A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews, Jackie, Leya and Virtute! I love reading your reactions! Yes, sadly Duncan has gone over the edge...which makes for a more intense story, I hope. LOL And poor Joe is having a hard time, too. Luckily Frank is still keeping a level head. Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 36

"Coming!" Frank reached the front door after the bell rang twice and opened it. "Yes?"

A uniformed man gestured toward the driveway. "Dropping off a car for a Miss Emily Clark. We knew it was a rush job, so we finished the body work this morning."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Frank took the clipboard the man extended to him and signed it.

As he handed it back, the man spoke. "We found a bunch of papers and books in the trunk when we were fixing her taillights. I put them in the back seat. They got thrown around quite a bit during the accident, but the trunk didn't pop open, so I think everything is still there."

"Great," Frank responded.

"You want to take a look at the vehicle before I leave?" The man stepped down from the porch. "I need someone to inspect it before I can sign off on it. Then we'll just bill the insurance directly."

Frank nodded and followed the man down the front steps. He smiled as he surveyed Emily's little red Honda. "Wow, you guys did an amazing job. You'd never know it was in an accident."

The guy shrugged. "These imports do pretty well in collisions. It actually looked a lot worse than it was. Mostly cosmetic." He handed the clipboard back to Frank and gestured to a spot near the bottom of the paper. "If you could just initial that."

Frank took the pen again as the man fished Emily's car keys out of his pocket. "We left her books and papers in the back seat. I hope that's okay."

"I'm sure it is. Thank you." He shook the man's hand and began to walk back to the house. He paused as he reached the front steps. Papers? You don't suppose...

Frank returned to the car as the auto body guy drove his tow truck down the street. Opening Emily's door, he reached into the back seat and grabbed a folder. Placing it on the trunk, he began going through the contents of the file. He stopped when he scanned an official looking form. Oh my gosh...this is it. This is what the guy was looking for.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Where are we going?" Emily stared out the window of Duncan's car as they approached the coastline. Her arms were tied behind her back and her feet were bound together, but he had her upright in the front seat with the seatbelt fastened across her lap.

"You'll find out soon enough." Duncan hummed a little tune as he pulled off the main road. "And don't get any ideas about trying to escape. I promise I'll shoot you if you do, and my next step will be to go to your boyfriend's house and kill him." He turned his head and gave her a cold stare. "I swear it, Emily."

She swallowed hard. She might not be getting out of this alive, but she was going to do everything in her power to make sure Joe did. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. You took care of that with your sick little message."

He laughed. "Yeah, that was a stroke of pure genius. Ought to give him nightmares for the rest of his life thinking of you and me together." He let his gaze roam over the filmy material of the wedding dress she was wearing. "And if you weren't a damned Campbell, I'd definitely act out a few of those romantic fantasies with you."

She sighed quietly. Thank goodness for small favors.

He stopped the car and got out, locking the door behind him. Emily struggled violently with the ties around her wrists and ankles, but to no avail. She was trapped.

Duncan came around and released her seatbelt, letting her tumble out unceremoniously onto the sandy road. He laughed as he pulled her to her feet. "Deserted this time of year. Makes it all the more convenient." He loosened her ankles ties and dragged her across the sand to a pier where a small motorboat was docked. "Get in."

She stared at him with defiant eyes and he gave her a little shove. "Get in, I said! Unless you want your boyfriend dead within the hour."

She stepped gingerly into the boat and fell to the bottom as it swayed and she couldn't reach out to balance herself. Duncan laughed again as he untied the boat and pushed it away from the dock.

"And now my dear, the legend of Elizabeth Campbell will be replayed in its entirety. With the ending it was supposed to have had the first time."

Horror washed over Emily as she realized Duncan's plan. He was going to abandon her. She looked towards the open ocean and saw a shoal in the distance. Duncan followed her gaze.

"You catch on quickly. It's not Lady's Rock, but it will be soon. And, it's right where I am about to leave the symbolic bride of Lachlan MacLean. Then my clan can finally have the last laugh."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Joe exited the van, slammed the door, and stormed up the walkway to his house. He didn't even notice Emily's Honda parked in the driveway.

"There you are. Finally," Frank said as his brother pushed past him in the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator.

Frank felt the anger coming off him in waves. "What's wrong?"

Joe pulled out a bottle of beer and popped the top. "I don't want to talk about it." He took a healthy swig.

Frank let it go for the moment. "Listen Joe, I've found it. I found the paper Emily's intruder was looking for."

"Swell," he replied, taking another swallow.

"It's an insurance claim, filled out for the stolen artifacts." He picked it up off the kitchen table. "It was filled out before the thefts took place and dated a week before the night of the banquet. It's been in Emily's trunk the entire time. The mechanics found it when they were fixing her car." He looked up at Joe. "And guess who the culprit is?"

"Can't possibly guess."

"Perriton. His signature is on it."

"Great. Call Collig. Have him arrested. Case over."

"Joe, what's going on?"

"I told you, I'm not in the mood to discuss it."

Frank gazed at him intently. "It's Emily, isn't it? Did you two have a fight or something?"

Joe snorted. "Or something."

"I can't believe it's anything serious. You get along so well. She doesn't seem annoyed by any of your annoying habits."

"Yeah, I thought so, too. Until her boyfriend called and left her a dirty message on her answering machine at work. All details about what they did in bed last week. Told her to come over today and use her very own key to let herself in for some more fun. Unfortunately for them...I'm the one who heard it."

"Her boyfriend?"

"Yep, none other than Duncan MacLean. Apparently they have quite the thing going on and I'm the cover. That way nobody gets suspicious about the whole student-professor thing."

"I don't believe it."

