A/N: As always, a huge thank you to max2013, Jackie, Caranath, Kenna, VerityD, Vinsmouse, bhar, zenfrodo and Lady Emily for the reviews! This is the last chapter. Finally! Thanks so much for all the support, comments, PMs, and kind words I've received while posting this. I truly appreciate it. And another big thank you to Kenna for being an amazing beta! This story would never have seen the light of day without her. You rock, Kenna! I do have another story in my little series coming up, but it won't be for several more months yet. I always want to have them completely written before I start posting. Hopefully some time in August. Again, THANK YOU to those who took the time to leave reviews for me! I know that's not convenient to do, but I am so grateful for your comments. And now, back to the story. :-)

Epilogue

Frank reached for a mug of hot chocolate from the four Emily set on the kitchen table in her and Joe's cabin.

"Well, this has been an interesting day."

"My brother, the master of understatement," Joe said, taking a sip from his own mug.

"How would you know?" Nancy teased. "You were unconscious through most of it."

"And after hearing about the scheme you two and Bess pulled off, I'm glad I was." Joe squeezed Emily's hand. "Because watching that unfold would have given me a heart attack."

Emily rolled her eyes as she put a dollop of whipped cream into Joe's mug.

"Watching that would have proved to you that I am just as capable as anyone else of helping to solve a case."

"I don't want to go there right now," Joe said. "I just keep thinking of everything that could have gone wrong."

"Yeah," Frank agreed. His heart still jumped to his throat every time he thought of Nancy attacking that goon with a pitcher. "Let's talk about something else. Did Bess get to the station in time for her train?"

Nancy smirked. "Yes. The police officer she was flirting up a storm with drove her into town with his vehicle lights flashing so she wouldn't be late."

"I'm guessing she didn't tell him she was traveling to see another man," Frank said.

"Of course not." Nancy smiled. "Bess likes to hedge her bets. You know, in case something goes wrong with one boyfriend, she has a spare."

"I have never seen anybody operate the way Bess does," Emily said. "I wish I could have taken lessons from her when I was a teenager."

"Uh…no," Joe said. "Bess may look like she's having fun, but it can actually be a very lonely life."

Frank grinned at his brother. "Spoken like someone who used to be the male equivalent of Bess Marvin."

Emily leaned in and hugged her boyfriend. "I'm so glad you never pulled any of that stuff with me."

"I never wanted to."

And Frank didn't want this to turn sappy. Joe was still slightly buzzed from Delacroix's cocktail, and he tended to get a bit maudlin when he was drunk. Time to change the conversation again.

"Hey, I heard from Senator Martin right after we got back here. He left a message at the reservations office for me to call him."

"And?" Nancy asked.

"And he's picking up the tab for our vacation. He insisted. One week here to relax and recover, and then one week in Paris."

Emily squealed and bounced up and down in her chair. "My favorite city on earth! Oh, we're going to have so much fun. Can I plan the itinerary? Please?"

Frank watched as her eyes twinkled with excitement. "Sure. I know you'll do a great job."

"As long as we're not spending the whole week inside the Louvre," Joe said. "All museums and no play makes Joe a dull boy."

"And a cranky one," Emily teased. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of playtime."

Joe's grin was lascivious, and Frank hurried to change the subject for the third time, before his brother said something wildly inappropriate in front of Nancy. Joe had no filter when he was drunk.

"So, Kathy is in a psychiatric hospital in Geneva for the next few weeks. Then her father wants to keep her at their home in Paris with a private doctor," Frank explained. "He doesn't want any of this released to the press…for obvious reasons, and I agreed. There's no sense in destroying her reputation. She's only eighteen, and her doctors assured the senator that with the right kind of love and attention from her family, she could make a full recovery."

"Does that mean she won't feel the need to kidnap people anymore?" Emily asked.

"I hope so," Frank replied. "Senator Martin assured me that Joe would never hear from Kathy again. And he's given Joe, me, and Louis large enough bonuses to make up for the trouble she caused us.'"

"Smart man," Nancy said. "Hopefully Louis uses his money to check into a detox center."

Frank laughed. "The senator might need that himself after he hears about Simone. I'm not sure he can stop that from leaking to the press, but the story should distract the reporters from Kathy, so maybe he'll welcome it."

"Why not?" Nancy asked. "It's not his scandal, he's just collateral damage."

"I'm not really worried about Senator Martin," Emily chimed in. "I'm pretty sure he can handle all this. I'm just glad that the monastery has their artifacts back."

"Where is the Madonna right now?" Frank asked.

"She's in the rectory, here in town," Emily replied. "The church is sending someone from its art preservation team in Rome to come and examine her and the monstrance and make sure there's been no damage to either of them. Then they'll transport them back to the monastery. Just in time for the pilgrims' arrival."

