A/N: Thank you so much for all of the great reviews and for allowing me a little creative license as far as police procedure goes. :) I hope all of you had a wonderful day and that you enjoy the chapter! Thanks so much again!
The Three Minute Deal
Chapter 12
Joe pushed himself up from his place on the sidewalk next to his brother and walked a few feet away. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed their father's number. "Fenton here," he answered a few rings later.
"Dad," Joe sighed in relief and explained everything that had happened in the last few hours, from their visit with Mason to Nancy going missing, "and Dad, I'm really concerned about Frank. He's been having nightmares lately about when we were kids, when Bill kidnapped us," Joe swallowed and glanced at his brother before turning away again, "and Dad, the nightmares are pretty intense I think. I'm not sure, but I think last night he dreamed that Nancy and I died."
Fenton was silent for a moment as he let what his son was telling him digest, "okay," Fenton took a deep breath. "I think we need to get Frank working on finding Nancy, keep him busy. He's never been very good at sitting and stewing."
"I agree, but where do we start?" Joe asked and shot another worried glance at his brother, who was busy staring down at Nancy's phone.
"You said you had a lead on a Caudle. We'll start there," Fenton advised. "I'm at the office, so I'll do my research here, but have Frank pull out his laptop and do his own research. He needs to feel like he's doing something."
"Okay, call me when you find something," Joe closed his phone and turned back to Frank. "Hey bro," he crouched down next to him, "I think we need to do some research on this Caudle guy."
Frank looked at Joe and stood up, "yeah, I agree." He nodded quickly and started walking to his car, "I'll just grab my laptop," he opened the trunk and pulled it out. Joe was relieved to see Frank moving again, and not in that same jerky panic filled way he had been since Nancy had gone missing. What worried Joe was seeing that horrible look of sadness filling his brother's eyes.
They walked quickly into Robert's house and without much of an explanation; Frank pulled out his computer and set it up on the coffee table. Looking up information on Roman Caudle in the police database, Frank remembered the quiet time he and Nancy had spent together just that morning. This morning he had been so upset and she had been there for him, just like he needed her here now. He swallowed quickly and tried to push the despairing thoughts from his mind.
Frank was vaguely aware of Joe talking to the Shoemaker's and Frannie as he typed in Caudle, Roman. The list that came up was long and not one of those charges came from New York, which is why Roman hadn't come up in their search that morning. "Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago…" Frank murmured and continued reading.
"What are you finding?" Joe asked sitting down beside Frank on the couch.
"Roman Caudle, born 1961 in Billings, Montana…" Frank read out loud, "He and his mother moved to Chicago when he was 9, lived there until he was 26. He's moved around a lot since then but has built himself a nice rap sheet in a lot of different states."
Joe read over Frank's shoulder, "it looks like he's a gambling man."
"It sure does," Frank agreed, "I have a feeling this is our guy."
"Your feelings are usually correct, Frank." Joe laid his hand on Frank's shoulder reassuringly, "let's see what else we can find on him."
Nancy sat on the edge of the twin mattress and watched as Ashley slept. When she had returned to the small room Nancy had spent a long time trying to soothe the distraught girl before she had finally given in to sleep. She was curled up on her side and she looked so vulnerable. Nancy tore her eyes away and looked up at the small window. The light was fading fast.
Now that Ashley was asleep Nancy was better able to concentrate on figuring a way out of their current situation. She had already double and triple checked the window and door, but no new options had sprung conveniently up.
She sighed and rubbed her sore wrists, the heavy metal of the handcuffs were beginning to chafe her skin. She wondered what Roman was doing and what he was deciding to do with her. She fervently hoped that he would reconsider and let Ashley go, but the longer she sat waiting the less hope she had that Roman would do as she wished.
Nancy shivered in the growing darkness and reached over to tuck the blanket more securely around the sleeping Ashley. Her head snapped up when the sound of key being inserted in the lock caught her attention. The door pushed open and Ashley began to stir, "daddy?" she whispered incoherently.
"No sweetie," Nancy said softly, "its okay, I'm here."
The man who entered the room carried a bag of McDonald's takeout and a cup. He set them on the floor without saying anything and then turned to leave the room. Before he could get all the way out, Roman came charging in.
"Nancy Drew, eh?" he sneered sweat beginning to bead on his upper lip. "You know, they have all sorts of articles about you online. They called you the 'girl detective'." Roman wiped a hand over his sweaty brow and picked Nancy up to her feet.
"No!" Ashley cried, clearly distraught.
"It's alright Ashley," Nancy tried to reassure the little girl as Roman backed her up against the wall.
"You're practically famous aren't you?" Roman hissed his face inches away from Nancy's.
