"Frank?!" Joe asked, stunned.

"Yes, Frank! How many brothers do you have?" Frank asked, chuckling.

Frank was true to his word, and Joe was free in less than a minute, lunging for the envelope. He tore it open pulling out a piece of paper. Unfolding it, a key fell out onto the table. Joe left it there momentarily as he read the handwritten directions. Completely absorbed in the sheet of paper, he was jolted back to reality when he felt a hand in making it’s way into the pocket of his jeans.

"Frank, what are you doing?!?" He dropped the paper. He looked at Frank, incredulous, taken aback by his brother’s actions.

Frank grinned, holding up Joe’s keys. "I’m driving. It won’t do Vanessa any good if you get us both killed before we can rescue her."

Joe stared at him open mouthed, his heart pounding. "You could have just asked for them, you know!"

"Would you have given them to me?" Frank said, knowingly.

Joe reddened slightly. "No." He grabbed the key off the table, retrieved the paper from the floor and was running out the door before Frank could reply. "Come on! Hurry up already!"

By the time Frank was out the door, Joe was already in the car with his seat belt buckled, impatiently drumming his fingers on the dashboard.

"A little faster, please!" He called out the window.

Frank jumped in the car and made his way slowly back down the dirt path as Joe read the directions out loud. Once Frank hit the main highway, he floored the gas pedal. He knew he was breaking the speed limit, but he was sure Joe would have been driving twice as fast if he hadn’t retrieved the keys.

Less than five minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of a run down motel. Turning off the headlights he headed for the room farthest from the lobby before Joe even gave him the room number.

"How do you know which way it is?" Joe asked, suspiciously.

"Makes sense that if you are holding someone hostage, you don’t want to be anywhere near a high traffic area, now do you?"

"Right." Joe grumbled, thinking he should have guessed that himself.

Frank drove past the room at the very end, which coincidentally matched the number on the key, and made a u-turn at the far end of the parking lot.

"Park it already!" Joe said, his fingers hovering near the door handle.

"Wait a minute, Joe. They didn’t expect you to get here for at least another hour. They probably still have a guard on Vanessa. If we go busting in there without thinking, we could get her – and us – killed."

As Frank parked the car, Joe slammed his fist on the dashboard in frustration, knowing his brother was right. He looked at Frank and was relieved at the look in his eyes - the one that said, "I have a plan!"

*****

Frank and Joe got out of the car, and quietly approached the motel room. Taking up positions on either side of the door, Frank knocked on it loudly. They heard footsteps come towards the door.

"Yeah?"

"It’s me." Frank replied, hoping whoever was on the other side wouldn’t ask who "me" was.

"All clear?"

"Yeah." Frank said, crossing his fingers.

As the brothers heard the chain being removed from the lock, Joe looked up towards the heavens.

‘Thank you!’ he prayed silently, with tears in his eyes.

The second the door opened, Frank tackled the man, both of them doing down in a heap. Joe leapt over them and ran for Vanessa who was curled up in a chair, gagged and bound hand and foot. Despite the gag in her mouth, he could see her smiling with relief, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

Removing the gag, Joe barely gave Vanessa time to breathe before he kissed her – once, twice and a third time. He quickly untied her and pulled her up. Wrapping his arms around her, Joe held her as close as he possibly could, still feeling it wasn’t nearly close enough. Burying his face in her hair, he tried, and failed, to choke back the tears. Vanessa clung to him, never wanting to let go, finally feeling safe once again.

Unnoticed by both Joe and Vanessa, Frank had easily overpowered her out of shape bodyguard. He had picked up the rope Joe had discarded after untying Vanessa, and bound their new captive, then dragged him out onto the sidewalk. The room was hidden from both the lobby and the highway, so Frank felt confident no one would see the unconscious man and try to help. He was about to call the police when he heard sirens in the distance, growing louder by the second. He stepped back into the room to tell Joe and Vanessa the police would be arriving momentarily and abruptly stopped.

"Ok, then. I guess I’ll wait out here." Frank smiled, speaking to himself as Joe and Vanessa were too wrapped up in each other to even remember he was there.

As he exited the room, he glanced back and saw Joe pull Vanessa in for a long, passionate kiss. Frank chuckled to himself and wondered if his father had thought to turn off the volume on the microphone Joe was still wearing, or if he was now an interloper on Joe and Vanessa’s very intimate reunion.