Note: Thank you to EvergreenDreamweaver (I will wrote back to you this week!:) ), sm2003495, hbndgirl, ErinJordan, and max 2013 for your much appreciated reviews on the last chapter. Happy New Year!

Fly Away

Chapter 6

December 28th

Several days had passed since Christmas, and Callie found herself wondering, yet again, what she should do. The mysterious letters kept being sent to her and, despite everything, she really was scared. She wanted to pressure Frank and Joe to do something more quickly. It seemed like they weren't particularly concerned. Then again, she thought, maybe it's because I haven't exactly been acting concerned, either.

That much was true, at least. She had been working so many hours and she was dead tired. Christmas had been an overwhelming experience for her. Every time she thought of Frank's beautiful gift, the irony of the situation threatened to overwhelm her. She knew Frank was expecting her to wear the jewelry and thus far she had managed to avoid the situation since she couldn't exactly dress up for work. Still, New Year's Eve was coming up soon. Fortunately, she had bought a beautiful navy dress before she had found out about her scholarship troubles, so she had something to wear. On the other hand, there was no way she could avoid showing up without her bracelet, and she honestly had no idea what to do about it.

New Year's was turning out to be a gala event. Even though Frank and Joe had been unable to get tickets to the Air Force Base celebration, they, along with several of their friends, had managed to make reservations for a night of dinner and dancing at a fancier restaurant near the city. Frank had, of course, surprised her with the tickets, knowing that she couldn't afford them at the moment. The last words he had said to her as he told of their plans had been, "I can't wait to see you in your new jewelry! You'll look more gorgeous than ever, if that's possible!"

Callie sat down on her bed at the Hardys' home and looked out the window, gloom descending on her like the clouds looming overhead. "I'm sorry, Frank," she whispered, more to herself than anyone in particular. Blinking back tears, she tried to close her eyes and rest, not allowing herself to think of the bracelet, money troubles, the horrible letters, and the terrible, ever present fear that she was being watched….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joe, meanwhile, knew that he had a mission. He had been looking for his brother for a few minutes when he found him sitting in their living room, watching a science program on television. Standing in front of the screen, Joe blocked his brother's view, finally causing him to look up.

"What?" Frank asked, exasperated.

"I need to talk to you," Joe replied, simply.

"I figured that," Frank said, rolling his eyes and sitting up. He flipped on the light-switch and met his brother's eyes. "Go ahead."

At that moment, Vanessa entered the room. "Did you ask him?" she inquired, speaking to Joe.

"Ask me what?" Frank replied back, beginning to feel like he was being left out of something.

"I was about to," Joe replied, but he was instantly cut off by Vanessa, who plopped resolutely on the couch next to Frank.

"He was about to ask you why you haven't done anything to help Callie with her case!" Vanessa fumed, to Frank's utter amazement.

"Huh?" Frank asked, stunned. "What are you talking about?"

Joe sat next to Vanessa and took her hand, speaking to Frank in an even tone, but a serious one. He knew being calm would be the way to get through to his brother. Vanessa flying off the handle wouldn't do anyone any good. Joe almost smiled as he thought of the fact that he was acting more like Frank and Vanessa acting more like him. Still, he wasn't really in a joking mood.

"Frank," he began, "Callie's been getting more of these letters and we haven't done anything to help her. I know they may not mean anything, but come on! She's upset. Just now I was upstairs and she was talking to herself, and I glanced into the room. I saw her looking at one of the letters and it appeared that she was crying. I think we need to get on this."

Frank's eyes widened in surprise, and he felt his heart skip a beat. "She was crying?" he asked, timidly. He couldn't stand the thought of that. This had gone far enough.

Seeing the look on Frank's face, Joe's own expression softened. "Yeah. Come on, Frank. I know you care, but we've been blowing this off. I mean, although Callie doesn't appear to be in any serious danger, our van and her house were broken into and that's a major issue."

"Yeah! You don't seem to care about Callie and I want to know why you're acting this way!" Vanessa's voice was strong, and filled with worry.

As he looked into Vanessa's peering eyes and Joe's stern expression, Frank sighed heavily. "Guys," he said, "I think there's something you need to know…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, after dinner, Callie decided to broach the subject of the messages. She didn't miss the exchange between Frank, Joe, and Vanessa, and now she found herself more puzzled than ever.