"It's not my fault you messed up," Nancy informed him, "I didn't ask to be taken…" before she could finish her sentence Roman gripped the front of her jacket and slammed her against the wall. Nancy could almost feel her bones rattle.
"Enough!" he growled and looked as if he were about to slam her into the wall again.
"Leave her alone!" Ashley cried from the mattress.
Roman turned stressed out eyes on the little girl and Nancy worked quickly to get his attention focused back on her. "Roman, if we have to do this…please, let's do it away from her."
He turned his head slowly back to her, breathing heavily, "This isn't what I do," he whispered. "This was supposed to be about making a quick buck. I don't know how to handle this."
"Then let us go and we can pretend this never happened," Nancy begged, Roman still had her pinned against the wall. 'Yeah right, you let us go and I'm going after you with a vengeance.' She tried hard to look like she meant her words but apparently Roman wasn't falling for it. He slammed her against the wall again.
"Do I look like an idiot to you? Huh? I've been a criminal most of my life, I know how this works," he punctuated his last word by slamming Nancy into the wall yet again.
Ashley was crying silently on the mattress, her scared eyes never leaving Nancy's face. "Please Roman," Nancy whispered, "Please not in front of Ashley. She'll go into shock and then you'll have a real problem on your hands."
This seemed to get through to Roman who slowly released his grip on Nancy's jacket and stumbled back, "I don't know how to handle this. Give me a fixed game at the table and I'm your man…this was supposed to be quick and easy," he mumbled under his breath.
"It still can be," Nancy said easing slowly away from the wall, "just let Ashley go and you and I can sit down and figure something out. I know all of the ins and outs; I can get you out of this. I know what will work and what won't."
Nancy held her breath; Roman's eyes were looking thoughtful as if he was seriously considering her offer. His eyes hardened and he backed up toward the door, "No. She stays and you'll help me regardless."
"I won't," Nancy replied, "not unless you let Ashley go."
"Oh, I think you will," Roman replied nastily and shifted his gaze meaningfully toward Ashley.
"You won't get to her," Nancy replied trying hard not to scare Ashley. "I'm here."
"That problem can be fixed," Roman said with a shrug. "Think about it," he said and left the room.
Nancy slid down the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest, trying her hardest to stop her body from shaking. She lowered her head to rest on her knees, concentrating on taking deep cleansing breaths. The room was darker now and she was having a hard time dealing with the walls that seemed to be closing in around her.
"Here," Ashley's soft voice said near her ear. Nancy lifted her head and smiled at the offered chicken nugget, "you should eat this."
"Thank you," Nancy replied and took the chicken nugget, "you should eat too." They sat like that for awhile, munching on fries and chicken nuggets and taking turns drinking the soda. "Are you getting full?" Nancy asked
"Yeah," Ashley nodded and reached for another chicken nugget. She noticed that Nancy hadn't reached for more than two, "are you? You haven't eaten very much."
"Oh, I'm fine. I had a big lunch before I got here," she said with a wink. Ashley smiled and bit into her chicken nugget. Nancy leaned back against the wall and watched her eat, 'I have to get us out of here,' she thought desperately to herself, 'before Roman does something he'll definitely regret.'
"Where are you?" Michael said angrily in Frank's ear, "I'm at the Shoemaker's and you aren't here. What part of 'I'll be right there' don't you understand?"
Frank and Joe were speeding down the highway, Frank having decided that he needed to talk to Patrick again. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you guys to show up while Nancy and Ashley are still missing," Frank growled, "don't talk to me like I'm one of your agents."
"Where are you going?" Michael was clearly frustrated, "we need to work together on this."
"I'm going to try and find out more information about Roman Caudle," Frank replied. "He's our man."
"How do you know that?" Michael asked doubtfully.
"Call it a hunch, we'll talk later," Frank hung up his phone as Joe took the exit for Bayport.
"How do you plan on getting in to talk to Patrick?" Joe asked and glanced out of the corner of his eye at his brother. Frank's fists were clenched tightly resting on his knees and there was a determined look in his eyes.
"I'll ask nicely," Frank said through clenched teeth. After trying to dig up more information about Roman Caudle and coming up empty handed both he and Joe had left Robert's to go back to Bayport and talk to Patrick again. Patrick was still in Bayport Police Department's custody, currently locked in one of their cells. Apparently the FBI had bigger fish to fry and weren't in the biggest hurry to move them.
Joe pulled up in front of the station house and parked. He jumped out of the car and quickly followed his brother up the front steps. The sun was beginning its slow summer descent in the sky as the two brothers stepped into the reception area of the station.
The receptionist knew them both and gave them a warm smile, "hello, how can I help you two today?"
