A/N: Thank you to Red, ukfan101, whitetigers, cheekagirl123, Diamond and Stars, happyhorseback, franknjoe, Cherylann Rivers, Leila91, Polairs'05, MissMe113 and anyone I may have missed for all of your great reviews. I say it all the time, but I'm going to say it again…your reviews really make my day! So, thank you! And thanks to everyone who's reading, I really appreciate it and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
The Three Minute Deal
Chapter 14
"Is Nancy okay?" Vanessa asked Joe the moment she walked into their apartment. She closed the door behind her and walked over to give Joe a quick kiss, "is she alright?"
Joe wrapped his arms around Vanessa's waist and nodded, "yes, she's alright." Joe assured her.
Vanessa shook her head in amazement, "you three sure do have a way of attracting trouble."
"Yes," Joe smiled at the amazing woman standing in front of him and his heart swelled with love for her, "we sure do."
"So, this…this…Candle guy has her?" Vanessa worried her bottom lip.
"Caudle and yeah, we just had a major breakthrough," Joe explained Roman's connection to Nancy's uncles, "Frank is out on the deck right now talking to Carson, Nancy's father."
"Wait, her uncles are part of Team Bad Guy?" Vanessa eyes grew huge, "no way."
"Well, they were when they were younger, that much we know for sure. According to Nancy its family legend that her two uncles were involved in the mob back in Chicago." Joe leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Vanessa's temple.
"Who knew Nancy had ex-criminals in her family, I thought they were all squeaky clean," Vanessa shook her head in disbelief.
"Me too," Joe nodded in agreement. Vanessa looked away quickly and then glanced back at Joe, looking guilty, "what's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing…" Vanessa's voice trailed off and she took a deep breath, "it's just, I know this is a really bad time and everything but…"
"What? What is it?" Joe asked feeling concerned.
Vanessa decided to just get it all out and so she took a deep breath and said in a rush, "remember how you said I could have that Vera Wang dress I loved so much? Well, it's on sale starting tomorrow and my mom and I were going to go into the city early so we could be sure to get it and..."
Joe held up a hand to cut her off. He watched in amusement as she finally took a deep breath and watched him expectantly. "I seem to remember that there was one condition involving that Vera Wong dress."
"Wang, Joe…its Wang," Vanessa giggled a little, "and what condition? I don't remember any condition."
"Oh yes you do, don't play innocent with me Ms. Bender," Joe tickled her sides and had her laughing.
"I don't remember!" she cried in between bouts of laughter.
"Yes you do!" Joe said with an evil smile and tickled her again.
"Fine, I remember, I remember!" Vanessa laughed and looked into the laughing blue eyes of the man she loved, "but you can't have one."
Joe pushed out his bottom lip, "why not?"
Vanessa laughed, "Why can't you have a top secret FBI helicopter?"
"Yeah, we could put it on the roof and I could fly to work faster than Frank every morning," Joe said hopefully.
"Babe, I don't think they sell those down at Fred Meyer," Vanessa said with a solemn shake of her head, "but if they did, I'd let you have one, because I love you and would let you have anything you wanted as long as it made you happy…"
Joe's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "you're trying to get me to agree to the Vang Wara dress aren't you?"
Vanessa threw her head back and laughed, she couldn't help it, she placed both of her hands on Joe's cheeks and leaned in to give him a smacking kiss, "you are the most adorable man alive. I love you."
"I love you too," Joe said with a smile and returned the kiss.
"So, do I get to have a really fun time with my mom while buying the wedding dress of my dreams?" Vanessa asked hopefully.
"Who am I to deny you happiness?" Joe said with a smile and Vanessa let out a cry of delight and threw her arms around Joe.
"Yes! You won't regret it, believe me. I'm going to look beyond fabulous in that dress." She kissed him and then dashed toward the hallway, "I've got to call my mother."
"How much does this thing cost anyway?" Joe called as Vanessa ran down the hallway to the bedroom.
"Oh honey, its better that you don't know the answer to that," Vanessa called from the bedroom. "Just remember when you get the bill that you love me lots."
Joe groaned and let his head fall into his hands; this wedding business was serious stuff.
Outside on the porch Frank waited nervously for Carson Drew to answer and leaned against the railing. A few moments later he answered, "Carson Drew."
"Mr. Drew, sir it's Frank Hardy," Frank felt his palms begin to sweat, "I know I should have called you as soon as it happened but…"
"Have you found anything about Nancy? Where is she? Is she okay?" Carson interrupted.
"You know already?" Frank asked confused.
"You forget that your father and I are pretty close friends Frank. Now, tell me about my daughter." Carson requested.
