A TANGLED WEB

CHAPTER 12- THE MOLE REVEALED

Frank was back in the Hardy Detective Agency offices, collecting together various bits of equipment to take back to the hospital with his own laptop. There was no way Frank was leaving Joe for long. The pain of not knowing where he was while he was suffering was too fresh, plus Joe had to be on seriously shaky ground from an emotional point of view. But there was nothing stopping Frank working at the hospital.

He'd had a brief reunion with his mother and Callie in the waiting room. Mindful of Vanessa's overt annoyance with him, he'd been quick to jump in with an apology for not staying in touch with them. Between that and everyone's overwhelming relief at Joe being found and conscious, he'd escaped without further injury.

Frank had only told them the bare bones of what had happened. Whether it was right or wrong to share the details of what had happened to Joe with the rest of the family was not for him to decide, no matter what his own view. It would be Joe's choice and Frank would respect it.

Frank had hugged and kissed Laura and Callie, then made his excuses and headed for the office.

Fatigue was really catching up with him now. He growled in annoyance as a wave of dizziness hit him. He did not want to stop until everyone who'd had anything to do with what had happened to Joe was identified. If that included Gray, so be it. He had to get back to Gray's data. If Gray was the mole, the chances are it would be meaningless. It would certainly explain why it was all in code and he hadn't been provided with any key. But if Gray wasn't the mole, it might help prove him innocent.

He had to stop for a coffee.

Frank switched on the coffee machine and sat down, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Was it really only two days since he and his father had sat here together, happy and relaxed? His face clouded over as he thought about his father leaving him behind in the way he did. Of course, if he hadn't, Joe would be dead. Frank shut his eyes, wishing he hadn't started that train of thought. Images of Joe being hurt and manipulated flashed unbidden through his head again.

Frank's cellphone rang and he exhaled in relief. A welcome distraction.

He pulled it out his pocket. It was his father.

'Dad?'

'Frank, how is he?'

'He's awake. He's smiling a bit.'

'Thank God! I spoke to Collig, but I'm missing a lot of the story.'

'I know. I'll fill you in in person if you don't mind. What's happening with Gray?'

'He's being….detained. He's admitting to nothing beyond legitimate contact with Zeus. He did give me some more information about their other operatives though. They had two infiltrators working deep undercover in Gilchrist's immediate staff. Network agents are awaiting access to the deceased from the restaurant to try to establish if they're among them.

'Do you know what they looked like? I got a look at the two that were working beside Gilchrist. Although if they were undercover they must have switched sides or we wouldn't have been told Joe was in Colombia. And I like to think they might not have done what they did to him. Sadistic bastards.' Frank spat, unable to hide his feelings.

Yes, one was 5 foot 8, 42, thin, bald. The other was about 6ft 2, 30, muscular, blond…'

That sounded familiar. Another scene he'd come across the previous day came back to him. 'Dad, I'm pretty sure those guys were dead when I first went in. There were three bodies under a blanket. Two would match those descriptions.'

'Any idea how long they'd been dead?'

'They weren't particularly fresh. They certainly smelt like they were decaying. And that was in a cold store. I'm guessing 5 or 6 days? Maybe more? The autopsies might have been done by now- you should be able to find out.'

'Right, leave it with me'

'Dad? Do you have their codenames?'

'I can get them. Why?'

'Just in case I find them amongst the data Gray left me. And if you can me a key for the rest of the data he left, that would save a lot of time.'

'I'll see what I can do. I do have Gray's though, if that's any help. It's…..GH667.' there was a pause. 'Frank- what did they do to Joe?'

Frank cringed. He should have expected the question. 'Dad, really, you name it. He's not talking much yet' he said evasively. 'But he's alive. He's awake. He doesn't seem to have brain damage. And he smiled! That has to be good, right?'

Fenton's voice sounded tight. 'Right. Give him my love. I'll call you soon.'

...

Frank strode back into the hospital bearing a bag of gadgets. He was desperate to lay his eyes on Joe again for all he'd only been away for just under two hours.

He took the elevator to Joe's floor. As the door opened, revealing the waiting area, he spied Vanessa. She was sitting by herself in tears.

Frank felt a sudden wave of panic. He hurried over to her.

'What happened? Is he OK?'

'Yes. He's with Callie and Laura. This is me away getting them coffee.' She laughed weakly. Then she grasped Frank's hand with both of hers. 'Frank, he told me. He told me what they did. Frank, how could anyone do that to someone?'

