Taking A Chance Chapter 7
"The Face of My Brother"
Joe hung the phone up carefully and sat back in his seat, closing his eyes. Reopening wounds for his father had been no easier than it would have been for his mother and he should have known it. Fenton had listened, however, and agreed that there was maybe something to all the clues Joe and Nancy put together. It was more than Joe would have gotten from his mother.
One thing Joe and his father agreed on was keeping this case from Joe's mother unless he did find Frank. While Laura Hardy possessed her own calm demeanor and inner strength, Joe hated the idea of seeing that pain-filled expression on her face. Nobody liked losing a child, especially their first-born.
And Joe would make certain that no one caused Laura Hardy anymore pain if he had any power over it at all.
"Your dad okay?" Nancy asked, interrupting Joe's thoughts. "What did he say?"
"He doesn't like it," Joe admitted to Nancy. "But he agreed to send us what we want. He's sending it overnight but it may not be here until Monday."
Nancy shrugged and turned back to her computer. "That will give us more time to do the paper trails and get a solid plan of action in place. Not that I don't want to rush in, Joe," she said rapidly when she saw the expression on Joe's face. "But we need to make sure we know what we're doing before we go do it."
Joe sighed impatiently but nodded in agreement to her plan. "I guess I haven't quite gotten over the rush in first, ask questions later, impulses," he admitted sheepishly, as he ran a hand through his blonde curls. "I've got to work on that."
"I agree," Nancy smiled and clicked a few more buttons on the keyboard. "I'm going to try to find a picture of James Fleming – a front view of him if possible. Just to make sure, you know? I'm thinking about doing something I haven't tried before."
"What's that?"
"Hacking into a DMV database," she admitted. "It's not something someone should do lightly. I was thinking, though, that we could see his license picture, if he has one logged in Missouri."
"Do you really think you can do that?" Joe asked.
Nancy cocked an eyebrow and Joe smiled. "Of course you can," he stated calmly. "Why don't you get on that, then?"
It was quiet in the den for a while as Nancy worked, the only sound coming from her tapping of the keys. Joe, using his laptop computer, googled some pictures of St. Charles, hoping to find a house that matched the house in the photo he had been sent. Joe wondered if the house was even the one James and Diana Fleming lived in, or if it was something else.
"Who do you think the man was that contacted you?" Nancy asked, breaking the silence a few minutes later. "The guy who gave you the package?"
"No idea," Joe admitted. He stood and walked to the window that overlooked the Drew's front yard, feeling suddenly restless. "I keep going back to that, too. Who is he and what does he have to gain by helping me find Frank? I keep wondering if this is all just some grand game of his that he's putting us through."
"Someone that we both know?" Nancy regarded him intently. "Who?"
"I don't know!" Joe started to anxiously pace around the confined space of the den. "I don't. I keep thinking I'm running into things that I shouldn't be. It's stupid, Nan, it really is. I want to believe Frank is alive and I don't want to believe it. I want to look for him and I don't, because if this is a hoax and he's not alive, I'm going to lose it."
Nancy got up and walked over to Joe, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should stop here," she suggested softly. "Maybe this is where we say enough is enough and go back to our lives."
Joe insistently shook his head. "I can't," he whispered. "I can't live with not knowing. If I don't look it'll hurt as much as if I do and he's not alive. I know we promised each other to stop if we got too emotionally involved but I would sooner cut off my arm."
Nancy sighed but nodded. "I feel the same way, Joe," she said, softly. "So we'll keep on doing this."
They both jumped when the computer beeped and Nancy went back over to it. "Oh, wow, I'm in!" she exclaimed.
She sifted through a thousand records quickly by typing in the last name Fleming and the first name James. Since there was no middle name she had to go off of the addresses. Nancy was able to screen out four James Flemings right away because they lived in other areas of the state.
Finally, however, she pulled up a license for James Aaron Fleming, Birthday: August 21, 1982, St. Charles…
Joe held his breath as she pulled up the picture and they were both staring at a young man with dark hair, brown eyes and a bright smile on his face.
"Oh, my God," Joe inhaled sharply and sank quickly back into his chair – just before he would have fallen down in shock.
"Frank… it is Frank!" Nancy exclaimed. "His hair's just a tiny bit longer and styled differently but it's Frank."
"He's alive," Joe whispered. "He's really alive!"
Nancy used her mouse to print a button that would allow her to print off the picture, then she quickly logged off the system and eradicated all traces of her presence in the database.
Nancy sprang to her feet, crossed to Joe and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug just as tightly. She handed Joe the picture and he held it reverently, staring into the face of the big brother he had missed for two horrific years.
"We're coming big brother," he vowed. "We're coming!"