The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Industry of Intrigue
By: Sapphire
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Chapter Three: Hidden Envelope
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Location: Hovand Industries Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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When they reached the twenty-sixth floor, a pretty woman with raven black hair was waiting for them. "I am Miss Amelia Trencher. I'm Mr. Hovand's secretary. Follow me please."
"Thank-you," said Dr. Quest. From the moment Miss Trencher spoke, every one of them was uneasy. The cause wasn't apparent, but the atmosphere suddenly felt dense and stifling.
Miss Trencher led them down a long hallway toward the other side of the building. She stopped in front of a frosted-glass door. The word 'President' was lettered on it in black and gold. Miss Trencher rapped smartly on the door then opened it just enough to poke her head inside the room beyond it.
"Dr. Quest, Sir," she announced. There was an inaudible reply from the other side. "Right this way," Miss Trencher said, holding the door for them. They entered the room.
"Ah, Dr. Quest, how good to see you. I wasn't expecting you," said the middle aged man who sat behind the huge mahogany desk. He wasn't exactly a big man, but he had a somewhat stocky build and a decent height when he stood to shake Dr. Quest's hand. His dark brown hair was beginning to gray, and his green eyes watched them shrewdly; indeed, he was the ideal picture of a successful industrial giant. Outwardly he seemed genuine, but his pleasant façade did not quite reach his piercing gaze.
"Mr. Hovand, let me introduce you to my companions," Dr. Quest said. "These are my sons, Jonny and Hadji. My associate, Race Bannon, and his daughter Jessie. And this is Maggie."
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Hovand said coolly, but not impolitely.
"I admit this visit is unexpected, but the purpose for this visit couldn't wait," Dr. Quest said.
"I see," Mr. Hovand said. "Tell me, Dr. Quest, when was the last time we spoke? I can't seem to recall…?"
"I believe it was that conference in Washington, the one you walked out of six months ago," Dr. Quest reminded.
"Yes, so it was." Connor Hovand's polite façade faded in degree. It was clear the conference was not a pleasant memory. He sat down behind his desk, indicating his guests should sit as well. "You said you had a purpose for this visit?"
"Yes," Dr. Quest replied. "I'm looking for information on a woman named Laura Franklin. She went missing a month ago, and I need to get in touch with her. I've learned she once worked here as a secretary. I'd like to speak to whomever employed her, if I could. He or she may be able to provide useful information."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Quest, but I simply can't help you," Mr. Hovand said, fidgeting absently with some papers on his desk. "Past employee records are unavailable to the public. There isn't anything I can do."
"Are you sure you can't do anything?" Maggie spoke up.
"Yes, Miss- er?"
"Miss Hardy," Maggie supplied.
"Yes, Miss Hardy," Mr. Hovand answered, "I'm sure." His gaze lingered curiously on Maggie. She was discomfited by it, and the others found his interest uncomfortable, too.
"Perhaps you could make a personal inquiry," Dr. Quest suggested, drawing Mr. Hovand's attention away from Maggie. "Someone must remember Laura Franklin. She left four years ago, which is by no means beyond recollection."
"That can't be done. I'm sorry, but company policy prohibits such actions."
"I see," said Dr. Quest, irritated. Connor Hovand was maddening.
"What about a small notice in a weekly news bulletin?" Jessie suggested.
"I'm afraid we don't have a company bulletin. I'm terribly sorry," said Mr. Hovand. His patience was visibly running out.
"A memo, then," Race tried on a similar tack as his daughter.
"Matters of a personal nature don't warrant a memo," Mr. Hovand said flatly.
"You expect us to believe the president of the company can't pull some strings?" Jonny asked, trying to goad the man into doing something.
"That's precisely what I'm telling you," Hovand said. He turned to Dr. Quest, then stood. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a client due to arrive any moment." They all knew a dismissal when they heard one. "You should join me for dinner while you're in town, Dr. Quest," Connor Hovand said, making parting pleasantries. "Your sons and friends, too, of course. Say, tonight?"
"Actually-" began Dr. Quest.
