Author's Note:
Yes! An early update from yours truly! Today was a snow day so the story just flowed wonderfully today. And I still had time to play a game of Clue with my hubby and oldest daughter! However, as I typed it into the computer, I realized that there was way too much to get in at once. Besides, where I ended it sounded better so this one is short compared to what I've already published. But don't be surprised to see another update by Monday or Tuesday since the majority of the next chapter is already written. Unfortunately, we can't get used to these quick updates but what I can promise you is that we are closing in on the climax of the story. I also must tell you that if you didn't notice, this will be the final story in the Revelations Saga. I actually combined this story and another one I had in mind into one although the ending will pretty much remain the same. I just feel that the story has ended and nothing more can come out. Don't worry though. There will be other stories coming. Just not sure when. Anyway, thank you to everyone who continues to read and support this story and also to those who have left reviews! I appreciate everything you have to say! So, I will leave you to enjoy this chapter and until next time, God bless!
Chapter Eighteen
Murmurs echoed through the auditorium as the meeting dispersed. Martin Shannon stormed out of the room, his cell phone plastered to his ear as he yelled into it. The Hardys, Hannah, and Joanna remained where they stood, watching the board members, cast, and crew leave.
"I wonder who that woman in the parking lot was," Hannah replied. "Whoever this mysterious new buyer is, we should be thanking him. What did the letter say , Joanna?"
"It said that an interested party would like to purchase the theater for a large sum," she shrugged.
"Why were you so excited though?" Laura asked looking concerned. "I thought you didn't want the theater to be sold."
"I don't," Joanna smiled, her eyes sparkling. "At least not to someone who is being represented by Martin Shannon. I have a feeling as to who his client is and the man is notorious for tearing down old buildings only to put in strip malls that have no business being built. The writer of the letter wants to do the complete opposite. He…or she, wants to buy the building and land around it then restore the theater to its former glory. The letter stated that 'it was time for the building to be returned to those who care about it the most,' whatever that means. I'm just glad that it came when it did or Martin Shannon's client would be the new owner right now."
"What about the show?" Hannah inquired. "What's to become of it?"
"I honestly don't know," she said sadly. "Whatever happens in the next few days will determine that. As of right now though, it's on hiatus and I was so looking forward to it too. It would have been something different for a change. The shows they put on here are wonderful, don't get me wrong but this was our annual charity talent show. Some of the local kids love doing it and I know putting on The Greatest Showman in the second half would have been amazing."
"What about the bid for the theater to become a historical landmark? Wouldn't that save it too?"
"That's to be determined, Hannah. I have heard nothing yet and you know how it goes with government these days. They take forever to decide things because they're too busy barking at each other over nonsense." Joanna sighed. "Still I wish Nancy were here. This wouldn't be happening. The show would have gone on with whatever she had up her sleeve and Martin Shannon would be sulking for a long time. Now we only have three days to either find her or make the decision ourselves."
"Don't worry, Joanna," Joe finally spoke, his face determined, "we'll find them before then. You can count on it."
"Hey, Joe!" called a voice as the Hardys and Hannah were heading out the door in the lobby twenty minutes later. The three turned to see Aaron jogging toward them.
"Oh, hey, Aaron," Joe replied solemnly. He noticed his mother's eyes narrow at Aaron but didn't address her about it. "What's up?"
"I…I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with you guys," the man answered sheepishly. "After what happened yesterday, I was worried about you and your family and wanted to make sure."
"Oh, how kind of you, Aaron," Hannah smiled. Laura still didn't say anything. "We're…we're doing the best we can."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, we're good," Laura said quickly.
"Sure! We could always use the help," Joe nodded at the same time. He looked at his mother questioningly. "Will you excuse us for a moment, Aaron?"
"Sure, no prob," he shrugged. He turned to Hannah as Joe led Laura a few steps away.
"What's going on, Mom?" he whispered harshly. "Aaron saved Nancy, Bess, and George a few days ago! The least we can do is show him a little bit of respect."
"I don't trust him, Joe!" Laura hissed looking warily at Aaron. "There's something about him that I don't like! I think he's hiding something!"
"What? Do you think he's in on the whole kidnapping or something?"
