Nancy felt this awful pain in her heart as she watched Joe. It upset her that he was willing to give up so easily. She just wished that she could grab him by the hand and run out of the station with him. But the logical part of her told her that it would only make things worse for him.
"You can't talk like this, Joe." Nancy said. She grabbed his hands in hers and gave them a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "We're going to get you out of this mess."
"What if you can't?" Joe asked. "What if I actually killed that woman?"
"Stop it, Joe." Nancy said, sternly. "If you continue to talk like this, Frank and I can easily get on a plane and get on with our vacation. You have never been this down on yourself and you're not about to start now."
Joe looked at her in surprise. "Wow."
Nancy cringed. "Sorry."
"Don't be." Joe said, an actual smile forming on his handsome face. "It's good to hear you talk like this."
Nancy smiled back at him as the officer came back into the room. "Time's up." he said.
Nancy and Joe stood up and gave each other a hug.
"My dad will be here soon." She said softly in his ear.
"Thanks again, Nancy." Joe said.
She nodded her head and watched as the officer escorted Joe back to his cell. She then made her way into the lobby to see Frank sitting on a bench and staring at the ceiling.
"Hey. Anything interesting up there?" Nancy asked.
"Hey." Frank said, paying attention to her. "How did it go?"
Nancy looked around the lobby to see it was crowded with people. "Let's go somewhere else and talk."
Frank nodded and they made their way out of the police station. They walked down the block and entered a small coffee shop, where they were greeted by the smell of fresh coffee. A waitress led them to a table and took their orders for two regular coffees. Nancy could see that Frank was getting impatient, but he at least waited long enough until she returned with their coffee.
"So, tell me." Frank said.
Nancy took a deep breath. "It's bad, Frank."
"How bad?" Frank asked.
"They arrested him for murder." Nancy said.
"What? Are you kidding?" he asked and little loud. Nancy looked to see a few of the patrons were watching them. Frank lowered his voice. "How can they say that?"
"Well, they kind of have to say that considering that Joe woke up next to the dead woman." Nancy said.
"How did she die?" Frank asked.
"She was stabbed to death." Nancy said. She looked at Frank as he lowered his head. "This is why he was afraid to speak to you, Frank. He didn't want to disappoint you."
Frank was silent for a moment. "I'm not disappointed in him, Nancy. He has to know that."
"I think he does." Nancy said. "He just couldn't deal with him letting you down."
"Why was in even in Vegas in the first place?" Frank asked.
Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't get around to ask him that. He looked as if something else was bothering him, but I don't know what it was."
"We need to find out." Frank said.
"You're right. Let's go back to the hotel and wait for my dad. We can't be there while he's talking to Joe." Nancy said.
Frank drained the last of his coffee and threw a couple of bills onto the table. He held the door open for Nancy and they hailed a taxi to take them back to the Exodus Hotel, which was across from the Saraphina. They had decided to stay there, thinking it would be easier to investigate Joe's case. When they got back, Nancy had a message at the desk telling her that her father had arrived and had gone to speak with Joe.
"So, what do you want to do while my dad's with Joe?" Nancy asked.
He smiled at her with a determined look in his eyes. "I want to take a look at Joe's room."
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"You're just a popular guy today, aren't you, Mr. Hardy?" The officer who had brought him earlier to Nancy said as he unlocked the door to Joe's cell.
"What can I say?" Joe asked.
The officer didn't say anything but escorted him to same room he was in earlier. Carson Drew was standing by the window, looking outside.
"Mr. Drew, thank you so much for coming so far to help me." Joe said.
"Nancy said you were in trouble." Carson said. "What else could I do?"
Joe shook Carson's hand and they sat down at the table. Carson opened his briefcase and pulled out a folder along with a legal pad.
"I spoke to the officer who arrested you and he told me as much as he could." Carson said. "But I need you to fill in some of the blanks for me."
"I'll try to as best as I can." Joe said. "Did the officer tell you that I couldn't remember anything from last night at the time of the murder?"
"He said something about that. But he was also really skeptical." Carson said.
"Believe me, I'm still not sure if I believe it." Joe said.
"Well, I also talked to the judge who will be presiding over the bail hearing and he set it up for two o'clock, which will be in another hour and a half." Carson said, looking at his watch. "I'm pretty sure that I can get you off because of your reputation as a detective, but I'm not a hundred percent about that. All we can do is hope for the best."
"I know how slim my chances are. I'll just have to hope that the judge is in a really good mood today." Joe joked weakly.
