Sleight of Hand
Chapter 14
Callie smiled in amusement as she watched Vanessa juggle the multitude of bags she had acquired on their shopping trip. She stifled a laugh as the younger girl dropped one of the bags and then glared at it, blowing a lock of hair off her face in frustration.
"I'll get it," Callie offered, plucking the bag out of the snow. Straightening up, she closed the trunk of the car and turned towards the cabin. "Exactly how many of those bags are for Joe?" she asked teasingly.
"A few," Vanessa replied defensively, blushing slightly.
"You spoil him," Callie admonished as she climbed the three steps to the porch.
"And he spoils me even more," Vanessa countered with a superior smile, brushing past Callie. She stopped abruptly in front of the door and frowned, looking from her hands, overflowing with shopping bags, to the doorknob. With both hands loaded down with shopping bags, Vanessa had no way to open the door.
"Need some help?" Callie's voice was tinged with amusement. Reaching past Vanessa, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.
"Thanks," Vanessa mumbled, stepping inside. She stopped immediately inside the door and dropped the bags, staring open-mouthed at the sight before her. A sharp gasp let her know Callie was right behind her.
"Wait!" Callie hissed, grabbing Vanessa's arm as Vanessa took a step forward. "We don't know if anyone is still here," she warned, her eyes taking in the ransacked room.
"But Joe's jacket is on the couch," Vanessa pointed out, worry in her voice. "He must be here somewhere." She jerked her arm away from Callie and took a few steps into the room, concern for Joe currently outweighing her fears.
"Okay, but we go slow," Callie whispered. "And we stick together!"
Vanessa nodded mutely and made her way towards the back of the room, Callie's hand clutched tightly in hers. A thorough search of the cabin turned up no sign of Joe – or Frank. The two girls stood in the living room once again, staring at each other.
"Maybe they caught whoever was here in the act and went after them," Callie suggested.
"Why would Joe go out in this weather without a coat?" Vanessa countered. "It's freezing!"
"If he had taken off his jacket and then saw the guy, Joe would've chased him outside without even thinking of grabbing his jacket first," Callie stated. "You know, heat of the moment and all…"
Vanessa sighed. "True. Can we at least go outside and look around a little? See if we can track them down? If we don't find anything we'll come back and call the police."
Callie nodded in agreement and turned back to the door. Vanessa followed her out and pulled the door shut. Standing on the porch, the two girls scanned the surrounding area, which had been covered with a fresh blanket of snow thanks to the light, but steady, snow that had been falling all afternoon.
"There," Callie pointed, scurrying down the steps.
"Looks like more than two people," Vanessa mused studying the jumble of footprints in the fresh snow. "They lead into the woods," she followed the trail with her eyes. "Let's go."
Callie followed without hesitation, the two girls sticking close together. As they walked, Callie and Vanessa remained silent for the most part, stopping to scrutinize an area where it looked as if someone had fallen in the snow. They had been following the mish-mash of footprints for close to forty-five minutes, when Vanessa wondered aloud if they should head back and call in the authorities.
"Let's go for a few more minutes," Callie suggested. "There's an old cabin back this way. Frank and I saw it when we were hiking this morning. We peeked in through the windows; it looks like it's being renovated."
"Why would they…" Vanessa wrinkled her nose. "Hey, do you smell that?"
Callie stopped and sniffed the air, her eyes huge as she realized what it was. "Smoke!" she exclaimed. "Come on!"
She grabbed Vanessa's arm and the two girls ran as fast as they could through the snow. Several moments later, they emerged into a small clearing. Breathing heavily from the sprint over somewhat difficult terrain, they stared in shock at the small cabin, flames licking at the windows. Looking down they saw that the jumbled sets of footprints led directly to the cabin.
Running up the porch steps, Callie tried the door, a little surprised to find it unlocked. Pushing it open, she was hit with a wall of thick, black smoke and immediately began coughing. Stumbling back a few steps into Vanessa, she leaned over, hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Hearing Vanessa's muffled voice, Callie looked up and saw the younger girl had pulled the thick, heavy scarf up from around her neck so it now covered her nose and mouth. Following Vanessa's lead, Callie did the same, tying it securely. She then crouched down, peering inside the cabin.
Even though she was still outside, Callie began to sweat from the heat of the blaze. Squinting into the small structure, she heard someone coughing and gasping for air. Suddenly the smoke parted, only for a second but it was long enough.
