Chapter 14

Homecoming

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"So…" Callie spoke smilingly after she sat down on her bed in the room she was sharing with Elle. Actually she would prefer to share a room with Frank but Frank wanted to have some brotherly time with Joe. The trip to LA would have been uneventful if Frank had not been overly obsessed with each and every one of his brother's action- interpreting all his movements as a sign that Joe was about to check into a mental institution soon. However, Callie knew where much of this paranoia that he kept inside stemmed from- seven years was a long time for the brothers to be separated and Frank had quietly admitted that his hands seemed tied when dealing with Joe. He tried to be cool about it but his worst fear came true- sevens years were too long and the emails, occasional phone calls and even rarer snail mails could not reinforce the bonds to help them withstand the test of time.

He felt distanced from Joe. And that to him was one of the biggest blows Fate could ever dish out on him.

"I know I'll always be there for him, Cal. It's just that I don't know how to be there." Frank puffed up his cheeks before exhaling heavily, his eyes fixed on his brother the entire time. Callie spotted some oddity in Joe as well but, rather than seeing them as changes, she thought there were but an evolution of Joe's nature given what he had gone through. And what he was going through now was hopelessly scary- the poor man must have gone bonkers like every parent would when a child of theirs went missing for no apparent rhyme or reason.

"You think too much. Now, you sleep. I'll wake you when we're about to land." She, with the arm across his shoulders, rubbed the side of his forearm before practically shoving his head to rest onto her shoulder. Frank resisted her efforts and pointed at Joe who was sitting a few seats in front of them on an aisle seat.

"I think too much? Look at him! Doesn't he seem like a hyperactive nutcase to you one minute and then a stone the next? No… don't just take my word for it. See it for yourself! He was fiddling with his seatbelt, tearing up the newspaper to pieces page by page and now, he's completely still. And the man next to him is staring at him like he's some psycho, probably half-expecting Joe to just stand up and yell, 'Bomb!'".

At the articulation of one of the more sensitive words nowadays, a few people turned around and glanced nervously at Frank who was oblivious to all of them, still concentrating on Joe. Callie smiled apologetically at all of the fearful eyes, her cheeks flushing crimson. She patted her fiancé's lap a little too hard on purpose.

"Frank, calm down. Maybe Joe's all right but you over-analyze all his little quirks. You brother is strong, remember? He releases the tension in him via, well, some funny manners, but after that, it'll be all alright."

"Hah! Little quirks!" Those deep-brown eyes intensely pierced into hers, trying to convince her of his convictions. "Now, just look…"

"I've look. He's not doing anything…"

"Precisely! Joe never not do anything!"

"You need a Valium." Callie sighed but now, as she noted that Joe really had not even moved an single inch for a prolong period, she was getting pretty worried herself. The only time Joe was acting so weird was many years ago when Iola died and he wasn't even half as crazy then as now.

It's probably better too that she and Frank didn't share a room. Frank had half-jokingly added that by not sharing a room, he would be eliminating the temptation on his side to get too intimate with her. They had often board together and never once was the problem of "crossing the line" an issue although there were nights when Frank needed to get out for some time-out.

"So," Elle repeated, sitting opposite Callie on her bed. She had been cordial after Frank asked her if she would mind sharing a room with Callie when they arrived at the hotel. However, the moment the two ladies were in the prettily clean room, they had not spoken word until now.

"Elle, right?"

"And you're Callie, Frank's fiancée." Elle stated with a vague smile.

Callie nodded beamingly. "Yup, for four months, 3 weeks and a day. We're going to get married in two months time." She hoped that little extra bit of information would excite Elle enough to ask her about their plans, the proposal and stuff regarding marriage and weddings that girls would normally be extremely inquisitive about.

"Good for you," The curt, polite and uninterested reply stunned Callie- her mind drew up a blank at topics to get Elle to open up to her. She had never experienced not having anything to say and felt a little helpless as she twiddled her thumbs, not knowing what to do with herself.

