Author's Note:

Happy weekend everyone! With the holiday next week, I wanted to get out a chapter before chaos reigned. Lol. Who know when I'll get the next one out! Thanks so much to everyone who is reading the story and most especially to the ones leaving reviews! I'm glad to hear that you're liking it! This chapter was actually going to be a lot longer but I felt that it was going to be TOO long which is understandable. So, the good news is that the next chapter will come a lot quicker since it's partially written at the moment with the original ending of this one! Look for it sometime next week but again, not sure if it's going to be before or after Thanksgiving. I hope that you enjoy the chapter and have a great weekend! If I don't see you before turkey day, then have a wonderful and blessed holiday with the fam! Don't eat too much! Gobble gobble!

Chapter Four

"Joe!" Frank cried the moment he saw his brother. He waved to him as Joe exited the Arrivals terminal. The two brothers embraced in a hug the moment they were close enough. "It's good to see you! I'm so glad you were able to get here."

"Ah, well," Joe shrugged. "I had nothing better to do."

"Did Vanessa chew you out the moment you told her?" Frank chuckled. The brothers headed toward the baggage area to get Joe's suitcase.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "It's why I couldn't come yesterday. I needed to make amends with her before I came. She wasn't too happy about it but when I told I called Andrea and Mom to let them know what was going on, she was fine. They're going to double-team the boys so Vanessa can get a break. I feel bad leaving her but knowing that those two are there to help makes me feel a little better. I hope that the delay didn't change anything with the case."

"Nah," his brother said. "Mrs. Stein was grateful that we were going to help so the delay was okay."

"Where's Nancy?"

"She's out shopping with Bess and George," Frank answered. "It was the only way to keep her distracted while I came to get you. She wanted me to start this case yesterday but since you couldn't make it right away, she was...okay, I guess. I thought I was going to have to tie her down to a chair at one point until she finally conceded."

"That sounds like Nancy," Joe laughed.

"Yeah, I know," he laughed. "I know she wants to be a part of the case but with all the complications going on with the pregnancy, I don't want her worked up. I'm glad that Bess suggested the shopping trip. I just hope she doesn't wear Nancy out. She's been super tired lately. And Bess has been all excited because her and Mitchell are expecting their first so it might be hard for her to remember."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yep," he nodded. "Bess wanted help in clothes shopping and getting a baby registry ready. Thank God Nancy already did that and the shower is over. That was agony alone."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Joe laughed. "You looked so cute with those clothes!"

"I do recall you having some issues yourself at Van's baby shower," Frank smirked knowingly. "Didn't someone wrap a measuring tape around you as well as her?"

"Okay, never mind," the younger Hardy rolled his eyes. "What's this case about anyway?"

"I'll let Mrs. Stein tell you about it when we get to the theater later," he replied eyeing the screen in front of him. The turnstyle started moving and Joe's flight number was displayed on the screen. "I've only heard Nancy's side of the story so I don't know if there's anything else that we need to know about the case."

Joe glanced at his brother, noticing that something was off. Frank seemed distracted and he wondered if there was something else that was going on.

"What's going on, Frank?" he asked concerned.

"What do you mean?" Frank looked startled.

"You seem a little distracted but I don't think it has to do with the case," Joe replied. "Are you worried about being a parent?"

"What? No!" Frank looked over at his brother who gave him a questionable look. "Okay, maybe I am but it's not what I'm really worried about."

"Okay, then what's bugging you?"

"Well, we haven't heard anything on Janice Blake's whereabouts," he explained. Frank excused himself when someone bumped into him then continued. "And David was acting strange a few days ago when he popped in for a quick visit."

"Am I the only one who hasn't met this guy yet?" Joe complained. "The way Mom oozed about him you'd think he was Jason Momoa or something. Is Nancy worried?"

"I'm not sure," Frank said thoughtfully. "She's more worried about the case than anything else. I already told you that I'm trying not let her get worked up but it's hard. I'm more worried about her than she is. The doctor is on the verge of putting her on bed rest for the next two months. Her blood pressure was elevated and it doesn't look like it's going down in my opinion. Its part of the reason why I called you other than the fact that Nancy insisted I didn't work the case alone. Maybe the two of us can keep her calm until everything blows over."

