"Thanks, Babe." Joe replied with an affectionate kiss on the cheek. He made his way to the end of the row, followed by Vanessa, Callie and Frank bringing up the rear.

As the four young people settled into their seats, Frank draped an arm around Callie who rested her head on his shoulder.

"This is nice." She murmured. "No crime, no bad guys, no violence."

"Except up there." Frank grinned pointing to the large movie screen. "Remember, we did let Joe pick the movie."

"Mm-hmm. And I wonder exactly how much of it he’ll see." Callie remarked glancing at Joe who was gently nuzzling Vanessa’s neck.

"Great. They’re at it already." Frank said sardonically.

As the lights dimmed, Frank turned his attention to the screen and the coming attractions, deciding which movies he might like to see. The main feature started soon after and it wasn’t long before he noticed Vanessa snuggling ever closer to Joe. Soft murmurs could be heard from the two of them, broken up by an occasional giggle from Vanessa that had nothing to do with the movie. Shaking his head, Frank exchanged an amused smile with Callie and settled into a more comfortable position.

A short time later, Frank leaned down to whisper something to Callie when he noticed an abrupt movement on the other side of her. Glancing over her head, he saw Vanessa practically sitting in Joe’s lap, the two of them tangled together in a heated kiss completely oblivious to their surroundings. Sinking down lower in his seat, Frank hoped no one was sitting behind them. At Frank’s sudden movement, Callie took a quick peek at Joe and Vanessa, turning back to Frank with a bemused smile.

"That sling doesn’t seem to be hampering Joe in the least." She murmured jokingly turning her attention back to the movie.

Taking one more look at his brother, Frank felt himself blush and was thankful for the darkness.

"You’d never know they live together." He commented dryly, vowing to ignore them for the rest of the movie, secretly glad Joe and Vanessa were finally starting to show signs of their more carefree habits of the past.

After the movie ended, the foursome decided to go for ice cream at one of the restaurants in the mall and found themselves standing in line with all the other movie-goers in search of a late night snack. As always, Joe and Vanessa stood huddled together, alternating between engaging Frank and Callie in conversation and trading frequent kisses.

Frank studied his younger brother, noting how Joe would subtly change positions as people in the crowded line would shift. At first he thought Joe was trying to protect his arm from being bumped, but he noticed that, as Joe moved, his left arm was frequently exposed to the jostling crowd, while his right arm was wrapped securely around Vanessa.

Frank watched his brother more closely as he sensed Joe’s constant movement had to do with something other than simple restlessness. As the crowded line of people moved forward, he saw Joe move yet again, nudging Vanessa so she was now positioned between himself and Callie.

As two couples slowly walked by he noticed them giving Vanessa more than a passing glance and heard one of the young men mumble something to his companions, catching only one word - ‘raped’. Snapping his head around, Frank leveled them with an icy glare. Seeing his venomous look, the four people who appeared to be only slightly younger than he and Joe, quickly scurried away. Glancing back at Joe, he noticed– thankfully – neither his brother nor Vanessa heard what was said. Frank knew that had Joe heard the simple, one word comment, he would have angrily torn the two young men to pieces in seconds, despite being temporarily one-handed. Thinking about it, Frank wasn’t quite sure if he would have tried to stop his younger brother or helped him.

As the line moved a few more feet, Frank watched Joe carefully and it finally hit him that Joe was moving instinctively, always putting himself between Vanessa and the crowd of people, ensuring that strangers never got too close to her. He found he was both proud and angry – proud that Joe would go to those lengths to make Vanessa feel safe and angry that he even had to do such a thing.

Frank was relieved to notice there were only a two couples ahead of them to be seated. He had seen a few more people looking at Vanessa as they walked by and noted it was impossible to miss the look of pity in their eyes. Vanessa’s expression, however, never changed, as she continued smiling and snuggling with Joe. He watched as yet two more women walked by glancing at Vanessa sympathetically and it occurred to him the article that had appeared in the paper when Joe had been arrested almost six months ago, announcing to all of Bayport that his fiancée had been raped, had obviously not been forgotten by most of the town.

‘At least they’re smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves.’ Frank thought disgustedly as he now clearly understood that Joe and Vanessa probably dealt with the stares and whispers every day, although he was hard pressed to believe they would ever get used to it.

Frank smiled as he watched Joe and Vanessa engage in yet another heartfelt kiss and was grateful that this time, at least, they had been so wrapped up in each other that they were oblivious to the stares of people passing by. It suddenly struck him that Joe and Vanessa were a perfect example of a couple who had been together for many years yet still cherished every moment together and never took each other for granted. Anyone seeing them for the first time would assume theirs was a newly blossoming romance rather than a rock-solid, long term relationship.