"I want to make some tea before we meet the guys' in an hour time…." Callie nodded at the complimentary tea and coffee maker in the hotel room on the dressing table. "Want some?"

"Thanks but no. I'll be down at the pub in the hotel's lobby." Elle answered and though Callie would not mind going, Elle didn't ask and Callie wasn't one to invite herself into a party unless it was one of the cases the brothers were on.

"Ok." Callie shrugged, smiling though her pride about being exceptionally approachable and friendly had taken quite a bruising.

Elle stood up and left the room unceremoniously. Callie drummed her fingers on the firm mattress before hopping onto her feet to make herself that cup of tea. Well, if Elle didn't want to be a friend, Callie guessed she could be fine with that.

***

"Hello? Joe? Is that you?"

"No. It's Frank. We have just booked a flight to LA and will be joining you soon. Can you check into a hotel and message me the details?"

"Oh… sure." Elle was a little more than pleasantly surprise that it would be Frank who contacted her. She honestly thought that her antics had scared the poor man into acquiring Ellephobia. Joe was perhaps the only guy immune to it- the man had too thick a skull to be afraid of anyone.

"So… Hallie's not there, huh?"

"No… you're right." Frank conceded and Elle decided to set him straight once and for all.

"Frank, if you don't mind, give Joe a hug for me. And while we may be competing over him as our partner in future, anything to do with Hallie is collaboration, not competition."

"I'm not competing, just saying that your deductions may be right."

"No! You didn't say it that way. Firstly, you didn't use, 'may' and secondly…"

"You know something, Elle? I don't have the energy for this right now. I'll give Joe a hug for you. And that request is the only thing that convinces me that you are a warm-blooded human being."

There was pause right after Frank blurted out what he thought of her only after less than a day of knowing her. Elle blinked, too taken aback to feel insulted. Seconds later, Frank's tone lowered, much more somber and self-reproaching.

"I'm sorry. I don't even know you at all… it's… it's rude of me…"

Elle arched a brow. Her heart twisted a little but if she could be person without tact in her candor, so could everyone else.

"You're just saying what you feel. And I don't have any intention to change your perceptions. So, I'll message you later and take care."

She scanned the small crowd in the small, jazzy bar, relieved that she was out of the room finally. The phone call she exchanged with Frank Hardy while she was leaving Lester Demoir's condominium kept flashing past her mind's ears. She didn't know what was it that Frank Hardy had which kept getting at her. Or, make that, she knew the reason but it was so silly and shallow, something only a high school girl would feel.

After obtaining the information she needed from the rotund security guard who sweated too much, Elle was thoroughly exhausted and thought she probably looked as terrible as she felt. It was good that she had enough rest or she was so sure she would make a fool out of herself later. And the very insubstantial conversation she had with Callie had been very tedious. Callie appeared like a girl who would ramble on and on about everything and everyone. Elle had no patience for people who talked too much and was glad Callie Shaw did not ask to tag along.

Oh well, who am I kidding? She's pretty and soft- an all perfect sunshine girl.

What was that Joe always said? Pretty girls hate pretty girls?

It's pretty girls, who have no chance of love, hate pretty girls who have near perfect boyfriends.

She spotted the drifting eyes of a few women in the pub and, with a hunch, followed their admiring glances and noted the too handsome blond man by the black marble bar counter, languidly shaking a slim beer bottle by its neck. It was so typical to find Joe in a setting like this when his nerves were highly strung. Shaking her head while a defeated smile gracing her lips shortly, she strolled up and sat down next to him.

"I'll have the same." She pointed her thumb at Joe's bottle. The bartender, a sweet looking spunky short haired girl, nodded and went to fulfill her order. Joe cast an ephemeral glance at her, smiling grimly.

