Part Four

"Look sir, I already told you," said the production crewman. "I went outside for a quick smoke break, and when I came back in, the videotape was laying on the console, with a note from Vince to run the tape immediately following the Hardy/Taker match. I thought it was a little late notice, but who am I to disobey an order from the owner of the company? I ran it like the note said. I didn't watch it first."

"Are you sure you didn't see who left the tape?" Matt Hardy said, stepping forward into the guy's face. Jeff stood directly behind Matt, hands on his hips.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't." he answered.

"Mr. Hardy, please. Let us handle this," the police detective called to the arena to investigate stepped in front of Matt, his body language telling Matt to step back from the crewman. "I know you're concerned –"

"Concerned? You know I'm concerned? Did you even see the tape? He's got Lita, Detective Atkins. Who knows what he'll do to her. We've got to do something quick to find her." Matt's tone was rising with each word. Raking his hands through his dark hair, he sighed and stepped back.

"That is exactly what we're here to do, Matt. But you've got to trust us to do our job. We can't help Lita unless you calm down."

"I don't want to calm down. I want to kick that sorry –"

"He's right Matt," Jeff interrupted his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We've got to allow the police to do their thing. We're not going to help Lita this way." Jeff had a look of concern on his face. He was just as upset as Matt, but he knew to help Lita, he had to keep his emotions in check.

"Thank you, Jeff", said Detective Atkins. "Now, let's review what we have so far. We have a note left with the videotape, supposedly written by Vince McMahon."

"That note was NOT written by me." Vince McMahon walked into the room. His very presence parting the assortment of men in two lines, allowing him to approach Detective Atkins.

"May I see the note please?" Vince asked.

"Of course, sir."

Vince looked at the note, which was now encased in a plastic bag, to prevent further fingerprints from getting on it. "Well, he certainly copied my handwriting style fairly well, although it's by no means a perfect copy. I can however, understand why this crewman would believe it was from me."

"I did, sir. I didn't have a reason to believe it was from anyone other than you," the crewman stated.

Vince nodded, then turned his attention to the detective. "Mr. Atkins, I want you and your men to do everything in your power to take care of this situation quickly. Find Lita and bring her back safe. I have security resources available to me, should you need extra man power. Just say the word."

"Thank you, Mr. McMahon. I think our own force can handle it for now. But I certainly appreciate the offer," Detective Atkins said.

"And just how are you going to handle it, Detective?" Matt asked, his tone sounding a little more curt than he intended.

"I've already dispatched officers to search the area, and we have an APB out on Lita's car. If he tries to leave town with it, we'll stop him."

"Unless he's already gone," Jeff said.

"I'm going to take this tape back to the lab and get our team to start a thorough analysis. There might be something here, background noises, etc., that could provide extra clues."

"That's it?" Matt asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do right now, Matt" he answered.

Matt opened his mouth to respond, but Vince stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Thank you, Detective. Allow me to see you and your men out." With that, everyone left the room, leaving Matt and Jeff alone. Jeff turned to Matt.

"We promised not to interfere with the police investigation, Matt", Jeff said, anticipating what his brother was going to say before he said it.

"I don't care, Jeff. Did you see the look on her face? She's terrified. I swear, I will kill him if he so much as touches her."

"I know, I feel the same way. Lita is like a sister to me. That sucker's gonna pay for playing these kinds of games. "

"I can't lose her, Jeff. Not now. She means so much to me, too." Matt didn't allude that she was like a sister to him, because lately, he just wasn't sure how he felt about Lita. But it was something that went beyond sisterly, that much he knew. He hoped he'd get the chance to figure it out.

"I know, big brother. Like I said, we promised not to interfere with the police investigation. However, I did not promise that we wouldn't begin a little investigation of our own," he said. A glint of a smile crossed Jeff's face.

"Try to stay focused here, Matt. Can't you see what Raven's trying to do? His ego is hurt, or he's just pissed off or mad or something because we got him back. That tape was meant to provoke reckless behaviors from us. That's exactly what he wants. If we want to win, we've got to play his game smarter than he is. By now he knows we've seen the tape, and I'd swear he's licking his chops wondering if we're running like chickens with their heads cut off. If I were to guess, I'd bet he's going to call us on one of our cells shortly. His pride was hurt and his ego is huge, so it's only natural he's going to want to gloat. We need to get some technical geeks to help us trace that call when it comes in, Matt, because I swear, it will come."

Matt thought for a minute. "You know, little brother, you've got a point. Boy, this is certainly role reversal. I'm always the level-headed Hardy. Since when did you become so smart and in control?" Matt said with a half-smile.

"I learned from my older brother. He's always taken great care of me. I think it's time I help take care of him, too." Jeff stepped forward and embraced Matt in a quick hug. Stepping back, he said to his brother, "We'll find her Matt. I promise we'll find her."

to be continued.........