J.M.J.

Author's note: Thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to MargaretA66, ErinJordan, max2013, and Candylou for your reviews! It's very much appreciated! I hope you continue to enjoy the story! God bless!

Chapter X

Three sets of eyes were glued to the screen as the security footage replayed. Fenton and Sam had made sure that they had cameras recording up and down the street where the staged attack on Lisa would take place. If there really was anyone following her, they wanted to get video evidence of it. So now they were scouring the footage, along with Chief Collig, for any sign of the woman who had allegedly been tailing Lisa.

"I don't see anyone suspicious," Collig said finally after watching every feed several times.

"Maybe they don't tail her all the time," Sam suggested. "She was apparently able to get to the Mortons' place without being followed."

"Or maybe she isn't being followed at all," Collig said.

Fenton looked up at him with raised eyebrows from where he was still sitting. "You think she's just being paranoid? Or she's making the whole thing up?"

"I think it's possible," Collig replied. "Don't forget that she was in with these Black Rose people once and that she was still keeping secrets for them several years later. As far as we know, she may still have some level of involvement."

"Or she may be telling the truth," Sam insisted. "We have to act like she is. It could have terrible consequences if she is and we assume she isn't."

"Right. And she's safe now, so there's no worries about that," Collig replied. "I'm just not sure we should spend all our manpower on this angle. It could be a red herring."

"You've got a point there," Fenton conceded.

There was no need for further comment after that; all three men knew it was a possibility, but that didn't get them any closer to any actual leads on the case.

While they were still deliberating about it, Collig's phone rang. He frowned as one of his officers explained that there was a long-distance call for him from California, from a Captain Gomez who said it was urgent. Collig told him to patch the call through. While he was waiting for the connection to be made, he quickly told Fenton and Sam who was calling and turned the phone on speaker.

"Chief Collig?" Gomez's voice came over the phone. The two private detectives came closer to hear better. "This is Captain Gomez. We spoke a couple of months ago."

"Yes, I remember," Collig replied. "How are you doing?"

"All right, considering I have a case that's giving me a terrible headache," Gomez said. "I suspect you've already heard a little bit about it."

"The murder of that Darcy girl?"

"Mmm. That's the one. The victim had some connections to Bayport. I want to apprise you of the details and ask you a few questions."

"All right. Go ahead."

"Let's see. We got the call just before two in the morning on the night the girl was killed," Gomez explained. "The bartender for one of the bars down on Fifty-Third was taking the trash out while he was closing up for the night. He found the victim in the alley behind the bar. According to our medical examiner, she had already been dead for almost six hours at that point. She had been stabbed to death, but it appeared that she had been beaten before that. We don't believe she was killed in the alley. She had some defensive injuries to her hands, which indicates that she put up a fight, but there was no evidence of a struggle in the alley. Besides that, if she was killed about eight in the evening, there would have been a lot of people coming and going and someone probably would have heard something. Our theory at this point is that she was killed somewhere else and later dumped in the alley, probably sometime after midnight, when people would have started calling it a night."

"Why would anyone dump a body in an alley behind an open bar?" Collig asked. "The ocean's five minutes away. Wouldn't that be a better place to hide a body?"

"Yes, if the goal is to hide the body," Gomez replied.

"Are you saying that you think the murderer wanted the body to be found?"

Fenton leaned forward slightly as he listened. He could sense that Gomez had a good working theory on the case already.

"I think it's possible," Gomez said. "The killer may have been warning someone else against crossing them as well."

"Any theories on who this person could be?" Collig asked.

"Yes, a few. There are none that we have enough evidence to act on, but there are some that are likelier than others."

"And what is the likeliest one?"

"The organization known as Black Rose. They're known for leaving one of their signature flowers behind at their crime scenes. The girl had a black rose tucked behind her ear. She was involved with them, too, and was trying to get out. That would have been motive enough."

"Who else makes your suspect list?"

"Angelo Beretta. The victim knew him, had worked with him on at least one illegal scheme, and had allegedly been romantically involved with him. She was trying to leave all that behind her, and it wouldn't be unreasonable that he might have feared she would give evidence against him to the police or even to Black Rose, since they appear to be looking for him. He could have silenced her for that reason. Alternatively, there is a small possibility that he may have wanted revenge on her for ending their romantic relationship. In any case, there is more than enough motive to warrant suspicions. In addition to that, the MO also fits, when we compare it to the Prito case a couple of months ago. Prito had been beaten, similar to Darcy. Darcy also had a burn from a taser, which is what Beretta used to abduct Prito in the first place. He also used both a taser and a knife in two different attacks on Joe Hardy, so it all could fit. The only problems are that we have no evidence and no idea where Beretta is."

