Chapter 21

Very late, Fenton finally started to move to the side in order to avoid the car that still had him firmly in its trajectory, but suddenly something big and heavy was already tackling him around the upper body and he was landing hard on the ground and sliding, tangled up in arms and legs that didn't belong to him. The car that had tried to run him down sailed past, so close that he could see its underbelly and the wheels as it passed by.

"Fenton you fool! What did you think you were doing just standing there directly in its path?" Con asked standing up and hopping about, shaking his hand, obviously having injured it.

Fenton got up off the pavement himself, a little shaken up, but otherwise unhurt. "I don't know, I thought there was going to be a race or something," then he frowned – he'd finally worked out what was odd about that particular vehicle. "It didn't have any plates," he said, approaching Con to look at his hand. "Did you scrape yourself up?"

"Yeah, I think I sprained my wrist," Con responded, flexing his fingers, the back of his hand and forearm was pretty scratched. "Did you get the make of the car, buddy?"

"It was one of those Subaru Impreza sporty jobs, white."

"I'll call it in, but I doubt we'll have much luck with it." Con pulled his arm into his waist to support it. "You're driving," he said, "Fenton, my friend, looking after you is turning into a full-time occupation. I'm requesting a bonus at the end of this!" He handed the keys over.

Fenton slipped behind the wheel and shoved the key into the ignition just as his phone beeped. He lifted himself up and extracted it from his pocket to access the message. "What the…?" he muttered, gazing at the screen.

"What is it?" Con asked, struggling with his seatbelt as his left arm wouldn't cooperate.

On autopilot, Fenton reached across his friend's body and pulled the belt down for him until Con could take over. "I've got a message from Joe's phone," Fenton said.

"But Joe's phone was…"

"…taken off him." Fenton finished and hit the green button. "Ohhh, this is beautiful, these guys are a real class act. Listen to this: Enjoy your trip? Make Frank Hardy give the key up voluntarily. If we have to force it from him, he'll get worse than Joe Hardy. This is a promise, not a warning. For the sake of your son's health, cooperate with us."

Con took the phone to see the message for himself. "Intimidation by text seems to be another weapon of choice for these guys. No wonder Frank took himself off, I wouldn't want to be a sitting target for them either if I were in his shoes."

Fenton nodded, turned the key and began to reverse out of the parking space, but then had second thoughts and killed the engine. "Something's just occurred to me," he said. "Frank's been acting odd for a for months now, not just weeks. In the office, he and Joe are consummate practical jokers, but of late, Frank's stopped and it's been strictly business only. I thought he was developing a professional attitude and was proud of him, but now I'm not so sure."

"You think Frank's change was due to whatever he's involved with?" Con asked, illustrating his point by offering up the phone.

Fenton sighed. "Maybe. Frank's certainly worked his way through quite a few phones, kept saying that his providers were letting him down. He eventually resorted to a pre-paid cell phone – well, more than one actually."

"Didn't you think that was kind of strange, Fen?"

"Not until now. Frank 'lost' one, and then said that the other phones he bought didn't suit him. He loves his gadgets and he said they didn't offer the functionality he wanted. Now I suspect those were just excuses. What if he'd been receiving threats like this for a while?"

"Then we'd know why the kid is so jumpy and acting so out of character."

"Frank's been distant too, moody, forgetful. But Laura figured that was due to his break-up with Callie. That hit him pretty hard, or appeared to, anyway."

"Buddy, you got a real problem on your hands."

"Ya think?" Fenton turned the engine over, only to immediately kill it again and lay both palms down on the wheel to grip it hard. "Damn it all!"

"You okay?" Con asked as Fenton's head went down onto the wheel.

"I want my son home, I want this over," Fenton muttered.

"I know buddy, I know…"

Frank had indeed gone for his run at the hotel gym and Nancy had decided to go for a swim at the same time. The little sports area was fully glassed and anyone using the pool could see straight through and into its interior. Therefore, Nancy was able to watch him pounding away on the treadmill, head down, watching the monitor, his mouth set in a determined line. He appeared totally centred.

Nancy hadn't actually told him she was going for a swim. By the time she'd had the idea, he had already left his room so she just went straight down. She dove right in and started doing lengths up and down, her long lean body cutting steadily through the water.

Nancy had inadvertently startled him later when she paused mid-length in front of his window to lean her elbows on the edge of the pool to watch. He'd looked up, finally noticing she was there and was so surprised that he lost concentration for a second and had to slam a palm down on the handrail for balance. He grinned and playfully waved a fist.

Now they were facing each other across the breakfast table.

"Right, plan of attack," Frank said, pointing at his girlfriend with his fork. "We hit the stores to find some appropriate gear, and then later, we hit the Spirit of Oceanus club and search for that piece of the code."

