Only one more chapter to go after this...
Capital Pursuits
Chapter 29
Joe stared intently at the man in front of him, who was covered with several sticks of dynamite. The man, Pogle, had one hand on a trigger button, and the other on a piece of paper. He was demanding that the Justices of the Supreme Court sign a release order for his fellow co-conspirators on death row. He was serious, too. The area around the Supreme Court was a mess; though not completely decimated, it was certainly destroyed in several places by the series of small bombs that had recently gone off.
As Joe looked around him, he tried to remain inconspicuous. He couldn't help but to wonder that if the Justices actually signed the ordinance, if it would even hold up in any court. Talk about a situation where something was signed under duress, he thought silently. And then, it hit him. Pogle was trying to get the ordinance signed, but he would have to want more. And just as he thought that, he heard Pogle demand that the Justices order that, right now, the prisoners in question be released as he spoke. Joe glanced sidelong at Brian, and saw him slink silently away with a small nod. Somehow, they had to figure out how to stop this guy. But how do you stop a suicide bomber? he couldn't help but to ask himself. Threaten him with death? Joe shuddered. This whole situation seemed impossible. That, and the fact that there were many, many guns trained on Pogle at the moment and Joe happened to be right in the line of fire, was very disconcerting. Joe knew if Pogle was fired upon, he'd explode the whole building. He had no idea what to do at the moment.
After a few moments, he saw Brian discreetly give him a small hand motion to come back in his direction. With the area heavily guarded, Joe was able to sneak back to Brian virtually un-noticed. When they were off to the side, Brian turned to him.
"Joe," he said quietly, "we're running out of time. Pogle's just demanded that his cohorts be released within one hour, or he'll blow everything up!
Joe glanced nervously back to where Pogle was standing. "Well, what should we do?" he asked Brian with hesitation. He couldn't help but to wish desperately that Frank were there to help him out. If anyone could come up with a plan under circumstances like these, Frank could.
"I don't know," Brian finally responded. "I mean, let's say that somehow, we could sneak up on him. There's still the possibility that the explosives could go off. I mean, we have sharpshooters trying to get him, but he knows the game. That's why he's moving around so much." Brian paused before continuing. "And then, even if we do somehow manage to get Pogle, Thornton is still out there."
With that, Joe's eyes suddenly lit up as an idea began to form. "Bri?" he asked, turning to his friend. "Maybe that's IT! Maybe, if we can get Thornton, and somehow threaten him, we can get Pogle to give up. After all, all the money's for him, and all the freedom is for the other men whom Thorton would have to lead. I just wonder where he is…" Joe's voice trailed off as he realized that he had better think of something soon. They really were running out of time, and the local and national authorities seemed completely at a loss.
"I have no idea where he'd be," Brian replied absently, also struck at the gravity of the situation. "Too bad Jenna never told me about…" Suddenly, Brian turned to Joe.
Joe saw it at once as the same thought struck him. "Jenna!" Joe exclaimed. "She's even more valuable than her father, because if we get her, then we get her father, and then we'd almost certainly get Pogle! It gives us a little more room to play with!" Joe found himself getting excited. Brian was great to work with. It was strange connecting with anyone other than his brother, but it was working… and they might just have a plan.
"Well, where would SHE be?" Brian asked, breathless. He tried furiously to think of his brief relationship with Jenna, hoping to gain some insight into her whereabouts.
Joe noted that ten minutes had passed, and found himself getting more anxious than ever to stop this tragedy. Plus, he couldn't wait to get Jenna. She had hurt his brother and Callie. This was personal to him now, and he was determined to do something. Thinking over all the vague things he knew about Jenna, and realizing that she was probably surrounded with at least a few relatives of the men on death row, he began to grow more frustrated. He knew very little about Jenna. Brian seemed to be at a loss. Vanessa couldn't help; Callie was out of commission. Well, maybe…
"What about Frank?" Joe asked, turning to Brian. "Maybe he's awake now. If he remembers something, maybe he can help us. What do you think?"
"Seems worth a try," Brian replied.
Taking out his cell phone, Joe called his brother's room and was surprised when Frank immediately answered.
