A/n: My deepest apologies to all of you for the delay. when I saw that I had slipped to the second page I panicked! This chapter kind of got away from me, and I ended up scrapping three or four ideas in favor of doing it this way. But I think this was the best way to go about it, with each brother having the spotlight.
Chapter Nine
"Really Frank?!" Joe groused. It was several hours later and while Joe had laughed along with everyone else at the time, he was sulking now. Other than landing rather hard on one ankle, he had been uninjured. Luckily he had opted to slip into gym shorts rather than remain in his usual boxers before turning on for the night. Otherwise he may have displayed more than his impressive physique to the observers. Frank tried unsuccessfully to present an innocent face, or even an apologetic one, but he ultimately failed. He was enjoying his sweet revenge.
"Hey, you were the one that is always telling me to lighten up." he pointed out. "So I took your advice."
"Really Frank? Of all the pearls of wisdom I have dispensed over the years this is the one you choose to finally implement?" Joe scrunched down in his seat and sulked a little more. They were in Mitch's SUV, heading towards an area Bruce was pretty sure could lead them to the 'danger zone' as Joe had christened it. After the festivities broke up, and Charlie had laughingly apologized to Joe for waking him up, they had all trooped downstairs to have oven baked french toast for breakfast. When the boys were shooed out of the kitchen despite their offering to help clean up, they retired to one of the conference rooms and began a strategy session with Bruce and Mitch. They had spent a long time poring over maps of the Park and the surrounding area, and getting input from the firefighters. Neither man was shy about asking for their take on the goings on. A few of the suggestion were pretty outlandish, but a couple had merit. Frank and Joe had decided to split up, each taking along a local to help navigate and break the ice when questioning the townspeople. Bruce immediately offered his services and Joe agreed with alacrity. Mitch just shrugged , looked and Frank and said "Guess you are stuck with me then." to which Frank replied. "Just count yourself lucky you didn't get stuck with that Joker" jerking a thumb at his younger brother , who had overheard and glared back.
Now they were on their way to a part of the Park that neither brother had been to before. Bruce was explaining that the area they were heading to was part of the old logging industry that fell into oblivion after a blight devastated the timber decades ago. "There's an old sawmill still, but it hasn't been used in over 30 years" Bruce began, with Mitch picking up the narration next.
"Yeah, and it's probably falling apart." he chimed in. "And there were a few shacks for the overseer and Lumberjack Boss."
"So who wants to do what?" Joe asked.
"I'll take the sawmill and poke around. You head back to town and start asking questions." Frank suggested. Joe shrugged and turned his face toward the window, chin in his hand. The rest of the drive was mostly silent, with the few attempts at conversation falling flat. So it was with a silent sigh of relief Mitch pulled over and joined Frank in heading towards the sawmill. Bruce said goodbye with a very chaste peck on the lips and a quick hug before taking over the driver's side.
Joe had also gotten out, and was going over a few things with Frank, but when it came time to go their separate ways, all his did was say "I'll see you back at the ranch" before slipping into the front passenger side. Bruce looked at him sideways for a good ten minutes before finally breaking the silence.
"Dude? You still mad?" he asked cautiously.
Joe started, he had been lost in his own thoughts. "Nahh, not really. It's nice to know Frank can partake of the more childish aspects of life at times. But I wouldn't be me if I didn't let him twist in the wind a while." he grinned a little evilly. "I'll sulk just long enough for him to start feeling bad, then I will 'forgive' him."
"Dude, that's just mean!" Bruce laughed.
"What, don't you have any siblings?"
"Not a one. And I wonder if I got off lucky." he exclaimed with a sideways grin.
"You have no idea what you are missing, my Friend." Joe rebuked. He spent the next half hour talking about growing up with Frank and by the time they arrived in town to begin their interrogations, Bruce was feeling rather sorry for himself being an only child.
"Where ya wanna start?" Bruce asked as they reached the outskirts of Calverton.
"The hotel. Get a feel for who's been staying in town and what they are up to." Joe replied, so Bruce took the side road that led to the single hotel in town.
It was more of a bed 'n breakfast though, since it was located in an old mansion that Bruce had said belonged to one of the Timber Barons. "Mrs Rutherford is a descendent. House has been in the family for generations but when the economy tanked, her parents turned it into a BnB rather than lose the Homestead." Bruce said as he pulled into the driveway. The old mansion was impressive, if a bit shabby. The grounds were well kept and everything was in good repair despite needing a fresh coat of paint. The porch wrapped around at least three sides, and was scattered with chairs, loungers and a few swings, all covered in cheery throw pillows.