"Oh, my God! Frank!"
Callie crawled into the burning building as fast as she could, with Vanessa right behind her. She arrived at Frank's side just as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, swaying slightly. As she and Vanessa reached for him, he batted their hands away.
"Help… Joe…" he began only to erupt in a fit of coughing. "…hurt." Frank coughed again, pointing behind him.
The girls peered through the thickening smoke in the direction Frank indicated. At first they saw nothing but as the smoke twisted and curled, looking for an outlet, it cleared briefly and they could make out the shape of a body curled up on the floor several feet away.
"NO!" Vanessa's muffled scream sent a shiver down Callie's spine.
Quickly Vanessa crawled to Joe's side. "Joe? Honey? Can you hear me?" she asked, shaking him, her voice muted by the scarf.
Joe moaned painfully, reaching out towards the sound of her voice. "Van?" he croaked. Taking in a breath, he started coughing violently, followed by a soft whimper as he curled up into himself even further.
"Come on, put your arm around my shoulder," Vanessa instructed him.
Joe tried to move, wincing and stopping immediately. "Can't…" he began, followed by more painful coughing.
"Joe, we have to get out of here…now! Please," Vanessa begged him, momentarily dropping the scarf from her mouth, hoping Joe would hear the urgency in her voice. "Just put your arm around me."
Steeling himself, Joe did as ordered and Vanessa pulled him to his knees. Joe hissed in pain at the small movement, as the room suddenly began spinning in dizzying circles. Before he could recover, Callie was on his other side grabbing his arm, which was still cradling his stomach protectively, and pulling it around her shoulders.
"Sorry," came her muffled apology as Joe tried to choke back a pain-filled moan.
"On three," Vanessa ordered. "One-two-three." With more than a little effort, the two girls stood, hauling Joe to his feet. Immediately, their eyes began to burn from the smoke and fumes.
Now standing, Joe gasped loudly and began to cough again, intensifying the pain. He gagged as a wave of nausea washed over him. "Wait… Stop…" he begged as the room tilted on a crazy angle. Everything started to fade as Joe collapsed against the girls, who struggled to hold him upright.
"Come on, Joe, stay with us!" Vanessa barked, coughing as the thick smoke began to penetrate the scarf around her nose and mouth. Not waiting for a reply she dragged Joe towards the door, terrified he would pass out. If he were to lose consciousness, he would become dead weight and Vanessa wasn't at all sure she and Callie could support him without being dragged down themselves, let alone carry him outside.
Callie had often heard of people being able to do things in times of crisis they could never do under normal circumstances. She was absolutely certain she wasn't strong enough support Joe Hardy even with help, yet somehow she and Vanessa managed to half carry, half drag Joe the length of the cabin, out the door and down the porch steps. They continued on several yards, making sure they were a safe distance from the cabin before gently laying him down in the snow. Looking up, Callie saw Frank appear in the doorway, not too steady on his feet and clutching his laptop under one arm.
Scrambling to her feet, Callie rushed back up to the porch. Putting Frank's arm around her shoulder, she guided him away from the burning building and eased him to the ground next to Joe and Vanessa. Sitting down beside him, Callie looked back at the cabin just as the roof caved in, collapsing onto what was left of the burning structure.
"Joe." Frank's voice was hoarse and raspy from the smoke. Pushing himself up on one elbow, he turned and looked at his brother anxiously.
Just as he had been in the cabin, Joe was curled up in the fetal position, both arms wrapped tightly around himself. Despite the heat from the fire, his skin had a slightly ashen look, and his face was etched with pain.
Vanessa had been gently stroking Joe's hair and murmuring words of comfort, but she now looked up at Frank, pure anger in her blue-grey eyes. "Who did this to him?"
"Two guys. They wanted something on the computer," Frank replied, crawling closer to his younger brother. "Joe? Hey, you still with me buddy?"
"Yeah…fine…" Joe whispered, grimacing.
"Why didn't you give them whatever it was they wanted?" Vanessa demanded hotly.
"I tried, Van! I didn't know what they wanted!" Frank yelled, wincing at the sound of his own voice and the way it dramatically increased the incessant pounding in his head.
"So you just let them beat him half to death?" Vanessa accused him angrily.
