Chapter Five

Xander drummed his fingers along the keyboard, taking in a scene from the alley moments before. Although he wasn't able to make out two of the three people in the somewhat grainy feed, one stood out and he knew who it was by the way they stood. Fenton Hardy asked him to put a surveillance camera in the alley the week before and wanted to know the moment there was anything suspicions that popped up. That morning was the first time something was off and he intended to confront the person he recognized before going to the boss. She had quickly come to be his friend since they both started around the same time and Xander didn't want to see her in trouble. He was the only person she actually treated nicely but he scolded her slightly when she made Joe Hardy look like a fool the day before.

Grabbing his almost empty coffee mug, Xander walked through the lobby, encountering an overly happy Miranda. The receptionist was someone he continually avoided like the plague because of her complete and utter disdain for him though he didn't understand why. He hoped to get through the lobby before she saw him as she hummed at her desk but her voice carried to him and he had to stop.

"Hey, tech boy," Miranda smirked. "What are you doing out of your hole in the middle of the day? I thought the sunlight burned you."

"Nice to see you too, Miranda," he said through slightly gritted teeth. Xander noticed that she was literally bouncing as if excited about something. "You're looking exceptionally happy today."

"Oh, I am!" she cried, beaming. Miranda went on to explain causing Xander to almost choke when he took a sip from his mug. "I am going to make sure I look so cute on Friday! Oh, I need to go shopping! I wonder if Mr. Hardy will let me have an extended lunch sometime. Ooo, I am so excited!"

"Really?" Xander quipped. "I couldn't tell."

He walked out of the small lobby listening to Miranda spew insults at him for ruining her moment. It made his day whenever he got back at her. Xander remembered that there was a different receptionist when he first started. He missed the woman's kindness and he really didn't understand what Mr. Hardy saw in Miranda when she was hired to replace Jessica. On Miranda's first day, Xander thought she was hot with her plunging neckline and curvy body but she wanted nothing to do with him, treating him terribly ever since. She set her eyes on Frank Hardy in the end and Xander wondered what possessed him to give in to her advances. He thought the man was hard-set in not going anywhere with the pushy receptionist but Xander guessed he was wrong.

Searching the cubicles, Xander found who he was looking for and headed her way. Thoughts of how he would confront her ran through his head all the way until he reached her at her desk. "Stacy," Xander said quietly. She turned around to face him, curiosity on her face. "You have a minute?"

"Sure, Xander," she smiled. "Anything for you. What's up?"

He looked around and lowered his voice. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, leaning in, her voice low.

"Mr. Hardy asked me to install a camera by the back door," he explained. Stacy didn't say anything though her face went slightly pale. "He asked me to report anything suspicious."

"And did you see anything suspicious?"

"You tell me." Xander looked around once more and continued when she didn't say anything. "I came to you as a friend. I need to know what you're doing before I go see him."

Stacy sighed, looking up at him. "It's not what you think, Xander," she said softly.

"Is there a problem?" replied a voice. Stacy and Xander both turned toward the voice to see Sam standing nearby by leaning against the wall, his arms folded in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at Xander.

"It's…nothing," he replied, defeated. He knew he wasn't going to get anything out of Stacy with Sam there. Deciding to keep what he saw to himself for now, Xander slouched away toward the break room. He just hoped he wasn't making a mistake in not notifying Mr. Hardy.

Fenton was in his office, deep in thought. His mind was reeling through the events of the past seven months. He glanced over at an old photo of him ad Carson Drew, taken several years before at a college reunion. He missed his friend dearly. With everything going on, Fenton would have called Carson for a quick laugh and some advice. The man always seemed to have a knack for being a strong friend and listener. A trait his daughter seemed to have in spades. Fenton did see the bright side of things at times but right then, rain was in the forecast in his mind.

