J.M.J.
Author's note: Thank you so much for continuing to read! Thank you especially to Candylou, max2013, MargaretA66, and caseykam for your reviews on the last few chapters! I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I did get quite a bit done on Saturday, so I'll have a chapter a day for the next few days for you! The bad news is that the glitch where FanFiction isn't sending emails about new chapters still seems to be going on. The first chapter affected by this was Chapter 18, so make sure you haven't missed any. Thank you again! God bless!
Chapter XXI
"Are you ready to go, Frank?" Fenton asked as he and Laura came into the living room.
Callie looked up at Frank as if to ask whether he really needed to leave already, but she would never ask him not to go for something this important.
Frank nodded. "We can't waste any time. I was wondering: are Joe's snowshoes are still in his closet?"
"Do you think you'll need them?" Laura asked.
"You never know. If they're there, I might as well take them, just in case."
"I think they're there. I'll go look," Laura offered.
"I had another idea, too, Dad," Frank said as his mother left the room. "Do you think we should take Axel with us?"
Fenton looked at the dog, which was lying next to Frank's feet. "Axel? Why?"
"He might be able to help find Joe. It's just a feeling I have. I think it's worth a try."
Fenton considered the possibility. "All right. We'll give it a try."
Laura found the snowshoes in the closet, and Frank took them out to the car while Fenton took his suitcase. Aunt Gertrude had followed them out part of the way, but she stopped when she realized how cold it was and how the wind was still blowing.
"You're never going to make it all the way to Baitesville before the blizzard hits," she told them.
"Then we'll stop somewhere along the way," Fenton replied.
Gertrude shook her head. "I don't see why you want to be stuck somewhere on the road when you could just wait here for the storm to stop."
"It'll save us some time after the storm," Fenton said. "We'll call you when we stop, Gertrude."
They quickly said good-bye to all three women. They loaded the dog into the car and started out.
Every mile they traveled was one less mile to travel after to the storm and ultimately a few less minutes that they would have to wait before beginning to search for Joe, Frank told himself. The wind was beginning to blow even before they left, but they had been driving for about forty-five minutes before it really struck in earnest and the snow blowing over the road made it difficult to see the edge.
As they expected, they were near a small town when it happened. They pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant and went inside. After hearing the circumstances, the manager let them bring Axel in, as long as he didn't go any farther than the lobby. Then they settled down to wait out the storm.
HBHBHBHBHB
Chet and Iola had reached the Hardy house not long after Fenton and Frank had left. They were disappointed to find that they missed them and even more disappointed in having the Hardy women advise them against attempting to go after them, at least until the storm was over. It took some persuasion, but the Mortons finally agreed to wait that long.
It wasn't long before the storm struck. Iola took up a post by the window in the Hardy's living room and sat there to watch it so that she and Chet could leave the second it lightened up.
In her worry for Joe, her thoughts kept playing over event from the last few years. There were some happy memories there, but they were overshadowed by the ones that gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that she couldn't change anything that had already happened. She could, perhaps, if she was given a second chance, change the course she was on for the future, but that would require so many explanations that she simply couldn't give. As different scenes presented themselves before her mind's eye, she couldn't even tell herself why she had acted the way she had. It hadn't been what she wanted to do; it had seemed as if there hadn't been any choice.
Twenty months earlier
At this point, the silence was almost tangible. A part of Iola's mind idly mused that maybe if she spoke, it wouldn't actually make any sound. It was silly, she knew, but it hurt less than the task that was at hand. She had asked Joe to take her to the Old-Fashioned Steakhouse, one of her least favorite restaurants in town. It wouldn't be spoiled then, because she knew that this was going to always be a painful memory for her. She just hoped it wouldn't hurt Joe as much as it did her and that he would realize that this was for the best.