"You haven't had any leads on him in the last couple of months?" Collig asked.

"Not one. He might as well have disappeared off the face of the earth. Which could still be. Black Rose might have gotten to both him and Darcy."

"If it was Black Rose," Collig replied. "You mentioned that you had several theories about the murderer. What are some of those theories?"

"There are a lot of possibilities that we don't have names for. We know very little about Darcy before about two months ago, so she could have someone from her past with a grudge or some kind of weird fixation. It wouldn't be the first time that someone in her, er, profession found herself dealing with someone unstable. And finally, it could have been a random killing, too. The flower found on her makes me doubtful of any of those theories. However, someone who knows about Black Rose and has a grudge against Darcy may have tried to frame them and so get away with the killing."

"Do you have someone specific in mind?" Collig asked.

"That's what I was calling to ask you about," Gomez said. "You know the Hardys well, personally as well as professionally?"

Both Fenton and Sam started up at those words.

"Yes, I do," Collig replied evenly.

"Do you know where they were the night of the murder?"

"Not precisely," Collig admitted. "I know that neither Frank nor Joe was in California. Frank works for me. I saw him both the evening before and the next morning. There wouldn't have been time. I also saw Joe the day before. He would have hardly had time to fly to California and torture and kill a girl all by eight o'clock that evening."

"Good. As you may know, he had an excellent motive to kill Darcy, so I'm glad to know that he didn't have the opportunity."

"What do you…" Collig started to ask, but Fenton cut him off.

"We know that he couldn't have done it," Fenton said. "There's no need bringing it up."

There was a pause on the other end of the line for a few seconds. "Mr. Hardy?" Gomez asked. "So you know about it, too. Where were you that night?"

"About a hundred and fifty miles away from Bayport on a case. I have the hotel and gas receipts to prove it."

"Good. Then you are all cleared."

"What do you mean that Joe had an excellent motive for killing Darcy?" Collig asked.

"As Mr. Hardy said, there's no need to bring it up."

"But if it was enough for you to call and inquire…" Collig persisted.

"That wasn't the reason. Not the main reason, anyway," Gomez said. "The main reason is that we had an anonymous tip. Someone reported seeing two young men near that ally where the body was found around midnight. They described these men as being between twenty and twenty-five and about six feet tall. One was dark-haired and slightly taller than the other, who was blond."

"And so you assumed they were describing Frank and Joe?" Fenton asked.

"I'm certain they were describing them," Gomez said. "I don't think the incident happened at all. I spoke to Frank before I got this tip. I warned him that I thought you Hardys had a powerful enemy. Now it appears that enemy may be trying to frame you—or at least your sons—for murder."

HBHBHBHBHB

"I can't believe this is happening. Haven't we been through enough?" Teresa Prito was leaning against her husband's shoulder and weeping, and her tears were no act. Her husband, Dominic, was trying to console her, as was her youngest daughter, Katherine. Maria, was sitting off by herself by a window and staring out of it. There wasn't a dry eye among them, which Joe supposed was for the best for the whole plan, but it made him intensely uncomfortable since he knew it was all real. He felt he was intruding. Fortunately, they had the hospital waiting room to themselves. The police had seen to it that they could have some privacy.

Joe stood up and went over to Maria. "Are you doing all right?"

Maria shrugged without turning her eyes away from the window. "I don't know. It's so weird. I mean, none of this is real, but it could be and it kind of is."

Joe glanced around him, hoping no one had heard what she had said. "Maria, I know it's hard and it's only natural to want to talk it over, but we can't talk about what's really going on unless we can be certain no one's listening. There are too many nurses and other staff walking through here."

"Sorry." Maria closed her eyes. "It's just not fair. First, Tony, and now they're coming after Lisa. I don't understand it. Why?"

Joe sat in the chair next to her. "I think it's mostly coincidence. Black Rose is targeting Lisa because of her history with them, and Angelo only took Tony because he was in the wrong place." His voice faltered, but he managed to add, "So it's all a coincidence."

Maria shook her head. "I don't believe in coincidences. I always used to believe everything happened for a reason, but I don't see any reason why Tony had to die." She squeezed her eyes shut, causing a couple of tears to flow from each eye.

