Joe tried once again to wave down a taxi and frowned "You know, for being the City of Romance they sure aren't showing a lot of love."
Frank chuckled and turned to face Nancy, only to find her gone "Hey, Joe. Where's Nan?"
"How should I know?" Joe retorted as he failed to get another taxi "She's probably doing some..."
"Joe." Frank grabbed his brother's shoulder and spun him around "Look."
"Hey, it's one of those masked guys!" Joe shot Frank a quick glance "And he's leaving an alley. Why do I have a feeling?"
"Because it's Nancy." Frank groaned as he broke into a run.
"You make sure she's okay." Joe called "I'm going after that guy!" then he sprinted off.
Frank didn't take time to warn his brother to be careful, he ran straight to the alley. And as assumed he found Nancy laying unconscious on the ground "Nan?" he said, gently shaking her shoulders "Nancy Drew."
She groaned slightly and slowly looked up at him "Frank?" she shook her head "What happened?"
He gave her a small smile "I was hoping you could tell me." he helped her sit up then watched concerned as she rubbed the back of her head.
"He had a gun." she answered "And he used the end of it." she winced "Ow."
"You alright?"
She smiled and nodded "Yeah. I've been worse." she rubbed the back of her head gently "Where's Joe?"
Frank glanced towards the opening of the alley "He ran after the guy who was in here."
"Why don't you go make sure he's okay?" she said, knowing all too well that look on the older Hardy's face.
He shook his head, although the offer was soooo tempting "He'll be fine. Joe knows how to carry his own weight. Come on, let's get you to the hotel"
~*~*~*The Deadly Song*~*~*~
Joe sprinted after the guy as full speed, when he was about five yards away the person glanced back and spotted him then the next instant shot off.
"Why do they always run?" Joe groaned as he put on an extra burst of speed "It just makes me tired."
The chase lasted for several minutes. When they were running over a bridge Joe suddenly heard a loud roar behind him. He spun around and found himself almost face to face with a black Mercedes. With a yelp he leapt out of the way and almost went right over side of the bridge but managed to stay put as the car whooshed by.
The man he had been chasing jumped into the car then the vehicle pulled up several yards and turned around so it was facing the Hardy.
"Oh no." Joe breathed then he spun around and took off running. He could hear the engine right behind him and the faint laughter coming from inside. One glance back told him he had no choice. He launched himself over the bridge railing an into the murky water below.
The Mercedes squealed to a stop and the attackers bailed out and scanned the river.
Joe broke through the surface and shook the water from his eyes then a small *click* caught his attention. His head snapped up and instantly he spotted a large revolver, the sun glittering off of it's ugly barrel. With a gasp he dove back down under the water as several loud shots rang out. Joe froze as several bullets sliced through the water on every side. One came close enough to catch his jacket sleeve but missed him. A few seconds later the gunshots ended and Joe waited til he couldn't hold his breath any more and swam back up to the surface. He sucked in a lungful of grateful air and looked around. The Mercedes was gone and so were it's people.
"I guess that's a good thing." He said to himself as he swam to the riverbank and pulled himself out "Now to find a taxi who doesn't mind occupants who went swimming."
~*~*~*The Deadly Song*~*~*~
Frank was waiting in their room when Joe got back and one look at his brother sent his eyebrows up "What happened to you? Get in a water balloon fight at a birthday party."
"Ha ha." Joe retorted "It you must know I almost got run down by our friends' Mercedes... twice. I had to jump into a river from a bridge to avoid being hit then help my breath forever while they shot at me!" he showed Frank the tear in his jacket "I was almost casting a polka-dotted shadow!"
Frank frowned "This is serious, Joe. They're almost ready to kill for this."
"Almost?"Joe scoffed "Did you not hear what I just said?"
"I don't think they were trying to hit you." Frank returned as he leaned back against the wall in thought.
Joe slid out of his wet jacket and threw it over a chair "Is Nan okay?"
Frank chuckled "What do you think?"
"Um..." Joe grinned "It would take a bulldozer to break that skull."
"Hey!" a voice came from the doorway.
Joe spun around and smirked "Why Nancy, how on earth did you get into our room?"
"You left the door open." she responded as she took in his soaked clothes and tousled hair "I'm not sure I want to know but, what happened?"
"Car. River. Bullets." Joe said simply "Fun morning."
"Ah." Nancy nodded slightly "Mr. Biggs is taking anyone who isn't too jetlagged to the rehearsal building for a tour. Mind be a good chance to get the lay of the land."
"Good idea." Frank nodded "As soon as Joe changes so it doens't look like I'm dragging around a wet ragdoll we'll be right down."
Joe snatched his wet jacket from the chair, rolled it into a ball and chucked it at his brother "Just stay out of my way, Hardy." then he stormed to the bathroom.
Frank chuckled "You sound like a villain."
"Nope! Just your worst nightmare!"
Nancy shook her head "We'll be waiting for you in the lobby. Come on, Frank."
"See ya, Joe." Frank called as he followed Nancy out the door.
"Yeah yeah yeah." was all Joe would say.
~*~*~*The Deadly Song*~*~*~
"Sounds serious." Nancy said as she and Frank stepped into the Lobby.
"I'm afraid it's keeps getting more serious." Frank answered "At first everything had just been to scare. Then with that explosion that eliminated that one team, now... They're getting deadly."
They had taken the stairs instead of the elevator so they'd have more time to talk. Now the conversation ended as they joined the others.
"Where's the rest of you?" Jaylee asked
"George is napping and Joe is changing." Nancy answered "Callie's talking to Gina and Ned is calling his mom."
"Cool." Jaylee flipped her long brown ponytale over her shoulder "Hey, Frank. Tell you brother that Tess was wondering if he'd like a few lessons on the drums, okay?"
"Oh, he'll definitely want lessons." Frank answered "I'll be sure to tell him."
Jaylee nodded then walked off to join her band. Joe came down a few minutes later then everyone loaded onto a large bus and headed out. Frank grabbed a window seat and Joe plopped down beside him. Nancy and Ned sat down right in front of them and Callie was sitting with Gina behind.
"Let's go." Mr. Biggs told the busdriver who gave him a thumbs up and started the bus.
As the bus pulled away from hotel, Joe noticed a someone standing in the shadows of an alley "Hey, Frank. Who is that?"
Frank followed his brothers gaze and squinted against the glare of the sun on the window "I can't tell."
Joe sent him an uneasy look then leaned back into his chair and started humming a tune that Frank didn't realize.
A few minutes later Gina's voice spoke "What's that?" then she shrugged "Must the tires."
Frank frowned and listened, trying to hear what Gina had over top of everyone talking. Finally a soft ticking sound reached his ears. It's methodical click sent a cold chill right down his spine.
Nancy turned around and looked back at him just then, her face tense and slightly pale. Then he glanced over at Joe who's expression was similar to Nancy's. They all knew that sound too well and exactly what it meant. There was a bomb on the bus.
(BOOOM! Did I scare ya? no. okay. Anyhoo... Ireally wish I was a better mystery writer, but we can't all be what we love, right?
Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews guyz! You are AWESOME! And I say that because y'all keep me writing :) You really do =D
Laterz!)