Sighing, he picked up the spreadsheet in front of him and scanned it. They hadn't had financial issues since he and Sam began their business over 20 years before. But now, Fenton didn't know how much longer they'd survive. Business was down because their reputation was marred by the release of information on their clients along with the missing evidence. It all started soon after Carson's death and their trip to Chicago to help Nancy and Hannah. While they were gone, a man was hired as a new investigator and it took them nearly six months to figure out that he was the part of the problem. Although the man seemed genuine with a crystal clear background check, his own financial woes brought him trouble and he took bribes from an unknown source. Fenton fired him immediately but the damage was already done. And unfortunately, the man disappeared before they could arrest him and he hadn't been seen since.

When Fenton hired the four new people, he wanted an extensive background check done on each one. They all had good checks but when he looked into it further, Fenton realized it wasn't as thorough as he wanted. A few of them had holes but since they did their jobs better than he expected, Fenton let it slide though now he regretted it. Hayworth had contacted him already about one of them, clearing the person's name. He hoped that by Friday, they all would be done and this whole situation over.

With all that was going on, Fenton completely forgot what he had planned to do with Hardy Investigations. It wasn't like he was retiring either although it looked that way to the outside eye. He had spoken with Carson almost a year before about expanding to either another part of New York or maybe even another state. At the time, Fenton had someone in mind to lead the new office but all the plans had recently become obsolete because of the current issues.

Sighing, he set down the spreadsheet and turned to a file sitting on the desk. Although the case was partially closed months before, he felt he needed to look it over once more just in case he missed something. Just as he was about to look through it, his desk phone rang.

"Hello?" Fenton answered.

"Fenton," replied Chief Ezra Collig's voice. "I need you to come down to the station."

"Why, is everything okay?"

"I'll tell you when you get here, Fenton," the Chief said grimly.

"Okay," he replied confused. When he hung up the phone, he put the file in a drawer with the spreadsheet and locked it. He would have to look them over some more later.

As he went through the lobby, Fenton informed Miranda that he would be back later. Walking down the street to the police station, he constantly checked behind him to make sure there was no one following him. Fenton thought about what Chief Collig wanted, hoping that it was nothing more than a quick talk about something good. As he moved closer to his destination, he had a feeling that whatever Collig wanted wasn't going to make his life any easier.

Frank was pouring himself a cup of coffee when the back door opened suddenly and Wendy walked in. She abruptly stopped the moment she saw him, her face turned white. For a brief second, Frank could have sworn he saw something familiar about her but she turned away quickly, heading for the door.

"So, um, how are you, Wendy?" Frank asked awkwardly, stirring his coffee.

"Oh, I'm good," she replied, stopping feet from the door. She nervously twisted her hair, making sure that she kept her attention on the door in front of her as if it had more interest than Frank. She wished for anyone to open the door and allow her to get out of the break room. "Yourself?"

"I'm good," he nodded, walking away from the coffee maker.

"I…I have to get back downstairs," Wendy said quickly. She moved toward the door again but Frank was closer and faster than she was.

"Why do you avoid me?" he asked, standing in front of the door.

"I don't avoid you, Frank," she said softly, her voice slightly cracking. Wendy kept her eyes averted though he tried to look at her.

"Yes, you do," he said as she backed away from him. "Have I done something to upset you in some way? Ever since you first started working here, you have made it a point to not be in the same room as me. I don't think I was that rude to you, was I?"

"No," Wendy replied, keeping her distance from him. "I just keep to myself, that's all."

"Okay, then what were you doing out back?"

"I wanted some fresh air," she said quickly though he had a feeling she was lying to him.

"Understandable, but I'm still confused as to why you avoid me," he said. Frank eyed her, trying to get her to look at him. He moved closer to her but she shied away. Wendy was hiding something but Frank couldn't quite place what it was. His interrogation ended as Xander came in looking agitated. He stopped when he noticed Wendy and Frank, both of whom looked guilty of something.

"Hey," he said cautiously. "Do I…need to leave the room?"

"I was just leaving," Wendy said, practically running for the door before Frank could stop her.