They were met at the door by Mrs Rutherford herself, a short, slightly plump woman with grey hair neatly secured in a bun, grey eyes that sparkled merrily and a grey sweater that somehow failed to make her look dull and boring despite its' relative shapelessness. Her face was covered in laugh lines, not wrinkles and she beamed at the sight of two handsome strapping young men at her door. "Why Bruce, you naughty boy! Does Mitch know you are seeing another man?!" she laughed merrily as Joe's face turned slightly pink.
"Shhh, Aunt Carole" Bruce whispered conspiratorially. "We're trying to be discreet." He winked at Joe as they were ushered into the parlor. It too was cheery in a slightly worn way with Victorian era furniture mixed in with more contemporary styles arranged in such a manner that small groups could sit together while still being a part of any larger gathering. The fireplace took up one entire wall although currently it was filled with a large wicker basket of freshly cut flowers instead of logs.
"Et Tu, Bruce?" Joe mumbled sourly, causing the Paramedic to bust a gut laughing. "Is there anybody in this crazy town that isn't related to everybody else?!" he continued in a grumble. Mrs. Rutherford, who has left the men momentarily, returned with a serving tray covered with a pitcher of lemonade, three tall glasses and a plate of tiny sandwiches. She placed it on the table between them before sitting down and turning an expectant face towards Bruce.
"Joe, this is Aunt Carole. She's not my aunt, nor anyone else's for that matter but everyone calls her that anyway. Aunt Carole, this is Joe Hardy. Remember Hallie from when me an' Mel were kids? Joe here is engaged to her." Bruce explained. Carole perked up at this and impossibly, smiled even wider.
"Oh how wonderful! That poor girl has had so much tragedy in her life, she deserves a little happiness!" she gushed, only to be be cut off by Joe before she could continue.
"Yes, Ma'am she does, but that's not what I am here for. You see, I'm a Private Investigator and I've been hired to look into the incidents at the Park. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions and you could help me out?" he smiled at her at once both polite and charming. As usual, she was completely won over by the charismatic blond and readily agreed to do whatever she could.
Joe began his interrogation, and Bruce sat by in awe at the expert way his friend found to entice seemingly random bits of information from the older woman. He began by asking Carole about her most recent guests, and focusing on the ones that were new and not old regulars for many years. "Well I am sure that none of them could be responsible, why they are so nice and polite!" she insisted.
"Then the sooner I can rule them out as suspects, the better, right?" Joe smiled at her, nothing in his face or tone of voice indicating anything but total agreement with the woman's assessment. He pulled out his little notebook and began taking notes on each guest as Mrs. Rutherford discussed them in turn.
By the end of the hour and a half Mrs Rutherford had droned on, Joe had pretty good physical descriptions as well as insight as to the personalities. He had to admit, he was impressed by the sharp observations made by the older woman. She may have seemed a little flighty upon initial observation, but behind that scatterbrained facade there was a sharp mind who noticed a lot. (Aunt Gertrude would have called her a nosy neighbor) Joe thought to himself with an internal smile. Despite the urgency of his task, he found it very hard to tear himself away from the motherly woman, or her excellent tuna salad sandwiches. He polished off at least 3 and the pitcher of lemonade had to be refilled twice. But eventually he couldn't put it off any longer, he still had other places to hit. With a smile that held a tinge of regret, he stood up and thanked Aunt Carole for her help.
"Any time, my Dear." she beamed at both of them as she walked them to the front door. "I am just glad I was able to help. It's such a tragedy, that young man dying." she sniffed a little. Bruce gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, and Joe shook her hand as they took their leave.
"Did that help, really?" Bruce asked as they made their way back to the car.
"Actually, yeah, it did. It's just too bad they all pay with cash. Otherwise I could do a little digging. I'll pass the names on to Sam, but I bet they are all aliases. Which means we won't get much from that angle." he waved a hand imperiously toward the street. "Jeeves, the Diner, and step on on it my good man."
Bruce looked askance at him. "Dude you seriously cannot be hungry?!"
Joe laughed. "I am always hungry, but no that's not why we are going there. Need to question the staff, see if there is any more info we can scrounge up. Like maybe an overheard conversation..." he grinned mischievously. " Although I will order a piece of apple pie and leave a hefty tip. All in the name of gathering Intel. Of course."
