Adding the Network: Chapter Four

-NDHB-

Kip glanced at George asleep on the couch. It was odd these days to see her look so relaxed and peaceful. The phone ringing disturbed that quickly enough. While George woke up, Kip reached for the phone. "Yes," he answered.

"Kip, it's Agent Pierce. I have some bad news. It seems Sophia, Ned, and someone named Melinda escaped from prison earlier today. Apparently they paid off the guards," Elizabeth said.

Kip responded immediately, "Did you call Nancy and Frank yet?"

"It's not my call to make anymore. It's like one in the morning here. You get to call and wake them up," she said hanging up the phone.

"What is it? What happened?" George woke fully, noticing the mood.

"Sophia, Ned, and Melinda escaped," he replied. "Can you call Bess and Joe to tell them? I get to call Nancy and Frank. They're going to hate me."

"Hey, they need to know. Yeah, I'll call," George said, pulling out her phone.

She quickly dialed and listened to the rings. On the third ring, a very groggy Joe picked up, "Do you know what time it is?"

George answered, "No. Sophia, Melinda and Ned escaped today."

Now Joe was awake. "What!" he yelled, waking Bess who was asleep beside him.

At the same time across the room, Kip was dialing Frank's cell. "Frank," he greeted when Frank picked up, "I have bad news."

"What kind of bad news?" Frank asked.

"Sophia, Melinda, and Ned escaped," Kip explained.

-NDHB-

Nancy had somewhat woken up when Frank's phone rang but, when she heard Frank's angry yell, she jumped out of bed, fully awake, "What? What's going on?"

Frank shushed her as he talked to the person on the other end, "How did that happen?", then after a few seconds, "Did you call Bess and Joe?"

The second he slammed his phone shut, Nancy pounced, "Who was that? What's happened?"

Frank knew his face was showing worry so, he explained, "That was Kip. Sophia, Melinda, and Ned escaped from prison."

Frank watched her dash from the room before he reached over to pull out his gun. Frank did not want to have to use it but if he had to he would.

He slid out of the bed and followed Nancy to Michaela's bedroom. "Nan? We can go sleep in the panic room, to be safe," Frank suggested.

Nancy rocked Michaela, "Yeah."

Frank placed his arm around her shoulders and gently squeezed. He could see the thoughts rolling through her head. "You won't have to make that choice. Ned is after Michaela."

Nancy quietly said, "He's after all of us, Frank. He's unstable and…I'm scared of him."

"We're safe here, Nan. The Network will make sure we're safe," calmed Frank.

Nancy punched the code into the safe room. Frank walked into the room behind her and immediately pulled up the security monitors for the entrances. Nancy sat down in the rocking chair with Michaela to try to calm them both down.

She watched as Frank screened the house quickly then moved to the bookshelf to select something to read. That would calm him down, Nancy knew. Where would Ned go? Where could he have complete control? She thought, remembering Bess's profile.

-NDHB-

After Joe hung up the phone he turned to Bess beside him. "Well, Ned escaped. Sophia and Melinda too," he explained.

"That makes sense. Frank what I know of Sophia, she'll follow Ned to the end of the earth. Melinda probably saw Sophia as her escape," Bess predicted. "Ned did it to get to Nancy."

"Great."

"Joe," Bess's voice made him look up, "I know you want to be there. Thank you for staying here with me."

Joe was surprised, "I love you, Bess. I want to be here, It's just…I want to protect my brother."

"I think Frank will be too busy worrying over Nancy to notice if you're next to him or not. Plus, you'll have a baby to deal with here."

Joe grinned at her, "I'm going to get a midnight snack. You want anything?"

"No," Bess answered, "I'm not really hungry-"

"Are you sure, Bess? Usually you're starving right alongside me," he joked.

Bess gasped. She decided Joe was really dense tonight, "Maybe you could get something at the hospital?"

"Why would I…Oh, God," Joe ran into the closet to get the bag they had prepared yesterday. "Are you sure?" he asked seconds later as he stumbled back into the bedroom.

"Yes," Bess answered crankily.

-NDHB-

Ned sat down at the desk. The room was a little too small but he had control of everything in here. His eyes landed on the picture on his screensaver. Nancy smiled up at him. "Hey," he greeted Sophia.

"Hello," Sophia flew across the room to plant a wet kiss on his cheek. "This is Melinda," she introduced.

"Hi," Melinda replied to Ned's inclined head. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Nickerson."

Ned laughed, "She's funny." He turned in his seat to face the computer screen. "Look what I hacked into," he bragged, pulling up the page.

"This is the Network's database. So what?" Sophia asked.

"It's what you found, isn't it, Mr. Nickerson?" Melinda asked.

"Yes. Nancy's mother works for the Network," Ned clicked open Elizabeth Pierce's file

Sophia clarified, "You mean 'worked for the Network,' right?"

"No, her mom is still alive. And," he added, "is in charge of Michaela's security."

-NDHB-

Joe stood beside Bess's bed. She was resting right now. George and Kip joined the happy parents. "How is she?" George asked.