"Well if you can't make it…" Mr. Hovand interrupted.
"We'd love to," Benton finished, never mind what he had started to say. It seemed Connor Hovand was just a little too eager to get rid of them.
"Delightful," Mr. Hovand replied with little enthusiasm.
"We'll be looking forward to this evening," Dr. Quest said as he and the others stood to leave. "Where do you suggest we meet for dinner?"
"In the lobby downstairs, six o'clock," Mr. Hovand answered, resigned. "I know a marvelous place not far from here. Formal attire of course."
"Of course," Dr. Quest agreed. "Until tonight, then." With that, they took their leave of Connor Hovand and retraced their steps to the elevator. No one said a word until they were on the street outside of the building.
"We ought to go to the hotel, Benton," said Race. "We can talk about it in private there."
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"That man was hiding something," Maggie vented as they gathered in Benton Quest's suite. "He didn't want us there, and couldn't get rid of us fast enough. And he kept staring at me." She turned an accusing look on Dr. Quest. "I can't believe you accepted an invitation to dinner, Dr. Quest."
"You have to admit," Jonny interrupted with a lopsided grin, "it was good to see Mr. Hovand squirm when Dad agreed." Dr. Quest smiled in amusement.
"Exactly why I accepted," Dr. Quest replied with a chuckle. "And I thought it would be a good opportunity to try again. I don't trust Connor Hovand any more than you do, Maggie, and I think you're right about his hiding something."
"Mr. Hovand was very nervous," Hadji remarked. "Particularly about the papers on his desk. I do not believed he wished for us to see them. I could not read them, however, they appeared to be an employee file."
"Did you see anything we can use?" Race asked him hopefully.
"I was able to read the label on the file folder," Hadji admitted. "There was a letter, which might have been an L, and the dates October 1989 and March 1995."
"That's about when Laura Franklin would have worked there," Jessie noted.
"That's exactly when we moved in and out of Minneapolis," Maggie said. "You don't think…" she didn't finish her thought. Hadji shrugged.
"What conference were you talking about Dr. Quest?" Jessie asked, changing the subject. "Why did the president of Hovand Industries walk out?"
"It was in Washington, on industrial waste. There are rumors Hovand Industries has been flouting disposal laws for years. The conference became heated, and blatant accusations started flying. Mr. Hovand walked out insulted."
"Do you think that could have something to do with why Laura's investigation?" Jessie wondered.
"Perhaps," Dr. Quest allowed, "but it isn't likely."
"The CIA files on Laura Franklin went back more than twenty years, and she was special ops in domestic affairs," Race reminded. "I took a look at some of the files we downloaded. The bulk of Laura's work is missing. I'm guessing it must be classified, beyond what Agent Parcell has access to. If I'm right, then Laura was too valuable for the agency to waste her talents on industrial waste."
"Then it looks like we need to do some more detective work," Jonny said. "Do you think we should investigate the place Maggie and her mom lived?"
"I think that's a good idea," Maggie said slowly, thoughtfully. "Our house could very well hold a secret or two."
"Indeed," Dr. Quest said, watching Maggie curiously. "Jonny, why don't you and Jessie and Race accompany Maggie to the house and see what you can turn up. Hadji and I will remain here. I think he and I can manage to hack into the Hovand Industries mainframe while you're gone. There might be something there."
"Go, dad," Jonny said, surprised, a grin slowly forming on his face. "That's usually something I would do. I didn't know you had it in you." Dr. Quest laughed.
"We'll call you when we get there, Benton," Race said as they left.
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"Well, here it is," Maggie announced as they arrived in front of a tiny white house with blue trim. The yard had flower beds scattered everywhere, and a vegetable garden could barely be seen in back behind the garage. "It's not much, but it was home. It's changed now. The new owners don't seem to keep up the property very well. That fence never existed then, nor did that maple tree in the center of the yard."
"Quiet little neighborhood," said Race, looking around.
"We liked it," Maggie said with a shrug. She surveyed the property one more time. "Well, lets go see if anyone is home." They approached the front door and knocked. A dog barked inside the house. Bandit stood beside Jonny, wary of the strange dog, but showing no sign of warning otherwise. Maggie knocked on the door a second time.
