Frank came to a stop in Mayhem's drive and he, Callie, and Vanessa alit from the van. "Okay, we're going to go over this place from top to bottom," Frank instructed the girls. "The police have already been through the place but hopefully we will find something they missed."
Frank used the key he still had to unlock the door and the three went inside. "Look for anything that might have an address or phone number on it," instructed Frank. "And check every nook and cranny you can find although the police will have already checked under the drawers and in the cushions."
He led the way upstairs and there, they spilt up. Frank checked out Mayhem's bedroom while Callie and Vanessa tackled the other room and the bathroom. He went through every drawer; divested the bed of its linen; emptied the waste can and checked underneath it. He even pulled the dresser away from the wall and checked the back of the mirror and beneath it. He got down on the floor and looked under the desk and chair. Half an hour later he left the room disgusted.
"There's nothing up here," Callie snorted as the three met in the hallway. "The only stuff I found was yours and Joe's."
"We still have downstairs and the basement to search," Frank stated not ready to admit defeat so soon. "Let's get to it."
The downstairs was a bit more crowded and was taking longer to go through and the more time it took the more discouraged Frank grew. He slammed the door of the hutch closed with a loud bang. He flinched as it snapped afraid he had pushed too hard and the glass door would shatter but it remained in one piece.
"Frank!" Vanessa's frantic voice came from the living room. "Frank! I think I've found something!"
Frank raced into the living room and almost collided with Callie who had also come to see what Vanessa had discovered.
Vanessa smiled at Frank as she held up a canceled check between her fingers. Frank took the check from her and looked at it. "It was stuck beneath one of the sofa legs," she told him, her gray eyes bright. She knew Joe would have been proud of her.
Frank looked at the return address. It was the same as the house they were in and the check was made out to General Realty for six hundred dollars. It wasn't anything to get excited about, he thought until he took in the bottom left of the check where it told what the check was for. There was an address for a house in Southport.
Frank grinned then gave Vanessa hug. "Fantastic!" he said. "This could be where he took Joe."
"Then we're finished here?" asked Callie.
"No," Frank said. "This could be it but then again..."
"It might not be," finished Callie. "Okay, let's get back to work then," she suggested.
Forty minutes later with no new leads the three entered the basement to conclude their search. "I guess a lab is one use for a basement," Callie commented as she looked around.
"But what was the cage for?" asked Vanessa, her brow furrowing in curiosity.
"His wolves?" suggested Frank, although it was quite possible he had kept Craig a prisoner behind the bars.
They began looking around but could find nothing of interest. Frank pushed the file cabinet drawer shut and turned around. "We might as well go," he said.
"What's that?" Callie asked, ignoring Frank's words and looking at his feet.
"What's what?" he asked, his gaze following hers but seeing nothing.
"Something fell from behind the file cabinet," she told him.
Frank turned around. Sure enough, the corner of a piece of paper could be seen lodged against the wall just behind his feet. Frank picked it up. It was part of a file. It was numbered page nine so it must have slipped from a stack unnoticed. Frank read the handwritten data on it, his curiosity turning to anger mingled with horror. "Let's go," he ordered in a clipped tone, lowering the sheet to his side but clutching it tight.
"What does it say?" demanded Callie.
"Does it mention Joe?" asked Vanessa, her face just as determined as Callie's as she glared at Frank.
"Um, kind of," he admitted. "Let's go," he said again, trying to avoid the accusing stares of his and Joe's girlfriends.
"Hand it over," ordered Callie.
"You don't need to see it," Frank said, trying to step around them.
"What does it say?" Vanessa demanded, crossing her arms and standing directly in front of him.
Callie leaned over and snatched the paper from his hand. "Ow!" he yelled, lifting his finger to his mouth.
"Sorry," Callie apologized, not looking at him.
"Callie, please?" begged Frank, not wanting Vanessa to see the paper.
"What does it say?" demanded Vanessa.
"It just proves Mayhem is mad," said Frank reaching for the paper but Callie backed away from him as Vanessa moved to block Frank once again.
"It mentions the guy Frank and Joe were looking for," Callie began. "Craig. It says:
I accidentally let my ring touch Craig's skin. When I moved my hand the
imprint of my ring had been burned into his flesh."
Callie finished reading the paragraph then gasped as she saw the notation in the lower right margin.
"What?" Vanessa snarled. She was more than a little angry about being kept in the dark and she had yet to hear how Joe was mentioned on the sheet.
Callie looked at Frank who bit his bottom lip before giving a curt nod of assent. "There's a...a notation," Callie informed Vanessa, her face pale.. "It says... 'Must run test on Joe to see if he will also burn and scar.'"
