-3-

Frank sat at the kitchen table at the Morton farm. He nursed his coffee as the late morning sun filled the kitchen. Chet sat across from him wiping off his greasy hands. Frank smirked as his friend tried to clean all the engine oil from his hands. They had spent three days working on the truck. As Frank had also noticed how much Chet had been working on himself. He had seen a side of his friend that he hadn't noticed in many years.

"I think we have it beat." Frank said with confidence. "once you adjusted that timing this morning I think it was the last issue we had to address. I'd say that old truck is running as good as it did twenty years ago." Chet grunted.

"Transmission still slips from second to third…" he raised is eyes to meet Franks. "But I reckon that's not a biggie." He said with a tone of satisfaction. Chet even managed to smile. "You know, Frank…" Frank took another sip of coffee and looked back up.

"Yeah?"

"I, uhm, just wanted to thank you…" Frank looked up innocently.

"For what?" Chet shot him a sideways glance.

"You know what. For helping me pull my head out of my self-absorbed ass. You didn't have to spend the last three days with me. Helping me with the truck. Helping me remember what things are really important. Helping me not go nuts while I may have otherwise sat here in this house reflecting back over my entire upbringing. All the good times there were. And, how, well, empty it all seems now." He looked out the window and took a breath. He pointed out to a group of trees. "I remember when Iola and I would explore those woods. It seemed as big as all get out at the time. Dad would drive up in that truck, loaded down with oak firewood he had cut. Wonderin' where I was." Frank gave a snort.

"Hiding in them woods with Iola no doubt. At least till he stacked that wood on the side of the house. Then you came out of the woods around supper time."

"Maybe…maybe." Chet said with a chuckle. He set his rag down and sighed. "But, you know what I mean. I think coming back here and, well, being alone, here… Might have been too much to take by myself." Frank nodded.

"You know Chet, I was just wondering… Why did you choose to come back here? I mean Bayport does have some fairly classy hotels. Nice and clean. No major risk of having to go down memory lane." Chet took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he looked around the kitchen. A deep look in his eyes.

"I've burned a lot of bridges, Frank. When I announced I was coming back, and neither Iola or mom and dad jumped up to offer me a room, well, it spoke a lot to me." He paused and looked around him again. "I had to come back here, Frank. I guess I figured it would help…somehow."

"Well, in that case, I'd say you were right. I think it did help. Which I guess is why I have stayed with you since you returned. You opened your mind up enough to me to think that you weren't too far gone. In fact, over these few days I saw the Chet I remembered from long ago. The guy who was my friend. The guy who was a great detective. The guy who could resurrect a beat-up old truck with his know how." Chet looked down with a humble, though troubled expression.

"How about the guy who is a crappy dad…" Frank looked kindly to his friend.

"Well, call me the optimist, Chet, but I think there is still room for that title to be modified." Chet tried to push through the chagrined expression he wore.

"Well, nice of you to say, but actions speak louder than words. And my actions have honestly sucked in recent months. Maddie thinks I am horrible no doubt. I have ignored her when I shouldn't have. She has gotten so big now. I love that kid so much and owed her so much more." Frank took a deep breath and looked down at his watch. He cracked a slight smile.

"Well, my friend. I am glad to hear you are open to taking action to remedy those faults. Because I think I can help you out." Chet looked puzzled.

"Why do you mean?" Frank stood up and gestured for Chet to follow him out of the house. Still looking rather perplexed, Chet got up and followed Frank outside. They walked along a narrow concrete pathway through the front yard towards the driveway and barns. Frank looked down at his watch again and then looked down the long driveway that led to the farm. As Frank had apparently anticipated, there was a cloud of gravel dust being produced by an incoming vehicle. Frank gestured to Chet.

"Well, your first opportunity is on time." Chet looked in the distance and rubbed his chin as he was trying to make out the vehicle approaching. A few moments later a dark blue Toyota sedan came into clear sight.