"No, I don't think that's it." She tapped a finger on her chin. "He was just as surprised to see Nancy gone as I was, almost to the point of anger, in my opinion. Oh, Joe, what if it's too late? I don't think I could go on if something happened to your father or your brother or Nancy. I know how devastated Nancy and Frank were when they lost the baby last year and to be so close now would be even worse."
"Mom, quit thinking negative thoughts," Joe scolded. "Maybe that's why you're feeling this way about Aaron. He seems genuinely concerned and wants to help. Maybe a new and different set of hands is what we need to find the right clues. Let's give him a chance but keep your eyes on him, if you want."
"I will," she stated firmly. Laura looked back over at Hannah and Aaron who were now laughing at something. "I still don't trust him though."
"Leave it to me, Mom."
After spending the day searching the town for clues, Joe and Aaron returned to Nancy's house the next afternoon. Although Hannah and Laura were there the moment they got there, the two women were preparing to leave to go grocery shopping.
"Woah," Aaron whistled, stepping into the foyer. "This is where your brother lives? Pretty nice digs for a couple just starting out."
"It's Nancy's family home, Aaron," Laura growled as she came into the room. He looked away embarrassed at his remark. "She inherited it when her father passed away a few years ago. I don't know why it's any of your business though."
"Mom!" Joe cried. He eyed Hannah who nodded. The two women went out the front door seconds later, Laura still glaring at Aaron. "Please forgive my mom. With everything going on, she's a little on edge. She's worried about Dad, Frank, and Nancy so don't take it personally."
"I'm not worried," Aaron shrugged. He looked around the house, taking in everything. "I understand her frustration. I was just commenting on this place. It really is nice."
"Yeah, but there are secrets in this house that even I don't know about," Joe laughed. "Come on, I'll show you around."
Twenty minutes later, the two men were in the kitchen drinking a glass of water. Aaron glanced around the area, noticing a door slightly ajar.
"What's in there?"
"Oh, that's just the basement," Joe answered nonchalantly. "It's really dirty at the moment so I didn't want to show it to you. Don't want to show off the dirty laundry."
He walked over and closed the door, secretly pushing in the lock. Joe thought about his day with Aaron and felt something was off but didn't mention it. Aaron seemed a little too interested in certain things, including items throughout the house. He turned around and smiled at the man. "So, you want anything to eat? I worked up an appetite after going all over town."
"Yeah, why did we do that anyway?" Aaron raised an eyebrow. "I don't think there's anything out there that could have helped us find your family."
"You never know what you'll find in a town like this," Joe smiled politely. "Besides, we weren't just looking for my family, Aaron. We did stop by to see BD and to find out if there was anything new with Jared. I still can't believe that the little turd hasn't said much even after a few nights in jail. Oh, well, I'm sure Frank will want to 'talk' to him when he gets back."
"You seem awfully confident that he's coming back," the man said innocently. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because it's Frank," he replied. "And Dad. And Nancy. If anyone can get out of a mess like this, it's them. Besides me, of course. I just know that they'll be okay no matter how bad it looks. I have faith."
"Wow," Aaron looked surprised. "From what I've heard about this David Wainwright, I'm shocked you would feel that way."
"Where did you hear about him?"
"Oh, a couple of people in town mentioned him," he shrugged. "They said that he was a ruthless and dangerous man."
"Um…" Joe gazed curiously at the man before shaking his head. "Right. Yeah, that's what I heard too. I have never met him though Mom did and of course, Frank."
Aaron glanced at his watch and his eyes went wide. Joe noticed the man looked like he needed to leave. Neither one could say anything though. The basement door suddenly opened and a woman poked her head out. She was startled to see Aaron standing there who was just as surprised. Joe couldn't believe his bad luck and rolled his eyes.
"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Hardy," she said softly eyeing Aaron. The man looked away as if uninterested. "But we need a little bit of…help. Do you think you could come down?"
"Yes, yes, of course," he nodded. Joe looked at Aaron apologetically. "Do you mind? Frank is remodeling downstairs. That's why I said it was dirty. I'm just trying to make sure that the renovations keep up while he's gone."
