Chapter Fourteen
Joe received a phone call from Detective Hawkins around noon that day and drove to the police station soon after. BD was interrogating Jared and wanted Frank and Joe to listen in. Since Frank was still asleep at the time, Joe went alone leaving Fenton behind as well. Two and a half hours later, Joe was still listening in on the interrogation even though Jared had barely spoken a word during the time.
The aspiring actor was handcuffed to a table and looking kind of ragged after a night in jail and nearly three hours of interrogation. Across from him was BD who held no sympathy for him in his mannerisms. Joe watched from the other side of the two-way mirror, his arms folding across his chest as he waited.
"So, who hired you, Jared?" BD asked for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. He watched for any ticks in the man's demeanor. Jared shifted nervously in his seat, sweat beading down his face.
"I…I already told you," he stammered, "no one hired me. I did everything on my own."
"Including hitting Matthew Hamden with a car?"
Jared glared at the detective, his mouth clamped shut. "I had nothing to do with that," he gritted his teeth. "I was at the theater when it happened. Everyone saw me there."
BD smirked. "See that's where I know you're lying about it." The actor scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You were the only one to benefit from Hamden's 'accident' but you're telling me you had nothing to do with it?"
"I want my lawyer," the prisoner suddenly stated and sat back in his chair.
"Well, that might be a problem, Mr. MacMillan, since Martin Shannon refused your request for an attorney." The detective leaned forward, his face serious. He watched intently as he blood drained from Jared's face. "Care to change your statement before the public defender comes in?"
The actor looked away, thinking but was unable to say anything when an officer burst into the room. He walked over to BD and whispered something in his ear.
"What? Are you sure?"
The officer nodded grimly and the detective sprang from his chair startling both Jared and Joe. BD looked at the mirror and gestured toward the door.
"Take this little weasel back to the jail until I return," BD ordered. The officer nodded and uncuffed Jared as the detective left the room meeting Joe in the hall.
"What's going on, BD?" Joe asked. The man took hold of his arm and hurried down the hall away from the interrogation room.
"When you left Frank's house, did you see anything suspicious?"
"No," he said slowly, his concern rising. "I left Dad behind since Frank was still sleeping. Not that it would have mattered with the security system but still. Dad didn't want to leave him alone. What's going on? Why are you asking me this?"
"Because we just got a call," BD stated, guiding Joe to his unmarked SUV. "Several in fact, all complaining of gun shots coming from the house."
"Oh, my God," Joe mumbled climbing into the SUV. He barely closed the door before the detective squealed out of the parking lot. "Are…are they okay? Please tell me they're okay!"
"I don't know!" BD maneuvered easily through the streets, the siren and lights blaring forcing other cars to the side as they passed. "Another black and white is on their way but I don't know how long ago it happened. I'll go in first to make sure the coast is clear. You stay in the car."
"Like hell I will," Joe growled.
The two were silent the remainder of the short trip and as BD screeched to a halt in front of the house, Joe was quickly out of the car. Rushing to the front door, he saw that it was open a crack. BD stopped him, his gun out and ready. The detective placed a finger over his mouth to silence Joe as he pushed the door open revealing an empty foyer. Two more officers came up behind them as they entered.
"Police!" BD cried out. "Anyone here?"
"Detective?" an officer replied, pointing to a dark spot on the floor near the bottom of the stairs.
Joe's heart dropped as he realized he was looking at a puddle of blood but a body was nowhere to be seen. He looked over at BD before racing up the stairs. The detective ordered the officers to search the lower levels while he followed Joe.
"Dad?" Joe called out, his heart pounding as he reached the first landing. "Frank?"
When his eyes crested the top step, he abruptly stopped, fear coursing through his veins. Another pool of blood seeped out of the open door to the master bedroom, a body with dark hair resting on the floor. BD bumped into him, nearly knocking Joe down. The man saw what Joe was staring at and hurried the rest of the way up the stairs.
"No," Joe mumbled, shaking his head. He couldn't move for fear of seeing his father or brother dead.
"They're not here!" yelled BD from inside the room.
"Wait…what?" Joe shouted finally moving. Sure enough, when he entered the room neither Fenton nor Frank were anywhere to be seen. The room was in total chaos as if a massive struggle went down. There were also two bodies but only one of them was a man. The other by the door was actually a woman whose eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Joe did a double-take as he stared at her. "Hey, I…I know her!"
"You what?" BD cried whirling around to face him.
"I know her," he repeated, looking up at the detective. "We saw her at the airport a few days ago. Then Frank saw her again at the restaurant and the hospital. But it doesn't make any sense. Why would someone kill these two then take Frank and Dad?"
"I believe I can help with that," replied a voice. The others in the room turned around to see a man in a crisp, dark suit standing on the landing. Joe shook his head in disbelief.
"Agent Dearing?"
