A/N: Alright, here it is…Chapter 10! Yay! Enjoy and thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Diamond and Stars (and anyone else who felt a little cheated :) ) I wrote Joe's reaction to Frank's flirting into this chapter just for you! When you mentioned it I gave myself a little smack on the forehead and thought, "doh! I KNEW I was missing something!" So, thank you and I hope you like it!
Oh yes, and Amy: thank you for explaining things to me. That makes a lot of sense and is very helpful!
The Three Minute Deal
Chapter 10
Frank felt bad about being so abrupt with Nancy, but he needed to get out of that room, to be alone for awhile. He knew that sleep wasn't an option for him anymore but he hoped that Nancy would be able to get back to sleep soon. He wandered into his living room and stood there for a moment, lost in thought. 'Joe died, Joe died.' It was as if the two words were on a constant loop in his head, repeating over and over again. Underneath the anguish and those words, a smaller voice, just as terrifying said 'and Nancy died too because you couldn't save her.'
Frank didn't know how long he stood motionless in the entryway but eventually he walked slowly over to the sliding glass door and out onto his deck. He lowered himself into one of the chairs on the deck, oblivious to the light summer night breeze causing shivers to wrack his body.
'Joe died,' the voice repeated maliciously in his head. 'He died and you did nothing. You're an only child now.' Fear gripped his heart at the thought of it, "it was just a dream," he said angrily, "it was just a dream," he repeated. 'Nancy died too. The love of your life died and you couldn't stop it,' the mean voice whispered in his ear.
The cool night air helped to clear his addled brain but he was unable to shake the despair he felt. He knew that Joe was alive. He knew that Nancy was alive and that she was moving to Bayport to be with him. One thing he did not know was where Ashley was. The logical part of his brain told him that the nightmares wouldn't stop until he found her. The irrational part, the part he hardly ever let get the upper hand was telling him that the nightmares were an accurate indicator of how inept he was. How completely incapable of saving the people he loved most he really was.
He sat in that chair for he didn't know how long, lost in thought. He barely noticed the sliding glass door open and close behind him. "I was hoping you'd fall back asleep," he murmured, continuing to stare out into the darkness.
"Well, I couldn't," Nancy said simply and wrapped the blanket she had brought with her around his cold shoulders.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
Nancy pulled her hands into Frank's sweater she had grabbed from his closet to protect against the chill. She sat on the other deck chair and stared out over the parking lot with him. She didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what he wanted to hear, so she decided that silence would be best.
"I thought I wanted to be alone," Frank mumbled and still staring straight ahead reached over and grabbed Nancy's hand. He held onto her hand for a moment before he squeezed it reassuringly. Finally, he turned and gave her a small smile, "I was wrong."
"I'm glad," Nancy murmured.
They sat like that, in silence holding the others hand looking out over the dark apartment buildings. "What time is it?" Frank finally asked.
"After four," Nancy replied.
"You should try and get some sleep," Frank suggested quietly.
"I'm not that tired," Nancy shrugged.
"Are you cold?" Frank asked concerned.
"No, the sweater I stole from you is really warm," she replied with a smile.
Frank sighed, "We have to find Ashley."
"I know," Nancy murmured.
"Where are we going to look?" Frank asked, clearly frustrated. "Patrick really isn't being any help at all. Unless he can supply us with some sort of name, anything! We're back to square one."
"It's Thursday," Nancy said sadly. "We have today to figure this out."
Frank stiffened, "why do they always take the kids?" he asked furiously. "They always take the ones it will affect the most."
"They're easier to deal with," Nancy said with a frustrated shrug.
"Yeah," Frank sighed. He was silent for a moment and he sat upright, "the list."
"The list?" Nancy asked confused.
"I wrote down the list of apparent last names out of Patrick's book," he said with a smile.
"You did?" Nancy started to smile herself.
"Yeah," Frank stood up quickly and ran inside. He returned a moment later carrying the quick list he had made the day before. "I can't believe I forgot about it."
"A lot happened yesterday," Nancy remarked and look at the list over Frank's shoulder.