Joe smiled down his daughter in his asleep in his arms. "They're both great. Isn't she beautiful?"

George smile, "She is. Can I hold her?"

Joe handed over his daughter reluctantly, "Hey, Kip, did you reach Frank?"

"No. You can keep trying. What did you name her?" Kip questioned.

"Jacqueline Danielle Hardy," Bess said waking up.

George grinned at her, "Here, you want to hold your daughter?"

Joe's cell phone-which should have been turned of in the hospital-started to ring and Joe flipped it open, "Hey Frank."

"I just got a message from two this morning that made no sense at all. Then I got a message from Kip that said to call you," Frank's voice came through the phone.

"I took Bess to the hospital. I have a beautiful baby girl," he explained.

"Good for you, Joe," Frank congratulated. Joe could hear Frank telling Nancy. Eventually, Joe hung up the phone and reported, "Nan and Frank adopted Michaela."

-NDHB-

Ned glanced over his monitors. There were Frank, Nancy, and Michaela all in one neat package. The Network is losing their touch. It's stupid to put them all together.

"Mr. Nickerson?" Melinda asked.

"Call me 'Ned.' Now, what can I help you with?"

"What, exactly, are we going to do to get back at Nancy and Frank?" she inquired.

Ned grinned maliciously, "I'm glad you asked. …They're going to die. You see, she betrayed me. And he tried to take away my Nancy. Then, they got me stuck in prison."

"So, you're killing them," Sophia clarified as she walked in with coffee.

"Yes. What I need is a more detailed plan," Ned admitted.

For a few minutes, silence ruled as they thought of ways to kill Nancy and Frank. Sophia decided she needed a list; she pulled out a piece of paper. "So, how could we kill them?" she asked.

"We could just go in and shoot them. Disguise it as home invasion gone wrong," suggested Ned.

Melinda added, "If you want, I know a few explosive experts who can get their hands on tons of explosives."

Sophia wrote both suggestions down before she came up with her own, "Stealth knifing late at night?"

Ned looked at her strangely for a split second, "I think explosives would be the best plan. We don't have to deal with the security system as much. So, Melinda can you contact this explosive expert of yours?"

"Sure, no problem. I can call right now." Ned handed Melinda a phone to make the call. Melinda punched in the number from memory. "Hey, Bob," she greeted.

"What can I do ya for, Mel Mel?" Bob's gruff voice questioned.

"I'm in D.C. Can you meet me?"

-NDHB-

Around twelve, Nancy and Frank woke up. After they discovered a feeling of being watched, they packed a quick bag and left.

Elizabeth Pierce was setting them up a new house. "You will have to go back. If they did tap into the surveillance, we have to find out," Agent Pierce said. The mom part of her spoke a few seconds later, "Get in and leave quickly. Don't stay long. Be careful."

"We'll be okay, Agent," Nancy still could not bring herself to call Elizabeth "mom."

Frank was going to be their electronic wiz. "How will we know if they've tapped in?"

"No idea. We might not even be able to tell," Elizabeth said.

Nancy butted in with the detective part of their assignment, "Any progress on hotels in the area?"

Elizabeth thought it over. "None so far. We've had some leads; they turned out to be nothing. But, we're checking them off like crazy. We should have the entire city done by the end of the day. Then we have to move on to the surrounding towns in Virginia and Maryland. They should all be done by the end of the week. We haven't checked rentals or apartments because they pose a bigger threat," she explained.

"Motels and hotels would give him more for his money," Nancy added. "What with free wi-fi and continental breakfast."

"If we don't pull anything on the hotels, then we'll move onto apartments," Elizabeth stated.

"That sounds good," Frank agreed. "When should we head back to the house?"

-NDHB-

Sophia watched the monitors while Melinda, Ned, and Bob set up the chosen explosive. Melinda was watching the road while Ned and Bob worked the explosives.

They were wiring the bomb to be remotely detonated. "Hey, Melinda, how did I get stuck watching monitors?" Sophia asked over the cell.

"I know Bob. I don't know why Ned had to come. He's very controlling," Melinda answered.

Sophia demanded, "Tell the boys I can see them on the monitors."

"Sure, hang on." Melinda put down the cell and reached for the walkie-talkie. "Dude," she addressed over the radio, "Sophia can see you on the monitors."

"We're done here. We're coming out," Ned replied.

"All right. I'll relay to Sophia. Then we can just wait?"

"Yep, Mel Mel, we wait," Bob replied.

Melinda put down the two-way and picked up her cell to finish the call. "They set up the bomb. We're just waiting now. They should be home soon. They'll have to put the baby to bed."

"All right," Sophia said. "I'll be waiting." Both parties hung up their phones.

Melinda watched the road as Bob and Ned dashed across the street and into the car. "Is that them?" she questioned of an arriving BMW.

"I think so," Ned answered.

"Let's party," Bob added.

-NDHB-

Edited: 27 December 2008…ladybug1115