Both of them were thrown forward, but their seatbelts kept them from hitting the dashboard. Frank ended up hitting the steering wheel, hard.

Frank slowly leaned back off the steering wheel after putting the van in park.

"You okay?" Joe asked. Frank nodded his head. "We should get out."

Frank nodded again and watched Joe unhook his seatbelt. Joe climbed out of the van as Frank unhooked his seatbelt. He reached for the door handle and pushed it open.

As he turned to get out, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest. He stayed still. He saw Joe hurrying around the front of the van. Joe moved to the open door.

"Are you hurt?" Joe asked.

Frank nodded as he reached for the cell phone. He for the police, and ambulance and a tow truck.

As he set the phone down, Joe said, "It was a good plan aiming for this old road."

Frank pulled the pad out and wrote. "You okay? You hurt?"

"I’m fine. Is there anything I can do?"

Frank shook his head. He knew Joe wouldn’t be able to hear sirens and staying with him was the best. As he sat there, Frank wondered what happened. He had a feeling the brakes had been tampered with. But they needed to know who and why.

We’re getting close, he thought. Someone knows we’re investigating. Whoever it is must think we’re close. I just wish we knew who the person was.

Frank heard the sirens and knew help had arrived.

*****

Joe looked down the road and a moment later, the paramedics came into view and hurried to the van. He stepped back and watched as they got to work on Frank. They placed a collar on Frank’s neck.

As he watched them, he knew it was lucky for both of them that Frank spotted the access road. If he hadn’t, we both could’ve been hurt, he thought. What happened to the van? Why couldn’t Frank stop?

A tap on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. He turned and saw Con Riley standing there, his lips moving.

"I can’t hear you, Con," Joe said. "You have to write down what you want."

"What happened?" Con wrote.

Joe explained the best he could. When he finished, he looked at Frank and saw he was still in the van. Con touched his arm and showed Joe the notebook. Joe read the question and said, "I’m fine." He looked at Frank. "I’m more worried about Frank."

At that moment, the paramedics lifted Frank out of the van and set him on a stretcher.

Joe looked at Con. "Can you have the van taken to the shop?"

"Will do," Con wrote. "I’ll call your parents too."

"Thanks."

Joe followed Frank as he was wheeled to the ambulance. He saw his brother grimacing every time the stretcher hit a bump. Joe climbed in behind Frank and looked at his brother hoping he wasn’t seriously hurt.

*****

An hour later, Joe was sitting in the hospital waiting room. He was staring at his hands as he tried to figure out what happened. He couldn’t understand who would mess with the van and why.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Joe looked up to see his parents standing there. He said, "I’m okay."

Fenton wrote quickly and Joe explained what happened. When he finished, Laura wrote and Joe said, "I’m not sure how seriously he’s hurt. I’ve been waiting for a while."

Laura and Fenton turned away from him. He looked past them and saw the doctor standing in the doorway with Frank. Joe followed his parents over to them. Joe watched Frank who looked all right. A quick glance at his parents, he knew they were nodding their heads to something the doctor was saying. Fenton shook hands with the doctor and then the doctor walked away.

Fenton motioned that they were leaving. Joe followed behind watching Frank move slowly. He knew Frank was hurt, but he appeared to be all right, otherwise.

*****

At home, Frank was sitting in the recliner in the living room trying to get comfortable. He knew he was lucky. He had two cracked ribs, which could’ve been a whole lot worse.

Taking the notebook off the table, he started writing down the information from the case trying to figure out who was involved.

Someone is involved, he thought. The van had to have been tampered with because we are getting close. Let’s see what we know. Members of the football team went off the road in their vehicles, including Chet since the brake line on his car had been punctured. Then a couple of cheerleaders have the tires slashed on their vehicles. An explosive was set in the baseball for the team’s practice and our van was tampered with.

What connection is there between all these events? All those affected were athletes but each are different groups. It has to be someone who has a problem with the different groups, but who?

"Frank?" a voice said interrupting his thoughts.

He looked up and saw Joe entering the room. Joe asked, "How are you doing?" Frank shrugged his shoulders. Joe sat down beside Frank. "What are you doing?"

Frank wrote. "Thinking about case."

"Any ideas yet?"

"None." Frank wrote out the theory he came up with figuring the person involved had problems with athletes in general.

"Who would want to hurt athletes?" Joe asked. "It doesn’t make sense."

