A Beckoning Cage
06. Churros, and Pastries, and Car Chases, Oh my!
Nancy couldn't believe her luck. Glancing around, she snatched a menu from a stack at the waitress' counter at the entrance. Eyes glued on the pair, she moved closer, hoping neither male would look up and see her. They had both seen her after all and Xander would be paranoid and possibly bolt and Dr. Weber would blow her cover. She didn't know if she might have to return to Intel Health Discoveries.
Nancy edged as close as she dared before plopping herself down in a vacant seat. She had to strain to listen, but she could hear the two conversing. She opened her menu and buried her face in it.
"And you're sure this is accurate?" Dr. Weber inquired. Nancy peeked around her menu to see him taking a stack of papers from Xander.
"Yes," Xander replied with a hint of offense in his voice. "It's all there, or at least most of it. I copied down everything that I could. Security has been increased lately."
Nancy heard the sound of ruffling papers. "This will do; and save us a good amount of time. Dr. Graves sure picked an inconvenient time to go on maternity leave."
Nancy was holding her breath. Was Xander passing information to Intel? And if he was, and it looked like it, had he passed on the cancer research? But how?
Neither Xander nor Dr. Weber spoke any further about the papers Xander had brought him and instead began complaining about Dr. Graves. Nancy vacated her seat, careful not to show her face, replaced the menu and hurried back to her own table.
"That was a long phone call," Joe said around a mouthful of food as Nancy slid into her seat. Their food had already arrived and Joe was halfway through his meal.
"You're not going to believe this!" Nancy said in hushed tones excitedly.
"What?" Frank raised an eyebrow.
"Xander Hak and Dr. Weber are here!"
"Dr. Weber…that doctor who was in Lawson's office?" Frank scrunched his eyebrows together in thought.
"The very same. And Xander just handed him a stack of papers. He copied down everything he could," she repeated his words in air quotes.
Joe's eyes grew wide. "He's passing information from I.G. to Intel?"
"We can't say for sure," Frank was quick to point out.
Nancy nodded. "But this definitely makes him our main suspect."
"What should we do?" Joe asked, his eyes now sweeping the dining room in search of the pair.
"It'll be no good to confront them now," Nancy said. "But if we confront Xander alone at some point, I have a feeling he'll be more open than with Dr. Weber around."
Frank nodded. "True. I don't think he's going anywhere. We can confront him tomorrow."
"All this mystery talk is making me hungry," Joe commented.
"You just polished off an entire burrito," Frank rolled his eyes.
Joe pointed to the small desserts menu that was propped up next to the tabasco sauce. "But they have real churros here, Frank."
A sigh. "Oh, Joe…"
The trio managed to get a decent nap in before their alarms went off at ten o'clock. And despite their early start that morning, they were filled with energy. There was something about breaking in, ahem, um, sneaking about after hours that always gave Nancy a rush. It was clearly the same for the Hardys. Joe was bouncing up and down on the heels of his feet impatiently while Frank pulled a dark blue vest over his thermal shirt. Nancy shrugged on a slightly oversized sweatshirt, warm enough and easy to move around in.
They decided to take the car, just in case they need to make a quick getaway. They parked it around the corner from the building and hopped a fence to reach the back of the building.
"I put a small piece of tape over the latch so the door couldn't lock," Joe explained as they crept towards the fire door. "When I opened it originally it set off an alarm, but I told security I accidentally tripped it. But since it never relocked, the alarm shouldn't go off again."
"Good work, Joe," Nancy smiled.
Sure enough, the three were able to slip through the doorway with no detection. They set to climbing the stairs, causing Nancy to vow to start an exercise program. By the time they reached the sixth floor where the offices were, her calves were screaming. She noted, with annoyance, that Frank and Joe weren't the least bit winded.
"Let's split up," Frank suggested. "Joe, you take Dr. Marsh's office, I will take Dr. Hardin's so I can access her computer, and Nancy, you take Dr. Page's office."
Joe and Nancy nodded and the three separated.
Flashlight in hand, Frank opened the door to Dr. Hardin's office. It was neat and orderly, almost neurotically so. He was almost afraid to touch anything, lest she notice someone had even remotely moved her items. Still, he took a seat at her desk, quickly checking the drawers for anything that might be of interest, but he found nothing of note. And so, he turned his attention to the computer before him and put his hacking skills to work.
In stark contrast to Dr. Hardin's neat office, Dr. Marsh's was pure chaos. Joe quite liked it actually. It reminded him of when he and Frank used to share a room and there was an invisible line between one extreme and the other.
