Frank glanced at the dashboard clock as he pulled into his driveway – 2:45 a.m. He sighed heavily as he looked up and saw a soft glow coming from the second floor bedroom window. He had called Callie from the police station to let her know Vanessa was safe and to tell her not to wait up for him. He had intended to take care of as much of the paperwork as he could so when Joe and Vanessa returned the next morning, they could be in and out as quickly as possible. Obviously, Callie had not listened to him.

Frank knew she was desperate to talk to him, to try and explain why she had not trusted him and given in to the blackmailers. It still seemed surreal to Frank. Callie had made one bad judgment call and it had quickly spun out of control taking his entire family with it. But if he hadn’t made his own bad judgment call almost three months ago, would any of this had even happened?

It had been less than three months but it seemed as if it were a lifetime ago. Vanessa had been so traumatized she withdrew from the world. Joe had watched the woman he loved disintegrate before his eyes, while coming to the realization that it was due to an act of revenge against him. He had also been starting to subconsciously flash back to the time he had been kidnapped as a child and all those horrifying memories were now demanding to be seen and heard. Fenton Hardy’s usually flawless decision making when it came to his children seemed to have suddenly gone haywire. Frank was watching his family fall apart before his eyes. Was it any wonder his judgment at the time had been less than perfect?

‘Perfect.’ Frank though disgustedly. ‘Why do I always put so much pressure on myself to be perfect? Maybe if I didn’t expect it of myself, no one else would either.’

But he did expect it. And he knew others had come to expect it too. Especially those who were closest to him. At least that’s how it seemed to Frank sometimes. Everyone always assumed he had all the answers. And when he didn’t, or God forbid, he came up with the occasional wrong answer, as had happened with Joe, he paid dearly for it.

Frank had tried to be the perfect brother, the perfect son, the perfect husband and the one that led to his ultimate downfall, the perfect investigator. No feelings or emotions were allowed. Just facts. Logical pieces of evidence that he could see and hear. The baby brother he had doted on all his life was in the worst possible situation imaginable and Frank knew emotions could not be allowed to cloud his judgment. Joe’s life, and his sanity, hung in the balance.

And so he had pushed all his emotions aside. Joe ceased being his beloved younger brother and instead became a suspect. That decision, not to listen to his heart, turned out to be a mistake. An error he had acknowledged and corrected in less than forty-eight hours. Why did no one give him credit for that? Why did everyone choose to remember his one error in judgment – made under the crushing weight of his family’s seeming collapse?

Frank closed his eyes and rested his head against the steering wheel. He had thought his family had begun to heal. Yet one isolated incident that he’d assumed was long forgotten had obviously been festering and eating away at his closest relationships from the inside out. He’d always been so proud of the fact that his family was open and honest with one another. Secrets were not a part of their world. At least they never used to be. Frank was heartsick wondering if he were the catalyst for the lies, the half-truths and out right betrayals that suddenly seemed to rule his world.

Hoping Callie was asleep and he might be able to put off the inevitable for a few more hours, Frank got out of his car and slowly made his way inside. However, luck was not on his side. As soon as he shut and locked the front door, he heard footsteps on the floor above. A moment later Callie appeared at the top of the stairs.

Frank and Callie stared at each other for several moments. Finally, Frank extended a hand towards his wife. She came down the stairs placing her hand in his and, silently, he led her into the living room. Sitting on the couch, Frank guided Callie to a seat next to him. As much as he knew it would hurt, Frank had come to the conclusion he couldn’t put it off any longer. Gently holding Callie’s hand in his, he looked into her troubled brown eyes.

"I’m listening." He said simply, then sat back and waited for Callie to speak.

Searching her husband’s face for some sign of what was going through his mind at that moment, Callie was sorely disappointed. Frank was a master at disguising his emotions when it suited him and apparently it suited him just fine right now.

Callie had spent the past two days trying to find just the right words to explain to Frank why she had betrayed his trust and given in to the blackmailers. Somehow, everything she had rehearsed now sounded so hollow to her. There was nothing she could say that could justify what she had done and she knew it.

"There’s no excuse for what I did, Frank, so I won’t even try to give you one. I can only explain to you what I was thinking and feeling to lead me to do what I did. It was still wrong – very wrong – and if I could go back and change it, I would. I’d give anything to take it back. Anything in the world."

"But you can’t take it back, Callie. So why don’t you just tell me why and maybe we can figure out how to get past it." Frank said quietly, wanting to keep an open mind and at least try and understand what had led Callie to lie to him and steal from him. If he could do that, Frank had concluded, they might be able to save their marriage.

"I love you, Frank. Please believe that. Please know it in your heart. Because I know what I’m about to say is going to hurt more than anything I’ve already done." Callie said softly. She knew she was about to break Frank’s heart – again – but she had to tell him the truth. She owed him that much no matter how painful it was.

"When the man called right after I opened the pictures, he asked me if you would believe it when I told you I didn’t know the man in the photos. I told him you would believe me. I was absolutely sure of it."

