Chapter 24

Thanks to God/Abba for everything (including Fluffykitty). Have a new battle cry to fight my anxiety. "I am your God – let nothing terrify you." Isaiah 41:10

Thanks for suggesting a summary before each story. Great idea.

Summary: The Enforcer has captured Frank and Joe. Fenton sent The Enforcer to prison for 10 years. The Enforcer is auctioning off Frank and Joe to Fenton's worst enemies.

POV Frank

Shark stops outside our cell.

I wrap my arm around Joe. He is asleep with his head on my shoulder.

"He took a real beating," Shark says. "Told him if he made one sound, I'd kill you."

Tightening my grip on Joe, I grit my teeth. I won't let Shark see my fury. Using all my self-control, I keep an expression of calm on my face.

"Time for another game," Shark says, as he unlocks our cell. "Wake him up."

"Forget it."

"Every second I wait, I take it out on him," Shark says.

"The only way you're getting him is over my cold, dead body."

I hear voices down the hall.

"Later," Shark says. He smiles, locks our cell door, and leaves.

The Enforcer and five thugs enter our cell.

I nudge Joe awake.

Only one way to protect Joe. And he's going to hate it.

I pull up Joe's dirty t-shirt. Large bruises cover his stomach.

"Shark did this," I say. "Is he calling the shots now?"

Joe glares at me and pushes his t-shirt down.

The Enforcer's hands clench into fists. Maybe I went too far. But making Shark a target was the only way to keep Joe safe.

Three thugs grab me.

Two thugs grab Joe.

"No one lies to me and lives," the Enforcer says. He holds a knife to Joe's throat.

God give me the right words.

"You're mad at the wrong person," I say. "Shark threatened to kill me if Joe told the truth. Shark disrespected you. He undercut your authority. He's the one you need to make an example of…"

"Find Shark," The Enforcer, says to his thugs. "I want him alive."

The thugs run down the corridor hunting Shark. The Enforcer walks out and locks our cell door.

"You'll be sold in 20 minutes" he says.

"We stay together," I growl.

"Only if the price is right," the Enforcer says. "Eighteen minutes."

He walks away.

A memory fills my mind. Greene screaming at Joe on my front porch. Joe leaning against the railing for support, but refusing to back down. Me sprinting across the yard and putting myself between Greene and Joe. Seeing an orange kitten asleep on my deck chair. A small black kitten with its ribs sticking out arched his back and hissed. Bats took on the world to protect his brother. Even though he had no chance. I know how he felt.

"There's got to be a way out," I mutter.

"Got some good news," Joe says.

"You've got an escape plan?"

"No."

"You spotted a weakness we can use to escape?"

"Nope."

"What?"

"Think I got my memory back when Shark threw me into the wall."

"What do you mean 'you think you got your memory back?'"

"Did you pee on Santa's lap?" Joe asks.

"Yes," I say, through grit teeth. "You were scared of Santa. You begged me not to leave."

"You drenched him, right?" Joe says with a laugh.

"Is this important?"

"Yeah. I need to know it's a real memory. You're the only one who can verify it," Joe says, smiling.

"Fine."

"Santa left after you soaked him. Mrs. Claus filled in, but the kids in line weren't having it. They formed a mob. Took out Santa's chair, two Christmas trees, a wooden sleigh, and four elves."

"I liked you better without your memory."

"I don't think Santa liked you at all."

The Enforcer and his thugs stand in front of our cell.

"You will leave first," The Enforcer says and points to me. "You won't wear handcuffs or restraints. Obey me or your brother will pay."

I nod and walk out of the cell. What if we're auctioned off separately? Is this the last time I'll see Joe alive?

POV Joe

When Frank is out of sight, I close my eyes.

For the past two years, I've been on my own. When Callie left, Frank shut down.

I lost my brother and best friend. All I had left was my partner – because work was all that kept Frank going.

He was mentally and physically exhausted, but Frank insisted on working 24/7.

So I worked with Frank. Prayed I'd a good enough partner to keep him alive.

If Frank got hurt or injured – it would have destroyed me. Especially after Iola's death.

He came out of that dark place a year later, but it scared me. What if I trigger him? What if he ends up back there? What if he never comes back?

So I don't let Frank see the real me.

I haven't dated for the past two years.

Frank has no idea. I drop names. Like how I saw Ashley last night. She was the cashier who rang me out at WalMart. I saw her for a grand total of five minutes.

Lately, I've mentioned Ellen. Easier if just one name to remember. Frank wants to meet her.

