A/N: Thank you for the feedback, "Anonymous" and Virtute! I'm sorry if you find Emily a tad annoying, Anonymous. Obviously that wasn't my intention. LOL I did run her character through two separate "Mary Sue" litmus tests and she passed with flying colors. I will say in her defense that she has only known the Hardys for a week and she's a guest in their home, so she is trying to be as nice and sweet as she possibly can, given the circumstances. She does have issues and problems as any other normal person...some of which we'll see in this chapter. She's just not willing to put all of her faults on public display yet since she's only just met Joe and does want him to like her. LOL If I were "in her head" more in this story, you'd see some of them. But, if you still don't like her...I promise I won't force you read. ;-) Not every story is for every reader.

Virtute, I loved the idea of having a story where the boys were a little older and Fenton would have to deal with having a relationship with adult children. I had fun with this last scene...mainly because I love Fenton. LOL As far as TV show canon...all we know is that Laura passed away when the boys were very young and Aunt Gertrude moved in to help Fenton raise them. The drunk driver bit was mine. Other canon for the show has Chet Morton as a character, but not Iola. Callie as Fenton's office assistant, but not Frank's love interest. Vanessa Bender doesn't exist, since the TV series pre-dated the "Casefiles" incarnation of the "Hardy Boys". Thanks again to all reading and onto a chapter where there's a little break from the mystery (but we'll get right back to it in the next installment)!

Chapter 22

When they returned to the Hardy home, Emily retired to the guest room to unpack more things she'd brought from her house. Frank gestured to Joe who followed him into Fenton's office.

"What's up?" Joe asked.

"We need a game plan, here."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Frank paced the floor, lost in thought. "Okay, so whoever broke into Emily's house is clearly the same person who ransacked her office and trashed her locker."

"Which means he didn't find what he was looking for in either of those places."

"And he didn't find what he was looking for in her house either."

"Do you think he expected to find her there?" Joe wanted to know.

"Not sure." Frank sighed and turned to face his brother. "And the answer to that is going to be important."

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "If he thought she was away for the long weekend, he was only interested in whatever he thinks she has. And if he knew she was home..." He couldn't finish the thought.

"He really wanted to hurt her and couldn't because we arrived in time to stop him."

"You think he's the murderer?"

"I don't know."

"I don't want to scare her anymore."

"She's already scared."

"I know." Joe sighed. "I think I need to do something to distract her for awhile."

"Make out with her in a dark room?" Frank suggested with a grin.

Joe rolled his eyes then followed it up with a smile. "Not yet." He snapped his fingers. "I know. I have an assignment due in my photography class next week. I'll make her the subject and go shoot some photos."

"Sounds good. I need to finish a paper for my Shakespeare class anyway. Why don't we meet back here in a couple of hours and then we can get back to the case."

Joe nodded. "I think I need some time to clear my head anyway. Maybe something will come to me. We're missing something, you know. And I feel like it's something obvious."

Frank leaned against his father's desk. "Yeah, I feel like the key to this whole thing is right in front of us, and somehow we're just not seeing it."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Joe led Emily over to a bench in the park adjacent to the university campus. She inhaled a deep breath of the crisp autumn air and smiled at him, making his heart flutter in his chest. "Thank you for bringing me here. It's just what I needed."

He smiled back at her. "Thank you for agreeing to help me with my class assignment."

"Well, I'm not sure what you want me to do exactly..."

Joe reached down into his duffle bag and brought out his camera and a lens. "Just be yourself," he said, as he attached the lens and looked through the viewfinder at her. "Beautiful," he murmured, clicking the shutter.

She giggled. "You're making me feel self-conscious."

"Don't be," he replied, taking another few pictures right in a row. He stood and looked towards a grove of trees about twenty yards away. "Let's go over there. Then I can play with the shadows a little bit more."

He grabbed his bag and reached back for her hand. Emily placed it tentatively in his and they walked toward the trees.

"This will be perfect," he told her. "The leaves are just the right color."

"Are you sure you want me in the photos?" she asked. "I think some shots of these orange leaves against the deep blue sky would be stunning."

He turned and smiled at her. "I'm sure."

She hung her head and Joe could tell she was blushing. Hopefully that's a good sign, he thought as he paused at the edge of the grove and set his camera bag down. After looking through the viewfinder for a few moments, he gestured toward a nearby boulder. "Can you sit on that?"