He checked all the usual places for any kind of clue; in the desk drawers, under the desk or chair, between the pages of books; but he found nothing. Sighing, he plopped down into Marsh's computer chair, his eyes lazily scanning the desk. And that's when he sat straight up.
Beside her computer was a picture frame; the folding kind that allowed a series of photos. There was a photo of a slightly younger Marsh in her cap and gown. Another two photos contained little girls; probably nieces judging by the resemblance. But it was the last picture that caught his eye.
"Bingo."
Meanwhile, Nancy wandered into Dr. Page's office. She sifted through the paperwork that was scattered throughout the room and checked the drawers of every cabinet. She did the same for his desk, which was crowded with books and medical journals and charts that Nancy didn't attempt to understand.
There was a lone picture frame sitting on the desk and Nancy picked it up. She recognized Lukas Page, though he was quite a bit younger in this photo. And he looked much happier than the man with the sad blue eyes she had met a few days ago. And little wonder; it was his wedding day. He held a beautiful woman in his arms, looking very much like a princess in her wedding dress. She was looking up at him lovingly and it was the kind of picture that made Nancy feel a bit wistful.
She replaced the frame, thoughtful. Nancy had gotten the impression that Dr. Lukas Page spent a lot of time here at the lab. An awful lot of time for someone who was married. Surely his beautiful wife would resent such long hours. And Lukas looked so in love it was hard to believe he would choose work over his wife.
Perhaps they were divorced? But then, why had he kept the picture on his desk? Was he not over it?
Turning to the drawers, Nancy picked her way through piles of papers and dozens of manilla folders. The last drawer she checked contained an organizer for paperclips and pens and the like. Nancy almost closed the drawer in defeat, when something caught her eye. There appeared to be a corner of a piece of paper sticking out from beneath the plastic organizer. Carefully, she lifted the organizer to retrieve the paper.
The young detectives spent about forty-five minutes in the offices, save for Frank. It was so easy to find everything in Hardin's office that he was quick to find what he needed and took it upon himself to check Nicholas Harris' office. There was nothing of interest there, however. His office was just as dry and tedious as the man himself.
The three sleuths reconvened where they had parted, each looking thoughtful with a frown upon their face. Nancy assumed that meant the boys had found something.
"Anything else while we're here?" Joe asked, glancing to his two comrades' faces.
Frank and Nancy glanced to each other before each shaking their heads.
"The interns don't have offices," Nancy said. Both she and Joe had casually asked during their interviews in preparation for tonight.
Frank nodded. "Then let's go; before we find out they have overnight security or something."
There was no denying that Nancy was very tired. She had gotten hardly any sleep the night before and was basically running on the short nap they had prior to their little excursion. Regardless, when they returned to their hotel room, sleep was not on her mind. She joined Frank on his bed who sat beside her while Joe flopped down on his bed.
"So, what did we learn today?" Frank asked.
"Well," Joe started. "I found out something interesting about Dr. Marsh. Are you ready? Dr. Marsh…is dating Dr. Lawson."
Nancy blinked in surprise, glancing over at Frank. He, too, look a bit surprised before his eyebrows drew together in thought.
"Well, that's an important detail," Frank commented.
"She could have stolen the research to give to Intel," Nancy mused.
"But, then, why use Xander?" Joe asked. "If Marsh was giving them the information anyway?"
"She could be the one using Xander, as some kind of messenger," Nancy pointed out. "What about you Frank?"
"Were you able to get into Hardin's computer?" Joe asked.
"I was," he nodded. "She doesn't seem to keep anything really personal. But I did find where she was applying to: the CDC."
"The CDC? Woah. That's big leagues," Joe whistled.
"And that cancer research would definitely get her some attention," Frank said.
"But even working on the team would get her recognition, wouldn't you think?" Nancy contemplated.
Joe shrugged. "Unless it wouldn't get published in time."
"Or she wanted the sole recognition for it," Frank added.
Nancy nodded. "Okay, so we can count Dr. Marsh and Dr. Hardin as suspects."
"What about Dr. Page?" Joe asked her.
"I didn't see anything incriminating," Nancy confessed. "In fact, I think I understand Page better now. He was married."
"Was?" Joe raised an eyebrow.
"I found an obituary in his desk. It seems his wife died of cancer."
"Oh…" Frank frowned, a look of sympathy flashing across his face.
Joe was frowning as well. "It sure doesn't seem like he'd have a reason to steal the research. If anything, you'd think he'd be dedicated to getting it done."
"Which is probably why he works all the time," Nancy nodded.
"Well, I didn't find anything in Harris' office," Frank supplied.
"I think we made good headway," Nancy commented, stifling a yawn.
