A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Virtute and Leya! LOL at your being suspicious of everyone, Virtute. I do the exact same thing when I'm reading a mystery. I would be a horrible detective in real life. Leya, I'm glad you like the romance. I'm a sucker for it in a story. As for Fenton, I always liked the way he was portrayed on the show. I think his relationship with his sons was much more casual and easy than was portrayed in the books. It felt more fun to me and I want my Fenton to follow that pattern. Thanks again for reading!

Chapter 32

Joe opened his eyes slightly as the morning sun spilled through the wooden blinds and across his face. Ouch. He closed them quickly. Why does my head hurt so much? He gingerly touched his hairline and felt the gauze bandage there. Oh yeah, because of the idiot who ran us off the road. He noticed a weight seemed to be lying across his chest and stomach and he gazed down as he tried to lift his eyelids again. Emily. She was curled up into him like a kitten, using his chest as her pillow. Her hand was splayed open across his stomach and Joe noticed that their legs were entwined. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. He'd never spent the night with a woman before. He'd had sex with a couple of women, but sleeping through the night cuddled together had not been a part of it. He glanced down and noticed they were both fully clothed. Sleeping together without sex was definitely new.

He felt Emily stir, and he brought his hand up to her hair and stroked it gently. He smiled again as she sighed softly and snuggled closer to him, still asleep. Contentment washed over him as he reached his other arm around her, wondering why this kind of closeness in his previous relationships had never felt right. He dropped a light kiss on top of Emily's head. It definitely felt right now. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and she took in her surroundings. He could see the panicked look on her face until she turned and caught his eye. It was replaced by relief as she hugged him with her free arm.

"Good morning." Her expression held a touch of shyness which made Joe smile.

"Good morning," he said in a soft, husky voice as he watched her. The smile on her face was like sunshine and he thought he wouldn't mind waking up like this every day. Yeah, like Aunt Gertrude would go for that.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like I was hit by a car, bounced my head off the dashboard a few times, and rolled into a ditch." He bent down and kissed her forehead. "How about you?"

Emily giggled. "Like I was attacked by a mad man in my own home, then two days later hit by a car and rolled into a ditch."

"You're one up on me."

"Yes, but my head didn't bounce off the dashboard." She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. "My new boyfriend threw himself on top of me and kept me from being hurt."

"Wow, he did? What a stud. I need to meet this guy."

"I think you'd like him."

"Yeah? Tell me about him."

Emily sank back into Joe's arms. "Hmm, let's see. Well, he's very good looking. And he's extremely smart."

"You think so? Smart?"

"One of the smartest guys I've ever met."

"Really? Let's hear some more."

"He's also very sweet."

"Sweet? That doesn't sound very studly."

"Oh, no, sweet is good." Emily propped her chin on Joe's chest and gazed into his eyes. "I like sweet guys."

"Okay," Joe nodded. "Just don't repeat that to his older brother. He'd never live it down."

She giggled. "He's also patient. Even when I was being very obstinate."

"You were obstinate?"

Emily nodded solemnly. "Very. I was letting my previous experience with dating cloud my judgment. Bad boyfriend history."

"Well, whoever you dated before this guy must have been a loser."

"Big time." She traced her finger along the morning stubble of Joe's beard. "Unfortunately, I kind of lumped all guys into that category. I know better now."

"So, you're not afraid to date this new guy?"

"I'm a little scared. I'm worried about my major and my career. It's a demanding one and the head of the department doesn't take too kindly to 'distractions' as he calls them."

Joe nodded. "I'm willing to bet your new boyfriend would be happy to lie low around the Art History department bigwigs."

Emily smiled. "That would be very considerate of him."

"I'm sure he wouldn't want to get in the way of your plans." Joe reached forward and slipped his hand around the back of her head, pulling her toward him. "He would want you to go for exactly what you want in life and support you in the best way he could."

"And I would do the same for him." Their lips were inches apart. "How do you know all this about him?"

Joe kissed her softly. "Well, like I said...he sounds like a stud. They're all pretty much like that." He brought his lips over hers, kissing her lazily and enjoying the warmth that spread through his body. After a few minutes, he leaned back and sighed with contentment. He twirled a strand of Emily's long hair around his finger. "You could mention that stud thing to his older brother though. That would be okay."

She winked at him. "I'll do that."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Joe, are you in here?" Frank called from outside the Wilsons' study door as he pushed it open. He found his brother lying on the recliner with Emily curled into him. He raised an eyebrow. "I guess I should have knocked."

Joe waved his hand. "You're fine. We already put our clothes back on."

Emily swatted at him. "You're bad," she said with a smile.

Frank cleared his throat. "Either one of you want to fill me in on what's going on?"

"Going on with me and Emily or going on with what happened last night?" Joe asked.

"Both." Frank sat on the sofa across from them and waited patiently.

Joe shrugged. "Um, some nut job tried to kill us by running us off the road and Emily and I are a couple now."

Frank leaned forward, clasping his hands together and smiled. "Well, congratulations on the couple thing. It's about time. As for the car thing..."

"Yeah." Joe winced as he adjusted himself in the recliner. "That's opened up a whole new can of worms."

Emily patted Joe on the chest. "I'm going to go see if Mrs. Wilson needs any help while you two do your detective thing. I can smell breakfast cooking from here."

Joe smiled at her and kissed her hand. "Save some for me."

"I'll make you something special." She leaned down and kissed his forehead, being careful to avoid his injury, and quietly slipped out of the study.

"Barf," Frank said with a grin.

Joe pointed a finger at him. "You just wait. As soon as I can get you and Nancy Drew in the same room again–."

"Stop it," Frank interrupted. "Let's get back to the case. What can you tell me about what went on last night?"