"We need to get in to see a prisoner," Frank said quickly.
The receptionist frowned, "I'll have to call someone about that."
"Call Con," Frank requested.
The receptionist nodded and punched in an extension. She spoke into the phone for a moment before turning to smile at the brothers, "he's going to be right out."
"Thanks," Joe said returning her smile. Frank pushed up off the desk and began pacing back and forth across the room.
When Con appeared out of the side hallway Frank walked quickly up to him, "I need to talk to Patrick McCoy."
Con shot a look at the receptionist and pulled Frank further away from her and Joe followed. "Frank," he said in a low whisper, "I can't just let you talk to him."
"Please," Frank replied urgently, "Nancy's gone missing. I need to get him to tell us what he knows.."
"Nancy's missing?" Con asked. Over the last eight months he had grown fond of Nancy and the news didn't sit well with him.
"Yes," Frank replied, "Please Con, I need to see him."
Con was quiet for a moment as he thought it through, "There shouldn't be anything wrong with Patrick getting visitors," he said finally, "but you can't stay very long."
"Fine," Frank said, "I just need to speak with him for a minute."
Con led them downstairs and to the jail cells. He spoke quickly with the guard there and then led the Hardy's down the hall to the last cell. "Open the door," Frank requested. When Con balked he added, "Please." Con shook his head slowly as if he knew that this wasn't the smartest thing he had ever done.
As soon as the door slid open Frank was inside and stalking across the room towards Patrick who was sitting on the low cot. Frank grabbed the man by his lapels and yanked him to his feet, "tell me what you know about Caudle," he growled.
Joe and Con rushed into the cell and pried Frank off of the stuttering Patrick. Finally Frank released him and the man stumbled back, clutching his throat, "Frank!" Con said, "You have to control yourself!" He was surprised by Frank's strong reaction; it was usually Joe he had to worry about flying off the handle.
"Listen Frank," Joe said pushing his angry brother away from the cowering man, "Frank you can't do this. As much as you'd like to, think of where you are." Frank tore his gaze away from Patrick and looked at his brother. "I know, Frank, I know," Joe said, "we're all desperate to find Ashley and Nancy. Let's just ask him a few questions and go from there."
Frank nodded and Joe lowered his restraining hands from his brother's arms. He wasn't used to seeing his brother lose control so easily and it scared him. Con was eyeing Frank warily, "it's alright Con, I'm okay." Frank assured his old friend taking a deep breath.
Con looked skeptical but nodded and backed away from Patrick, "make this fast."
Because his brother didn't seem inclined to say anything, Joe stepped toward Patrick, "what do you know about Roman Caudle?" he demanded.
"Nothing," Patrick shrugged eyeing Frank warily, "nothing at all."
"Don't lie, we know you owe him money, is he the one who kidnapped Ashley?" Joe asked angrily.
Patrick's eyes darted between the three men and he looked nervous, "look, I don't want to cause any trouble."
Frank had been staring fixedly out the small prison cell window. At Patrick's words he turned and walked quickly to stand in front of Patrick, his eyes blazing. Both Joe and Con tensed, ready to stop Frank from attacking but Frank didn't touch the man, "you don't want to cause any trouble?" he said his voice dangerously low, "no trouble? Because of you there is a scared little girl out there who's afraid of the dark and my girlfriend is missing!" Frank closed his eyes and let out a slow breath as if to calm himself, "if you don't want to cause any trouble, then you better start talking."
"Okay, okay," Patrick said quickly, "I owe Roman a lot of money and we came up with a way for me to pay it back and for him to make a little extra. I was going to get 5 percent for helping plus all of my debts paid." Patrick closed his eyes, "you don't understand, I had to do it…I owed a lot of money."
"You didn't have to do it, you idiot," Joe said angrily, "you didn't have to help kidnap a little girl, put her through this kind of trauma. You didn't have to make a little girl suffer because you happen to be lousy at cards."
"He promised no one would get hurt!" Patrick cried.
Frank rolled his eyes in disgust, "Joe's right, you are an idiot." Frank ran a hand through his hair. "Where can we find him?"
"I don't know," Patrick replied, "he always contacted me."
"How?" Joe asked.
"He'd call, private number and set up a meeting place." Patrick answered.
"Where did you first meet him? Where did you borrow money from him?" Frank demanded.
"He runs an underground gambling club; it moves locations every few months to keep the cops out. I borrowed money from him to play at his club a few months ago," Patrick shook his head, "I don't know where the club moved to after that."
"Where was the club a few months ago?" Frank said in even tones.
"In the warehouse district, outskirts of New York City…warehouse B1753, I think," Patrick was beginning to sweat, "listen, if they know I've told you this…it won't be good."
