Homecoming Chapter 13

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Frank watched the black Porsche roll away from the driveway. Vanessa had been a wreck and did not notice the two brothers lingering by the Lexus as her husband led her gently into their sports car. Frank stole a glance at Joe- Joe wasn't even lifting up his head to look at Vanessa.

"Now we can go in." Joe muttered, walking away from Frank with his hands shoved in his pockets and head hung low. Even his unsteady gait was slow and tedious. Frank tagged behind, ready to catch Joe if he fell.

If the kidnapper kills Hallie before we can get to them, what will become of Joe?

What will become of all of us?

Dismissing the soul-draining thought away to the dusty attic in his mind, Frank noted with grim pride that with each step, Joe was walking straighter and with more resolute. Maybe Joe just wanted to wallow for a while but he was resilient enough to pick himself up. His brother was strong- he was a Hardy after all. Strength was their family's inherent trademark as promised by their shared last name.

The somber note in the house was grating on the ears but no one would think it apt to dispel it with some good cheer. Frank guided Joe by the shoulders up to his father's study when his mother pointed towards the stairs silently, dabbing at her eyes with some tissue, trying hard to smile a little. The two of them trudged up the stairs which, after a few steps, Joe turned around, his mien carved from concrete.

"There'll be something good with work with." The sepulchral voice imbued with a hidden threat for the kidnapper chilled Frank into silence. Joe sounded like he was convincing himself more than trying to assure Frank. However, all Frank could do was nod and Joe spun around before abruptly sprinting up the stairs, as if he could not wait to get into action again.

Sudden change. Is this the way he deals with his frustration? Turn it into constructive actions? Then it's good, isn't it?

And if it's good, why am I feeling so disturbed?

They stepped inside the study where Fenton and Chief were sitting on opposite sides of the sturdy, ornate desk, engaged in a low conversation. His father looked up with fatigued eyes the moment he heard his sons foot falls.

"Take a seat. We have much to talk about and decide upon."

"Thanks." Joe replied politely like Fenton was a stranger asking him to not stand on ceremony. An intensely vacant look was in Joe's gaze, perturbing those present but Frank thought that maybe Joe had somehow shoved his emotions down somewhere and simply let his mind take over on autopilot. Or it could be that he felt everything but just did not want to deal with those gut-twisting emotions until later.

Whatever it was, it was not the right time to analyze about that. They both pulled two spare chairs and sat around the table. Fenton massaged the back of his head for a second before exhaling loudly. "All right. I have a plan which you may or may not want to agree with but here it goes. I'll go down with Chief to talk to the people down at the abortion clinic as well as check out whatever the police managed to comb from the hut. Frank, you may want to contact your friend who studies reptiles to see if they can help. If we're lucky, the man may have cultivated a liking for rare snakes. Collectors of these snakes would be much fewer."

"I'll go to LA to meet up with Elle. She'll need my help." Joe stated blandly. No one was going to argue with that menacing block of heated steel.

"And me." Frank hastily added. "The shoe print is still, I feel, our best lead. I'll just make a call to my friend- he can get me anywhere I am."

"That's it then." Fenton finalized their decisions, a determined look on his face. "Ezra, despite the few times we didn't see eye-to-eye, you have my most grateful thanks for offering so much help and leeway in this investigation."

Chief Collig smiled slightly. "Don't mention it, old friend. I'm a father and a grandfather too. I know how you feel. And any help in arresting this villain is more than appreciated and accepted."

"So…while they're putting their differences aside for Hallie, do you want to know who my friend is?" Frank asked Joe in a low voice, hoping a little informational tidbit would break Joe out of the stony mold.

The sculptured face cracked a little. "Ok. Who?"

"You know him too; in fact, he's a good friend of yours whom you neglected to contact for a long time."

Joe narrowed his eyes shrewdly. "Likes reptiles, a friend of yours and mine…" Those hard eyes rounded in some disbelief, "Biff?"

