J.M.J.
Author's note: Thank you for continuing to read! Thank you especially to MargaretA66, max2013, Candylou, caseykam, and ErinJordan for your reviews on the previous chapter! It's very good to hear from you again, ErinJordan; I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far! Since this week is Holy Week, my posting schedule is going to be a little leaner than usual. I'll post again Wednesday night/Thursday morning, but then I won't post again during the Triduum or on Easter Sunday so that I can have my focus on the season. I hope you all have a very blessed Holy Week!
Chapter VII
Everyone looked at Frank following his announcement. Frank, however, didn't explain. He only stepped toward the door and motioned for his father to follow him. The two went out into the hallway to make their plans, and Joe let out a sigh that would have been imperceptible to anyone but a mother.
"Don't worry about it, Joe," Laura advised him. She couldn't help herself and smoothed out the covers over him. "I'm sure they'll tell you anything you really need to know."
"Yeah," Joe replied. He was thinking about how, if everything was it should be, he wouldn't just be the one sitting around, needing protection. He'd be taking an offensive against the attempted assassin, just like his dad and brother.
"Is there anything I can get for you so you'll be more comfortable?" Laura asked.
"No, Mom. Really, I don't even need to be in bed. The doctor said so."
Callie folded her arms and eyed him suspiciously. "Really? You get stabbed and you don't even need to be in bed?"
Joe nodded insistently. "They only kept me in the hospital last night so Black Rose wouldn't get at me, and if they let me go today, it has more to do with Dad and Frank being here than how I'm feeling. It's like everyone forgot I'm a detective, too." Neither of the women said anything, which Joe appreciated when he realized that he had made a slip. "I mean, I was, and it's not like I'd forget everything I ever knew in a few months."
"I think it has more to do with you being hurt and what that man told you," Laura said. "He said someone was going to try to kill you, and he could have done it himself. It's not something to be taken lightly, and even if you don't necessarily need to be in the hospital, you're really not in a position to defend yourself right now."
Joe's eye twitched slightly at his mother's choice of words, but he didn't say anything more. It was becoming obvious that this was not a battle he could win, so he didn't see any point in setting himself up for even more defeat.
The women noticed the silence, and it suddenly felt awkward. Laura would have liked to fuss over her boy, but he didn't seem to be in a mood that he would appreciate it, so she was unsure what to do. Callie shuffled her feet uncomfortably, and then decided that the best thing to do was to get Joe's mind off being left out of the detective work, and the best way to do that was to remind him that there were still some puzzles he could work out.
"So this guy was coming after you specifically," she said. "How would have he known where to look for you? It's not like you've been advertising where you're living."
Joe frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know. I guess someone's been keeping close tabs on me. Which isn't exactly a comforting thought."
"Could it be someone you've met out here?" Callie suggested. "He might have recognized your name and tried to talk with you before this. Maybe that's why this guy's voice sounded familiar to you."
Joe thought this over for a few moments. "No. He's not anyone I've met out here. I'm sure of that. If it was someone I see regularly, I would have actually recognized his voice."
"What about the assassin?" Laura said. "That could be someone who's been pretending to be your friend."
Joe continued to think, but then he settled back against the pillows. "I don't know. All the Black Rose people I've ever been around were…well, there was something about them. I don't know anyone here who's like that."
HBHBHBHBHB
Tony and Shaun were eagerly leaning over Phil as he dug through the garbage can under the sink. Even Axel was pushing his head in the way, although it was very possible that it was only so that he could smell the garbage more easily. After a minute or two, Phil pulled out a still-sealed envelope, though he only held it by the corner because of the spaghetti sauce that was dripping from it.
"Just when I thought this letter couldn't get any more gross," he commented, attempting to wipe it off with a paper towel.
Once the question of whether Darcy might be a Black Rose agent had been raised, it didn't take Tony and Phil long to remember the letter that she had dropped off for Phil, and which he had promptly thrown away. Before, they had just assumed that it was a tasteless attempt to win him over again, but now it seemed very possible that it contained a clue.
Phil slit the envelope open with a pocket knife and carefully took out the paper inside. It was heavily scented with perfume, which made an odd mixture with the scent of spaghetti sauce blended in. Fortunately, the sauce hadn't leaked through the envelope too badly, so there were only a couple of greasy stains in the paper, which didn't hinder its legibility. It was written in a flourished handwriting on a note card with white roses on the front and the words Thinking of you.
Before letting either of the others read the letter, Phil skimmed it over himself. He had been afraid that it would be too embarrassing to let the others see it, but he saw that the contents weren't as bad as he thought. However, there was one piece of information that he would have rather the others hadn't seen.