"Of course." Bruce drawled with a knowing smirk. The drive from the BnB to the Diner was less than five minutes. It was deserted, the only car in the parking lot was Bruce's.
"Good. Don't have to worry about running into a suspect and they won't be busy so I can ask away." Joe said in satisfaction as he pulled open the door, causing the little bell to jingle and Bernice to come out from the kitchen. She smiled at the familiar faces and readily agreed to sit down and take a short break with them after she brought over their pies. She was as good a source of information as Aunt Carole had been, with even more insight.
Bernice plopped down next to Bruce, a carafe of coffee on the table that she topped off all three mugs with as Joe alternated big bites of pie with questions. Bernice was eager to talk about the recent influx of strangers and had plenty of opinions. Unlike Aunt Carole, though, she was convinced they were up to no good. When Bruce asked her why she thought that, she snorted derisively.
"You can't tell me you don't think there ain't no coincidence, now?!" she sneered. Bruce had the grace to look abashed, while Joe grinned around a fork full of pie. He swallowed before resuming the questions.
"Go on. I want to hear your theories." Joe said seriously. He finished the pie and sat back in the booth, holding the coffee close and taking occasional sips. He let Bernice ramble, occasionally jotting down some of the things she spoke of that piqued his interest. He'd collate these and the notes he took at Aunt Carole's later on , back at the fire house.
"You kin tell a lot about a person by what they order, and how they tip." Bernice spoke matter of factly. She settled back in the booth herself, and poured herself another cup of coffee. "The one guy, in the suit? Well, he's terribly polite, the ideal customer, never makes unreasonable demands, always asks my opinion on the specials, stacks the plates neatly, leaves his glass near the edge so I don't have to reach over to fill it. But he always leaves a hundred dollar bill." she sounded outraged, which confused Bruce.
Joe offered an explanation. "Means he's arrogant, and thinks he's better than any of the townspeople." Bernice nodded, vindicated. "People like that think they can buy their way outta any trouble, or prey on the less fortunate. "I still got all them bills, too. If he tries any crap I'll just give 'em all right back." She sounded oddly defiant and proud. Joe leaned forward eagerly.
"I don't suppose I could borrow one?!" he excitedly requested.
"Wat fer?" Bernice asked.
"Fingerprints, my fair lady. Fingerprints!" Joe positively chortled in glee. "Oh and I'll need to get yours, too, just so we can tell yours from his." he quickly ran out into the car, grabbed his backpack with, handily enough, Frank's fingerprinting kit, and returned. Bernice was more than happy to swap out one of the c notes with five twenties from Joe's wallet and was giddy at the prospect of being fingerprinted. As Joe inked up her fingers and transferred the prints to a sheet, he continued to ask her questions, although he had Bruce take over note taking duty while he worked.
"The other two, they always come in together. And they always sit in the booth furthest away from anybody else. Always stop talking when anybody comes near 'em, too. Positively glares daggers iffin I try and do my job and refill cups or anything." Bernice huffed in annoyance. "And they stiff me every single time, too. In fact sometimes they don't even leave enough to cover the bill!"
Bruce looked over at Joe, who nodded. "Different kind of arrogance. And they'd start a big fight if anyone called 'em on it." He looked over at Bernice, who was still fuming. "Let me guess, big, burly types; scary looking. No one wants to start something because they just exude meanness. Am I right?"
Bernice nodded, casting a quick glance at the kitchen. "Old Wilbur, he's a great cook, but no way could he take on those brutes. And even if some of the other customers would back him up, It wouldn't do no good. They both got guns." she swallowed nervously and leaned forward, and both men followed suit. "I seen 'em. Big pistols, bigger 'n the Sheriff's."
"Bernice, I want you to promise me something, okay?" Joe spoke in a serious tone. "If these guys even act like they are thinking about starting trouble, I want you to get everybody out immediately. But don't start treating them any different, they will notice and think something's up."
"You think they are the ones that shot that poor Ranger, don't you?" Suddenly Bernice was a little less confident.
"And me." he smiled at her gasp of astonishment. "There ain't no such thing as coincidence." he reminded her. "I have spent enough time in this town to know that this is a nice place, and Halloran loves it here. I am going to do everything I can to make sure it stays that way." Joe reached in to his wallet again and peeled off several more bills, tossing them lightly on the table. "Thanks for the information. If we can get an ID off that hundred, we'll be sitting pretty." Joe smiled at Bernice in thanks as he stood up. Bernice hastily slid out, allowing Bruce to exit the booth as well. With final waves goodbye, the two men headed out into the parking lot.
