A/N: As always, a big thank you to Caranath, max2013, Guest, zenfrodo, BurnedSpy, Stork Hardy, Future Animator, Kenna, Jackie, Vinsmouse, bhar, Guest and ILoveMom! You made my day! Thank you to anyone reading as well!

Chapter 30

Emily left the library five minutes before Joe did and rode the elevator up to the penthouse. She took a deep breath before she entered the suite, hoping she looked calm and collected…not hot and bothered. Which she definitely was, after the intense make out session she'd had with Joe downstairs. She couldn't help smiling to herself. It had been exactly what she needed.

She opened the door and found everyone assembled in the living room on couches, with Kathy standing in the center of the room looking very smug and self-satisfied. Warning bells started clanging in Emily's head.

"What's going on?"

Frank spoke first. "Um, Kathy said she had an announcement to make and she wanted all of us here for it."

Kathy turned to Emily, her expression ice cold, her eyes filled with hatred so intense, Emily took a step backwards.

"Where's Joe?" Kathy demanded.

Emily had a momentary flashback to the last few moments she'd spent with him in the library, and prayed she wasn't blushing.

"I have no idea."

Emily was summoning all the acting skills she possessed in order not to appear guilty. She hoped it was working.

"I can't make my announcement without him," Kathy insisted.

Louis stood from the couch.

"Well, I think you've wasted just about enough of my time. I have some reports I need to fax to your father's office, so if you'll excuse me..."

"Oh, there he is!" Kathy squealed as Joe opened the door.

Emily couldn't help smiling when she saw him. Joe's hair was a bit disheveled, although he'd managed to get his shirt tucked back into his jeans…for the most part. Too bad he had to go back to "Miss Bratty" for the moment. Although part of her did want to hear what Kathy's big announcement was. Maybe she'd solved her own case and they could all go home.

Emily was shoved to the side as Kathy pushed past her, skipping toward Joe excitedly. Too excitedly. Emily frowned and a sense of uneasiness passed over her.

Something was up…and it wasn't anything good.

OOO

Joe glanced around as he entered the living room and noticed everyone staring at him expectantly. Emily looked almost upset. If Kathy had said something nasty to her, he was going to let her have it. Right here in front of everyone.

"What?"

Louis crossed his arms in front of him.

"Kathy said you had some big announcement to make. We're all waiting with bated breath to hear what it could possibly be."

Joe exchanged glances with Frank, who shrugged his shoulders. Did Kathy know they'd found her out?

"Come here, honey. Don't be shy," Kathy insisted, reaching for Joe's arm and dragging him to the center of the room.

She smiled at him, her eyes a little too bright.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?"

Joe raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better, because I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kathy giggled and gave him a little slap on the arm.

"He's just being silly."

Joe looked around the room at the expectant faces of Tammy, Lauren, Louis and Simone and then at the baffled faces of Nancy, Emily, Bess and Frank. A sense of impending doom fell over him. What the hell was Kathy up to now?

"What we want to tell you is...Joe has asked me to marry him. We're engaged!"

Loud squeals erupted from Tammy and Lauren as they pounced on Kathy, who eagerly showed them a very large diamond ring on her left hand.

Louis moved over to Joe.

"I don't know what the hell the senator is paying you for this job, but I'm going to send him a fax right now demanding that he give you a bonus. A substantial one." He patted Joe on the back before walking out of the suite.

Simone gave him a tight smile as she left the room.

Joe was stunned. Had he heard Kathy correctly? His eyes shot to Emily who was standing with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. He shook his head and she gave him a wan smile in return.

Joe stepped over to his brother who was standing with his jaw clenched and his lips in a tight line.

"Did she just say I asked her to marry me?"

Frank sighed. "Yeah. Listen, you need to take her to dinner and end this charade right now. She's obviously taking this 'boyfriend' thing too far."

"No kidding. This ends tonight, Frank."

Joe was definitely done. Being with Emily earlier had only made him miss her all the more, and he was finished being Kathy's "boy toy". No matter how much the senator was paying him, it wasn't worth it. And now that he had irrefutable proof that Kathy was guilty, he wasn't going to do this for one more minute.

Kathy ushered her girlfriends over to the bar, waving her hand with the diamond ring on it the whole way.

"I'm worried she's crossed the line, Joe," Frank said in a low voice. "I think she actually believes what she's saying. You'll need to be very careful how you approach this."

