Chapter 22

The next morning, Nancy found Frank sitting out on his balcony, his feet braced against the railings and talking into the blue cell phone. He winked and carried on speaking for a few more seconds before thanking whomever it was and disconnecting the call.

"You feeling better this morning?" he asked her.

"I think so. My gums are a bit sore though," she said, her hand involuntarily rising to her lips, "I think I must have scrubbed my teeth for about 20 minutes when we got back last night and then another 20 this morning – and I still think I can taste and smell that creep on me!"

Frank arose from his chair, discarded his phone on the patio table and purposefully walked up to her. Before she could say anything, he cupped her face and kissed her gently, giving it a good few seconds before he stopped. "There," he said, "Taste that instead."

"Mmm, much better," Nancy sighed, her eyes still closed. Frank took advantage by going in for second helpings.

Nancy finally opened her eyes, her fingertips making scrambling movements on his chest. "I've decided I quite like you, Frank Hardy."

"Well, I'm glad, cause I think you're pretty swell too."

Finally, they let go of one another and headed out onto the balcony to lean on the rail and look down at the pool.

"You're a nurturer, aren't you?" Nancy ventured.

"What do you mean?"

"You look after everyone and you make sure they're okay."

Frank pursed his lips. "Well…that's my job. After all, I am the oldest."

Nancy squinted up at him into the sun. "How is it your job?" she asked. "We're all big enough to look after ourselves."

Frank shrugged his shoulders. "It's just the way it's always been. Joe takes the chances and the hunches, and I look out for him to keep his wildness in check."

Nancy hooked her arm into his. "It's not just Joe though, is it? It's everyone." She leaned her chin against his arm. "Well, I think you put too much pressure on yourself to be the guardian. You should be a bit selfish every now and again. Maybe then, you wouldn't have permanently skinned knuckles."

"That guy deserved what I did to him," Frank growled, "He was lucky I only got the chance to sock him a few times. No one messes with my girl! And anyway, it's Joe who has the knuckle problem, not me."

Nancy squeezed his arm. "You're missing him though, aren't you, Hardy?"

"Of course I am!" Frank said. "Without Joe, it's like my right arm's been cut off." There was a pause and then he took her hand. "But then, we wouldn't be together if I'd included him in on my little secret."

Nancy was quick to smooth over Frank's unfounded fear that he'd inadvertently hurt her feelings by implying that their temporary working partnership wasn't up to par with the one he shared with Joe. She'd understood exactly what he'd meant – he'd been working with Nancy for a blip of a time, he'd worked with Joe forever and he and Joe had shared so much. It would have been peculiar if Frank had been less than 100 loyal to his brother.

"I think there was an inevitability to 'us' anyway," Nancy said. "It would have happened one way or the other, fate has a way of interceding in these things. As for us working together…" she patted his arm, "I'm a solo flyer, so don't worry about that."

Frank was looking off into the distance. "Perhaps Joe wouldn't have gotten hurt if I'd let him in, but I was shielding him. The irony of course is that by doing that, I ended up doing the opposite. I nearly got him killed." His brow furrowed. "I've made some interesting choices of late, that's for sure. If I think too hard, my brain hurts."

There was a short silence as Nancy pondered what he'd just said. "Frank, I think you should contact your father," she finally said, evenly.

"…What, why?" Frank asked.

"I think the situation has moved on to such an extent that it makes no difference whether your dad is involved or not. The 'bad-guys' are going to continue attacking your father and Joe whether they're in the loop or not."

"No, no way! I don't want them in the loop, it's too dangerous. This is my problem and I'm sorting it out."

"It's not just your problem any more, Frank, it's all of our problem. Plus, I'm worried about you, you're starting to react like Joe, no, worse than that; you're not seeing the woods for the trees."

"Stop it, Nancy…"

"You're not thinking straight or logically and that's not like you, not like you at all."

"That is total bull!" Frank protested. "If I bring Dad or Joe into the investigation fully, the gang might get the impression that they know more then they do and I'm not putting them in that position. You know what they did to my brother!"

"But there's safety in numbers."

"No Nan, it's not happening…"

"But you don't mind me being in that position, though, of being in the firing line?" Nancy asked quickly.

"You're not in 'that position', they don't know you're with me."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"Well, leave if you don't feel safe…"

"That's not the point I'm making. Can't you see the ridiculousness of your logic? You're refusing to involve your father because it's too dangerous for him, but you seem quite content to juggle with my safety."

"I'm not juggling with your safety, and I'm not happy about it either!"

"So what are you doing then? You don't need me here, you can find the code on your own can't you?"

Frank frowned. "Of course I can…"

"Well then, why am I here?"

"I need you…" Frank blurted out, and then trailed off.

"Need me for what?" Nancy coaxed, taking his hand.

"I need you here because I…it's like…I mean…stop it, you're confusing me, Nan, stop pushing it. I've got enough going on in my head, babe!" Frank twisted away, and stormed through into the bathroom via the bedroom.

Nancy followed straight after him. "Frank, I'm sorry…" But he'd already shut the door on her. She tried the handle, but he'd locked it. "Frank? Please open up, I didn't mean to freak you out. Talk to me, you're scaring me."

"Give me a minute!" Frank yelled back.

Nancy went and sat on the bed to wait, and a little while later Frank emerged again. Before she could say anything, and without looking at her, Frank adeptly sidestepped the issue by saying: "We need to pack up. I've booked the Double Ds to take us on to Orlando. It'll only be a quick flight, but if we'd driven, it would have taken us over six hours and I'd rather get there as quickly as possible. If we go by air, we can theoretically be at Universal Studios by no later than 1.00 p.m. if there are no delays."

