"He shot out the lights! Stay put!" Frank hissed for the benefit of Fenton and Sam. He didn’t want the police to come storming in with flashlights, possibly giving Justin a perfect shot at them.

"Joe, are you hurt?" Frank whispered anxiously.

"No, you?" Joe replied quietly.

"No," Frank responded as another bullet hit the wall just above them "Split up and stay low!" he ordered, giving Joe a shove.

Crawling along the floor, Frank crouched behind a large chair, trying to visualize the layout of the room. Being intimately familiar with the room, Justin had them at a distinct disadvantage. As if to emphasize that fact, Frank heard a grunt and a thud as Joe obviously ran into something in the dark. Another gunshot rang out, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Frank felt a blast of cold air, indicating Justin had shot out the large picture window on the front of the house. Hearing a sound behind him, Frank quickly scrambled away as Justin fired wildly at him, the bullets landing harmlessly in the back of the chair.

On the opposite side of the room, Joe winced and squinted into the darkness, letting out a sigh of relief as he saw Frank’s silhouette scurrying along the floor.

‘This guy is working my last nerve!’ Joe thought angrily, wanting nothing more than to pound Justin Hahn into the pavement. Suddenly there were three more shots in rapid succession, one of them hitting the desk Joe was hiding under. Wood splinters rained down on him as something heavy rolled off the desk and landed on his forearm.

‘Ouch! What the heck?’ Patting the carpet around him, Joe’s fingers closed over a round object. He hefted the large, heavy item trying to figure out exactly what it was. ‘A paperweight!’ He smiled grimly.

Looking up, Joe could see Justin’s dark shape standing in a corner. His arms were extended in front of him and he was slowly panning the room, ready to shoot the first thing that moved. Quietly, Joe crawled from under the desk, paperweight in hand and his eyes glued on shadowy figure of Justin Hahn. ‘One good shot, that’s all I need…’

Suddenly the room was filled with light as a car turned onto the street, it’s headlights flooding the room. Joe saw Justin smile and take aim at Frank who had been caught in – and blinded by – the illuminating beams of light. Anger mixed with adrenaline as Joe wound up and let the paperweight fly a fraction of a second before gunshots broke the still night air. Joe heard a cry of pain, a thud and then…nothing.

*****

Frank’s shouted warning came over the receiver and resounded through the car, followed by the sound of gunshots and then a deathly silence. Fenton Hardy held his breath, suddenly fearful of what might be happening to his sons.

"What…what happened?" Vanessa asked her voice shaky.

Exchanging a grim look with Sam, Fenton reached over the seat and grasped Vanessa’s hand tightly. Struggling to find the words to reassure her when he wasn’t certain of exactly what was happening himself, he was saved as Frank’s hushed voice filled the car once again.

"What’s going on?" Vanessa repeated. "Are they all right?"

"They’re okay, honey," Fenton reassured her. "Frank would have said something if they weren’t."

As the words left his mouth, more shots were fired, followed by unnerving silence. While Vanessa clutched his hand even tighter, Fenton found himself wishing he had insisted she stay in Bayport. Seeing Joe get thrown into the bay, bound and gagged; watching as Fenton dove repeatedly, unable to find him; and having to literally breathe life back into him once Joe was found, had taken more of a toll on Vanessa than Fenton had anticipated. If Joe came out of this with even minor injuries, he feared it would be more than Vanessa could take in one night.

The sound of shattering glass snapped his attention back to the house, as the front window seemed to explode. Still more shots rang out, as something on the street caught Fenton’s eye.

‘No!’ he thought, panic seizing him. A car was turning onto the street, its headlights aimed straight through the broken window. In the split second that the room was flooded with light, Fenton saw Justin take aim and fire. Darkness engulfed the room again. A cry of pain echoed through the car, a body was heard falling to the floor with a thud… followed by nerve-wracking silence…

*****

Waiting in the silence for some clue as to who had been hit, Joe swore he could hear his own heart pounding in his chest. Slowly, quietly, Joe made his way to the spot where he’d last seen Frank. Fear for his brother was overriding concern for his own safety. "Frank?" he whispered harshly.

