A huge thanks to my wonderful BETA Dragonmaster65 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! There is one more chapter after this.
Chapter 12
She found herself in a large lobby. The floors were made of colored tiles arranged in jagged patterns, and the walls were made of glass, revealing additional views of the city. A frosted glass partition separated the lobby from a private office. Silk banners hung from the ceiling. Polished stone pedestals held golden and silver statues portraying nude men and women. Everything in the room was rich and lavish accentuated with the soft spell of the jazz music that was playing in the background. Most people would be in awe of this magnificent surrounding but Callie hardly noticed anything.
Frank is missing
Joe's text had been brief. They had no idea where Frank was. She sucked in a shaky breath, feeling her throat constrict. Panic rose like bile in her body. She suddenly didn't know how to speak. Or walk. She just stood blankly, staring up at the massive space before her. Her palms were clammy, and it was all she could do not to knot her fingers together.
The sound of heels clicking on the marble caught her attention and she turned to see Steven walking towards her with a grave expression.
"Miss Shaw," he greeted her, "shall we?" He offered his arm to her.
Callie nodded. They were at the Marriott International Hotel for dinner appointment with Mr. Rob Virtanen. She was going to meet the man Frank had gone to speak with before he disappeared. The man she knew wasn't quite so out of the loop as his retirement plans made him appear.
They approached their table in silence. The waitress came and greeted them before rattling off the specials for the night. Steven ordered something for her; Callie couldn't care what she pushed around her plate tonight. Callie checked her phone- no messages. She looked around fighting the urge to throw up. Eventually Rob joined them at the table.
"Sorry, I was late. We have so much to do before the launch of our wonder drug. I hope you were not waiting long?" he asked apologetically.
Callie forced a smile as Steven shook Rob's hand. She knew what a snake in the grass the man was but she had to play her part. "No apologies needed. We just got here ourselves," Callie explained.
"Okay, so what's your poison?" Rob asked as he sat down. "I'm in a mood to celebrate tonight."
Callie took a deep breath. It took her every bit of restraint to not go flying at Rob and strangling him. Frank, she thought again, believed in justice, even to those who were too far gone. It was important to him and he risked his life for it. Frank led by example and Callie knew she had to do this, for him, for Erin, for Vanessa and many others who had been wronged by these monsters.
"I am so glad you could join us tonight. We understand how busy you must be right now," she managed with a fake enthusiasm.
Rob turned to Steven, saying, "You picked a perfect time to invest in us, Mr. Ranella. Once Bryonia goes on the market, you'll never have to invest in another company again."
"That would be wonderful, I am getting too old for this game anyways. I just want to retire peacefully," Steven answered, a bit of restraint in his voice.
Rob diverted the conversation away from what Callie really cared about to discuss retirement, golf, and other topics she had no interest on even on a normal evening.
Callie and Steven would interject every now and then to seem like they were very engrossed in the meeting. Rob did most of the talking and couldn't stop chatting about where he envisioned his company going and the profits they were going to mint. Suddenly Callie's phone chirped.
Frank is safe, going to give our statements to Chief Collig at Bayport PD
Callie felt like the heavy brick that had been crushing her was suddenly lifted only to be replaced with a rush of adrenaline.
"So Ms. Shaw, I hope that your piece on our company and drug will be front page news tomorrow morning?" Rob endeavored.
Callie could not help smiling, His timing couldn't have been more perfect. "Yes Mr. Virtanen, that is guaranteed. Ophelia will be all anyone can talk about for a long time."
Smiling, Rob turned to Steven, "As pleasant it is to talk here tonight, the board and I do need to know what your intentions are, now that you own 8% of Virtanen?"
Steven glanced nervously at Callie, who reached out and squeezed his hand. "Actually Callie here has been instrumental in my making a decision. She asked that I sell all my shares in Ophelia."
"Oh!" Rob looked from Steven to Callie confused.
Callie took a deep breath, "I had a tip that the price is about to take a nosedive. So I only thought it fair to let Steven know about it."
"Tip? What tip?" Rob was furious.
"That senior management was about to have some very serious legal problems. In fact, I asked Steven to take his initial investment and short your company to the tune of half billion shares," Callie stated.
"You're betting against me? After making me trot out the red carpet for your damned investment in the first place? You clearly don't know who you're dealing with," Rob spat.
Callie reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "Oh, I know exactly what kind of man I'm dealing with. And I know you don't care who you hurt to get what you want," she said coldly.
She placed the paper with three names on the table - Erin, Vanessa, and James. Rob's eyes scanned the page then snapped to Callie.
Callie stood up and Steven followed. She said, "I know the only thing you do care about is money, so that's what we're going to take from you. Your money, all of it."
