A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I may not get the chance to update tomorrow; I have a busy day at work full of meetings (gag). I'll start the next chapter now, while I have some down time and see if I can get it out tomorrow. If not, look for an update on Tuesday. Thank you all for continuing to read! Let me know what you think and enjoy!
Second Chances
Chapter 14
The next day found Nancy, Frank and Joe sitting in Nancy's living room discussing the case. "Can I just say, I am thrilled by all of this?" Joe leaned back and took another sip from his Coke.
Nancy looked up from the papers she was reading and stared at Joe incredulously, "you can't be serious? Everyone we've ever known is in danger right now and you're thrilled?"
Joe rolled his eyes, "Nan, obviously I'm not thrilled about that. It just feels good to be doing something again."
"Yeah, and you're doing so much," Frank stared pointedly at Joe's relaxed position on Nancy's couch, his feet propped up on a plush ottoman.
"Hey, I leave the boring research to the two of you. I'm just here to chase 'em down." Joe took another carefree sip of his soda.
"Alright, what do we know about Krieger?" Nancy sat back and looked at Frank.
"Well, more than six years ago he posed as a government official to get us to smuggle a bomb into Egypt for him. He worked for a company called the Aquarius Group, which dealt with finding new ways to bring water to more people. They were working on a deal with the Egyptian government to find water in the desert, to give the beleaguered Nile a break. Krieger was approached by the companies that stood to lose if the Nile wasn't the main source of water anymore. He entered into a crooked deal, planning on forging the results in exchange for a portion of the kickbacks. A US Senator, Senator Nasser was a part of the deal until he got cold feet; it was then that Krieger decided to eliminate Nasser as a possible threat. It was then that he came up with the plan to use us to smuggle in the bomb components and blow up Senator Nasser while he was in Egypt for a benefit." Frank turned to look at Joe and then at Nancy, "does that pretty much cover it?"
'I'd say so, big brother," Joe lifted his can in salute.
"Okay, so we all know what happened during the case and immediately after, but what we don't know is what happened after we were no longer involved." Nancy shuffled the papers in front of her. "According to the FBI database, Jonathan Krieger was charged in Egypt and after a lengthy battle between the United States and the Egyptian government, it was decided that Krieger would be charged in an Egyptian court. I bet that didn't sit well with Uncle Sam."
"But why did he get charged by the Egyptian government? He was a US citizen who had smuggled bomb parts out of the country." Frank asked.
"Yes, but the Egyptian government argued that the bomb was built in their country and was a terrorist attack aimed at one of their cities." Nancy flipped the page and continued reading, "after the trial and conviction, Krieger was sent to prison in Egypt to serve out his time. Apparently, Krieger was better connected than any of us ever imagined because soon after that he went missing in the system."
"How?" Joe asked, leaning forward in his seat.
"Our government isn't sure, and if the Egyptian government knows anything they're keeping pretty quiet about it. They actually didn't admit to having 'misplaced' Krieger until a year after it happened." Nancy took a sip of her water and sighed. "While it's great to know all of this background information, it doesn't do anything to help us get any closer to catching Giamatti and Krieger."
"True, but at least now we know who we're dealing with," Frank shrugged. "Does the bureau know anything else about Krieger?"
"Compared to some of the other criminals we deal with at the bureau, Krieger was considered pretty small potatoes. To tell you the truth, I haven't thought about Krieger in a long time, it looks like we may have underestimated the man." Nancy stood up to get herself some more water in the kitchen.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Joe asked.
"Maybe we should tell Frank about the warehouse, Joe." Nancy said walking back into the room.
"What? What warehouse?" Frank sat up quickly and jarred his ribs, he winced in pain. "You guys are keeping things from me?" he asked incredulously.
"Not really," Joe hesitated, trying to think of how he could explain this to his brother. "It didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time…but, well…I hated not telling you, even if it did seem unimportant."
"Spit it out, Joe." Frank ground out the words.