"Yup. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a double degree in Biological and Natural Science and is now a full-time field instructor teaching the basic of field science to children and adults at Ozark Natural Science Center. Impressive? Not only that, he also studies reptiles in his free time and could be actually researching for his Masters."

"I always thought his passion's in football…"

"Guess he found his true calling… but he's a warm-blooded reptile lover. Called him once- he said he enjoys teaching the children to love nature."

The serious face that Frank was having a difficult adjusting to broke into a slow smile. "And I know the moral of this little story."

"What? That we have friends who are useful as well?" Frank kidded. Joe shook his head and for a moment, Frank thought Joe was going to come up with something morbid.

"No. The moral of this little story is- not all jocks and blonds are brainless." He tapped at the side of his own head. "And with so many people helping, this one will outsmart the monster."

***

"Callie…" Frank led his fiancé into the house while Joe was waiting for their tickets' confirmation over the phone. She had arrived, all harried and perspiring, a short moment after the family shared a bland meal of smoked ham sandwiches that tasted like soot and ash and swallowed down similarly too.

Callie had rushed all the way to the Hardys' home right after her flight when he told her over the phone, while she was still at the humble, local airport, how the kidnapper pulled a fast one on them. Callie could never leave him in the lurch when she sensed that the situation was dire. He was, in a way, glad that she was there for Joe was maddening everyone by being too unruffled after his worrying breakdown in the forest.

"The cab I took was like a mobile sauna." Callie spoke in rushed whispers and stopped him for a hasty kiss before they entered the living room. The brief contact of intimacy soothed him. Only she knew that he was able to suppress his own feelings of anxiety and inadequacies with a mask of confidence and coolness under fire. And only she knew when these feelings bubbled inside him most uncomfortably.

"So…" She spoke softly in his ears after extricating herself from the much needed embrace. "Is he… well…all right?"

"I don't know… I…"

"Frank! We have to rush to the airport…" Joe scampered down the stairs hurriedly. He skidded to a halt in the front foyer when his eyes met Callie's. "Cal… .Whoa…"

"Joe…. I'm sorry to hear about it…" Callie moved away from Frank and gave Joe a hug. Joe clapped her back absent-mindedly.

"Don't be sorry. We shouldn't be feeling sorry. By the time Hallie's home, the man who took her will be the one sorry." Joe avowed harshly. Pulling away from the hug, he nodded at Frank.

 "Go back and grab the few things you need, bro. We need to be at the airport in two hours time." He curled his lips in distaste. "That's the schedule of the earliest flight they have to LA."

"I hope you booked three tickets." Callie smiled at Joe with the familiar, unshakeable look in her eyes that told Frank that even if the brothers should cage her up somewhere in a steel mesh pen reinforced with a surrounding wall of poured concrete around the circumference on the tallest peak of the Himalayas, she would find a way to follow.

"What?!" And then there was the same, disbelieving reply from Joe. Two stubborn heads would only crash headlong into each other and tempers would flare before they acquiesced that nothing they could do would deter the other from charging in his or her chosen path. Callie would follow them with a proud, haughty look and Joe would walk faster and faster ahead, with a scowl on his face that a 'girl' wanted to do 'guys'' thing.

It had been this way since their childhood. And it would be this way for the rest of their lives, most probably. Frank decided that it was time for him to intercede.

"Callie will follow us. I'll book the extra ticket. Don't you have things to pack too, Joe?"

Joe muttered some intelligible comments under his breath while Callie bristled in the usual annoyance at being slighted just because of her sex. However, Frank was relieved when Joe simply turned around and trotted back up the stairs with a grunt. Frank shrugged at Callie with a half smile and she nodded at the door, indicating to him that they should hurry up. Before they could leave, Joe spun around and wagged a cautionary finger at the couple.

"Only because she's your fiancée."

"Of course." Frank replied smilingly before draping an arm across Callie's shoulders protectively. "And you, lady, stay out of danger."

"I'm only going to make sure you eat proper meals."

Despite the tensed situation, Frank heard Joe let out a sharp, skeptical laugh before his brother shook his blond head and resumed climbing up the stairs to his room, two big steps at a time.