Joe wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep when he heard someone calling his name. He rolled over hoping whoever it was would leave him alone. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep for a few more hours.

"Joe," a male voice said bringing Joe slowly to consciousness.

Joe rolled onto his back and put his arm over his eyes. He mumbled, "Just leave me alone."

"Joe, wake up," the voice said a little louder. Joe recognized it as Ned’s.

"Go away."

"Joe, your parents want you to join them for breakfast."

"It’s not time for breakfast," Joe mumbled. "We need to eat dinner."

"Hate to tell you this, Joe, but it’s eight o’clock in the morning."

Joe slid his arm off his face and had to squint to look at Ned because the sun was shining through the window. Joe said, "I must have been tired."

"You had every right," Ned said. "Get cleaned up and join us in the dining room."

"I’ll be down in a few minutes," Joe said.

"Fine," Ned said and left the room.

Joe sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. As he pulled his hands away, he realized he’d fallen asleep in the clothes he’d worn the day before. He quickly showered and changed before heading down to the dining room.

As he walked into the dining room, he saw his parents sitting at a large table. He moved toward the table and saw Ned was sitting next to Nancy who had a hold of her father’s hand. Eloise and Hannah were also sitting at the table beside Carson. Callie and Gertrude had left a seat open so he could sit next to his mom.

As Joe sat down, Laura leaned over and gave him a kiss. He took a quick look at the menu and ordered.

Once his order was taken, the waiter headed for the kitchen. Joe said, "Sorry, I’m late."

"It’s all right," Laura said. "You were exhausted and needed your sleep."

Before anyone could say anything, the front desk clerk of the hotel walked into the dining room and headed for their table. He stopped beside Joe and handed him a folded piece of paper. "Mr. Joe Hardy." Joe nodded. "This message is for you."

"Thank you," Joe said and the desk clerk walked away. Joe unfolded the piece of paper and read it quietly to himself.

"Who is it from?" Nancy questioned after a moment.

"You’ll have to excuse me. I have to go down to the police station," Joe said folding the paper and sliding it into his pocket.

"Did it say why?" Fenton asked.

"No." Joe shook his head. "It doesn’t say."

"Maybe it has something to do with Victoria," Nancy suggested.

"Maybe," Joe said.

"Wasn’t Victoria the girl you met on the ship?" Fenton asked.

"Yeah," Joe said not wanting to get into a discussion about her.

Nancy changed the subject. "Dad, what are you going to do today?"

"Probably pick up some of the necessities I need," Carson said.

"What about you, Mrs. Hardy?" Nancy asked.

"I’ll probably spend some time with Frank while Fenton makes the arrangements to head home," Laura said.

Joe stood up. "I’ll stop by the hospital after the police station."

"All right," Fenton said. "We’ll see you later."

Joe left the table and headed out of the dining room. He was about to leave the hotel when he heard someone call his name. He stopped and turned to see Nancy and Ned were hurrying toward him. "What’s up?"

"We’re going with you," Nancy said.

"You don’t have to," Joe said. "I know how worried you were about your dad. You should spend some time with him."

"After we take care of some business at the police station," Nancy said. She put her hand into her pants pocket and pulled something out. She held it up for Joe to see. It was the pendant he’d found. "Besides, we need to turn this over to the police."

"Let’s go."

* * * * *

Ten minutes later they arrived at the police station. They went inside to see the same female officer sitting at the front desk as the last time they’d been there. Joe stepped up to the desk. He said, "I’m Joe Hardy. Someone wished to speak to me."

"Have a seat," the officer said.

The three of them sat down on the bench across from the desk. Nancy sat between Ned and Joe. They all felt uncomfortable waiting to see who wanted Joe down at the station.

Five minutes later, Officer Stamwell came down the hall. He saw Joe and said, "I see you got my message."

"What did you need me for?" Joe asked.

"Come with me." The three of them got to their feet and followed the officer down the hall to the room they had gone to on their last visit. They went inside and Officer Stamwell closed the door.

They sat down and Nancy said, "We have something for you. I was wondering if the Captain of The Emerald Star told you about the body that was found on board."

"I heard something about that."

"Joe stumbled onto the body and after the body was taken away, he found this." Nancy reached into her pants pocked and pulled out the pendant. She handed it to the officer.

Officer Stamwell looked at the pendant and flipped it over to read the inscription. He set it down on the table and looked at each on of them. He turned to Joe and asked, "Why didn’t you give this to me sooner?"

"I thought it was still on the ship," Joe said.

"I forgot I had it until I emptied my pockets last night," Nancy said.

"Where exactly did you find it?"

"Partially under the body," Joe said. "It caught my eye." He looked away from the officer. "I believe it belongs to Victoria."

"Are you sure?"

"She admitted she’s called Tori and said she didn’t want to get involved," Nancy said.

"That supports what she’s told us," Officer Stamwell said.

"Then she’s confessed?" Ned asked.

"She admitted she’d been involved with a man who was out for revenge against you."

"The man in the hospital?" Joe asked.

Officer Stamwell nodded before continuing. "That man is Dave Michaels Junior."

"His son?" Joe asked.

"Yeah," Officer Stamwell said. "He had been living with relatives because he was unable to get along with his parents. After his father went to jail, his mother got sick and died. He blamed you for the problems his family faced."

"But that doesn’t explain why he blew up the cruise ship," Nancy said.

"After we picked him up from the hospital last night, he started to brag about the success he had," Officer Stamwell said. "He had no idea you or your brother survived and revealed his plan."

Officer Stamwell explained that Dave Michaels was willing to take any risk to make Frank and Joe pay for destroying his family. He had prepared everything including the bomb to destroy the ship. "He wanted you all to die. He didn’t care if innocent people also died. As long as his intended victims perished."

"At least this is wrapped up now," Ned said.

"Will both of them go to jail?" Nancy asked.

"Victoria broke down last night when we told her we captured her brother. She admitted everything she knew."

"But that doesn’t explain why you wanted me to come down here," Joe said.

"Victoria wants to talk to you. She figured if she called you, you would ignore her. She asked for you specifically."

"I don’t have anything to say to her."

"Joe, you might feel better after talking to her," Nancy said. "It couldn’t possibly hurt."

"All right," Joe said after a minute of thinking about it.