Frank knew that Joe would always feel guilty for never having told Iola how he really felt about her before she died. He wasn’t sure if his brother was trying to make up for that mistake, but Joe was determined that Vanessa would always know how much he loved her, sometimes showering her with overly enthusiastic displays of affection not at all concerned that the rest of the world was watching. Thinking maybe his little brother had the right idea – even if he sometimes took it to extremes – Frank dropped Callie’s hand, pulled her close and kissed her.

"Whoa, big brother! Watch those public displays of affection, huh? You’re embarrassing me!" Joe teased, repeating the words Frank often said to him.

Blushing slightly, Frank threw his brother a dirty look but kept a tight grip on Callie nonetheless and was grateful when their name was called to be seated.

*****

"Are you going to finish that?" Joe asked Callie, eyeing the now mushy mixture of vanilla ice cream, fudge and whipped cream in the bottom of her dish.

"Joe!" Frank protested. "You ate all of yours, half of Vanessa’s and mooched as much of mine as you could! Even one-handed you’re a menace. Could you at least wait until Callie says she’s done before you try and eat hers too?"

"Hey, I’m a growing boy. Besides, ice cream is nutritious, right?" Joe replied, turning to Vanessa for back up. "It has protein and calcium and vitamins…all the stuff Dr. Gregory says I need to eat so my arm heals properly." Joe finished holding his sling aloft.

"He’s right." Vanessa agreed nodding her head. "You wouldn’t want to stand in the way of his recovery, would you, Frank?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn’t." Callie laughed, pushing her dish across the table at Joe.

"That’s really low. You’ll do anything for food." Frank replied with a mock glare for his brother. Joe simply smiled as he dug in to what was left of Callie’s hot fudge sundae.

"Hey," Callie sat up a little and pointed at someone just entering the restaurant. "There’s Phil and Lisa." She said, referring to Phil Cohen, a good friend of the Hardy’s whom Vanessa had been working for, for the past several months and his girlfriend, Lisa Lessner.

"I wonder what they’re doing here." Vanessa mused. "He said they were going into the city tonight." She turned in her seat to look towards the entrance.

"Hey, Phil." Vanessa called out, waving he and Lisa over to their table. "I thought you guys were going to the opera tonight?"

"We were, but it was cancelled." Phil replied. "Leona Soris, the lead, was attacked last night." He stopped and shook his head, still in mild shock and disbelief. "Some s.o.b. cut her vocal chords. She’ll never even speak again, let alone sing."

Frank felt a chill run down his spine as he heard the others murmur words of disbelief. He didn’t recall hearing or seeing anything about the attack but he and Joe had been so busy seeing to all the details that always came with the closing of a case he hadn’t really paid attention to the news yet that day.

"How did it happen?" Frank asked.

"According to the news reports, a cab had just dropped her off in front of her house and pulled away. She felt a sting in her neck and blacked out. She was found, unconscious on the steps of the opera house in NYC around two o’clock this morning. She had some cuts on her throat that had been stitched up, almost like incisions the report said. When she got to the ER they found her vocal chords had been severed. They said it looked like someone who basically knew what they were doing."

"So it had to be someone with some kind of medical background." Joe surmised.

"Apparently." Lisa replied, and then shuddered. "Can you imagine? One of the best opera singers in the world wakes up and finds she can’t speak and probably never will again."

"Why would someone do something so horrible?" Callie said.

Joe turned to look at her but stopped when he saw the look on his brother’s face. "Frank?" He waited a few seconds for a response but got none.

"Frank? You’ve got that look on your face. What do you know that we don’t?" Joe asked, feeling that familiar rush that came with each new mystery.

Ignoring Joe, Frank turned his attention to Phil. "Did they mention what the stinging sensation was from? A tranquilizer dart maybe?"

Joe’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother. "At first, you seemed just as surprised as the rest of us. Are you sure you didn’t already know about this?"

"Not this one." Frank replied. "But there was another assault a few days ago. A concert pianist. He was shot with a tranquilizer dart, kidnapped and his hands and fingers were smashed with a hammer. He’ll never play the piano again."

"Phil? Did the report say whether this singer was shot with a dart?’ Joe asked their friend.

"Actually, yes. She was." He replied a little uneasily.

"You think they’re connected?" Vanessa looked at Frank.

"I think it’s more than a coincidence." Frank responded.

"Are you guys going to look into it?" Lisa inquired. She didn’t know the Hardy’s well but she knew of their reputation.

"We haven’t been asked. And I doubt Sam Peterson would appreciate us just offering up our services no matter how close he and Dad are. It would look like we didn’t think the New York City Police Department could handle an investigation without our help." Frank smiled, referring to Fenton Hardy’s former partner when he was with the NYPD who was now the NYPD’s chief of police and still one of his best friends.

"Like waiting to be asked ever stopped you before." Vanessa murmured under her breath, winking at Callie.