Vanessa lifted her hand to the silver crucifix Joe had given her. "Silver burned Craig?" she asked, not quite believing it.
"According to Mayhem," affirmed Callie. "But that's not possible."
"Last night, Joe was fine until we began slow dancing," Vanessa said looking into Frank's eyes. "Is it possible, maybe, he got burned by my necklace?"
"How could he?" Callie demanded logically. "Silver doesn't burn. And even if someone did develop an allergic reaction it wouldn't cause them to burn and scar from such a brief contact."
"Frank?" asked Vanessa. She could tell he had something on his mind. "What exactly is going on?"
Frank hesitated. Should he tell them? Would they think Joe was as crazy as Mayhem?
"Frank?" demanded Vanessa, her hands clasping her hips as she gave Frank the same look he got from his mother when she knew he was keeping something from her.
"I think Mayhem somehow managed to hypnotize or brainwash Joe, Craig, and Jonathan," he said finally.
"Jonathan?" Callie asked with the lift of a brow.
"He was someone else who Mayhem experimented on," Frank explained.
"Okay, for the sake of argument, we'll say they were hypnotized," Callie said. "But that doesn't explain why silver would burn them."
"It does if they were made to believe they were werewolves," Frank replied.
Callie's eyes widened in shock and then she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," she gasped a moment later. "That was a good one but I am surprised you can joke at a time like this."
"I'm not joking," Frank replied stoically. Is this how Joe felt when I laughed at him? No, he decided. He would have felt worse.
"I've seen shows on television where hypnotized people actually bled after it was suggested they were pricked with a needle," Vanessa said. "So Joe could have gotten hurt from my necklace. No wonder he went all cold and wanted to leave last night."
Frank could tell she was having a hard time deciding whether to be more concerned about Joe or angry at Mayhem for doing this to him, but Frank knew one thing for sure as he watched the silent battle within her: Vanessa loved his brother very much and would do anything she could for him.
"Wait a minute," Callie demanded, her laughter gone. "Why would Mayhem make them believe they were wolves?"
"So he could see how much control the sub-conscious really has?" postulated Frank.
"But didn't you say his degrees were in veterinary science and something to do with the environment?" Callie argued. "I don't see a connection."
"And genetics," added Frank, remembering Mayhem possessed three doctorates. "And I don't see a connection either," he admitted with a scowl. "But the only other alternative would be if Joe really were a werewolf."
Frank used the key he still had to unlock the door and the three went inside. "Look for anything that might have an address or phone number on it," instructed Frank. "And check every nook and cranny you can find although the police will have already checked under the drawers and in the cushions."
He led the way upstairs and there, they spilt up. Frank checked out Mayhem's bedroom while Callie and Vanessa tackled the other room and the bathroom. He went through every drawer; divested the bed of its linen; emptied the waste can and checked underneath it. He even pulled the dresser away from the wall and checked the back of the mirror and beneath it. He got down on the floor and looked under the desk and chair. Half an hour later he left the room disgusted.
"There's nothing up here," Callie snorted as the three met in the hallway. "The only stuff I found was yours and Joe's."
"We still have downstairs and the basement to search," Frank stated not ready to admit defeat so soon. "Let's get to it."
The downstairs was a bit more crowded and was taking longer to go through and the more time it took the more discouraged Frank grew. He slammed the door of the hutch closed with a loud bang. He flinched as it snapped afraid he had pushed too hard and the glass door would shatter but it remained in one piece.
"Frank!" Vanessa's frantic voice came from the living room. "Frank! I think I've found something!"
Frank raced into the living room and almost collided with Callie who had also come to see what Vanessa had discovered.
Vanessa smiled at Frank as she held up a canceled check between her fingers. Frank took the check from her and looked at it. "It was stuck beneath one of the sofa legs," she told him, her gray eyes bright. She knew Joe would have been proud of her.
Frank looked at the return address. It was the same as the house they were in and the check was made out to General Realty for six hundred dollars. It wasn't anything to get excited about, he thought until he took in the bottom left of the check where it told what the check was for. There was an address for a house in Southport.
Frank grinned then gave Vanessa hug. "Fantastic!" he said. "This could be where he took Joe."
"Then we're finished here?" asked Callie.
"No," Frank said. "This could be it but then again..."
"It might not be," finished Callie. "Okay, let's get back to work then," she suggested.
Forty minutes later with no new leads the three entered the basement to conclude their search. "I guess a lab is one use for a basement," Callie commented as she looked around.
"But what was the cage for?" asked Vanessa, her brow furrowing in curiosity.
