CHAPTER 25
"Nancy?"
"Yes."
"I want you to go to the Universal Studios Orlando, okay?"
"Okay."
"Where are you?"
… Nancy put her palm over Frank's hand as he shifted gears. They were in the red convertible he'd hired, the wind in their hair. She gripped her tresses which had previously been blowing all over the place, now held fast against her shoulder. Frank grinned. He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. She smiled back. His attention switched as he saw a sign for the Universal Studios, Orlando attraction …
"That's nice, Nancy, but I want you to move on further. Go to The Lost Continent and go straight to Poseidon's arm. You there?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about it."
… Nancy and Frank surveyed the fiberglass arm as it thrust out of the ground, holding fast to a trident. The arm was the gateway to the Poseidon's Fury attraction. They approached and looked up at it, hand-in-hand.
"I really hope the code isn't right up there," Frank remarked, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare.
"So do I, but I doubt it. Professor Hope wouldn't have been able to get that high."
Frank raised his eyebrows in agreement, and held crossed fingers up. "Okay, you take the arm, I'll take the trident and I'll meet you back here." He walked off to the right.
Nancy traversed the arm the other way. She looked up and down and scanned the fibreglass structure carefully for signs of a plaque or something similar. Hurried steps came her way, and Frank's hand found her arm. "I've got it!" he said, excitedly …
"Did Frank find the portion of the code, Nancy?"
"He's showing it to me."
"This the first portion?"
"The third."
"Tell me what it is."
… Footsteps pounded up and Frank grabbed her arm. "I've got it!" he said excitedly, and pulled her around to the trident end. He indicated to a plaque just above his head, probably too high for Nancy to have found it. She focussed, but a hand suddenly pressed over the plaque to obscure it. Another hand slipped into her palm. She knew it wasn't Frank because he stood on her other side. Startled, she looked up and found Joe there.
He grinned down at her. "Remember, Nan, give the woman what she wants, but lie. Trust me." …
"Nancy, I'm suspicious. You've gone quiet. Is Joe Hardy with you?"
"He's…only Frank."
"I don't believe you. Is Joe there? Tell me, or I'll get the man and he'll find out for me."
"It's Joe's, he's here."
"What does he want?"
"He keeps talking about Frank loving me. I told him we broke up, but he won't stop."
"He distracting you?"
"Yes, it's what he's doing."
"Hmm, well, don't listen to him. Give me the code, Nancy."
… Joe laughed. "You're pure gold, Nan. Good, quick thinking. Now lie through your teeth."
"I've got it!" Frank told her, and eagerly pulled her around the trident end of the sculpture. Above his head, a plaque clumsily glued on. Etched upon it in black writing were the digits: 'ZXZY'. …
"'ZXZY'? Confirm it's the third portion of the code, Nancy."
"It's the third portion."
"I'll give you a break now Nancy. I want you to sleep, okay?"
"Okay."
-o0o-
Every night, as regular as day becomes night, the pizza delivery boy found himself traversing the same stretch of road toward the Hope Industries offices. At no point would he receive an invitation to step inside, instead, forced to stand outside in the cold and feed them through a gap in the wire fence. After, they left him with a derisive tip along with the instruction, 'Same time tomorrow. Don't forget.'
However, this night would prove different.
As he rounded a bend in the road, his headlights picked out the lone figure of a darkly dressed man. He had an arm stretched out with something in the hand. The man had an official look - upright and officious, sure of himself, tall and stocky…strong.
As the car slowed and rolled forward, the boy saw in the man's fingers a badge of some sort. He squinted to try and work out the insignia, but a tap on his window pulled his attention elsewhere. Another guy stood next to his car, a younger man this time. This guy held a police identification wallet and made a rolling movement with his hand. The lad dropped his window. "What did I do?"
"We need your assistance is all," said the police officer. "I'm on official business." He tipped his badge towards the bigger guy, who strolled over to them. "This is my partner Lieutenant Con Riley. You heard of him? He's well known."
The boy wracked his brains. "The name sounds familiar. You with the Bayport Police Department?"
"Yup, that's us, the BPD."
"Hi, Kid." Con pocketed the fake police ID James had been given in New York and leaned to rest his forearm on the roof of the car. He joined in the conversation. "We've an investigation going on at Hope Industries; some dodgy deals going down. We've observed you driving to the offices to deliver pies. You heading there now?"
"As always." The kid rested a wrist on the window and leaned conspiratorially toward them, "I always thought the place dodgy."
"The government needs your help, Son. We need access to your pizzas, and then we need you to deliver them."
"What you gonna do to them?"
James smiled. "I'm not gonna lie - tamper with 'em."
The kid squinted. "I'm not sure I'm happy about that. I'll lose my job and it's putting me though college."
"I doubt it'll come to that." Con unzipped his jacket and reached inside, "But just in case—" He pulled free a large envelope. "You'll be compensated for possible loss of earnings. How much does it cost to put someone through college, these days?" He tossed the envelope into the kid's lap. "Would twenty grand help?"