"You're too late, beautiful. I already have dates with four girls and my drink is all paid for." He gestured at the scattered serviettes next to him with mobile numbers written in various shades of lipsticks and different, trying-too-hard-to-be-sexy scrawls. Elle laughed lightly, finding it so humorous that people would dare risk rejection by someone they were attracted to simply base on looks. Most probably, they haven't even heard Joe's voice.

"Oh, you broke my heart…"

"If I remember correctly, you broke mine." Joe raised the bottle up for a toast when hers arrived. Elle returned the gesture and sipped the bitter, cold drink.

"Ah, now I remember. I didn't know I was the one who said we should be friends in your voice."

"I was just doing both of us a favor. It's what we both know we wanted."

Elle chuckled lowly. Joe was right. He had called her on his mobile just to tell her that right after she left the same message on his home's answering machine. Things were awkward for a moment but somehow, they had lunch together and as they reminisced about what had happened, they couldn't stop laughing in relief and in the joy of a friendship that was borne out of a, well, failed, whirlwind romance. The only word she had for that one month of flirty dates with Joe was 'fun' for it was in his nature to provoke even the most tensed up person to loosen up.

"Elle, don't take this the wrong way but… having a crush in such a short time on my brother is not a good thing."

"Who said I'm having a crush on him?" Elle glared at Joe and regretted the rushed defense which was actually an admission immediately. A sophomore's crush on a handsome, apparently intellectual senior- that was how she felt the moment she saw Frank even though he was all… germed-up. She just thought she had coolly brushed it off but apparently, Joe's keen radar, which could be scary, at times caught it.

"Oh puleeze. You're only so intolerably difficult and uptight when you're attracted to someone. Normally, you're just difficult."

"Geez, you used to call it a challenge to be with me."

"You will use all sorts of euphemisms when you wanna hit on someone." Joe grinned at her with that devious charm though it was turned down a few megawatts. It vanished as soon as those pearly whites flashed. As the weight of the crisis they were in sunk down again, the two good friends remained in silence, downing their drinks, lost in their own thoughts. A good few minutes past when Elle heard Joe sighed heavily. Casting a look at him, her guarded heart softened at the sight of his wearied face with brows knitted with unspeakable worry.

She set her drink down and tapped him gently on the shoulder. "Come here."

Leaning over into her embrace, he rested his head on her shoulder as she stroked his back reassuringly.

"It'll be all right." She spoke as soothingly as she could.

"I need a pep talk now, Elle. You're good at those lengthy speeches."

She held him a little tighter and knew right then, from his miserable voice, that his hooded eyes must be gazing forlornly at some wonderful heaven in his mind that he just could not reach. Everyone could use a friend and it was time for her to be his.

Here goes. Speeches, speeches, speeches. Hah. Got it.

Extricating herself away from the embrace, she placed her hands on his shoulders and bore her gaze down deep into those baby blues.

Her voice grew low and serious.

"There is evil in this world and it perverts many of our brethren with increasing ease. Sometimes, we feel like the end of the world is coming soon for this evil debauches the very sanctity of what it means to be human. It's getting so hard to believe in that goodness and almost impossible to hold on to our faith that somewhere inside, a tiny spark of hope would save mankind. But if we open our eyes, we'll see that we, you and me, are part of this tiny spark of hope. We dedicate ourselves to our calling in eradicating this menace so our children can be safe- can still believe in the goodness and play safely in the streets. It's our onus to never give up, to never lose faith for if we do, then the evil will have won and take over us. We carry the spark towards the torch and damn if we don't set it ablaze. So you cannot give up- not now especially. You cannot let this evil win…" She gazed piercingly right into his eyes and saw the fire behind those windows to his soul being stoke slowly, "The hardest battle right now right now for you is to still keep that flame alive. Hallie depends on it. You cannot let the monster extinguish it. You must keep it burning and when you meet him finally, when Hallie's in your arms safe and sound, you'll blind his eyes and dispel his darkness with it. For the small, flickering flame is brightest in the middle of the darkest night. That's our strength, our hope- our stoic beacon."