Frank hesitated, unsure what Joe might have shared with her and not wanting to say the wrong thing. He sat down beside Vanessa, putting his arm around her.

'What did he tell you?'

'Do you know?'

'Yes.'

'They raped him! Oh Frank. He was so…brave. He said he couldn't hide it from me in case they'd infected him with something. He's had that done to him, he's so weak he can hardly move and he was comforting me! Can you believe it?'

Frank's overwhelming feeling was relief. Joe had told Vanessa! He wasn't trying to hide it from her. He could talk about it. That was all good. But so much more had happened to him. Frank hugged Vanessa as she sobbed. She slowly gained control of herself and he sat back again, one arm still round her shoulders.

'Did he say anything else?'

'Not much. Is there more?!'

Frank searched for the right words. 'Van, they gave him a really bad time. He's going to need a lot of support. But he's going to get it, right? He'll be fine. We have to be strong for him. And if you need to talk, talk to me. OK? I'm here for both of you.'

'Thanks Frank. Same goes for you. OK? You're not superman. Don't try to carry it all. Although officially I'm still really annoyed with you!'

Frank smiled and gave her a squeeze. 'Did he tell anyone else?'

'I don't know. They went in when I went out. Frank, I'm going to go get that coffee and clean myself up. I need him to think I'm back together. I know him too Frank. I'm not giving him something else to feel bad about!' She got up and walked towards the elevator, turning and giving Frank a wave as she went.

Frank smiled. He loved Vanessa. Not in the way he loved Callie. But he loved her all the same. Joe couldn't have found a better person to marry.

Frank stood up, brushed himself off and went back to Joe's room. As he opened the door, he heard laughter. Frank knew instantly that Joe hadn't confided in anyone else. He had fallen into his customary role as Joe the Entertainer. Callie and their mom were giggling at something he'd said. Joe, for all he was still pale and weak, looked relaxed and pleased with himself. It was good to see but it didn't seem right to Frank.

'Hi guys' he said. 'How you doing, Joe?' He sat down beside Callie and gave her a kiss, then reached over and touched Joe's arm.

'OK I think. You?' Joe replied.

'Absolutely exhausted.' Frank admitted. 'But I've still got work to do. I was given some coded information. I need to try to work out what it means.'

'Can I help?' said Joe.

Frank looked at his brother doubtfully. He looked pale, sick, shaky. And hopeful.

What harm could it do? 'Sure, you can have a look. I'm so tired my head's about had enough. I'd appreciate the help.'

There was a little table on wheels sitting across Joe's bed. It had a glass of water and some car magazine someone had brought for him on it. Frank cleared it and put his laptop in front of Joe. Bending over it, he found Gray's files and showed them to Joe.

'I didn't get far with them. I got….interrupted. They're partially encrypted records of supposedly legitimate communications between the Network and Zeus.'

Joe raised his eyebrows.

'I know' said Frank. 'Anyway, there's been information leaking to and from Gilchrist over the last week or so, definitely the time during which they had you. It may be here.'

'We need to find the leak, right?' said Joe, quietly.

'Yeah. Have a scan through and see what you can see. I'll have a poke about on Gilchrist's computer to see what else is on there.'

'OK. How were they communicating? What medium?'

'That I don't know. The Network use a range of devices. That's not so important at the moment. We'll find out.'

'Gotcha.'

Callie and Laura exchanged glances. Back to business. It was good to see. They sat in companionable silence as Frank and Joe worked together, Joe's one good hand moving over the keyboard awkwardly.

...

'Right.' Said Joe, once he'd skimmed through the data. 'Up until three days ago, the traffic is busy. Assuming each agent code is an individual, there are 6 people communicating from Zeus to the Network several times a day. The day I got picked up that went down to two. They both have the same code for their contact point. I assume the contact point is a specific person. That narrows it down to those three people. Simple. If we could see the message content we could narrow it down further.'

'So,' said Frank, 'they had six undercover operatives. After the raids that went down to two. Yes, simple. Why didn't Gray know that? He didn't need to farm that out to me.'

'I don't know.'

'Look Joe. The most recent document created on this was seven days ago. It's password protected but look at its title.'

He swung the computer round to Joe, pointing.

HH637 com codes

'HH637. That's one of the agent codes of the last two men. This has got to be it, Frank.'

Callie, Laura and Vanessa, who had finally returned with coffee looking much recovered, looked up from their magazines.

'Can you hack into it?' said Laura.