"Too bad," Frank said and walked out of the cell with Joe following quickly behind him.
Joe shot an appreciative look at Con, "thanks Con, we'll call you later," he called and hurried to keep up with his brother who was walking quickly up the stairs and out of the building, "Frank!" Joe called, "Frank, come on."
Frank pushed the front doors of the precinct open and took a deep gulp of the fresh air, "it was hard to breathe down there," he murmured to himself.
Joe caught up to him and planted himself in front of Frank, "brother, you have got to get a hold of yourself."
Frank's eyes flashed angrily, "what are you talking about? I have to find Nancy…"
"I know, Frank!" Joe said interrupting his brother. He threw his hands up in frustration, "how am I supposed to handle this? You're usually the one who has to calm me down, not the other way around." Frank started to say something but Joe held up his hand, "don't say anything for a minute. Geez, I need to think."
Frank watched as his brother paced away from him and then came back to stand in front of him, "Frank, I understand completely why you're so worked up. If it was me and it was Vanessa…" Joe's voice trailed off and he shook his head, "I can't even think about that and not get upset." Joe sighed, "I know that the nightmares aren't helping matters either, but you need to calm down. I mean it Frank; we need your level head right now. You're not helping Nancy by storming around barking orders on the verge of a breakdown. Keep in mind Nancy is an FBI agent and as she loves to point out, she did go through Quantico. Twice." Joe swore under his breath, "I'm supposed to be the hotheaded one. Me not you, so stop stealing my thunder."
Frank couldn't help but smile a little as his brother tried to lighten the mood. "You're right Joe, you're absolutely right. I don't know what's happening to me but…I feel so anxious. Like I have to find Nancy now…I have to find Ashley now."
"I feel the same way, Frank but let's take this one step at a time so we don't miss anything," Joe suggested.
"Well, if your little speech hadn't knocked me out of my funk, that sentence sure would have. Joe Hardy, my brother Joe Hardy suggesting we take one step at a time so we don't miss anything? I never thought I'd see the day," Frank said with a small smile.
"I wouldn't have to say things like that if you wouldn't scare the ever living out of me by pulling some crazy mood switch," Joe grumbled but he was relieved to see some of the old Frank return to his brother's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'll try to be more cool headed and rational from now on," Frank promised.
"And I'll try to be more hot headed and irrational from now on," Joe said clapping his hand of Frank's shoulder, "it works for us bro, let's not mess with a perfect formula."
"I agree," Frank nodded and he and Joe walked down the precinct steps towards the car, "now; I think we need to follow up on that lead Patrick gave us. Check out the location of Roman's last known gambling club."
"Something else we agree on," Joe said and headed towards the drivers side of the car.
"I've cooled down enough now that I think I can handle driving Joe," Frank said holding his hand out for the keys.
"I don't think so," Joe shook his head, "you're looking a little out of control still. Better let me drive to make sure we don't run into anything."
"We may not run into anything but we'll probably get a ticket with how fast you drive," Frank grumbled and pulled open the passenger side door.
"It's better than your five miles under the limit driving, bro. Aunt Gertrude drives faster than you do and she started a petition for the state highways to have their speed limits reduced by 25 mph." Joe chuckled and started the car, "and that is saying something."
"Joe, the perpetual jokester," Frank said with a sigh as he clicked his seat belt in. He groaned when his cell phone rang, "I was pretty rude to Michael. This is probably him, ready to give me an earful about undermining national intelligence."
"Suck it up," Joe suggested wisely, "you kind of deserve it."
"I do not!" Frank said indignantly and looked at the caller ID, "that's weird," he murmured.
"What?" Joe looked over at his brother's confused features.
"Private number," Frank said and then it clicked, 'He'd call, private number and set up a meeting place,' Patrick had said. "It's Roman," he declared and flipped open the phone. "Hello?"
"Frank?" It was Nancy and she sounded far away as if she were on speaker phone. Frank could hear crying in the background and a scuffling noise.
"Nancy?" Frank's voice rose in panic. "Nancy are you alright?"
"Stop it! Don't touch her!" Nancy cried and Frank sent his brother a frantic look, "Leave her alone!" Nancy cried and there was a loud thud.
"Nancy!" Frank yelled, "What's going on? Nancy?" but there was no response only more scuffling and thudding sounds. He heard a groan and another louder thud before an out of breath voice spoke into the phone.
"Are you part of that dynamic duo? The Hardy Brothers?" the voice sneered.
"Yes, I'm Frank," he replied.
"We need to talk, Frank."
Red, doesn't if feel good to be right about the New York thing? Frank and Nancy need to learn to listen to you more often. :)