"Yeah, well right now I feel like shouting out the truth to the whole damned room," Joe fumed. He paused and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll take her down to the restaurant. You wait about fifteen minutes then head down there yourself. Judging by this little performance, I think I'll need some back up."

"Maybe I'll bring Nancy, too. A woman's perspective, and all that." Frank clapped Joe on the shoulder. "Good luck, bro."

"Yeah, thanks," Joe muttered as he headed toward the bar. "Um, Kathy," I'd like to spend some time alone with you. How about we go to the restaurant now?"

"Oh, honey, you're so sweet," she cooed. "Of course we can spend some time alone."

She hurried over to him, and before Joe knew what was happening, she'd kissed him soundly on the lips.

Joe jumped back startled.

Emily coughed.

"Okay," Joe said through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to wipe his hand across his mouth. "Let's go then."

Kathy took his arm, and instead of heading to the door, steered him past Emily.

"Oh, Emily, I don't think you got a chance to see my ring."

She held her left hand out directly under Emily's nose.

"It's gorgeous," Emily said. "And a whole lot bigger than Joe should be able to afford on a detective's salary. What is that, three carats?"

"Four," Kathy said. "It's a little expensive, but he thinks I'm worth it."

"Oh, I'm sure he does."

Joe noticed the mischievous glint that came into Emily's eye and he squirmed. She was up to something here.

"We don't really want to have a long engagement. We're planning on eloping as soon as possible. He simply can't wait for the honeymoon." Kathy patted Joe's chest in a possessive gesture

Joe swallowed hard to push down the bile that rose from his stomach at that statement. She was freaking certifiable.

Bess snorted. "Sorry," she said, waving her hand in front of her face. "That was not the image I needed in my head."

Joe braced himself as he watched Emily give Kathy a conspiratorial smile and lean closer to her.

"I totally understand about the honeymoon. You know, the Bayport rumor mill says that Joe Hardy is absolutely amazing in bed. I just hope you can live up to his expectations."

Bess burst out laughing.

Emily took a step backwards and studied Kathy, then furrowed her brow and sighed.

"You are going to have your work cut out for you though. He only sleeps with real women, you know. Not underdeveloped high school girls."

Joe's jaw dropped. What the hell was Emily doing? And Bess? She was not helping either. He tugged on Kathy's arm before Emily could say another word.

"Come on, Kathy. I want to talk to you. Now."

If he made it through this damn assignment it would be a freaking miracle.

OOO

Emily watched as Joe dragged Kathy through the door of the suite and slammed it behind him. Lauren and Tammy hurried off to their bedroom, discussing wedding plans the whole way, and Bess collapsed against Emily, holding her sides and shaking with laughter.

"That was…priceless!" Bess paused to take a breath, then burst into laughter anew. "Did you see her face? Oh my gosh, Em. You totally let her have it. 'Underdeveloped high school girls?' She was actually speechless. That was awesome."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Joe's going to kill me."

"So what? It was totally worth it." Bess wiped her eyes. "Besides, she deserved all that…and more. What a little bitch she is."

Nancy strolled over to them. "High five, Em. Joe's pissed, but you win."

Emily slapped Nancy's hand, then sank into the sofa with a deep sigh. "It wasn't very professional of me. Seriously guys, I don't even know where that came from."

Nancy sat down beside her. "It came from the fact that you have reached your limit with Kathy's asinine behavior. And rightfully so."

Bess laughed. "Joe's not even my boyfriend, and I reached my limit about three days ago."

"You won't have to worry about Kathy anymore after tonight, Em. I promise," Frank said.

"Why not?" Emily asked. "Apparently now she's going to marry Joe."

"She's the stalker. Joe's going to confront her with the evidence right now."

"What?" Emily exclaimed. "She's her own stalker?"

"I'm afraid so." Frank crooked his finger. "Follow me."

He led the girls into the bedroom he shared with Joe and showed them the scrapbook.

"Oh. My. Gosh," Bess said. "This girl is whacked. And not the ordinary kind of whacked. She's the Mrs. Rochester, Mrs. Danvers, 'I'm going to the burn the whole house down while I scream maniacally', kind of whacked."

Emily couldn't help laughing at that. Not to mention, she thought it was one hundred percent true.

"We also found a bunch of rough drafts of threatening notes she wrote as the stalker," Frank continued. "It's pretty cut and dried."

