A tense and uneasy silence hung in the air of the Hardys’ living room.  Seated on the couch next to his wife, Fenton watched as Jeff wandered about the room, stopping to gaze at the multitude of family photos Laura proudly displayed on the mantle of the fireplace.  As Jeff picked up several of the photos, one after another, and examined them more closely, Fenton noticed the one thing they all had in common - Joe was in every single one of them.  Sometimes by himself, sometimes with Frank or Vanessa or another family member or friend, Joe was the common thread in every picture that captured Jeff’s attention.

“When are they getting married?” Jeff asked, staring at the picture of Joe and Vanessa in his hands.

“What?” Fenton replied, dumbfounded. ‘How could he possibly know who Vanessa is let alone that she and Joe are engaged?’

“How…how did you know?” Laura stammered, apparently just as surprised as Fenton was.

Jeff smiled sadly before placing the picture back on the mantle.  “When we moved, Carole never cancelled our subscription to The Bayport Times,” he explained referring to the local newspaper. “She had it mailed to the house until they began posting it online.  She still reads it every day.”

Fenton was suddenly overcome with an irrational anger at the thought of Jeff and Carole ‘keeping tabs’ on his family via the local paper. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.  “Then you know what happened last year!” he snarled.  “And you know it’s all your fault!  Eighteen years later Joe – and his fiancée – are still paying for your stupid mistake!”

“What?  I…I’m sorry…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jeff replied, seeming to be honestly confused.

“Fenton, you’re the one who had the Times withhold some of the more… sensitive… details,” Laura reminded him.

He felt her squeeze his arm tightly, a silent signal to step back and regroup, both mentally and emotionally, but Fenton wasn’t about to be stopped.  He wanted Jeff to know that all these years later, the Hardy family was still feeling the repercussions of his mistake.

“Vanessa was raped,” Fenton said, fighting to stay in control of his anger.  “Less than two weeks later Joe was arrested and charged with murdering the man who attacked her.  I’m sure you read about that in the paper.”

“Yes, I did…it was horrible,” Jeff replied uncomfortably.  “We were shocked.”

“Well let me tell what the papers didn’t print,” Fenton continued resentfully.

“Fenton,” Laura tugged on his arm.  “Are you sure that’s really necessary?”

“Absolutely,” Fenton answered, his voice hard and bitter. “I want him to know just how much Joe and Vanessa have paid – how much they’re still paying – because of him!”  Fenton could feel himself shaking with rage, hoping Jeff could see it from where he stood.  “Chris Taylor – the animal who raped Vanessa – was Joshua Tilghman’s son.”  He paused for a moment as the words sank in and Jeff paled considerably.  “Apparently Taylor held Joe responsible for his father being sent to prison and spent his entire life planning his revenge.”

“Oh…oh, God…” Jeff’s knees buckled slightly as realization washed over him.  “He…he raped Vanessa just to hurt Joe?” he asked, looking as if he were about to throw up.

“Yes, he did.  Of course that was after he raped six other women just for practice.”  Fenton continued, ignoring Laura’s whispered pleas for him to stop.  “Joe was charged with murdering the son of bitch, when in reality Taylor committed suicide.”  Fenton had to stop momentarily, as the feeling of self-loathing threatened to overwhelm him.  Even he had initially believed Joe killed Taylor in cold blood.  When he spoke again his voice shook as he relived the pain of watching Joe retreat into a world of darkness and silence rather than deal with the terrifying memories that refused to stay buried a moment longer.

“Did you know Joe was so traumatized by what Tilghman did to him, that he repressed it all?  Every single thing…it was like it never happened.”

“What?” Jeff barely whispered.  His face wore an expression of horrified disbelief.

“Until the trial,” Fenton practically spat at him. “That’s when it all came back to him.  As if he wasn’t under enough stress dealing with Vanessa and the trial, he remembered everything – every single disgusting detail.” Fenton gestured angrily, stabbing the air with his finger punctuating every word.  Jeff was staring at him, obviously stunned speechless at the information Fenton was forcing on him.  “And that’s when we had to admit him to the Campbell Center.”

Jeff’s eyes widened.  “The Campbell Center?” he asked, unable to believe what he was hearing. “The Campbell Psychiatric Center?”

“It was too much for him to deal with; he completely withdrew from reality.  Thank God Frank was able to get through to him or he might still be there,” Fenton finished, roughly swiping at his eyes.

“I…I had no idea,” Jeff stammered.  “I’m sorry…so, so sorry,” he barely choked out the words.

Fenton stared at his brother-in-law, wondering why he didn’t feel the vindication he’d wanted and needed.  Somehow, he’d felt that by inflicting as much pain as possible on the man he held responsible for causing Joe so much anguish, it would ease his own pain. So why did he feel so empty?

“You said Kevin is missing,” Laura broke the heavy silence, bringing Fenton’s attention back to the reason he had even allowed Jeff to set foot in his house again.