"I'm sorry, Frank," Xander said, watching her leave. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Oh, no," he shook his head. "I was just trying to get to know Wendy. She hasn't spoken more than a few words to me since she started. I was just curious if I did something to upset her."

"Tell me about it," Xander rolled his eyes.

"Oh? Something wrong?"

"It's…it's just…women," the young tech finally said. "What is with them anyway?"

"Excuse me?"

"Secrets," Xander threw his hands up. "You know how they keep things from you."

"Yeah," Frank replied thinking of the confrontation he just had with Wendy. "I know what you mean. What's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Xander replied with a shake of his head. "At least I think it is. I think Stacy is hiding something."

"You do?"

"Yeah." The tech walked toward him. "She's my friend and I'm trying to trust her but I can't. I don't really trust anyone besides you and your dad. And maybe Joe but I don't know him well enough. But I should still trust Stacy, right?"

"Well, if you're having qualms about it, then I'm not so sure," Frank shrugged. He still thought about how Wendy averted him. He shouldn't trust her but he did for some strange reason. "Actually, come to think of it, if you think there's no reason not to trust Stacy then I think you should. It might be nothing, like you said. Is there something that you need to tell someone, though?"

Xander bit his lip but didn't say anything. He wanted to check out Stacy before doing or saying anything to anyone. Stacy trusted him and he should too like Frank said. Xander shook his head quickly and went toward the vending machine.

"Okay," Frank sighed, walking toward the door. "If you change your mind and need to say something, you know where I am. I'll listen."

He left Xander to his thoughts and headed upstairs, avoiding the front lobby where Miranda was sure to stop him. Frank thought about the two encounters he just had, both of which bothered him. Although he told Xander to trust Stacy, Frank now wasn't sure if he should. What if Stacy was the mole? What did Xander know though? It seemed that everyone had something to hide inside Hardy Investigations. He thought about the familiar sensation he had with Wendy. Frank sighed, shaking his head as he entered his office. No matter what, he vowed to figure out what was going on and end the problem.

Later in the day, Fenton returned from the police station, his heart aching at what he was about to tell everyone in the office. He called a meeting the moment he got back and waited in the small conference room for everyone to arrive. He noticed some tension between Stacy and Xander as they walked in but the tension rose even higher when Frank arrived and Wendy literally bolted to the other side of the room. Miranda on the other hand, made it a point to stand right next to his older son, much to his chagrin. As Joe and Sam finally settled into the room, Fenton cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Thank you all for getting in here quickly," he said. "What I am about to say should not leave this room as the news of it has not reached the public. Chief Collig called me earlier today and asked that I come down to the station. He didn't say for what until I got there. I was asked to identify a body."

He stopped, taking a deep breath. It was hard enough to see it firsthand but retelling to those around him was even worse.

"Who was it, Dad?" Joe asked. The others in the room looked intently at their boss who stared sadly at the table.

"They found the body of a woman early this morning," he finally said. "It washed up in the bay. A local fisherman spotted it and notified the police. I was asked to come down because they felt I could identify the body and I did. I'm sorry to say this but Jessica, our receptionist and friend, is dead."

Author's Note:

Oh, an update and it isn't even the end of the week! Well, I have a quiet house at the moment with no kids or husband to bug me (what luck!) so I took the chance to type it out and publish. Still love my family though. Just gotta take advantage of these moments! So, yeah, I know I keep killing off these characters (even though we never actually see Jessica). Things just keep getting worse and worse, huh? I need to stop, don't I? Anyway, thank you to everyone who left a review for the last chapter. All your ideas and thoughts are great and some of you are working the clues through as to who is the mole and who is not. I'm making you think too much, huh? It's not over yet either. We still have the rest of the story to get through. Haha! I'm bad! Again, I have my moments where I'm trying to figure out what I want next while still knowing what's coming later on. That was this chapter. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to leave your mark so that I know you were here! Until next time, later! Have a great weekend!