"Well, five years ago, while you were in the hospital we were approached by the FBI." Nancy said, stepping in to help out Joe, who was looking very conflicted. "They asked us about the warehouse we had been sent to and we said we didn't know anything about it except that it was one of the places we had been told to go to. The FBI then informed us that it was part of a separate investigation and that we needed to back off. Since we figured the case was closed, we didn't really fight them on it and we all decided it was best not to even bring it up with you when you woke up. There was a lot going on already, we didn't need to add any pointless information on top of it. It was about a year ago when I first started working at the FBI I learned that the warehouse was owned by Krieger. I didn't think anything of it back then, but now…well, now I guess that five years ago was about the time the US government learned about Krieger going missing."
Frank sat in silence, he wanted so badly to be irritated with Joe and Nancy for not telling him but he found that he couldn't be. After all, it had been five years ago and they had thought it wasn't a big deal and he hadn't really been talking to Nancy when she discovered the warehouse belonged to Krieger. He sighed grumpily and absent mindedly rubbed at his sore ribs.
Joe was looking at Frank anxiously, "I'm sorry Frank, I should have told you about Krieger as soon as I found out about it."
"No, it's okay Joe. Until now it didn't really matter anyway."
"Phew, I sure am glad you're the cool headed one, because if it were me, I'd be angry first and remorseful about jumping the gun later." Joe stood to throw his can in the recycle bin.
"I think we should go check out that warehouse," Frank said.
"I agree," Joe called from the kitchen.
"Well…" Nancy's voice trailed off. "I don't like going against the FBI."
"Frank and I aren't FBI, Nancy. We're private citizens and we can walk around a warehouse if we choose." Joe said coming back out from the kitchen. "Besides, since when do you care about stuff like that?"
Nancy groaned, "fine, I guess it's not really going against the FBI, it's just choosing not to involve them straightaway. Still, I'm going to call Michael to let him know what we're doing, at least that way someone will know what's up."
An hour later the trio arrived at the warehouse they had all visited five years before. It looked exactly the same as it had then, only this time it wasn't full dark yet, the sun was still making it slow descent from the sky.
"Okay, I think we should split up. We can cover more ground that way." Nancy said as she got out of the car.
"Sounds good," Joe agreed.
"You shouldn't be by yourself, Nancy." Frank said, walking around the car to join Joe and Nancy.
Nancy whirled on Frank so fast it had him taking a step back in surprise, "Frank Hardy! You listen to me; I am a fully qualified and trained agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I've been through Quantico twice. I've had more self defense training in the last year than you have had in your entire life. For the absolute last time, I can take care of myself."
Joe snickered at Frank's shocked expression, "She's got a pretty good point, bro."
Frank glared at his brother before turning his attention back to Nancy, "Nancy, I'm sorry. I can't help but feel protective towards you."
"Frank, I worry about your safety too, but the point is, it makes sense for us to separate. Besides, I have a gun." She swiped the hair out of her eyes.
"You do?" Frank asked in surprise, "Boy, times really do change."
"Please Frank; don't act like you're not carrying one too." Joe smirked.
"I wasn't going to, I just…" Frank started but Nancy cut him off.
"Okay, so we're all carrying guns. We're not 18 anymore; can we please get a move on?"
It was decided that Joe would go around to the left of the warehouse, Frank would walk to the right and Nancy would enter through the front. Nancy was surprised to find the door in front of her unlocked; she glanced over her shoulder at Frank who was about to go around the corner of the warehouse. She shrugged and smiled at him before ducking inside.
She remembered the hallway in front of her from when she had been there before. She walked cautiously forward, unsure of what she was looking for but hoping she would recognize it when she saw it. She checked the doors as she made her way down the hall, seeing one empty room after another. At the end of the hallway she had to choose to either go right or left. She decided to go right and came to a set of stairs that led down into what looked like a basement.