"Hel…" Joe began, but was cut off at one.
"Joe!" Frank said forcefully into the phone. "Where are you?! Vanessa and I were just watching the news and we saw you. Don't even tell me that you're at the Supreme Court. What's going on? What's…"
"Calm down," Joe replied into the receiver. He was grateful that Frank was awake, although he could hear Frank's weakness through the tremble in his voice. "Okay, here's what's going on," Joe began, and proceeded to quickly get Frank up to date. He finished with, "so, can you remember anything? Anything at all? We need to find Jenna- pronto."
The silence at the end of the line confirmed Joe's fears that his brother really couldn't be of any help. As he was about to hang up, Frank finally spoke.
"Joe?" he said, quietly.
"Yeah?" he replied, anxious to get to work and to hang up.
"Dave."
"What?" Joe asked.
"Dave," Frank continued, softly. "He was the last one to see Jenna, right? Maybe he heard something, or knows the direction she headed to. It seems worth taking a shot."
Joe held the phone away from him for a moment and glanced at it incredulously. Dave! Why hadn't HE thought of that? Getting back on the phone, he quickly asked for Vanessa, who was able to return after a few minutes after retrieving Dave's phone number from Callie's purse. Thanking her quickly, he hung up and immediately dialed Dave. Be there, be there he prayed silently to himself. He felt the beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead as he watched the seconds and minutes tick by. He noticed that Brian, watching him, seemed just as concerned.
Finally, Dave picked up. "Hello?"
"Dave, it's me. Joe Hardy," Joe responded quickly. He explained what was happening to Dave, and asked him if he remembered anything or could provide any insight into what was going on.
"Um, no," Dave said at last. "I mean, I watched her go away, but I didn't really notice anything unusual. I was sort of in a hurry to get to Frank and Callie."
Joe sighed, as he felt the last of his hopes vanish.
"Well, except… oh, I don't know. It's probably nothing…" Dave replied, cutting himself off.
"No, please," Joe responded. "Dave, ANYTHING at all that you remember would be a help. Think--- we can't rule anything out."
"Well," he began slowly. "It's just when she was leaving, she said something like "it's done now," which I guess meant her attack on Frank and Callie. Then she said something along the lines of "let's go and watch it all come to pass. We're always watching…" Then she left and hopped into the van. Does that help?" Dave asked, but Joe had already hung up.
He felt his heart beating wildly. Did it help?! Of course it helped! Again, everything fell into place. The center of TRIVIAL PURSUIT, the ever present blinking eyes… Jenna was at The Washington Monument, or at least by it! Grabbing Brian by the arm, he immediately told him his suspicions. Together, they ran as fast as they could to the nearest police car possible, and sped off in the direction of the Washington Monument, along with a handful of other officers and cars. With so much security focused on the Supreme Court and the White House, a few cars missing would not be a problem.
When they arrived at the area outside of the Monument, Joe breathed a huge sigh of relief when he caught sight of the dark van in the distance. Almost at once, the accompanying officers rushed up to it and, after a brief scuffle, were able to apprehend about three men, dressed in black clothing. Realizing that he was running out of time, Joe rushed up to one of them who was being handcuffed.
"Where's Jenna?" he shouted wildly, hoping to get an answer right away.
The young man smiled in return, and said, simply, "Drop dead," before being carried away.
Panicking, Joe looked at his watch. He had less than a half an hour before Pogle's threat to blow himself and the Supreme Court to kingdom come would be realized.
In vain, he attempted to extract information from the other men, but they were equally mum on the subject. In defeat, Joe turned to Brian, shoulders shrugged. Brian then informed him that the six prisoners on death row were now awaiting release via Presidential pardon or Supreme Court order. The President, refusing to deal or to bargain with terrorists of any kind, was still not giving in, and the Justices of the Supreme Court were being held in secret quarters. In the meantime, Pogle still remained—watching, waiting. Joe couldn't help but to be amazed at the amount of information that the press was able to obtain as events unfolded, and hoped that they didn't reveal any plans to stop Pogle, accidentally or otherwise.
