1XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Disclaimer: You know the drill...I'm tired of typing it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Nancy walked into the Tribune offices, she was on her cell phone arguing with Frank. He had called her as soon as she had gotten into her car. She should have known he wouldn't be satisfied with her coming to work alone. He had let the discussion drop to easily.
"Frank, I don't want Joe to hang out around here. I have a lot to do and I can't have him following me all day." Nancy said. She signed in and walked over to the elevators. She pushed the "UP" button and waited for the doors to open.
"Fine, I won't make Joe come up and babysit you, but I will have an officer posted on your floor and in the lobby." Frank said.
"We don't need one in the lobby. That's what we have a security guard down there for." Nancy said as she stepped into the elevator.
"So does that mean I can send one to your floor?" Frank asked.
Nancy sighed in resignation. "You're not going to let me off of this phone until I say yes. But just so you know, I could argue about this with you all day. I just don't want to pay an outrageous bill for it."
"He'll be there in an hour." Frank said.
"Fine." Nancy said and hung up the phone. She stepped off of the elevator and walked to her office.
When she got over to her desk, she saw that there were a pile of pink phone messages. She thumbed through them, to see that most of them were story ideas that people wanted to pitch to her. She put them to the side and turned on her computer. She then picked up her phone and called her dad, only to have the answering machine pick up. She left a brief message, telling him that they had arrived in Chicago safe and sound and that she would talk to him later.
She then grabbed her coffee cup and walked into the employee lounge to grab some coffee. She exchanged small talk with a few people that were in there and then made her way to Ashley's office.
"Hey, Anna." Nancy said to Ashley's secretary.
"Hey, Nancy. When did you get back?" she asked.
"A couple of hours go." Nancy said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Is Ashley in?"
"She just went out for a lunch appointment." Anna said. "She said it could take a couple of hours."
"Well, just let her know I'm back when she gets back of if she calls. I plan on being here for a few hours." Nancy said. "Oh, and by the way, not to alarm you or anything, but my fiancé, Frank, is going to have a officer posted on this floor."
"I don't see why that would be a problem. Ashley told me what was going on." Anna said.
"Thanks." Nancy said. She started to walk away, but she stopped when a thought hit her. "Hey, Anna. Is Andy in today?"
Anna nodded. "He was here earlier, but he left. He said something came up."
"Thanks again." Nancy said. She went back into her office, thinking. Frank had suspected Andy when he had first met him, but Nancy had quickly dismissed the idea. She didn't know what had made her think of him all of a sudden.
But what if she had been wrong about Andy?
Andy was never really around, and that seemed strange about an intern. And if her was around, he was always around her.
He couldn't be Fitz...or could he?
Nancy picked up her phone and dialed Anna. "It's Nancy. Sorry to bother you again, but has Andy been in the last couple of days?"
"Yeah. Ashley's had him running around like crazy." Anna said.
"Oh, okay." Nancy said, trying to hide her disappointment. She hung up the phone and sighed.
She had thought that she was onto something. She shrugged and turned her attention to her computer. She looked up when she heard a knock at the door.
"Hi." A man said. "I'm Ethan Thomas. Frank sent me over to watch over things. I just wanted to let you know that I was here."
"Nice to meet you." Nancy said. "And thank you."
Ethan smiled at her. "No problem at all."
He left her office and Nancy stared after him.
She just hoped Frank was happy now.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Frank Hardy rubbed his tired eyes. He looked at his watch to see that it was going on seven o'clock. Man, no wonder, he thought. He had been doing paperwork for the last four hours.
But at least now he could say that he was caught up.
His phone rang on his desk. He looked at it and sighed. He really didn't want to answer it, but he grabbed it anyway. It could be Nancy wanting to chew him out again.
"Hardy." He said.
"You're too late, Frank." Fitz said.
Frank clutched the phone tightly until his knuckles turned white. "What?"
"I have her." Fitz said. "You didn't protect her well enough."
Frank felt his heart stop. This can't be true, he thought. There's no way he got through Thomas. Especially with a lot of people still there.
"But, I'm feeling really nice today and I want to give you a chance to save her." Fitz said.
"Where is she?" Frank asked.
"We're at the old movie theater on Walnut. I will allow you to bring your brother, but no other backup. If I see any police with you, she will be dead before you even have a chance to get to her. Understand?" Fitz asked.