"Agreed," Joe said with his own yawn.
"Alright, let's call it a night," Frank glanced to the digital clock on the nightstand. "We've got work to do in the morning."
Nancy swirled coffee creamer into her mug with a spoon. Chatter filled the café, joined by the clicking of laptop keys and the steaming of coffee.
"I think it's safe enough to confront Xander," Frank said. "The real question is what we're going to do about Dr. Marsh and Dr. Hardin."
"We didn't find evidence that either of them stole the research," Joe said around a mouthful of bagel. Frank shot him a disapproving look.
"I think we should tail them," Nancy mused thoughtfully, a finger tapping against her lips.
Frank considered this. "It's probably our best course of action. We can see with our own eyes if they're meeting anyone they shouldn't be."
"And what if they're just not meeting them today?" Joe asked. "Nancy saw Xander by chance."
"Do you have any other ideas?" Frank asked.
Joe swallowed and frowned. "No, I guess not."
"If nothing else, maybe we can learn their routines and habits. Then we might know if something is amiss in the future," Frank said.
Joe saw the wisdom in this and shrugged.
Frank got to his feet. "What kind of pastry do you think Xander would like?"
It was decided that Nancy would approach Xander. They figured that confronting him with all three of them might scare him, and Frank and Joe together might be intimidating. And so, Frank and Joe went to scout their suspects and Nancy found herself opening the glass door to the lab.
Her eyes took in the workbenches and beakers and scientists milling around. No one seemed to pay her much mind, their attention clearly on more important things. A scan of the room revealed to Nancy that Xander was working in a corner of the room, his focus on the ocular lens of his microscope. Nancy hid the items behind her back that were forbidden in the lab and wandered over to Xander.
"Good morning."
The young man jumped on his stool, startled. He pulled away from the microscope, wide eyes landing on Nancy. She gave him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that. I was wondering if you minded meeting with me? I brought breakfast," Nancy discreetly brandished the contraband in her hand.
Xander looked a bit uncertain, his brown eyes searching Nancy's face, but she only smiled. Finally, he shrugged.
"Alright."
A minute later they were standing outside the lab. Nancy handed the intern the thin paper bag in her possession.
"So, with the research erased, are you working on something else in there?" Nancy indicated the lab with a nod of her head.
Xander froze, hand within the bag and looked to Nancy stiffly. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you."
Nancy nodded. "Of course, of course. It's just that…well, there's something I don't understand."
Xander's dark eyes grew suspicious. "And what's that?"
"Why I saw you passing I.G. research to Intel."
Bag and the pastry within fell to the ground. Wide eyed, Xander looked like a deer, frozen but ready to bolt.
"I-I-"
"I saw you yesterday with Dr. Weber. There's still time to fix this Xander. How much information did you pass to him?"
But the young man seemed to have forgotten how to speak.
"What does I.G. plan to do with the cancer research? How can they market it when I.G. has documentation to back up their claim to the research?"
"What are you talking about?" Xander suddenly cut Nancy off. His fearful expression had morphed slightly with confusion.
"I saw you passing the stolen research to Dr. Weber-"
But Xander was already shaking his head. "No, no! You've got it all wrong!"
Nancy looked dubious.
"I wasn't passing along any of that research," the intern insisted. "I…was passing along information, but it was on a completely different project."
The detective's eyes scoured him, looking for tells in his face or body language.
"I was telling the truth when you interviewed me; I have no idea who would have taken the research, I swear!"
Nancy frowned, inclined to believe the young man. He wasn't very good at schooling his face, after all.
"And what about Intel? Has anyone been asking you about it?"
Xander was already shaking his head. "No, no one has even mentioned that research."
"What about Dr. Marsh?"
Xander blinked. "What about her?"
"Did you know she was dating Jack Lawson?" Nancy asked, watching his face carefully.
But the raven-haired lad looked dumbstruck. "She is? Since when?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
Another shaking of his head. "I had no idea. But it's not like we're all in the habit of discussing our home lives."
"Do you think she could have stolen the research?"
"To give it to Lawson?" Xander frowned dubiously. "I doubt it. Dr. Marsh is…eccentric, but she's not stupid. If Intel released the cancer research to the public, I.G. would know where they got it. And it's probably not hard to find out about Dr. Marsh's relationship. You found out about it."
Nancy had to admit, he had a very good point. Not quite an exonerating one, but a good one none the less. She'd keep Marsh on her suspect list for now, but she had a gut feeling she could scratch Xander off.
"You've still been selling stolen research," Nancy finally said, fixing Xander with her cerulean stare.
