"What did you do to my son?" Laura demanded bravely, glaring up at the six foot three intruder as she held her purse tightly clutched in one hand with her other hand inside of it.
"He's....taking a nap," Deerborne answered. "Why don't we take a ride?" he continued, stepping toward her but stopping as she pulled her hand out of her purse.
"You won't use that," Deerborne stated snidely as his lips twitched in amusement.
Laura aimed her Derringer at Deerborne's privates even as her eyes met his. She never said a word, only quirked her left eyebrow at him.
Deerborne's demeanor faltered and he began backing to the front door. When he bumped into the knob he reached behind him and twisted it. Opening the door he couldn't resist smirking at the brave woman. "You're not who I wanted anyway," he said before disappearing into the night.
Laura stowed her gun, shut and locked the door in case Deerborne should try to return, then ran upstairs. "Frank!" she cried out when she reached the top of the steps and heard a faint moan coming from Joe's room.
"Frank," Laura repeated, hurrying into the bedroom and kneeling on the floor beside Frank who was conscious and attempting to rise. "Stay still," she ordered him.
Frank groaned but ceased moving. His eyelids flickered once before opening. "Look at me, baby," Laura commanded, taking Frank's chin in her hand and getting him to look her in the eyes.
"It doesn't look like you have a concussion," she said. "How does it feel?"
"Like I got beamed with a trophy," answered Frank with a wry twist to his lips.
Laura sighed in relief. "Need some help getting up?" she asked, standing up.
"No," Frank declined the offer. He slowly got to his feet and touched the back of his head. Pulling his hand around he was pleased to see the trophy hadn't broken his skin because there was no blood. "What happened to him?"
"He took off," Laura told him. "He said I wasn't the one he wanted."
"Joe," stated Frank, his lips tightening. "Call the police and let them know Deerborne is in town and he knows Joe is in the hospital," he instructed his mother. "I'll pull the van out of the garage and we can go."
"What's going on?" Joe demanded in alarm as his father and Sergeant Con Riley entered his room. Joe's monitor started beeping as he sat up.
"Lay back down," commanded Fenton roughly. "There's nothing wrong," he added in a softer tone.
"Then why is Con here?" countered Joe, laying back down and eyeing the twenty something police officer with curly brown hair and brown eyes.
Nurse Finway entered and took hold of Joe's wrist, glaring at Fenton and Sergeant Riley as she did so.
"An old enemy of mine has escaped from prison," Fenton informed his son. "And I want to make sure you're safe."
"Another one of..." Joe began but broke off coughing. When he finished, he gave his dad a wry smile. "Another one who wants me because I'm the baby, huh?"
"'Fraid so," admitted Fenton.
"Don't upset him," Nurse Finway ordered Fenton.
"He's not upsetting me," Joe denied her accusation. "It's better if we know in advance so we can take precautions." The nurse looked at Joe in disbelief. "Honest. I've been through this loads of times and am used to it."
"Unfortunately," Fenton spit out without meaning too.
The nurse harrumphed and left the three males alone. Joe's monitor was once again silent as he adjusted his bed so that he could be in a sitting position. "Where's Frank?" he asked.
"At home," answered Fenton. "It was hard enough getting your doctor to let us in here after hours."
"Hey kiddo," Con said, smiling at Joe. "How are you doing?"
"I've been better," Joe replied, smiling back at the officer who had been his friend almost as long as he could remember.
Joe's blue eyes sought out his father's brown ones. "When are you leaving?" he asked.
"I'm not," answered Fenton.
"But don't you have to go to the prison and see if he left anything that might tell you where he was going?" Joe asked in confusion. He knew how his father worked and that was always one of the first things his dad did when someone he had put away escaped.
"He's coming to Bayport," Fenton informed his youngest son.
"But what if he doesn't?" pushed Joe. "You need..."
"Son, I need to be here," Fenton said gently. "The police can handle Deerborne. My only function in the manhunt is to makes sure you and your mother and brother are safe."
"Mr. Hardy," Nurse Finway said, poking her head in the open doorway. "Your wife and son are in the lobby."
"Go on," Con told Fenton. "I'll keep an eye on Joe."
"What are you doing here?" Fenton asked when he met Frank and Laura in the lobby.
Frank told his dad about the intruder at home. "We have to protect Joe," he ended.
"Con is in with Joe now," Fenton said. "We're both staying with Joe until his surgery but getting clearance for the two of us wasn't easy," he continued with an apologetic look. "There's no way they will let the two of you stay as well."
"We can stay in the lobby," Laura said, reluctant to leave her baby again.
"No," Fenton said, taking Laura's hand and squeezing it. "You two need to get some rest," he insisted. "Someone will have to stay with Joe and make sure he doesn't move once he is out of surgery."
"You will call us if anything happens?" demanded Frank.
"Of course," promised Fenton. "Now go home and get some sleep. I will see you in the morning."
"How about some cocoa?" Laura asked Frank when he entered the kitchen later that night.
"Thanks," Frank replied with a tired sigh as he sat down.
"I thought you were only going to call Vanessa and Callie," Laura said as she busied herself adding milk to the sugar and cocoa mixture.
"I was but Phil called before I got a chance and as soon as we hung up Chet called," explained Frank. "At any rate, that's going to be one crowded hospital tomorrow," he added with a smile.
"But it's a school day," Laura said.
"They are skipping," Frank informed her. "They already got permission from their parents."
"I'm glad you boys have such loyal friends," Laura said.
"Me too," Frank concurred.
"Mr. Hardy, you have a phone call," Nurse Finway informed Fenton in a whisper at a little after to a.m.
"Thank you," Fenton whispered back and stood up. He followed her to the nurses' station where she handed him the receiver.
"Fenton, this is Sam," Fenton heard a furtive sound in the voice of his friend and associate, Sam Radley. "We have a problem."
"Can you handle it?" inquired Fenton. "Joe..."
"I know, Fenton," Sam said gently. "I'm sorry about Joe. I hope his tests go well."
"Me too," agreed Fenton. "What's the problem?"
"Loewan and Deerborne have hooked up," Sam dropped the bombshell. "My snitch saw them together at The Golden Dagger," he continued. "The snippet I got was that not only are they joining forces but that they are planning on grabbing Joe before he leaves the hospital. They plan on keeping him as a hostage until Loewan finishes with his last shipment and then Deerborne was going to get to finish Joe off."