"She made all of this up so she could get Joe," Nancy explained. "He's posing as her boyfriend, not because she needed a detective, but because she wanted Joe to be her boyfriend."

"Wow," Emily whispered.

She flipped through the pages of photos, newspaper clippings and stories about Joe. There were hearts and kiss marks everywhere. Actual lipstick prints…right across Joe's photos. It disgusted and terrified Emily all at the same time.

Emily looked up at Frank. "What is she going to do when Joe confronts her with this? She's going to be really upset."

"I'm headed down there right now," he assured her. "I don't think she'll cause a scene in the restaurant. Too many people around."

"I hope you're right."

Because Emily was doubtful. This girl wanted Joe. And Kathy Martin always got what she wanted.

Frank was about to say something else, when Louis burst through the door.

"My handgun is missing."

OOOoooOOO

Joe led Kathy into the restaurant downstairs without saying a word. He was so mad at the moment that he was afraid that whatever came out of his mouth would completely screw up this case.

Kathy was chattering nervously the entire time.

"I know I took you by surprise upstairs, but I felt it was what we needed to do. Tammy and Lauren were starting to doubt that our relationship is real, and–"

"Our relationship isn't real, Kathy," he interrupted.

"I–I know that," she said, as Joe pulled out a chair for her. "But, you don't seem to be getting anywhere with the stalker, and so we're probably going to have to be together longer than we originally thought..."

She paused as the waiter approached, handing them menus.

"We're not going to be together longer than we thought," Joe said.

He would try and be gentle with her. But he was going to be firm. She was not going to have any doubt in her mind what Joe thought of this whole "relationship" and her behavior by the time he was finished.

"B-but, you have to solve my case," Kathy protested, laying her menu on the table without a glance. "You have to keep being my boyfriend."

Joe caught her gaze and held it. "I'm not your boyfriend, Kathy. I'm a detective your father hired. This isn't my real life. You are not a part of my real life."

Tears welled in her eyes. "I know that's how it started out, Joe, but I thought...I thought maybe you were beginning to have feelings for me."

Joe sighed as the waiter approached the table to take their order. He handed him the menu. "I'm not very hungry. I'll just have a cola."

"Very good, sir." The waiter turned to Kathy. "Mademoiselle?"

"Um, I'll have a garden salad. Dressing on the side."

The waiter gave a slight bow as he walked away.

"Kathy," Joe began. "You might as well know the truth. I have a girlfriend. In fact, you've met her. It's Emily."

Kathy began shaking her head as Joe leaned forward to continue.

"She's the one I'm going to marry, Kathy. Not you."

"That's not true," she whispered. "Don't you see? It can't be true."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not what I planned."

Joe sighed heavily. Good grief this chick was spoiled. He pulled the notes out of his pocket.

"Look, I didn't want to have to be this blunt with you. We found these today. We know you're the stalker. It's over, Kathy."

Kathy stared at the notes in Joe's hand and started visibly trembling. "Why are you doing this? Why are you ruining everything?"

"What am I ruining?"

"Everything," she wailed. "You and me. We're supposed to be together. You're supposed to fall in love with me. We're supposed to get married."

"I'm in love with Emily."

"No, no you're not." She shook her head vigorously. "You just think you are. Sh-she has you under some sort of spell. All of that in the library...she was just tempting you, Joe. You really belong to me. If you just stay away from her and marry me, it'll all work out."

Joe looked at her sharply. "The library? You were the one who was in there? You saw me with Emily?"

Shit. That couldn't be good. He was all over Emily in the library. And Kathy had seen every minute of it.

"Yes, but I know it didn't mean anything. She's beautiful. That's why you were kissing her. That's the only reason."

Kathy had a wild look in her eyes that gave Joe pause.

"Yes," he said cautiously. "Emily is beautiful, but that's not why I was kissing her. I love her. We belong to each other. She's going to be my wife someday."

"No!" Kathy cried, loudly enough to cause nearby patrons to glance their way.

Joe reached out and touched the hand she was resting on the table cloth. He needed to calm her down. Kathy wasn't reacting the way he thought she would. He expected a tantrum, not a total denial of reality.

"Look, you won't be prosecuted for what's happened. Your dad will get you help. You can overcome this."

Kathy cocked her head to one side and frowned. "Overcome this? Overcome what? It's very simple, Joe. You and I are getting married."

She lifted a handgun to the edge of the table, aiming it at Joe.

"Tonight."