CHAPTER 16

Fenton knew from the way Frank delivered the final, determined, "NO!", that persuading him to give up the man through pure coercion, or by wielding 'Action-Dad Power', wasn't going to work. He glanced at Doctor Cox and let go of Frank's hands. "Just how aggressive's he likely to get?" He raised challenging eyebrows.

"Whatever it is you're thinking of doing, do it," Emily said. "There's no right or wrong way. Go with your instinct. You can control him if he gets really aggressive - send him to dance with Nancy."

"Right." Fenton turned back, and put his palm on his Frank's hand. "Look at me, Son," he commanded. He dropped his chin and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he looked out from under his lashes and emulated Frank's dark gaze back at him. "I don't like the way you're looking at me Frank, and I don't like the disrespectful way you've talked to Emily," Fenton said slowly in a deep voice.

Frank blinked, the first movement his eyes had made since he'd taken to staring.

Fenton tipped his head, and leaned in closer. "We can both do the dead-eyed glare, and I don't like it. Frank, I want you to tell me who the man is, right now."

"I can't—"

"Right NOW!"

"I ca—"

"Frank Hardy, I'm not putting up with your insolence and rudeness to Emily who you asked to help. You fess up or there'll be trouble. RIGHT NOW!"

"I—"

"RIGHT NOW, YOUNG MAN!"

Frank's gaze dropped and he said, "Arthur Gray."

Fenton let go of Frank, and stood up quickly. "DAMN THE MAN!"

"I'm guessing you know this Arthur Gray?"

"I know of him and none of it good!"

"You ought to consider a career change, Fenton, you're good at this." Emily settled back into the seat. "Oh, you need to turn Frank back over to me."

Fenton returned, put a hand over his son's and bent closer. "Frank, Emily's going to speak to you now and you'll only respond to her." He let go, but then returned his hand, "—but only if she's touching you, okay Frank?"

"I understand." His voice had softened and his shoulders had drooped.

Fenton let go.

Emily pointed to her desk, "Fenton, grab the pad of paper. Let's see if I can pry the code out of him." She placed her hands on top of Frank, but when she looked at his face, she placed one of her palms on the side of his neck. "You okay, Frank?"

"No, I'm not."

"Where are the men and the woman?"

"They've gone."

"And Nancy?"

A long pause this time, before, "She's gone too."

"From the apartment?"

"No."

Emily realized what he'd meant when he initially answered 'no' as his eyes moistened and turned glassy. "I'm sorry Frank."

Frank's eyes closed and he slumped away.

"Frank, can you remember the code now?"

"Yes I can."

Emily pointed at the notebook and Fenton readied himself with the pen. "Tell it to me."

"It's 5336-4910-6843-1810."

Fenton stuck his thumb up, pulled the sheet of paper free of the pad, and shoved it into his inside pocket.

"Good, Frank, Well done. I'm sorry it's been stressful. Have a short rest. Go and dance with Nancy." She removed her hands and turned once more to Fenton. "I can tell you were worried, Fenton, but please be assured there's absolutely nothing wrong with Frank's state of mind. This whole thing is caused by this Arthur Gray pushing down his memories, implanting new ones and forcefully severing him emotionally from Nancy. Nothing to do with what Frank went through previously."

"You're one hundred percent certain?"

"I'll stake my professional reputation on it. In fact, Frank's stronger now than before he suffered the trauma. If he hadn't been so strong, then what Arthur Gray did would have put him back into therapy, probably worse."

"Really?"

"Yes. Dangerous - an assault as far as I'm concerned. You need to find Nancy and bring her to me. Frank's strong, but it doesn't mean Nancy's as well prepared." She pursed her lips and turned to Frank. "I'm pulling him out of the trance now. Be ready, because I don't know how he'll react and I won't be able to control him once he's fully awake. He's understandably upset. To be honest, I am too. Arthur Gray could have set Frank's recovery back months, maybe more. How DARE he!"

"Arthur Gray dares to do a lot of things he shouldn't." Fenton muttered and moved to sit next to Frank on the sofa. "The man's arrogance knows no bounds."

Emily shuffled closer to Frank, and slid one of her hands to his elbow. She moved her face closer so she could talk quietly to him. "Frank, I'm going to count backward from five, when I get to one, you'll wake up and you'll remember everything we've talked about. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Listen carefully, Five…four…three…two…one."

Frank's eyes opened and his head sharply rose. For a second he froze, and then he took a sharp intake of air and leaned forward. He covered his eyes with the back of his free hand, gritted his teeth, and painfully swallowed.

"I'm sorry, Frank," Emily said again, and continued to hold his hand. "Do you want us to leave you on your own?"

His head shook.