"Yes." Frank said.
"I'm waiting." Fitz said and hung up.
Frank grabbed his cell phone on his way out the door.
"Joe, I'm picking you up. Be ready now." Frank said and hung up before Joe could day anything.
God, let Fitz be lying. He can't have her.
Frank jumped in his car and sped towards his apartment.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I have a bad feeling about this, Frank." Joe said as Frank drove to the theater.
"Me, too." Frank said. "But we can't take any chances."
"Why would he call you and gladly give his location up?" Joe asked.
"I don't know, Joe." Frank said, running through a red light. "And I really don't care."
"It just doesn't seem right." Joe said.
Frank ignored him and turned onto Walnut. Thing was, he was thinking the same thing that Joe was.
He pulled up to the theater and pulled out his gun. He and Joe then made their way to the front of the theater to find the doors were locked with chains and padlocks. Joe then jerked his head to the side of the building and Frank nodded.
They made their way to the side of the building and Frank tried to door to find that it was unlocked. He slowly opened the door and he and Joe turned on their flashlights.
They walked inside the theater and were greeted by silence. They shined their flashlights and made their way into one of the auditoriums.
"Hello?" Frank called into the darkness.
"I don't hear anything." Joe said softly.
"Yeah, me–"Frank began, but stopped. He though he had heard something off to his right.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Joe.
"Hear what?" Joe asked, straining to hear anything.
"Just wait." Frank said. They listened and heard the noise again. "There!"
"It sounds like a person." Joe said.
Frank walked towards the right, Joe right behind him.
"Hello?" he called again.
He kept walking as he heard the muffled voice growing a little bit louder. He shined his flashlight and saw that there was a door directly in front of him.
"Joe!" he whispered. "Over here!"
Frank tried to door and found it locked.
"Is someone in there?" Joe asked.
"I think so" Frank said. "I'm going to break the door open."
He put away his gun and handed Joe his flashlight. He then took a step back and rammed his shoulder into the door. He felt it give a little. He stepped back and did it again. This time he heard the door crack. He stepped back and did it a third time. This time the door flew open.
Joe handed Frank his flashlight and they shined it into the room. In the middle of the room, they found someone tied to a chair.
"It's not Nancy." Joe said.
Frank sighed in frustration. Fitz had played them. He went over to the woman and pulled the gag out of her mouth. It was only then that he recognized her. She was Nancy's editor, Ashley Morgan.
"Ashley, what happened?" Frank asked. "Where's Fitz?"
Ashley looked at him confused. "Who?"
"Mike Fitzgerald. He did this to you didn't he?" Frank asked as Joe untied her.
Ashley shook her head. "No. It wasn't him. I don't even know who that is."
Now it was Frank's turn to be confused. "I don't understand."
"It was our new intern–Andy Roberts." Ashley said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nancy was starting to get a headache now. She had been staring at her computer screen and returning phone messages ever since she had gotten to her desk. But at least she had finally figured out why she hated to leave town.
She reached into her desk and pulled out her bottle of ibuprofen. She got two of them and then grabbed her coffee mug. She happened to glance at her clock above the door and saw that it was six-thirty. That meant that she would be alone in the building now. Well, except for the police officer that Frank sent to watch over her.
As she walked to the employees' lounge, she could see Ashley's office. She realized that she still hadn't heard from Ashley. She had called Anna several times in the last few hours, but she had said that Ashley still hadn't called. And that was not like Ashley.
Nancy poured herself a cup of coffee and then took her ibuprofen. As she walked back out into the hall, she waved at Officer Thomas. He smiled and waved back. She then went back into her office to continue working.
She was answering an email, when she thought she heard a noise from the hallway. She stopped typing for a few seconds to listen for the noise again, but she heard nothing. Frowning, she began typing again until she heard a thump.
"Hello?' she called, waiting for an answer.
She didn't get one. Funny, Officer Thomas should have answered her.
Instead all of the lights went out in the building. The only sound Nancy could hear was the pounding of her own heart.
She was about to pick up her phone when someone appeared in her doorway.
"What's wrong, Nancy? You look like you've seen a ghost." The voice said.
Nancy's heart leapt in her throat when the figure stepped further into her office.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Author's Note: Again, a bad place for me to leave it, I know. But it only keeps you wanting more...Please review and let me know what you think.