Frank walked into his room and literally collapsed on his bed. He was tired. The antibiotic had obviously hit him. He started to reach for his boots to untie them, but decided against it. He was exhausted. He knew getting shot on top of hitting his head in the plane was not making for a very good vacation. Pulling his pillow closer to his head, he closed his eyes.

He was just starting to drift to sleep when he heard the door to his room open. A female voice whispered, "Frank?"

"I’m awake," Frank said without moving or opening his eyes. He knew it was Melissa by the perfume she wore.

He heard her was across the room and felt the bed sink as she sat down beside him. He opened his eyes slightly and saw Melissa untying the laces of his boots. "You don’t have to do that."

"I want to," Melissa said dropping the boot on the floor. "Besides, you need to rest."

Frank was too tired to argue. The antibiotic the doctor prescribed made him drowsy. Frank closed his eyes. He felt a blanket get draped over him. He felt Melissa sit back down on the bed by his head. As he drifted to sleep, he felt Melissa pushing the hair off his forehead.

* * * * *

Jeremy climbed out of the truck and put his hand out to help Nancy. The four of them had gotten a ride back with one of Jeremy’s classmates. Joe and Ned gathered their ski equipment and climbed out of the truck bed.

After thanking the driver for the ride, they put their skis on the porch and went inside. As they hung their jackets in the hallway, Bess and George came from the living room.

"Where’s Frank?"

"Upstairs sleeping," Bess said. "Melissa stayed by his side while he drifted off."

As they went into the living, Joe asked, "Where’s Melissa now?"

"She headed over to the arena for a rehearsal about a half-hour ago," George said. "She invited all of us over to watch."

"Just think," Bess said smiling brightly. "We get to hang out with one of the best country singers of all time."

"The concert should be awesome. The arena holds more than 10 thousand people. People from all over are trying to get tickets. It’s not every day a local girl becomes famous." Jeremy got to his feet and moved over to the fireplace. "Her career has really put this town on the map."

"Let’s go to the rehearsal," Bess said. "Melissa did say we all could come."

"Count me out," Joe said. "The slopes were a real workout. I’m kind of tired."

"Nancy, are you coming?" George asked getting to her feet.

"No, thanks," Nancy said. "You guys have a good time."

"Ned?" Bess asked.

"I’m staying here. You can tell us all about it when you get back."

"Count on it," Bess said.

"I’ll go with you," Jeremy said. "I know a shortcut to the arena."

"See you later," George said as the three of them headed for the front door.

Once they were alone, Joe said, "I’d really like to know what’s going on."

"So would I," Nancy said getting to her feet. "There’s something weird going on."

"No kidding," Joe said. "If someone is after Melissa, what could the reason be?"

"A better question is why go after her at all?" Nancy started to pace. "She’s a 16-year-old country singer. Sure, she’s had several number one hits, but she can’t be making a lot of money."

"Whatever she makes must go to cover expenses. There can’t be a lot leftover." Ned leaned forward on the couch.

"But that still doesn’t explain why Frank was the one shot," Joe said. "If the gunman was aiming for Melissa, and I do say if, why didn’t the gunman hold off firing?"

"Maybe the gunman misjudged everything," Nancy said. "We can’t be sure until we find the person."

"Frank’s lucky this isn’t serious. I would’ve hated to call our parents."

"You know," Nancy said sitting down beside Ned. "Have either of you noticed that the last few times we’ve gotten together, Frank has gotten hurt?"

"I know," Joe said. "Usually I’m the one who needs to be bailed out of a mess."

"It just seems weird," Nancy said. "He was never careless."

"Maybe he’s having some bad luck," Ned suggested.

"That’s probably it," Nancy said.

"Bad luck or good, we can’t do anything about Frank, but we can talk to Melissa when she comes back from rehearsal," Joe said.

"Hopefully she can shed some light on what’s going on," Nancy said.