"Right here," the familiar voice replied, so incredibly close Joe almost jumped out of his skin.

"Geez, give me a heart attack why don’t you?!" Joe cried out, clutching his chest dramatically.

"All clear, Dad. Come on in," Frank chuckled imagining the look on his brother’s face as he deftly kicked the gun out of an unconscious Justin’s reach. ‘No sense taking any chances…’

In seconds, the room was overflowing with police officers. They immediately set about turning on what few lights remained after the wild shootout and restraining Justin, should he regain consciousness before being transported. Sam, Fenton and Vanessa quickly followed. Vanessa raced to Joe’s side and flung herself on him. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, she held on for dear life, refusing to let go.

"I’m fine, Baby, not a scratch on me," Joe insisted to no avail, although Frank noted Joe didn’t seem to mind Vanessa’s undivided attention at all.

"What happened after the lights went out?" Fenton asked his sons, as he looked them over for any sign of injury.

"Hahn used us for target practice, that’s what happened," Joe replied dryly, still entwined with Vanessa.

"Lucky for us it was dark, he’s a lousy shot and Joe has a wicked fastball," Frank added, winking at his brother. Turning to Sam Peterson, he asked, "Did you get enough to prove he really stole the money and framed Kara?"

"Absolutely. He admitted it flat out and we have it on tape thanks to you two," Sam confirmed, as one of his officers waved to him from across the room. "Excuse me."

"Joe," Fenton looked his son in the eyes, "You did an excellent job. Even when some of us pressured you to stop, you wouldn’t give up. Thanks to you, an innocent person won’t end up in prison. I’m very proud of you, son."

Joe stared at his father, momentarily speechless. While Joe never doubted his father’s love for him, Fenton Hardy rarely showed his feelings and emotions in public. For him to make a speech like that, even in front of Frank and Vanessa, Joe knew it was something very special.

"Thanks, Dad," Joe finally replied. "I was just doing what you taught me."

Smiling, Vanessa removed her arms from around Joe’s neck and grasped his hands, the expression on her face changing to one of concern. "Joe, you’re still cold!"

"Just a little," he shrugged it off.

"Well the doctor gave me strict orders to take you home and put you to bed and I intend to follow those instructions to the letter," Vanessa told him, rubbing his hands.

"I think I’d recover a lot faster if you crawled in there with me," Joe raised his eyebrows suggestively, leaning close to Vanessa.

"Just try and keep me out," she replied saucily, closing the gap between them and kissing Joe hard.

"Oh, please," Frank rolled his eyes and made a gagging sound. "Could someone dump a bucket of cold water on them?"

"I think cold water is what started this whole mess," Fenton reminded Frank, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

Frank threw another glance at Joe and Vanessa who were still joined at the lips and threw up his hands in defeat. "They’re like rabbits in heat," he muttered walking away, as Fenton followed him, laughing out loud.

Sitting on the couch waiting to see if Sam needed any more information from them, Frank watched Vanessa fussing over Joe, and realized how much he missed Callie. ‘I might enjoy teasing them,’ he thought as Joe and Vanessa shared another intimate kiss, oblivious to the police officers bustling around them, ‘but they sure have the right idea.’

"Hey Dad, can we wrap this up soon?" Frank requested, suddenly wanting to hold Callie in his arms. "I’d like to go home and see my wife..."

*****

It was well past midnight when Joe crawled into bed, exhausted and still a little chilled. Settling back against the pillows, he smiled recalling Kara’s reaction upon being told she had been cleared of all charges. She had thrown her arms around Joe’s neck and hugged him fiercely, much the same way Vanessa had done earlier. Uttering a never-ending string of thank-you’s, she cried tears of happiness.

‘Hmm…I could get used to beautiful women throwing themselves on me,’ Joe smiled to himself, deciding it would be best not to share that thought with Vanessa.

When Kara had finally released him, Tony had impulsively scooped her up in his arms and planted a kiss on her that almost made Joe blush. He’d looked at Vanessa questioningly, who responded with raised eyebrows, indicating she had no idea Tony and Kara’s friendship had progressed that far.

