The door behind Joe squeaked closed and he wrinkled his nose at the rain falling from the canopy of a small gifting store in the outskirts of Bayport. It was supposed to be summer after all! He could only hope the weather would improve by the time he'd make it to New York. It usually was hard enough to drag Frank away from his studies and the rain would make it worse, giving him another reason to stay in-home. As Joe started towards the car, a smile curved on his face at the image of his brother getting his gift.

"Erm, excuse me?" a female voice called from behind and he turned to see a middle aged woman by a silver Toyota Rav 4, with a helpless look in her eyes. "Do you know anything about the cars? Mine doesn't start and I'm- I'm just officially blonde about it," she smiled sheepishly.

"Sure," Joe nodded. "Can you try to start it?"

The woman climbed behind the wheel when he lifted the hood. The car bleated for a few seconds and died away. Joe scratched his forehead and leant further to see the insides of the vehicle.

"It moved just fine, then there was this funny noise from the hood and I had to stop," the woman said, coming to stand to the left of him.

"You left the car out of your site lately?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because someone messed up with your spark plugs, they're ripped off," Joe pointed inside the hood.

The woman's eyes went wide. "Oh my- why would anyone do that? Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, give me a moment. But whoever did this is no good- neither to you for doing this in the first place, nor at trying to break your car, because it's easily fixable. You have enemies?"

She thought for a second before nodding.

"Well, make it up before they do something more serious," Joe unbent from under the hood. "Try the ignition again?"

"Oh- can you try that? Maybe I'm doing something wrong there…" the woman blabbered with an awkward smile.

"I don't know why I got behind the wheel, because right then I knew something fishy was going on," Joe said with a sigh, his eyes lowered to his hands. "I mean, she was blonde and everything, but even blondes can start the car, right?"

Chief Collig gave him a soft smile. "You never know with the women."

Frank snorted to the comment, but remained silent. They were in Joe's hospital room, along with his father and Con Riley, to hear the story of Joe's disappearance. It was a week after his awakening and he insisted he was strong enough to recall the details.

"So- I got behind the wheel," he went on.

There was a rustle from behind and a barrel of a gun was pressed into his ribs. "Try something and I'll shoot," a man said from the back seat.

The blonde woman shut the hood closed and rushed to get into the passenger's seat.

"What's all it about?" Joe asked calmly, though his heart started to drum.

"It's all about doing as I say, no tricks," the woman held her own gun at him. "You drive and you live. You pull a trick and he'll kill your brother," she nodded at the man. "Go get his car and I'll see you at the place?" she said to him, never taking his eyes off Joe.

"If I know anything happened along the way, dear Frankie will be dead, I promise you," the man hissed and left the car, satisfied with the alarmed look in Joe's eyes in the rear-view mirror.

"I watched him drive away in my car. We waited a minute before she told me to go. I drove off."

"What was the destination?" Fenton asked from the seat next to his son's bed.

"Dunno," Joe shook his head. "She said to make a turn to the West and I did, because… you know," he glanced at Frank who put his face into his hands with a heavy sigh.

That was not the first time they were threatened like that, when criminals used the other brother as the target. Frank would gladly die himself to save his brother's life, as long as Joe was left alone, safe and sound. But knowing Joe had done just the same was heart-wrenching.

"She told you who they were?" Chief Collig asked.

"Not back then. I tried asking, but she would just give me stares and tell me to shut up. So we drove for a couple of hours and it was just irritating. I thought of leaving a trace, but- we just drove, I couldn't stop and do anything," Joe sniffed. "Thought I'd wait until we'd stop at a fuel station or anything."

The room fell silent. Frank exchanged glances with his father and saw the same worry in his eyes. Joe was obviously uncomfortable, but they needed to know the story to catch the woman.

"Did you know your own car crashed?" Con broke the silence.

Joe nodded. "She-she dialled him a number of times, but he was not answering. After an hour or so, she went crazy…"

"The number you are trying to call is not reachable," Joe heard her phone say into her ear and watched her hit the 'end call' button angrily. Armed women were bad. Armed and angry women were worse and he decided to keep his mouth shut. They were driving further to the West and deeper into the less populated areas, with fewer and fewer cars along the way. It's been four hours and his back hurt from sitting too much.