As she watched him uncomfortably pretending to look at the menu, she decided it wouldn't hurt him too much. It would probably be a relief to him. He wanted out. Everything about him made that clear. Iola didn't think there was another girl. Joe wasn't that sort of guy. Iola was sure it was just that he had never actually cared for her. He had only dated her because he felt sorry for her, and lately he was realizing that that wasn't good enough, but he didn't know how to break it off. That was going to have to be up to Iola.
Iola looked down at herself and the wheelchair she was forced to use. She had come to terms with it. She was beginning to have some movement in her legs again, but she wasn't sure whether she would ever not need it at all. That was all right, in itself, but she hated using it in public. She could feel everyone she met pitying her, and she didn't want to be pitied. She especially didn't want a boyfriend pitying her. If it meant she would have to be alone the rest of her life, then so be it. It was better than having Joe stuck in a relationship that made him unhappy.
"So…" Joe said, cutting into the silence and making Iola jump. He chuckled nervously and said, "Sorry. You said you wanted to talk about something."
"Right." Iola took in a deep breath, trying to decided how to start. She thought she had made that decision already, but the opening she had planned sounded stupid to her now. "Well, see, in the last year, we've both changed a lot. And I mean, everyone changes over time, but we've changed apart from each other. You know what I mean?"
"I think so," Joe replied, nodding gravely. "We've spent too much time apart from each other."
"Yes. Yes, that's part of it."
Iola paused, and during that pause, the waitress approached their table.
"Are you ready to order now or would you like a little more time?" she asked.
Iola looked down at the floor. "You know, I'm actually not too hungry."
"I think we'd like a little more time," Joe told the waitress.
She moved on and then there was another awkward silence as the couple tried to get their thoughts back on track.
"So, spending time apart is only part of it?" Joe asked, recovering himself first. "I think it's all of it. At any rate, it's making the whole thing worse. We should be able to make time for each other. I mean, seriously, how many dates have we actually gone on in the last year?"
"Two," Iola said. "And that's counting New Year's Eve, which wasn't exactly a date. At least, it didn't turn out like one. We were only there half an hour."
"You mean, I was only there half an hour before I went running off on that case."
"I don't blame you. It's what's important to you. I shouldn't stand in the way of that."
"But maybe it isn't fair…"
"No, it's not fair to ask someone to give up something important to them." Iola said it with more force than she intended.
Joe stared at her for a couple of seconds. "What are you giving up for us to be together?"
Iola didn't make eye contact. "Who said I was giving anything up?"
"You did. Or at least you might as well have." Joe paused. "I should have seen it before now. Of course you want more out of life than to just sit at home and wait for me. Especially when I've never even bothered to learn what it is you want. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize for anything." Iola chuckled dryly. "You shouldn't have to have a girl who can only sit at home and wait. You should have someone who can actually help you."
"I don't really care about that."
"But I do," Iola protested. "I don't want to hold you back from anything."
Joe studied her face a few moments, his lips parted slightly and an injured look in his eyes. "I would say that you're not holding me back from anything, but…"
"But it isn't true," Iola finished for him.
"No. I mean…I thought…I hoped…" Joe ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I should have known. I guess I did know." He sighed. "So that's it then? Isn't there any part of you that wants to fix this?"
Iola closed her eyes. She hadn't expected to be so annoyed with him. Why did he have to make it so hard for her? Everything in her wanted to say yes, that they could fix it, but she had already made up her mind. This was what was best, for her and for Joe. She couldn't let her feelings lead her into wasting any more of Joe's time. Using every ounce of willpower she had, she replied, "I don't think we can. We need to stop fooling ourselves. I'm not sure we even have a relationship to end. We've already parted ways. We just need to admit it."
Present
A sob tightened In Iola's chest. She'd been so stupid that day. Even then, she hadn't wanted to break up. Why couldn't she have just said so? Why had she had to be so stubborn?
"Are you okay, Sis?" she heard someone ask.
Iola realized that Chet had come into the room. She quickly tried to wipe her eyes without making it too obvious what she was doing.