As Joe and Brian noted the time, and as the police and FBI spread themselves quickly and quietly around the area, Joe forced himself to remain calm. Think, Joe, Think he told himself, over and over. Jenna couldn't have gotten far—not only was the van parked there, but virtually all public transportation, including the Metro, was shut down. Leaning against the van to clear his thoughts, Joe held out a hand, and stood up straight at once.
"Guys!" he shouted to the officials, some of whom came rushing over.
"What is it?" Chief Pierce asked.
"The engine's still hot! She's got to be around here, somewhere!"
Joe made a guess that since Jenna probably couldn't go towards the Capitol building, she'd have to head in the opposite direction. Quickly informing Brian of his idea, he sprinted off in the opposite direction, hoping for some sign of her. After running full sped for nearly five minutes, Joe stopped for a moment to catch his breath by some bushes. In the distance, he could see press vans coming to and fro. It seemed like the media were everywhere. Well, why wouldn't they be? he questioned. I mean, stories don't get much bigger than this.
All of a sudden, behind him, he heard the trigger of a gun. He then heard a voice. "Don't move."
Joe recognized the voice immediately, and cursed himself for not taking weapons with him in case this very situation would occur.
"Turn around…slowly… and put your hands over your head."
Joe, having no choice, did as he was told, and found himself looking into the eyes of Jenna Barkalow… Thornton. As he faced her, he realized that he felt no fear. In its place, he felt anger, resentment, and revenge. What this girl had done to Frank and Callie was unthinkable, and Joe felt the color rise to his face as he was almost blinded with fury. Still, he managed to hold back his quick temper and try to control himself. After all, Jenna, at this point, was more valuable dead than alive. What am I thinking? SHE's the one who has a gun pulled on ME, he thought, as reality hit him. Still, he stared at her, knowing that if was going to die, it would be with a fight.
"Well, well. If it isn't Joe Hardy, Boy Wonder," she said evenly to him. "It's too bad that you weren't finished off with your handsome brother and his little girlfriend."
She doesn't know, Joe realized at once. She thinks Frank and Callie are dead.
He weighed his options. He could go along with this, or he could try and surprise her with a sneak attack. But, as she leveled the gun at his head, he realized his options were limited. How could he get Jenna to the Supreme Court if she killed him?!
"Bye bye, Joey," she said with a dry smirk. "Be careful who you mess with next time."
She cocked the trigger.
"Wait!" Joe cried out. "Look out behind you!"
"Yeah, right," she said with a small laugh. "You don't expect me to fall for the oldest trick in the book, do you?! Come, now. I would have thought more highly of you." With that, she raised her hands again and was about to fire when she was pushed forward violently. The gun flew out of her hands and fired, going off harmlessly into the distance.
"What the…?!" She gasped, fighting for air.
She didn't have a chance to say much more. Brian grabbed her arms and handcuffed her quickly, holding her to the ground. Shakily, he looked up at Joe. "Joe, dude, you almost blew my cover! You scared me half to death!"
With a small smile, Joe replied to Brian, "Well, it worked, huh?"
Brian rolled his eyes, and then pulled Jenna violently to her feet. She cried out in pain as she was yanked up, and found herself facing both Joe and Brian, behind her.
"You messed with the wrong person," Joe said to her, trying to control the anger in his voice.
"Your brother's dead!" she exclaimed, eyes flashing. "I won."
"Oh, no he's not," Joe responded. "He's very much alive, and so is Callie, no thanks to you. They'll be in more than great shape to see that you're put away for a long time."
He watched as Jenna's face paled. Joe would have liked to hurt her- badly- but he knew he didn't have time to waste. More than that, he didn't have the energy. Frank and Callie had already been hurt- nothing could undo that. Right now, he had more pressing issues at hand.
But… Brian beat him to the punch. "Hey, Jenna?" Brian asked, as she whirled around to face him. "I think we have a visit to make. You know, I've always wanted to meet your father. I think now's as good a time as any, don't you?" With that, he wheeled Jenna around and led her off, ignoring her dumbfounded expression.
Joe took a moment to smile before heading off to follow Brian…
