Noon sunlight streamed across Joe's living room floor, highlighting a rectangular section of Joe's burgundy carpeting, giving it a golden red glow. Joe watched the section of carpet intently, as bits of dust danced in the beam of light, settled to the carpet, only to be disturbed again as a pair of black dress shoes interrupted their rest across the brightly lit carpet. This process repeated itself as the shoes once more crossed through the path of the sun, continually forcing the dust to become airborne, only to fall gently back to the carpet. 'Maybe it's time I vacuum,' Joe thought absently. 'Providing I can locate my vacuum.'

Joe lay sprawled across the sofa in his living room. He raked his fingers through his blond hair in a last ditch attempt to get it to stay in place without the benefit of a comb. He thought about getting up to find one, but that would require moving from the couch; something his ribs weren't ready to do just yet. He shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable, as he watched his older brother, Frank pace back and forth across the room, hands clasped behind his back. Every so often, Frank would stop, glance at his watch, mutter something to himself, and begin to pace again.

A faintly amused smile crept across Joe's face. "You're wearing a path across my carpet, you know.'

"She's late," Frank grumbled.

"No, she's not," Joe said, trying not to laugh.

"I specifically told her to meet me at your apartment at noon. It's noon, Joe. That makes her late."

"She's a woman, Frank. Being on time doesn't mean getting there promptly at 12 noon. It means arriving sometime around noon. Give her a few minutes."

Frank stared at Joe as if he had sprouted an extra head. "What does being a woman have to do with anything? When you set a time, you mean that time. Not sometime after that time. Besides, I'd like to see you explain that logic to her." Frank glanced at his watch again. "When I spoke to her on the phone yesterday, I specifically told her to meet me here at noon. I figured that by then, you'd be completely settled in and have had a chance to rest. The three of us could have lunch and discuss this case. We each seem to have pieces of the puzzle. If we put our heads together, we can solve it." Frank stopped pacing and sat down heavily in a chair. He glanced at his watch again. "She's now 10 minutes late."

Joe laughed. "Look at you. You're a nervous wreck."

Frank glowered at him. "I am not."

"I know you too well, big brother. You could care less that Nancy's ten minutes late. You're just nervous about seeing her." Joe smirked at his brother.

"Shows how much you know. I'm not nervous. I'm worried something might have happened. Why else would she be late?"

"Oh, I don't know," Joe said. "Traffic maybe? Or late getting off from work for lunch? She's already taken one day off from work this week. Maybe she has to get caught up before she can leave."

Frank grunted.

"Would you care for me to give you more reasons that she might be running late?"

Frank shot Joe a dirty look and got up to pace again.

"Well, I've got one more for you. She probably had to find a ride here. Either that or take a taxi. If I'm not mistaken, you still have her car, don't you?"

Frank groaned and dropped into the arm chair again. "God, I forgot about that. Why didn't she say something?" He glanced at the door, as if willing her to walk through it.

"Look at you. All dressed up in a shirt and tie. And now you're perspiring. You know that, right? You're as jittery as a cat in a room full of very large dogs. You're so nervous, you'd think this was a first date rather than a lunch meeting. With your brother there. Maybe I should take off somewhere, leave the two of you alone." Joe grinned.

Frank picked up a pillow off the arm chair and tossed it at Joe's head. "Oh shut up, Joe.'

Joe laughed again, harder this time. He grimaced as his laughter died off. Placing his hand on his chest, he groaned. "Oooh, remind me not to laugh again for awhile."

"Serves you right," Frank said. He jumped up as a knock sounded on the door. "Finally!"

He opened the door just as Nancy raised her fist to knock the second time. "Oh!," she cried. "Hi!"

"Umm, hi," Frank said. Nancy waited patiently as Frank stood in the doorway, staring at her.

"Invite her in, Frank," Joe called from the couch.

Frank's cheeks reddened. "Right. Invite her in. Come on in, Nancy. I was beginning to wonder what happened to you." He moved to the side, allowing her to enter. He watched as she dropped her purse on the coffee table and planted a kiss on the top of Joe's head.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Pretty good," he said. "I was almost pain free until I had a laughing fit watching Frank pace the floor waiting for you to arrive."

"Really?" She turned to face Frank. "Sorry I kept you waiting. I had to wait for Leslie to give me a ride over here. She seemed to be taking forever getting her things together so we could go. Then I had to practically force her to pull out of the parking lot when we got here. She was dying to come up with me and meet Joe. And you. She enjoys spending time with anyone of the male gender."

"Guess it's my turn to apologize then," Frank said. "I'm sorry I didn't return your car yesterday. I should have. It's just that by the time I got Joe back, it was getting late and..." he shrugged. "Well, I guess I don't have any real excuse that won't come out sounding lame. Other than that after the way I treated you at the hospital, I felt embarrassed. I behave poorly. I wasn't quite sure what to say to you yet, so..."