"I'm fine," she lied. "I just can't wait for this stupid storm to pass so we can go and look for Joe."
Iola was grateful that Chet didn't try to ask him about her obvious crying. Instead, he just turned his gaze out the window and said glumly, "I've been thinking. It's going to take us longer than that to really be able to look for him."
"What do you mean?"
"They're going to have to plow the roads," Chet replied. "They'll get the main roads plowed pretty quick, but those kidnappers probably didn't take the main roads. They would have taken the back roads, and those are going to be closed for hours, maybe even days."
Iola let out a long breath as she realized that this was true. "Isn't there anything we could do?"
"Well, I had one idea," Chet replied. "Jerry Gilroy doesn't live all that far from Baitesville now, and remember how he was bragging last winter about the snowmobile he bought?"
"Of course," Iola said. "We can go out looking on that, if he'll let us borrow it."
"That's what I was thinking," Chet said. "The only reason he wouldn't let us borrow it would be because he'd be out using it to look for Joe himself."
"Let's call him."
HBHBHBHBHB
The storm lasted for hours. The afternoon was getting late before it started showing signs of blowing out, and that would mean that there would barely be any time to search for Joe before it got dark.
"I hope they start plowing these roads out soon," Frank said anxiously. "It's slowed down enough, I'm sure they could."
"It's a main highway," Fenton replied. "They might be starting now."
"Wouldn't count on it," the restaurant manager said. Business had, obviously, been nonexistent during the storm, so he had been wandering around, looking for something to do. He happened to be out in the lobby at the moment.
The Hardys turned to look at him.
"Why not?" Fenton asked.
The manager shrugged. "Even in the best of times, we're not a priority for the DOT. They'll plow everyone else out before they bother getting to us. And right now, even the local highways district's plow isn't here, at least that's what everyone's saying."
"Why not?" Frank said. "With a storm like this on the way, didn't anyone think of it to have a snowplow ready?"
"They thought of it all right, but there was an emergency," the manager said. "Maybe you heard about that shooting and kidnapping they had in Baitesville last night?"
"Yeah," Fenton said dryly.
"Well, they're still looking for the kid that got kidnapped. Since they knew the storm was coming and it would close up all the roads, the police there asked everyone in the area to send snowplows so they could get all the roads cleared out so they could keep on searching. Doesn't it figure even our local highway district would be putting somebody else ahead of us?"
Frank ran his hand through his hair and looked back out the window. "I can't believe this."
"At least they're taking the search seriously," Fenton commented.
"But what are we going to do? Just sit around here?"
"We're not too far from Baitesville," Fenton said. "They might have passed through here. Someone might have seen them. We could see if we could find anyone."
It was unlikely that they would find someone who had seen the SUV, but it was worth a try. Anything was worth a try at this point.
They took Axel with them and started out on foot, since the car was stuck for the moment. The storm was practically over now. It was just snowing softly. The first place they tried was a gas station. No one had seen the SUV there. There was a second gas station in town, and so they walked to it. Again, the employee inside the convenience store attached to it said she hadn't seen anything.
"But of course I couldn't," she added. "I wasn't working early this morning. That would have been Brady, but I doubt he saw anything. Say…We have a security camera outside. It records all the cars going by on the street. We could take a look at it. I mean…I technically we could, but I'm not sure we're supposed to show just anybody."
Frank reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. "It's okay. I'm a police officer."
"Great. I'll show it to you."
She led them into a back room with a rather outdated computer connected to the security cameras. Frank took over for her and pulled up the footage from between five and eight that morning. They watched it at double speed, slowing it down whenever a dark SUV passed by.
At about the 5:45 mark, Frank paused it on a black SUV. "That one," he said. "It's an Outback and it's at just the right time."
"Which means we're closer to them here than they are in Baitesville," Fenton concluded.
"They could be anywhere," Frank commented as the magnitude of the search sank in.
He pressed play on the footage again. Just as the vehicle reached the edge of the frame, it began to signal for a left turn.