It couldn't be avoided, though, because Shaun moved over close enough to read over his shoulder before he realized he was there. As soon as he did realize, Phil whipped the paper close to his chest to conceal the contents.
"Dude, I've read way juicier things than that," Shaun commented. "It's a lot tamer than I thought. Spoiler alert, Tony: she doesn't actually say what she apparently did that was so terrible, but she does say she's sorry about a half a dozen times, and it looks like it does have something to do with Joe, as if anybody hadn't figured that one out yet."
Phil sighed and handed the letter to Tony. "You might as well read it. I don't see any clues. Maybe you can find something."
Tony read the letter over carefully, while Shaun moved over next to him so he could finish reading it. It read:
Dearest Phil,
I can never apologize enough for what I did to you. I knew then that it was wrong, but I've only come to realize since then just how stupid I really was. You probably don't realize this, but you're the only person who ever treated me like an actual human being in my life, and I've never forgotten it, even if it was only for a few days so long ago now. I should have done the same for you. And for Joe. I regret what happened there, and if I could change it, I would. I do admire your loyalty to your friend, but it showed me clearly that you didn't feel the same way about me that I do about you. If you had, you would have chosen differently. I can only hope that you've changed your mind. Please call me.
Love forever,
Darcy
P.S. I really am very sorry.
P.P.S. I almost forgot to give you my number: 415-555-9224
Tony kept his eyes on the letter for close to a minute after he had finished reading it to avoid meeting Phil's eyes. The letter itself was nothing remarkable. If anything, it was only remarkable for being so underwhelming. It did, however, as Shaun had said, that there was some reason for Joe acting so personally aggrieved by Darcy.
"If it's a clue, I don't see what it's telling us," Tony said. "It would probably be best if we showed it to the Hardys. Maybe there's a code or something."
"I doubt it," Phil commented dourly. "If Darcy had something to tell me besides what she wrote here, why would she put it in code?"
"Hey! I've got it!" Shaun announced.
The others looked at him in surprise.
"Did she cheat on you with Joe?" Shaun guessed.
"What?" Tony burst out. "Of course not. Right, Phil?" He turned to his other friend, looking possibly a little too intent.
Phil closed his eyes to try to mask his expression. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Are you going to call her?" Shaun asked, bouncing back quickly from the dismissal of his guess. "She obviously still digs you, for whatever reason."
Phil sighed in annoyance at the jab, but it gave him an excuse to put his feelings in the matter bluntly. "And she obviously doesn't dig you, which means that any attention she was giving you was just to try to get to me. It's not the first time she's done it, either, and that's why, whether she's Black Rose or not, I'm not going to call her. She says I treated her like a human being, but I've yet to see her treat anyone the same way." He paused, corralling his thoughts to the crux of the matter once again. "I guess we'd better show it to the Hardys. I don't know if it proves anything, but if there's one thing I've learned from them, hiding any details at all only makes things harder for the detectives."
HBHBHBHBHB
Before explaining anything to his father, Frank checked the hallway carefully to be sure no one would overhear. The only people around were the police officer guarding Joe's door and a few nurses, doctors, and other hospital personnel hurrying up and down the hall. None of them gave any indication of listening or even being able to hear, so Frank started the explanation in a low voice.
"We haven't taken as many precautions as we could have to keep anyone from knowing we were coming here, but if this supposed assassin has only been focusing on Joe, maybe they haven't realized."
"They would have noticed us coming to the hospital," Fenton pointed out.
"True," Frank conceded. "Well, in any case, it can't hurt to confuse the assassin, right?"
"What are you thinking?"
"A decoy. We know that Joe's a target. You and I might be, too, in which case, my plan probably wouldn't do much good, but if Joe is the only target for some reason…"
"It'll never work," Fenton interrupted.
Frank wrinkled his forehead in a silent question.
"You don't look enough like Joe to be a decoy for him. Besides, we don't gain anything by just putting you in danger."
"I'm all grown up, Dad. I'm a cop, too, don't forget. I can take care of myself. And Joe's hurt. He needs to be able to lie low and recover."
Fenton looked at him hard. "Are you sure your brother's injury is the only reason you want to keep him out of this?"
Frank sighed. "You know how he's been ever since he got it in his head that he can't hack being a detective. I hate to admit it, but until he gets his head squared away, he's going to be more of a liability than an asset. And I don't think getting stabbed is going to help him get his head squared away."
"Frank, there's nothing wrong with Joe wanting to do something else with his life."
"I'd agree, if he was actually doing something with his life." Frank shook his head. "But what's he doing? Hanging out on the beach in between shifts at a souvenir shop that probably doesn't even pay enough to pay his fourth share of the rent. He's not doing anything with his life."