"Sure." Emily scrambled up and looked down at him. "Now what?"

Joe took a few photos of her smiling at him then paused. "Why don't you kind of gaze out that way?" he gestured.

"Okay," she agreed. "How do you want me to look?"

"Just like you do now."

She giggled. "You're making this too easy. Tell me if you want me to do something special."

He shook his head as he held the camera up. "Nope, you're the perfect model."

She bowed her head shyly at that remark and he clicked the shutter in rapid succession. "Perfect again."

"Joe," she protested, turning to look at him, a huge smile on her face.

He took another shot, then winked at her over the lens. "I'm keeping that one for myself."

She blushed furiously and turned toward the field. Joe followed her gaze and spotted what looked like a bunch of guys from the university playing a spontaneous game of touch football. He glanced back at Emily. A flash of anger clouded her features, and she suddenly seemed very tense.

Joe lowered the camera. "Emily? Is something wrong?"

"N-no," she said, turning and giving Joe what he thought was a forced smile. "I'm sorry. I got distracted for a minute."

He looked down the field then back at her. Her head was bowed and she was staring down. "You know what?" Her eyes met his. "I think I've taken enough shots here. Would you mind if we changed locations? I want to get some with a more urban feel to them."

"Joe, really, I'm okay. You don't have to–"

"No, I mean it." He reached out to help her off the rock. "I think we could get some really cool photos in town. Maybe some on a fire escape or against a brick wall. Kind of with an edgy look. What do you say?"

"I say you are one of the nicest guys I've ever met." She smiled as they began to walk away from the grove. "And I would love to do that."

"Good." Joe walked beside her, watching her body language carefully as they got closer to the football game. He saw her stiffen visibly as a long pass came toward them and one of the players dashed back to catch it. Joe slipped his arm around her shoulders. The guy grabbed the football and turned to them. "Hey, Hardy!" he called out.

Joe surveyed Rick Hunter, a member of the university football team, a campus leader, and if he believed what most co-eds said, one of the best looking guys at school. "Hey," he replied.

Rick turned his gaze to Emily. "Hi, Emily."

She bent her head and avoided his gaze.

"You two out on a hot date?" he asked.

"Class assignment," Joe said in a cool tone of voice.

"Uh huh," Rick responded with a grin. He tossed to football back to his teammates who were calling for it, then looked at Emily once more. "Where've you been hiding Em? Haven't seen you around much."

Joe watched as she stared up at him with a cold look in her eyes. "This surprises you?" she asked.

Rick snorted and waved at her dismissively as he jogged back toward his frat brothers.

Joe kept his arm around her as they walked the rest of the way to the van in silence. He opened the door and she climbed into the passenger seat. He deposited his camera equipment in the back and got into the driver's seat. He looked over at Emily. Her head was bent and her hands were clenched tightly into fists on her lap. He started the engine. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

She sighed. "I don't want to drag you into my problems."

"If I didn't want to help, I wouldn't have asked."

"There's nothing to help with." She sighed again. "Let's just say that Rick Hunter and I have had some issues in the past.

A muscle tensed in Joe's jaw. "Did he hurt you, Emily?"

She smiled. "Not in the way you're thinking. He never took advantage of me...physically."

Joe's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "In what way did he take advantage of you?" He tried to keep the anger he was already feeling toward Rick Hunter out of his voice, and wasn't sure he'd completely succeeded.

She turned and stared out the passenger side window, as he pulled the van out of the parking lot and onto the street. As the silence continued, Joe began to worry she wasn't going to respond. He didn't want to push her. Trust me, Emily. Please trust me. He glanced in her direction as he went to make a left turn, and thought he saw her tremble slightly. You have to know by now I'd never hurt you. She shifted in her seat and then raised her green eyes to meet his blue.

"I've only ever told Stacey about this, because it makes me feel so stupid," she confessed.

"Honey, if he took advantage of you in some way, that's not your fault. It's his." Honey? Geez, Joe. Telling Con she's your girlfriend last night. Calling her "honey" today? What on earth is wrong with you?

She nodded. "I know. But I still feel stupid."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

She looked out the window again, and began to speak in a tone so soft, Joe strained to hear her. "It started freshman year. I was pretty naïve. I'm from Twin Lakes. It's about fifty miles from here and it's a really small town."

He nodded. "I've been there. It's a pretty place."

