J.M.J.

Author's note: It worked to post while I was gone! I should have had two chapters ready to go. That way there wouldn't have been such a wait. Maybe to make it up to you, I'll post the next chapter tomorrow…In any case, thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to MargaretA66, max2013, Candylou, BMSH, ErinJordan, and caseykam for your reviews on the last two chapters! I love reading what each and every one of you has to say. In particular, I love hearing your guesses about what will happen. Nobody quite guessed what was going to happen here with the meeting with Angelo, although I suspect nobody thought it was going to work out exactly right! I hope you enjoy! God bless!

Chapter XIV

Frank glanced at his watch. He couldn't look at his phone. Joe didn't have a phone at the moment, and that was a detail that Angelo definitely knew. So Frank had to look at his watch to see that it was ten minutes to two in the morning. He was standing on the pier which Angelo had designated. There was a quarter moon and no clouds, so it wasn't pitch dark. Out here on the pier, Angelo would see Frank before Frank saw Angelo. Frank had to be careful not to do anything that would arouse Angelo's suspicions. He tried to think what Joe would do, but then he told himself he was being silly now. Angelo didn't know them that well. Angelo would expect Joe to do what anyone would be doing while waiting for an unpleasant appointment: pacing around, tapping his foot, checking his watch. In other words, he'd expect exactly what Frank was already doing.

It was five minutes to two. It was still technically before the appointed time, but Frank was starting to get the feeling that Angelo wasn't going to show up. There was no reason to think that. There was still five minutes before he would even be late. Even so, Frank couldn't shake the feeling. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked out over the water as he continued to wait.

Somewhere, a clock struck two. There was a musical build-up that lasted nearly sixty seconds and then two solemn tolls from the bell. Frank looked all around him. There was no sign of Angelo. He was officially late now. He probably wasn't coming at all. Why not? Frank frowned as he tried to puzzle that out. Had he figured out there was a trap? Or had he never intended to come at all? What possible reason could he have for setting up an appointment he didn't intend to keep? The obvious answer would be that he wanted to keep Joe and possibly the police tied up at a particular time. Maybe Black Rose was up to some other mischief in another part of the city right this very moment.

Then another thought occurred to Frank. Maybe the meeting was just a way to get Joe out to a lonely place in the middle of the night so that the assassin could finally get to him. Frank looked around him. He was very exposed and there were several buildings lining the pier. A sniper could be in any one of them and pick him off easily.

If that was the plan, why hadn't he done it already? Frank had already been there close to an hour—Gomez had thought it best to get there early. It didn't make sense to wait until after the scheduled time for the meeting, since Frank—or rather, Joe, as they supposed—might have lost his nerve and left.

Time passed so slowly it seemed to stop. Frank moved to the best cover he could find, but he knew that he was still an easy target. Any moment, there could be a report from a gun and that would be it. Yet every moment, Frank felt that was more unlikely. He checked his watch again. 2:18.

"Hardy."

The word was spoken in a normal tone, which almost startled Frank more than a shout or a whisper would have done. He turned and saw Gomez a few paces away from him and quickly walking toward him. A sinking feeling hit Frank. Gomez wouldn't be calling off the meet this soon unless something had already gone down.

Then Frank noticed the flash of light in Gomez's hand. He was on the phone with someone.

"Hardy," Gomez said again. "Your brother is on the phone. We've got a problem."

HBHBHBHBHB

Waiting had never been one of Joe's strong suits, and it felt like he had done nothing but wait for one thing or another ever since his attack. He was tired, worried, frustrated, and just a touch angry, and there wasn't a single thing in the world he could do about any of it. Not only that, but there were so many people around the apartment, he felt like he couldn't walk across the floor without tripping over one of them.

At the moment, that was actually true. It was about one-thirty. Joe hadn't gone to bed. Once he had emerged from his room, he had sat right where he was at in sullen silence. His friends had all offered to stay up with him, but none of them had made it. Shaun was sprawled on the couch, snoring. Phil was sitting up with his back against the wall, but from the way his head was kinked to the side, he was fast asleep and in for a bad neck ache the next day. Tony had lain down on the floor, since there was nowhere else in the living room, and was sleeping with one hand buried in Axel's fur. The dog, too, seemed to be asleep. Even Callie and Mario had given into Morpheus, though they would fitfully wake up from time to time and try to stay awake. They never made it long. Joe was left alone with his thoughts.