The four younger people in the room all looked at her.

'Mom, you hack into systems, you crack passwords.' said Joe, patiently.

Laura rolled her eyes. Her sons really had become nerds!

'I should think I can crack it.' Joe went on 'The operating system is an easy one to manipulate. Gilchrist must have been pretty confident no one would get hold of the computer.' He tapped away for a few minutes. Then 'Yes, I'm in! OK, it's a list of dates, times, codes and time intervals. What does that mean?'

'Let me see.' Frank turned the two computers round so he could compare them. 'The dates and times match those in Gray's database for the last seven days. Wait a minute. The contact point code on the database and the document. GH667. Dad said that was Gray's code! It is him! He's the man in the Network who fed the information to and from Gilchrist!

'But Frank….' Joe began.

They were interrupted by the door opening. It was Fenton Hardy!

'Dad!' said Joe.

Fenton stepped in to the room, smiling broadly. 'Joe, thank goodness…..'

Glancing behind his father, Franks jaw dropped. Lurking outside the door uncertainly was Agent Gray.

'You bastard!' Frank yelled, jumping up and storming out of the room. Frank ran out of the door and grabbed Gray by the throat, marching him back across the hall outside until he hit the opposite wall then pinning him to it.

Frank could hear sounds around him as he squeezed Gray's neck. He was aware of Callie, his father, a nurse- all telling him to stop. His father trying to break his death grip. All he could see was Gray. The man they had thought they could trust. The man who had known where Joe was but had told them he was in Colombia. The last man standing who was to blame for Joe's suffering. He shook with fury, overcome by his primal desire to kill him.

One voice got through to him.

Joe. Shouting hoarsely from his bed.

'Frank! Stop. I don't think he knew he was speaking to Gilchrist. Frank, please!'

Shaken back to reality, Frank opened his hands and stepped back. Gray slumped on the floor, gasping. Frank backed away, back towards Joe. 'Talk to me Joe, what do you mean?' Frank's voice trembled, fury and adrenaline still searching for an outlet.

'Frank look at the agent codes. He wasn't contacting Gilchrist. He was contacting one of the Network's undercover men. Remember? Or so he thought. Gilchrist must have been intercepting the messages. The codes in the document are telling him how to do it.'

'What?'

Frank shut his eyes, his tired mind trying to understand. He really needed to sleep. He walked back to Gray, ignoring everyone else in the room.

'What did you do Gray? Were you speaking to Gilchrist? Or were you stupid enough to think you could still trust one of your agents when they'd been undercover with Gilchrist for a year?

'Frank' Gray gasped 'I thought I was talking to our best agent. The man I trusted most in the world.' Frank's jaw dropped as he saw Gray's face crumple and a tear roll down his cheek.

'Frank'. It was his father. Fenton put a hand on Frank's arm. 'The bodies you found. Two were the Network agents. They had been tortured. They must have revealed their contact methods and codes before they were killed. Gilchrist carried on communicating in their place. Sending false information and receiving updates about our movements. It was all him. The agents had been dead for a week. When we realised there was a leak Gray cut off all communication apart from that with the only man he trusted. But he wasn't talking to him. He was dead. He was talking to Gilchrist and never knew it.'

Frank looked back down at Gray. He heard his father's voice again.

'The blond man. It was Gray's son.'

Frank sunk down to his knees beside the broken man, head reeling. Empathy began to replace his aggression. Gray's son had been hurt like Joe was. But he was dead. Frank couldn't speak. He put his hand on Gray's shoulder.

CHAPTER 13- REPERCUSSIONS?

Two weeks had passed since Joe's rescue. Frank had found himself very busy trying to mop up the loose ends of the case with his father, Collig and agents from the Network. Gray had disappeared. Frank understood. He was glad. He was still furious with him. He must have suspected that his son was the mole but just couldn't admit to it. He'd ignored it. But Frank felt so bad for him he didn't want to confront him. It was best that he'd gone away.

Frank and Fenton's first moment alone, back in the family office, had been awkward. Frank had found he could barely meet his father's eye, he was so disillusioned by how he'd acted. Fenton had tried to break the ice. 'Frank, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone without talking to you. But maybe one day you'll have children. Then you'll understand why I did it'

It was like lighting a fuse. 'Don't patronise me, Dad!' Frank shouted 'I don't know what you were thinking. I'm not a boy. I'm your partner. Joe is too. You know that. You can't let that happen again. The only saving grace is that what you did saved Joe's life. Completely inadvertently. But it did. From now on, we're either working as a team- no matter what the circumstances- or we aren't working together at all. Right?'