"No one's home," said Race. "Maybe we should come back later."
"No," Maggie said, shaking her head. "We can still look around outside. Who knows, maybe the owners will be back soon." They walked down the steps and along the sidewalk in front of the house. "Wait a minute…" Maggie said suddenly, stepping off the sidewalk, picking her way over a coiled hose. She bent under the big picture window, and reached down and flipped up an outdoor outlet cover. Something fell into her hand. "It is still here!"
"What's still there?" asked Jonny.
"The key to the side door," Maggie answered simply.
"Oh, no," said Race. "We are not going to do any breaking and entering."
"Oh, please, Race. I have to get a look at something. It'll take two minutes. Besides, it isn't breaking and entering if you have a key. Please!" Maggie begged.
"Two minutes," said Race, resigned. "Preferably less." Maggie smiled her thanks and ran to the side door. It was easily opened with the key. She slipped inside. The little dog they had heard barking stood across the room and blankly stared at her. Maggie thought it was eerie the way it didn't blink. She took a deep breath and ignored it.
The house was messier on the inside than the outside. It obviously had not been cleaned in months. Maggie stepped over piles of junk as she made her way to her mother's old room. She stopped at her own on the way and wished she hadn't. It was completely destroyed, holes in the walls, wallpaper torn, broken window, stained carpet. Her once beautiful room was ruined.
She hurried on to her mother's old room. Once inside, she opened the closet and stepped all the way to the back. The wall was made of brick here. It was part of the old chimney connected to the wood burning stove that had heated the house years ago before the electric furnace had been installed. Maggie counted the bricks upward from the floor and wiggled the loose one from its place. The day they had moved in she had found it by accident. When she had shared her discovery with her mother, her mother had remarked on what a great hiding place it would make. Maggie had remembered the incident at the hotel…
Maggie held the brick with one hand and reached into the open space with the other. She felt around until her fingers touched something smooth and covered in dust. Taking hold, she removed a large envelope. After feeling around to make sure there was nothing else, she replaced the brick and quickly left the house.
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Back at the hotel, Dr. Quest was waiting patiently for Race and the others to return. They had been gone nearly two hours, and he couldn't begin to think where they could be. Suddenly, all four came through the door.
"Where on earth have you been?" asked the irritated Dr. Quest. "Do any of you realize that you didn't call?"
"Well, Benton," said Race, "We were involved in a little breaking and entering. We didn't think it was a good idea to get another accomplice involved."
"Breaking and entering?" Dr. Quest was stunned. "What on earth? You were supposed to be looking into Maggie's old home."
"We did get a look at it," Jonny returned, "At least Maggie did. She found the key she and her Mom hid outside and used it to get into the house."
"You did what?!" exclaimed Dr. Quest.
"Don't be too angry," Maggie said. "I found something. It was in the secret hiding place in my mother's old clothes closet." Maggie pulled the envelope out from underneath her jacket. "I haven't opened it yet. I was saving it for now."
"Well, let's see," Dr. Quest said with a sigh. Maggie put her finger under the flap and easily separated the flap from the old glue holding it together. She slowly reached in and pulled out a short stack of papers.
"I can't look," she said suddenly. "You do it Dr. Quest." Maggie held the papers to Dr. Quest. He took them from her and read the front page.
"These are documents from Hovand Industries- Company accounting records, and some records on employees." Dr. Quest flipped through page after page of similar things. "Some rather bizarre shipment forms, too." Maggie took half of the stack and paged through as well.
"I wonder if these are the papers that caller warned me about," Maggie mused. "This could be incriminating evidence of some kind."
"If it was, wouldn't Laura have turned it in to her superiors?" Race asked. "No self-respecting agent would withhold something like that."
"She may have had a good reason for retaining these documents," Dr. Quest reasoned. "It may have been a wise choice at the time, if circumstances warranted."