His thoughts weren't particularly good company. Various incidents in his life—the hostage situation at the jewelry store a year ago, the explosion that had injured Iola, the day he had been shot, the adventure he and Biff had had in an old, haunted monastery in a small country on the border of China, the incident with Darcy two years before, rescuing Darcy earlier that day, the attack by Angelo almost two weeks ago—all ran through his head in no particular order, morphing together into nightmare proportions. He felt as if something dark was standing behind him, ready to seize him. He knew it was foolish, but he didn't dare look back. Maybe it wasn't so foolish. He'd seen enough to know that spirits were real and sometimes made themselves perceptible to living humans. That sent the whole incident at the monastery playing in his head again, as vivid as if it had happened the day before.

Involuntarily, Joe let out a sound that it wouldn't be unfair to call a whimper. He buried his face in his hands. "What's wrong with me?" he muttered.

The sound of his own voice was oddly comforting. It sounded so natural against the backdrop of all his unnatural fears and somehow brought him back to reality.

Tony stirred and blinked sleepily. "Did you say something, Joe?" he asked.

Joe sighed. "Just talking to myself."

Tony forced himself to sit up and rubbed his eyes, which caused Axel to raise his head. "That's not a good sign. What time is it?"

Joe glanced at his watch. "About one thirty-five."

"Almost time then," Tony observed.

The regular rhythm of Callie's breathing changed slightly, and they knew that she was close to waking up. At once, they both fell silent until her breathing had returned to what it had been.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," Joe said suddenly, bolting up out of his chair as if he had to break a bond to stand up.

He knew that going outside at any time of the day or night was risky for him right now, but it didn't seem too foolish at the moment. Angelo and possibly the assassin thought he was down at the pier. No one would be looking for him in his own apartment. The thought did cross his mind that he ought to take the gun that his father had insisted on him keeping with him, just in case, but he dismissed it almost as soon as he had thought it. He wouldn't use it even if the worst did happen—he couldn't—so taking it along was pointless.

Once he was outside, he felt a little better. Everything was normal. The world hadn't been swallowed up into some dark horror. He hadn't really been afraid of anything as childish as that, but it was surprisingly reassuring to find that it hadn't happened, anyway.

He heard the door open and close behind him and he saw that Tony had followed him outside. Axel, too, had come out and began sniffing around the porch.

"You know, I don't need a bodyguard just to stand on my own porch," Joe said irritably.

Tony shrugged. "It's my porch, too, and maybe I need some fresh air, too."

Joe rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. "I think I'm losing my mind."

"Understandable, under the circumstances." Tony gave him a sidelong look. "Personal question, but why did you come out here? I mean, why did you give up detective work? For a long time, it seemed like the only thing you cared about."

"Maybe there are other things I should care about," Joe muttered. He folded his arms and then said in a louder tone, "I don't know. I…" He trailed off as Axel growled.

"Shush, Axel," Tony told the dog absently. "You know, trite as it sounds, running away doesn't solve anything."

"I'm not…" Joe cut himself off in mid-denial. "I don't need another lecture right now. I've gotten nothing but lectures since my family showed up. I just wish I knew how to live my life as well as everyone else seems to."

"It's just easier to see the solutions to other people's problems than it is your own."

"What problems do you have?"

Tony stuck his hands in his pockets and didn't answer right away. Axel growled again, but neither of the friends paid any attention to him. "I don't know. I just need to do something with my life, I guess, and it seems like if I had found something that I liked to do and was good at and could make a living doing it, it would be a no-brainer to do it."

Joe looked at the ground. "I get your point, but I'm not so sure I'm good at detective work after all."

Suddenly, Axel let out a louder growl than he had done yet. He sprang off the porch around the corner. Then there was a barely perceptible zap and Axel whimpered.

Tony and Joe rushed around the corner to see what had happened. The shadows were dark here, but they could see the outline of the dog lying on the ground. Then Tony gasped and fell to the ground just as Joe heard another zap. He whirled around a found a taser thrust in his face. The person holding it pressed the trigger again, and Joe saw the end spark with electricity.

"You don't listen so well, do you, Joe?" the person holding it asked.

Joe recognized the voice at once. "Angelo."

"I told you to meet me down by the pier, and here you are," Angelo replied. "I'm betting your brother and a bunch of cops are down at the pier. I had a feeling you were going to try to double cross me."

"Like when you pepper sprayed and then stabbed me?" Joe asked, although he kept his voice down. He was really starting to wish that he had brought the gun. Just threatening Angelo with it might have been enough, but now he was at the criminal's mercy once again.

"Yeah, like that. By the way, I've got my knife with me again. You call for help, and I'll tase you, but I won't stab you again. I'll just cut your friend's throat." Angelo glanced at Tony's unconscious form and smirked. "It must be my lucky day that the two of you came out. Otherwise, I would have had to find a way in."

"You're not a murderer," Joe said. "Why are you doing this?"

Angelo snickered. "You don't know anything about me. You don't get into Black Rose without proving your devotion to it with blood."

"I don't get it. Black Rose killed your parents. Why would you join them?"

