Once back at the hotel, Vanessa excused herself for a few minutes. She wanted to get prepared to search through the photos with Frank; more importantly, she wanted to get herself together. Joe was in serious trouble, and she couldn’t bear the thought that he was in any pain. She had to remain calm, if only to help Frank remain calm. They only had each other now for support.

Frank, back in his room, worked steadfastly to sort through the pictures that he had, trying to piece some of them back together. Concentration had never been so difficult. He hadn’t told Vanessa, but although he had turned in Joe’s keys, he had kept the key-ring. He needed something to let him know that his brother was all right, and in a small way, the item gave him comfort. When he finished sorting through what he had found, he sat on a chair and waited for Vanessa, closing his eyes. This can’t be happening, Frank thought wearily. The two people he loved most in the world were missing, and he had no idea how to help them.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Vanessa came in. Frank wanted to give her a smile for encouragement, but he couldn’t do it. He did manage a small nod of acknowledgement, which Vanessa returned.

"Well, where do we start?" she asked him.

"Over here. Let’s take a look at the pictures. What was in them to make this guy or guys so angry?" Frank tried to focus, though his heart was heavy. He loved investigating, but not when the stakes were so high.

Over the next few hours, Frank and Vanessa pieced together many photographs and studied them as carefully as they could. Frank also took out Callie’s article, wondering what she could have possibly said to make anyone angry. Frank bit his lip; Callie was the most caring person he knew. She’d never hurt anyone. How could this have happened?

"Frank." Vanessa’s voice cut into his reverie. "Look at this! I have the chills just seeing it."

Frank looked down to where Vanessa was pointing. There was the face of a man staring back at the camera. Frank felt his blood run cold as he looked at the person who had, in all probability, taken his brother and future wife. Taking a moment to calm himself, he spoke at last. "Vanessa," he said. "Callie mentioned to me that she had taken pictures and it looked like the men were staring at her! It looks like they probably took most of those pictures, but they must have left this one behind, thinking that they had shredded it or torn it sufficiently. We should e-mail this to the station right away!"

Vanessa nodded, swallowing hard. "Let me get my laptop. I can scan in the picture, as well as some of the others that we managed to save, and see what we can find. Hold on a sec!" Vanessa, who always worked on computer graphics and design like her mother, could always be counted on to have her computer paraphernalia with her.

Within two minutes, Vanessa was back with her computer equipment. She and Frank worked feverishly to scan in the pictures, while Frank called the station again to inform them about the e-mail that they would soon be receiving. Once the e-mail was sent, Frank and Vanessa started to compare old and new pictures of the site, looking for any kind of clue possible. They divided up the pictures so that they could look at pictures from before and after of the same spot, searching for any noticeable discrepancies.

Frank rubbed his eyes, realizing just how tired and upset he was. Normally, he didn’t mind studying paperwork and photographs searching for evidence; it was really much more up his alley than Joe’s, who always liked to get right in the middle of the action. This, time though, Frank felt each minute pass by as if it was an eternity. He was losing patience sifting through the same photographs again and again.

As he was about to tell Vanessa that they should quit, he was hit with an idea. "Vanessa?" he asked. "Why are we wasting our time looking at these? The guys who took Callie and Joe obviously didn’t like something in the published photo or article. Maybe we should start there. Can you scan in those pictures?" He grew more animated, not able to believe that he hadn’t thought of that earlier.

"Sure," Vanessa responded. It only took her a few minutes to scan in the pictures that Callie had published, and the two sat staring at them for a few moments.

"There!" Frank said, suddenly, pointing at the screen. "There, Van! What’s that fuzzy thing in the distance? It didn’t come out clear."

Vanessa squinted at it. "I don’t know. I can’t see. BUT," she added, "I think my computer can! Let me see if I can enhance the image." Working carefully, Vanessa had to enhance the image one frame at a time, so the process was tedious. At last, she stared at it again. "P. Barren 17 dest." She read. "What on earth does that mean?"

"Just as important," Frank added, "Why is there what appears to be a fresh mound of dirt there? Look. In the initial picture that Callie took, it’s at the same angle as the second one. BUT, that dirt and marker aren’t there."

"Hmmm." Vanessa murmured. "Maybe we should tell the police about this as well."

"Exactly what I’m thinking."

After calling the police and asking to be updated with any information they could find, Frank and Vanessa looked at each other sadly.

"Well, we have SOME leads," Frank managed, trying to comfort her.

"Yeah." She smiled weakly. "Frank, I’m going to rest for a while. It’s not even noon. We got a real head start today. In a few hours, maybe we should go out again." She stood up, and gave Frank a tight hug. "Let me know if you hear back from the police."

"I will," Frank responded.

When Vanessa left, Frank closed his eyes for a minute, and must have drifted off to sleep. The ringing of the phone awakened him. With a low groan, he realized it was almost 4:00. He couldn’t afford to waste time sleeping. Hurriedly, he reached for the phone.

"Hello?" He mumbled.

"Mr. Hardy?"