"I'll say," Frank murmured, thinking about the house he had put the offer in on. "He owes someone named Wiggins five thousand, but that's one of his smaller debts." Frank's eyes skimmed the page for the person he owed the most money to. "It looks like he owes this guy here, Caudle a small fortune."
Nancy whistled, "You could buy yourself a very nice house with that much cash."
Frank quickly added up the total of Patrick's debts, "If what Patrick says is true and the man who has Ashley said he was going to pay off all of Patrick's debts…he sure stands to make a pretty penny. Patrick's debts are a tiny chunk of how much this guy is demanding for Ashley's ransom."
"So Patrick is just a pawn after all," Nancy said, "he probably doesn't know anything helpful."
"Probably not," Frank agreed.
"I think we should start working on this list," Nancy said. "It will be hard with just last names, but we might be able to narrow it down. We might get lucky."
"Let's start now," Frank said. He was very eager for his mind and body to be occupied with something else for awhile. He needed to do something else besides sit and let his awful nightmare consume him.
Nancy agreed and they went back into Frank's living room where he booted up his laptop, "I never feel that bad about doing this," Frank murmured as his fingers flew across the keyboard. A second later the police database popped on screen. "My father has almost the exact same information back at the office, but right now this is easier."
Nancy smiled, "I love it when you get all tech-geeky on me."
Frank chuckled and typed something into the search engine. "Okay, there are a lot of Caudles in here."
"Narrow it down to the east coast," Nancy suggested.
Frank did so and then sighed, "Still a lot."
"Try narrowing it to just New York," Nancy suggested.
Frank sighed in frustration as he read the results, "only three."
"Three? That's great! That's a nice short…" Nancy said excitedly. Catching Frank's expression she stopped, "what?"
"The first one, Liza Caudle age 42 got caught stealing perfume from Macy's three years ago. She was with her two young children. The second, James Caudle was pulled over at the tender age of 14 just two weeks ago for driving without a license. The third, Eric Caudle was cited for throwing dog poop on his neighbor's lawn. He's 91 and claims the neighbor's dog uses his yard as its toilet and he was simply returning the goods."
"Oh," Nancy felt the excitement leave her as quickly as it had come. "Not really candidates for a major kidnapping."
"Not really," Frank said in frustration.
"Which means a: the man we're after is using a different last name or b: he's never been caught before," Nancy ticked the reasons off on her fingers.
"Or c: the man we're after is a 91 year old man who hates poop," Frank said wryly.
Nancy laughed, "Or that," she agreed and grew serious. "I think we should check the rest of the names."
Frank nodded in agreement and put in the last name 'Wiggins'. "Okay, narrowing the search down to just New York I come up with one name, a Paul Wiggins arrested for DUI."
"Alright, let's try the next," Nancy said with a nod.
The next four names on the list yielded the same results, people who had been arrested but were most likely not who they were looking for. The next three last names had no results whatsoever in New York state. The last name on the list was "Parker".
"Okay, long list of Parker's in New York," Frank murmured, "It's a very common last name." He skimmed the list; "look at this!" he said and pointed at the screen.
"Mason Parker arrested for fixing race results, insider trading. He was charged with all sorts of illegal gambling charges!" Nancy said excitedly.
"Great, now we have a starting point," Frank said looking at the man's long list of charges, "Patrick was only in debt to him for 10k…but it's still somewhere to start." Frank reached the bottom of the page. "Oh man," he groaned.
"What?" Nancy asked.
"Look," Frank turned the computer so Nancy could see it better. There at the bottom of the page was a simple sentence declaring that Mason Parker was still in prison.
"He could be operating from inside," Nancy suggested half heartedly.
"Yeah," Frank said sounding just as disbelieving as Nancy. "I guess so."
"We could still try," Nancy said with a shrug, "I mean we have to start somewhere."
That afternoon Nancy, Joe and Frank sat waiting for Mason Parker to be brought up to the visitor's area. It had not escaped Joe's notice that Frank and Nancy looked rather tired and that there was a haunted look in Frank's eyes. He knew that his brother hadn't slept well last night and by the looks of it, Nancy had been there for him.
