Chapter 13

Joe's POV

I hurried down the white tiled halls to where the nurse said that Frank would be, I could hear Shinichi and Agent Jodie following me at a slower pace. I could hear them whispering behind me, but from the tone of there voices it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the bulk what was being said. Agent Jodie was trying to pump Shinichi for information, while he was keeping his mouth shut about the details, but not in a rude way. There was one question I overheard that caught my interest as I slowed down to approach my brother's room.

"What is your connection to Edogawa Conan?"

I paused and glanced back.

Shinichi chuckle softly, "He's the grandson of my Okaasan's cousin's brother's… er something or other. Let's just call him my favorite cousin and leave it at that, it's all very confusing.

'They're related, that's interesting. Must be how that kid became such a great sleuth' I thought as I open the door.

Frank glanced up when he heard me enter, "Well, there's my long lost brother, did you get lost."

'Great, he's trying to be funny again.' I rolled my eyes, "Don't quit your day job Frank, are you okay."

He nodded, "Yeah, I was able to get out in time." He then frowned, "But unfortunately all our research was destroyed, and now some officials want to send us back to the States. I guess they're afraid they'll be sued or something."

"Well we are friends with the daughter of a butt-kicking lawyer," I said cheerfully, but internally I was shocked, didn't he know he was nearly murdered.

"Well, we'll just have to go with what we know to solve this case with the time we have left," He said.

"That won't be necessary," said a voice behind me. I glanced back to see that Agent Jodie and Shinichi had finally caught up.

I had to laugh at the look on my brother's face to see Kudo Shinichi standing behind me. "Frank, let me introduce you, Frank, Shinichi and Agent Jodie. Shinichi, Agent Jodie, My brother Frank." I said with grand sweeping motions.

While Shinichi moved over to talk to Frank, Agent Jodie grabbed my arm and pulled me into a corner. "We haven't told him anything about the Black Organization or the attempt at his life," She whispered, "I only told you because I needed to know how much you knew, and because I knew Kudo-kun was already mixed up with them."

I blinked at her in surprise, "but aren't we going to tell him too?"

Agent Jodie shook her head, "I know how you detectives work. No matter the danger you still stick your neck out. We've led the Organization to believe that he's dead, and that you are here to confirm that it's his body, but they are still after you. Telling him now would only put him in danger again as he will try to protect you. The best way to handle this is to get you both out of the country as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

I nodded, I understood. This wasn't our case, and the two of us hanging around would only cause more trouble.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about," asked Frank.

Agent Jodie stepped forward showing Frank her FBI badge. "I was given orders by your superiors to help you boys get back to America. I was just discussing plans to do so with Joe."

I shrugged, "And there's really no point in hanging around. Shinichi's been found and he's been reunited with Ran, so we've pretty much completed our mission. Plus if we stay here much longer Mom and Aunt Trudy will get worried."

Frank nodded, "I guess. Hey, What happened to the groceries I had you go get? You couldn't have put them in our apartment since there isn't much left of it."

I thought a moment, then I smacked my forehead, "Aw shoot, I must have left them in that coffee shop."

Shinichi grinned and said reassuringly, "Don't worry we left them with Ran, she'll probably take them home with her.

I frowned slightly, there was something weird about what Shinichi just said but I couldn't figure out what. But before I could pinpoint it Frank's voice cut into my thoughts.

" Hey, Shinichi, why were you gone so long anyway?"

Both me and Agent Jodie shot Shinichi warning glares from behind Frank, but he ignored us. Instead he shot Frank a sheepish grin and said "Well I have had a string of cases I've been solving. But the main reason for all the secrecy is my Otosan's fault. I'm sure you've heard of him he's the famous author of the Night Baron series."

Frank nodded. He was after all the one who had researched the Kudos before coming here.

"Then you might have heard he usually spends his time avoiding his editors and globe trotting with my Okaasan. Because of that his editors are always tearing their hair out looking for him. Then one of them had the bright idea that I might know where he is, or if not I should at least be able to track him down, me being a detective and all that. So now they're hounding after me trying to make me find my Otosan for them." Shinichi blushed slightly, "I didn't tell anyone because it's kind of embarrassing."

Frank gave him a confused look, "Are they really that bad?"

Shinichi grinned, "Remember how the police reacted when they saw KID at the heist the other day, it's kind of like that."

I blinked in surprise, "How did you know we were at the KID heist?" I asked.

I saw a brief flash of nervousness pass over his face, but he quickly recovered. "I heard about it from Conan-kun. Plus I've been to a KID before, and I know how the police react, especially that blowhard Nakamori-keibu," He said a little too quickly.

I was still suspicious, but before I could dwell on it a nurse came in to shoo us out. As we walked back down the hallway I shot another suspicious glance at Shinichi's hooded form. Despite him being honest with us I could tell that he still had a few secrets that he wasn't about to share.

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Vodka's POV

Aniki and I watched from our car as Hardy, Agent Starling, and the unknown person with his hood up excited the hospital. "Hey Aniki are we going to do it now or later." I asked. "Later," Aniki replied without looking at me, "If we do it in front of a hospital there might be a chance of them surviving." As we watched van pulled up and they got in, I didn't recognize the driver because he was wearing a hat. As the van drove away Aniki started up his car and we followed.

End Chapter 13

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A/N When I said the thing about lawyer's daughter I was talking about Nancy Drew, the Hardys and her have teamed up before and she knows they are from ATAC. I may or may not do a sequel including her, I don't know yet. Virtual cookies to anyone who can guess who the driver is. Anyway please give comments, those help inspire me