Fenton folded his arms and waited to reply until another nurse had walked past. "This isn't the place to discuss this. But I will concede that Joe has not been in a frame of mind in the last year that he'll be much help to us. Between that and his injury, yes, you're right that it would be better to keep him under wraps. As for you setting yourself up as a decoy, I just don't see what that's going to gain us."
"It could be that they picked Joe because he's out here by himself. Maybe they think…" Frank paused as he realized that he could use better wording. "Maybe they know that Joe's distanced himself from the rest of us in more than just miles. They just might buy it if we made it look like Joe insisted on going back to his apartment and the rest of us were kind of hanging back."
"In which case, it might draw them out," Fenton picked up the line of reasoning. "They would know that they wouldn't have many more chances to get to Joe without us being around, so they might be in a hurry to try it."
"Exactly."
Fenton chewed on his lip as he thought about this. He knew he couldn't make a truly detached decision, not in something where his sons' lives hung in the balance. "It's too risky," he said finally.
"And what are our alternatives? Let them know where we take Joe, so they can surprise us just the same, but with Joe and Mom and Callie there? We could try to hide, but we'd never manage it."
"How would we manage it with a decoy?"
"I would leave here first, separately, and in a disguise. With a little luck, Black Rose will follow me and not pay any attention to Joe at all."
Fenton looked over his older son's face carefully. "Your disguise could work. There are definitely similarities between you and Joe. But you're hardly identical twins, and we don't have the supplies here to do a complete make-up job."
"I don't think we need to," Frank said. "Joe got pepper sprayed, remember? He was lucky enough that he just needed his eyes rinsed out, but Black Rose wouldn't know that. I could put some bandages over my eyes. I think that would be enough of a disguise, besides dyeing my hair blond."
"And what's your suggestion for that?"
"Jack could pick us up some of the spray on kind, and then Tony and Phil can come and pick me up."
"We'll run it by the police here," Fenton agreed finally. "If they think it's worth a try, we'll give it one."
HBHBHBHBHB
The police did agree to the suggestion, and the final details were worked out. Two plain-clothes detectives would be watching Frank at all times as soon as he donned his disguise. At their recommendation, Fenton would keep his distance, too, so that he wouldn't raise suspicions. Tony and Phil were called and willingly agreed to their part of the plan, but it was a police officer who handled purchasing the hair dye instead of Jack. While they were waiting for the officer to return with it, Fenton and Frank went back to Joe's room to tell the others about the plan.
It was clear from the look on Joe's face that he was not impressed that he hadn't even been consulted about the plan. Simply being told what would happen—not to mention being given a role that was nothing more that sitting around and hiding—was a new experience in detective work for him. He did have to admit that it was probably about as decent a plan as they could have come up with under the circumstances, but that did little to soothe his bruised feelings.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Callie asked. She already knew the answer and she knew that she couldn't talk Frank out of it, but she couldn't help asking all the same.
Frank pulled her close to him. "It's going to be fine."
"And what are the rest of us going to do, besides sit around and wait?" Joe asked.
"You're going to rest," Laura told him. "You can insist all you want that you're not hurt that badly, but you still need some time to recover."
"You'll be in one of the hotel rooms," Fenton said."They're connecting rooms, so we can all move freely between them. We're going to need to be on our guard, too, though, in case the decoy plan doesn't work. Do you own a gun, Joe?"
Joe looked away, toward the floor. "It's California, Dad. You know how hard it is to get a gun."
"Do you have one?"
"No."
"All right. I brought some with me," Fenton said. "I want you to have one with you at all times."
"If that's what you want," Joe replied. "You know that a gun in the hands of someone who's definitely not going to use it only makes a situation more dangerous, right?"
There were a lot of things that Fenton could have said to that, but he didn't have the chance before his phone rang. It was Mario Beretta.
Fenton muttered something that sounded like, "I'd forgotten all about him," as he brought the phone up to his ear and answered the call.
"Hi, Mr. Hardy," Mario said. "I was just wondering if you've found anything out yet."
"I'm sorry, Mario, we haven't had a chance to work on the case," Fenton told him. "We had a family emergency, and it might be some time before we can start looking for Angelo."
"Oh." The disappointment was clear in Mario's voice. "Well, I hope whatever it was, it wasn't too bad. The emergency, I mean."
Fenton knew that Mario was aware of Black Rose, so he would have easily understood the seriousness of the matter. Still, it didn't seem like there was any point in spreading too many details anywhere. The less anyone knew of what was happening, the better.
Joe suddenly snapped his fingers. "That's it! Mario! I knew I recognized that voice last night."
Everyone stared at him for a moment or two before Callie asked, "Are saying Mario attacked you?"
"No, of course not," Joe said. "It did sound like him, though. I think it was his brother, Angelo."