"And I can't tell you how relieved I am that we found the Madonna before that," Nancy said. "I was really starting to get worried."

"You had no reason to be," Frank said, sliding his arm around her shoulders. "You're an incredible detective."

"I'm pretty sure that finding those artifacts was all due to my incredible partner."

Nancy leaned into him and kissed his neck. Frank felt his temperature rising. He wanted to take her back to their cabin and toss her into bed. Now.

"So," Frank cleared his throat, poised to make a quick exit. "I guess you two probably want to be alone."

Joe chuckled. "You are so smooth, Frank. Seriously, I'm jealous."

Frank knew his face was turning red, but he was determined to maintain his dignity.

"You and Emily don't want to be alone?"

Emily smiled. "We love spending time with you and Nancy. But I also know that you two haven't spent nearly enough time with each other over the past two weeks, so my advice is to go back to your cabin and stay there until it's time for us to leave for Paris."

"I think you're absolutely right," Nancy said. "You have a very smart girlfriend, Joe."

Joe put his arm around Emily and kissed the side of her head. "Don't think I don't know it. Besides, we'll have plenty to do. Look at all the board games they stocked these cabins with."

Frank turned in the direction Joe was pointing and laughed. "Don't even pretend you're going to spend the evening playing Scrabble, Twister and Yahtzee."

"That's exactly what we're going to do." Joe grinned. "We just don't play with the standard rules."

Emily giggled and swatted at her boyfriend. "Joe, stop."

"I'm just making their evening more fun for them," Joe said.

"Do I even want to know what you mean by that?"

Frank wasn't sure. Part of him was curious, but knowing his brother…

"Of course you do." Joe took a sip of his cocoa. "It's easy. Scrabble is 'dirty word only Scrabble'. Yahtzee is 'strip Yahtzee'. And Twister is the most fun…because you play naked."

"Naked Twister?" Nancy asked. "Who spins the spinner for you? Please don't tell me there are more than the two of you playing this."

"No," Emily spoke up quickly.

"You don't need a spinner. Just call out something. Left hand blue. Right foot green," Joe explained. "It works great."

"Well," Frank said, now knowing that his face was bright red. "That was enlightening. We're going to head back to our cabin. Because I now know more about your sex life than I ever wanted to, bro."

"You'll thank me tomorrow," Joe assured him.

"We don't have Twister in our cabin. I saw Monopoly, Parcheesi, and Sorry, so all of that personal info was a moot point anyhow."

Frank stood and hurried Nancy to the door. He was going to need a bottle of brain bleach to get the image of Joe and Emily playing Twister naked out of his head. Or maybe some mandrogora wine. He wondered if there was any left in the cave.

"Quit being such a prude, Frank," Joe called out.

"Oh, he's not a prude," Nancy assured him. "He's quite adventurous about sex. He's just private about it."

Frank stared at Nancy. She was making things worse.

"I thought so," Emily said. "That's why Bess wanted to get you two together, you know. She said she could see it in Frank's eyes."

Okay, that was it. Now Emily was making comments on his sexual prowess?

"Later, guys," Frank said, as he opened the door. "Much, much, later."

Nancy followed him out into the snow and slipped underneath his arm.

"They were just teasing, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

Frank took a deep breath of the cold air and looked up into the now darkening sky. Stars were everywhere. Brighter here than in the city, and he stopped to appreciate the sight.

"It's a beautiful night."

"It is," Nancy agreed. "And I'm so glad we get to have a whole week together here."

"And if you don't mind, I really don't want to spend any of it with my brother."

Nancy laughed. "I don't mind."

She shivered against him and Frank pulled her close.

"Let's get you inside our cabin and warm you up."

"Now that sounds promising," Nancy teased as they reached the front door.

They stepped inside, and Frank headed to the fireplace.

"How does a nice roaring fire sound?"

"Perfect." Nancy strolled past him. "I'll just change into something more…comfortable."

Frank smiled as he placed some logs on the iron grate. He piled some kindling on top of the logs and some newspaper underneath. He was reaching for the matches, when a knock sounded on the door.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me," he muttered, as he went to answer it.

He threw open the door…but nobody was there.

Puzzled Frank went to step outside, but almost tripped over a box lying on the doormat.

He bent to pick it up.

A Twister game.

He shook his head and laughed, then brought it into the cabin and closed the door. His brother was a total butt head.

He set the game on the kitchen table then moved to the fireplace and started the fire.

Stepping back to admire his handy work, the game box caught his eye again.

Picking it up, Frank grinned.

"Hey, Nan, come here."

THE END