Joe started talking but Frank wasn't listening. His eyes were narrowed, honing in on a woman sitting nearby. It was the same person who bumped into him earlier. He briefly checked his pocket for his wallet to make sure it was still there, which it was. As Frank continued to steal a few glances at the woman, Joe noticed and turned to where his brother was looking only to find that the woman had walked away, her cell phone pressed to her ear.

"What is it?" he asked looking back at Frank. The woman disappeared into the ladies' room though Frank continued to watch the door, ignoring his brother. "Hey, don't go all paranoid on me. Tell me what's up."

"You remember the honeymoon we had?" Frank asked finally turning away his gaze away from the ladies' room.

"Uh, yeah," his brother rolled his eyes. "How could I not? I'm still trying to get around the fact that you not only had a private beach but an entire island to yourselves. I'm jealous. Why?"

"Just grab your bag so we can get out of here," Frank ordered pointing to the turnstyle. "I want to get as far away from here as possible before that woman comes back. There's something not right about her."

"Oh, okay." Joe spotted his suitcase and hurried to grab it as Frank walked quickly towards the exit. The younger Hardy turned his attention to the ladies' room only to immediately turn away and rush after Frank. The same woman stood off to the side of the ladies' room, her phone out in front of her as if she were taking a picture. Joe came up behind Frank, keeping his back to the terminal and the woman.

"Okay, so you're not being paranoid," Joe finally said the moment they were outside heading towards the short-term parking area. "What was that all about anyway? Who was that woman and why was she trying to take a picture of you?"

"She what?" Frank stopped and turned to his brother. "Did she get one?"

"I don't think so," his brother shook his head. "Your back was to me when I noticed her. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on."

"Honestly, I don't know either, Joe," the older Hardy replied. He led his to his parked SUV though his eyes still shifted around to make sure no one was watching. Frank shifted the car into gear and pulled out. He didn't say another word until they were on the highway. "When David visited us, he seemed anxious as if someone were after him. It was almost as if he stopped by to make sure we were okay."

"So?" Joe shrugged. He noticed Frank kept looking in the rear-view mirror every few minutes. "He is Nancy's godfather after all. Maybe he was missing her. He did miss your wedding, you know."

"Yeah but he only stayed for a few minutes, Joe," Frank stated. "And he never went into the house. All he did was give us that island we were on for our honeymoon."

"He gave you the island?" Joe asked incredulously. "As in, you own it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It was really strange too. David said that it was a good place to hide if ever it was needed."

"Why would you need to hide?"

"I don't know why," Frank shook his head. "That's what worries me besides Nancy. I asked her later on what David actually did for a living and she said he was the founder and CEO of a major technology company. The only thing is I don't think it's all true."

"Do you think she was lying to you?" Joe asked though he didn't think Nancy would lie about something like that, least of all to her husband.

"No, I just don't think she knows exactly what he does," Frank replied. He looked in the rear-view mirror again and changed lanes.

"What? Do you see something?" He looked behind them.

"No, I just needed to change lanes," he answered. "Our exit is coming up."

"But don't you think you're sounding overly suspicious about David?" Joe asked though he too looked a little concerned. "Who knows? Or this woman you saw. Maybe the lady was just taking a picture of the terminal for some reason…or other."

"I don't think so," Frank shook his head. "You were just as concerned as I was when we left. Don't you think it's strange that all of this is happening now? What if Janice Blake is back?"

"Don't you think they would have found her by now though?" his brother asked. "I mean, it's been a year now and if she's back, I highly doubt she would come after you or Nancy again unless she really wanted to get caught. Sometimes I wonder if she's even still breathing and I have this feeling that the woman has nothing to do with Blake. Does David know about her?"

"He said he was worried about it but I don't think he knew her, knew her," Frank sighed. "I do know that he worked with Chief McGinnis to keep our names out of the papers about that case. Maybe you're right, though. It's just so frustrating not knowing about Blake or what that woman at the airport was doing."

"If that lady was listening in on our conversation," Joe replied, "she sure looked surprised to hear it. Maybe she became interested when you said something specific. What were we talking about at the time anyway?"

"We were…we were talking about David!" he cried, stealing a glance at his brother. "Maybe she was listening in because she was interested in him!"

"Yeah, but you never said his full name," Joe pointed out. "How would she have known who you were talking about?"

"I don't know," Frank shook his head. "Just…just don't tell Nancy about it though. She's already worked up about the theater and I don't want her to have something else to think about on top of it."