Frank sat quietly. He knew Joe had a point. At that moment, he heard the doorbell. He wrote it down and showed it to Joe, who got to his feet and went to answer it. Joe returned with Callie and Vanessa.

Callie moved to Frank. "How are you doing?"

"I’m all right."

"How did you drive through the guardrail?" Vanessa asked.

"It wasn’t a guardrail, but a wooden barrier. Besides, it was better hitting the sand instead of driving off the cliff."

Callie sat down on the arm of the chair beside him. "Any idea what happened to the van?"

"It’s possible the brake line was cut."

"Do you know?" Vanessa asked.

"I called the shop a little while ago and the mechanics are looking into it. I’m waiting for them to call back now."

"Who would want to hurt you?" Callie asked.

"And why?" Vanessa asked.

"We’re getting close. That’s the only answer."

"Any clues?" Callie asked.

"None."

The phone rang at that moment and Frank asked, "Vanessa, could you get that?"

"Sure." Vanessa picked up the phone. "Hello." She paused. "Hang on." She looked at Frank. "It’s Matt."

Frank took the phone from Vanessa’s outstretched hand and said, "Hey Matt."

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"I’m all right."

"That’s good to hear. Melissa told me you stopped by and wanted to talk to me. What’s up?"

"I have a couple questions."

"Shoot."

"Have you found anything out about the incident with the football players?"

"The players are still steamed. They want to catch the culprit."

"Did any of them admit seeing anything unusual?"

"I didn’t hear anything."

"Matt, we have this theory that the person responsible has a grudge against athletes. It’s possible the person is out for revenge."

"That sounds possible."

"Do you have any ideas who this person could be?"

"No clue. I don’t even know why someone would do this in the first place."

"It’s possible the person has been hurt by the athletes."

"Football players don’t hurt others, unless it’s on the scoreboard. I don’t think anyone is out for revenge."

"Did anything unusual happen at the party last weekend?"

"Everything went fine. Why?"

"I was just thinking that someone who had been at the party may be the one behind all these stunts."

"The people at the party were all friends. None of them would be involved."

"All right, Matt. Thanks for calling."

"I hope I was some help."

"You were."

"Bye," Matt said.

"Bye."

Frank turned the phone off and Callie asked, "Any luck?"

"Nothing." He looked at Callie and Vanessa. "But the more I talk about it, the more I think someone is out for revenge. We just need to figure out who."

"Why do you think it was someone from the party?" Vanessa asked since they overheard Frank‘s end of the conversation.

"The incidents occurred after the party. I think something happened there."

"We were all there," Callie said. "I don’t remember anything unusual."

"Everything was fine," Vanessa said.

Joe turned and left the room.

"What’s with Joe?" Vanessa asked looking after Joe.

"He’s probably feeling left out," Frank said.

"Is his hearing coming back at all?" Vanessa asked.

"Nothing yet," Frank admitted.

"I’ll be back. Vanessa left the living room.

Callie turned to Frank. She said, "I’ve never seen Joe act like that."

"Joe may be thinking that his hearing will never return."

"Do you believe that?"

"I hope his hearing returns. I’m not going to give up that hope."

"I won’t give up hope either."

*****

Joe sat on the bench at the picnic table thinking about the case. He knew someone was involved and needed to figure out who. He knew there wasn’t much he could do. His lack of hearing was hindering his ability to help. He had a feeling it was time to face facts including the fact that his hearing wasn’t coming back.

I need to learn another way to communicate, he thought. I need to figure out how to survive without the ability to hear. There are people who live with out it every day. But being a detective is now out of the question. I won’t be able to do it. This is the way it is going to be.

Joe felt an arm get wrapped around his neck. He turned slightly and saw Vanessa there. She gave his a kiss on the cheek.

He turned his head back. He knew Vanessa was being supportive, but he wasn’t sure if she was feeling sorry for him or being honest. Unsure of her reasons, he felt it was time they went their separate ways.

Joe took her hand and pulled her to sit down beside him. He looked at Vanessa. He said, "We need to talk."

Vanessa nodded her head as Joe tightened his hold on her hand. He decided to get straight to the point. "I think we should take some time apart."

Vanessa’s mouth fell open. Joe continued on. "We need the time apart. I’m going through a lot right now and I need to get through this first." He could see Vanessa was shocked. "I’m sorry if I hurt you, but I think this is the best for now."