A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Caranath, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Maddi, Vinsmouse, Jackie and bhar! Some brotherly love and conflict resolution in this chapter, then full speed ahead to the mystery. Only a few more chapters until the end! Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 29

Frank spied Joe stacking some small bales of alfalfa against the outside of the barn. Time to get things straightened out. Frank hurried over and stood in front of him.

"We need to talk."

"Okay, so talk." Joe said with a shrug, as he hefted another bale onto the pile.

"Come on, Joe." Frank touched his arm. "I'm serious."

He sighed. "What do you want from me, Frank? Do you want me not to be mad at Nancy? Because I don't think I can do that."

"She's apologized. Many times." Frank leaned against the barn. "She's tried to apologize to you, too, but you won't let her."

"It won't make a difference." Joe reached down and snatched up a stick lying in the dirt. "It doesn't change what happened."

"Emily's forgiven her. Why can't you?"

"Why can't I?" Joe snapped the stick in two and threw it to the ground. "I'll tell you why I can't. Because I saw the woman I love, pushed down onto a pool table, with some low-life jackass on top of her."

Frank's head snapped up. "What?" Oh, shit, Emily had been attacked?

"Yeah, Frank." Joe looked at him, and Frank could see the pain in his eyes.

"You didn't know that, did you? You didn't know that bastard had his hand underneath her shirt. You didn't know he touched her." He slammed his hand against the outside of the barn, and Frank could see the rage coming off him in waves.

"He touched her!" Joe shouted at him.

Frank hung his head down. Damn it. This was bad. He'd lost it when he saw that cowboy with his hands on Nancy's legs. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if he'd had his hands under her shirt. Yes, he could. He would have killed him.

"Yeah." Joe slid down onto an alfalfa bale.

His heart ached for Joe. And he understood the force of his anger. Frank felt himself swallowing the urge to suggest they just forget this case and head straight down to that bar and beat the shit out of those cowboys one by one.

"I'm so sorry." Frank sat down next to him and put his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Is Emily okay?"

"I think she's pretending to be."

Frank nodded, treading carefully with his next question. "Did anything else happen to her? I mean, he…he didn't..."

"No, he didn't rape her," Joe replied dully. "Thank God, he didn't have a chance to get that far."

Frank exhaled slowly. He was thankful for that, too. But still, Emily must have been pretty shaken up. "Is there anything we can do to help her?"

"No." Joe sighed. "Don't worry. I'm taking care of her."

"I know you are." Frank patted him on the back. "She's lucky she has you."

"Other way around." Joe bowed his head and stared hard at the ground. "I don't know what I'd do without her. It scares the hell out of me having her so close to danger all the time."

Frank nodded. "I understand."

"No, you don't. Not really." He looked up at his brother. "Nancy is a detective. She knows what the risks are in this kind of work. She accepts them as part of her life."

"You think that means I don't worry about her?" Because some days Frank felt that was all he did.

"No. It's not the worry. I know you worry about Nancy." Joe turned to his brother, a serious look on his face. "Nancy does what she does because she loves it. She'd do it whether or not she was with you. It's who she is. Emily is forced into doing this because she loves me." He shook his head. "Totally different."

Frank nodded slowly. It was different. And something Frank had never even considered before.

"And then, when something like last night happens..." Joe raised his arms then let them fall to his side. "It's almost more than I can stand."

Frank rubbed Joe's back and remained silent, letting him vent.

"It sets off that internal struggle again. Is it fair for me to love her? Is it fair for me to force this kind of life on her?"

Tears formed in Joe's eyes and he brushed them away rapidly. "But I'm too selfish. I'm too selfish to even think of letting her go. So, I tell myself that I can keep her safe. I can protect her. I won't let anyone hurt her." He sighed. "And then Nancy takes her on an undercover investigation and she almost gets raped."

Frank exhaled deeply. "Joe, I can promise you that nothing like that will ever happen again. Nan will be sick when she finds out about this."

"This scared the hell out of me." Joe's voice was thick. "I can't stop thinking, what if he'd raped her? What if I hadn't gotten there in time? There was more than one guy in that room. What if they'd all–"

"Don't, Joe. Don't go there," Frank interrupted. "You'll only make yourself crazy. You did get there. You did save her."

Joe nodded, but couldn't say anything.

"Be strong for her now. Just love her and make her feel safe."

"Yeah," Joe managed.

Frank watched as Joe kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. "Listen, I love Emily, too. I think she's perfect for you, and I'm so sorry about what happened." He looked at him intently. "Nothing like that will ever happen again. I give you my word. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Then you'll accept Nancy's apology?"

Joe let out a deep breath. "Yeah." He looked back at Frank. "But I'm still going to have a hard time with it for awhile. I won't take it out on her…I just want you to know."

"I understand." Frank put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Thanks for being honest with me."

"You're my brother, Frank, and I love you. And I know you love Nancy. I don't want there to be any problems between the four of us."