‘They both deserve it,’ Joe decided, having grown to like Kara over the past few days.

Yawning, Joe snuggled deeper into the layer of thick blankets and closed his eyes, finally starting to feel a touch of warmth begin to chase away the chill that thus far had refused to leave. A moment later, he felt Vanessa slip into bed next to him and smiled, reaching out for her.

"Mmmm…c’mere and make me warm," he murmured, attempting to pull her close.

"Joe," Vanessa said softly, placing a firm hand on his chest stopping any further movement. "We need to talk."

‘Talk?!’ Joe’s eyes flew open. ‘Uh-oh, what’d I do now?!’ Joe thought frantically, wondering what he could have done to set Vanessa off.

"Um…okay," he said uneasily, pushing himself up on one elbow. "What did you want to talk about?"

Vanessa sat up, suddenly taking great interest in her fingernails. "I…I need to…apologize," she said quietly, raising her eyes only slightly to look at Joe.

"To who?" Joe asked, confused.

"To who?!" Vanessa repeated, dumbstruck. "YOU! What I did was… was…wrong! It was unforgivable!" she said miserably.

"Huh?" Joe sat up next to her, having no idea what Vanessa was referring to. "What exactly did you do that was so horrible?"

"Blackmail," Vanessa replied, wiping away a tear before it could fall.

"Blackmail," Joe repeated, feeling the more Vanessa tried to explain, the more confused he became.

"Yes!" Vanessa exclaimed, obviously anguished. "Emotional blackmail! You don’t do that to someone you love!"

"Listen, Babe, I can see you’re really upset about this…blackmail thing," Joe began, trying to calm his fiancée. "But I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about."

Vanessa drew in a shaky breath, studying her fingernails once more. "When I first asked you to help Kara, before you found any evidence to even suggest she’d been framed…did you believe she was innocent?" she asked softly.

Joe was caught off guard by the question, not quite sure how to respond. "Ah…well…um…I guess I wasn’t really sure about that," he hedged.

"You thought she was guilty didn’t you?" Vanessa pressed him.

"I wasn’t completely sure she was innocent…" Joe replied lamely.

"Joe, why didn’t you say something?!" Vanessa demanded.

"Uh…you didn’t ask?" he responded, making it sound more like a question than an answer.

"You’re right," Vanessa agreed miserably. "And I should have. At least then I would have known you really didn’t want to investigate and all the trouble with Frank and your dad would have been avoided and-"

"And an innocent woman would have ended up in prison," Joe finished for her. Reaching out, Joe gently lifted Vanessa’s chin, looking her in the eyes. "You believed she was innocent and I gave you my word I would do the best I could to find out if she had been framed. Once I did that, what I believed didn’t matter."

"Yes, it does matter, Joe! Keeping your thoughts to yourself made it so much easier for me to use your love for me against you."

Joe shook his head and chuckled slightly. "Maybe it has something to do with being stuffed in a footlocker, tossed in the bay and used for target practice…but I have no idea what you just said."

Vanessa reddened slightly and couldn’t help but laugh along with him. "What I’m trying to say is I’m sorry. I never once asked you what you thought or how you felt. I knew deep inside you’d do anything I asked and I took advantage of that." Putting her arms around Joe’s neck, she leaned closer to him, staring into his eyes intently. "What I’m trying to say – besides I’m sorry – is that it’s okay for us to disagree sometimes. I know our love is strong enough to handle it."

Joe slipped his arms around her waist and sighed, seeing she had a valid point. "I didn’t want to let you down. I guess I thought if I told you I didn’t believe in your friend quite as much as you did…" he trailed off and shrugged his shoulders.

"You could never, ever let me down," Vanessa replied. Moving closer, she leaned in and kissed him passionately.

When she finally let go, Joe smiled at her mischievously. "I think I could get used to disagreeing with you…"

"And why is that?" Vanessa asked, slightly wary.

Joe slid down under the covers, pulling Vanessa down with him. "Because we get to make up…"