Laura and Hannah were walking back to the hospital from lunch when they saw Bess and George standing outside the main entrance. The two young women waved to them once they saw the two approaching.
"What are you doing out here?" Laura asked confused. "I thought you were going to stay with Nancy until we got back."
"We were," George replied, "but Dr. Morris insisted that we allow her some space. He said he gave her something to help her sleep since she's had such a busy day. Nancy's going to be out for hours so we left. I don't like it but he has a point."
"That's strange," Hannah said thoughtfully. "We've never been told before about not visiting during the day. But he is a different doctor. Dr. Morris only came to town just before Nancy found out she was pregnant. Maybe he doesn't know what the hospital allows."
"Well, I don't care what he says," Laura said infuriated, "I'm not leaving her alone with everything going on."
She led the way to the elevators, punching the up button and fidgeted as the machine slowly arrived.
"Hey, there!" replied a voice. Aaron Samuels jogged up to them, his handsome face full of concern. "You guys look like you're mad at the world. Is there something wrong?"
"Not that we're aware of," Laura snapped rudely before quickly stepping onto the elevator. She eyed the man closely, wary of his interest in them especially since she didn't know him. "And nothing we can't deal with ourselves."
"Well, if you're going to see Nancy," he stated, "can I come with you? I saw her last night but didn't really get the chance to talk to her much and it would be nice to see how she's doing."
"You're Aaron, right?" Hannah asked as he followed them onto the elevator. The woman seemed to be okay with his presence so Laura didn't object.
"That's right, ma'am," Aaron grinned, nodding his head toward her. He looked over at Bess and George. "Glad to see the two of you are okay. Everything all good on your end?"
"Oh, yes!" Bess sighed dreamily. George rolled her eyes. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving our lives. Is there anything we can do for you to pay you back?"
"A thanks and a smile is all I need," he said shyly. "I'm not one for theatrics."
The elevator came to a stop and Aaron let the women off as a courtesy. He followed close behind, his face a mask of concern.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" he asked again. Laura gave him a look and he stopped, startled by her reaction to him. As she looked away and continued down the hall, the man narrowed his eyes at her receding back. He eventually followed, his face returning to the mask.
Laura stopped beside the empty nurses' station, quickly noticing the lack of people. Nancy's room was at the end of the hall a couple hundred feet from where they stood.
"Where is everybody?" Hannah inquired glancing around.
"There was an emergency at the other end of the hall," a nurse replied coming up behind them. "I'm the only one down here at the moment. Is there something I can help you with?"
"We're just here to visit my daughter-in-law, Nancy," Laura smiled though she was still on edge. "Is it okay that we go see her?"
"Oh, my!" the nurse exclaimed. "She is such a good patient and always so courteous. I wish we had more patients like her. Dr. Morris instructed us to not allow visitors for her though. She's resting at the moment. Hey, where are you going?"
Laura was already down the hall, ignoring the nurse's insistence. Something was off by the doctor's orders. As she approached the room, Laura noticed the door was wide open but the curtain blocked her view of the room. "Nancy?" she called out even though she didn't really expect a response if Nancy was asleep. She quickly pulled open the curtain revealing an empty room. The only things that showed there was supposed to be a patient in the room were the flowers and teddy bear that Aaron left the night before.
"Where's Nancy?" Bess asked. She and the others came in behind Laura, the nurse huffing with them. The group all looked at the nurse who looked dumbfounded.
"That's not possible," the nurse said breathlessly. "I only checked on her about fifteen minutes ago and she was here."
"Are you sure it was only fifteen minutes ago?" Laura asked.
"Maybe twenty but still."
Laura pulled out her phone and dialed her husband's number. She stepped out of the room at the same time as the nurse who ran down the hall for help. The phone continued to ring and eventually Laura ended the call frustrated. It was not like Fenton to not answer his phone. Several nurses and a security team rushed toward the room as she tried him again only this time, the call went directly to voicemail.
"What is going on?" she cried dialing Joe's number instead. He answered after the first ring. "Where's your father? I've been trying to get a hold of him."
"I don't know where he is," he said cautiously. Laura could hear several people talking in the background.
"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" she shrieked. Bess, George, and Aaron all turned toward her and came closer to hear the conversation. "I thought he was with you!"
"He was," Joe went on to explain BD's phone call, Jared's interrogation, and leaving his father and Frank at home. What he said next made her heart sink. "Mom, someone broke into the house. Dad and Frank are gone! What is going on? Why did you need Dad?"
"Because Nancy's missing too!" Laura cried. "Her doctor gave her something to help her sleep and ordered everyone to leave the room. When we returned, the room was empty! It looks like the security here is trying to locate Dr. Morris. Oh, my God, Joe! I can't deal with losing any of them! This is not happening!"
"Calm down, Mom," he said quickly. "Hold on."
Laura waited anxiously, listening in as Joe spoke softly with whoever he was with. Tears formed in her eyes as dreadful thoughts ripped through her mind. After a few moments, a new voice came on the line, one that she never expected to hear again.