"I appreciate that."

"Besides," Joe gave him a slight smile. "I think maybe Nancy could grow on me. As long as she doesn't drag Emily into any more situations like last night's."

"Cross my heart, it won't happen again."

"Then we're good."

Frank grinned as he hugged his brother, then extended his hand to help him stand up. "Then let's get back to work."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy paused at the entrance to Ed's office. "Emily?"

Emily looked up from something she was reading on her uncle's desk and smiled. "Hi, Nance."

Nancy walked in and took a chair opposite the desk. "I just wanted to tell you again how sorry I am about last night."

"I know." Emily smiled at her as she stood. "And I'm telling you to quit apologizing. It's not your fault. I knew I was taking a risk. And fortunately, the guy didn't get more than a grope."

"What?" Nancy was shocked. A grope? What on earth did she mean by that?

"Joe burst through the door just in time." She sat on the edge of the desk and smiled. "My hero."

"You didn't tell me you were hurt!" Nancy was stricken. She obviously hadn't tried hard enough to fight off the cowboy who'd grabbed her. If she had, she could have gotten to the back room and prevented Emily from being hurt. Maybe she never should have left to call the ranch. Maybe if she'd stayed in the bar, she could have figured out a way to get them both out of there before–

"He had his hand under my shirt for a few seconds, Nance," Emily explained, interrupting her thoughts. "Yes, it was horrible and scary, but it was nothing like what other girls have gone through. I can't imagine how awful it must be for a girl who's actually been raped." Her eyes filled with tears.

Nancy stood and hugged Emily. "I'm so sorry. No wonder Joe wants to kill me."

"Would you quit it?" Emily patted her back. "I'm not blaming you. Can't you just forget it? Heaven knows I want to."

Nancy stepped back and saw the look of pain in Emily's eyes. She obviously didn't want to keep reliving the experience and Nancy understood that completely. "Consider it forgotten."

Nancy sat back in the chair. "You know what? With all the stuff that was happening last night, I forgot to tell Frank what we learned in the bar."

"You mean about Randolph trying to stop the deal?"

"Yes. Do you know where they went?"

"Um, I think they went to the barn. Do you want to tell them now?"

Nancy thought for a moment. "I think we'd better."

Emily reached over and picked up the phone. "I'll call down there and tell them to hurry back up here when they're finished. Okay?"

Nancy nodded as Emily began dialing.

OOOoooOOO

Fifteen minutes later, Frank and Joe strode into the farmhouse kitchen.

"What's up?" Frank asked.

Nancy looked at both of them from her position at the kitchen table where she was going over her notes. "I have something I need to tell you. Something I learned last night in the bar from one of Jim's cronies."

"Something important?" Frank took a seat next to her.

Nancy nodded. "It almost slipped my mind, after all the...problems." She glanced at Joe then continued. "Anyway, the bartender knew Randolph, and he said that Randolph wasn't pushing for this land deal, he was fighting it."

"What?" Joe was incredulous. "You mean he didn't want it to go through?"

Nancy shook her head.

Frank was thoughtful. "This changes things. Now we need to focus on who would want development." He glanced around. "Where's Emily?"

"Upstairs helping her aunt pack for her trip," Nancy explained.

"She might be able to tell us who would be pro-development around here," Frank said.

"We need to start asking a whole bunch of new questions," Joe concluded.

"Yeah," Frank agreed, looking at his brother. "Let's get going."

Frank leaned in and kissed Nancy, then stood. "Are you still planning on searching the house?"

"Among other things," she said with a grin.

"Okay, we'll meet you back here around lunchtime and compare notes."

As Frank and Joe headed for the door, Nancy got up from her chair and reached out, touching Joe lightly on the arm. She felt guilty for thinking he'd been a jerk last night after what she'd learned about Em. In light of that, Nancy thought he'd shown amazing restraint. She needed to apologize. Profusely.

Joe paused and looked at her.

Nancy swallowed hard, unable to stop the tears from springing to her eyes. "Joe? Emily told me what happened in the bar. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. I had no idea." She dropped her hand down. "I understand now why you're so upset, and I don't blame you one bit. It was all my fault. Every single second of it."

He was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I know you're sorry, Nancy, and I accept your apology. But you need to promise me that you will never take Emily into a dangerous situation like that again. She could have easily been raped. In fact, she would have been if we hadn't gotten there in time. She's not a detective, and I won't have you taking those kinds of risks with her safety. Are we clear on that?"

Nancy brushed away the tears that had spilled onto her cheeks. She deserved everything Joe said to her and more. "I promise. It was really stupid of me and I regret it more than you know."

Joe nodded.

"Friends?" she asked, extending her hand.

Joe grinned at her. "I think we can do better than that." He held out his arms and Nancy stepped into them for a tight hug.

Frank smiled at them from the front door. "Okay, enough of this mushiness. We have a case to solve."