Chapter 3: Missing

Indy rapped his fingers on the desk in front of him. He knew it was annoying Marcus, but he couldn't help it. Marion was pacing back and forth with the same agitation that he had. For his credit, Marcus tried his best to ignore them.

The police had agreed with Indy when they saw the papers – Nazis were responsible for the abduction – the US government had been called. They had said there was nothing that could be done about it. They'd offered no explanation for why their son in particular had been stolen.

It was a helpless feeling that neither of them were accustomed to.

There was a knock on the door a moment before Nick Balinger marched in. He didn't look too happy either. Indy stopped the movement of his fingers and Marion stopped pacing.

'Do you know where he is?' Marion demanded.

'We all know where he is,' Nick said. 'Somewhere in German-occupied land. The good news is that Penny, Jordan, Carlos and Sara are working undercover in Berlin.'

Indy nodded, understanding. 'So they'll be able to find him.'

'They can find anyone,' Nick stated. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote fast. 'You'll need to address it to these names and I'll deliver it. Trust me, this is the first time this has ever happened among them.'

'So Henry is a Holy Child?' Indy asked.

'Yes.' Nick grinned. 'Yes, he is.'

Berlin, Germany

Jordan opened the letter box as he passed it. Not much. Bill. Bill. Flyer. Bill. Letter. The last one was addressed to the lot of them. Right across the front, yet clearly hand-delivered because there wasn't a trace of a stamp, were the names they were using for Germany.

Penn & Jordanien Abzugshaube

Carl Schirm

Sarah Marsch

72 Levendale Pde

Berlin, Deutschland

Jordan flipped it over and found, on the back, no more than the name Indiana Jones and a note from Nick, his handwriting recognisable, saying "yes, I'm telling him all this stuff". Jordan stepped into the house and ripped the envelope open. The first thing he pulled out was a photograph of a three year old boy with a cute and chubby face and dark hair. He set it down on the hallway table and unfolded the note.

'Oh, bloody hell!'

Well, at least it explained the tickling sensation in his cranium.

Bedford, USA

Indy pushed his way past a flock of students, only a few of which actually wanted help with their work. That was something he knew well. He told them that Irene would send them in one at a time.

Once inside his office, Indy took a deep breath. He walked over to his desk and sat down. There was a parcel there and he picked it up. From Venice. That wasn't what he wanted. Indy would wait for that one, open it later. Nick had said they'd come with their answer in person.

Indy tucked it into his pocket, grabbed his fedora and mashed it onto his head. He climbed out the window. He was going home. He wanted to get back to Marion. Unfortunately, there were some guys waiting for him with a car. They had different ideas. Their boss wanted a word with him.

Well, at least they asked nicer than most guys in suits with mysterious black cars did.

The boss in question, it turned out, was Walter Donovan. He'd done quite a lot of work and funding for the museum. But he was still unnecessarily posh. Indy inwardly winced at the whole thing.

Then he was talking about the Holy Grail. He showed Indy the other half of the stone tablet, the bit that Andor hadn't taken off with, and a book detailing the directions required to find the two tablets. It also seemed a man had disappeared looking for the Grail. Indy listened to him and let him get it out before he walked over and picked up his hat.

'You're talking to the wrong Jones,' he said. 'Speak to my father.'

'We did,' Donovan said. 'He's the man that's disappeared.'

Indy froze. His father had disappeared? Indy hesitated. If Henry was safe at home, it would be simple. 'In ordinary circumstances, I would go after my father…'

Donovan nodded sympathetically at him. 'Yes, I heard about your son and I offer my condolences. But we have reason to believe that the same people who are responsible for your father's disappearance also took the boy.'

The front door to the home of Henry Jones I opened and Indy, Marion and Marcus stepped inside.

'Dad?' Indy called.

There was no answer. The curtains to the living room were drawn. Indy and Marcus pulled them aside. The room was ransacked. Furniture had been toppled and books and papers had been pulled from their proper resting places as thrown on the floor. The three of them slowly walked in.

'Goddamit!' Indy muttered.

Marion nodded and squeezed his arm. She looked around. 'Kind of convenient how Donovan thinks the guys who did this are connected to the ones who took Henry.'

Marcus looked up, startled. 'You think Mr. Donovan is involved with the kidnappers?'

'No, she's right.' Indy frowned. 'Does look a hell of a lot like a set up.'

Indy looked around. The place reminded him of the childhood he'd been trying to keep from his son. That lonely place where your only companion was more concerned with his books than he was with you.

Indy wandered over and moved some envelopes, pulling them down enough to find the picture beneath them. It was one of himself and his father about two years after his mother died. That was the way it'd been. Just the two of them. And Indy recalled he'd never really been happy like that. Not at all how he was when he was with his family now.

Marion wrapped her hand around his and Indy smiled at her. They'd get their son back. If Donovan was responsible, he was leaving himself wide open with this one. Marcus, oblivious to what just happened, spoke up from across the room.

'This mail's been opened,' he said. 'And it's today's!'

'Mail?' Indy asked. That was it. He reached down and pulled the parcel from Venice out of his pocket. Ripping the brown paper away, he found his father's Grail diary. Marion and Marcus both watched as he flicked through it.

'We're going to Venice, aren't we?' Marion knew him nearly too well.

Indy nodded. 'But we're not letting Donovan know what we know.'

The following day, the three of them were boarding the plane. Marion watched as Donovan shook Indy's hand and then Marcus's. He was seeing them off but anyone could see he hadn't been expecting Marion to be going too.

Well, she wasn't the typical damsel in distress.

Even Marcus went out of his way to be very, very polite. She knew he doubted their speculations, but he was keeping it to himself. Of course, he was being very polite even for him. Marcus was a proper gentleman. He couldn't not be polite to every single person he met.

Marion looked up as Indy wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He pecked her on the cheek and said, 'Time to go, baby.'

'I hope we're right about this,' Marion muttered as she allowed Indy to lead her to the plane.

The plane attendant greeted them. 'Nice to see you again, Dr. Jones. Mrs. Jones.'

Indy nodded to him and whispered against her hair. 'You and me both.'