A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonstar65 for her continuous support and encouragement in this endeavor of mine.

A/N: Thank you so much for all your wonderful and generous reviews. Much appreciated!

Chapter 10

I told you I'll handle it. I've got them both

I'm on my way.

After copying the altered and original reports into their flashdrive, Joe and Vanessa were making their way out of the server room when suddenly Jake Patridge walked up to them, gun in hand. So much for keeping a low profile.

Joe and Vanessa found themselves deep in the bowels of Ophelia Pharmaceuticals with their hands tied behind themselves as they sat. Their phones and flash drive had been confiscated. Joe only hoped that Frank and Con Riley would notice their absence and come soon to their rescue. After securing them, Jake had left them alone once more.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Joe whispered.

Vanessa looked like she was going to cry. Their only solid, prosecutable evidence was in the hands of the enemy. Frank wouldn't be able to do much with a picture Joe sent him earlier. All was lost.

"I'm scared," she admitted. "We're going to be killed, and we didn't even get the evidence out and public."

"Nobody is going to die today Vanessa," Joe said fiercely. He shuffled his chair as close to hers as he could, leaning against his bounds. "We're going to get out of this. I swear to you." Between his words and just being close to him, Vanessa trusted that Joe in fact would get them out of this bind.

"You're not even phased by a man with a gun? Who left to go confer with his boss on what he should do to get rid of us? You might consider a new line of work," Vanessa tried to joke. It was easier than thinking about what might happen when Jake came back with his pistol.

Joe chuckled. "My brother has a mantra. Either know what to say or have something to trade."

"Well I doubt they want to listen to anything we have to say. So what are you going to trade now?" Vanessa asked.

Just then the door to their prison opened and in walked Jake Patridge, Mike Emerson, and another man.

"So we're finally face to face Ms. Bender. You were a hard person to find." Emerson smirked.

Vanessa glared at the man. "Why did you kill James? What was he doing at my apartment?" she demanded.

"That was a stroke of genius my dear. The plan was to kill both of you, but when James broke into your apartment we saw it as an opportunity to make it look like a lovers' quarrel. It was hardly a secret that he had asked you out multiple times," Emerson gloated.

"Well, you can't just shoot me here. They will know someone else was behind all of this," Vanessa retorted.

"Don't worry about what will or won't happen after you're out of the way. By the time we're finished here the police will find more evidence incriminating you for the murder of James and your friend here," Emerson smiled.

The man Vanessa didn't recognize spoke up. "This is not the guy we saw at the apartment,"he said. He must have been one of the men who had attacked Frank, she realized.

Emerson finally considered Joe, turning to regard him carefully. "Who are you, then?" Emerson demanded.

"I am just the guy that's going to bring down your empire with you behind bars," Joe said with a smirk.

Jake lunged at Joe and punched him in the face.

"You're making a mistake!" Vanessa shrieked.

"I'm not the one handcuffed to a chair," Emerson sneered. Still, now that he'd noticed Joe, he hadn't turned away. "What do you think you know, son?" Emerson had turned from gloating to cool, careful self control.

"Found that Bryonia report. The first one, not the big ol' fake you sent to the FDA. Hope you don't mind. I emailed a copy to a friend so I could read it more thoroughly," Joe spat.

Vanessa knew of course that Joe was bluffing. They had saved the report onto the flashdrive that Jake had taken from them, but they needed to bluff in order to stall and hope that Frank would save them soon.

Jake punched him again.

"Stop," bellowed Emerson. He was off-balance now. "Who did you email it to? Was it your partner, the man at Obler's apartment?"

Joe started laughing. "Hurt me all you want. If anything happens to either of us, that report goes public," Joe threatened. "Everyone will know your new drug kills."

Jake spoke up, "Tell you what, the first one to give up that report gets to live."

Vanessa stared at Joe. He was still relatively uninvolved; she was already under suspicion for James' death. He could throw her under the bus. In the dark of the basement, she couldn't read beyond his tense expression. But she could feel his hand wriggling still against the binds to grasp at hers. Joe kept quiet. So did Vanessa.

"Where is it now?!"Emerson yelled.

Joe looked at Vanessa and nodded. She caught his meaning and gave him a small nod of her own before looking at Emerson.

"I… I will take you to him. He has the report. I'll bring you right to it,"Vanessa said.

Emerson smiled. "Atta girl. Now you're seeing sense. Untie her."

Vanessa rubbed her wrists as she was untied, looked over at Joe and said, "It was a nice advice you gave. Always have something to trade." She bent down and kissed him gently on the lips as she slipped a paperclip into his hands.

"Alright enough! Let's go." Emerson's voice boomed.

Vanessa walked away with Emerson and the two men leaving Joe with Jake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"People died from taking that drug?" Callie asked, incredulous.

Frank nodded grimly. "It's six people out of two hundred. That's a 3% mortality rate. If a million people take that drug, thirty thousand can die." He always had a knack for numbers.

"Frank, what can we do? We can't let the drug be released into the market."

"We won't. As soon as Joe comes back with the files we will go to Con with it and this recording. We're close Callie. I can feel it."

Callie came and hugged him. Frank wrapped his arms around her. They held each other for a moment. Unable to wait any longer, Frank pulled out his phone and pressed Joe's number. They'd been expecting to hear from him one he and Vanessa got out of the building. After a few tries, he started to get worried.

"Hello?"

"Con! I can't reach Joe. Did you ever respond to the breakin at Ophelia?" Frank asked, his voice laced with worry.