Xander went back to looking nervous. "I-I know…I know it's wrong. I just…do you have any idea how expensive rent is?"
"Theft is still theft, Xander."
He ran a hand through his hair, a frustrated sigh on his lips. "I know…Please…I can't lose this position. I swear I'll stop; but please, please don't tell Mr. Jackson."
Nancy wasn't particularly thrilled about letting Xander off the hook so easily, but it wasn't the first time she'd allowed something like this. She had bigger fish to fry as it were. So, Nancy bent down, snatching up the pastry bag. She handed it back to its intended receiver.
"If you think of anything, please let me know."
"So a big fat nothing?" Frank frowned.
Nancy had spent some time scouting around I.G., just observing. It had helped in the past to watch the world and see what it tells you, but it was not helpful this time. So Nancy shot Frank a text around lunch time, wanting to connect with the boys.
"I'm afraid so," Nancy sighed, crossing her arms on the bar top of the pub they sat in. "I really don't think Xander is involved. But I haven't the faintest clue as to who is!"
"Dr. Marsh really doesn't seem to fit the profile," Joe supplied as he crammed a cheese-coated fry into his mouth.
"That doesn't mean anything," Frank said. "You should know that by now."
Joe only shrugged. They were all growing frustrated at this point.
"I feel like we're getting nowhere," Nancy said dejectedly, idly playing with the straw in her soda.
"Our efforts were certainly fruitless," Frank agreed.
"We could keep trailing them," Joe suggested after swallowing. "But there's another option we haven't explored."
"And what's that?"
"I say we pay the staffs' houses visits. And if they don't happen to be home and a door suddenly popped open…"
A small smile slipped onto Frank's lips.
"I like the way you think, Hardy," Nancy's eyes sparkled before taking a sip of her soda.
The three detectives finished their lunches before beginning their journey back to I.G., planning as they walked. They wanted to observe the patterns of their suspects in hopes of deciding when to best visit their houses. It was decided the Joe would watch Marsh, Frank would watch Hardin, and Nancy was responsible for Page.
"Isn't that Marsh there?" Frank suddenly asked before they made their way up the stairs to I.G.'s building.
Joe and Nancy peered in the direction of Frank's pointing finger. Sure enough, Marsh had appeared around the corner of the building. She clutched something, black and in the shape of a binder, in her arms. She took a quick look over her shoulder before hurrying to her vehicle.
"Well, that's certainly suspicious," Joe murmured. He hurried to the sidewalk, waving an arm out. "I'll follow Marsh!"
A taxi stopped before Joe just as Dr. Marsh pulled out of the parking lot. Nancy could see Joe point out the windshield as he slid into the backseats and the taxi was off.
"I hope this could actually mean something," Nancy mused, watching the taxi disappear into the traffic.
"Well whatever it is, I'm sure Joe will be having more fun than us."
This was true. Nancy wasn't particularly thrilled about monitoring Page's movements. It was going to make for a long day. But just as Frank turned to move towards the doors, movement caught Nancy's attention. To her surprise, she was Dr. Page appear around the same corner Marsh had just five minutes prior. With a hurried pace, he made his way to his vehicle, throwing open the door and sliding inside.
"Wait, do you see that!?" Nancy excitedly grabbed Frank's arm, effectively halting him. She thrust a finger in the direction of the parking lot.
She just happened to catch it out of the corner of her eye. As Dr. Page started his vehicle, a set of lights appeared around the corner. It was these lights that caught her eye and when she glanced over, she noticed Page pull out of the parking lot, and a black sedan creeping behind him. The windows were tinted and there were no license plates. Whether it was intuition or experience, Nancy knew bad news when she spotted it.
"Someone is following Dr. Page!" Nancy gasped before she took off at a sprint towards the parking lot. "Come on!"
"Nancy!" Frank yelled after her but a second later Nancy could hear his heavy footfalls behind her.
The pair sprinted towards Frank's vehicle. Frank yanked over the driver's side door, starting the engine before he was even seated. Nancy jumped into the passenger seat, pulling out her phone. She opened her GPS, selecting Dr. Page's address. She'd entered all the addresses Joe had managed to swindle into her phone in case they would need them. Nancy didn't know if Dr. Page was headed home, but if they lost sight of him and his tail, at least they had a location they could try.
Frank had done enough car chases in his short life to have a sporting shot at this. He peeled out of his parking spot, speeding after the black sedan as fast as traffic would allow. Some illegal passing and stomping on the gas pedal at yellow lights got him and Nancy within range of the sedan.