"Oh joy! Clothes shopping with a man who actually wants to participate!" Nancy said jubilantly, lightly clapping her hands.

"I wouldn't go quite that far!" Frank disagreed. "More out of a sense of need than any sense of enjoyment."

"When we get there, we should stick by the pool-come-dance floor. I suspect that the portion of the code will be somewhere in that general vicinity."

"I hope you're right." Frank said. "I don't want to spend the entire evening searching all over that ship...or for clothes," he added and made a face.

Frank escorted Nancy up to the gangway entrance to the club, a possessive hand on her elbow. The ship wasn't actually that big. As a floating hotel, there was probably enough space for 120 guests or so, and the club itself was able to hold 200. Frank was relieved they'd opted to pre-order their entrance tickets or they might have had problems getting in. Judging by the crowds waiting to enter, it was a popular venue. He stole another peek at his girlfriend, as he had been doing since she'd come through the connecting door into his room.

Nancy's appearance had taken his breath away. She was wearing a short dress, which had a black lace outer layer, draped over a cream silk underlining. This she had partnered with a pair of knee high boots, with heels that were at least three inches high and nearly brought her up to his height. On top she had an ankle length black jacket that played around her long legs as she walked. Her shiny hair tumbled about her shoulders in loose curls and her lips and cheeks had just a hint of glitter about them.

"Wow!" was all he could think to utter.

"Wow, yourself!" she said in response, looking him up and down lasciviously.

He was in dark, well-fitted jeans that just hugged in the right places and showed off his long legs to their best vantage. Over this he wore a dark shirt and a jacket that hugged his waist in and took full advantage of his broad shoulders, giving him a classic 'V' shape. He'd rubbed a dab of wax through his hair so it had a spiked and shiny finish.

"I'm one lucky girl!" Nancy said.

Leading Nancy into the club, Frank was only too aware of the looks she was attracting from the men who were waiting outside. Their carefully coiffured appearances certainly seemed to do the trick as they were instantly hustled forward by the doorman, bypassing a rather large crowd of miffed looking young people who regarded them with envious eyes.

"Look at this place!" Nancy whispered as they pushed through the doors and into the enclosed space.

The sports deck of the ship had been completely turned over to the club. The traditional dividing walls had been replaced with Roman style pillars and there were Grecian style murals adorning every inch of wall space. Half the tables were glass topped with each having a mosaic of a different Greek image underneath. The remaining tables were hardwood trestle types, carved into intricate gothic styles.

And at the far end, towards the stern of the ship was the covered pool that they'd been seeking; a number of bodies were already gyrating on the top of it. At each corner was a horn of plenty with flames licking out of the top, doubling as patio heaters.

Frank slipped his arm about her waist. "Come on," he said, "let's get a drink, I need something to centre my mind." He led her to the bar area which was carved similarly to the dark wood tables, the top gold leafed and lacquered. There were several staff waiting behind, dressed in toga type outfits. Nancy burst out laughing at the sight of them.

"Oh dear," she said, "The girls look okay, but the guys – it's just wrong on so many levels!"

Frank snickered. "What would you like?" he asked and then attracted the attention of one of the staff and ordered for them both. They took their drinks and sat down at a table by the open end of the room not far from the pool.

"This search might take a bit longer than we thought it would," Nancy observed. "There's references to Oceanus all over the place."

"You're not kidding," Frank agreed, taking a swig from his beer bottle and scanning the room. "Even this table's got crab-claws carved into it."

"Oh yeah!" Nancy said, noticing for the first time. She ducked down and looked underneath. Rising again she said "Nope, no code." In her hand was a penlight.

"You really didn't expect it to be that easy, did you?" Frank asked and then noticed what she had in her fingers. "Hang on, where did you magic-up the flashlight from?"

"Down here," Nancy said and tucked it back down the front of her dress behind her bra.

Frank's mouth dropped open. "You're unbelievable!" he said.

"Yes I am." She toasted him with her glass and then sucked through the straw and stared at him. "Five years," she suddenly said, touching his bottle lightly with her drink.

"Five years…what?"

"It's taken us five years to get to this point. Why so long?"

Frank considered what she said carefully. "That's an easy one. It's because we're so thick skinned," he decided and grinned. "And Joe constantly wound me up about you, so I guess I was being stubborn to prove him wrong."

Nancy narrowed her eyes. "Wait till I see that boy again. I'm going to poke him right in the stitches!" she growled.

"Whoa! Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you!" Frank laughed. "Come on," he said and grabbed her hand. "Let's dance," and dragged her towards the dance floor where he immediately corkscrewed his way into the swarming throng and disappeared.