"Stop…fighting." Joe struggled to push himself up, but succeeded only in causing himself even more pain. "Oooooh…" he moaned and collapsed the few inches back into the snow.
"Enough!" Callie said fiercely, glowering at Frank and Vanessa. "We need to get Joe back to the cabin and get him some help and your arguing about who did what and why isn't helping!" she snapped. Immediately, Frank and Vanessa both flushed with embarrassment.
"Frank, can you walk on your own?" Callie asked, her voice softening and her brow creased with concern.
"Yeah, no problem," he replied gamely. His head was pounding but the cold, mountain air had revived him enough that Frank was certain he could make it back to the cabin under his own power. Looking down at his brother's pale face, he wasn't so sure about Joe. "Did either of you bring your cell phone?" he asked, worried.
"No," Vanessa replied, silently cursing herself. "Mine's in my purse which is on the couch in the cabin."
"Mine too," Callie concurred.
Frank thought he saw Joe's lower lip start to quiver at the bad news. Was Joe hurt so badly that he was close to tears? Haunted by the images of Joe being beaten relentlessly because he couldn't find whatever it is the two men wanted fast enough, Frank felt his blood start to boil with rage. Staring at his brother, he blinked as Joe began to tremble.
'Trembling…or shivering?' Frank couldn't believe he didn't realize it sooner. 'He's not crying, his teeth are chattering…he's freezing!'
The two men hadn't allowed Joe to don his jacket before forcing him from the cabin. He'd already taken off the heavy sweater he'd worn skiing and was now wearing only a t-shirt and a thin sweatshirt – no protection at all in the mountains in January! Knowing Joe would never ask, Frank quickly took off his own jacket and thrust it at Callie.
"Put this on him," Frank ordered. "He's freezing!"
Callie didn't argue, simply taking the heavy down jacket from her husband. "Joe?" She leaned over the younger Hardy. "We have to get you back to the cabin. Can you stand?"
Joe nodded in response, thinking he could probably make it to a standing position, though not at all sure he could remain there.
"Good. Vanessa and I will help you back to the cabin, so you just lean on us okay?"
Joe nodded and half smiled, half winced. "Good thing you've been lifting weights lately," he cracked. "I think I'm gonna need all the help I can get."
"And you'll get all the help you need," Vanessa assured him. "Ready?"
"No," Joe answered honestly. "But let's do it anyway."
Vanessa first helped him to a kneeling position and assisted him in putting on Frank's jacket, realizing how bad off Joe really was when he didn't even protest taking his brother's jacket and leaving Frank in the cold – literally. Once that task was accomplished, she and Callie flanked him on either side and, with fair warning, pulled Joe to his feet, this time giving him a moment to recover from the sudden jarring movement.
"Owwwwww…." Joe moaned as his badly bruised and very sore abdominal muscles vehemently protested the upright position. Squeezing his eyes shut he waited for the worst of the pain to pass. Tentatively opening one eye, he was glad to find the dizziness and nausea he'd felt earlier were gone.
"I'm good. Let's go," he murmured, leaning heavily on Callie and Vanessa.
The trek back to the cabin took twice as long, with Joe stopping to rest several times. Each time Callie eyed her husband critically, noting the way he skillfully hid the fact that he was freezing. During these stops, she would leave Joe's side and wrap her arms around Frank, holding him close and rubbing his arms and back to help him warm up. Callie also noticed that when they would resume walking once more, Joe was leaning on her less and less. Still, when they finally arrived at the cabin, Joe instantly curled up on the couch and closed his eyes. Vanessa sat on the floor next to him, holding his hand, whispering words of comfort and generally hovering.
After helping Frank to get comfortably situated in the armchair, Callie reached for the phone. "I'll call the lodge and see if they can get a doctor over here."
"No," Joe protested. "I'll be okay, no doctors."
"Joe, you need to let someone look at you," Vanessa said worriedly. "You could have internal injuries."
"I doubt it." Joe peered tiredly through one half-opened eye. "I feel better now than I did an hour ago."
Frank snorted. "An hour ago you were getting the crap beat out of you. No wonder you feel better now."
"I'm just sore, that's all," Joe assured Vanessa, ignoring Frank's descriptive assessment of his ordeal. "I'll be fine, I promise." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.
