Chapter 25

It didn't take long for help to arrive for Nancy. Within seconds of her car hitting the wall, the passenger's door was opened and someone was leaning over her. She opened her eyes and fought against the impending fog to communicate with the person, to try and tell them that she needed to see Fenton, but it was only when the face loomed above her that she realised it was the man she'd been fleeing from. She weakly punched out at him and pushed him away, but he was far stronger and was effectively pulling her from the car. Eventually a nurse came running out of the building to see what the noise had been.

"What on earth's happened?" Nancy heard her ask. "Let me through."

The man was pushed aside and Nancy saw her friendly face. "Don't let him take me," she begged.

"What was that?"

Nancy repeated her request: "…don't let him take me."

The nurse looked confused.

"She's my wife," she heard the man say to the nurse. "She has these episodes and does stupid things like this. Let me take her home and I'll call her own doctor to come and have a look at her. It might be that her dose needs adjusting."

Nancy clutched at the nurse. "No, don't listen to him!"

More hospital staff were now filing out of the front entrance.

Something in Nancy's countenance and the man's demeanour must have sent a warning signal to the nurse because she suddenly said to the man. "Stand aside sir, I'm going to take your wife in and have her examined, that looks like a nasty bump on her head."

The man wasn't going to give in without a fight. "Damn it! She's is my wife and I'm taking her." He pushed through and began attempting to physically lift Nancy from off the seat.

"No sir, you're not," said the nurse firmly, positioning herself as a human barrier between and batting his arms away, "and if you don't stand down, I'll have security come and remove you from the premises."

Finally, the man got back into his car and left.

Nancy felt herself finally being lifted with safe hands from the car and laid down on the ground. She kept on repeating "Get Fenton Hardy for me," but no one seemed to be listening to her, or they just plain couldn't understand her – or perhaps she just thought she was saying it. Finally, she slipped into unconsciousness despite fighting inevitability all the way.

Joe was asleep and Fenton and Vanessa were talking in low murmuring voices just under the window when a small, black car hit the outside of the building. The sound immediately jolted Joe awake and Fenton nearly fell off his seat.

"Holy cow!" Joe uttered, giving his side a gentle rub. He resentfully glared across at the window to see what had made the terrific noise that had caused him to pull his stitches. "Someone forgot what brakes are for!" he sarcasmed.

Fenton and Vanessa both stood up as one to watch.

"The snow makes people drive like crazy fools," Fenton agreed.

"Hospitals are so much more exciting places to be than they appear!" Vanessa said.

They watched as another vehicle drove up and a man exited to try and remove the driver from the stricken car. Eventually a nurse came out and interceded.

"Look at him arguing with the nurse, what an idiot!" Joe said.

Con stuck his head around the door. "What was that loud noise, friends?"

"Come see for yourself," said Joe. "Why are you still here, Con?"

"I'm not still here, I was bringing in one of my officers who took a tumble in the snow and busted his head open." He walked up and joined Fenton to see what was mesmerising them. "Would you look at that? Looks like a domestic to me...I think I'd better go and do my duty." he said and left again.

As Fenton, Joe and Vanessa watched, the man who was arguing with the nurse eventually looked up and seemed to realise he was being observed by them and immediately got back into his vehicle and left.

Whoever it was in the car was lifted out onto the ground, emergency staff swarming around and blocking their view. Eventually the person was switched to a gurney before being wheeled inside.

"Here comes Con," Joe muttered, fascinated, as their friend appeared through the back entrance, walked right past the gurney without looking at it and drew one of the security personnel into a conversation. After a good few seconds of chat, they walked slowly around the car together and the guard opened the driver's door and reached in to pluck the keys from the ignition. Then Con got his phone out and made a call. He stood back and looked at the car's registration number, obviously calling it in. Then he suddenly looked very surprised and ran towards Joe's window, indicating that Fenton should open it.

"What is it?" Fenton asked once he'd managed to release the catch.

"That's one of Carson Drew's lease cars," Con said. "A girl was driving it, they've taken her inside!"