"Mrs. Hardy, this is Agent Dearing," he replied grimly. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. There is something going on here that no one saw coming. We are not sure who the villains are in all this but we are sure two of them are no longer a problem. As of right now, the FBI is taking over the case. I need you to wait there at the hospital until I arrive. Find a place to hole up and don't leave. I'm sure that the hospital has a safe place somewhere. Your safety is imperative until we figure this out. Do you understand?"
"Yes, but…" Laura stopped, trying to hold back her tears. "I…I can't just sit here and do nothing! This is my husband and my son and his wife we're talking about! It's my grandchild, for Christ's sake! I am not going to do nothing while someone gets away with this!"
Dearing sighed deeply hearing Laura's cries and sniffles. A moment later Joe returned to the call. "Mom, I'll be over with BD as soon as I can," he said calmly though his voice cracked. "We're hoping Dad or Frank went for help but since they haven't shown up anywhere, there's no telling where they're at currently. Please, just stay there. I'll see you soon."
The moment the call ended, Laura broke down in tears. Hannah was already crying though she wrapped her arms around her friend and the two cried together. Bess and George comforted each other while Aaron watched the scene with a blank face.
"Mrs. Hardy," George said, breaking the silence. Laura and Hannah both turned toward her. "We're going to get through this. All of us. We're talking about three of the strongest people we know. They can handle this. We just have to have faith that we'll find them quickly."
Joe ended the call and stared at the ground. He was worried about his family. His mother, who was usually a stable person in times of stress, seemed to be falling apart at the seams. With his father, brother, and sister-in-law all missing, Joe was surprised he wasn't falling apart too. With the amount of blood they found at the base of steps and unless that person got immediate medical attention, there was a possibility they were searching for a dead body.
"Joe," replied BD, interrupting his thoughts.
"Huh?" He looked up to see the detective staring at him, sympathy etched on his face. "Oh, sorry. What is it?"
"They found some blood drops near the back door," BD replied. "It looks like someone was carried out that way but we're still not sure who it was. Do you have any theories on who might have left the bodies behind?"
"None," Joe shrugged. "I'm just as clueless as you are. Someone went to great lengths to cover up something here, whether it be a kidnapping or a murder. The question is, why?"
"I have a question that you should be able to answer," Dearing piped up. "Do you know where the safe room is?"
"Of course, I do," he said smartly.
"I need you to show me."
"As long as you tell me why you're here...first." Dearing sighed, eyeing Joe who smirked. "It's not that hard of a question."
"Fine," the agent finally gave in. "As you know, I've been investigating a criminal ring that stretches across the country. 'The Syndicate' is what it's nicknamed. Janice Blake was a part of the group which is why I spoke with your brother and Nancy last year. They needed to know what was going on since they were involved in that case with her. They stumbled onto something bigger and I think that's what is at play now."
"Yeah, but Janice Blake disappeared right after walking out of jail," BD piped confused. "We haven't heard hide nor hair of her in almost a year and a half. Why, after all this time, would she reveal herself again?"
"I never said she had anything to do with the disappearances," Dearing stated. The two men looked flabbergasted, confused as to what the agent was getting at. "Three weeks ago, we found remains near a forest along Lake Michigan. A local hunter was walking his dog and the dog ran off finding a bone that was buried in a shallow grave. The news didn't cover it for long since the locals thought it was a cold case. When we took over a day later, we wanted to keep the discovery on the down low and kept the media out until we actually had something to tell them. It didn't take long to figure out the cause of death which was strangulation. Several bones in the neck were broken and remaining skin showed lines where a garrote possibly could have been used. Though it took us a while to figure out the identity, we knew the body was that of a woman in her fifties. Last night though, our team was finally able to finish reconstructing her face."
He pulled out a photo from the file he was carrying and handed it to Joe. "Recognize her?"
Joe gaped at the photo, his mouth slightly open.
"Well, I'll be," BD muttered. Staring up at them was the face of Janice Blake.
Author's Note:
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that 2020 is starting off well for everyone! It would have been a better start had my team actually won their bowl game but as usual, they fell apart in the second half. Ugh. Another mediocre year for the maize and blue. But I intend to have the best year ever for myself and my family! Positive thoughts! Yes! Anyway, if you haven't noticed, this chapter is the "all hell breaks lose" chapter that you know I just LOVE writing. I'm sure you all have even bigger questions than that of the last chapter but not to worry. Answers are coming...eventually. Just have patience. Thanks to everyone who continues to read the story and support it. I also want to give a big shout out to those who leave reviews! You know how much I love reading your thoughts and believe me, they come in handy because yet again, the story has changed from the original idea thanks to a couple of you giving me your theories. Not telling who either but I appreciate you all the same! I do have to say that the ending is STILL the same and I intend to keep it that way. Well, until next time, have a great week and God bless!