"Not at all, Joe," Aaron waved dismissively. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Nah," Joe shook his head. "It's pretty much cut and dry down there. How about we meet at the theater tomorrow this time? We can see if there's anything else we can do there. Say, ten?"
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Aaron…for all your help. I mean that. See you tomorrow."
Joe exited through the basement door, locking it behind him. Aaron's eyes narrowed, watching him leave. Since there was no one else around, he walked slowly toward the front of the house. When Joe was giving him a tour earlier, Aaron took a mental inventory of all the photos scattered throughout. One in particular caught his eye and he went straight for it in the living room.
The photo was maybe twenty years old but it showed a young Carson Drew and David Wainwright. Aaron picked it up and stared at it before taking a picture with his cell phone. Within seconds the picture was sent and the photo was back in place. As he left the house, Aaron got out his phone and dialed a number.
"It's me. I think we may have a problem."
Joe shook his head as he walked down the stairs. Something was off about Aaron but he couldn't quite place it. His mother was right though. He should have trusted her when she spoke out about the man.
"There you are!" Dearing cried knocking Joe back to reality.
"What is it that you needed help with?" Joe asked as he entered the room. His thoughts on Aaron were placed on a back burner until he could address it.
"We may have found a few things that could help us find your family," he stated. "For one thing, we found a list of names that we've determined are members of the Board. These people were using aliases for years! It's no wonder we've never been able to track them down! Unfortunately, someone must have tipped them off because as we've gone to each one of their residences, the Board member was already gone. The houses are being searched as we speak but still…finding a person would be nice."
"Did you find anything that might help find my family?"
"Actually, yes." Dearing pointed to the screen and a file was brought up. "I think this might be something of importance."
The file that came up was marked "Paradise" and had the coordinates for an island in the Caribbean.
"You told us about the island that Wainwright gave to your brother and his wife," the agent continued. "I believe that this may be it."
"Yeah, Frank did mention that," Joe nodded. "David told him that it was a good place to go if he ever needed to hide. Are you sure that they are there though?"
"We just found the file about a half hour ago, Mr. Hardy," Dearing stated. "It's the only thing we can come up with since we know that a plane took off from the airport not long after they arrived there. It's the only lead we've got at the moment and I want to move on it as soon as we can."
Joe stared at the screen deep in thought. Although the island seemed the most likely destination for David to go to, it didn't explain why Joe had an uneasy feeling about it. David's people stripped the ambulance clean including the stretcher which had to mean something. It wasn't right.
"What was that, Hardy?" the agent asked. He and the other agents stopped working the moment Joe murmured something. The young Hardy looked up at Dearing, confusion on his face.
"Something's not right," Joe repeated pointing to the screen. "It seems too easy."
"What's too easy?"
"This whole thing!" he cried. "The island's coordinates are in the files. David knows that because he helped Carson with the information. What if David figured Frank would tell me about the island and sent an empty plane only to throw us all off?"
"So…you're saying he knew he was going to kidnap them days ago?"
"No…that doesn't sound right either." Joe stared at the screen deep in thought. Everything pointed to his family being taken to the island but if his father was injured badly enough, they might not have been able to fly. He thought about it some more and growled in frustration. They were running out of time and they were no closer to finding them than they were the day before. A thought punched into his head and Joe whirled around to face the agents. "They're still here."
"What do you mean?" Dearing demanded. "I don't know how you came up with that."
"Hear me out." Joe walked over to the screens and stared at the files again before saying anything. "When Dad was shot, I'm thinking it nicked an artery or something which would explain the massive amount of blood we found upstairs and in Frank's SUV. It must have thrown off David's plans for leaving since Dad wasn't in the plan to go with them in the first place but David didn't want to leave him to die. That would explain why we haven't found the stretcher from the ambulance yet or anything else for that matter. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Morris threw another curve ball at David."
"What kind of curve ball? I don't understand why the doctor even went with them."
"That's a question that we need to ask the good doctor," Joe pointed out. "But he was Nancy's doctor for weeks. He knew she was a high-risk pregnancy from the start and I guarantee you that he wouldn't let her set foot on an airplane for fear of her going into labor due to the change in air pressure. I'm telling you, Agent Dearing. They're not on that island. They're still here in River Heights."