At the bottom of the stairs was another hallway, as she approached a turn she heard a muffled sound coming from around the corner. She paused and pulled out her weapon, she approached cautiously before aiming her gun and rounding the corner, "Freeze!" she cried.
The man she was pointing her gun at grinned before lowering his own gun. "Freeze?" Frank asked her, laughing openly. "You went through Quantico twice to learn how to talk like an old western movie?"
Nancy lowered her gun and laughed, "Whatever Hardy." She glanced around, "Considering what a big place this is, I'm surprised we ran into each other."
"Yeah," Frank glanced around. "I don't know what we were thinking we were going to find here, but it looks like this place is pretty empty."
"Yeah," Nancy agreed. They stood together for a moment, inspecting their surroundings. Nancy was just about to suggest they keep going when Frank grabbed her arm.
"Nancy," he whispered. "Do you smell that?"
Nancy sniffed and what she smelled had her stomach dropping. "Smoke." She whispered back. She exchanged a panicked look with Frank before turning to see a wall of smoke and fire barreling down on them.
"Run!" Frank yelled and grabbed Nancy's hand, pulling her down the hallway. He headed for the door in front of him marked "Fire Escape", the smoke overtaking them and causing him to cough uncontrollably.
He pushed open the fire escape door just as the fire reached their backs, "Go!" he yelled at Nancy and pushed her through. He closed the door behind them as the wall of fire reached the door; it was already making the door warm to the touch. They heard an explosion from somewhere else in the warehouse that had the floor beneath them trembling.
The fire escape door had led them into a cramped room with a ladder reaching up to street level. Nancy was currently pushing with all her strength on the doors, trying to get them to open, "Frank! Frank I can't get them to open!"
She climbed down the ladder to let Frank try opening the doors, he grunted as he pushed his battered body against the door. He pounded his fists on the door, yelling for help. He was making so much noise he couldn't hear Nancy calling his name until she practically screamed it. "Frank!" The terror in her voice unnerved him.
He looked down on her and saw that she was breathing heavily and shaking; he quickly jumped off the ladder and gripped her shoulders. "Nancy, Nancy listen to me. We're going to get out of here!" he broke off as a fit of coughs overtook him, his eyes watered as the smoke began to leak into the tiny room.
"Frank, the door…it's so hot!" The space was so small that they barely had room to move, Frank pulled Nancy hard against him, barely registering the pain in his ribs when her body bumped against his. His arms were now crushed against the door; he could feel the intense heat through the metal door, burning his skin. He was glad that Nancy was no longer pushed against the door; the pain was quickly becoming unbearable.
Nancy was coughing and trembling in his arms, "Nancy? Nancy, I need to try and open the door." But when Nancy clung to him even harder he stopped. "Nancy?"
"I hate small spaces, Frank. I can't stand them. Ever since Krieger locked us in those coffins in Egypt, I haven't been able to stand small enclosed spaces." She seemed to be talking to herself. Frank remembered the time he and Nancy had been closed inside the ancient tomb and could easily understand how someone could develop claustrophobia from the experience. "I am an FBI agent; I shouldn't have fears like this." She seemed to be trying to convince herself of that.
"Nancy, listen to me. We are going to get out of this. He tilted her chin up to look into her eyes, "do you hear me? I got you out of that coffin in Egypt and I am going to get us out of here." Nancy didn't say anything but he could feel her trembling subside, she nodded her head. Even though he didn't want to let go of her he knew he needed to get the safety doors open before they died of smoke inhalation.
After a few more minutes of pounding, pushing and yelling the doors still hadn't budged. When he glanced down to see Nancy staring anxiously back up at him he dropped back down to the floor beside her. He wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug that she returned with just as much force. "I'm sorry Nancy, I'm so sorry."
They held onto each other tightly as the smoke began to fill the room with increasing speed. The metal of the door behind Nancy seared to the touch. Frank couldn't believe that he was going to die in a warehouse, unable to protect the woman he loved.
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