"This isn't a joking matter, Joe." Carson warned him.
"I know." Joe said. "I guess I'm trying to keep myself optimistic."
"There's nothing wrong with that." Carson said. "Even if I can't get you out, you know that Frank and Nancy will stop at nothing to prove your innocence. You just have to believe in that. You will always have people out there that care about you and love you."
"I know." Joe said. "And that means more to me right now than anything else in the world."
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"Frank, are you sure about this?" Nancy asked, as they made their way to the concierge desk at the Saraphina Hotel.
"Nancy, we have to get that room number. I just need you to put on the charm." Frank said.
Nancy looked at him doubtfully.
"Come on, Nan. You're a natural at this. You've done this many times before." Frank said.
Nancy rolled her eyes. "Whoever said that flattery gets you everywhere, is stupid."
"Just thinkâyou're doing this for Joe." Frank said.
"Yeah, yeah." Nancy said. "So, what do you propose that I do? I mean, I don't want to come on too strong. I am married."
"I don't care what you have to do." Frank said. "I know it's all an act."
Nancy raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?" she said.
She walked towards the desk before he could say anything else. She grabbed a piece of gum out of her purse and popped it into her mouth. She then walked towards the desk and flashed the concierge a dazzling smile. The concierge smiled back at her.
"Can...Can I help you?" he stammered.
Nancy blew a bubble with her gum. "Yeah, my mom and I were thinking about staying here." She said in a bubbly voice.
"Well, we would like that very much." He said.
"Well, there's just one problem," Nancy looked at his name tag. "Randy. See, I heard this really bad rumor that there was a murder here last night."
"And where did you hear that, Ms...?" Randy asked.
"Adams. Molly Adams." Nancy said. "It's been all around. I've heard it everywhere."
"I'm not really supposed to comment on it, Ms. Adams." Randy said.
"Oh, well, I won't run around telling it myself. I would like to stay as far from it as I can." Nancy said. "And please, call me Molly."
Randy smiled at her. "Molly. I hate to say it, but unfortunately, that rumor is true."
"Oh, my goodness!" Nancy exclaimed. She popped her gum again. "What happened?"
"Some guy woke up beside a dead woman in his bed this morning. They say she was stabbed to death, but the guy claims he doesn't remember anything." Randy explained.
"Really?" Nancy said a little loudly. "Oh, sorry. So what room was it in?"
"Oh..." Randy hesitated.
"I promise I won't tell anyone that you told me." Nancy said, rubbing his hand with her finger.
Randy blushed and looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "It was in Room 817."
"Wow," Nancy said, intrigued.
"I hope this doesn't dissuade you from staying with us." Randy said.
Nancy let out a little giggle. "You are such the flirt, Randy! But it really is up to my mom. But I will tell her that I really want to stay here. And who knows, Randy, we may see each other again."
"I would like that very much, Molly." Randy said.
Nancy flashed him another dazzling smile and grabbed a brochure off the table. She then spotted Frank and sent him a look that told him not to follow yet. She went out of the hotel and stepped around to the side of it to wait for Frank. He emerged from the hotel a couple of minutes later.
"Laying it on a little thick in there, don't you think?" Frank teased.
"You told me to go for it, so I did." Nancy said.
"So, did you find out the room number?" Frank asked.
"Of course I did." Nancy said, smiling proudly.
Frank bent down to give her a kiss. "You're the best, Nancy."
"And don't you ever forget it." Nancy said as her cell phone started to ring.
"You won't ever let me." Frank said as she dug it out of her purse.
"Hello?" Nancy said, smiling at Frank.
"Hey, honey." Carson said.
"Dad, hi!" Nancy said. "How did everything go?"
Nancy listened intently as Carson explained everything to her. Frank was watching her for any emotions, but she showed none. He practically jumped on top of her when she hung up the phone a couple of minutes later.
"So..." Frank said, impatiently.
"He did it." Nancy said. "Joe just got released on $50,000 bail."
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Author's Note: Well, there we go. I hope that you enjoyed it. In answer to a question left in one of the reviews, yes, this does take place after Cupid's Revenge. If you have any other questions. Let me know, and if I am able to answer them, I will.
And now, a little begging on my part...will some of you pretty-please-with-whatever-you-like-on-top-please, PLEASE update some of your stories. I am going crazy about what will happen next on them! (I could be a meanie and not update my story until I see some stories updated, but I'll be nice...Maybe) LOL!