"Frank! Ah…what are you doing here?" he stammered, caught off guard at Frank’s appearance. He quickly regained a measure of composure. "Have you found Joe yet?"

"Funny you should ask," Frank began, "because as a matter of fact-"

"He has," Joe said, stepping up behind his older brother. "Hello, Justin. Long time, no see." Joe smiled darkly.

Justin inhaled sharply at the ‘ghost’ before him and rapidly took several steps backwards. "You…you’re…you should be…" he stuttered, unable to believe his eyes.

"I should be what?" Joe demanded, pushing his way inside with Frank right on his heels. "Dead?"

"Yes – NO!" Justin replied, almost terrified. Retreating further into the house, he stumbled over an ottoman, powerless to take his eyes off Joe. "What…how…" Justin’s eyes were huge and he seemed to be hyperventilating, and if Joe wasn’t mistaken, shaking with fear.

"This is even better than I thought," Joe murmured to Frank, thoroughly enjoying Justin’s reaction.

"You know attempted murder is a pretty serious crime," Joe stated, dogging Justin’s every step.

"Not to mention kidnapping," Frank supplied helpfully, hanging back just a bit.

Backing into a desk up against the far wall, Justin finally came to a stop, the collision with the furniture seeming to bring him to his senses somewhat. Looking at Joe, a hint of arrogance returned to his face and he remained silent, realizing anything he said would incriminate him even further.

"You know, you may be a whiz with computers but you’re a lousy hit man," Frank observed.

Justin looked at him a little bewildered, but said nothing.

"When you’re about to commit murder, it’s always a good idea to look around every once in a while and make sure you’re not being followed." Joe advised.

Justin’s eyes widened momentarily as he realized what Joe was implying. "So you followed me," he deduced, looking at Frank.

Knowing they’d get more out of Justin if he thought no one else had witnessed his attempt to kill Joe, Frank nodded. "Dad and Vanessa went back to Bayport in case Joe showed up there," he improvised. "They wanted me to go too, but I insisted on staying in town and digging around a little more."

"So no one else knows what happened tonight?" Justin asked, a predatory gleam in his eye.

‘What an idiot! He really thinks we’re that stupid!’ Joe thought, but played along. "No, not yet."

"I see," Justin murmured, leaning back against the desk. "And how many people know about your little theory?" he asked Joe mockingly.

"Just Frank," Joe replied innocently. "But it isn’t just a theory, is it, Justin? It’s a fact. You really did steal the money didn’t you? And framed Kara for it."

Justin didn’t respond verbally. He simply smiled and turned around to face the desk.

"And it was a good plan, too," Joe continued, knowing most criminals loved to brag about the crimes they committed. "If only you’d waited until the day Kara was arrested to stop the transfers, you would’ve been home free."

"Stupid mistake on my part," Justin remarked.

Joe turned to Frank excitedly and gave him a thumbs up.

"You’re right, I shouldn’t have stopped the transfers so soon, but I panicked."

"So you admit you stole the money? Not Kara?" Joe pressed him.

"Of course I stole the money!" Justin snorted. "Kara Lidster is like the patron saint of honesty. If those bumbling cops had bothered to do any kind of real background investigation on her they would have found that out…and I would have found out her best friend was engaged to a private detective," he said scornfully. "I would’ve gotten out of town before now and saved a whole lot of trouble."

‘Gotten out of town before now?’ the words echoed in Frank’s head, setting off alarm bells. Glancing back over his shoulder into the foyer, he finally noticed what had seemed out of place when they first rushed in, what hadn’t been there earlier in the evening – suitcases.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Joe look over at him, probably to see what had drawn Frank’s attention away from Justin. A movement by the desk caught his eye as Justin spun around aiming a gun squarely at Joe’s chest.

"Joe, get down!" Frank yelled.