Vanessa shifted her gaze to Joe knowingly and he exchanged her look.

"What about Frank?" Joe asked.

"Just a girl, no one else."

"Stay here Vanessa," Fenton requested and pushed the window back shut again before dashing from the room. He could hear Con calling Nancy's name down the other end of the corridor and ran in that direction. He stopped a member of staff on the way. "A girl's just been bought in who just crashed her car into the building, where is she?"

Appreciating the urgency in Fenton's tone, the orderly beckoned and ran alongside him into the ER area. They jogged down some curtained off areas and the orderly pulled one aside. Sure enough, there was Nancy, lying in a comatose state.

Fenton went to her side. "Nancy, are you awake?" he asked, leaning over her, but got no response. She had an egg-sized swelling forming on her forehead.

Con appeared at the curtains. "It is her," he said.

"Yes, but where's my son?" Fenton asked.

A nurse approached them. "Her husband was here earlier, he wanted to take her home, but I stopped him. He was pretty out of control I'm afraid, I almost called Security."

"That wasn't my son, this girl isn't married." He picked up Nancy's hand, "Look, see, no rings. You made a good decision in not letting him take her."

The nurse's face took on a shocked but relieved expression.

Con turned to the nurse and showed her his police I.D. "Is there anything you can give her to help her come round quicker, we really need to talk to her?"

"No, nature has to take its course, I'm afraid, you'll have to wait. I'll get a doctor for you though."

Presently, a female doctor entered the cubicle and performed a rudimentary examination. "Her pupils are even and reactive, so I don't think she's fractured her skull or done anything as serious as that." She gave Nancy a hard pinch on the arm and said her name loudly to see if she could provoke a response. "You'll just have to wait I'm afraid. I've got other patients to see, but let me know when she wakes up so I can check her over again." She left the cubicle and pulled the curtain across.

"Looks like we're in for a wait," Con said and left. Returning a few seconds later with two plastic, stacking chairs. He gave one to Fenton and sat down on the opposite side of the gurney to his friend.

"Coffee?" Fenton suggested and went to the vending machine. After he returned, he passed a styrofoam cup to Con and they both settled in for however long it would take for Nancy to come to her senses again.

Ten minutes later, the coffee was drunk, and Fenton was starting to allow doubts to creep treacherously into his mind. "What do you reckon, Con? Do you think we were jumping to too many conclusions in assuming Nancy and Frank are working together?"

"I don't think so, Fen. Why else would someone be so interested in taking her from a crash scene if she wasn't involved in something big? As Joe said, she's not worked with any of you for over twelve months, so there'd be no reason for the gang to think she's worth kidnapping."

"True – but of course, Nancy could be working on something else entirely. That man might not have been connected to the gang who are interested in Frank."

Con snorted. "What? So, let me get this straight, Fen. You reckon Nancy's working on something on her own…which just happens to be in Bayport? So I suppose by your reckoning, she was just genuinely 'mistaken' when she told Vanessa that Laura had told her about Joe being shot? And then – and this is the clincher – she also just happened to have been walking past the hospital at the same time as Frank, when Joe was almost lambasted by his own IV drip?" Con half smiled. "Come on, buddy, you have to admit, you're stretching those coincidences a little far!"

Fenton's mouth dropped open. "All right! There's no need for sarcasm, sheesh!"

Con went to rib him some more, but then Nancy muttered the word 'Frank' and her hand twitched.

Fenton immediately left his chair and dropped the side of the trolley to perch on the edge of the gurney and coax her. "Nancy, honey – come on young lady, wake up, you've got stuff you need to be doing."

Her eyes slid open and she began to focus on him.

"Hi Nancy. You've been in a bit of an accident, do you remember?"

She stared at him for a few more seconds, and then the shock of what had happened must have come crashing in because she threw her arms around Fenton's neck and the tears came rushing forth.