"Now what, Sherlock?' Bruce queried.
"Do I look like I play the violin? Or smoke a meerschaum?" Joe snarked. "And I sure as hell don't do drugs." he finished with a snort. "Besides, Watson, I can't fake an English accent to save my life. In fact, this one time when I tried, it backfired spectacularly..." Joe grinned as he slid into the front passenger side. "Actually, back to the station, if you please. I got some good intel and I'd like to run it past the logical brother."
"If Frank's the logical one, what does that make you?"
"The funny, charismatic handsome one, of course. " Joe smirked. Bruce chuckled and swung out into the street and began the short drive back to the station. Joe began glancing through his notes along the way, occasionally swearing at his illegible handwriting. "I hate to admit it, but maybe Frank is right. I either need to start taking voice notes, or typing them. I just hate these tiny keyboards." he groused as he waved his smartphone in derision. "Oh well, he always could translate my chicken scratches, I'll just let him read everything."
They beat Mitch and Frank back to the station, even with a side trip to the post office to overnight the evidence bag with the hundred dollar bill in it. Joe had called Sam to warn him it was coming. "The set of prints in the envelope are the waitress's, so that helps you narrow down which ones to ignore when you sweet talk Greg into running them for you." Sam laughed a little ruefully but promised to do what he could. "If Connely calls or whatever, let him know what we have so far." Joe requested. Sam agreed and with a final goodbye, hung up.
Joe started laying everything out he had collected that day, waiting for his brother's return. He had sent a quick text to Frank, letting him know he was back, but was not that surprised when he got the notice that the message was undeliverable. One drawback of the area.. no service to speak of. He wandered out into the kitchen, where he made a fresh pot of coffee his way and snuck a few cookies out of the large cookie jar on the counter. "Mmm, Snickerdoodles. Frank's favorite." he commented idly to Gloria, who was at the table going over some textbook that was covered with anatomical drawings. "Whatcha reading?" he asked
"Anatomy and Physiology" was the reply.
"Sounds icky." he smiled with a delicate shudder.
"Kinda sorta need it if I want to be a Nurse, though." she replied archly.
"So this EMT thing is just a stepping stone then?" he sat down across from her after grabbing a few more cookies.
"Pretty much. But this doesn't pay the bills." she leaned back with a little stretch. "Luckily I am combining my GI Bill with a scholarship so I can hopefully finish my BSN in three years instead of 4."
"Then what, going back in as an Officer?" Joe thought she looked the type, self assured, self confident, definitely had some leadership qualities as well.
"Nah. I prefer a few less trauma patients. Was thinking of focusing on something not quite so gory. Maybe Oncology."
"Oh there's a cheery thought. Cancer is so benign." he teased her, and she responded by groaning at the combined pun and double entendre.
"Were you a Corpsman like Bruce?" he asked around a mouthful of cookie.
"Nope. Air force. Computer Forensics actually."
"Oh gawd, another Geek." he laughed at her. "You and Frank should get together. He talks programming code in his sleep."
"Really?!" Gloria perked up at the information before settling back with a small smile that danced around her eyes. "Is that a fact?!" Joe swore the smile got a little more satisfied.
"My second girlfriend was a computer nerd too. She and Frank would put their heads together, along with our friend Phil, during a case, and I'd be left in the dust. I can barely get my email to work properly most days." his laugh was self depreciating. He knew his strengths lay in other areas, and he was content to let Frank have his. They were still in the middle of small talk when the ear splitting klaxon that heralded a fire call interrupted them. Charlie rushed out of the den where he had been reading the newspaper and hurried into the small alcove where the dispatch radio was housed. He acknowledged the call and requested the address. Through the glass, Joe saw the man blanch and then look directly at him. A feeling of dread settled into his stomach. He stood up but never moved, letting the other firefighters rush around him getting their gear.
Charlie barked something into the radio, then came out and approached Joe. "It's the old Sawmill. There was a massive explosion. Half a dozen people saw the fireball and called it in."
Joe gasped. "That's where Frank was going!"
A/n: Yeap, this time Frank is the one who gets whalloped. See, I pick on both boys equally. Next chapter is from Franks POV.. at least..until the explosion...bwhahahahah.