A/N: It's tiny. I know. I'm sorry. But the next one will be longer.
Disclaimer: ...
Chapter Ten
Frank caught up with his younger brother as they both bounded up the stairs. His mind was racing with the possibilities of what Joe was hiding. Could Milly Severson already be dead? What did that mean Yolanda Harris? At this time, they were assuming both of the cases were connected, but what if they weren't? The thoughts were travelling around Frank Hardy's mind at a hundred miles per hour. He reached out to stop his brother with a gentle yet firm touch of the shoulder.
"What's up?" he said, with his eyebrows raised as he glanced at Joe. Joe was in a slight state of panic, to say the least. It was exactly the most wonderful news to wake up to, and he definitely did not like where things were going with the case.
"The package," Joe began with a quiet whisper, quickly peering around the hallway to make sure that their younger sister wasn't around.
There were certain aspects to do with a few of their more gruesome cases that they were adamant that Faith would never know about and this was one of those times. Both of the boys had agreed on what type of things Faith knew about and they were the minimal basics, if that. There were a few reasons they did so. One of the reasons was that there were some parts of their case that they were disgusted to even think about and they knew Faith didn't want to and definitely didn't need to hear about. For their more crucial cases, they kept the information on a need to know basis. If Faith was ever in a situation where she had to give any information reluctantly, she wouldn't have any to give out. They had concluded that it was just another safety measure to make sure that their younger sister stayed protected.
"It contained some pretty sick stuff," he stated blankly, not quite wanting to go into detail. He had already felt a bit grossed out by the information he had been given. Although he hadn't eaten yet, he felt last night's dinner rising as bile in his throat.
"Like what?" Frank prompted in a less demanding tone than before. He could read Joe like a picture book and knew that whatever his younger brother had to say next was going to be something that he probably didn't want to hear. Joe took a deep breath before speaking, trying to ready himself.
"There was a finger," he whispered in a barely audible tone. The elder Hardy could barely keep in his breakfast as mental images shot through his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to force images out of his head.
"Okay," he said after a moment, his voice sounding slightly freaked out. He knew that this meant that the case was definitely a lot darker than they had initially expected. He hated to admit it, but the first thing he thought was the danger he'd put his girlfriend in. What if the possible killer had seen them going into the Harris household and was now following not only Callie, but Vanessa too? The mere thought was making Frank feel sick to the pit of his stomach and he forced himself to stop before things got too drastic in his mind.
"Are you all right?" Joe asked, sounding genuinely worried as he looked at his brother. The younger Hardy had totally disregarded his own feelings towards the case to focus on his brother, who looked like he was about to either throw up or pass out.
Somehow, Frank managed to regain his composure within what he hoped was a few minutes before nodding towards Joe.
"I'm fine," he said, giving his younger brother a reassuring smile. Joe opened his mouth to retort, but was stopped when Faith appeared in the doorway. He was quick to snap his mouth shut and smile sweetly at his sister to suggest that nothing was wrong.
Faith glanced from brother to brother, wondering what she walked in on. Both of them seemed fine ten minutes ago when she was talking to Frank, but something had happened, and it definitely was not something good. She wasn't sure quite what had occurred between them, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to find out. Even though they had tried to nonchalantly pass over more gruesome details, Faith had always found out about them somehow, although most of the time she didn't even want to know.
It took her a second to remember why she had even gone upstairs in the first place. Faith looked down at the ground and noticed that their house phone was in her right hand.
"Dad's on the phone," she murmured, handing the phone to Joe, who was closest to her. He nodded in thanks and she was quick to leave, knowing that their father could only be calling to talk about their case.
"Hey dad, what's up?" Joe asked, placing the phone to his ear.
"Another girl's gone missing."