Nancy saw it first. The passenger side window of the sedan rolled down and the head and torso of a figure appeared. Of course, Nancy could find no discernible details and their head was covered by a cap. But what Nancy could see very clearly, glinting in the afternoon light, was the gun in their hand.
"Frank!" Nancy shrieked a moment before a gun shot rang out.
Frank had jerked the wheel when Nancy had screamed, thus missing the bullet aimed at, who knows; the wheel, the windshield? But the bullets didn't stop coming. Bang, bang, bang! One after the other. Nancy let out a screech of surprise when a bullet pierced the windshield, whizzing just past Nancy's ear.
"Fuck!" Frank swore and yanked on the wheel. Frank's car swerved to the right in response, wheels squealing against the road as they entered a side street.
The sedan and Dr. Page disappeared from view, but Frank was distracted by another problem. His car continued to careen down the road, his tires not responding as he yanked on the wheel in an attempt to regain control.
"Frank, watch out!" Nancy yelped but there was nothing Frank could do as they hit a curb, finally being stopped by a metal bike rack.
It took a moment for the detectives to realize the car had stopped. They were breathing heavily, eyes wide, minds still trying to process the events of the last few minutes.
"What…" Nancy took a few breaths. "…was that?"
"What we were looking for, I think," Frank replied after a moment, letting his racing heart rest.
"Maybe one of these days we should listen to our fathers about attracting trouble…" Nancy said, her breath starting to even out.
Frank glanced over to the girl beside him, brown eyes assessing every inch of her. "Are you okay?"
Nancy nodded. "Yeah…I'm fine."
But her eyes lingered on the bullet hole in the windshield, even as her mind tried to shove away the reality of her close call.
"Good," Frank breathed a sigh of relief before pulling on the door handle and clambering out of the vehicle.
Nancy quickly joined Frank as he assessed the front of his car. The right headlight was smashed in courtesy of the bike rack. Nancy counted two bullet holes in the hood of the car. But it was Frank's mangled front tire that was the culprit for their crash. A bullet had obviously struck the tire, likely on purpose.
"Now what?" Nancy asked quietly.
"We need to follow this lead," Frank said, his phone already in hand. "I'm texting Joe to rent a car and pick us up. He can follow Marsh some other time."
Text sent, Frank called AAA.
"Well?" Nancy asked when Frank ended the call.
Frank sighed, leaning against his battered car. "Anywhere between forty-five minutes and two hours. Typical AAA."
Nancy joined Frank, finally feeling the last of her adrenaline ebb away. She suddenly felt a bit tired. Not that it mattered; there was work to be done. Still, Nancy couldn't get the bullet hole in the windshield out of her mind.
She had been really, really lucky. An inch closer and Nancy would have been a goner. What had this case turned into? Who were they dealing with? Whoever they were, they were clearly dangerous.
Nancy peered over at Frank. A pensive look had fallen over his handsome features and Nancy was sure he was thinking the same thing. They always knew what the other was thinking. But as she gazed at him, her stomach twisted into knots. What if they weren't so lucky next time? And what if, next time, it's not Nancy the bullet is headed for?
Suppressing a shudder, Nancy leaned into Frank, her temple resting against his shoulder. She didn't want to continue this line of thought.
There were a few times Nancy had almost lost Frank, and each time it had gutted her. Every time he was in danger, Nancy felt a mixture of nausea, fear, anger and an overwhelming need to protect him. Because she couldn't imagine a life without Frank.
Without Frank, who would Nancy call at 2am when sudden inspiration struck her? Who would know her thoughts and feelings without saying a word, and understand them? Who would look at her with such warmth? Who would worm their way into her daydreams? Who would be her best friend?
That's truly what he was, Nancy realized now that her mind was fixed on the topic. No one understood her like Frank. Sometimes, she swore they were the same person.
If Nancy needed Frank, he was there. No excuses, no reason too minute, no distance too far. He was the one person she could always rely on, no matter what.
"You sure you're okay?" Frank asked softly, pulling Nancy from her thoughts.
She nodded. "Yeah. You?"
Frank's arm slipped around her shoulders and he hugged her to his side. "Yeah."
"Nancy!?"
The voice came from her right, but Nancy Drew didn't need to look over to know who had called her name. She knew that voice, as well as she knew her own. So when Nancy did look over, it was in shock. All the breath left her lungs.
"Ned…!"
Author's Note: So I realize this chapter is kind of garbage. But I decided, screw it, I want to actually finish this story! So here it is. Thank you so SO much to ALL of my readers; especially those who take the time to favorite and review! I adore each and every one of you. No promises when the next chapter will be out, but I really do want to finish this story so I'll keep plugging away.
Stay safe, readers!