"Frank, there was nothing to respond to. No alarms were triggered," Con said.

"Oh. Okay, thanks."

"Is everything alright?" Con asked.

Frank hemmed over whether or not to divulge just how far into their break-in Joe had gotten. It was still a crime. "Joe is not answering and he should have been back by now. I wondered if maybe you got called in for a break in and had him?" Frank offered.

"Frank, I am afraid I can't barge in there asking about Joe," Con relayed.

"I know Con," Frank sighed. "Just keep a lookout in case you do hear anything. Thanks." Frank disconnected the call and ran his hand through his hair.

Frank looked at Callie who was too worried to say anything.

"I am going to go look for them." Frank's brows were furrowed.

"Where will you go?" she asked quietly.

"Where else? To Ophelia. But I'm bringing in Robert Virtanen. About time he knew what's happening with his successor. He will know how to get a hold of Emerson and that should lead me to Joe if he has been taken."

"Be careful," Callie said softly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After Frank had left, Callie pulled out her own cell phone. It wouldn't hurt to cover a few more bases, especially with Joe and Vanessa missing. Additionally, something had been nagging at her since morning, and she wanted to check that out.

"Hi, this is Callie Shaw from Bayport times. Yes, I'll hold, he is expecting my call."

The conversation went on for a while. She hadn't expected it to be easy, but Callie knew that her questions needed answers. After Callie had finished her call she went over to the couch and curled up deep in her thoughts about the case and Joe and Vanessa's safety. She felt conflicted over what she had just done and knew Frank wouldn't approve but it had to be done. A buzzing from Frank's computer caught her attention. She got up and went over to the computer desk. It read - File transmission complete.

She clicked on it and the ever familiar recording played once more. It had been cleaned and enhanced even further.

Erin: I can't hide it anymore. What we're doing is wrong. I wanna tell someone. This keeps me up at night, knowing what our drug has done.

Emerson: You need to think very carefully about what you are saying

Erin: You're leaving me with no choice. I'm gonna go to Virtanen.

Emerson: You wanna tell the Boss? Go ahead.

Robert Virtanen: You think anything happens in my company without me knowing it, young lady? How stupid do you think I am?

Callie froze, too shocked at what she had just heard. Frank had just left to go to Virtanen. Her hands shaking, she frantically called Frank. It didn't even ring, going straight to voicemail. His easygoing recording asking to leave her name and number only made her worry more.

He was probably trying Joe's cellphone, Callie insisted to herself. Clearing her throat, she left him a warning.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank waited impatiently outside the company premises. Finding Vanessa's car alone and empty hadn't settled his nerves. He had called Virtanen while on the drive over and asked to meet him saying it was a matter of life and death. Frank looked up. It was a cloudless night making the street darker than usual - an appropriate setting with his current mood. He tried his brother's phone once more to no avail.

No sooner had he disconnected did Frank's phone buzz. His heart leapt until he saw it was a voicemail from Callie not a call back from Joe. Just as he put his ear to his phone, a car stopped in front of him. The driver got out and opened the back door. Robert Virtanen ushered him to get in.

He reached the car and was about to get in when he stiffened. Just as he'd been about to disconnect the call to his voicemail Frank heard Callie warning him that Virtanen wasn't as unaware as they'd thought. Before he could react however the unmistakable sound of a revolver being cocked by a man in the front seat let him know just how badly they had miscalculated. He got in the car quietly.

"It was you all along," Frank whispered.

"Your brother was very careful to not give away your whereabouts. And yet, here we are." Rob smiled.

"Where are Joe and Vanessa? Let them go," Frank pleaded.

"Your brother's licence said Joe Hardy; that makes you Frank Hardy. I know who you guys are. I'm afraid nobody is going anywhere."

Frank's heart raced. He looked out; they were driving through a tunnel. He recognized the second man in the front seat who was turned and had the revolver aimed at him. It was the big guy who had attacked Frank at Obler's apartment the night before. Escape was fruitless. So Frank decided to ask questions.

"Why did you kill James Obler in Vanessa's apartment?"

Rob's expression hardened. "We had men waiting at both their apartments. But James chose to pay Miss Bender a visit. It only made sense to kill him and frame her for his murder. It was better than having to explain the natural death of two perfectly healthy individuals on the same night."

"But you underestimated her. The cops didn't arrest her. She got away. She came to us," Frank surmised.

"Yes, she did. We couldn't let her or you ruin everything for us," Rob said darkly.

"What about Erin?"

"She knew what we were doing but couldn't go along with it in good faith. She had to be silenced," Rob said simply.

The car slowed down. Frank looked out to see an abandoned building. He was shoved roughly out from the car and quickly inside. He was handcuffed to the radiator.

Rob loomed over him, "Your brother is dead by now and soon the girl will be as well."

Frank's stomach dropped out from under him and his blood ran cold. "No." He refused to believe this yellow bellied coward's claims.

"Don't fret! You will join them shortly. Mr. Hardy you should have been reasonable. Every new drug has side effects, that's why we have disclaimers and insurance. What has this moral crusade brought you? Your death?"

Frank's jaw was set as his eyes darted from Rob to his men who were standing guard near the door.

"Now if you'll excuse me I have a dinner date with a very wealthy investor and a beautiful reporter. I have a drug to launch after all," Rob continued to talk.

"Enjoy your last few minutes. Adam here will keep you company," he finished. With that, Robert Virtanen walked out the door followed by his driver.