Fenton had nodded, resigned. He knew Frank was right.

...

Joe had spent four days in hospital before being allowed home. Vanessa had never left his side. Her devotion was touching. But it also meant Frank hadn't had a chance to talk to Joe properly. He knew Joe had finally given a statement to the police, but not what he had told them. He would have loved to be there for Joe while he had gone through that, but hadn't realised it was happening until too late. On the face of it, Joe seemed to be coping astonishingly well. He was very sore, but he was smiling and laughing again. Life and soul of the party.

The one thing he was pretty sure Joe hadn't shared with anyone were Gilchrist's mind games and the effect they had had on him. Frank tried to convince himself Joe had written it off as soon as he'd found out his reason for living- his family- was OK. Still, he had to be sure.

So, a few days after Joe's release from hospital, Frank and Callie went round to his apartment. Frank, in the nicest way, requested some one-on-one time with his brother. Vanessa had looked uncertain, but then grinned. She understood the brother's close bond and had missed having girly time with Callie. 'Sure', she said brightly 'how about me and Callie catch a movie then something to eat at yours? I could stay over. You boys could have a good catch-up and we'll see you back here for breakfast tomorrow morning? Is that okay with everyone?' There was a chorus of 'yes' from everyone. This was something they did pretty regularly and it almost felt like returning to normality in some way.

Vanessa grabbed some things and the girls headed off.

'So what would you like to do, Joe?' asked Frank, flopping down on the sofa beside his brother.

'I don't know, Chinese?' Joe suddenly looked ill-at-ease. He picked self-consciously at his cast. Frank felt a sliver of worry. Was Joe really handling things as well as he seemed to be? He looked his brother over quickly. Arm in a cast. Moving awkwardly- the ribs and the leg were still painful. He still looked bruised. The cuts were healing. The needle marks on his neck had all but faded. But his eyes. He looked tired, even haunted, when he relaxed.

'OK. I thought you might like to hear the latest from the investigation. Collig and Gray's replacement came in to the office this afternoon to debrief us. I said I'd fill you in seeing as you're still stuck at home.'

'Collig and a Network head in the same place at the same time?! And the universe didn't implode?' Joe looked amused. Then he frowned 'I could have come in to the office you know. You could have called me'.

'Sorry. I didn't think you'd be up to it. You're meant to be recuperating. You're right though, I should have asked'. Frank almost held his breath.

But Joe smiled again 'it's OK. You're probably right.' The argument was averted before it started. Frank felt slightly more worried.

'How you doing, Joe? Really?'

Joe wriggled uncomfortably. 'Honestly Frank, I'm fine. I'll be even better in a few months when all the tests are complete and I know I don't have HIV. Or hepatitis. Or god knows what else. Or a mutated brain from that stuff they kept giving me. Enough about me- tell me everything. Now. And I don't want left out of anything else either- OK?' Joe kept his tone light but the message was clear to Frank; I don't want to talk about it just help me keep busy so I don't have time to worry!

'Okay. Fair enough. So there's still a load of stuff we don't understand, but we know a bit more. We know how they got you into the restaurant. The police had confiscated CCTV recordings from the shop opposite the entrance to the alleyway. Officers had watched through it but only until the van with the girls in it took off. Collig went back and watched on. About ten minutes after the van left, another turned up. The restaurant's own van. It had 'Le Porte Bonheur' plastered down the sides of it. Four men lifted a crate out of it and carried it down the stairs. Right in front of folk eating their lunch. I guess people thought nothing of it- just thought it was food or equipment being delivered.

'So I guess I was in it? I remember the back door of the van opening then getting clouted on the head. Nothing else until I was trussed up in the cellar. OK, what else?'

'We know what the link was between Gilchrist and the French restaurant. Turns out the man who owns it, Antoine Auber, was a neighbour of Gilchrist's family when he was about 14. The guy felt sorry for him because his parents weren't around much so they were kind of friends.'

Joe raised an eyebrow and looked doubtful.

Frank shook him head 'looks like there was nothing dodgy about it. He was just a nice man trying to help the boy out. But then work took him away and they didn't see each other again until last year. They ran in to each other in Hong Kong, of all places. Of course, Auber had no idea what Gilchrist had become. Anyway, when Auber decided on the restaurant venture, Gilchrist jumped in and offered to manage the place. Said he had a mate who was a chef. I guess one of his men really could cook- Callie said the food was great!'