Truth is Ellen is a waitress in her 60s with gray hair and six grandkids. She serves me supper every night at the diner.

What I don't tell Frank is not a day goes by that I don't think of Iola.

I've had lots of close calls. Been kidnapped, stabbed, and shot.

Thought I was bulletproof … until Iola died.

The car bomb didn't just kill Iola. It killed the best part of me.

Days I feel so empty it hurts to breathe.

So I bought the rundown beach cottage. The place I asked Iola to marry me. The place where she promised to spend her life with me.

After she died, I'd sneak to the cottage and sit on the deck. No matter how empty I felt inside, that deck gave me the power to make it through another day.

When the cottage was destroyed, so was the only place I could find Iola.

I know I won't end up in Heaven. I didn't save Iola. I don't deserve peace or forgiveness.

The day before she died, Iola gave me a gold necklace. The pendant on it reads How Great is My Constant Love for You. Psalm 86:13

Constant Love. I don't understand it. Not sure I believe in it.

Dad was gone a lot when I was a kid. Always traveling to solve cases. He is my hero. I want to be like him. But I don't feel constant love from him.

Working for him is hard.

"You're the weakest link in the agency, Joe. You don't have time to learn to be a detective and redo a house."

Dad apologized later, but I'll never forget. I never let down my mask around him.

After Iola died, Dad worked away for a long time. Felt like he left cuz I'd disappointed him by letting Iola die.

I still carry that guilt.

Every time he leaves, I feel like I've disappointed him somehow.

Sometimes I listen to Klove – the Christian radio station Iola loved. I close my eyes and pretend she is alive.

I try to believe in God. It's my only hope to see Iola again. To tell her I'm sorry. To beg her forgiveness.

Iola promised to love me. But that was before I flirted with another girl in front of her. Before she ran to our car to hide her anger and tears. Before she died from a car bomb meant to kill Dad.

I don't think she loves me anymore.

Frank got me through Iola's death. Guess that's constant love. But after Callie left, Frank disappeared into himself.

Felt like I'd made him angry.

I'm too scared to share anything with him. Can't risk triggering Frank. Somehow Callie leaving Frank, triggered my memories of losing Iola. But I won't put my needs over Frank's health. So I've kept everything bottled up for the last two years. And I'm tired of carrying it on my own.

"Your turn," The Enforcer says.

I walk down the hall ready to die. Feels like I've been slowly dying for the last seven years.

POV Frank

Walking into the room, I'm struck by how normal it looks. Twelve people sit around a long, wooden table. They wear expensive-looking dark business suits. Looks like an ordinary meeting, except for the ten Enforcer thugs holding guns.

When The Enforcer walks in with Joe, I breathe a sigh of relief.

I stand in front of Joe, offering the little protection I can.

"Fenton Hardy stole something from each of you," The Enforcer says. "He killed someone you loved or sent them to prison. He left you living on the run. Never knowing if today would be your last day outside a cell. He destroyed your lives. Now you have a chance to destroy his. Bidding opens at two million per son."

I can't protect Joe. Just like I didn't protect Tony.

I am trapped in my worst nightmare.

Desperately I scan the room looking for a way out. No vents. No air ducts. No windows. Ten armed thugs too spread out for me to disarm.

"Three million each."

"Ten million total."

I hear the voices, but inside I see myself shooting Tony. I see his eyes. I feel his sticky blood on my hands.

"Fifty million."

The silence in the room brings me back to the present.

A man with hard, gray eyes stares at us.

"Lars, you are prepared to transfer the money to my Swiss account?" The Enforcer asks.

Lars nods. He hits a few keys on his computer.

"Your deposit has gone into my account," The Enforcer says. "They belong to you."

Four thugs surround me and pull me away from Joe.

Lars glares at Joe.

"Your father raided my home. I escaped, but he captured my youngest son. He sent him to prison. I paid someone to break my son out of prison. The day before the mission, someone killed my son," Lars says. "You will pay for his death."

Lars nods. Someone puts a black hood over Joe's face. Someone else cuffs his hands behind his back.

Lars and his thugs walk us out to a black limousine. Lars pushes Joe to the ground. He kicks him in the stomach.

I try to help Joe, but Lars' thugs won't let me go.

"I'll take his place," I shout.

Lars looks at me with cold, steel gray eyes.

"You belong to me now. You don't have a brother. You will never see his face again."

And then the world explodes.

Notes

Klove is a real radio station. You can google it and listen for free on your computer. Fluffykitty likes Legacy by Memphis May Fire.

I like Toby Mac, Mandisa and a song called Prodigal. God Bless, Shepherd.