"A theater, hmmm?"

"Don't look at me like that!" he cried. "I'm not doing anything other than solve the case. Understand?"

"Okay, okay!" the younger Hardy cried holding his hands up defensively. "Let's just get there in one piece so we can find out what's going on."

The woman climbed into passenger seat of the SUV, her phone still in her hand. She had tried to follow the two men though they disappeared in the parking area. The moment the dark-haired one spotted her paying close attention to them, she had to rush to the ladies' room all the while trying to get a hold of her boss. He didn't answer the first time she called and she tried getting a picture of them but ended up getting a blurry shot of their backs.

"Why are you all out of breath, Doris?" asked the driver who was her partner in the operation.

"I may have a lead but I need to run it by the boss before we do anything," she answered, dialing a number into her phone. "This might be the break we needed but I lost it before you arrived. What took you so long anyway, Boris?"

"Traffic, if you must know," he muttered pulling into traffic. He got onto the highway heading toward one the small towns outside Chicago named Mapleton. The two were operatives within the Organization hired to seek out and find certain people. Neither one of them knew the other's real name either. Their current task was to find a literal needle in a haystack, searching for a woman with ties to the Organization's head honcho whom several people want gone. They had nothing to go on except for the fact that she lived near Chicago and David Wainwright had strong feelings for her. "Don't hark on me, lady. It's not my fault the traffic in this town is shitty."

"Whatever," Doris rolled her eyes. She hated the man but she had no choice but to deal with him. She just hoped that she was assigned to someone else once this operation was over and the conversation she overheard just might expedite that request. Doris waited patiently for the man she called to answer and finally he did.

"What do you have for me?" he asked without a greeting.

"Mr. Stevens, I think I may have come across something," she said cautiously but excited at the same time.

"Oh?"

"I just arrived in Chicago as ordered and I overheard a conversation between two young men," she explained quickly.

"So? Lots of people have conversations at the airport," Adam replied annoyed.

"Sir, the name 'David' came up along with 'Janice Blake.' Does that name mean anything to you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he answered, his interest suddenly piqued. "Janice Blake was a low-level wannabe who disappeared last year after getting arrested. The names of the people involved were never released but we all knew where she was stationed. I should have known David would see someone in that town or somewhere nearby. It's called 'River' something or other."

"River Heights?"

"That's it!" Adam cried. "Where are you headed now?"

"Mapleton," she answered. Doris looked at the GPS before continuing. "It's not far from River Heights."

"Check out Mapleton first," he ordered. "With the two towns being so close you never know what you might find out there. Then head to River Heights and start your search if you don't find anything in Mapleton. Be careful though. Small towns usually watch over their own and finding information on certain people might raise flags. And stay away from the police. Blake tried to recruit half of Mapleton PD but they all were arrested when she was. Did you happen to get any of their names?"

"No," Doris stated grimly. "I didn't get their names though I could probably point them out if need be. Wait. I did hear a name. They spoke about a woman named 'Nancy.'"

"That may be the woman's name for all we know," Adam said. "This is great news. David won't know what hit him on this and then we'll have him right where we want him. What do they look like?"

Doris gave a brief description of the two men, leaving nothing out. "I think they might be brothers," she replied. They shared similar features and sounded alike though one was definitely slightly older than the other. What do you want us to do if we find them?"

"Nothing," he stated. "Like I said, don't be too obvious and I want you to mingle in with the townfolk of both towns. You're bound to bump into one or both of them at some point. I'll be there within a week so you have until then to find them. Then we'll make our plans. Find the woman, Doris. I'm counting on you."

"Yes, Mr. Stevens," she nodded.

"Good job."

"Thank you."

Moments later, the phone call was over and Doris looked over at the driver.

"What are our orders?" he asked.

"Head to Mapleton and find out anything we can," she answered. "Then we head to the neighboring town of River Heights to search. We have a week to find her before Mr. Stevens arrives."

"Are we to do anything?"

"No. Just gather the info and lay low." Doris looked out the window, watching the world go by. "Whatever we do, we can't let anyone know what we're doing especially the two who caught me earlier. That was our main order. If anyone finds out then it's bound to get back to Wainwright before any plan can go through and Mr. Stevens wants no mistakes. It's too important."

"Well, then," Boris replied, pushing the gas pedal, "let's get started."