"That's why," Angelo hissed. "I'm going to find the person responsible and I'm going to kill him."

Joe ran a hand through his hair. "You joined a secret society of assassins—probably killed innocent people—for revenge?"

"There are no innocent people. Everyone's got blood on their hands in one way or another, even if they cover it with kid gloves. But I didn't come here to talk philosophy with you. I came to make a deal."

"Then what's your deal?"

"You've caused Black Rose a lot of grief. You, your brother, your dad. They've got a contract out on you, all of you. I know who they gave it to. I can give you a name, pictures, everything. In return, I want you to give me a picture."

"A picture of what?"

"You remember Rudger?"

"Vividly."

Rudger had convinced Tony's sister, Lisa, to join an offshoot of Black Rose called School of Thought, which Black Rose was probably using to recruit new, young members. Later, he had tried to sell Black Rose out to the authorities, but he had been killed before he could. The only clues he had left had been a photograph he had entrusted to Lisa and his cryptic last words which he had spoken to Frank and Joe just before he died.

"So you know what picture I mean," Angelo went on.

"Yeah, I guess so. That's all you want? What is that picture, anyway?"

"You know. You saw it."

Joe could remember the photograph almost perfectly. He had made it a point to memorize it. It showed a group of people, most of them apparently from Asia. Joe had met one of them in real life, albeit he was much older now than he had been in the photograph. This man's name was Shun and he was the leader of Black Rose in the small country of Ziyou, which Black Rose had nearly succeeded in taking over completely. Shun, unfortunately, had escaped, but not before the Hardys had scared Black Rose out of Ziyou.

In the photograph, Shun was shaking hands with another man. This one was white and was as yet unidentified. The speculation was that he was the leader of Black Rose or at least one of the most important members.

"Why do you want to see it?"Joe asked.

"You know Shun, of course. The guy shaking his hand is Black Rose himself. The leader, the founder, the guy I'm going to kill. The problem is, nobody knows what he looks like."

"That's why Rudger called him the Faceless One," Joe said, recalling Rudger's dying words.

Angelo rolled his eyes and nodded. "That's what he wants to be called. He's got a real flare for the dramatic. Too bad it's so cringy. But he does have a point. Nobody knows what he looks like, except for a few trusted people, like Shun. That picture is possibly the only one of him in existence. I need it. I thought you might have it on your phone, which is why I stole it on the beach that day."

"I have more sense than to keep something like that on my phone," Joe retorted.

"Yeah, well, that just meant I had to do something more extreme. You can get your hands on it, can't you?"

"Probably. But you're doing all this just for that picture? You could have just asked. One more person keeping an eye out for this guy isn't something we'd refuse. And if you're mixed up in Black Rose, you'd have a better chance of spotting him than anyone else I know."

"Don't con me. I'm a wanted man. For murder. They're not going to let me run around and play double agent."

"Depends on who you asked for the photo."

"And even they did, they'd lock me up the second the mission was over. No thank you. I'm doing this my way."

"Does your way include sending those weird pictures to Mario?" Joe asked, suddenly remembering how the younger Beretta brother had gotten involved in the first place.

For the first time, Angelo wavered. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Doesn't matter. You know what I want you to do. Get the picture and I'll contact you later where to send it. And this time, you're going to follow my instructions to the letter."

"Because if I don't, you won't tell us about the assassin?"

"No, I won't, but that won't hurt you Hardys too much. You're clever enough, you might figure it out without my help. So I'm going to do something that's going to be a little more persuasive."

Joe saw Angelo's arm shoot out. He tried to block it with his own, but he wasn't fast enough. The taser connected with his skin and everything went dark.

HBHBHBHBHB

Joe awakened to a dog licking his face. He scrunched his face and tried to push the dog away. "Axel, wha…?" he tried to articulate, but he felt strangely numb all over.

He blinked and looked around him, trying to remember what happened. He was lying on the ground outside the apartment. It was dark, and it was just him and Axel out here.

Then, in a flash, it all came back to him. Angelo, the taser, the picture, Tony…Joe wildly looked around him, but he and the dog were completely alone.

"No, no, no, no, no," he muttered, getting up as well as he could in his unsteady condition. "Tony!"

There was no response. Joe hadn't expected one, but he had hoped anyway. He was on his feet now, and he lurched toward the door, which he threw open. The bang awakened everyone in the room, all of whom had been asleep.

"Joe! What happened?" Callie jumped up and ran to her brother-in-law's side.

"Angelo," Joe replied, trying to get his lips to work right.

"What about Angelo?" Mario asked as he, Phil, and Shaun reached Joe's side, too.

"Where's Tony?" Phil added.

"Angelo came here," Joe managed to get out. "I need to call Gomez right away. Angelo took Tony."