Joe didn't answer that immediately. What could he say? He didn't see any reason for it, either. There was no need for Angelo to have killed Tony, or kidnapped him in the first place. He had a small grudge against the Hardys, but nothing that warranted that level of retaliation. And yet, if it was revenge he wanted, why Tony? He had had several opportunities to kill Joe and he had had at least one to try for Frank, so why not strike directly at them, instead of indirectly through one of their friends, who had nothing to do with any of it?

It was a relief when Joe heard footsteps entering the area and he turned to see Frank and Callie arriving. They went to speak with Dominic, Teresa, and Katherine for a few moments first and then came over to Joe and Maria.

"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to get here," Joe said.

"Sorry," Frank replied. "I should have texted. Callie wanted to come, and so I went by the apartment and picked her up. I didn't think it would take that much longer."

Joe glanced at a clock on the wall. "And it didn't, really. It just seemed longer with all this waiting."

Callie sat on the opposite side of Maria from Joe. "How are you doing?"

Maria shrugged. "I just keep wishing I would wake up and find out that the last several months were all just a bad dream."

"We all wish that, Maria," Frank assured her. "If there was any way to change what happened to Tony, I would."

"I know you would," Maria said.

Then the doctor came out of Lisa's room. Maria got up to go and stand with her family so she could hear what he was saying, although everyone already knew what he was going to say. Lisa was in critical condition and was currently in a coma. They could go into her room in groups of two and stay as long as they liked; familiar presences and voices might be helpful to Lisa. Even if they knew it wasn't true, it was still hard to listen to it.

That was Teresa's cue to shrink back and say, "I can't go in just yet. I can't see her like that."

Dominic held her close. "It's all right. We can stay out here a little longer. Maybe the girls want to go in first?"

Maria and Katherine shook their heads.

"I don't want to see her like that, either," Katherine declared. "At least, not right away."

"Maybe you fellows want to go in first," Maria pretended to suggest. "I don't know if it will help with your investigation, but it is why you came down here, isn't it?"

"One of the reasons," Frank said. He turned to Callie. "You wouldn't mind staying out here, would you?"

"Not at all," Callie assured him. "That's why I came along: to help out the Pritos if I can."

The entire conversation had been scripted, but they were able to say their lines convincingly. Accordingly, Frank and Joe went into the room, where they found Lisa sitting on the bed with a book in her hands.

"Hi, there," she greeted them with a timid smile when the door had been safely shut.

"You're one of the healthiest coma patients I've ever seen," Joe teased her.

Lisa's smile became more genuine. "Yeah, I guess so. For having just been shot in the head, I feel pretty good."

"Lisa," Frank said, his voice signaling that he was going to turn the conversation to a more serious subject. "You can probably guess why Joe and I are here."

Lisa nodded and took in a deep breath. "To hear about Black Rose. I wish I had something solid to tell you, but I really don't know anything."

"You must know a little," Frank insisted. "Iola said that you first saw the woman who was following you at the?"

"I didn't know her. I had never seen her before. I didn't even realize she was following me until I kept seeing her everywhere."

"So it's always the same woman?" Frank asked.

"Yeah."

"Could you describe her?" Frank requested.

"She's around thirty or thirty-five. She's about five-five or so in height and probably weighs about a hundred and twenty pounds. She's looks like she's in really good shape. She has brown hair that she wears kind of long and blue eyes."

"Do you think you could work with a police sketch artist to get a drawing of her?" Joe asked.

Lisa thought about this a few seconds and then nodded. "I think so. But if you have that, Black Rose will know where you got the description from."

"We'll have to be careful not to show it to anyone and everyone," Frank said. "I think it's a good idea. I'll talk to the chief about sending an artist in."

They talked a few minutes longer, and then the Hardys left. They met Callie in the waiting area and then all three of them headed to their cars together.

"That was kind of rough," Callie admitted as they walked across the hospital parking lot. "The Pritos are taking this hard. I can't blame them. Not after what happened with Tony."

"We've got to find Angelo and catch him," Joe said, clenching his fists. "I know that Black Rose and Evangeline are more urgent, but every time I think about Angelo being out free somewhere, I feel sick."

"I know," Frank agreed. "If we had some clues to where he could be, that would be one thing, but we don't."

"Maybe after this, Black Rose will get nervous and start making some mistakes," Callie suggested.

"I hope so," Joe said. "I really want something to break in this case soon."

"I wouldn't count on it," Frank replied dismally.