Frank took a deep breath and silently thanked his father for calling Carson; he hadn't known how he was going to tell the father of the woman he loved that he had failed both him and her, that he had failed to protect her. He relayed everything he knew to the worried father but paused when he reached the part about Nancy's uncles. "Well, sir…" Frank began, unsure of how to broach the subject. "I found this newspaper article about a pizza place in Chicago that Roman had a hand in starting…"
"Wait a minute, Roman Caudle?" Carson interjected, "I remember Roman Caudle, pimply faced kid right?"
Frank was amazed at the man's sharp memory and lightening fast thought processes, he and Nancy were amazingly similar, "well, he's grown up some."
"He used to hang around my brothers, they got into some awful trouble together," Carson said with regret in his voice. "Being the older brother I should have watched out for them, but I was off in college when they were just getting into all of their mischief."
"Well, Roman has your daughter now. You don't think that your brothers are still…" Frank trailed off, unsure of how he could ask Nancy's father if he thought his brothers were still up to their old tricks.
"No," Carson said simply and without any heat, "they're not. They changed a long time ago. They haven't talked to their old friends from the neighborhood in years because they wanted out. If I remember correctly, it was shortly after they opened the pizza place that Charles and Robert decided to sever ties. Roman and the other boys had finally done something they couldn't stomach and that's when they moved to California."
"Sir, I think that they might be able to help us find Nancy," Frank pushed himself up off the rail.
"I think so too, let me call them and see if I can get any information out them, this isn't a period of their lives they like to talk about," Carson sighed, "they thought they'd left this behind a long time ago."
"Thank you," Frank said sincerely, "sir, I love your daughter and, and I'm so sorry I let this happen. That I couldn't protect her," Frank's voice was laced with misery and regret.
"Now son, you listen to me, Nancy is a strong girl who can usually take care of herself. This is not your fault and the more you blame yourself the less help you're going to be to my daughter," Carson softened his voice, "I know you care about my daughter, I'm counting on you to bring her home safe."
"I will, sir," Frank promised.
"Good," Carson's voice sounded scared all of a sudden, "and Frank, the people my brothers used to hang out with, well, they're not good men. They're a lot worse than they were when my brothers knew them. One of them in particular, he's been a suspect in a pretty gruesome case for some time now but they haven't been able to peg him down for it, not enough evidence."
Frank felt his stomach give a nervous jolt, "which case?" Did he want to know?
"The Schott-Reynolds case," Carson responded and the air surrounding Frank was suddenly thick with fear for Nancy and Ashley
"Oh," was all Frank was able to manage.
"Yes," Carson said, "these boys were all very close, they called each other 'brother', even did a blood brother ritual when they were younger. The men who stayed in the criminal lifestyle have only become closer over time. Now, Roman as I remember has always been the slower, not as intelligent one of the group, so as long as you're dealing with him you can probably outwit him. Now, as soon as one of his brothers is involved, you're going to have to move quickly."
"I understand," Frank's throat was suddenly dry as he mentally went over everything he knew about the Schott-Reynolds case. He groaned and almost smacked himself in the head; he couldn't believe he hadn't made the connection as soon as he read the name, "Greg Atkinson," he said, "Greg Atkinson has been the number one suspect on that case for years."
"Yes," Carson replied, "he has." Carson cleared his throat and his voice was suddenly brisk and professional, "I'll contact my brothers and see what they know or how they can help. Expect my call shortly."
"Alright, thank you," Frank said good bye and hung up his phone. Almost as soon as he had hung up the phone rang again. Frowning down at it, he answered, "hello?"
"Frank, its Michael," Nancy's partner sounded excited.
"What's going on?" Frank asked.
"We have a lead; we think we know where they're holding Nancy and Ashley."
"We were able to track down the location of Roman's last club," Michael explained to the two Hardy's. They were all in the car on their way to the warehouse and Joe had to bite his cheek to keep from smiling. He and Frank had found out the location of the club hours ago, a lot faster than the FBI. It felt good to know that they had been able to pull something off faster than the famed intelligence group.
"Where at?" Frank asked even though he already knew.
"A few miles from Robert Shoemaker's home," Michael responded. "We have a witness stating that they saw Roman entering the warehouse along with a few other men he's known to hang around with yesterday. We think this is where Nancy and Ashley are being held."
'Okay,' Joe admitted grudgingly in his head, 'we didn't know that, but we did know the location of his last club.'
"We're all set to meet there soon." Michael checked his watch and shot a hard look at the two brothers, "I called you as a courtesy, as fellow detectives and as Nancy's friends, don't make me regret that."
"How would we do that?" Frank asked indignantly.
"Don't forget that this is still an FBI matter, you'll do as we say. If we tell you to get out of the way, you do it," Michael ordered.