"Amen!" Joe exclaimed, picked up his glass and toasted her. She smiled. Their glasses clinked loudly, reinforcing their resolution and he downed his drink in one gulp.

"We can't tarry, partner. We have to get the baddie and save my Hallie."

"Right." Elle clapped his back, "I'm glad you like it."

"Well, it's a little dungeons and dragons for my taste but the part about the stoic beacon and keeping the flame alive for Hallie- that gets me here." He thumped his heart with a fist and she laughed lightly.

"Don't you know? I write fan-fictions for Dragonlance in my free time. That was the speech given by a white cleric of mine to a band of sorry companions before they set out to eradicate a bunch of evil gnomes about to unleash a nuclear bomb."

"Man…" Joe shook his head in mild amusement, "Remind me to remind you to get a life. Not the unhealthy role-playing kind but a real one."

***

"… and then she left for the jazz pub." Frank watched with an amused smile as Callie shrugged helplessly at her own recounting of her first Elle-experience, "That's all folks."

"You must be kidding me."

"Nope. That's all. All accumulated ten seconds of our conversation."

Frank guffawed at her pouting face and angrily folded arms as he wrapped his arm protectively over her shoulders. She fumed at him but snuggled up close, wrinkling her nose when she spotted Elle and Joe seated at the hotel's café from a distance where they were supposed to meet for their morning discussion. When they arrived in LA last night, it was already too late for action-planning and all of them were exhausted from all the earlier, grueling events. Thus, they decided to gather, after a good night's rest, at the hotel's café early in the morning at seven.

Joe and Elle were both gazing out of the window at the lazy morning landscape of the sidewalk in front of the hotel, oblivious to early risers in the café and their tea going cold.

"So, did you have the conversation you wanted with Joe?"

"Nope. He split while I was taking a shower and I was so tired I slept before he came back. This morning, he left the room before I did. I wonder if he's purposely avoiding me since I kinda mentioned that we should have a talk. I thought this scenario only happens between couples, not brothers."

"Oh, Joe's never the kind of guy who talk to anyone anyway about serious stuff. Don't worry too much about that. When this thing is over, I'm sure the both of you will have time for some major conversation." Callie looked up at him with those amazing, encouraging hazel eyes and he had to ask himself, once again, why he didn't propose earlier. They could have been married with an adorable baby already.

Then Hallie's disappearance made him fear for the safety of his unborn children he saw in her eyes. Even though kidnappings could happen to everyone, he knew his job hazards all too well. He and his brother were often the targets of loony baddies who wanted to take revenge on his father. His children would be placed in the same perils and he feared they might not escape unscathed.

Swallowing the chunk of worry that was not particularly unfounded, he squeezed her forearm which was getting a little chubbier because she had been pigging out on gourmet chocolates lately. It was more than all right though, he always thought she was a little too skinny and was pretty happier about her chubbier cheeks. His wife would be one who was well-fed and happy.

"I'm sure you're right." He kissed her cheek. They strode up to the Joe and Elle, and Frank drew out the seat next to Elle for Callie before he made himself comfortable on the one next to Joe.

"You two are early."

"Can't sleep." Joe muttered and smiled bleakly at Frank, pushing the menu over. "Take your orders first. They're pretty slow."

After Frank called the waitress over and ordered for him and Callie, he returned his attention to the table to find that all eyes were on him to start the meeting. Suddenly, he felt like the alpha male.

"Ok…" He hunched over, taking the leadership offered to him by waiting eyes. "Here are some updates. I'm going to call Biff later since I could not get him earlier to ask about the snake angle. Dad should feedback to us about his findings on the abortion clinic Joe and Vanessa went to but since it was so long ago, we have to keep a realistic expectation about his discoveries as well as what Biff could help us with since what we have for the reptile guy is really scanty. So, I think we should put in more effort in the sole print. Personally, I can't think of anyone who knew about Joe and Vanessa's intentions besides those closest to us and the employees of the clinic…"

"Erm… well, those in my anger management class knew about it too." Joe spoke lowly. "I had mentioned in passing to them a long while back but I really can't come up with any suspicious characters. They're all great people seeking help for a problem they knew they want to be rid of- they're not psychos, you know. Just normal people like you and me. Those who have serious mental illnesses have one-to-one sessions with the psychiatrist."

