Taking A Chance
Chapter 14
"James Fleming"
Joe took a deep breath when he hung up and looked over at Nancy. The expectant hopeful expression on her face probably matched the same expression on his face. He had spoken to Frank. After two, long, almost unbearable, years, he spoke to his brother, Frank!
"Was it really him?" Nancy asked hopefully.
Joe nodded. "It really was him. Oh, God, Nancy, I just talked to Frank!"
They would have hugged if Nancy hadn't been driving but she reached over a hand and squeezed Joe's. The younger Hardy settled back in his seat but what he wanted to do was jump up and down for joy. Frank was alive. Frank really was alive! His brother…
His brother!
"We're meeting at a Denny's on… Hampton," Joe reached for the map of St. Louis and looked through the list of streets to find the location of Hampton Street before looking for it on the map. "Ok, we need to get on Highway 40. Let's head down I-170 again, that will get us down there the fastest."
Joe had no idea what traffic would be like this time of day but he figured a direct route was best so they didn't get lost.
"What are you going to say to him?" Nancy asked. "I mean, he thinks he's coming to a meeting about his father-in-law, right?"
Joe nodded. "It was all I could think of to get him there without talking to Miriam or the others. I think, though, that I'm going to let the envelope speak for itself. If he's as smart as he was, and I have no reason to believe he isn't, then he will know what I'm trying to say when he looks at this."
Nancy nodded. "I guess after that it's up to him as to whether to believe you or not, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Joe said. "But I'm not giving up on this, Nancy. He may not believe me today, or tomorrow, but I'm not going to give up on this. He's my brother."
"Yeah," Nancy smiled.
Joe wondered, for a moment, what Nancy was thinking. He knew that she and Frank had feelings for each other before Frank's supposed death. They never really acted on those feelings due to relationships with other people but… those relationships no longer existed. Callie was dead and Ned had left, leaving the two of them to pursue any relationship they wanted…
…if Frank remembered. If he wanted to pursue it. If, if, if.
"Do you think he'll remember when he sees us?" Joe suddenly asked.
"I don't know," Nancy shrugged helplessly. "I've thought about it and I just don't know, Joe."
"He has to remember. He has to," Joe vowed. "I mean, we grew up together. Isn't that going to be stronger than anything that Ras-Alman did to him?"
"If Ras-Alman brainwashed him he might not remember," Nancy said. "But there's a chance you can override that brainwashing."
Joe smiled and leaned forward, drumming his fingers on the dashboard. Nervous energy spiked through him, making him want to spring from the car and run along side it. As Nancy turned onto Highway 40 he felt his stomach start to flip and he began to rock back and forth.
Frank, Frank, Frank, his whole body sang. Frank!
By the time Nancy parked in the parking lot of the Denny's restaurant, Joe felt like a tightly wound wire about to be plucked. Joe practically ran into the restaurant, hoping to see Frank already there but he realized not enough time had passed for Frank to arrive yet. Nancy came up behind him and they asked for a table for three that was 'out of the way'. He also said that another person would be asking for a Randall Seaforth-Jones and to direct him their way.
Joe sat the envelope with the information about Frank carefully onto the table and sat back, waiting.
"He'll be here, Joe," Nancy encouraged him. "He'll be here. If he said he was coming, he'll come."
Joe nodded. "I know. I'm just… I've dreamed of this, Nancy and woken up disappointed every morning. I keep wanting you to pinch me so I know if this is real or not… but it's real. I was never this anxious in any dream!"
Nancy smiled. "Me either," she admitted. "To have him back after losing him… it really is like a dream, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Joe agreed. "It is."
Nancy hugged him again and they both settled back in their seats. They ordered drinks when the waiter came by.
It was five minutes later when a tall, dark-haired, brown-eyed man came around the corner where they sat. Joe's heart leapt straight into his throat and Nancy's eyes widened.
"Frank," Joe whispered.
"Mr. Seaforth-Jones?" Frank asked him. "I'm James Fleming."
Joe felt like someone punched the wind out of him but he had presence of mind enough to nod.
"I'm glad you could make it," Joe managed to say. "Please, have a seat. This is my friend, Nancy. Nancy Drew."
He saw Frank stare at her for a moment and then nod.
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Drew," Frank said as he settled into the empty seat across from them.
It was silent for a moment as both Nancy and Joe stared at Frank and he studied them. He ordered a cup of coffee from the waiter when he came back around and then turned back to Joe and Nancy.
"So, you said you had something to show me?" he asked. "About my father-in-law?"
Joe nodded. "It's in this," he slid the envelope across to Frank.
Frank opened it and carefully slid the contents out onto the table. He picked up the passport first, a curious expression on his face as he read the name inside 'Franklin Gregory Hardy'.
And then his face lit upon the picture inside the passport and his eyes went wide.
"What?" he said. "What is this?" he demanded.
"Just look at the rest of it. Please?" Joe asked him. "Then we'll explain."
Frank's hands started shaking as he looked at the rest. The birth certificate for Franklin Gregory Hardy born to Fenton and Laura Hardy was next. He looked through all of the pictures, of him alone or with their parents and finally of pictures with Joe as well.
"What is this?" he asked again, his voice shaky.
"It's you," Joe said, softly. "These are all pictures of you. Frank Hardy. My older brother."
"You… but…" Frank looked back at the pictures – there were several that featured Joe as well as Frank.
"My real name is Joe," Joe said gently. "Joseph Alexander Hardy. I'm your younger brother."
Frank shook his head over and over again. "This is impossible. This is not… My name is James Fleming! James Fleming!"
Joe took a deep breath. "It is now," he agreed. "But it should never have been."
"I can't listen to this," Frank put his hands over his ears and slid out of the booth. "I can't listen to this."
The older man had gone pale upon seeing the pictures and looked ready to throw-up any second now. Joe sprang to his feet and put his hand on Frank's shoulder.
"It's all right," he said, calmly. "It really is all right, Frank. Please, just sit back down. I'll explain everything."
Don't let me lose him again, Joe prayed. Help me say the right thing!
Still shaky, Frank sat back down in the booth but it was obvious by the haunted expression in his eyes that not only did he need to hear them out, he wanted to hear them out. He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again.
"All right," he said. "Talk."