"His wolves?" suggested Frank, although it was quite possible he had kept Craig a prisoner behind the bars.
They began looking around but could find nothing of interest. Frank pushed the file cabinet drawer shut and turned around. "We might as well go," he said.
"What's that?" Callie asked, ignoring Frank's words and looking at his feet.
"What's what?" he asked, his gaze following hers but seeing nothing.
"Something fell from behind the file cabinet," she told him.
Frank turned around. Sure enough, the corner of a piece of paper could be seen lodged against the wall just behind his feet. Frank picked it up. It was part of a file. It was numbered page nine so it must have slipped from a stack unnoticed. Frank read the handwritten data on it, his curiosity turning to anger mingled with horror. "Let's go," he ordered in a clipped tone, lowering the sheet to his side but clutching it tight.
"What does it say?" demanded Callie.
"Does it mention Joe?" asked Vanessa, her face just as determined as Callie's as she glared at Frank.
"Um, kind of," he admitted. "Let's go," he said again, trying to avoid the accusing stares of his and Joe's girlfriends.
"Hand it over," ordered Callie.
"You don't need to see it," Frank said, trying to step around them.
"What does it say?" Vanessa demanded, crossing her arms and standing directly in front of him.
Callie leaned over and snatched the paper from his hand. "Ow!" he yelled, lifting his finger to his mouth.
"Sorry," Callie apologized, not looking at him.
"Callie, please?" begged Frank, not wanting Vanessa to see the paper.
"What does it say?" demanded Vanessa.
"It just proves Mayhem is mad," said Frank reaching for the paper but Callie backed away from him as Vanessa moved to block Frank once again.
"It mentions the guy Frank and Joe were looking for," Callie began. "Craig. It says:
I accidentally let my ring touch Craig's skin. When I moved my hand the
imprint of my ring had been burned into his flesh."
Callie finished reading the paragraph then gasped as she saw the notation in the lower right margin.
"What?" Vanessa snarled. She was more than a little angry about being kept in the dark and she had yet to hear how Joe was mentioned on the sheet.
Callie looked at Frank who bit his bottom lip before giving a curt nod of assent. "There's a...a notation," Callie informed Vanessa, her face pale.. "It says... 'Must run test on Joe to see if he will also burn and scar.'"
Vanessa lifted her hand to the silver crucifix Joe had given her. "Silver burned Craig?" she asked, not quite believing it.
"According to Mayhem," affirmed Callie. "But that's not possible."
"Last night, Joe was fine until we began slow dancing," Vanessa said looking into Frank's eyes. "Is it possible, maybe, he got burned by my necklace?"
"How could he?" Callie demanded logically. "Silver doesn't burn. And even if someone did develop an allergic reaction it wouldn't cause them to burn and scar from such a brief contact."
"Frank?" asked Vanessa. She could tell he had something on his mind. "What exactly is going on?"
Frank hesitated. Should he tell them? Would they think Joe was as crazy as Mayhem?
"Frank?" demanded Vanessa, her hands clasping her hips as she gave Frank the same look he got from his mother when she knew he was keeping something from her.
"I think Mayhem somehow managed to hypnotize or brainwash Joe, Craig, and Jonathan," he said finally.
"Jonathan?" Callie asked with the lift of a brow.
"He was someone else who Mayhem experimented on," Frank explained.
"Okay, for the sake of argument, we'll say they were hypnotized," Callie said. "But that doesn't explain why silver would burn them."
"It does if they were made to believe they were werewolves," Frank replied.
Callie's eyes widened in shock and then she burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," she gasped a moment later. "That was a good one but I am surprised you can joke at a time like this."
"I'm not joking," Frank replied stoically. Is this how Joe felt when I laughed at him? No, he decided. He would have felt worse.
"I've seen shows on television where hypnotized people actually bled after it was suggested they were pricked with a needle," Vanessa said. "So Joe could have gotten hurt from my necklace. No wonder he went all cold and wanted to leave last night."
Frank could tell she was having a hard time deciding whether to be more concerned about Joe or angry at Mayhem for doing this to him, but Frank knew one thing for sure as he watched the silent battle within her: Vanessa loved his brother very much and would do anything she could for him.
"Wait a minute," Callie demanded, her laughter gone. "Why would Mayhem make them believe they were wolves?"
"So he could see how much control the sub-conscious really has?" postulated Frank.
"But didn't you say his degrees were in veterinary science and something to do with the environment?" Callie argued. "I don't see a connection."
"And genetics," added Frank, remembering Mayhem possessed three doctorates. "And I don't see a connection either," he admitted with a scowl. "But the only other alternative would be if Joe really were a werewolf."