"What?!" she asked at last. "Come on, guys! What aren't you telling me?"

"That we haven't found a lead, but that we are working on it," Joe responded, a little too quickly.

Knowing that all three were being silent for a specific purpose, Callie decided to let the subject drop for a little while. If they were hiding something, chances were that it was for a good reason. With a slight shudder, Callie tried not to let her imagination run wild.

Seeing the look on her face, Vanessa encouraged her. "Don't worry, Callie. Everything will be fine. Why don't we examine the clues again? Some fresh insights would be good."

"Excellent idea," Frank chimed in, and went to get the letters, stopping only momentarily to give Callie a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. After several minutes Frank returned, and Callie took up the pad into which Frank had begun to record the notes over a week earlier.

"All right," Frank said, sliding into a seat next to Callie. "Maybe we should start with where you have received all of the letters."

Callie sighed and leaned back. She'd been over this a hundred times. Still, with Frank, there was usually a method to his madness.

"Okay," she began, slowly. "I received the first ones at my house. One was in the van when we went shopping. One was delivered, if you can call it that, the night that you were at my house."

"But then," Vanessa chimed in, "The rest have been delivered here! I mean, some were in the Hardys' mailbox, and I think one or two were slipped under the door, right?"

Callie nodded. Then, with a slow dawn of understanding coming over her, she blanched. "Th...that means…" she sputtered, "that I'm definitely being watched!"

Joe reached over to her and took her hand reassuringly. "Yeah. That's the conclusion that we came to as well. But don't panic, okay? That's why you're staying with us and nothing is going to happen to you while we're here."

Although she appreciated Joe's effort, Callie swallowed hard, unconvinced. "But what about work? What about when I'm away from you guys?"

Frank slipped an arm around her, feeling horrible. He hated to see her this way, but there was nothing her could do; there was no other way. He wouldn't tell her what he knew. "I know, baby," he said gently to her. "But I'll drive you to work and pick you up. Nothing is going to happen to you while you're at work—too many people."

"Frank's right," Joe added, "and we're only a phone call away."

"But have you picked up on the other clues? I mean, have you figured out the messages?" Callie pleaded, desperate for some headway.

"Well, we're working on it," Frank responded.

"Why don't we look at the messages and see what we've got?" Callie suggested, and everyone readily agreed. As they were looking over the messages, Callie couldn't help but to feel as though they should have been able to have seen….something…in the clues so far, and she was feeling a bit downtrodden. Still, she plugged away at it, determined to distract herself as much as possible.

Frank wrote down what she dictated on the note-pad.

OLD

Two hands clasping or gripped together. Says "Two hands."

A picture of a helicopter- says "Over Air."

Magazine cutout- a lot of people. Words- "Many possibilities."

Pictures of dollar bills- ominous warning—"You'll pay."

Several stones. Rocks. Says "Over Years."

NEW

Pictures of stars together with odd message: "Next nights."

"Enthralling events." Some picture of a brochure… name undisclosed.

Picture. Girl terrified? Message states "Anxiously waiting." Ominous.

"New yelling." Picture of a microphone.

A picture of a novel. Says "Great Expectations."

Callie leaned back against Frank as he finished writing, and they all looked at each other in amazement.

"I have no idea," Callie said at last.

"Yeah—it doesn't seem to make any sense," Vanessa agreed.

"And—on top of everything—there's still the picture of the bell in the top right hand corner with the word "ring," and a bird in the left hand corner," Joe added. "I have to admit, this is one of the craziest things I've seen."

Callie didn't miss the comment that was directed at Frank, and she felt apprehensive again at the thought that they were not sharing some vital information with her.

"Maybe the best thing to do is to survey the house," Joe suggested. "I mean, if this guy- girl- whatever—is leaving notes here, then I'm sure we can catch him."

"Good idea!" Vanessa said, and smiled at Joe, who returned the affectionate glance.

At that moment, the phone rang. "I'll get it," Frank said quickly, eager to avoid Callie's prying gaze. She knew him too well, and it was only a matter of time before she would demand to know what he was keeping from her.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Frank Hardy? There's something you should know…" the voice responded.

Quiet, Frank stared in disbelief as he listened to the voice at the other end of the line.