J.M.J.

Author's note: Thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to Candylou and max2013 for your reviews! I hope you enjoy the first actual chapter of this story. God bless!

Chapter I

The woman who answered the door looked askance at the police officers who had knocked. She didn't offer a word of greeting to either one.

Officer Burns cleared his throat. "Ma'am? Did you call the police?"

"I did," the woman admitted. "The neighbors were having a terrible fight. You could hear them all over the neighborhood. They've quieted down now. I don't think you'd better go over there."

Just then, there was a loud crash in the house next door and a feminine scream. A male voice began shouting.

"It sounds like they're back at it now," Burns said. "We'd better go talk to them, Frank."

He and his partner, Officer Frank Hardy, who was still on probation, made a move to step away from the door.

"No!" the woman said, making them both stop to look at her. "I don't want you to go over there. The Crawfords aren't bad people, even if their fights do get out of hand sometimes. I wouldn't want you to just go over there and make things worse."

"We're not going to make things worse, ma'am," Burns assured her. "We won't tell them that you called us, if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh, it's not that," the woman said. "I've called the cops on them before. It's just that the other times, they sent competent officers."

The word cut into Frank like a knife. He tightened his jaw, glad that Burns was the senior officer. Burns glanced back at him and then turned to the woman again.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, ma'am," Burns lied.

Frank knew it wasn't true. Ever since he got back on the job after he had recovered from a minor injury to his arm, he had been hearing this over and over again, but every time, Burns pretended he didn't know what was going on. He didn't want to give the accusations the dignity of an acknowledgement.

"Well, I suppose you're all right, officer," the woman told Burns. "I don't understand why you still have him on the police force."

Frank closed his eyes, willing himself to have more patience than he really did. "I'll go radio another unit, Burns." He started walking back to the car.

"Hold up, Frank," Burns told him, and Frank stopped. Burns looked at the woman again. "I assure you, ma'am, Officer Hardy is a competent police officer. We'll handle this situation from here." He gestured for Frank to follow him as he started toward the neighboring house.

Frank dragged his feet as he followed. "It's no good, Burns. I'm not going to be able to help. Those people won't listen to a word I say. That woman's probably right. I will just make things worse."

"You're going to have to stop with the self-pity, Frank," Burns told him. "I know a lot of people believe all that nonsense about you and your family, but that doesn't mean you have to go around, proving them right. You're a competent officer. Believe me, if you weren't, you wouldn't still be wearing that badge."

"If I was, Tony Prito would still be alive right now," Frank muttered.

Frank's brother, Joe, had been living over in California, with their old friends, Tony Prito and Phil Cohen, as roommates, along with a native Californian named Shaun Stane. Angelo had attacked Joe one evening, warning him that there was a contract out on him and that Angelo would give him more information if Joe helped him with something in return. Angelo claimed that all he wanted was a copy of a picture showing the leader of the mysterious Black Rose so that Angelo could identify him and kill him, but his plan for getting it was so convoluted that Frank had a hard time believing that that was really his only objective. He knew Joe didn't believe it, either. In any case, the whole situation had spiraled out of control, and it had ended with Tony getting kidnapped and killed. Frank, Joe, and Frank's wife, Callie, had nearly rescued Tony, but they had been minutes too late. Frank and Angelo had gotten into a stand-off, with Angelo using Tony as a human shield. Just as Angelo had been about to shoot at Frank, Tony had thrown his aim off. He had probably saved Frank's life, but he had paid for it with his own. If that wasn't bad enough, Frank hadn't even been able to catch his murderer.

It was no secret that confidence in the Hardys had been utterly destroyed. What made matters worse was that Frank agreed with the critics. He had made so many mistakes on that case. Joe had, too, but Frank was definitely far more to blame than his brother, in his estimation. There was no escaping the guilt. Not out in the streets as he worked and not in the safety of his own home where it kept him up at night, gnawing at him.

"We'll talk about this after we handle this domestic," Burns said. "Let's go."

Frank knew that Burns wasn't looking for an argument. Listlessly, he followed him.

The couple in the neighboring house were too furious at each other to recognize Frank, if they even knew who he was at all. It had always been a relief to meet someone in town who didn't know Frank, but it was doubly so now. It took about forty-five minutes of talking to them to calm them down enough that they would stop yelling and throwing things at one another. By the time, Frank and his partner had left, the couple seemed to have made up.

Burns settled himself behind the wheel of the patrol car. "You see? You didn't make that worse."

"That was only because they didn't know me, so they couldn't get all worked up about how incompetent I am," Frank replied. "With most people in town, we wouldn't be so lucky. They might not know me personally, but they've heard of me by now. Even if I really am a decent officer like you say, it doesn't make any difference. People don't trust me anymore, and I can't do my job that way."