"I believe I may have discovered those reasons," Hadji said, pulling a yellowed page from the envelope. He handed it to Maggie. "It seems to be a letter. The writing is faded, making most words indiscernible. However, Maggie's name is legible, as well as her mother's- and her father's." Maggie stared at the page, trying desperately to make out the words. It was no use.
"I'll bet Iris could read it for us," Jessie suggested, peering at the page over Maggie's shoulder. "Let's scan it into Questworld." Hadji took back the old paper and placed it into the portable scanner set up on the suite's desk.
"This should take at least a few hours to complete," Hadji informed them as the page scanned and he typed some commands into the computer. "Now we can only wait."
"Dr. Quest?" Maggie asked after a moment. "Mr. Hovand said dinner would be formal. I don't have anything suitable to wear. Do you think it would be all right if I went shopping?"
"I could go too," Jessie said quickly.
"You don't like shopping," Jonny pointed out suspiciously.
"Can you think of anything better to do?" Jessie challenged. Jonny shook his head and said nothing.
"I don't see why not," Dr. Quest replied. "Just don't go too far from the hotel and be back in two hours." Race nodded, and the two girls headed for the door.
"I know a great place, just a few blocks up the street," Maggie was saying as the door closed behind them.
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Maggie finally decided on a navy blue dress with red embroidered trim. She had flinched when the register read the sale price. There wasn't much she could do. A credit card was passed to the cashier, and Maggie signed the receipt. More charges followed as Maggie purchased shoes, jewelry, and certain underclothes she hadn't had with her.
"I can't believe how much I spent today," Maggie commented as she and Jessie carried Maggie's shopping bags from the last store.
"I can loan you if you need cash," Jessie offered.
"That's okay," Maggie said. "My credit is good, and I have money to cover this. It's just, I don't have much in savings, and with my mom missing, all her assets are frozen. Weston University is reimbursing my tuition for this semester due to my unusual circumstances, but without my mom's support, I won't be able to pay for next semester. Everything is just so hard right now."
"Dr. Quest would cover your school expenses, if you asked," Jessie said.
"I don't want to ask him for anything more than I already have. He's been-" Maggie stopped suddenly and looked around nervously. "I have a strange feeling someone is watching us."
"Don't be ridiculous," Jessie said, "who would be watching us?" As Jessie finished speaking, two men ran out from an empty store front doorway and grabbed them in the deserted side-corridor of the shopping center. "Hey!" Jessie shouted.
"Let go of me!" Maggie ordered. The two men were dragging the girls toward the exit and a waiting car outside. Both girls saw what they were doing and acted. Maggie stepped down hard on her attackers foot. "I said LET GO!" Jessie jabbed her assailant hard in the ribs, then spun around and kicked him in the back of the knee, pushing him, forcing him down on the ground.
"We don't want her!" one of Maggie's attackers hissed. Jessie's attacker grabbed her, swinging her around, and threw her into a wall before running for the doors. Jessie was momentarily stunned and fell to the floor. Jessie wasn't down long. She got up and jumped onto the back of the man struggling to drag Maggie to the waiting car. He was huge and shrugged her off easily. Maggie's own attempts to free herself seemed futile, though she was putting in a valiant effort.
Just before they reached the door a third person, an unknown young man, jumped in as Jessie was thrown to the floor again, and grabbed the man who still held Maggie in an unbreakable grip. With the element of surprise on his side, he was able to take one of the attacker's arms and twist it behind the assailant's back. Jessie jumped up to help.
Facing the doorway, Maggie saw Jessie's attacker coming back. Just as he reached them, she sent a foot flying at him, kicking him hard in the stomach. He doubled over and fell to his knees in pain. A moment later the restraining hold on her loosened and she was able to pry herself free. Grabbing for Jessie's hand, the two of them and the stranger took off running to the other end of the mall. All three glanced back to see the two attackers make a run for the getaway car.
They stopped running and looked around at all the gawking shoppers in the mall's rotunda. When the onlookers realized there was nothing more to see, they moved on and went about their business and left the three of them to themselves. Maggie immediately found a seat on a nearby bench, and Jessie joined her while the young man leaned against the shopping center's fountain.