Joe shrugged. "I heard it myself. And then, when I was leaving the museum, Kim came up and told me. She thought I should know the truth. I'm glad somebody did."

"That's a bit convenient, isn't it? She comes and tells you right after you hear the message on Emily's answering machine?"

Joe took another swig of his beer. "I'm done with her."

"I'm still not buying it. Not with the way she looks at you."

"Believe what you want. As Dad always says, 'the facts don't lie.'"

"I don't think you have the facts. I think you were set up."

"Really? Well, explain this then. After I confronted Emily about the message, she left the museum. I followed her. To Duncan's house."

"So? You don't think she wants to talk to him about this?"

Joe gave a harsh laugh. "You're being naïve. She was playing me and it's over."

"Joe, how did Emily get into Duncan's house?"

"What?"

"When you followed her there...how did she get in?"

"She knocked on the door, Duncan opened it, she went inside."

"She knocked?"

Joe sighed. "Yes, she knocked."

"But you told me that Duncan told Emily to let herself in when she came to his house tonight. If she had a key, why would she knock?"

"Maybe she forgot it."

Frank shook his head. "No. She doesn't have a key. Because that message was a load of crap."

Joe rolled his eyes. "I saw her go into Duncan's house with my own two eyes." He headed for the swinging door of the kitchen, beer in hand.

"I'm still not buying it, Joe." Frank watched as his brother waved his hand at him dismissively and left the room. "Not buying it for one second. And I'm going to get to the bottom of it, right now," he said aloud as he headed for Fenton's office.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Joe entered the living room and flopped on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. A football game was on TV, but he was only glanced at it. The telephone rang, and he sighed. It rang again, and he shouted for Frank. When he got no response, and the phone jangled for the fourth time, Joe heaved himself off the sofa and crossed the room to answer it. "Hello?" he said angrily into the receiver.

"Um, is this the Hardy residence?" asked a female voice on the other end of the line.

"Yeah," Joe replied.

"May I speak with Joe, please?"

"You got him." He tried to keep the note of impatience out of his voice.

"Hi, this is Stacey Kennedy, Emily's roommate," she began. "I was wondering if I might speak with her."

"And why would you think she's here?"

"Um, well," Stacey hesitated. "I thought...I mean...aren't you two... together?"

"Not anymore," Joe said in a curt tone. "Why don't you call her boyfriend's house?"

"Boyfriend?" Stacey souded baffled. "What boyfriend?"

"Oh, you don't know either? So, I'm not the only one she lied to?" Joe shook his head. "Duncan MacLean. Call him."

"Duncan?" Stacey's voice rose. "Duncan, her boss? Why would you think he's her boyfriend?"

"Oh, maybe it was the message he left on her phone at work," Joe said. "Something about meeting him in his apartment after work last Tuesday and having a little fun. Him going on and on about how much he missed her and couldn't wait to be with her again. I'd have to be an idiot not to figure it out."

"Then you're an idiot," she retorted, "because she's not seeing Duncan." She paused. "Joe, Emily was with me and some of our other friends in the library last Tuesday. She was working on a paper for her Archival Conservation Techniques class. We stayed there until the library closed, and then we went home. I promise you, she was nowhere near Duncan."

"And how do I know you're not just covering for her?"

"Are you kidding me? Do you want me to round up everyone who was there so you can question them? Hook me up to a lie detector if you want. She wasn't with Duncan. There's no way she could have been. And besides, she has no feelings for Duncan. At all. She never has." Stacey's voice rose. "Geez, how could you even think she was dating him? You're the only guy she's even mentioned liking for a long time."

"Why did you call here? Why are you looking for her?"

"I can't find her. She was supposed to meet me two hours ago to give me my car back. She knows I have a class on campus at four-thirty." Stacey sighed. "Emily's never late, Joe. Never."

"Yeah, well don't worry about it. I saw her go to Duncan's house earlier this afternoon. I followed her there. She went inside. I'm guessing they lost track of time."

"What? Listen, if he left her the kind of message you're talking about, the first thing she'd do would be to confront him about it."

"Somehow I doubt that's what she went there to do." He took another swig of the beer he'd been nursing. "I didn't stick around to find out."

"You left?" Stacey voiced wavered. "You know, maybe she's better off without you. You obviously don't trust her at all. She deserves more than that."

Joe sighed. "Okay Stacey, you're right. I should have tried harder to figure out what was going on. But one of her other co-workers also told me she was seeing him. Who am I supposed to believe?"

Stacey's voice was soft. "Emily. You're supposed to believe Emily." She paused. "Now, I'm really scared. The lunatic that's been after her...suppose it's Duncan? What if this whole thing was a trap and you two just fell into it?"

Joe's stomach dropped to his feet as fear suddenly gripped him. "Okay, listen," he said. "You stay right where you are, in case she calls. My brother and I will go to Duncan's. I'll get to the bottom of this, no matter what it is. I'll find her, I promise."

"Thanks, Joe," she replied.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

This can't be happening. This can't be happening. Emily struggled to maintain her hold on the slippery rock as Duncan sped away in his motorboat. He's beyond insane. How could he possibly think leaving me on this rock is revenge for something that happened over two hundred years ago and had nothing to do with him? Even the guy who pulled this stunt originally would think Duncan was insane. She fumed. How did I not see this coming?

Emily looked down at the sodden silk slippers he made her put on. These have got to go. Nothing like wet silk to make you lose your balance. She kicked them off and watched them disappear into the swirling foam around the rock. The water is so dark. She gulped and looked toward the sky. Storm clouds were gathering, almost completely blotting out what little daylight was left. She turned to look at the shore. Duncan had exited the boat and was now seated on the shore...waiting. Anger rose in Emily to a height she'd never known before. He's going to stay here. He wants to watch me die.