His anxiety had diminished only slightly once he and Fenton had finally gotten on the road a little over an hour ago. They had left the city far behind and had been making their way along winding two lane roads, rarely seeing another car, let alone any sign of life. As Frank gazed out the window at the desolate landscape, Carlos Sanchez’s words continued to haunt him.

"Did you call Mom before we left?" Frank asked absently, wanting to rid himself of the awful images in his mind.

Fenton shook his head. "It was still pretty early. I was going to wait until our first stop." He replied, staring straight ahead.

"You don’t actually think she was sleeping do you?" Frank looked at his father.

"No." He sighed heavily. "I guess I’m trying to put it off as long as possible. I don’t want to lie to her, but I can’t possibly tell her the truth either."

Frank understood completely and didn’t envy his father at all. Normally he believed in complete honesty. He hated having things kept from him for his "own good". He also thought the imagination was very powerful and could usually come up with something far worse than reality. However, the knot in his stomach and the tightness in his heart told him this time the reality would turn out to be much more horrifying than anything imaginable. Carlos Sanchez had effectively gotten the message across that Joe was probably suffering immeasurably and time was of the essence.

"You don’t have to tell her everything, Dad. Just give her the basic information. We know that Joe was kidnapped, we have a lead on where he might have been taken and we’re on our way to check it out." Frank suggested.

"That’s what I’m planning to do, but somehow she always knows when I’m not telling her everything."

"Do you want me to call her?" Frank offered.

Fenton smiled inwardly at the way Frank so easily fell into the role of "protector" no matter who he was with. "Thanks for asking but I better do it myself."

"Well, she may not press you for more information this time even if she does think you’re holding something back."

"What makes you say that?" Fenton asked, puzzled.

"Vanessa." Frank said simply. "Mom won’t want to lie to her but she won’t want Van to get anymore upset than she already is. She’ll probably think the less information, the better."

Fenton raised his eyebrows, contemplating Frank’s insight.

"Up ahead on the right." Frank said, pointing. "A gas station."

Fenton pulled in and came to a stop at the pump. As he got out of the car and began filling it with gas, Frank took the photos of Joe, Rashman and Malick and entered the small store.

"Morning!" The smiling, middle-aged clerk called out from behind the counter, obviously happy to have some company. "How ya doin’?"

"Good morning." Frank replied. "I’m fine, thanks." Laying the pictures on the counter, he moved to the coffee station and poured two cups of coffee. "Were you working last night by any chance?" He asked over his shoulder as he prepared one cup of coffee for himself and one for his father.

"Sure did. Came on at eight last night." The man replied, picking up the pictures curiously.

"Did you happen to see any of those men in here last night?" Frank asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"You a cop or something?" The man grinned, looking closely at the picture of Joe.

"Or something." Frank replied vaguely, moving to the counter.

Placing Joe’s picture back on the counter, the man picked up the other two. He furrowed his brow as he looked at the picture of Malick, but when he saw the photo of Rashman his eyes lit up.

"He was here last night!" The man said excitedly, having visions of being a key player in capturing a wanted criminal.

"You’re sure?" Frank asked, trying not to get his hopes up.

"Are you kidding? The guy looks like the Terminator! It was definitely him." The man replied with confidence.

"What time did he come in?"

"A little while after I came on duty. Probably around nine. He was my first customer of the night. This other guy," he continued, tapping the picture of Malick. "I’m pretty sure he was the one pumping gas, but the blonde – I never saw him." He said, referring to Joe.

Just then Fenton entered the store, coming to a stop next to Frank.

"They were here last night." Frank informed his father. "At least Rashman and Malick were. He didn’t see Joe."

"Did they say anything?" Fenton questioned the clerk.

"Only the bald guy actually came in. He seemed friendly enough, but didn’t say much."

"Did he buy anything?"

"Besides gas you mean? Salt. And some water. A lot of it. Probably about eight gallons or so. Guess he was thirsty, huh?" The man joked.

"Apparently." Fenton replied, paying for the gas and the coffee. "Did you happen to see which way they headed when they left? Or what kind of car they were driving?"

"North." The man pointed. "In a blue Saturn. So what’d they do – kill somebody?" He asked jokingly.

Fenton winced inwardly and Frank openly flinched at the man’s words.

"I hope not." Fenton smiled tightly. "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime." The friendly man smiled and waved as Frank and Fenton exited the store.

"At least we know we’re on the right track. I just wish he had seen Joe, too." Frank said, worriedly.

"If Joe were unconscious, it would make sense that the clerk wouldn’t have seen him. They probably left him in the car. And that would explain why Malick didn’t go into the store too. He was keeping an eye on Joe in case he woke up."