While Joe wished he could be there for his brother and he knew that Frank was having a harder time than all of them dealing with this, Joe still smiled inwardly, satisfied that his brother had finally found the happiness and security he had found in Vanessa.
"Maybe you should flirt the information out of him, Frank," Nancy said with a smile. Frank groaned and shook his head.
"What? What do you mean?" Joe asked looking back and forth between Nancy and his brother, feeling as if he were missing out on a good joke.
"Frank is actually a very accomplished flirter," Nancy said with a smug little smile. "Just ask the receptionist at Cutler, Cutler and Beckett."
"Wait, wait just a minute," Joe held up his hand. "You're telling me that you got that information out of the receptionist by flirting."
"Oh yes, he was very good at it Joe." Nancy patted Frank's arm, "weren't you honey?"
"Let's not talk about it," Frank mumbled his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.
Joe threw his head back and laughed; "are you serious?" he turned to Nancy, "he flirted?"
Nancy nodded solemnly, "oh yes. I may be extremely biased but I'd say he gave you a run for your money Joe. He was devastating."
"Frank?" Joe said in amazement. He put his arm around his brother's shoulders, "this Frank? My Frank?"
"Yep, the one and only," Nancy confirmed.
Frank pushed his brother's arm off of him and rolled his eyes as Joe laughed himself stupid, "it's not that impossible."
"Oh but brother, it is!" Joe clutched his sides, "I wish I had seen it."
Frank was spared from further embarrassment by the arrival of Mason Parker. He was escorted into the room and he sat down on the opposite side of the table from Nancy and the Hardy's. The guard stood back and waited by the door.
"Who are you?" Mason asked suspiciously.
"I'm Nancy and this is Frank and Joe. We're detectives. Can we ask you a few questions?" Nancy asked.
"I'm not doing anything without my lawyer," Mason said angrily.
Frank leaned forward, "let us ask our questions and then you can see if you need your lawyer or not."
"You're already convicted, what are you worried about?" Joe said with his arms folded. Frank shot Joe an exasperated look but luckily Mason wasn't paying much attention. He was looking Nancy up and down, smiling. Apparently he liked what he saw.
"What'd you say your name was, sugar?" he asked with a smirk.
"Nancy," she replied curtly.
"Why don't you ask me your questions and I'll see if I want to answer them," he continued smirking at her and Frank could feel his anger starting to build. He took a deep breath to get a handle on his emotions. It wouldn't be good to lose his cool with a man who might be able to point them in the right direction.
"Patrick McCoy," Nancy said, "what can you tell me about him?"
"Who?" Mason looked confused.
"McCoy." Nancy repeated, "Patrick."
Mason screwed his face up in concentration, "ah yes, good ol' Patrick. Who's he pissed off now?"
"So, you know him?" Nancy prompted, not answering his question.
"Yeah, liar borrowed money off me, didn't pay it back by the due date. I was all set to do something about it when one of my guys from the outside told me he paid his debt in full. I no longer have a problem with him," Mason shrugged, "once you pay me my money, we can be buds again."
"So he paid you back?" Nancy asked.
"Yeah, the initial loan plus interest," Mason smiled a sick smile, "a lot of interest. That's how you make money."
"Did your man say how Patrick paid?" Frank asked.
Mason shot Frank a disdainful look before fixing his eyes back on Nancy. Not looking at Frank he answered, "Wire transfer."
"Do you know of anyone else Patrick was in trouble with?" Nancy asked.
"Who wasn't McCoy in trouble with? He owed damn near half the city. The man loves to gamble but he ain't any good at it." Mason shrugged, "he pissed off Roman Caudle pretty badly a few months back. Last I heard, before I was arrested Roman was fixing to take care of Patrick."
They talked to Mason awhile longer but he seemed to not want to give away too much more information, "I've got to protect myself here," Mason said with a lazy shrug, "I don't want to go ratting everyone out. It's hazardous to my health."
"Thanks for your help," Nancy said standing up.
"Anytime sugar," Mason winked at her, "you come on back for another visit. I got a conjugal visit coming up in a couple of weeks, we could have a good time."