"Whoa, come on Nancy, this isn't like you" Fenton said, gently holding and rocking her, feeling her trembling. "It's okay, sweetheart – it's all been a bit of a shock, hasn't it? Con's going to go and get a doctor for you but I'm not going to leave," he promised.

"They've got Frank!" she said as Con was leaving the cubicle, causing him to pause mid-stride and visually lock on to Fenton – this was the unverbalized threat that they'd both been dreading hearing. He squeezed Fenton's shoulder and carried on out to find the doctor.

"We have to help him," she continued and everything came rushing forth from her mouth at once. "He's in terrible trouble. He wouldn't tell me where he'd hidden the key, but I think Joe will be able to help me work it out and then we can go and get him back. I want him back, Fenton; I don't want to lose him now! I don't want him found at the foot of the some cliffs!"

Fenton couldn't hope to fully understand every jabbering word Nancy was saying, but he wasn't going to start questioning her now, time was obviously of the essence. "Okay, okay, let the doc have a look at you first, and then we'll go and see Joe."

Con returned with the doctor who gave Nancy another checking over. By this time, Nancy was in control and had ceased her show of high emotion. Although the doctor didn't want to let her patient leave, Nancy was still insistent that she had to see Joe and she had to see him immediately. Fenton wasn't about to allow the doctor to dissuade her otherwise.

"Okay, let's go," said Fenton, and helped her off the bed. She was pretty wobbly and her knees still wouldn't hold her weight, so Con ran around and swept her up into his arms, despite his sprained wrist.

"Come on, you're coming with me," said the lieutenant and they started moving quickly in the direction of Joe's room.

"Where have you been?" Joe shouted, seriously annoyed as Fenton came through the door. "I've been sitting here like a lemon for half an hour wondering what's going on, don't you…" he stopped in surprise.

"Nancy!" Vanessa exclaimed.

Con had followed Fenton through the door closely behind, still carrying Nancy. He came around the side of the bed and said: "Joe – shut up and move over."

Joe quickly scooted across and Con laid Nancy down next to him. She immediately grabbed his arm.

"Joe, you have to help me find Frank."

"Why? Nan, what's happened?" he asked, gently examining her forehead.

"They've got him Joe, he exchanged himself for me, and I don't know where they've taken him, but you will."

"No…no, this is not good, not good at all!" he said taking her by the shoulders and helping her to sit up. "Nancy, I wouldn't have any more of a clue than you, Frank didn't tell me anything either…"

"…No, just listen to me Joe," she said interrupting him and curling her legs under herself. "Frank has this memory stick and those men who took you are after him for it. He told me that he's hidden it in a place where you and he once did something illegal and stupid and that you'd nearly gotten caught."

Joe shook his head; not knowing at all what Frank had been referring to, there were so many things they did together that were on-the-edge and barely legal.

Nancy tried prompting his memory again: "I don't think you were on a case, I think this was something you did when you were kids. He said that you both would have been grounded for life if you'd been found out."

And then Joe knew exactly what his brother had been referring to:

They'd been barely 13 or 14 when they dared each other to break into the principal's office at school and leave something in the safe – an apple for the teacher. It was a bit of a thrill to work out the combination at the time, but they'd almost got caught when the principal's secretary had returned and they'd had to hide under the desk until she'd left and they could beat a hasty retreat out through the window. It had scared them enough not to try a stunt like that again and they certainly never told anyone about it.

"I haven't thought about that for years." Joe said. He looked at his father. "I know where they've taken him, it's to our old high school. To the principal's office – to the safe."

"Come on, let's go," Fenton said to Con and went for his jacket. "You kids stay here."

"Not without me you're not," said Nancy firmly, "and we're hardly kids now!"

"You're in no fit state," Con argued.

"You don't understand – this is not up for negotiation. I have to come with you, I have the last part of a code that Frank was looking for, if he doesn't have it, he can't stop Pandora," she turned to Joe despairingly.

"Pandora's the game, right?" Vanessa asked.