Nancy moved close to Frank and put her hand on top of his. "Don't apologize to me, Frank. I'm the one who owes the apology. Lots of them. I deserve anything you can dish out. After what..." she glanced over at Joe to catch him smiling at them.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I'm not here. Just a fly on the wall. Completely ignore me!" He turned his gaze innocently up to the ceiling and began to hum to himself.

"Ahem," Frank said, clearing his throat. "How about we discuss that later. "What I really want to talk about now is this case. I thought we could discuss what Joe got out of Clarissa Carter. Joe said you were supposed to be digging around at Find the Children, so I thought you could share what you came up with, too.

Nancy nodded. "I have been. And I also found the third LA victim, Amber Martin."

"Good," Frank said. A knock sounded at the door again.

"Expecting company?" Nancy asked.

Frank shook his head. "Joe said this was when you usually went to lunch, so I ordered some food for us. Chinese. Excuse me." He stepped past her and headed toward the door.

Joe took the opportunity to motion Nancy to sit at the end of the couch. He drew his legs up as he shifted himself into a sitting position, giving Nancy room to join him.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"I'm going nuts without Laurie, Joe. She's never been separated from me this long."

"I understand. I called Bess to check on her from the hospital. And again this morning. Bess said she cried a little when you weren't there to tuck her in the other night, and that every so often she asks when we're coming to get her, but other than that, she's doing fine. Bess said they're having fun. One of the actresses was giving Laurie lessons in pretending to faint when we were talking."

Nancy exhaled a deep breath that she'd been unaware that she'd been holding. "Good. I'm glad she's ok. I'm not so sure about giving her acting lessons, though. She's enough of a ham the way it is." She leaned back against the sofa. "What exactly did you tell Bess to get her to keep Laurie all this time?"

"The truth. That you were alive and possibly in danger and Laurie was your daughter. And Frank's daughter. I think Bess thinks I'm nuts now, but hey, she took Laurie in for me. That's all that counts. When I show up with you in tow to get her, Bess will know I'm not crazy."

Before Nancy could reply, Frank came back and set a large bag down on the coffee table. "That was a little more pricey than I would have preferred." He pulled an assortment of containers from the bag. "I hope you still like chicken with broccoli in garlic sauce," he said to Nancy.

"You remembered," she said. "I still do. Thanks."

Frank glanced at her, trying to avoid her gaze. "Of course I remembered. It's practically the only thing you ever ordered if we had Chinese food. That or beef with mushrooms."

Nancy smiled. "Hey, why don't I go get some plates and silverware to eat with." Before either Hardy could answer, Nancy hopped up and disappeared into Joe's kitchen.

"Sure," Joe called out. "Get anything you want out of there, as long as you're not cooking!"

"Very funny," Nancy returned.

"I thought so!" Joe yelled back. He looked at Frank. "You know she's a frightening sight in the kitchen. What she does to food - whoa, very scary...Hey!" He cried out as Nancy popped him lightly on top of the head as she passed by him carrying plates. "I'm a sick man, here. Give me a break."

"My cooking is not THAT bad. It's not Martha Stewart, but I'm not frightening in the kitchen. And I've heard you use that sick man routine before, Hardy. Deal with it."

She grinned and set the dishes on the coffee table.

Frank laughed. 'Okay,' he thought. 'Maybe this won't be so bad. If we can avoid discussing certain past events, this almost feels like old times.' He reached to open a container of fried rice and jumped slightly as his hand brushed against Nancy's. "Sorry," he said.

She smiled. "It's okay." She helped fill a plate for Joe, then passed it over to him.

"Umm, I could get used to this. I kind of like being waited on hand and foot."

Nancy rolled her eyes at Joe.

Frank settled back in his chair and watched Nancy and Joe banter back and forth. They seemed quite comfortable with each other. This must have been what Joe had meant when he kept telling him that he was trying to convince his "friend" to go home. He was rebuilding the friendship the two had had back before the accident. Smart. He was amazed that Joe had been so quick to accept her back. He wondered if he would be able to manage to do that. If only he could forget all the pain and anguish he'd went through. The last five years, totally wasted..."

"Frank?"

He broke out of his reverie to find both his brother and Nancy watching him. "What?"

Joe frowned. "Nancy was just telling us that the Amber Martin we're looking for works at a nightclub downtown. And that tomorrow night she'll be there, working till 2 am.

"Yeah," Frank said. "That's good right? She'll be where we can find her, and she won't be able to cut out on us since she has to work."

"Uh, yeah," Joe said. "You nearly repeated me there word for word."

"Sorry," Frank told him. "I guess my mind wandered there for a minute." His eyes trailed over to Nancy.

"Yeah, I can imagine exactly where it went," Joe said.

Ignoring Joe's comment, Frank asked, "What else do we have?"

Nancy sighed. "Not a lot, Frank. There's several people at my office that have volunteered with runaways in the past few years. It's pretty common, especially for anyone who deals with the runaways. That doesn't even begin to include the volunteers. I'm just talking paid employees for now."