"If you turn left right outside the gas station, where does that take you?" Fenton asked the employee.
"A back road out of town," she replied. "There are some popular hiking trails out there, but not much else, besides a lot of trees."
"That sounds like the sort of place they might have a hideout," Frank said, hope reviving somewhat in him.
"We'll check it out," Fenton said.
He made a call first to Sam to tell him about the change in plans and then to the Baitesville police chief to give him the lead. The chief promised to send snowplows immediately to start plowing the area and have search teams following them. He wouldn't pull all his search teams off around Baitesville, in case the car on the security footage was a different one. Sam told Fenton about Edmund Wight's visit, but the detective had no comment to offer on that at the moment.
Then he and Frank, along with Axel, started down the back road. They had put on snowshoes, which made navigating the drifted snow much easier. The young woman at the convenience store had been right about there not being much on the road. There weren't even any side roads to turn onto.
However, after about half a mile, they came to a fork in the road. The snow had eliminated any hint as to which was the vehicle had taken.
"It's going to be dark soon," Fenton said. "We'd probably better head back to town soon."
"We can keep going another ten, fifteen minutes at least," Frank insisted. He knew it wasn't much, but he wasn't about to turn back before they had to.
Fenton nodded. "But which way?"
"We could each take a fork," Frank suggested.
Fenton was uneasy about the suggestion, but he doubted they would run into any trouble. Joe's kidnappers wouldn't have just sat on the road all during the storm. He agreed, and while he went to the left, Frank went to the right. Axel trotted along ahead of Frank.
Frank walked as briskly as he could to get in as much distance as possible, but he kept looking to either side to see if he could spot anything. The sun was getting close to setting, and Frank realized that even as it was, they wouldn't get back to town before dark. If they didn't find anything in the next few minutes, they wouldn't anything at all until morning. Frank prayed that he would see something anything.
Then, suddenly, he did see something. There was a flash as he walked off to one side of the road, as if something had reflected the last rays of the setting sun. It wasn't right off the road, but a few yards away.
"Come on, Axel; let's check this out."
Once he was closer to the object, Frank immediately identified it. It was a black SUV parked partially in some trees. The front end was under the cover of the trees and away from the road, while the back end had been fully exposed to the storm. The back was entirely covered so that from the road, it would be invisible. Only one rearview mirror could be seen from that angle, and that was what had caught the sunlight and Frank's attention.
Almost sick with fear of what he might find inside the car, Frank brushed the snow off the windows and peered inside. He breathed a sigh of relief. No one was in there. Then he went around to the back and cleared off the license plate. It was the car the kidnappers had used.
He took out his phone and tried to call his father. There was no reception. Frank grunted in annoyance and turned his attention back to the car. He tried the door and it was unlocked. He leaned inside and opened the glove box. There was nothing inside, not even the registration papers. Next he looked in the back and his heart dropped at what he saw there. There were distinct blood spots on the seat.
"It must be kidnapper," he told himself. "Sam thought he hit one. It must be his blood."
But a voice in the back of his mind told him that it could also be Joe's blood. There was no way to tell until he could get some samples to a laboratory, and by then, it might be too late to do anything for Joe.
He debated what to do. Neither the kidnappers nor Joe were here, obviously. Maybe the kidnappers had had another car waiting and had switched them here.
As he was turning over possibilities in his mind, he heard Axel bark. Frank snapped to attention and looked around.
"Axel? Did you find something?"
Axel bounded out from between the trees and looked at Frank. Then he barked again and turned around. He looked over his shoulder, as if he was begging Frank to follow him.
Frank only hesitated a second. This was exactly why he had brought the dog along. If Axel could smell something, Frank wasn't going to waste the lead. He started to follow him.
"What is it, Axel? Do you know where Joe is?"
At the mention of Joe's name, Axel perked up even more. He whirled around again and went bounding through the snow as quickly as he could while plowing through the deep banks.