She followed closely behind, pushing through bodies until she found him again in the middle. He immediately grabbed her and pulled her in close so they were moving in time with one another. What he was actually doing was turning them both slowly about the floor and looking down trying to spot something that could be a portion of a code.

Frank suddenly took Nancy's hand and spun her until her back was to him and then he put his forearm across her front and held her tightly. Dropping his head, he talked directly into her ear above the music: "I don't think the code is actually on the dance floor itself," he shouted.

"I agree," she hollered back, "But I'm enjoying the thrill of the hunt!"

Frank nodded. "Yeah, I can think of worse jobs!" He kissed her neck and pushed Nancy forward while keeping hold of her wrist. She ended up spinning 180 degrees before he then pulled her into him again and locked an arm into the small of her back to steady her and making her laugh. "Not sure Joe would have enjoyed that move quite so much, Drew!" he joked.

Looking up, he spotted a guy standing in the doorway of the covered area. He had his eyes levelled on Nancy. Frank didn't much like the expression on his face, so he moved them both backwards into the crowd again so the man could no longer see her and Frank couldn't see him. By the time they'd manoeuvred their way back again, Frank couldn't spot him any longer and that suited him just fine.

The club was pretty much full to capacity by the time Frank and Nancy exited the dance floor; giggling and excessively hotter than when they'd started dancing. Frank went immediately to the bar area and ordered them both another drink. When he returned to Nancy, he again spotted the stranger, who was now standing just a little way from her, looking like he was trying to pluck up the courage to approach. Frank handed Nancy her drink and levelled his gaze on him until the guy realised Frank was sending him a non-verbal warning. He immediately turned on his heels and walked away to the other side of the room. "Good riddance!" Frank thought.

"Let's have a look at some of the pictures on these tables," Nancy suggested.

They mingled about the room, smiling at people and glancing down at the designs on each table. Nancy was giving Frank lessons on Greek mythology as they went along, pointing out and naming many of the portrayed characters. If they saw anything that referred to Oceanus, they immediately stopped and gave the table the once over with Nancy's flashlight. Eventually they were at the last one.

"That image is nothing to do with Oceanus – it's Europa and the bull, the bull being Zeus in disguise, of course."

"Oh…of course, I recognised the family resemblance!" Frank agreed, crossing his eyes. "This search is turning into a bit of a jaunt! Why don't you go and get the next round of drinks in – but only mineral water for me this time. I need to visit the bathroom. And afterwards, we'll have a rethink."

"Okay."

They parted company and Nancy went to the bar and ordered them both water and then turned to stand with her back to the counter and watch the dancers on the floor. Her gaze drifted across to the tables and eventually she started looking at the various representations on the walls, many of them having been 'borrowed' from various famous paintings. Suddenly, she realised her eyes had settled on a framed painting on the far wall. It stood out compared to the other artwork, as it hadn't been painted as a mural straight onto the wall.

She pushed herself away from the bar and approached it. As she got closer, it became clear that it was a montage of various Greek gods and goddesses. Once she was face-to-face with it, she could clearly see that Oceanus was in the foreground, his familiar crab-claws waving at her.

Excitedly, she scanned the picture for something that might be a clue as to the piece of the code they were seeking. Just off to the right of the picture, she came across a very small brass plaque. In black letters the following was etched upon it: 'Kindly donated to the club by Professor Hope: 4910'.

"YES!" she cried out in celebration, louder than she meant to.

"Yes, what?" a voice asked, close to her ear.

She jumped and turned to find a man standing there. He was positioned too close for her liking, trespassing in her comfort zone, so she stepped sideways away from him. He immediately put his hand against the wall up against her shoulder to stop her.

"Excuse me," she said and made to move in the other direction and push him away.

"Hey, not so fast, good lookin'!" he said and gripped her upper arm to stop her leaving and leered at her.

Nancy looked him in the eye and raised herself to her full height. His face was so close she could smell his alcohol-laced breath. "I'm not interested," she said, "I'm with someone and he won't be happy if he finds you here when he gets back. He's not the kind of guy you tussle with, so I'd back off if I were you!"

"Aw come on, Pretty Boy ain't here right now. So what about just one dance?"

"I don't…"

"…A kiss then?" and before Nancy could react, he put his hand under her jaw to hold her steady and was leaning forward to slobber all over and in her mouth. She pushed him roughly away and screamed: "I said BACK OFF!"

Nancy had shoved him enough to be able to see that Frank was now striding from the men's room across the floor towards them. His head was down, but his eyes were trained like lasers on the man's back – eyes that were dangerous, dark, forbidding and full of wrath. His hands were curled tightly into large, hard fists.

