Fear that Joe was seriously hurt. Fear that if he weren't, he soon would be after being subjected to whatever it was that Nash had planned for him. Regret that she didn’t take a moment to leave a note for Frank before she and Joe left the hotel. She felt completely responsible for dragging Joe into this mess. As the sunlight glinted off her engagement ring, she wondered if Frank would ever forgive her if Joe really were seriously injured.

Hearing the front door open, Callie turned and saw two men carrying Joe out of the house. Nash followed closely behind them, a length of rope dangling from his hand. They walked down the steps and Callie winced as the two men unceremoniously dropped Joe’s body in the middle of the dusty, dirt road.

Callie watched apprehensively, becoming more anxious by the second as she watched Nash kneel next to Joe. Grabbing one of Joe’s arms, Nash roughly rolled Joe onto his back. As Nash pulled Joe’s arms above his head and began tying his wrists together, Callie clearly heard Joe let out a painful moan. She thought she saw Joe’s head move slightly.

‘No!’ Callie prayed. ‘Please, don’t let him wake up now!’

Callie had no idea what Nash planned to do to Joe, but she was sure of one thing – Nash had been humiliated by Joe’s surprise attack and he now wanted to cause Joe as much pain as possible. As she watched Joe start to stir, Callie hoped he would not regain consciousness now and feel the full impact of whatever Nash had in mind.

Nash had finished tying Joe’s hands with the rope and let out a shrill whistle that seemed to echo through the dense woods surrounding the house. A pick up truck slowly came around from the back of the house, apparently in response to the whistle. Callie watched, confused, as the truck passed Joe and Nash, pulled in front of them on the dirt road and then started to back up. The truck stopped very close to Joe’s head.

‘What the heck?’ Callie had no idea what was going to happen next. At first she thought the truck was going to run right over Joe, but Nash never moved from Joe's side and in fact still knelt beside him. Once again Callie saw Joe move his head, and thought she saw his lips move although she was too far away to make out what he might have said.

Jenkins stepped out of the truck and walked back to Nash and Joe. Nash said something to him and Jenkins reached into the bed of the pick up and pulled out a chain. Crouching down, Jenkins attached it to the tow hook at the rear of the truck.

Callie stared, horrified as she suddenly realized what Nash intended to do.

"No." she whispered to herself. "Oh, God no." She had heard about this kind of thing happening and always wondered how one human being could be so vicious as to do it; to inflict that kind of pain on another person.

"No!" She repeated a little louder, hoping and praying she was wrong.

Nash grabbed the free end of the chain and tied the rope holding Joe’s hands securely to the first link. He tugged on it a few times to make sure it would hold and then stood up, smiling down at Joe.

Callie’s worst fears were confirmed when she saw Joe lean his head back as far as he could, trying to get a look at what Jenkins and Nash were doing. Joe was awake and would be fully aware of what was happening to him…at least for a minute or so. Jenkins returned to the drivers seat and climbed in, starting the engine.

"NO!!!!!" Callie screamed, sinking to her knees, tears filling her eyes. She saw Nash climb the porch steps and stop next to her. He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her back up.

"Please don’t do this!" Callie begged. "PLEASE! I’ll do anything you want! Anything!"

"The only thing I want you to do is watch." Nash smiled at her.

Callie squeezed her eyes shut tight for a moment then opened them again, looking directly into Nash’s cold, blue eyes.

"Please." She pleaded one more time. "Let him go. If you do this you’ll kill him."

Nash glanced out at the truck, Joe lying in the road behind it, securely attached and wide-awake. He then turned back to Callie with hatred in his eyes and smiled once again.

"Probably." He replied. "But ultimately it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t taken those pictures to begin with, neither one of you would even be here. How do you think your fiancé will react when he finds out you killed his brother?"

Nash grabbed a handful of Callie’s hair and forced her to look out at the scene in front of them. He nodded once at Jenkins, who floored the accelerator and took off down the road at full speed. Callie found she was actually thankful for the torrent of tears that she couldn’t control. At least she wouldn’t have to witness Joe being dragged to his death.

*****

Callie sat on the basement floor, Joe’s head cradled in her lap. Once Nash had his fill of watching Joe being tossed around like a rag doll behind the truck, he and Jenkins had brought both Joe and Callie back to the basement and left without another word. At first, Callie had just stared at Joe, crying uncontrollably. Frank would never, ever be able to forgive this. Never. Nash was right – she had killed Joe. She was absolutely certain of it. So certain, in fact, that it took several minutes before she reached out a shaking hand to check for a pulse.