"I still wish you'd see a doctor," Vanessa grumbled. She glanced at the abrasions on his wrists, where the rope had rubbed the skin raw and shivered. Knowing even a minor cut could have serious repercussions for Joe should it become infected, Vanessa stood and fixed Joe with a steely gaze. "Well, I'm at least going to clean and bandage those cuts on your wrists – and don't even think about arguing with me!" she warned him before heading upstairs to the bathroom.
Callie looked at Joe dubiously, figuring it was a lost cause and then turned her attention to Frank, phone still in hand. "What about you?"
"I agree with Vanessa – he should be checked out," Frank frowned at his brother.
Callie rolled her eyes. "I meant do you want to get that lump on the back of your head checked."
She had noticed Frank frequently reaching back to rub his head as they had been walking. That combined with the way he'd been swaying on his feet when he first emerged from the cabin, told her he'd taken a pretty nasty hit to the head.
Frank's eyes widened momentarily in surprise and then he grinned wryly. "No, I'm fine."
"Oh, sure. We find them barely conscious in a burning building and have to drag them out, but they're both fine," Vanessa said sarcastically as she returned to the living room, first aid kit in hand. "Can you say STUBBORN?"
"Apparently it runs in the family." Callie got some ice from the freezer and put it in a plastic bag.
"Well, don't pass it on to our kids!" Vanessa said harshly to Joe, who chuckled in return. Opening the first aid kit, she took out the items she needed and began cleaning Joe's wrists. Joe watched silently, knowing better than to even think about protesting.
Coming back to the living room, Callie sat on the arm of the chair next to Frank and gently held the bag of ice against the back of his head.
"OW!" he yelped, glaring at her. "Easy there, Babe, huh?"
"Do you need anything, Joe?" Callie offered, ignoring Frank's outburst.
"Nope. Got everything I need right here," Joe smiled up at Vanessa and winked.
Frank couldn't help but smile at Joe's response. He was still on cloud nine from the results of Vanessa's final blood test, and even being kidnapped, beaten and left to die in a burning building couldn't put a damper on that.
"So what was in that file that was so important they wanted to kill us?" Joe asked. Shifting on the couch, he sighed and smiled contentedly as Vanessa, now having completed her mission, sat on the floor next to the couch and repeatedly ran her fingers through his hair.
Frank shrugged. "Beats me. I never found it."
"What?" Joe's eyes flew open and he automatically tried to sit up. "Owwwwww…" he moaned, falling back against the soft cushions, cradling his stomach protectively. "That hurt," he pouted.
Frank grinned. "Then don't do it."
"What do you mean you never found it? You said you did."
"Well, yeah!" Frank snorted. "That guy was beating you to a pulp! If I didn't call their bluff, we'd still be in that cabin and you'd be…" Frank trailed off.
"So what exactly did you give them?"
Frank shrugged. "My expense reports for last year."
Joe cracked one eye and looked at his brother with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. "Your expense reports?" Joe smiled and then slowly began to chuckle. Quietly at first but it quickly turned into full-blown laughter, with Callie and Vanessa joining in. "OWWW! Ow, ow, ow!" He clutched at his stomach, still sniggering. "Don't make me laugh; it hurts."
Frank stood slowly, testing his equilibrium. Feeling much steadier on his feet, he walked to the table where he dropped his laptop and carried it back to the chair. Booting it up, he focused on the screen and began a more methodical search for the elusive file.
For the next half hour the room was fairly quiet, Joe and Vanessa's whispered murmurings mixing with the sounds of Frank working the keyboard. Finally snorting in disgust, Frank returned the laptop to the small desk and glared at it with contempt. "I can't find a thing on there!" he complained, running a hand through his dark hair in frustration.
"Want me to try?" Vanessa offered.
Frank was about to answer when a knock on the door brought all conversation to a halt. Frank looked at his brother questioningly. Joe shrugged, indicating they had no choice but to answer, since it was obvious they were there. Cautiously, Frank walked to the door.
"Who is it?" he asked suspiciously. After everything that had happened in the past few hours, he wasn't about to open the door to just anyone.
"An old friend," an eerily familiar voice replied.
"I must be hurt worse than I thought," Joe muttered, "because that sounds just like-"
Frank pulled back the curtain just enough to peer out. "It is. The question is what is he doing here?"
"Only one way to find out," Joe stated. "Let him in."
With a resigned sigh, Frank pulled the door open and found himself face to face with Arthur Gray.