"You'll win their trust back, or they'll simply forget the whole thing. You've just got to give it time."

"There isn't time," Frank insisted. "I know the chief has been trying to keep it from me, but I also know that the city council has been pressuring him to fire me, and he can't keep on refusing forever. They'll just fire him and then fire me, anyway. I can't let that happen."

"If the city council wants to fire Chief Collig after all the years he's put in…" Burns didn't finish the thought.

"Then they'll do it," Frank finished for him. "It would be better for everyone if I just resigned."

Burns shook his head almost in annoyance. "The review board went over the entire incident. They listened to what you said, what your brother said, what your wife said. They talked to the California police who were on the scene. They determined that you handled the situation to the best of your ability. Chief Collig and the rest of the department are going to stand with you. You don't have to let public opinion ruin your whole life."

"I know what the review board found. And if it was just me, I wouldn't care what everyone else is saying, but it's not just me. Like I said, I'm putting Chief Collig's position in jeopardy, as well as everyone else in the department who stands up for me. I'm undermining the trust that the general public has in the police, which means that people will be less likely to call us and less likely to cooperate, and that will make the entire city more dangerous."

"I think you're exaggerating a little…"

Frank was about to refute the charge, but his phone buzzed. Grateful for the distraction from the current topic, he looked at the text that had just come in from Sam Radley. Instantly, a chill washed over him and he closed his eyes. "No."

"What is it?" Burns asked.

Frank breathed a heavy sigh. "They let Evangeline out. That's not what any of us needed right now."

HBHBHBHBHB

Joe had gotten his own text at about the same time as Frank. He was Frank's younger brother by only a little more than a year. Growing up, they had always been closer than most siblings, but the last year had put a strain on things. When Joe had moved to California, they had very nearly been completely torn apart. It was only after Tony had been killed that they both realized how petty and unimportant their squabble was. Joe had come back to Bayport, and they had been on better terms ever since, although the wounds were taking far longer to heal than it had taken to inflict them.

Right now, Joe was sitting in his dad's office, staring at his phone and rubbing his hands together in front of his mouth as if he was trying to stay warm. The screen had gone dark, but he knew what the text had said. He didn't doubt for a moment that Eva would be coming after their dad, Sam, and Mario sooner than later. She probably already had a plan. No doubt, that's what she had spent the last five years thinking about, in between playing the part of the model prisoner, of course. Naturally, there would be a parole officer keeping a close eye on Eva, possibly a requirement that she wear a tracking device, and there would be restraining orders to keep her away from her potential victims. She was clever enough not to let any of that stop her.

Abruptly, Joe grabbed his coat from the hook where it was hanging and headed outside. The air and the ground were frosty, even if no snow worth mentioning had fallen yet. His German shepherd, Axel, followed him, and Joe let him in his car. Axel had been Tony's dog, but Tony's family hadn't been able to keep him. When Joe had offered to take him, they had gladly agreed. Joe was glad about it. He was realizing now how important it was for him to have something to take care of and keep going for, even if it was only a dog.

He drove out to the cliffs to the north of Bayport. He and Frank and their friends had spent a lot of time exploring these cliffs when they were younger, both for fun and for mysteries. Standing on the top of those cliffs and looking out over the bay sounded like a good place to stand and think.

There was a footpath along the top of the cliffs that led to an outcropping. It wasn't until Joe had walked most of the way when he realized he wasn't the only one who had come out here to look at the sea from this vantage point. There was a dark-haired young woman sitting on a horse, which was standing with one of its back hooves cocked, as if it had been there for awhile and had decided to relax rather than worry about going on.

The woman herself was bundled up in a heavy coat and knit cap and she had her back toward him. Joe wouldn't have necessarily recognized her from this angle, but he recognized the horse. Its name was Jackson, and so its rider could only be Iola Morton.

Immediately, a flood of emotions and memories washed over Joe. It was such a confused jumble that Joe didn't even try to analyze it.