Jeff took a seat and looked Fenton in the eyes for the first time all night.  For a moment Fenton felt as if he were looking in a mirror, having seen the same look of grief and anguish on his own face more times than he cared to remember.  He couldn't think of anything more painful than not knowing where your child was or what was happening to him and found himself sympathizing with the brother-in-law he'd hated for so long.

"Eight days ago he left work for the day and just... disappeared. Several people saw him leave and his car was in the driveway of his house but he never made it inside," Jeff began to explain.

"How do you know he never made it inside?  Did someone see him being taken away against his will?" Fenton asked.  He picked up a pad and pen off the end table and began taking notes, the detective in him automatically taking over.

"No, but he was supposed to go to Gina's - his girlfriend - for dinner that night.  When he didn't show up she called Carole.  We all met at his house.  It was still locked up tight, the lights were off and the mail was still in the mailbox.”

“What about his car?” Fenton asked, writing furiously.

“Locked and the alarm was on,” Jeff replied.  “We went into the house but there was no sign of him.”

“Anything  missing?”

“Not that time...”

Fenton’s head snapped up, his antennae on high alert.  “What do you mean ‘not that time’?”

“We called the police and they came out and talked to us, looked around a little but since there was no sign of foul play and Kevin is an adult they told us we couldn’t file a missing person’s report for forty-eight hours,” Jeff continued, his voice bitter.

“Did you?”

“Of course!” he replied angrily, then immediately apologized.  “I’m sorry,” he said running a hand through his hair in frustration.  “It’s just that no one - no one - believes there’s anything wrong!  Kevin wouldn’t just up and leave without saying a word!  He wouldn’t do that to his mother!”

“Okay,” Fenton nodded, finding he could commiserate.  The difference was when one of his children was missing, he could take matters into his own hands.  “Now what did you mean by nothing was missing ‘that time’?”

“We filed an official report forty-eight hours later.  The police came back to his house and looked around a little more thoroughly,” he stopped and frowned in concentration.  “I can’t put my finger on anything specific but things just seemed out of place; not exactly where they’d been when we were there two days earlier.  Nothing was missing but... I got the sense someone had been there looking for something and didn’t get everything back where it should have been.”

“Could Carole - or Gina - have gone over there during that time?” Laura asked, a sense of sadness lingering in her words.

Fenton stared at the pad in his hands thinking of the times Joe or Frank had been missing.  More than once he’d come home from searching for them only to find Laura in their bedroom, wandering around picking up an item they treasured and holding it for a moment, only to put it down and move on to something else in the room.  Somehow being close to their possessions brought her a sense of comfort.

“No, I asked them. Kelly, too. No one was in his house - at least not with our permission.”

“Could it have been Kevin?” Fenton asked.

Jeff was shaking his head vigorously before Fenton had even finished speaking. “Absolutely not.  He’d never let Carole worry like that. Even if he wanted to disappear, he’d let her know he was okay.”

Fenton immediately picked up on the allusion that Jeff and Kevin’s relationship was apparently strained.  He glanced at Laura who raised her eyebrows questioningly, also having noted Jeff’s strange choice of words.

“And would Carole let you know if Kevin had contacted her?” Fenton asked, suddenly feeling as if he were prying into matters that were none of his business.

Jeff didn’t speak right away, seeming to take great care in phrasing his thoughts. “Carole’s the one who suggested we ask you for help. She wouldn’t have me fly out here and drag you into this if she knew Kevin was fine.”

“Okay,” Fenton replied flipping through the notepad in his hand, curious as to what had happened to the close-knit Cutter family over the years. “Kevin left work one night, arrived home but never made it inside.  Several hours later, you accompanied the police into his house and everything appeared normal.  However, two days later when you returned you got a strong feeling that someone had been there, looking for something. You’re sure it wasn’t Kevin, Carole, Kelly or Gina.  It wasn’t you or the police,” he summarized.

“Right,” Jeff confirmed. “So wouldn’t that mean it was whoever abducted Kevin?”

“It would seem so,” Fenton replied, scrutinizing his notes.  With a frown, he glanced briefly at Laura before looking at Jeff.  “Would you excuse us for a few moments please,” he asked offering no further explanation.

“Sure.  Of course,” Jeff agreed, appearing to be relieved that Fenton hadn’t already turned him down flat and followed through on the threat he’d made so many years ago.

Watching until Jeff disappeared from the room, Fenton still waited for the front door to open and close before turning to his wife. “Well? Should I help them or not?”

“How can you not help?” Laura asked, staring at him in earnest.  “Their child is missing, Fenton. No one knows that kind of hell more than we do. And no matter how we feel about them, or what happened eighteen years ago, we can’t take it out on Kevin.”

Fenton was quiet, looking at his wife. ‘Always the voice of reason... and compassion.’ Leaning forward, he kissed her on the cheek and then stood up. “I’ll go tell him.”

Walking towards the door, Fenton began to worry. How would Joe react to the news that their firm’s newest client was the man whose lack of attention was responsible for allowing Joe to be delivered right into the hands of Joshua Tilghman?