"Iola?" Chet asked, recognizing his sister's car. The sedan pulled up near the barn. Chet slowly walked towards it with Frank following. The driver's door opened and the thin figure of Iola Hardy appeared. She stood a few feet away from her brother and paused, studying him for a moment. Chet and Iola hadn't seen each other in person for several months. And most of their recent phone conversations had been less than comfortable. Especially their last one. Chet was half expecting his sister to start laying into him again. But instead, a glimmer of happiness and hope could be read on her face. Iola studied her brother, who stood there, still half covered in engine grease and looking vulnerable, if not outright scared that she was going to let him have it. She stepped forward with a smile and open arms. Chet, relaxed and smiled broadly when it was apparent there would be no hostility. The pair embraced.

"Uh, hi sis. I…I'm happy to see you." He said in almost a stutter. Iola wrapped her arms around Chet and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi bro. I am happy to see you!"

It could be reasonably deduced that Iola's change of heart in how she greeted her brother had a lot to do with the two-hour phone call she received the night before. A call from Frank Hardy.

Frank had indeed spoken up for his recent days experience with Chet and how much he had seen in his friend. And how many times over those three days that Chet had reflected upon his life, past and present. How he had a sense of deep regret when it came to his sense of priorities with his children. It had been enough to convince Frank that Chet deserved a bit more respect and support than what he had been getting. Iola was certainly willing to go on faith. She had agreed to help do whatever was needed to assist in supporting Chet and Maddie's relationship.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting to see you until next week when we were scheduled to leave on the trip." Chet said. "Though I am happy to see you sooner." Iola took a breath and smiled to her brother.

"Well, ya know, I thought it might be nice to meet up before then. Instead of just meeting for the first time in months and all of us cramming into a car for ten days straight." Chet smiled and looked down with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense." He admitted. Iola looked sideways towards the car for a moment.

"And, uhm, I think it would be a good idea to have…" Chet's eyes followed her sister's glance back towards her car, which now had its passenger door open. Slowly, the form of a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes came into view. Chet's eyes widened.

"Maddie?" He asked with a trembling voice. Chet and his oldest daughter had not seen each other in at least six months. Their phone calls and texts during that time had been mostly filled with anger and lacking open communication. Chet took his daughter in as she slowly appeared from behind the car. Even though it had been six months, it seemed Maddie had been going through a growth spurt.

"My goodness, Maddie, you look more and more like your mom." Chet said, clearly surprised by the fact his daughter had gained a few extra inches and other features which replicated those of her mother. Chet held out his arms, hoping to be lucky enough to get a hug from his daughter.

Maddie approached Chet with slight hesitation. She tried to keep an open mind with hopes and encouragement from the conversation her aunt had with her the night before. The hope that her dad had come back with an understanding of his past issues and really wanting to patch things up with his daughter. Maddie gave Chet a cautious embrace.

"Hi, dad." She said in a vulnerable tone.


Aimee looked over the bunched up bedspread towards Cal who seemed distracted. Usually, their occasional afternoon delights when in an empty, kid-free home, were much more energetic and expressive. Callie, today, seemed just not into it. She was starring off into space. Aimee cautiously reached over the covers and gently stroked the side of Callie's bare torso to get her attention.

"Cal, you alright?" Aimee asked quietly. Hoping that she had not done anything wrong to cause an issue. Callie blinked a few times and seemed to emerge from her trance. She glanced over to her lover and forced a smile.

"Oh, sorry precious. I was just thinking too much I suppose." Aimee raised her eyebrows in concern.

"Nothing I've done… I hope?" She asked. Callie looked back into her eyes and saw her expression. She quickly warmed into a more genuine smile and nudged herself over and put an arm around Aimee, who immediately felt more relaxed.

"Oh, no! Nothing you did, sweetie. I just am feeling nervous. I didn't tell you when you came over since we kind of got distracted the minute you are arrived." She said with a wink. Aimee's eyes widened.

"Tell me what?" Callie took a breath and let it out slowly.

"Well, last night Iola called. She said she had received a long phone call from Frank…"

"Frank?" Aimee gave a brief snort. "No wonder you were not feeling too good." Callie smiled and ran her hand along Aimee's arm.

"Well, in this case it wasn't anything Frank did. But he has apparently been hanging out with Chet at his parent's old farm for the last few days."