Frank was instantly awake. "Yes—that’s me."

"Mr. Hardy, this is Detective Gaines from the Cape May Police Department. We have some news for you."

Frank sat up, and felt his mouth go dry. "Yes?" he croaked out.

"We haven’t found your brother or your fiancée yet."

Frank felt his heart begin to beat again.

"However, when we received Ms. Bender’s e-mail, we concentrated our search in that area. We are continuing to run DNA tests on the purse that you found, as well as running composite sketches of the man in the picture that you sent us. Further, we’re checking both the purse and the keys for fingerprints. So, if this man or group of men is out there, they’ve left us a lot to work with. We should be able to get an I.D. relatively quickly."

"Ok." Frank said, unsure of where this was going.

"However, you should be aware of something. I mean, we don’t want to alarm you, but…"

"Yes? What is it? Have you gotten any more clues?" Frank was on edge, waiting for the officer’s next words.

"Well," he began, and then coughed nervously. "We rechecked the exact spot that you suggested in the picture and we discovered some disturbing elements. We may need you to come down to the station."

"What? Why?" Frank cried into the phone. "What ‘disturbing elements’? What do you mean?"

There was a pause, and then the officer stated, "Mr. Hardy, it seems that your fiancée stumbled across some nasty business. That small dirt mound was an unmarked grave. Thus far, we’ve recovered four bodies. We’re checking the area again with a heavy search party based on this new discovery. We really need you at the station. Mr. Hardy? Mr. Hardy?"

Frank clicked the phone off, hands shaking. Callie had stumbled across a gravesite?! Oh, God. Whoever had Joe and Callie was a murderer! Could they be there, in that unmarked grave?! If not, they were in far worse trouble than Frank ever suspected. His head was spinning. And Callie had found video boxes! He had forgotten that clue. Could they… could they have taped the murders? Frank suddenly felt sick. He ran into the bathroom and gagged, trying not to vomit. Splashing cold water on his face, he looked into the mirror. The face that stared back at him was a poor shadow of it’s former self; pale, dark eyes circles, and stress lines.

"Joe," he whispered. "Callie."

He heard his bedroom door open, and he knew Vanessa had come back. He caught her arm, and told her the news bluntly.

Vanessa stared to cry. Frank guided her back to the bed, and held her tightly. He couldn’t find the words to comfort her; he had none. The news was a very, very bad omen. "Shhh…" was all he could say, softly.

Finally, Vanessa pulled back, tears still streaming down her face. "Frank," she struggled. "We have to find them, if they’re…" she couldn’t say the words.

Frank took her hand. "They are," he said gently. "They’re alive. I’d know it; I would just feel it if something happened. You don’t love someone that much and then not know if they’re in pain. R… right?" He wanted to believe his own words, but he didn’t know if he could.

Vanessa squeezed his hand. "Right."

"If only we knew where to look," Vanessa added, lips trembling. "I mean, while the detectives are trying to get an I.D. on the men."

Then, it hit Frank in a moment of clarity that the hadn’t felt in a long time. "Vanessa!" he shouted, standing up. "Maybe we do! 'P. Barren 17 dest.' Think about it! We’re in Cape May, right next to the…"

"Pine Barrens!" Vanessa cried, getting it. "And 17 is the mile marker, the…"

"Destination!" Frank finished, grabbing his keys. "I don’t know if that’s where Joe and Callie are, but that’s where that shipment was going. We have to check out the area. Let’s go!"

Reaching for Vanessa’s hand, the two ran out of the hotel, towards their destination. In their hurry, they forgot their cell phones. As they arrived, Vanessa groaned as Frank pulled to the side of the road, carefully parking between the trees, out of view.

"What?" he asked her, as he was getting out.

"We left the phones! We can’t call the cops!"

"When we get back, we will," Frank answered her. "Now, be careful."

If Frank had been with Joe, he would have split the territory up to cover more ground. However, there was no way that he was going to leave Vanessa behind.

They walked through dense foliage and thick woods, finally coming upon a clearing way in the back of their line of vision. They had walked approximately a mile or so into the woods at that point.

"God!" Vanessa said, covering her mouth with her hand. "Look! There’s a cabin way out there, like the other one."

"And a truck nearby," Frank added grimly.

When they finally reached the cabin, it looked to be deserted. Frank and Vanessa were careful not to make any noise. Frank peered into the window, and he saw a small kitchen table and some left over supplies.

"Van, look over here," he whispered. "No one’s here, but it looks like someone was."

"And someone might come back," she indicated shakily, nodding in the direction of the truck.

"We should hurry," Frank said. "and be quiet!"

Frank and Vanessa slowly worked their way through the small cabin, seeing no sign of life. Finally, Vanessa saw a small door, hidden in the background.

"What’s this?" she whispered to Frank.

"It looks like a… a basement," he muttered. "Let’s check it out. Remember, be careful. We don’t know what we’ll find, or who will find us." He held up a finger to his lips. "I think we’re okay for now."

They were unaware of the eyes in the distance, watching their every move, as they descended the basement steps…..