Joe explained as much as he could remember, while Frank took notes. After a few minutes, he shook his head. "I don't know. This guy was clearly out to kill you two. It's not the same MO as the guy who went after Emily before."

"You think it's someone different?"

"Maybe. Or maybe the guy who went after Emily is getting more desperate."

"Meaning, he couldn't find what he wanted from her, so now he thinks he needs to kill her?"

"Possibly. There's also the theory that maybe he was after you and not Emily."

"Me?" Joe looked surprised. "Why would someone be after me?"

"You are cursed, you know," Frank chuckled. He leaned back against the sofa and tapped his notepad with his pen. "Dad and I also found out some interesting stuff at the museum last night. We can try and put it all together when we get home. For now, let's see what the local police come up with here. There might be some clues at the crash site that could help."

"Well, we have to get Emily's car towed, that's for sure." Joe brought the recliner forward, and paused to allow the dizziness he felt to pass. "You know the guy shot at us. A bullet might help. Or even the paint on the car. He rammed into us more than once."

Before Frank could reply, Emily stuck her head around the study door. "Breakfast is ready. And there's a cinnamon roll with your name on it," she said to Joe.

"Thanks, baby," Joe said as he slowly stood up.

Frank moved forward to support him. "Double barf," he murmured under his breath.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

After a wonderful breakfast and a profuse round of thanks to the Wilsons, Frank, Joe and Emily piled into the Hardys' van for the short ride to the crash site. When they arrived, they found a tow truck getting ready to pull Emily's little Honda out of the ditch.

"Wow," Frank said as he walked around the van and surveyed the car lying on its side. "That must have been some impact." He put his hands on his hips and turned to his brother, who was walking towards him slowly, his arm draped over Emily's shoulder to steady himself. "You two are lucky you weren't hurt much worse than you were."

"No kidding," Joe replied, shaking his head. "It felt like we were falling down the Grand Canyon."

"We could have been shot, too," Emily added. "Joe was incredible. The way he drove the car and outmaneuvered that guy..."

"If I had truly outmaneuvered him, we wouldn't have ended up in the ditch."

"Baloney," Frank spoke up. "You would have ended up dead if you hadn't kept your head on straight." He patted Joe on the back and grinned at him. "Great job, bro."

"Thanks," he said. Then he sighed as he looked at Emily. "I'm sorry about your car."

She waved her hand. "It doesn't matter." She lightly touched the bandage on Joe's head. "I just wish you hadn't been hurt."

"I'm fine," he assured her.

"Joe has a hard head, Emily," Frank smiled. "For him, this is mild. Remind me later and I'll tell you about some of the trips he's taken to the ER. I think he has a plaque on the wall at Bayport General for 'Most Traumatic Injuries before Age Eighteen'."

She paled visibly. "I don't think I want to know anything about that."

Joe glared at him. "Frank is exaggerating." He ignored the snort from his brother and turned to Emily. "Why don't you sit in the van for a minute. We just want to examine the car and we'll be right back."

"I'm okay," she protested. "And besides, you need help staying upright."

Joe kissed her forehead. "I'm fine. And I'd feel a whole lot better if you were safe in the van."

Emily stared at him and Joe raised his eyebrows at her. "Please?"

"Okay. This time," she relented. "But only this time."

"Thank you," he said, giving her a quick hug. "We won't be long. I promise."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Fenton Hardy arrived at the door of the Bayport Art Museum, with Callie Shaw in tow, at ten-thirty a.m. He flashed his badge to the police officer on duty, who nodded and opened the main door. As Fenton passed inside, he turned to Callie. "Now, I need you to be my eyes and ears. I'm going to be concentrating on questioning Perriton. You keep your eyes on everything else going on around here and let me know if you see anything suspicious, got it?"

Callie nodded and pulled out a small notebook. "I'm ready," she said with a smile.

"Good girl." He glanced up and whispered, "Well, what do you know? There's our suspect now." He called out a greeting and Mr. Perriton looked up. Fenton strode across the lobby, holding his hand out. He reached Perriton, took his hand, and gave him a resounding clap on the right upper arm. The man didn't even flinch.

"Can I help you with something, Mr. Hardy?" Perriton asked in a clipped tone.

"As a matter of fact, you can." Fenton looked around. "Is there somewhere we can speak privately?"

"I'm afraid I don't have much time."

"This won't take long. Emily Clark was attacked in her home the other night and we're questioning everyone at the museum."

"Emily attacked?" Perriton looked startled. "How? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Fenton said, gesturing towards an open conference room door. "Please, may we ask you a few questions?"

"Of course," he said. He paused at the entrance and looked toward the main desk. "Kim, hold all my calls, please."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"What was that all about?" Frank asked Joe as they stepped down the ravine. "Why do you want Emily in the van?"

"I don't want to upset her any more, Frank." Joe paused as they reached the Honda. "This guy was trying to kill us, not scare us."

"Yeah, I know." Frank sighed. "Dad and I thought we might have had a lead last night, but now with this..." he gestured towards the wreckage, "I'm not sure."

"What happened last night?" Joe wanted to know.

Frank explained his and Fenton's visit to the museum, their discovery of the guard uniform in the stairwell, and Perriton's subsequent outburst in his office. "It seemed like he was missing something. And, by what he'd searched through in his office, it was clearly a file or a piece of paper of some sort."

Joe was thoughtful. "Just like the guy after Emily."

"Yeah, the MO was identical. Both Dad and I thought Perriton was that guy. But this accident throws in a wrench in it."

"Perriton couldn't have been here running us off the road and in his office at the same time."

"Unfortunately, no."

"So what does that mean?" Joe sighed. "Who tried to kill us? And why?"

"Looks like we've got ourselves another million dollar question," Frank said.