"Well, what if we could give you a description. Joe?" He looked at Joe, waiting for him to join in the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, Clarissa gave me a description of the guy we're looking for. Late twenties or older thirties, red hair, green eyes, tall, slim...Ring any bells?" He waited for her response.

"No, no, not really." She shook her head. "I can't think of any volunteers who...Oh, God," she groaned.

"What?" Frank asked.

"Well, I can think of one person who does fit that description."

Joe nodded. "So can I. The guy Kevin brought to dinner the night we first crossed paths."

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, Greg. But I know Greg. He wouldn't do something like this. He's a straight arrow. Well, not straight, like, you know, like... well, not a criminal. He'd never trick some poor kid out her baby." Even as Nancy spoke, her mind flashed back to yesterday's conversation with Greg. And to the guy in Greg's office the day before that. The guy she was sure she'd seen in the cemetery.

"Maybe you think you know this guy well," Frank said. "But he probably thinks he knows you well, too. I'm betting he has no idea you really aren't Rebecca Addison. That she doesn't really exist."

"Actually, he does," she said. "I live with him. He's my other roommate. I told you the other night that I had two roommates. One is Kevin and the other is Greg. I talk to him a lot, Frank. I don't see how he could have hidden something like this from me. He's one of my best friends."

"You talk to him a lot, huh? Well, I'm glad that you have someone to talk to. That must be nice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Nothing," Frank said. "Nothing at all."

"Okay," Joe intervened. "I want the two of you communicating, but this isn't going in the direction that I was hoping for. How about we get back on track here?"

Nancy and Frank stopped speaking and gaped open mouthed at Joe. "That's right. Notice the little brother, vying for attention here. Good boys and girls. No arguments allowed in my presence."

"We weren't arguing." Frank stated.

"Nope, we weren't." Nancy leaned back in her chair.

"Yeah, right." Joe arched an eyebrow. "Whatever you two say. I have an idea. Care to hear it?"

"Fire away," Frank told him.

"How about tomorrow night we all go to this night club. I'll take Ashlee. We haven't been out for awhile and she's going to feel neglected soon. You take Nancy. And we can pretend it's a double date. We'll corner Amber, see what we can get out of her. Maybe we'll get lucky. If she gives us a description that matches Greg, then we try to find hard evidence on him. Does that work for everyone?"

Nancy shrugged. "That's fine with me. What time are we going?"

"Wait a minute. What do you mean I'm taking Nancy? Maybe I don't want to take Nancy? No offense," Frank said, glancing Nancy's direction.

Nancy shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. I can take Kevin."

"Or Frank can take Kevin. What do you say, you want to take Kevin? We could let him be your date. Nancy could go stag." Joe grinned at Frank.

Frank appeared confused. "Why would I take Kevin? What does he have to do with this case? And you're not taking him," he said, pointing to Nancy. "You stay clear of both of your roommates until we straighten this out. I'll take you after all.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Nancy asked.

"No." both brothers said simultaneously.

"I think Nancy should also stay here with us," Joe began.

"Ok," she said. "Enough. I'm not staying here. If Greg is guilty, he's going to get suspicious if I suddenly quit going home. He's already asking enough questions about why I haven't had Laurie home for two nights."

Frank's face darkened. "Tell him it's not his kid, so it's not his business."

She looked at Frank. "She may not be his, but he's help me raise her. He has a right to be curious when I start acting so mysterious." She matched his gaze as she continued speaking. "I'll go you one better. I'll get a photo of Greg, make a photo lineup of similar looking red headed guys, and we'll show them to Amber. Sound good?"

"Where do you plan on getting these photos on such short notice?"

"The internet," she said. "People post personal ads with photos all over the place. I'll hunt down some red headed guys, print them on photo paper, scan Greg's so that it looks like the others, and viola! A photo line up."

Joe grinned. "You read the online personal ads?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. She avoided Frank's eyes. "Never actually answered one, but hey, everyone gets lonely at some point in their life," she added softly.

A knock sounded at the door. "That would probably be my ride," Nancy said, standing up. She walked over and picked up her purse, then gave Frank one last look, as if she wanted to say more. "I'm going to go back to work with Leslie now. I'll see both of you guys tomorrow night at the nightclub. It's Dreams, on Silverlake Blvd. Do you need the address?" Joe nodded.

She fished a piece of paper out of her purse and wrote the address down as the knocking on the door started again. "Coming, Les!," She called. Turning to the guys, she asked, "Does 8 o'clock sound okay?"

Frank started to speak, but Joe cut him off. "Sounds great. Hopefully by then, I'll feel a little better. Maybe not up to dancing, but at least able to sit and enjoy the music. We'll pick you up then? Providing you're willing to let us keep your car another day?" He gave Frank a look, willing him to keep quiet.

"Sure," she said. "See you then." She walked to the door; turned to look at Frank and Joe; sighed, then opened it.

They could hear Leslie speaking. "I was about to give up on you. What's going on? I could hear voices, but no one was answering. I...." the voice faded as they rounded the corner of the hallway.

"Well," Joe said. "I've got to hand it to you, Frank. You still know how to charm the women."