Frank gathered as much information as he could from Vanessa and then made six more information gathering phone calls to friends. Finally, Frank made his way to Joe's room to check on him again. This time, when he opened the door, Joe started to stir.
"Hey there – how are you feeling?" Frank asked quietly.
One of Joe's bloodshot eyes opened in the semi-darkness. "Man, how long have I been asleep?"
"Oh, about 8 hours – I was wondering if you were ever going to get up," Frank said as he sat down on the foot of Joe's bed.
"I have no idea why I slept so long – I didn't think I was this tired. We were going to make some calls and start trying to figure out who is behind all this. I've wasted a whole day," Joe said as he coughed and tried to reach his water behind him.
Frank got up to get the water bottle before Joe fell out of bed and said, "The day hasn't been wasted – we both got some sleep we really needed and I already made the phone calls."
"That's great Frank! What did you find out?" Joe asked.
"Well, John auditioned like you said and didn't make it. But I heard that he did make the travel hockey team and he has been at the ice rink non-stop. Callie said that she hears him talking about hockey constantly in Chemistry and when someone mentioned the play to him, he said that he wouldn't have had time for it with all the hockey practices. He sounds fairly unlikely to me. I talked to Biff about Liam. He said that Liam landed a part in the musical at the local dinner theater about a week after the auditions at the school, and from what I heard he is ecstatic about that," Frank said.
"He doesn't sound very likely either," Joe said, shifting around on his bed to get more comfortable. "What about Ryan?" Joe asked.
"I spoke with Chet because he seemed to know Ryan the best since they were in the same math class. Chet said he really doesn't want anything to do with the play and won't really talk about it since he didn't get a part. He is still active in the Boy Scout troop he is in and is working to become an Eagle Scout," Frank said.
"Well, he's our most likely suspect right now I guess, especially if he is still upset about not getting the part. He is in my English class, but I really don't know much about him," Joe said. "I can try to talk to him on Monday and casually mention the notebook and see if he acts at all suspiciously."
"I don't think that is a good idea. Think about it Joe, someone is already after you. If it is Ryan, you don't want to make yourself an easier target," Frank said running his hand through his hair.
"I'll be in class with people around. Don't worry," Joe said as he pushed himself up off the bed and stood for a minute before sitting back down and lowering his head towards his knees as far as he could with his arm in the way.
"Are you okay?" Frank asked as he moved closer to Joe and felt his forehead. He felt sweaty but not feverish.
"That was no Tylenol Mom gave me was it?" Joe asked as he waited for the dizziness to stop.
"Well-," Frank trailed off.
"I didn't think so. These painkillers always make me sleep like crazy and then I get dizzy. It's almost as bad as the pain. I wish she wouldn't do that," Joe said as he stood up one more time more slowly. Frank shot up to stand next to him and stood at his side while he walked to the bathroom.
"She was just being a mom. She wanted to help you and getting some sleep without pain was the best thing that she could think of. Don't be too upset with her," Frank said as he waited outside the bathroom door to make sure Joe didn't pass out.
Joe looked a little better and his hair was a little neater when he finally came out of the bathroom. Joe said, "Let's go get the van and see what we can find. Dad said we can pick it up anytime."
"True, but the only problem is that you can't drive, remember?" Frank said. "Why don't we see if Biff can come with us to pick up the van?"
"I hate not being able to drive," Joe said but then added, "Fine; see if Biff can come while I check out what is left of dinner."
Joe entered the kitchen and pulled the lid off the bowl of leftovers. The sight of the cold pot roast and carrots made his stomach roll. He reached in and pulled out a can of ginger ale instead.
"Biff can go," Frank said as Joe came out of the kitchen. "We'll pick him up after you eat dinner."
"This is dinner," Joe said holding up his ginger ale. "Let's go."
Forty minutes later, Biff, Frank and Joe pulled up in front of the garage. The office was closed since it was around eight o'clock on a Saturday night.
"The van isn't out front," Joe said. "Pull around back. That's probably where he keeps the completed cars."
Frank wheeled his mom's car around towards the back of the lot looking among the closely crowded rows of cars for the van. Frank said, "Dad said he paid for it already, so it should be just fine to take it. Assuming we can actually find it back here. This place looks like a junk yard, used car lot and body shop all in one."
They located the van at the back of the lot near the fence and got out to inspect the handiwork. Overall, the van looked good; they always used this body shop for that reason.
"Biff can you drive our mom's car back to the house? You can follow Joe and me in case we have any trouble with the van," Frank said, not really wanting Joe out of his sight even if it was to ride with Biff. "Maybe we can go to Mr. Pizza after we drop off Mom's car, if Mom let's you," Frank said.
"She can't really expect me to stay home can she? It is Saturday night," Joe said.
"And you did just get out of the hospital this morning. I will not incur the wrath of Mom for taking you out without checking with her first," Frank said.
A short while later they parked the car and van in the driveway. Joe had spent the entire way back checking over every inch of the van he could reach while strapped in the front passenger seat. Frank had to tell him no less than five times to back off and stay on the passenger side so he could drive.
Frank and Biff got out and headed towards the house. When Frank didn't hear Joe following, he glanced back at him. "Do you need any help getting out of the van, Joe?" Frank asked.
"No, I'll be inside in a minute. I just want to check the van over quickly," Joe said as he opened the garage door to pick up a flashlight. He really wanted to check under the hood.
Frank went inside to tell his mom that they were home with the van. "Can we go out to Mr. Pizza? Joe seems to be doing okay." he said.
"Where is Joe?" Laura asked, expecting to see him right behind Frank giving his best pleading look.
"He's in the van. He says he'll be in, in a few minutes," Frank said. As he waited for an answer, he walked back to the front door and glanced out the window to make sure Joe hadn't run into any trouble. He looked past the car in the driveway to the van. The door on the passenger side was open but he couldn't see Joe. A dark figure caught his eye moving quickly along the edge of the yard near the trees, illuminated only by the glow of the van's dome light, which went out right then.
To Laura's surprise Frank banged open the door and sprinted to the van. "Joe, are you okay?" he turned on the dome light again dreading, yet expecting, to see Joe laying there on the ground. He looked quickly around for his brother but found nothing. Biff who had been waiting in the living room ran out of the house and joined Frank. "I saw someone running that way," Frank said.
"Where's Joe?" Biff asked struggling to see through the shadows.
"I don't know. I saw someone at the edge of the yard. Let's start that way and see if we can get some answers out of him," Frank pointed towards the trees.
They took off without hesitation towards the edge of the yard and hit the sidewalk beyond it without breaking stride. The fallen leaves muffled their footsteps helping to give them the element of surprise. After they had been running for two blocks without catching sight of anyone, they reached the corner. Frank looked around the bend and caught a glimpse of someone running unevenly in the distance ahead of them. He quietly nudged Biff and they put on an extra burst of speed.
They person they were pursuing was drawing nearer quickly. Just as Biff put on the last burst of power and prepared to take the boy down, Frank recognized the uneven running gait of the boy and shouted, "No!"