"Oh?" Callie nodded.

"Yes. Seems Chet decided to stay there when he came to town. I wasn't sure why at first. But according to Frank, Chet was doing his best to get back in touch with his old self. As the story goes, he and Frank have been out there cleaning up the old farmhouse and working on getting his dad's old truck running. Seems Chet's newer car broke down soon after he hit town. Frank apparently talked him into getting the truck running so he could drive that." An expression crossed Callie's face. One could almost read it as if she was impressed by such an action from her estranged husband.

"So, this is what you are worried about?" Aimee asked, still not quite understanding. Callie shook her head.

"Well, no. That part doesn't worry me. In fact, it's encouraging. But what has me worried is that Iola, who as you know has also been critical of Chet's sense of priorities, talked me into seeing if it would be agreeable to bring Maddie over so the two of them could try to talk things out. Because, you know they hadn't really seen each other in months." Aimee sighed in understanding and reinforced her hold on Callie.

"Oh, I understand. And yes, that has to be stressing on you. Did Maddie seem ok with it? I guess I assume she was since she isn't here." Callie took another deep breath and nodded.

"She was open to it. Maybe not super excited. But at least willing to give it a chance." She closed her eyes as they welled up a bit. This was clearly hard on her. Aimee did her best to comfort her.

"It's going to be ok. This really shows what a good mom you are. I am really proud of you for what you have been able to accomplish since we moved here." Callie pushed a faint look of appreciation forth but seemed doubtful.

"I'm not sure what I've accomplished, Precious." Aimee continued to run her hand through Callie's long hair.

"Well, I remember when we met. At the time you had a lot of troubles going on for sure. And the relationship you had with Maddie was pretty strained. You were drinking a lot then." In spite of the serious topic, Aimee managed to smile slightly to herself. Callie looked sideways to her.

"What?" Aimee looked back at her and gave her that knowing look.

"Well, I guess I am glad, in a way, that you were drinking like a fish that week."

"Why?" Callie asked with a bit of a confused look.

"The way I see it, if you hadn't been, I don't know how likely it is you would have walked into that bar at the casino where I was working that night. Meeting you changed my life. I won't ever forget it. Or anything that happened afterwards." Callie put her other arm around Aimee and they hugged in silence for a few moments. Callie's face filled with tears.

"I won't forget either, Precious. I think when all was said and done that we saved each other. For that, and so many other reasons, I love you." Aimee leaned in and they kissed.

"I love you, too." She was glad that she could help alleviate some of Callie's stress. Or at least distract her from the thoughts she was having for a few moments.

Callie took a deep breath and stretched her hands out in front of her, exhaling slowly. An exercise she had learned to help control her anxiety.

"As positive as things were that Iola reported, I just hope that Chet can stay on point and not screw things up." Aimee gave her a hopeful expression.

"Well, keep a little faith. I mean it sounds like maybe he is on the right track. Obviously, I don't know him like you and Iola. But it seems out of character for him to want to go back to that old farmhouse you showed me that time. And to work on an old truck to use." Callie sighed and nodded.

"Well, I will be cautiously optimistic. I know Frank must have said something pretty significant for Iola to have eased up on him, much less suggest Maddie hanging out with Chet before the trip. But the plan seems to be if Maddie is comfortable enough, Iola wants to leave her out there for the day and see what happens. I guess I am just a little worried."

Aimee pulled herself upright from her laying position and stretched.

"well, she has a phone and all our numbers. So, if it doesn't go well, she will no doubt be in touch." She stood up and turned to Callie, reaching out and they held hands. She looked up to her lover. "I hope you know that I worry about her too. I don't want it to seem awkward or anything…but I do love that kid." Callie smiled at the words. She bent over and kissed Aimee on the head.

"I know you do. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that she feels pretty strongly about you as well."


"Thanks for the ride back to town, Frank. I figure if that old truck of dad's conks out, they might need my car." Iola said as Frank's car carried them back towards town. Frank smiled and nodded.

