"And now…" the deejay announced to the big crowd gathered on the sand, "The Macarena!" There was a chorus of cheers from those people who enjoyed the silly but incredibly popular dance, and boo’s from those who didn’t.

"Hey Van! Let’s go!" Joe said to his girlfriend, grabbing her by the hand.

Vanessa laughed, and tossed her long blonde hair behind her shoulders. "I don’t think so! Even I have a limit to how silly I can be!" she said to him.

"No, you don’t!" He said playfully to her. "So, if you won’t go there on your own, I’ll have to take you!" With that, he scooped Vanessa into his arms and tossed her over his shoulder as he carried her to the makeshift dance area on the sand.

Callie, watching the scene unfold with Frank, laughed herself. "Joe and Vanessa are too much!" she declared.

Frank wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. Teasingly, he said to her, "Now, Callie. Are you sure you don’t want to go out there and give it a whirl?! You’re a great dancer!"

Callie smiled, and replied, "Honey, I think I’ve danced enough the last few days to last me a lifetime."

"Or to the wedding at least!" Frank smiled, giving her a kiss on the top of the head.

"Or to the wedding," she agreed happily, as her laughter was cut off as she yawned.

Frank looked at her playfully. "I hope it’s not the company!" he joked.

"Nah," she replied sheepishly. "I’m ashamed to admit that I’m tired. I can just hear Joe telling you that it’s all beginning- the old married woman, the ball and chain going to bed early- I’m afraid to even tell him! Do you mind if I turn in early?" she asked Frank, apologetically.

"Of course not," Frank answered her, smiling. "Come on. I’ll go with you."

"No, you won’t!" Callie answered, and Frank looked at her, surprised. "Frank Hardy, although I love the pleasure of your company, you’re not tired! Come on. We don’t have that long on vacation, and I think you and Joe should hang out as much as possible. Have fun!" She stretched, and smiled at him. "Tell them both I said good-night, and that I’ll beat Joe up if he makes any comments!"

Frank laughed. "I’ll tell him not to mess with you, Shaw," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Let me walk you back to the hotel."

Callie met his eyes. "I’ll be fine," she replied. "Stay here, enjoy the party. I’ll see you later."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Good-night. I love you."

Frank leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Love you, too." He watched her turn around in the direction of the hotel.

Just then, Joe came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, big brother! What’s going on? Where’s wifey -poo?" he teased, as he sat down on the sand.

Frank turned around and smiled at Joe, glad to be spending time with him. Joe looked relaxed and happy, his blonde hair mussed from the ocean wind, and his blue eyes sparkling with his usual good nature. Frank sat down next to him. "I could ask you the same question!" he replied with a smile.

Joe just laughed. "I told you, man, not yet, but maybe… soon. She’s over there dancing with some people we met before. I thought I’d bless you with my presence!"

Frank chuckled. "Well, Callie went to bed early."

Joe opened his mouth to make a remark, but stopped as Frank held up his hand. "She wanted me to tell you good-night, and not to make any sarcastic remarks about how she’s already acting old and married, or she’d be forced to take action against you."

Joe laughed out loud. "I’ll have to tell her how frightened I am tomorrow!" He turned to Frank and slung an arm across his shoulders. "I’m really happy for you, do you know that? Seriously, Callie’s a wonderful girl. She’s great, and I love her. Don’t tell her I said that, though, or I’ll deny it!"

Frank smiled. "It’ll be our secret," he promised.

"I can’t believe what a good time we’re all having!" Joe said enthusiastically. "Everything’s so perfect! I asked Vanessa if she’d mind hanging out with Callie tomorrow. I thought we could do some fun stuff! There’s water skiing, an awesome arcade, a rock- climbing wall, and then there’s this one ride that catapults you in the air and bam! you’re hanging in mid-air for a while. Awesome, huh?!"

Frank was both horrified by Joe’s ideas and amused by them. "Joe, I‘d love to hang out with you, but I’d like to live to see my wedding! I’m game for everything except the catapult thing. I don’t do mid-air suspensions!"

Joe playfully shoved Frank. "Ya big BABY!" he said to him with a smile. "I’m an old man," Joe began with a fake, warbling voice. "Maybe someone can take me to play bingo, tomorrow, eh? My old heart might conk out from excitement!" With that, Joe plopped back on the sand and snorted. "Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!" he said, imitating a famous commercial.