Miraculously, she felt it. Faint. Weak. Very shallow. But it was there. Joe was alive! Immediately, she began looking for something, anything to try and make him more comfortable. She had found an old rag and some towels. Callie rolled up most of the towels and gently placed them beneath Joe’s head as a makeshift pillow. Rinsing the rag out in the sink, she tried to clean him up as best she could. Once she completed that task, she sat on the floor, Joe’s head in her lap, talking to him, willing him to stay alive until help arrived.

Callie alternated between wanting Joe to wake up and hoping he would remain unconscious at least until he could be transported to a hospital. She desperately wanted to talk to him, so she could know for sure she wasn’t dreaming and he was, indeed, alive. She also wanted him to remain unconscious as she knew the pain he would feel if he were awake would be almost unbearable.

*****

As the darkness began to lift, Joe slowly became aware of a constant pounding in his head. And pain. Everywhere. He opened his eyes a crack and groaned, closing them again very quickly. As he was contemplating whether he was dead or alive, he heard a soft, female voice.

"Joe?"

"Van?" Joe croaked. He couldn’t remember where he was or exactly what had happened to make him feel as though he'd been run over by a Mack truck.

"No, it's me. Callie."

"Cal…where are…" Joe tried to sit up and immediately collapsed back down. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut, his face a mask of pain. Reaching out he grabbed Callie's arm, and held on, praying for the pain to subside.

Callie winced at how tightly he was gripping her, but said nothing. Joe was taking short, shallow breaths; their quickness making Callie very nervous. She picked up the damp rag she had used earlier to wipe the blood off Joe's face and held it against his forehead.

"Easy, Joe." Callie said, soothingly. "Don’t try to move." Looking down, Callie thought she saw a tear run down Joe’s face and willed herself not to begin crying again. It took several minutes but Joe finally loosened his grip on her arm and opened his eyes. Callie gasped inwardly, keeping a calm neutral look on her face. Joe was looking at her intensely, his eyes filled with pain.

"What…happened?" Joe managed to choke out two words, scared at the amount of effort it took.

"You don’t remember?" Callie asked worriedly.

Joe shook his head very slightly, the pain once again showing on his face.

"Nash and Jenkins happened." Callie said with disgust.

'Nash? Jenkins?' Joe had no idea who she was talking about

"Help me…up." Joe said with great effort. Lying down, he could barely breathe without a fiery pain in his side. "Can't…breathe."

"Joe, don’t move." Callie panicked. When she had been trying to clean him up and make him more comfortable, she had lifted his shirt to see the extent of his injuries. She was horrified to see an open gash on his side and what appeared to be a broken rib protruding slightly from the wound.

Ignoring her, Joe attempted to push himself up yet again but stopped immediately, screaming out in pain as he clutched at his right shoulder.

"Joe, please!" Callie begged him. "Don’t move!"

Gritting his teeth, Joe desperately tried to hold back the tears. The unending pain radiating from his shoulder was bad, but it didn't even come close to the excruciating pain in his back. Fear gripped him as Joe realized his legs were very slow to obey the commands his brain was sending out. Trying to move his legs, he found he could barely wiggle his toes. Lying back, gasping for breath, Joe looked at Callie in fear.

"What…happened?" he asked, terrified at what the answer could be.

"What do you remember?" Callie countered, very concerned at the amount of pain Joe was in and the fact that he was having trouble remembering what caused it.

"Nothing." Joe whispered, panic now mingling with the pain in his eyes.

Callie gasped louder than she had intended, only increasing Joe's fear and anxiety.

"Callie…my legs…can barely move…" Joe stopped abruptly, trying to catch his breath.

'Oh, God! No!' Callie thought as tears sprang to her eyes. Fighting back her own rising panic, she took Joe's hand and spoke in a low, soothing voice.

"Sssh. Close your eyes and rest. Frank will find us soon." Callie said trying to convince herself as much as Joe.

"My legs…why?" Joe repeated, much weaker this time. He tried to focus on Callie with little success. Seconds later, the darkness engulfed him once more.

'Please, Frank! Please find us soon!' She prayed, not wanting to contemplate what would happen if Frank arrived too late and found his little brother dead.