Disclaimer in previous chapter

Ch. 9 And the plot thickens…

Joe was now pacing the hallway; he wanted to go directly to the police station, the morgue, and the crash site. He wanted and needed answers, to look for clues, proof any grain of hope that this was all just a horrible dream. He wasn't getting anything done pacing the hallway of this hotel. The city was under some kind of curfew since they needed to investigate the incident. Everyone needed to be in the hotel or on hotel grounds at 7 pm.

Iola stepped out into the hotel and once again Joe was pacing. Finally she could just no longer take it, she had to do something. SO she walked out into the hall and stepped in front of Joe. He stopped short when he reached her and gave her a small smile.

"What?" Joe asked, he could tell their was something on her mind.

"Stop pacing! Wearing a hole in this hallway's carpet isn't going to make morning come any faster so you can get out and look for clues. You are going to come into this room, and sit on the couch with me. We are then going to cuddle until we fall asleep." Iola said as she grabbed Joe's arm and started to lead him into the room.

"I can't…" Joe began to protest.

"Yes, you can, and you will. Joe -" Iola said with a deep pleading in her eyes.

Joe followed her into the hotel room, no resistance. Instead of going to the couch he headed to the bed and crawled in. Iola went into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later wearing one of Joe's old jersey's from football and a pair of his boxers, taken in at the waist. She got into bed and heard him let out a small chuckle, "What?" she turned to him and asked.

"You. You are so cute. I wondered where that jersey and pair of boxers went to." Joe said trying to lighten the mood he knew he hadn't been the best person to be around lately.

"Joe, I know it's hard to believe right now, and you probably won't believe me but; Frank's fine. Nancy too, I mean really. Truly honestly answer me this. How many life threatening situations have you seen them in and then seen them come out totally on top, walk away without a scratch or bruise? This will be one of those times." Iola said laying her head on his shoulder.

"How do you know? I mean in our life time we have cheated fate you could say more then our fair share what if this is the one time they didn't? I may have lost a little faith in them right now, but I know deep down their alive. I mean come on I have to be an Uncle to their kids, Best Man at the wedding, and make them baby-sit our kids so I can sneak you away for secret seductions. Also, for almost ninety-nine percent of those life threatening situations I was their too. I mean sometimes I truly think the three of us can survive anything. Three is better than two." Joe slowly responded.

"Okay this may sound dumb and girly to you but I've seen it. I've seen us all growing old together, living near each other, running some kind of investigative firm, our kids playing with each others kids, and of course sending our kids to Frank and Nan's for secret seductions. It's just natural, I guess." Iola said with a small chuckle.

Joe sat in silence and held Iola for a few minutes digesting and processing all she had said. It was still hard to talk about the future for him. He lived his life by the moment whatever happened happened; he could take whatever life threw at him no matter what as long as he had his brother, Iola, and Nan. He saw the truth, and honesty in Iola's words and the reality of them all. He grabbed her chin and tugged it so she was looking at him face to face.

"I see it too. Thank you. Thank you for loving me, and giving me the other ninety-five percent faith back in my brother and Nan. I truly love you, Iola." Joe said.

Iola smiled and leaned up for a kiss which Joe happily obliged.

Meanwhile At the Beach (Hrs Earlier)

"Yes, oh yes. Frank!" Nancy gushed as he slipped the ring on her finger. She jumped into his arms and he swung her around before setting her back on sand and proceeding to give her a can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars over the fence, World Series kind of love kiss.

The bystanders looked on as ladies blushed and commented on how romantic it was, guys though it was just to cool that they'd survived the crash. No more then a minute or two later EMT's and police rushed the beach to determine just what had gone on.

9pm The Hotel

Nancy and Frank wearily got out of the police car that had driven them to the hotel. After spending three hours at the hospital getting checked out, a couple of stitches here and there; then be taken to the police station. That's where they had spent the last six hours and they were tired.

By the time they had gotten to the police station, the car had been pulled out of the bay and forensics had already finished dissecting it for evidence as to what went wrong. Tests had shown the car had been tampered with, and that running the off the road hadn't been an accident. Frank and Nancy then proceeded to answer every question thrown at them until they were hoarse from repeating or going over something multiple times. When the police finally felt satisfied they had enough information for the evening they gave the couple an escort to the hotel.

Nancy and Frank walked into the hotel and the cop explained why they were checking in so late. The concierge okayed it and gave the couple their room keys after they said they would not need assistance. They thanked the cop and headed off to their room, they had left their bags with the concierge who said he'd make sure all the clothes were cleaned, the toiletries replaced, and brought up to their room by morning. As they walked down the hallway to their room a blond head poked out of a doorway looking for a room service cart, then signed for it when the next thing Frank knew he was on the ground.

Frank was too tired to even attempt a struggle, when a familiar voice called out, "Frank! You're alive!"

"Joe?" Frank asked