Anna sighed and looked in her closet. It was the day of the press conference and she dreaded it. Joe walked into the room, "hi baby."
Anna glared at him, "don't hi baby me, like nothing is wrong." She had tears threatening her eyes and she took a deep breath. Joe wrapped his arms around her, "Shhh baby. Don't cry. This will all work out. I promise."
"I hope so Joe, I can't lose you." Joe kissed her forehead and then kissed her lips passionately, "let's go back to bed for a while. I need more of my wife right now."
Anna glanced at herself in the mirror. She had learned that when going to any event with press you needed to dress your best and usually that meant designer everything. She had put on an Oscar de la Renta tulip print A-line dress. She had her hair down pulled half back, no jewelry except for her engagement ring and wedding band. She had a pair of Christian Louboutin on that matched her dress. She had simple natural make-up but it was enough that it would stand out for the cameras. She sighed and muttered to herself, "this is as good as it's going to get."
Joe whistled as soon as his wife entered the kitchen, "you look gorgeous." She blushed and smiled at him, "thanks, I can't say the same about you." He laughed. He had a fake nose on, his whole face was covered with black, his hair dyed copper, and he even had colored contacts in that changed his eye color. He looked like a completely different person as did Frank but then again that was also the point.
"I would kiss you but I can't ruin all this work George did." Anna smiled at him, "It's fine, George would probably kill us both if we messed it up."
George laughed, "hey, kill is a strong word." Everyone gave a stressed laughed. Anna kissed Kendall and Elizabeth, "Okay is everyone ready." Joe and Frank nodded and Anna glanced at Biff who was wearing a suit, "You ready too?" Biff nodded.
Joe ruffled Kendall's curls, "let's get this over with."
Biff was driving Anna to the press conference and they went to the car and took off. Joe and Frank added another felon to their growing list and stole a car to take to the bank. George was to stay with Kendall and Elizabeth.
Anna got into the car that Biff held open for her, "Thanks." Joe came up beside her, "I love you so much." Anna nodded as tears threatened her eyes, "just come home. Be safe. I love you so much."
Joe rubbed her small bump, "I love you guys too. Are you sure you want to tell the press you're pregnant?"
Anna nodded, "yes, I might as well put everything out there. I love you Joe."
"I love you. I better go." Joe sneaked out the back of the garage with Frank. Anna slammed the car door and rested her head back. Biff turned from the drivers' seat to look at her, "you okay?"
"No, but I have no choice do I?"
"You know you did."
"How?"
Biff started backing out of the driveway and pulled onto the main road, "If you said no, Joe wouldn't have gone through with it."
Anna glanced at her phone and looked at a few e-mails, "That's true but Frank would hate me and I would have let Nancy down. I'm stuck in a hard spot."
"You are doing the best you can of a shitty situation. Are you ready for this press conference?"
"Not really but once again I don't have a choice. I still don't know what to say."
Biff started pulling into the high school and the press was already swarming and cops were trying to keep them back. "Well, I will keep you safe don't worry."
"Thanks Biff. You are the best."
Biff parked near the back and he helped Anna rush inside. The press conference was to start in about 20 minutes. The Chief of police came up to Anna, "Where is Joe?"
Anna smiled and in her head she was couching herself just like Joe told her, "He is at home with the girls. George is helping him out though."
"Frank?"
"He is held up trying to find Nancy. Laura is at the hospital with Fenton." Anna glanced at Biff who smiled at her encouragingly. Anna looked back to the Chief, "Sorry Logan, but I need to finish getting things together."
"I understand completely. We will do what we can to keep everyone at bay." He nodded and went back to some of the officers and started barking orders. Anna released breath she didn't realize she was holding, "Biff."
Biff came to her side and pulled her to the side of the stage, "you are doing fine. Just breathe." Anna nodded and glanced at all the press who was taking seats. She sighed, "You have to introduce me." He nodded, "I will but first drink some water." He handed her a bottle of water and she took a few sips.
Biff hugged her tight before stepping on the stage behind the microphone, "Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman. If you could all please take your seats so we can get this going." Biff waited a minute as the press started shuffling to seats and he looked out over the crowd and knew there had to be at least 50 or more press people. The police were along the sides and back and a few were at the stage entrances. "Okay everyone, here is Anna Hardy."
Anna walked out on the stage and Biff stood right to the side of her, she smiled at him. Camera flashes were going off and Anna took a deep breath and smiled, "Hello everyone. I know everyone has a lot of questions for me so I will answer questions instead of releasing a generic statement." The press got excited over this and started yelling things.
Biff stepped in, "Ladies and Gentleman, let's try to do this in an organized fashion. The young lady in the front, what is your question?"
The girl quickly asked, "How is the search for Nancy Hardy coming? Also, how is Fenton Hardy? Are the rumors true he is dying?"
Anna gave the lady a nod, "The search for my cousin is progressing however we still do not know much at this time. We haven't lost hope. As for my father-in-law, he just had surgery and he is in recovery. He is expected to recover."
Everyone started yelling question again and Biff pointed to another person, this time a younger man, "Mrs. Hardy, where is your family today? Why are you alone and who is watching the kids?"
"Joe is watching our daughter Kendall and our niece Elizabeth at our house. Our house is where everyone has been staying at. Our friend George is also staying there to help him. Frank is trying to find Nancy. He has taken over my dining room in the process. Laura is with Fenton at the hospital. Did that answer your question, sir?" The man gave Anna a polite nodded.
"Is it true you are pregnant?"
Anna paused for a minute trying to think of how she wanted to answer this question. She nodded, "Yes I am pregnant. Eleven weeks and it wasn't planned. This was a happy surprise but I do not wish to discuss it anymore. I am taking care of myself but our main focus is to find Nancy."
Everyone started buzzing and snapping photos. Anna was starting to get a headache this was all becoming a little much. Anna looked through the crowd and noticed a guy who looked out of place. He had on a hat and was carrying a camera. He had a big coat over him and Anna couldn't make out his features. Anna caught Biff's eye and motioned with her eyes towards his direction. Biff gave her a nod telling her he understood as another person began to ask questions.
"Where is your Uncle?"
Anna watched Biff go to one of the cops at the stair case leading up to the stage as he began to talk to him. She raised her head back up, "Uncle Carson is going between here and River Heights. He is extremely worried as are the rest of us, but I told him he needs to focus on his therapy."
Anna watched a couple of cops move to the direction of the guy, but she lost him in the crowd of people. Another reporter shouted, "Are you still making your business trip to London?"
Before Anna could answer she saw Biff jump in front of her and push her down and people screaming. The sound of the gunshot shot through her and caused panic. She didn't understand what was going on and everything was blurry and she heard another shot ring out.
Second chapter today and this one is fairly long! I will try to get up what the boys are doing during the press conference as soon as I can. Hopefully tonight! Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews please :)