Nancy choked back a laugh at the same time that Frank moved forward to grab Mason's collar. Joe put his hand on Frank's arm and pulled him back, eyeing the guard who was walking over to the group, "settle down Frank," Joe said between clenched teeth. He was having a hard time controlling himself too, with the way Mason had been staring at Nancy and his last comment.
Frank pulled away from the criminal with a lot of effort. Nancy placed her hand on Frank shoulder, "let's go," she whispered as the guard came up to the table. They walked out of the prison and got into Frank's car, no one saying a word.
It wasn't until they were back on the freeway that Joe felt he could break the silence, "so, Roman Caudle."
"Yeah," Nancy sighed, "now we have a name."
"He wasn't in the police database," Frank pointed out.
"It probably just means he's never gotten caught before," Joe suggested.
"Probably," Nancy agreed.
"Let's stop at Robert's" Joe said, "It feels like we haven't seen them in forever. I talked to Bernie this morning and he's a mess."
"Yeah," Nancy agreed, "I'd like to see how they're doing."
Frank nodded and followed the freeway up to Robert's exit. A few moments later they pulled up to the house and they call climbed out of the car. Nancy hung back as Joe walked up the front steps. Frank climbed slowly out of the car and Nancy went to stand in front of him. She reached up and gave him a light kiss, "it's going to be okay."
Frank sighed and rested his forehead on hers, "I know it is. Time is running out, Nancy."
"Yes, but we have a name now. Let's get inside, check on Robert and Mary Anne and Bernie and I'll make a few calls, see what I can dig up on this Roman Caudle."
"Okay," Frank nodded, "as much as I want to check on the Shoemaker's, I don't like thinking that we're just sitting around waiting for tomorrow to come."
"I agree," Nancy nodded and grabbed Frank's hand. "Let's get inside."
Together they walked up the front steps and into Robert's entryway. Joe was already sitting on the couch, a comforting hand resting on Bernie's shoulder. Mary Anne was nowhere in sight and Robert stood restlessly staring into the unlit fireplace.
Robert turned when Nancy and Frank entered the living room, "have you guys found anything?" his voice sounded hollow and thin, thick with exhaustion.
"We have a name that might help us," Nancy replied, "I need to call my partner and get some information."
"Okay," Robert said nodding. He took a deep breath, "I got all of the money I could together. It's not what they asked for, it's only about half, but I'm hoping it will be enough…I don't know. I'm hoping it will buy me enough time to get the rest of it."
There was a heavy silence that fell over the room as everyone tried to think of something encouraging to say to the distraught father. Nancy was about to excuse herself to make the call to Michael when Mary Anne walked into the room followed closely by Frannie.
"Frannie?" Joe said.
Frannie gave Joe a small sad smile, "hello Joe. You and your fiancée were right, I was needed here." She walked forward and placed her hand in Robert's. He squeezed it tightly and gave her a grateful smile.
"Vanessa was right," Joe said.
"About what?" Mary Anne asked.
"Oh, just that…you two…err…" Joe trailed off clearly embarrassed, "what I mean is, she thought that you liked Robert…"
Frannie let out a small laugh, "we women are very perceptive."
"That's what she said," Joe said with a small laugh.
"I'm just going to step outside and make my phone call," Nancy said and with a last squeeze of Frank's hand stepped out onto the front porch. She pulled out her phone and walked down the driveway to lean against the trunk of Frank's car. The quiet tree lined street was beautiful with the colors of summer.
The phone rang once, twice, three times, "come on Michael, pick up." Nancy said in annoyance and turned to look at Robert's house.
"This is Michael," he finally answered.
"Michael! It's about time…" Nancy began but she never got to finish her sentence. One minute she was scolding her partner and the next she was hit hard from behind. Stumbling forward her phone flew from her fingertips as she lay sprawled unconscious behind Frank's car.
Roman Caudle stood above Nancy's still form, looking down on her with disgust, "well, this is inconvenient," he said and motioned for Nancy to be dragged to a waiting car.
She was dumped unceremoniously in the trunk just as her eyes began to flutter open. "Frank," she mumbled incoherently as the trunk was closed and darkness enveloped her.