"Yeah, right," Joe scoffed and Frank sent him a warning look that clearly said, 'I agree with you, but they don't have to know that.'
"You'll do it," Michael commanded, "because it could mean the difference between Nancy and Ashley's safety and a horrible accident."
A frustrated and angry silence filled the car for the rest of the ride. Each man had his own reasons for wanting to find Nancy and Ashley and return them safely home. Michael was desperate to find his partner and return the little girl to her father safe. Partners who risked their lives together routinely had a special bond that could hardly be explained or defined. He shared more of his secrets and fears with Nancy then he did with almost anyone else.
Frank was desperate to find Nancy and Ashley for too many reasons to count. The easiest and most clear reason was that he needed to find and protect the woman he loved and his base instinct was to protect the innocent Ashley. Underneath those first strong emotions were the underlying dregs of the nightmares and his and Joe's past blurring with the present.
Joe had become even closer to Nancy over the last eight months than he had been before she and his brother had begun dating. He enjoyed her company and was beginning to think of her as part of the family, as his sister. Because he knew how much this was eating away at his brother he wanted to find Nancy and Ashley as quickly as possible, not only for their safety but for the sanity of his brother.
The combination of each man's separate thoughts and needs made for a very tense car ride.
The car careened around a corner and Michael stomped on the brakes, "Geez," Frank grumbled, "a man after your own heart, Joe."
They all climbed out of the car and Michael put up his arms to stop Frank and Joe from running past him, "now, I know you guys aren't bound by the ropes of procedure, but we are."
"Yeah but…" Joe began but Michael quickly interjected.
"You're working with the FBI, procedure has to be followed," Michael let his arms fall to his sides when it appeared that he had the brother's attention. "Now, we're surrounding the building on all sides, we don't want our presence known right away. You'll come with me through that side door there," he pointed to the warehouse in the distance and a door in the side of the building. "You'll stay with me and do as I say."
"Sure thing boss," Joe said, "let's stop talking and get moving already."
"Okay," Michael glanced down at his watch, "it's time." He turned and moved quickly toward the door they were supposed to enter. They stood and waited a moment for two other agents to join them and Frank frowned, he thought he had heard a thumping noise. He looked around and up at the windows in the building but could see nothing. Michael reached out and tried the door handle, his eyebrows rose as the handle moved easily. They entered the warehouse and what appeared to be an underground parking garage.
A row of elevators stood at the opposite side of the warehouse and the group looked around for any signs of danger. A few other agents had just gained access through a locked door on the other side of the room. A few of the agents took the stairs, including Michael, Joe and Frank while the others climbed into the elevators.
Frank concentrated on sprinting up the stairs, his adrenaline pumping. Nancy and Ashley were close, he could feel it. They opened the door to the first floor slowly and as quietly as possible but there was still an ominous creaking sound as the door protested on its hinges.
"Spread out," Michael ordered the other agents. He pointed them down the hallway and then motioned for Frank and Joe to follow him the other way. They crept along the dark, dank hallway with its bare bulbs swaying slightly from some unknown breeze.
They quickly and efficiently checked every room as they moved down the hallway and Frank could feel his disappointment and anxiety building with each empty room they came across. Michael stopped in the middle of the hallway and motioned for Frank and Joe to do the same. Frank strained his ears, trying to hear what had made Michael stop.
He heard a distant scraping sound and froze; there was definitely someone close by.
Nancy opened her gritty eyes and looked around the dark room, sweat was pouring down her back, the room was so muggy and she reached her hands up to rub her eyes clear. She glanced at Ashley to make sure the girl still slept and got quickly to her feet. What was that noise? There had been no sound out of Roman and his men since Roman had left the room a few hours ago high on his most recent threat.
Nancy shuddered at the thought of Greg Atkinson and the heinous crimes he was sure to have committed. The lack of evidence had made it impossible to convict him, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he had been responsible for the rape and murder of two women before killing both of their families. Nancy sincerely hoped that this wasn't the 'brother' Roman had boasted about.
She paused again when she heard another noise; even though it was distant Nancy was sure that it was man made. She tried to still her rapidly beating heart so she could hear clearly. 'There!' Nancy thought triumphantly, 'its coming from outside!' she rushed over to the window and looked down into the alley way separating one warehouse from the other. Her breath caught when she saw three dark figures approaching the warehouse. One of the figures faces was illuminated for a quick moment by the light of the dim street lamp and her heart soared, 'Frank!' her mind screamed, 'he's found us!'
The figures stood waiting for a minute before they were joined by two more and Nancy tried to get her hand through the bars to pound on the glass. Her hand hurt from the awkward position she had to put it in but she pounded on the glass as hard as she could. "Frank!" she yelled loudly, "Frank!"