He had known Iola since before he could remember. Iola's parents had been some of the first friends that Fenton and Laura Hardy had made when they moved to Bayport, so Frank and Joe and Iola and her brother, Chet, had all grown up together. Even as other boys joined the ranks of the Hardys and their friends—Tony, Phil, Biff Hooper, Jerry Gilroy, to name the principal ones—Iola had continued to tag along with them at times. There were so many memories from those innocent, happy days, all full of the ups and downs of childhood. Then there had been that great and terrible day when Joe had first realized and acknowledged that he didn't just like Iola as a friend; he had what would bluntly be called a crush on her. The word "crush" didn't do it justice. It wasn't the shallow and frivolous fluttering of the heart that the word suggested, but Joe wasn't sure it could rightly be called "love". Much time had rolled by before Joe had worked up the courage to ask her out on a date, only to find, to his joy, that she returned his favor. That first date that they had planned hadn't happened. One of Evangeline's people had thrown a grenade at Joe and Iola, and Iola had been seriously injured in the blast. For several years, she had been confined to a wheelchair, although she had made slow but steady progress since then so that she could walk fairly well now, even if she probably would never regain her full mobility.

But the use of her legs wasn't the only thing that was lost in that blast. It was almost like it had doomed the relationship from the start. One thing or another was always preventing them from going on dates or even talking to each other. Little by little, they had grown apart, like a tree with a split trunk. Finally, a year or so ago, they had agreed to part ways. There was only one decision in his life that Joe regretted more than that.

For a few moments, Joe was tempted to turn around and leave, hoping that Iola wouldn't see him. However, Axel barked, and Iola turned to look. Her eyes met Joe's and widened with surprise.

"Um, hi," she said after an awkward pause.

"Hi," Joe replied with a nod.

Another awkward silence followed. Once again, it was Iola who broke it.

She cleared her throat. "I, uh, didn't expect to run into anyone here. I just wanted to come and think for a while."

"Yeah, me, too," Joe said.

Iola's eyes moved to Axel, who was sitting next to Joe, his head tilted to one side. Then she looked back at Joe. "If you'd rather, I could go."

"No, you were here first." Joe stuffed his hands in his pockets. "If…if you didn't mind, maybe we could talk, since we're here anyway."

Joe would have expected either a yes or a no in answer to the suggestion, but instead, Iola's eyes became teary and she looked away. "I'm so sorry, Joe. So sorry."

That took Joe thoroughly off-guard. "Sorry for what? You haven't done anything."

"That's it. I should have. I…I wanted to talk to you the day of…of Tony's funeral, but I couldn't get up the nerve. There hasn't been a day since then that I haven't thought that I ought to call you, but I just didn't. I'm so, so sorry. I know these last few months have been hard on you, and I haven't been there for you at all."

Joe ventured a few steps closer. "Hey, there's nothing to apologize about. You don't owe me anything. We broke up."

"But we're still friends. At least, I'd always hoped we could be, if we couldn't be anything more than that. I should have been there for you."

"It's not as simple as that between us," Joe insisted. "It's been a hard time for all of us. We all needed to look out for ourselves or we wouldn't be any help to anyone else. I…I wasn't ready to talk to you, Iola. I'm not so sure I'm ready now. So if we're going to talk at all, let's not argue or try to figure out who's to blame, okay?"

"Okay." Iola took in a deep breath and looked out over the bay, reaching down to stroke Jackson's neck.

A minute or two elapsed without either saying anything. They couldn't think of anything natural to say to one another.

Finally, Joe asked, "It's a cold day to be out riding."

Iola shrugged. "A little, maybe. I don't mind. I love riding."

That had always been true, but Joe had the impression that it had become even more true since Iola's accident. She had only started to make progress in mobility when she had decided to try riding a horse again. She had found a therapist who worked with horses, and with his help, the riding had actually helped her. Joe knew he ought to be grateful to that therapist for all he had done for Iola, but he couldn't help bearing a slight grudge against him. The man had his practice down in Texas, and so Iola had had to spend a lot of time there. That had been one of the major obstacles to Joe and Iola's relationship that they just couldn't seem to overcome.

Once again, guilt struck Joe, but he didn't say anything about that. It was a silly way to feel. Besides, his mysteries had caused them to be apart just as much. However, it did remind him of the reason why he had come out here in the first place.

"Iola, there's something I should warn you about."

"What?" Iola turned to him, for the first time looking him directly in his eyes.

It threw Joe off enough that he stumbled around a few seconds before he said, "You remember Evangeline, right?"

"I'm not likely to ever forget her."

"She's been trying ever since she got convicted to either get the conviction overturned or get parole."

Iola took in a sharp breath. "You're not saying she succeeded?"

Joe nodded. "I just got the word a little while ago. They gave her parole."

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no," Iola groaned, closing her eyes as if she was in pain.

"Maybe you'd better keep away from all of us, just to be safe."

Instantly, Iola's eyes snapped back open. "I'm not worried about myself, silly. I'm worried about you and your family and the Radleys. She's not going to come after me. But they can't let someone like that out. She's a murderer and she's only served five years."

"I know." Joe sighed. "I really thought we'd never have to worry about her again."