She smiled at him and Joe felt that familiar tightening sensation in his chest again.

"Well, I grew up fairly sheltered, I guess. My dad is an architect. My mom stayed home and raised me and my two older sisters. Anyway, when I came to Bayport, I thought I'd arrived in a sophisticated big city."

He chuckled.

"So, when this really cute guy, Rick, came up to me at a party and asked me out, I was flattered. Then I found out he was on the football team and a junior, and I couldn't figure out what he wanted with a freshman nobody like me."

I know exactly what he wanted. Joe felt himself seething inside.

"But, I thought dating him would be a good way to meet other people on campus, and he was so nice to me." She paused and stared outside for another long moment.

Joe pulled the van into an empty parking spot along a downtown street. "Then?" he prompted, keeping his voice gentle.

Emily sighed and the next sentence came out in a rush. "Well, to make a long story short, Rick made a bet with his frat brothers that he'd be able to 'have' me within a week. And then they decided they would need photos to prove it..." She paused for a moment to steady her voice. "So they set up cameras in the frat house to take pictures of Rick and me 'together', and then they were going to hang them on their conquest wall."

Her voice broke a tiny bit with the next sentence. "Pretty stupid of me to think he wanted a real relationship, huh?"

Joe muttered an expletive under his breath and thought that the next time he saw Rick Hunter he was going to knock him right on his ass. He turned to Emily and touched her shoulder gently. "Hey."

Her eyes, as they met his, were full of apprehension and something else, he thought. Dread? Fear? He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Rick Hunter is a first class jackass. And the next time I see him, I'm going knock his lights out for doing that to you."

She grabbed his wrist, a look of worry coming over her. "No. Please. It's over. Really. And, he knows exactly what I think of him and his stupid frat brothers." She slumped down in her seat. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell anyone."

Way to go, Hardy. She's pulling away again. "I'm sorry. I won't say anything to him if you don't want me to." He sat back in his seat. "Are you sure he didn't hurt you?"

She laughed. "No. He picked the wrong girl." She smiled at Joe. "He lost the bet...big time."

He chuckled. "I'm sure that destroyed his ego." He picked up her hand and held it gently in his own. "Please don't think all of us Bayport guys are like him though. Because we're not."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "I know you're not. You're one of the good guys." She stared through the front window. "The only problem was, Rick didn't let it go. He used the photos he had his frat brothers take of me and merged the negatives with those of some other girl's naked body. He put those up on the conquest wall and told everyone it was me." She sighed. "And then he put them up in the football locker room on the bulletin board."

Joe tried to keep his voice calm and even. "What happened then?"

Emily nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. "Luckily another friend of mine saw the photos and ripped them off the wall. Rick said it didn't matter because he still had the negatives."

"And?" Joe's jaw was clenched and he knew his response came out harshly.

"Well, my brother-in-law is an attorney and so I told my sister what happened," she sighed. "He came down to campus and visited with the football coach. Told him if we didn't have the negatives back in an hour with a sworn statement, we would sue. Right after he called the media."

She turned to look at Joe. "The coach didn't want a scandal, so he threatened Hunter within an inch of his life...not to mention with his position on the team and his scholarship. We got the negatives."

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Unfortunately, Rick's friends were really mad at me. I mean, really mad at me. They harassed me for a long time afterwards."

"What do mean by that?" Joe asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"They sent me mean letters, called me names, phoned my dorm and threatened me, followed me, spread nasty rumors, you name it." She blinked back tears. "I almost left school over it, but I just didn't want them to win."

"Don't tell me this is still going on?"

She shook her head. "No, my brother-in-law had another meeting with the coach and with the dean. It stopped right after that. It's been over a year, and I don't want to dredge it all up again, so please don't say anything to Rick."

"I won't. I promise."

"Fortunately, college kids have short memories and I don't think very many people knew about it. A lot of the football players involved have graduated, so it's really ancient history."

Joe gently rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand as he held it. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I wish I'd known you then. I would have helped."

She smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

He stared into her eyes, feeling himself getting lost in them again. As he started leaning in toward her, he sensed her pulling back just slightly. Not yet, Hardy. She's feeling vulnerable. He leaned past her and looked out the passenger side window.

"Hey, I see a fire escape. Should we go take some pictures?"

She smiled at him and he could see the relief in her eyes. "Definitely," she replied, squeezing his hand.

Joe smiled back. "Good. Let's go."