Frank's eyes rounded, a little taken aback by the new information. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"It just occurred to me while I was brainstorming with Elle earlier on." Joe bit his lower lip, gazing uneasily at his tea on the table.

Oh. It occurred to you when you were brainstorming with Elle but not with me and dad.

"I see." Frank took out his Palm and started scribbling in the new bits of information, hoping to mask his bitterness with feigned nonchalance. "We'll check them out…"

Joe scrunched up the right side of his face. "I made a call to Con just now to check out my group members and our therapist's profiles…" Those blue eyes that Frank suddenly thought he didn't really know very well shot a guilty glance at him before looking away hastily. "Well, basically to see if anyone of them had any past criminal history, especially with anti-abortionists' activities of the violent nature. We should be hearing from him soon... Elle thought of the anti-abortionists angle." Joe looked across the table at the straight-faced girl.

"I have properly accredited you! Don't start jumping on me now!"

Frank could tell Joe was trying to lighten the mood by teasing someone else for a laugh but it was not funny and no one was amused. No one dared to be amused, judging from the uncomfortable look that had settled on Callie's features. She exhaled heavily, a sure sign she was affected by the sudden tension between the brothers.

"Ok." Frank raked his fingers through his hair, not knowing what to say. A stray thought disarmed him and knocked him from his perceived spot of security. In the lives of those who mattered most to him, he could be rather dispensable.

"I was at Demoir's condominium yesterday when you called. Found out from the guard he stayed alone. And from the duty roster I stole a quick glance at, our friendly guard will take over the morning shift today. I have tested him out and discovered that he has an eye for pretty things. Since he met me before, I can't think of another reason to go back without looking too suspicious. Maybe Callie could distract him while you and Joe slip in and do…" Elle gestured vaguely. "Whatever you two do."

"Good ol' B&E." Joe curled his lips sardonically, no longer interested in lightening the mood. "To steal footprints. How hilarious."

"It can be our best lead. Looks like you two have it pretty covered." Frank commented. He wanted to sound casual and maybe even proud of them but somehow, from Callie's chary glance at him, he knew he sounded more like he had eaten too many sour grapes.

Regretting even speaking a word as he felt Joe flinched next to him, he cast his eyes downwards, jotting down gibberish into his Palm furiously. Joe nudged at his knee underneath the table with his in a silent gesture of apology and it made him feel even more selfish for being so unsympathetic. It was Hallie who was missing. Hallie! Joe's ability to think back about certain details of his colorful life would definitely be compromised and when new leads hit him, he would definitely act on them immediately, regardless of who he brainstormed the ideas with. Frank knew he would have done the same.

Shame stretched his lips thinly in self-reproach. How could he put Joe in such a difficult position when Joe was already beset with an enormous amount of troubles? If he was the self-sacrificing elder brother everyone thought he was, he should be trying his best to lighten Joe's load, not add on to it.

The talk could wait. Hallie must come first.

Joe's needs must come before it too because at that moment, they were definitely more important.

"So, let's go through the steps on how we are going to sneak up to Lester's apartment. Joe, ready?" Frank nudged Joe's knee back and smiled with contrite eyes that said he should be the one apologizing, not Joe. Joe gave him an "Aw, forget it," shrug and cocked his head at Elle.

"So, Elle. Brief us on the layout of the condominium."

As if on cue, the aroma of fresh English muffins wafted to their nose as the waitress fulfilled his order. There was nothing like food to keep daunted spirits buoyant and, glancing at Joe's hungry eyes, he knew it to be most true for his brother.

***