hesitated for just a moment before following. 

Walking a few steps behind Joe, his head was spinning.  ‘I can’t confront him.  I know what I saw…what I think I saw.  But what if I’m wrong, again?  I can’t risk it.’  Watching as Joe unlocked the car and started to get behind the wheel Frank was gripped with fear.

‘But what if I’m right?  I can’t let him drive!’  Frank thought, panicking, not sure what to do.  “Joe, wait!” he cried out.

“What?”  Joe stopped, looking at his brother closely.  “Are you alright, Frank?  You don’t look so good, man.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”  Frank replied, trying to keep his voice from shaking.  “Why don’t you let me drive home?”

Joe looked at his brother as if he’d asked Joe to jump off a bridge.  “You’re kidding, right?  Nobody drives my baby.  You know that.”  Joe smiled, patting the roof of his car affectionately.

“Oh, come on, Joe.  It’s me.  If you can’t trust me with your car, who can you trust?”  Frank tried to cajole him, hoping his voice sounded light.  “Besides, you’ll be right there next to me.”

“All the more reason you can’t drive.  That would make me crazy, sitting next to someone else while they were driving my baby.”  Joe said adamantly.

“How many times have I let you drive my car?” Frank pressed him.

“Uh-uh.  No way.”  Joe shook his head, turning once again to get in the car.

“But you let Vanessa drive it once!”  Frank cried out, grabbing Joe’s arm.

“Once.  Out of necessity.”  Joe agreed, his face clouding over.  It had been a few days before she had been raped, and Joe was not at all happy with Frank for reminding him of it.

“Get in the car, Frank.”  Joe hissed, pulling his arm away.  “Because I’m leaving, with or without you.”  Getting behind the wheel, Joe slammed the door shut and sat glaring out the window.

Realizing he had lost that battle, Frank quickly ran to the passenger side and got in, now more torn than ever.  He desperately wanted to come out and ask Joe what the pills were but he knew doing so could result in his losing Joe’s trust forever, and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take just yet.

Joe started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, his eyes never leaving the road in front of him.

‘Great, now he’s mad at me.’  Frank thought.  ‘Maybe if I just remind him I’m here, that he knows he can come to me…he promised he’d come to me if there was anything he couldn’t handle.’

“Joe?”  Frank asked, quietly, testing the waters.

“What?”  Joe replied, not really angry but not exactly happy either.

“If something were bothering you, if there was a problem or something you couldn’t handle…you’d tell me about it, wouldn’t you?  Like you promised…in Chicago.”  Frank said, watching Joe out of the corner of his eye.

He saw Joe stiffen instantly and grip the steering wheel a little harder when he said ‘Chicago’ and felt the familiar rush of anger.  They’d heard nothing from the detectives or District Attorney in Chicago about when the trial of Joe’s abductors might be and Frank hoped it could be put off indefinitely.  Joe’s reaction made Frank realize his brother wasn’t even close to being ready – mentally or emotionally – to testify against the men who had tortured him.

“I’m fine.”  Joe finally replied.  “But I’m not so sure about you.” He added under his breath.

Thinking back on the day before, when Frank had seen Joe taking the pills right before lunch, he realized there had been no noticeable change in Joe’s behavior.  If they had indeed been drugs, surely he would have seen something, some kind of change in Joe, wouldn’t he?

‘Then there must be some other explanation.’  Frank thought, sitting back.  Still, the little voice in his head kept nagging at him and he found he never took his eyes off Joe for the entire drive back to Bayport.