Chapter 6
The trio arrived at a small brick building at about 8:00 a.m. Their agency. The sign out front said Hardy and Drew Detective Agency.
Frank got out of the car and opened the door for Nancy, as Joe unlocked the agency's front door. As they walked through the door, Nancy noticed that Joe left the OPEN sign on closed. She knew he did it so they wouldn't be disturbed for a while. Well, that was smart, she thought. They walked past their secretary's empty desk and into their office.
There office was very large. They each had their own desk in it. Nancy's was against the right wall, Frank's against the wall across from the door, and Joe's against the left wall.
They had thought it would be best to share an office, instead of having their own. That way they were close, so it would be easier if they were working on the same case.
Nancy went to her desk, and turned on her computer. Frank and Joe looked at her from across the room.
"Is she ok?" Joe asked quietly, so Nancy wouldn't hear.
"No." Frank answered dully.
"Well…it's just…shouldn't she be crying her eyes out, or be a nervous wreck? I mean…that sounds mean but…First her father's dead, and then we find out that this horrible man, whose committed murder actually has her dad."
"It's ok," Frank answered quietly. "I know what you mean. I don't really thing it's fully hit her yet. She's blocking out the worry with determination. That's just how she is. I think that's why she isn't showing much emotion."
The brothers shared a look. "I just want her to be ok." Joe said, "I love her like a sister! And Carson… he's a second father to us. You know?"
"Yeah… I know. Especially since we started dating." Frank said sadly.
They stood looking at Nancy in silence.
"Let's go help." Frank whispered.
They walked over to Nancy, who was just sitting and waiting for the background check to finish.
"Hey." Frank said, standing behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Find anything?" he asked.
"Not yet." Nancy said, turning around in her spinning chair to look at him.
Joe sat on the corner of her desk, a look of concentration on his face. "Hey!" he said suddenly. "That message. Didn't it say something like… 'What would they call it in that show you were talking about last night? Oh, yeah. Code Black'?"
"Yeah… It means that there is an explosive device." Frank said. "Nancy said that earlier."
"No! I know that. But don't you get what it means?" Joe asked.
"Uh… no." Frank and Nancy said at the same time.
Joe's face was grave. "The only way that he could know what we were talking about is if-"
"-He was spying on us." Frank and Nancy said, at the same time.
"But how?" Nancy asked, frustration clear on her face. "I mean, my apartment's on the third floor. And, we were in the living room. He wouldn't be able to here from the door because weren't being that loud. The only way would be with a bug. But I don't leave a spare key anywhere, and the lock hasn't been tampered with."
The boys shook their heads in confusion. The computer made a noise and Nancy turned back around to see the results.
She scrolled through the information.
"Killed his wife…attempted murder…stalking. We know that. Um…hey look at this!" Nancy said. Frank and Joe got up and looked at the computer screen.
"His brother was released from jail four months ago. Released early for good behavior. He was in for committing rape, and murder." Joe read off the screen.
"Not good." Frank said, and Nancy nodded.
"Let's talk about this. It changes everything." Joe said pulling over his and Frank's chairs.
They put their chairs around Nancy's so that they formed a triangle. They looked at each other, no one talking, as the computer ran a check on Kevin's brother Paul Ferall.
"So he has a brother that's messed up, too." Joe commented wryly, breaking the silence.
"That could change a lot." Frank said. "What it changes? We won't know until the computer is finished."
They waited in silence, Nancy staring out the window, Frank staring at the computer, and Joe staring at his hands in his lap.
When the computer dinged, they all rushed to the computer. "We know about the rape and the murder." Nancy said when she saw that that was the first thing on the page.
"Look!" Frank said, leaning over Nancy's shoulder and reading the screen aloud. "He rented a car from Hertz on Monday the15th. That was two days ago." Frank looked from his brother to his girlfriend. "That was the day before the bombing."
They sat back down on the chairs and looked at each other. "Joe…" Nancy started. "You said that he probably was within five to ten miles of the phone booth. We thought that that was confirmed when we found the warehouse, but… what if Kevin had an accomplice?" Nancy looked at the brothers to see what they thought.
"Paul." They said in unison.
"Yes. I mean…think about it." Nancy said. "Wouldn't it be hard for one person to sneak into my dad's office, without Rose the secretary noticing, get him out without Rose noticing, and bomb the office?"
"That changes a lot." Frank said, looking up at Nancy.
Nancy looked back at the computer, and scrolled down the page. She looked at the picture of Paul and gasped. "No way." She muttered.
"What?" Frank asked, coming back to the computer. He looked at the picture. Paul didn't look a lot like his brother. Paul had a round face, long black hair and brown eyes. While his brother had a squarish face, short black hair, and a scar the ran from above his eyebrow to his chin.
"Paul. He was in my apartment the other day."
"WHAT?" Frank and Joe practically shouted.
"You remember when the kitchen sink was broken last week?"
"Don't tell me..." Frank said.
"Plumber." Nancy confirmed.
"Why's it always the plumber?" Joe muttered.
Nancy and Frank just glared at him. "Just asking." He said defencively.
"Anyway.. he could have planted a bug in the kitchen without you even realizing it." Frank said.
"I know." Nancy said, putting her head in her hands. This had all been planned. The words that Ned said when they broke up rank in her ears...'You are always dragging me into your little cases to put some bad guy in jail. I am always getting hurt. So are Bess and George! And it won't be long until you and your cases, gets one of us killed.' This is my fault, She thought. Tears started to leak out of her eyes, against her will.
"Let's go to the rental place." Joe said, pulling Nancy out of her thoughts. She quickly wiped away her tears, so they wouldn't notice them.
"Yeah. Maybe the guy can tell us some information. If we get the license plate number, we can report it to the cops." Frank said.
"No!" Nancy said forcefully. They looked at her, surprised. "We can't get the authorities involved." She said.
"It's ok, Nan." Frank said gently. He knew she was worried about what would happen to her father if the kidnappers found out about them contacting the police
"Yeah," Joe said. "All we'll tell them is that it is the license plate of a private case that Hardy and Drew Detective Agency is working on. Ok?"
Nancy looked hesitant, but agreed.
As Nancy shut down her computer, they could hear their secretary opening the door to the office. Nancy glanced at her watch. 9:00.
They walked out and greeted their secretary Karen.
"Hey." Nancy said to the twenty year old girl. "We need to be out today. We don't have any appointments, do we?"
"No." Karen said. "But you have a couple tomorrow." She had their appointments memorized.
Nancy looked at Frank and Joe for confirmation, before telling her to reschedule any appointments that weren't urgent. Luckily, none of them were.
Nancy and frank walked out to the car while Joe said something to Karen.
"What'd you say?" Frank asked curiously, as he backed up the car.
Joe grinned. "Told her I might not be able to make our date tonight."
Frank and Nancy laughed. "Only you could think about a date during a serious case." Nancy said, smiling genuinely for the first time today.
"Glad I could help with your moods." Joe said mock-hurt to Frank and Nancy.
"Whatever." They said.
AN) Sorry about the delay. Thanks for the reviews! I would like at least five more before I update
Emeralds and Rubies