Frank felt his heart constrict in his chest and his eyes grew wide. He had a good idea of what Callie was going to say, but he hadn’t expected to hear that. He had promised himself he wasn’t going to say a thing until Callie was done, but the words were out before he could stop them.

"Then why didn’t you tell me, Cal?" Frank asked, anguish in his voice.

"When I told him I was certain you’d believe me he…he said…" Callie stopped, choking on the words she knew would be like a knife through Frank’s heart.

"He said what?" Frank asked, his voice shaking.

"He said you didn’t believe Joe so why would you believe me." Callie looked into Frank’s eyes. "And I didn’t have an answer for that, Frank. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure anymore."

Frank squeezed his eyes shut, fighting to keep the tears inside. "That had nothing to do with you, Callie." Frank choked out. "It was between me and my brother."

"And I always thought that too, Frank. Until two weeks ago. I’m sorry, I truly am, but you are closer to Joe than anyone. You trusted each other completely – totally. For you to doubt him, even after he told you he was innocent… I honestly didn’t know if you would believe me. I mean you would have had the ‘evidence’ right there in your hands, staring you in the face. Why would you believe me when you had the ‘proof’ right in front of you?" Callie told him, her voice trembling.

At the time it all made perfect sense to her, but now she saw her logic was riddled with holes, which made it that much harder to put into words. "I had to make a decision right then. He told me if I didn’t, he’d make sure you had copies of the pictures the next day. I’m so sorry Frank, but all I could think was if you didn’t believe Joe there was no way you would believe me."

"One mistake, Callie! One lousy mistake!" Frank cried out, unable to listen to anymore. "Aren’t I allowed to make one mistake? I know it was a big one, but I learned from it! Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you make a mistake? Figure out what you did wrong and never do it again?"

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing! Why couldn’t you just give me the benefit of the doubt?! You’re my wife, Callie! If you don’t trust me, then our marriage is ov-"

"No!" Callie cried out, tears streaming down her face. "Please don’t say it! I DO trust you, Frank! I do! I know I made the wrong choice. I’m not trying to make excuses for it. You asked me to tell you why I made that decision and I did. All my reasons were flawed. I know that now. And I probably knew it then, too. But all my fears were drowning out the voice in my heart that told me you’d believe me. I’m sorry, Frank. I’m so sorry." Callie’s voice trailed off to a whisper. "Please…if there’s any way at all…please try and forgive me."

Frank leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. He had been right. He had hoped there was some other reason for Callie’s behavior but deep in his heart he knew it was because of his behavior three months ago. And as much as he hated to admit it to himself, he could actually see her point.

If someone had told Frank he would one day doubt his brother and believe Joe was capable of murder, he would have said they were insane. But for two agonizing days, that was exactly what he had thought. And as much as he had hoped it was an anomaly that would be quickly forgotten, it was apparent that was not the case. His one mistake had obviously changed the way many people looked at him. Even those people he thought would never doubt him. He realized he needed to take responsibility for his part in this whole, ugly ordeal or it would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Opening his eyes, Frank looked at his wife. He no longer saw the woman who had betrayed his trust and destroyed his faith in her. Instead, he saw the woman he vowed to spend the rest of his life with. The woman he pledged to love, honor and cherish, for better or worse…

Frank reached out and took Callie in his arms, holding her close. "I guess this would fall under ‘worse’ in the for better or worse part of the wedding vows, huh?" He said quietly. He felt Callie shaking in his arms, trying to choke back the sobs that were threatening to overwhelm her. "Shhh. It’s gonna be ok, Baby. We’re going to be ok."

"Yu-you mean you for-forgive me?" Callie hiccupped, fearing she misunderstood what Frank was trying to say.

"I’ll forgive you if you forgive me." Frank replied, wiping away her tears.

"For-forgive you? For what?" Callie asked, still stuttering.

"For putting you in a position where you felt you had to do that. If I had believed Joe the second he told me he was innocent, like I should have, you never would have had to question my loyalty to you. Looking back I can see it was naïve of me to think that didn’t affect anyone other than Joe." Frank admitted.

"Thank you." Callie whispered. "We both know I don’t deserve you."

"I don’t know any such thing." Frank said with a sad smile.

Callie stared at him gratefully. She vowed he would never regret giving her a second chance. She would never doubt his loyalty or trust again.

As Callie sat curled up in Frank’s arms, she could see by the expression on his face that something else was troubling him; something besides her confession.

"Frank? What is it? What’s still bothering you?" She asked, touching his cheek.

Frank swallowed hard, feeling the roller coaster of emotions getting ready to take him on another ride.

"After Joe and I talked that night, and he forgave me, I thought it was over. Forgotten." He said, now turning to look at Callie. "Everything that’s happened made me realize that might not be true. What if…" Frank stopped almost unable to say it out loud. His voice dropped. Shaking with the thought that he was probably right, he verbalized his worst fear.

"What if Joe doesn’t trust me anymore?"