"You were right Mr. Virtanen. Thanks to you, I never will have to invest in another company," Steven retorted as he threw down a wad of cash on the table.
Callie and Steven stepped back as plainclothes police officers moved in and arrested Robert Virtanen.
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The day had long surrendered to the shadows when the Hardy brothers along with Vanessa reached Bayport PD to answer questions and hand over their precious evidence. Frank had just been discharged by the clinic, and other than some nasty bruises, he was fine. The trio sat down with the chief of police Ezra Collig, detective Con Riley, and several other police officers.
They all gave their statements, heard the tape in its entirety - Callie had emailed it to Con earlier that night - and discussed further steps needed to wrap up the case.
Emerson had immediately folded and given them everything they needed in hopes of getting immunity. He'd rolled on Jake and his henchmen, even his own father in law.
"You boys did a fine job, took down an entire company and neatly wrapped it up for us," Collig noted. "Your father would be proud of you."
"We had help," Joe said, casting an admiring glance at Vanessa.
"Aah yes, Vanessa you are one brave girl. And if I am not mistaken, Callie kept Robert Virtanen busy while we cleaned up this mess. My men are picking him up as we speak,"Con said.
Joe quickly cast a sideways glance at his brother. Frank's jaw was set in a straight line. Joe turned to Con and asked, "Erm, is Callie okay?"
"Yes, of course. My men were there waiting with her all along. She's perfectly fine. Said something about an article to write," Con assured them.
Joe grinned, "Thank you Con. We appreciate all that you did for us too."
Con chuckled, "Just don't ask me to do it again."
"Boys," Chief Collig's voice boomed, "We have someone here who wants to talk to you." Collig ushered them into his office where they met an elderly woman sitting quietly with her head down.
"This is Erin Miller's mom, Amada Miller. She asked to speak with you. I'll leave you to it," Chief nodded at them and closed the door on his way out. Joe went and sat next to her while Frank leaned his hip against the table facing Amada.
"Erin was murdered, I was told," Amada said in a small voice.
"We are so sorry for your loss Mrs. Miller," Frank said sympathetically.
Amada nodded, "My baby died doing the right thing, I could not be prouder."
"As you should. It was your daughter who brought down this whole organization by recording her conversation. She knew the risks and yet chose to go along," Joe offered. "Without her, so many more people would have been in danger."
"If she were alive, she would have said you two are damn fine detectives. And I would agree," she reached out and held both Frank and Joe's hands in hers. "In her free time, Erin liked to teach children who didn't have access to proper education."
"Then that is what you should do, start a foundation in Erin's name to fund for education to children who can't afford it and I hear that Steven Ranella has made generous contribution to the families of every person deceased in this case. That should more than cover the expenses of setting up the foundation," Frank suggested.
Amada was looking at Frank with shining eyes. She slowly nodded and stood up to leave. The boys walked her out.
Vanessa joined them outside and as she watched Amada go she asked, "How do you get over something like this, a devastating loss?"
Joe stood up straight and let out a deep breath. "When my girlfriend died three years ago, I didn't think I could live. She meant everything to me. Every month she hosted a game night for us friends and we enjoyed them so much it became a part of us, after she passed I continued her tradition of game night. It was extremely hard at first but slowly it became a way to not only honour her memory but have her live on in our hearts."
Vanessa smiled and squeezed his hand. Then she looked apologetic and said, "I have to get going. My mother is waiting for me. It's been a few stressful days for her."
Joe cleared his throat. "Yes, I should get Frank home as well. He could use some rest"
Vanessa turned to look at both the brothers. She said earnestly, "I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me."
Frank smiled. "We're just glad it all turned out okay in the end. Take care of yourself."
Vanessa shook Frank's hand but when she turned towards Joe, she hugged him tightly. Joe returned the hug with a smile unable to be contained. "It was really nice getting to know you Vanessa," he said earnestly.
They watched Vanessa walk away and then made their way back to the van.
On the drive back home to the Hardy's apartment, Frank looked at his brother from the passenger's seat. Joe had a slight frown on his face. Frank reached out and squeezed Joe's shoulder.
"I like her," Frank said softly.
"Huh?"
"Vanessa! She saved your life when she handed you the paperclip, and for that I will forever be indebted to her," Frank replied.
"She's cool and really brave under the circumstances," Joe replied quietly.
"You know I am proud of you. You never cease to amaze me."
"Right back at ya!" Joe smiled at his brother.
They drove in silence for a bit and as Joe parked their van into the driveway Frank couldn't resist but say, "My inbox is blowing up with cases. You ready to recon some more cheating spouses?"
Joe eyes widened, and he retorted, "Oh dear God! Gimme a break, would you?"
Frank couldn't help but grin!
The case of Ophelia Pharma was done and dusted