Frank tossed sand on Joe and started laughing despite himself. "Alright, Joe. I’ll do the stupid catapult thing. Man, you make me feel old!"

"That’s more like it!" Joe replied with a smile as he sat up.

"I just have to clear it with Callie," Frank added.

Joe shook his head, unable to suppress a smile. "I’ll hold back the sarcasm that’s screaming to come out about getting permission from your wife." Frank sighed as he listened to his brother. "Listen, big, favorite, bestest brother ever!" Joe went on, pretending to cry and looking up at Frank with big puppy eyes. "I guess you’ll have to choose between me and Callie. Who will it be? Who?!" Joe turned around feigned a crying spell, pretending to be shaking.

"You’re so stupid!" Frank replied, cracking up. "I choose YOU, okay! Little brother, it’s our day tomorrow."

Joe happily turned around and gave Frank a hard pat on the back.

"Ow!" Frank replied.

"That’s what I thought you’d say. Ah!" Joe smiled, seeing Vanessa headed their way. "My lady awaits! Come on! Let’s have fun!" With that, he gave his brother a quick hug to let him know he was teasing, and helped him up. They headed back to the dance party.

In the meantime, Callie found herself yawning again as she came to her room. As she opened the door, she smiled to herself, thinking about how this past week had been the best of her life. She turned on the light without thinking, and closed the door behind her. When she turned around, she gasped in horror, and raised a trembling hand to her mouth.

Her suitcase was on her bed and her clothes were strewn all over. It was a mess. Callie quickly looked around the room, and noticed that the window had been opened. Shaking, she glanced at the bathroom door and was able to see into it through the reflection in the mirror. No one was there.

Weakly, Callie made her way over to the bed and sat, trying to take a deep breath to calm herself down. Still, she felt her lips begin to tremble as fear, anger and sadness manifested in her. She did remain calm, though, and, slowly, went to pick up her clothing. Then, she noticed it. The pictures that she had been storing in her suitcase were all shredded and destroyed. Pieces were everywhere- nothing looked salvageable.

"Oh, God," she said softly to herself. "There was something about those men and those guns." She clenched her fists, feeling chills run down her spine as she realized that whomever these men were, they were sending her a pretty clear sign to stay away.

She fell to her knees on the floor, and tried to swallow her fear. "Okay," she continued to herself, "they got what they wanted. Now, they’ll probably leave me alone." She glanced out the window to the beach, and blinked back tears as she wished desperately that Frank were here.

She continued picking up the clothing and got things back in order. She also gathered the pieces of the photographs and put them back in the envelope. They wouldn’t do her any good now, but you never knew what could be used as evidence. Callie walked over and shut the window, suddenly feeling very cold.

Waking into the bathroom to splash water on her face and to get herself together, Callie looked down and muffled a scream. There, shattered in the bathtub, was the framed picture of her article that Frank had given her. There was also a note, written in red on a white note-card. Callie looked down and, trembling, picked it up. It read, "Stay away. No more articles. As it is, you’ll pay for your mistake. Dearly. Beware."

As she finished reading, Callie dropped the note in horror, and, as she went to retrieve it just as quickly, inadvertently cut herself on a loose shard of glass. She gasped as she saw blood start pouring from her hand.

Quickly, Callie got a towel and wrapped it around her injured hand. She worked methodically to clean up the mess, not allowing herself time to think. Within forty-five minutes, the entire room looked as good as new. Callie took what was left of Frank’s gift and shoved it in the back of the closet with the note.

Callie, left alone in silence, now began to cry. Her hand hurt, and she was scared. "What have I gotten myself into?" she moaned softly. She hated to worry Frank, but this was serious. She wanted to see him, now, but he was out with Joe and Vanessa. She knew that first thing in the morning she’d have to tell him what happened.

Several hours later, Frank opened the door to his room, being careful to be quiet. He was immediately surprised when he saw that the lights were on, and that Callie was asleep, still in her clothes. He also noticed that she had a bandage on her hand. Other than that, the room looked perfectly normal. Frank was surprised, and made a mental note to talk to Callie in the morning about it. Quickly, he walked over to the bed, and lay down beside her, turning off the lights. He didn’t bother to change. Instinctively, he wrapped an arm around Callie and pulled her next to him. Worried that something might have happened to her, he stayed like that, holding her, unable to sleep, long into the night…