'But why?'

'It was literally only about ten days ago. They're speculating that it coincides with Gilchrist first finding out about the multinational net closing in around him. And somehow he found out about Gilchrist's son and the other Network man. Once he'd worked on them he found out everything that was going on pretty quickly. When he found out about our involvement, the restaurant put him in the ideal position to take revenge.

'But why not just escape? Why not do what he pretended to do and hole up in some rainforest somewhere? And why us? Why not any of the other people involved in the investigation?'

'That they don't know. Apparently he'd always been a bit on the eccentric side, but latterly he took a lot of questionable decisions. It was almost like he lost interest in Zeus when he realised it was going to be largely shut down. And instead of fighting back, he just refocused on revenge. He used the Network contact system to spread misinformation so we would have no idea where you were. Like you were being dangled on a string in front of our noses while he entertained himself sending us off to the ends of the earth. I don't think he really cared if he was caught after he's set out to do what he wanted. It's proving hard to make sense of his actions for a good reason- his actions made no sense. He seemed to have been a bit- unhinged- maybe just because he saw his empire collapsing around him.'

'What about the bodies in the basement? Any IDs?'

'Yes. The two Network agents we know about. The others all worked for Gilchrist…..'

'What? Why would he kill his own men?'

'Again, we can only really speculate. The two the police found hadn't been linked with him that long. If he'd already uncovered two moles, he will have been suspicious. Paranoid even. I guess after he killed the first two he kept going.

'And the last man?'

'Which last man?'

'The third body you found in the cold store?'

Frank hesitated, looking at his brother uncertainly.

'What? Spill.' pushed Joe.

'He worked for Gilchrist too. Had done for some time. I guess he didn't know what Gilchrist had planned for him. He was…..he was the guy they made you think was me.'

Joe didn't react for a second. When he did there was a slight hitch to his voice. 'I still don't….I still don't get how….I mean the way I remember it, it was you'.

Frank reached over and put a hand on Joe's shoulder.

'Joe, they drugged you for a start.'

'It must have been more than that'

'It was. The guy's build and hair was the same as mine. They'd dressed him in a jacket the same as the black one I use on stakeouts. And you heard my voice. I found a recording of my voice on Gilchrist's laptop. It was made up of various things I've said when I've been on the phone to Agent Gray.'

'Gray!? How? '

'He was recording our conversations. He'd forwarded some to his son, or so he thought. Gilchrist had requested them from him. Apparently he said it was because he might have to phone you and he wanted to be able to recognise your voice to be sure it was you he was speaking to.'

'That's seriously creepy. So. I still can't quite believe I thought this guy was you.' Joe couldn't let it go.

Alarm bells were going off in Frank's head. He spoke gently. 'Joe, you looked pretty out of it. The lights were off until he was dead. And when the lights went on his face was….not recognisable.'

'It was gone. I tried to find a way to do CPR. There was nothing left.' Joe's voice was quiet.

Frank's jaw dropped. 'Oh Jesus Joe. I'm so sorry. I didn't know that.'

'Have you got the videos with you?'

Frank was caught off-guard. He paused to gather his thoughts. He had deleted the emails that Gilchrist had sent. And he had handed back Gilchrist's laptop after removing all the security so anyone could access all of it. But he had also removed all trace of the videos from there. He had, however, copied them onto his own laptop first. He wanted Joe to be the one to decide to delete them. In fact, if the conversation had gone that way tonight, he was going to ask Joe what he wanted to happen.

He didn't quite anticipate Joe raising it himself so early on.

'Yes. I thought you might want to delete them yourself'

Joe laughed dryly. 'A sort of cathartic experience you mean?'

'I suppose. I didn't quite think of it like that. I just wanted it to be your decision'

'Thanks.' He fixed his eyes on Frank's. 'I want to watch them.'

'What! Joe, no! Why?'

'I need to understand what happened. Properly. Frank, it's like I've got some freaky horror show in my head but the plot makes no sense. I've no idea what's real and what's not. Please Frank.'

Frank shut his eyes. He knew Joe was covering something up. There was no way anyone could have swept horrendous experiences like these under the carpet in the way Joe seemed to have. Frank had been having terrible nightmares himself and he had experienced none of it first-hand.

'I don't know, Joe.'

'Frank, I need this. Please.'

This was not what Frank had in mind for the evening. But, for all Frank wanted to protect Joe he had to respect his choice.