"No problem, Iola." He said giving her a sideways glance. He could tell she was a little apprehensive about having dumped Maddie with her dad after the two hadn't been around each other for the better part of half a year. "Try to relax. I really think this will do Chet some good. Maddie too. They just need to give each other a chance." Iola nodded with a sigh.

"I know. I just don't want him, well, reverting back to being dumb. If she tells me he was checking in with his broker or some other business crony I am going to be disappointed." Frank looked over.

"You know, like I said last night to you. I didn't see the guy make one phone call to anyone in his business or social circle. I didn't see him log into his computer once. I think him just spending some time out at the old place really spoke to him. Granted, I haven't been around him much in recent times. But it was really good to see him acknowledge a lot of his faults. We had some pretty open and honest conversations. I guess cause we both had our share of domestic screw ups in our lives." His voice faded as he became more self-aware of his own problems when it came to relationships. Iola placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Frank. We all make mistakes. I guess I have just been harder on Chet because he is my brother and there are three kids involved. He has disappointed me a lot in the last couple years." She paused thoughtfully. "I guess it was part of me really wanting to reach out with some hope that he had finally turned a corner. That's why I called Cal last night to see if we could arrange this. She wasn't thrilled. But I know we have to start somewhere. I feel she knows it as well. But sad it has come down to this approach where Callie was asking if I was going to be around. I had to tell her that we probably weren't going to get anywhere if we treated this as some kind of supervised visit. I don't think that helps Chet or Maddie if I am there to play referee."

"Well, Iola, I really don't think a referee will be needed. Call me hopeful."

"It was nice of you to hang with him. I know you don't get much time off. Figured you would have taken your two weeks and gone off to a nice beach somewhere." Frank gave an outward chuckle.

"Not like I feel in place hanging out by myself on some beach. Not my thing, I guess. You go to a beach with a pretty lady and enjoy your down time with each other." Iola could sense Frank was feeling pretty lost since the divorce. She hadn't seen him with anyone in the social sense. She suspected he needed a lot of time to deal with the separation before even thinking about reembarking all over again.

"It will get better, Frank. But you really should take time to relax when you get these vacations…" Her words were cut off by Frank's police radio crackling.

"F-589, this is Bayport. Do you copy? Over." A female dispatcher's voice sounded over the speaker. Frank looked down with a bit of surprise. He typically did not get a radio call from the department when he was logged off the active duty roster. He looked at Iola and shrugged a little, then scooped up the hand mic.

"This is F-589 Bayport. I copy." He said.

"Sorry, to call you when you are on vacation, Frank. This is Lindsey." Lindsey was a long-time radio dispatcher who knew the Hardys well. She talked to Frank almost daily.

"It's ok. What's up?"

"F-589, switch to Tac 4 secure, over." Frank looked over to Iola. It was not common to ask an officer to switch to a secure radio channel unless they wanted to keep the exchange secure and unmonitored. This usually meant that the subject was sensitive and important. Frank flipped a button on the radio.

"F-589 to Bayport. On Tac 4, over." The radio crackled again.

"Frank, again, sorry to interrupt your vacation. But the chief asked for you. We have a 207 at the Circle J truck stop off of Highway 81. Chief suspects this was connected to the previous 207E from this area. Victim is aged 16, 5 foot 2 inches tall, 110 lbs. Slim build Dark hair, brown eyes. Last seen with light colored blue jeans, blue top and black jacket. Chief Collig requests your presence to oversee the scene. B-233 is unavailable." Frank looked wide eyed and spoke into the microphone.

"Roger that. I am in route. 10-4." He placed the mic down and looked nervously over to Iola.

"Another one. Damn!" he muttered. Frank flipped on his dash mounted flasher light as the car picked up speed. Iola closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

"Does this have a connection to the trafficking that has been going on up and down the seaboard?" She asked. Frank's jaw tensed at the thought a second teen had been abducted. It was theorized that there was a child trafficking ring operating up and down the interstate corridor. This was the second case of kidnapping that had happened in the area. But over a dozen others had occurred within 100 miles range of Bayport. Sadly, three of the victims had turned up. Dead.

"Sure looks like it." He said as the unmarked cruiser raced towards the crime scene.