"Yes, but that's just a disguise. Frank's been looking after a memory stick that contains the other half of Pandora's programming and he's had it for months. He told me that if the two halves of the programme are ever introduced, Pandora could then be activated and used to cause a world-wide cataclysmic event – cyber terrorism. If I can get to the memory stick in time, either I or Frank can destroy the programme before it gets into the wrong hands."

"You were right, Vanessa," Joe said, and then addressed Nancy again: "How on earth did my brother become involved?" he asked.

"Through The Network, Mr Gray."

Joe groaned. "I should have guessed he'd have something to do with it. He was always able to yank Frank's chain. My brother was always such a good little corporate soldier boy!"

Nancy nodded in agreement. "Not any more after this!"

"Everything's starting to make sense now," Joe sighed.

Con and Fenton frowned at one another. They'd never heard the term 'Network' before, other than as a reference to meetings or computers.

"I wish it was making sense to me," Con muttered.

"You and me both," Fenton agreed.

Nancy was continuing. "Joe, a Network agent saved your life that night. He was working undercover and had infiltrated the gang. When you were up on your feet after being shocked that final time, he put the safety catch on the gun before he aimed it at you. It was a simple thing, but it allowed you time to escape." She stopped and swallowed, her eyes starting to swim with frustrated tears. "Tonight, they killed him. They took him to the cliffs above Barmet Bay, and while I was in the mini-van, they threw him off. Frank hasn't any backup now, none whatsoever and I don't want anything like that happening to him – I want him back!"

They locked eyes, and with that one single look, recognised they had a huge thing in common, and that thing was their love for Frank Hardy. Yes, they'd been thrust by him into something out of their control, and lesser people would have been angry at being forced into such a dangerous situation against their will, but this was Frank doing the pushing and they knew he would never have done something like that recklessly. Not their Frank, he was the most unselfish person in the world, the kind of person who'd spent his entire short life making sure everyone was safe and well. He'd only involved them out of desperation, and because he'd run out of any other options. If there'd been any other alternatives or doors open to him…

Yes, this was Frank's payback time – he was cashing in all those credits and clawing back those favours. Not that he needed to justify asking for Joe and Nancy's help, they would have been more than happy to do so anyway, he'd more than earned it. Joe and Nancy recognised that they were both singing from the same hymn sheet, and knew they had to stand firm against the seemingly impenetrable force of Fenton Hardy and Con Riley.

Joe hauled Nancy urgently into a hug and she reciprocated. "You and Frank?" he whispered privately in her ear.

She nodded.

"About time too!" he said and smiled.

Without loosening her companiable hold on Joe, she addressed Con and Fenton from over his shoulder. "You need to take me, I have the code and the expertise."

"Tell us what we need to do and we'll make sure it's done," Con said.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Not to put too fine a point on it, you two just don't have the know-how to do this job. I do."

Fenton looked at Con. "You did say that the knowledge you have of computers you could write on the back of a matchbox," he said. "And to be fair, I only know the basics myself."

Vanessa was purposely keeping her mouth shut at this point. It had occurred to her that if she spoke up, someone would latch onto the fact that she could easily do the job for Nancy, but she needed to be available to help Joe.

Joe let go of Nancy with one arm, but kept the other around her shoulder, holding her tightly. "Dad, you have to take her!" he insisted.

Fenton paused for what seemed like a long time, but was probably only a matter of seconds and then looked to Con who gave him an almost imperceptible tilt of the head. Finally, Fenton nodded his acquiesce and said: "Okay Nancy, you're in, but you don't go rushing headlong into anything. You hold back until it's safe for you to act. Do you understand?"

"Agreed," Nancy said, and she and Joe exchanged quick, knowing grins.

Joe turned to Con. "Speaking from experience, you're going to need some serious armed backup, including medical. That gang seriously means business and they won't give Frank up without a war. If it means killing you all to get what they want, they'll do it in the blink of an eye. Surprise is the best weapon you've got right now – they won't be expecting you, so don't squander it."

Fenton looked at Con. "I've just realised that my kids have been slowly growing up without my permission!" he said. "And they've been keeping secrets."