"Thanks a lot for your help," Maggie finally said. "Who knows what would have happened to us if you hadn't been there." Jessie nodded in agreement.
"You're welcome," he said, holding out his hand. "My name is Price. What's yours?"
"Maggie Hardy," she answered, smiling at the tall, lean young man with his wavy brown hair, easy smile, and lively green eyes. "This is my friend Jessie Bannon." She shook his outstretched hand.
"Pleasure to meet the both of you," Price said, shaking Jessie's hand. "What was that all about back there?" he asked, hitching his thumb in the general direction they had just run from.
"We're not quite sure," Jessie said, looking down the corridor. "Maybe we should go back and get your stuff, Maggie." Maggie nodded and the three stood up to retrieve the shopping bags from where they had been hastily dropped. "We were just leaving and they attacked us out of the blue."
"I hope neither of you is hurt," said Price. Both girls shook their heads no. "Good, I'm glad." He looked up and down the corridor as they walked. "Do you think you'll be all right?"
"We'll be fine, thank you," Maggie said. She exchanged a glance with Jessie. "We have to be getting back to the hotel now. We'll be late and we don't want to worry anybody any more than we already will." Price nodded in understanding.
"Maybe we'll meet again," Price said hopefully.
"Maybe," Maggie said with a smile. Then she and Jessie picked up the shopping bags, and waved as they left him, and the shopping center, behind.
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"There you two are!" Dr. Quest exclaimed the moment the girls stepped into his suite. "We were beginning to get worried."
"You've got every reason to be worried," Maggie allowed. "Two men tried to kidnap us at the shopping center."
"What!?" Race jumped up from his chair and crossed the room to his daughter. Jessie sighed.
"They attacked us as we were leaving, Dad," Jessie explained. "They were waiting in a vacant store front. There was no way we could have known they were there until it was too late."
"Their attempt nearly worked, but Jessie was a bit too much to handle," Maggie continued. Race smiled proudly at his daughter. "And then there was Price, of course."
"Price?" Dr. Quest asked curiously.
"Unlike everyone else in the shopping center, he came to help us rather than stand by and watch stupidly as we were abducted in broad daylight." Maggie made no attempt to hide her feelings toward those bystanders.
"Dad," Jessie said, "I don't think they wanted me. When I broke loose, they said that I wasn't the one they wanted." Everyone turned and looked at Maggie.
"That guy was right," Maggie said with a sigh. "Whoever took my mom, they're after me, too."
"I agree," Dr. Quest said. He looked at both Jessie and Maggie. "You are both unharmed?" The girls nodded. "Good. We have some news of our own. Iris was able to read the paper we scanned into Questworld."
"What's on it?" Maggie asked excitedly.
"It's a letter," Jonny said. "It's from your father. We didn't read it yet. We wanted to wait for you." Maggie was stunned into speechlessness. "There's something on the back, too." Jonny got up from the chair in front of the laptop and allowed Maggie to sit there. She stared at the keyboard for a moment before working up the courage to read the old letter.
Laura,
They let me write to prove I'm still alive. He's reading this, so I can't say much. I miss you, and little Maggie. They took Matthew away, I don't know where he is, but they say he's safe and cared for. Keep our daughter with you. She's safer with you than anywhere else. I don't want to lose her, too. No matter what else, keep her safe. I love you.
Jack
Tears slowly trailed down Maggie's cheeks, but no one dared ask what the letter said. She clicked on the screen to read what had been on the back of the page.
Mrs. Hardy,
I give you this warning and I expect you to heed it this time. Drop your investigation immediately and turn over your evidence to me. If not, the consequences will be felt by first your husband, then your son, and finally your daughter.
Maggie was shaking as she rose from the chair in front of the laptop. She managed to walk the few steps to the window where she simply stared down at the traffic on the street below. No one said anything for a long time. Finally, Dr. Quest decided someone had to speak.
"Maggie, are you all right?" he asked. She shook her head and wiped away some of her tears.
"I have a brother," she said. "My mother never told me. I have to find him. I have to find them all. Dead or alive."
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To be continued…
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