The woman tried to call again only to hear the same line. "Where the hell are you? Call back now!" she roared into the receiver.

Joe glanced at her. The woman's face was a mixture of anger and fear now. Things were not going the way planned, he could tell, and he prayed the man hadn't got to Frank.

"She then decided to check the Internet, I think," Joe went on and rubbed his hands nervously. "She must have checked Bayport news or something, because she suddenly went ballistic- shaking her head, repeating 'no' all the time, shaking her hands…. I guessed something had happened to that guy…. She called someone, must be the police, because she asked about the accident with the car with my number and about the driver," he paused to exhale. "The driver was dead on spot."

Frank took his hand and squeezed it.

"She was silent. Shocked... Started to sob… I should have tried to grab the gun out of her hands, but I was- was thinking that you'd think it was me in there," Joe looked at his father who wore a pained look in his eyes. "Before I knew it, she started to scream and kick and…."

"You, bastard! He's dead! Dead!" she screamed, her eyes red with tears. "Your bloody family ruins everything! Your bloody father puts my husband in jail, now my brother is dead in your bloody car! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" she screamed between the sobs that shook her body. "You little miserable piece of-" She started to beat him with fists and the gun.

The car started to sway side to side and Joe had to hit the brakes before they crashed.

"I didn't have the belt on, so- I hit my head against the wheel. Badly. Couldn't see anything because of the blood. Could barely hear her scream at me again," Joe sighed. Frank's grip on his hand became stronger. "She said she'd drive and made me get into the passenger's seat. She was driving a hundred miles an hour, could barely follow the road bends and I seriously thought she'd kill us both."

"Did she make any stops?" Chief Collig asked.

"Once, to fill the tank. She left the car and I tried to get help, but my head was buzzing so badly I couldn't even move. Just glanced at her purse with cards, one had a name on it- Amanda Jeff. I blackened out then…. I came to when I fell out of the car- or rather she pulled me out of it. She had this crazy look in her eyes and I knew she- she…." His voice quivered.

Frank patted his hand. "You don't have to if-"

Joe shook his head, "No, I'm- I'll- better now." He inhaled deeply. "We were in the woods, I had no idea where or how far away we were from any towns or anything. She was hysterical… crying… swearing. I tried to stand up, but she kicked me down…. There was a knife and I got real scared. Told her I'd not press charges if she didn't do anything- but she kept screaming about her husband and brother, how we ruined her life…. I hoped somebody would hear her and come, but it was just a middle of nowhere…. I knew you'd look for me once you knew the driver was not me," he looked down at his shaking hands, damp with cold sweat. "But I knew if she killed me there…" he couldn't go on.

Frank daren't look at his brother.

The knife fell from the woman's hand and she put her shaking hands over her face, watching what she had just done. Blood was oozing out of the boy's chest and his face cringed in agony. She shook her head, as if not believing her eyes. She started to back away from the dying young man, still shaking her head, seeing him choke blood.

She picked up the knife and ran to the car.

"I…" Joe said over a lump in his throat. "I knew I was a goner…. Couldn't move…. Just waited. To die. But it didn't come…. Was slipping in and out of consciousness… Then an old man came... I was weak. Exhausted. Knew he was my last chance to let anyone know- to pass the message to you. He asked me something, I tried to say my name, to ask him to contact you- couldn't. Just couldn't… And then- nothing," his voice was barely a whisper.

"Will you be able to recognize her if you see her?" Con asked, his heart going out for him.

Joe nodded, unable to look up at anyone or utter a word.

The room was quiet for a few moments. Fenton stood up to walk to the bed and pull his younger son into a hug. Joe hid his nose into his father's neck and allowed him to comfort him.

"She'll never hurt you again," Fenton whispered into his ear, patting him on the back. "Nobody will ever hurt you again… Believe me?"

Joe nodded into his neck.

Amanda Jeff was found in Chicago the next day and charged with murder attempt. She was more astonished at the "attempt" incrimination rather than charge itself. "That son of a-" the door of the police car slammed shut behind her before the neighbours heard the end of it.