'Sure. You want company?'

'No'

'OK Joe, I'll set up in your office. Joe, if you need me…'

'I know.'

The brothers went into the office, Joe still limping painfully. Frank lined up the videos on his file manager. He plugged in his headphones, not wanting to hear again himself.

Respecting Joe's wishes, Frank retreated from the office uncertainly.

...

And now here was Frank, sitting in the living room, waiting, trying to concentrate on a movie. He had left Joe in the office an hour and a half earlier. The videos should be finished by now. But no Joe. Once again, concern over his brother was making Frank feel physically sick.

Frank went through cautiously. Joe was sitting at the desk, looking at a blank screen, his face expressionless.

Frank walked over and pulled up a chair beside him.

'You OK?'

Joe hesitated. 'I deleted the files'

'And are you OK?'

'I don't…I don't know.'

'You want to talk?'

'No….maybe.'

Frank took a deep breath. He put his hand on Joe's shoulder. 'Joe, they did a good job on you. Hurt you till you didn't know which way was up, made you think there was no escape, that your family were gone…..they took your dignity….and they made you want to die. It's over. They are ALL dead and we're not. None of us.'

Joe looked pale and shaken. He didn't speak.

'Joe, I know you. You would do anything in the world to protect the people you love. That includes protecting them from seeing you're suffering. But I know you too well. And I think Van does too. Talk to me Joe.'

'Everything, EVERYTHING I thought they might have done to me they really did, didn't they. The bastards. Whenever I shut my eyes I'm there again. Whenever I wake up I think I'm there.' Frank tightened his grip on Joe's shoulder and shut his eyes, aching for his brother.

'Joe. I'm here for you man. Whatever you need.'

'You know what kept me going? The whole time all I could think was I was so glad it was me they got and not you, not Vanessa, not any of you. Watching that I thought the same. I know what they did was bad, but I could deal with it.…..but when I thought you were all dead….I can't believe I nearly….' He faltered 'I just couldn't…there was just no reason any more…...'

'Oh, Joe, it's OK.' Frank put his arms around Joe. Joe crumbled for the first time since he'd first woken up, confused and terrified. He cried the tears of a strong man who has been pushed too far. Frank put his arms around his brother, pulled him into his chest and held him close.

It was several minutes before Joe calmed down and pulled himself together. 'Sorry Frank. What an idiot, getting so upset about something that never even happened!' He flashed a ghost of a lop-sided grin at his brother and then looked him directly in the eye. He could see Frank was trying to come up with just the right thing to say.

'Frank? I know you're worried I'm going to lose it. You don't need to be. What they did to me was, well, horrible. But, providing they've not given me some bloody disease on top of everything else, I can handle it. It's OK. Not OK, but you know what I mean. I'm up and down but I'll get used to it. The bit I couldn't handle was thinking you were all dead. And you're not. It's like Christmas! Everything else just means nothing.'

'Joe, you're….. well, 'tough' just doesn't even touch it. You're amazing. After what they did, you're entitled to feel a bit….not as you should. Anyone else would be in daily therapy'.

'Knowing you're all alive is my daily therapy' said Joe, quietly, his voice sincere.

Frank smiled, touched. 'But if anything does get to you, if you need to talk again. Come to me, OK? Don't try to hide it. Anytime, day or night. Deal?'

'Deal'

Joe stuck out his hand and Frank grasped it tightly.

'Now get me a beer, bro. I'm still an invalid you know!'

Frank threw a cushion at Joe's head, laughing. He saw that mischievous glint in his brother's eye. And he knew Joe would be OK. He needed time and he needed his family. But he would be just fine.

THE END

Thanks for reading. It's been quite an experience! I hadn't anticipated how much the reviews would start to matter to me for each chapter- I'll be reviewing a lot more for other folk now, that's for sure! It's been a tense couple of weeks, wondering if the standard would be OK throughout, or if I had pushed poor Joe too far for some of the people who had liked the story at the start. I love him really! Well, I love both of them- it's their relationship that's the real draw for me. Hurting Joe is just a vehicle for showing it off in the way I like.

Anyway. When I recover from this, if people would like, I'll maybe choose another to share. I'll probably just put it all up at once straight in with an M rating. You know what you're going to get now!

Meantime, it's a big day here in Scotland- what will tomorrow bring? Independence or not, angry backlashes or not? Real life drama can be interesting too. Not as interesting as those Hardy Boys of course! Proof reading this old story has been a grand distraction for me. Thank you!