"Good plan," Nancy agreed, slowly, deciding not to push him further for the time being. "Have we time for breakfast?"

"Yep," he said, stiffly.

Three hours later they were in the air again. Nancy was still totally perturbed by the whole near-argument that she'd had with Frank. They'd gone down to breakfast, and within minutes, it had been almost as though their heated debate had never happened. Even though she'd tried to draw Frank into a discussion about it, he'd avoided the topic at all costs and she'd been forced to eventually give up.

"You both got plans?" Danny shouted from the front, interrupting Nancy's thoughts.

"Tourist stuff mostly," Frank vaguely answered.

Danny nodded. "Weather is good, so you picked a fine day."

"So we've been led to understand," Nancy agreed.

Presently, Doug was taking the Cessna down onto the runway at Orlando International Airport. Then it seemed mere minutes before they were being accompanied back through the airport again by Danny and Doug.

Doug grasped 'Phillip's' hand. "We'll see you both tomorrow morning to take you back to Bayport," he said.

"Yes, we'll see you then," Frank agreed and he and Nancy waved as the two men moved off through the concourse. "Come on," Frank finally said once they were out of earshot, "I've booked us a rental car. Let's go and have a look at this Poseidon's Fury attraction."

"Some habits die hard, huh?" Nancy asked later, staring questioningly at the red car.

"I have standards to uphold!" Frank agreed with a grin. "But seriously, I didn't rent a convertible for that reason. I'd rather drive something I'm familiar with and it's better in an emergency."

"But a red one…was the color really a necessity? Is it because it makes you go faster?" Nancy asked, feigning bewilderment. She tipped her head on one side and put the tip of her finger between her teeth.

"Of course not! It's just…well…because I…" finally he realised that he was being heartily teased, so he grabbed her round the waist and pretended to throw her into the road, making her screech. "I just like the color, all right, Drew? Now get in and stop being a smart mouth!"

Presently they were picking up signs to the Universal Island of Adventure resort. Arriving at the front entrance, Frank went to valet parking and let them take the car. Afterwards, Frank said to Nancy: "Mr Hardiman is going to be so pleased when he realises all the expense we've gone to in his name for this trip!"

Frank paid their entrance fee and they pushed their way through the turnstiles. Nancy grabbed a map of the attractions and led Frank to a bench where they sat down and unfolded the document. "Okay, it looks as though we need to make our way to the right and pass through the Suess Landing attraction. Poseidon's Fury is on the other side as part of The Lost Continent.

It was quite a slog to The Lost Continent but there was plenty to see and they became sidetracked on many occasions, but eventually they went through a gateway and there was the attraction in front of them. They stopped a marshal and asked specifically to be directed to the fibreglass arm that was holding the trident aloft.

He regarded at them a bit strangely as their enthusiasm seemed a bit out of place for two twenty-somethings when everyone else seemed to be parents accompanying children. But placing his prejudices to one side, he pointed and Nancy and Frank thanked him and headed in the direction he'd indicated.

Finally, they could see it – massive and giving the impression that it had been carved out of pure rock. It was being used as an arch across a pathway. One side of the archway consisted of a huge forearm; the other was the handle of the trident. They approached it and stood beneath, staring up.

"I really hope the code isn't right up there," Frank said, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun.

"So do I, but I doubt it. Professor Hope wouldn't have been able to get that high." Nancy figured.

"Okay, you take the arm and I'll take the trident and I'll meet you back here," Frank said and left her.

He went about scanning the outside of the sculpture, surveying high as well as low. He was about half way around the circumference when something caught his attention – the sun was bouncing off something shiny. He reversed and stood back to look up. Just above head height was a small brass plaque, not unlike what Nancy had described was next to the painting on The Spirit of Oceanus. It looked like it had been stuck on in a rush because it wasn't straight and he could see glue had seeped out from the back of it. He wouldn't have seen it at all if it hadn't been for the sun's rays.

This plaque too bore black letters, but this time there was nothing else written other than 'Hope – 6843'. He took off around the sculpture to find Nancy and brought her back to show her.

"Well done!" she said. "I wouldn't have seen that, I'm too short. But your extra height probably did the trick!"

"Two down, two to go," Frank said. "Now let's get out of here, the noise all these kids are making is giving me a headache." He clutched his ears and burst out laughing as another child ran past them, screaming like a banshee.

Vanessa approached Joe's room and bumped into Con coming out. "Hi Con," she greeted him. "Was your wrist sprained in the end?" she asked.

"Yes it is," he answered, "but nothing that won't heal and it's my left hand, so no big deal."

"That's good. Are Joe and Fenton there?" she asked.

"No, Fenton's just gone to get his dressing changed. I'm going to join him, I don't want to let him out of sight after yesterday's latest attempt."

"Okay, I'll sit with Joe then, in that case. I'll see you in a little while," she said and entered the room.

Joe sat up straighter in his bed when she entered. "Did you get those clothes I asked for?" he asked.

She held up a bag she was carrying. "Yep." She dipped down to open up the cabinet at the bottom of Joe's nightstand and shoved it inside, next to the other mysterious backpack. "I had to buy you a new black pullover, Frank had stolen your other one. Will you need anything else, do you think?" she asked.

Joe gave it some consideration. "No, I don't think so. It's just a waiting game now." He eyed Vanessa thoughtfully, "Frank stole my pullover, huh? He'll be getting billed for the new one!"