Quickly reaching them, Frank grabbed the man by his jacket and wrenched him free of his girlfriend and then hoisted him physically into the air by the scruff of the neck and trouser belt and slammed him down onto one of the wooden tables. The patrons who'd been sitting there had the forethought of mind to jump back away and lift their drinks up as the man landed with a thunderous crash. Frank pulled his arm back and delivered a round-house punch straight across the man's cheek, so hard that Frank scraped his knuckles against the man's teeth on the way through.

There were a couple of screams, but also quite a few claps.

Frank yanked the man's head forward and shouted: "No one treats my girl like that, pal!!" hitting each word home with a jabbing finger into his face. Then he dropped him back down and hit him again.

Nancy wiped her lips with the back of her hand and felt like vomiting, she could swear she tasted his rancid breath in her mouth. She saw that security were heading in their direction and fully expected that she and Frank would now be ejected from the club. Especially as Frank was still in the throws of teaching the guy a lesson in common decency!

She watched as Frank's arm raised itself again to hit the guy a third time, but a member of the security team was already there and caught Frank's fist before it could finish it's downward arc, he put the other hand on his shoulder and pulled him gently away – whereas his colleagues dragged the semi-conscious man up from the table in a less than respectful manner. Nancy was somewhat relieved because if they'd tried to manhandle her boyfriend in a similar fashion they would have had another fight on their hands as she could tell that his anger had yet to abate.

All this action took mere seconds, but to Nancy, it seemed like minutes.

One of the security team said to Frank. "Nice save. We've had our eye on him all evening. We were on our way over when we realised your girlfriend was in trouble." He turned to Nancy, "Are you all right miss?"

Nancy was still grimacing and wiping her lips with a tissue she had accepted from one of the other girls who was now standing supportively close. "No, but I will be." she glared at the man. "I warned you!"

"Would you like us to call the cops and have him charged?"

Nancy glanced at Frank who was glowering, obviously looking for an excuse to jump the man again. She rested a calming hand on his upper arm feeling that his muscles were still tightly flexed. "No, just get rid of him before my boyfriend does him any more damage."

On her instruction, the man was hauled away towards the front doors, holding an obviously broken and bloody nose.

Frank laid concerned hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay – what a jerk!"

"I shouldn't have left you, I noticed him watching you earlier on, I'm sorry."

"It's hardly your fault!" Nancy argued. "Some guys just don't know when to back off," she said. "I know it sounds horrible, but being a girl, you kinda come to expect that kind of behaviour. Usually you can avoid it, but just occasionally…" and then she was inexplicably blinking back tears.

Frank put his arms around her and drew her to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered again.

Eventually, she released herself. "I'm just going to the bathroom, I need to swill my mouth out," she said, cringing and left him. The girl who'd given Nancy the tissue followed close behind with a concerned expression and caught up with her at the door. They exchanged a few words and then they went in together.

Once they'd disappeared from view, Frank headed for the bathroom himself again, one of the other partygoers slapping him on the shoulder as he passed.

As soon as he was through the swing door Frank crashed into one of the cubicles and locked it. He put the lid down on the pan, sank down and buried his fingers into his dark hair. Seconds later he was sitting up straighter and frowning, looking at his hands in confusion as they began to shake.

Frank didn't understand what had just happened. He knew he'd just lost total control out there, seen a red haze and that just wasn't like him. He couldn't even recall having hit the guy. One second he was walking out the bathroom and seeing Nancy in trouble, and the next thing he knew, he was being hauled off him. Something was badly wrong, the only problem was he really couldn't afford to 'not feel right', didn't have the time. If he could only take his foot off the gas for just a couple of days so as to recharge his batteries, catch his breath...

"Pull yourself together, Hardy!"

Gripping his hands into tight fists, he gritted his teeth and willed them to cease trembling and seconds later they obeyed and steadied. He rubbed hard between his eyes and took a deep breath before he trusted himself enough to leave the enclosed space. He went to the sink and ran the skinned knuckles of his right hand under the faucet until the water ran clear and then dried them with a paper towel and left.

He exited the room just before Nancy and the girl who'd accompanied her reappeared. Both girls hugged and Nancy's new friend then went back to her group. Frank could see that Nancy's face was now scrubbed clean.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" he asked.

"Yes please."

They wrapped their arms around one another and walked towards the main doors and out on the gangway. Down on the road, Frank hailed a cab and they both climbed into the back. "I'll come back tomorrow and have another look for that code on my own," Frank said, allowing Nancy to snuggle into his chest. "Maybe they'll let me in during the morning so I can have a look in the day light."

"Oh! I forgot…" Nancy said, instantly perking up, "…I found the code. There was a framed painting that had been given to the club by Professor Hope. Next to it was a brass plate and it had the numbers 4910."