"Uh—" the lad opened the flap, peered inside and reached in the draw out several bill rolls. He didn't need to count the cash, he could tell at a glance, and by the weight it probably held that amount of money.
James threw his dad a look. "Wrong - there's twenty-five Gs in there, not twenty."
"My bad. Yeah, twenty-five grand. What do you reckon, kid?"
"I reckon I'm feeling public spirited tonight." The kid leaned to stuff the envelope in the glove box, got out and opened the rear door. "Have at 'em. Can't stand those guys - bunch o' rude jerks. I hope whatever you do keeps 'em on the crapper for days."
-o0o-
"Nancy, I'm injecting you again so I can ask you some more questions."
"Please don't. I lose myself."
"I have to - - - that should do it. Nancy, I want you to go to when you and Frank were in Bayport and you split up to go to look for the two final parts of the code. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Where are you?"
"Leaving the airport."
"Tell me about it."
… Frank and Nancy walked to the long-stay lot to collect Nancy's car. The valet dropped it off and Frank loaded their bags into the trunk. They were going first to the library to drop Nancy off. There, she would look for the final four digits of the code. After, Frank would move on to the Dunbarton Oaks to look for the first section of code. Finally, they planned for Nancy to ride a cab back to the Oaklands Hotel. …
"Wait there a moment Nancy. Did you say the Oaklands Hotel?"
"Yes."
"Is it where you and Frank were hiding out?"
"I don't—"
"Nancy, give a straight answer to my question, okay?"
"Okay."
"Well?"
"I, I mean I don't—"
"I think I'll give you another dose - - - I'm asking you again, Nancy. Is it the place where you and Frank hid?"
"Yes."
"Could Frank be there now?"
A pause. "Frank's a logical guy."
"You may have just bought yourself some extra time. Well done, Nancy. Go back to sleep."
-o0o-
The Hardy men stood on the high area overlooking the complex - the same spot where they'd hung out the previous night. They watched as the car pulled up with the pizza on board. The lad got out and went to the back where he extracted the pies and passed them, one-by-one through the gap in the fence. He accepted his payment, got back into his car, and drove away with a cocky wave.
"Good boy," Fenton muttered. "Went without a hitch."
"Assuming Con and James managed to waylay and persuaded him of course," Frank said, and turned quickly.
In fact, all three men had spun at a shuffling noise behind them. They dropped simultaneously into defensive postures.
"Is this gonna happen every time? If so, I'm making a whistling approach in future." Con strode out of the thicket with James.
"We're being careful," Joe said. "Did you get to the pizza delivery kid?"
"We did, and his eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets when he saw the money. He's working himself through college so it'll make a massive difference to him."
A car engine revved, and they turned to look toward the office lot. A dark colored car came out of the garage area at a fast lick, and headed for the open gates. It drove through, turned left and accelerated away.
"I wonder what that's all about," James wondered.
"Who cares," Joe said. "Look at the security guards…yeah, go on, take great, big bites. Yummy pizza, best you've ever had!" He started to snigger at the consequence of what they'd done, and what would soon be happening to them.
-o0o-
"Nancy, you with me?"
"Yes."
"I want you to go straight to the Bayport Library."
"Okay."
"You there?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about when you found out about the code Frank found at the Dumbarton Oaks, okay, Nancy?"
… Nancy sat at a table with a huge pile of books in front of her, frustrated. The portion of the code she tried to find proving to be the most problematic of all. The only clue she had - an unintelligible icon. A line drawing of a downward curve (or upside-down smile) positioned above a double-headed arrow. None of the books related to Greek gods and goddesses had so far been of help. Infuriating!
Her phone vibrated. She looked at the screen to see a message from Frank which said, "Got it!" She sighed, Frank had beaten her to the punch. His jubilant message sent her competitiveness into maximum miff-mode! …
"Did Frank find the portion of the code, Nancy?"
"Yes."
"Can you give me the code, okay?"
"Okay."
… Her phone vibrated, and she looked at the screen to find she'd received a message from Frank, "Got it!"
Someone dropped into the seat next to her and snatched the phone from under her nose. She watched as a mystery hand placed it screen side down on the table. Surprised, she looked over to find Joe there. He smiled and opened one of the books. "Now that's some heavy reading. You two need to get out more. How the long and lonely nights must fly by."
"I'm looking for the impossible-to-find answer."
"I'll give you a hand in a bit, but don't tell the woman the code, Nan. You know you shouldn't." …
"Nancy, the code, give it to me and stop listening to Joe going on about Frank loving you."
"Okay."
… "Lie, Nan," Joe said. "Trust me."
Her phone vibrated. She lifted it from her pocket, and accessed the screen. It contained a jubilant message from Frank which read, "Got it! = BJOW. How r u getting on? F x." …
"Pause there, Nancy. Are those the first four digits on the code?"
"Yes."
"Okay Nancy, good. Go back to sleep. I'll be back in a few minutes, and we can talk about those last four letters."