"I know, but if he had seen Joe at least we’d have an idea of what kind of shape he was in." Frank said quietly, fear creeping into his voice.

"That was last night, Frank." Fenton said gently. "I’m sure a lot has happened since then."

"Yeah, I guess." Frank turned away from his father, squeezing his eyes shut hoping that would stop the burning sensation that had begun.

"Guess I’ll give your mother a call before we get started."

Frank nodded silently. Opening the car door, he got into the passenger seat and leaned his head back.

*****

Vanessa sat at the kitchen table across from Laura, pushing the food around on her plate, wishing she could turn back the clock. Twenty-four hours earlier she had been following Joe around their apartment, dogging his footsteps, in an effort to get him to hurry up, as she was afraid he was going to miss his flight to Chicago.

"Don’t worry, Babe. There’s another flight leaving in an hour." He had laughed.

‘Why was I in such a hurry to get rid of him?’ Vanessa thought, miserably.

The shrill ringing of the phone broke the silence, causing Vanessa to jump. Watching as Laura answered it, Vanessa prayed it was good news.

"Fenton?" Laura said, knowing it wouldn’t be anyone else at that time of the morning.

Vanessa sat up a little straighter, never taking her eyes off Laura’s face, hoping to see relief and a smile replace the worry that was so evident. Laura listened for a moment then swallowed hard. Looking directly at Vanessa she simply shook her head no. Broken hearted, Vanessa felt her emotions swiftly starting to take control. Suddenly she had to escape. Joe was still missing and that’s all she needed to know. The details wouldn’t matter. Getting up from the table, she fled back up the stairs to Joe’s old bedroom, closing the door behind her. Leaning against it, she let her gaze slowly move across the room.

Vanessa was suddenly assaulted by memories as she recalled all the times she had spent in this room with Joe. Listening to music. Talking. Studying. Starting on homework that was never quite completed as Joe always distracted her…

"Where are you, Joe?" Vanessa whispered out loud as the tears slid from her eyes.

There was a soft knock on the door and Vanessa turned to open it, expecting to see Laura. Instead Callie was staring back at her, sympathy in her eyes. Ever since the night Vanessa had been kidnapped as a result of Callie’s being blackmailed by enemies of the Hardy’s, their friendship had been strained. Vanessa had wanted to simply forgive, forget and move on, but Joe was having a much harder time dealing with the after effects, feeling both Frank and Callie had now betrayed him. Vanessa knew that had she not been taken hostage, it would have been much easier for Joe to understand why Callie had acted the way she did.

In the weeks that followed, Vanessa found herself stuck in the middle between the two. She wanted to resume her close friendship with her future sister-in-law and give her the opportunity to earn back the trust that had been violated. Even though Joe had forgiven Callie for her part in Vanessa being abducted, her actions had placed Vanessa in serious danger, and that was something Joe was not so quick to forget. As a result, they had been spending much less time with Frank and Callie.

Looking at Callie and seeing the worry and concern on her face, Vanessa realized things had just started to change. In the past week, Joe had seemed ready to take the next step, even suggesting they get together with Frank and Callie on the weekend and "do something fun".

"They can’t find him, Callie." Vanessa choked out the words.

Putting an arm around Vanessa, Callie guided her into the room where they sat down on the edge of the bed. Callie, unfortunately, had been in this same position more than once and knew exactly what Vanessa was going through. In spite of everything that had transpired as a result of her actions, Callie was determined to be there for Vanessa.

"Not yet. But they will." Callie said, giving her a reassuring hug. "You know they won’t give up until they do."

Vanessa nodded silently and looked down at her engagement ring, thinking back to the night Joe had asked her to marry him.

"He thought I was going to say no." Vanessa said quietly, remembering that very special night. "I was so shocked that he even asked me, I couldn’t speak." She laughed softly remembering the look on Joe’s face. "It took me almost a whole minute to say yes."

She looked at Callie with a sad smile. "Can you believe he thought for one second I wouldn’t want to marry him?" Quickly the smile faltered and then disappeared completely. "What if it never happens? What if they can’t find him? Or what if he’s…"

Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut, her lower lip trembling at the thought that Joe could be dead by the time they found him.

"They will find him, Van." Callie said, hugging her friend. "You know Frank would never come home without his little brother. Everything will be fine. You’ll see."

As Vanessa finally broke down in tears, Callie held her tightly as she sobbed.

‘Please let him be ok.’ Callie prayed. She knew that losing Joe would be the one trauma Vanessa couldn’t possibly recover from.