Fenton went, dispensed some water from a machine in the corner of the office, and returned to hand the cup to Frank. He sat down next to him and rubbed between his shoulder blades.

Frank took a drink, a couple of deep breaths and straightened. "They were already in my apartment with Nancy when I got home. Gray said he needed to make us forget details of the case for reasons of national security. He didn't say he would break us up. I would never have agreed if I'd known," his voice broke, so he paused, took another sip of the water and coughed. "Those memories were so real. Arthur had me believing Nan and I held a conversation in my bathroom about our future, about how hard a long distance relationship would be. Then after, it seemed hopeless, so we threw the towel in. It worked so quickly!" He grimaced and took another drink. "I feel so dumb. Something else, the woman with Nancy in the bathroom? Same woman who spiked my drink."

"You sure, Son?"

"Auburn haired and blue eyed, but definitely the same woman. THAT part I remember with clarity, the rest - it's still hazy right now." Frank ran his fingers through his hair. "I gotta put things right and get Nan back."

"We will, Junior."

Frank squeezed Doctor Cox's hand tighter. "Emily, would you be able to help Nan the same way you've helped me if I bring her to you?"

"You bring her and if she lets me, I'll rid her head of him. Who's this Arthur Gray? I'd like the opportunity to have him removed as a therapist."

"He isn't a therapist. You don't want to know who he is and it's probably best you don't." Frank addressed his father, "You got the code?"

"I got it." Fenton started to pull it from his pocket, but Frank shook his head.

"You don't need to show it me. I know what it is, but keep it safe and for goodness sake don't let me see it. Emily, I need you to go into my head and bury it again, but really deeply this time."

"What?" Fenton blurted.

"Look, put aside the fact Arthur Gray shouldn't have interfered with Nancy and me, he must have a good reason for making me forget the code. I need to get rid of it temporarily, until we know why." Frank turned imploringly to Emily. "Can you do it? Can you bury it so deep anyone else trying the same thing won't be able to get it out of me?"

Emily looked from Fenton to Frank. "Yes, but is it what you want? Is what you're asking me to do safe?"

"It's more what's needed than what's wanted."

She levelled a look at Fenton and he gave a shoulder roll. "Do it. He's the boss."

"Dad, I need you to leave the room for this. I don't want any slip-ups. This needs to be airtight. Can you speak to Joe and Con and tell him what Arthur did? With luck, they've not caught up with him yet, and they can use the intel."

-o0o-

Con slipped, nearly ending up on his backside. In his hands he held two coffees, and his clumsiness caused hot liquid to spill over his hands. He caught himself, looking to see Joe quickly exit the car, an amused smirk on his face.

Joe took the cups. "And so the great knight, Sir Con Riley, realizes the futility of having abandoned his protective gauntlets."

Con wiped his hands down his jeans. "On the contrary, Chump, if I hadn't taken off my gloves, not only would I have given myself a third degree burn but they would have been soaked too." He reached for one of the drinks. As he took it, his phone rang. He returned the cup and reached for his cell. "It's your Dad," he reported. "Hi Fen, how goes it?"

"You somewhere quiet? You with Arthur Gray yet?"

"No sign of the great man. We're outside the car. We'll get back in."

"If you could."

Con opened the passenger door, and Joe climbed in. He slammed the door and walked around to the other side. By the time he dropped into the driver's seat, his drink had been stashed in the cup holder. Con positioned the phone between the two of them on the dashboard. "Flash, you're on loud speaker so Joe can listen in."

"Hi Dad. How's the session going, how's Frank tolerating it?"

"It's thrown up some heavy stuff we didn't know about."

"Aw crap, no! Has it affected him badly? We know he's been wobbling."

"He wasn't 'wobbling', his mental state had nothing to do with his anger and aggression levels. An outside influence came into play. Doctor Cox helped better than we could have hoped. I know what's been going on, and it's nothing to do with him having a relapse or not being able to cope. His brain wasn't trying to protect him by forgetting the code, his brain's healthy!" Fenton laughed feverishly.

Joe looked at Con and shook his head. "Dad, you okay? You sound a bit off-line yourself."

"Yes, yes. I'm relieved. I didn't think I'd be coming back with him."

"What…Dad?"

"It made me a nervous wreck! More nervous about it than Frank."

"Well, you hid it well," Con said.

"I had to. If this hadn't worked, I'd decided to have him admitted to the Psyche Ward for his own safety. If Frank gave me a phone before today, I would have had them waiting at the door for us when we got here."

"Dad!" Joe exclaimed and audibly slapped his own forehead. "DUH!"

Con raised incredulous hands at the phone. "Fen, it's got to have been the worst plan in the history of Planning Management! You can't have someone locked up in a secure psyche unit because you're worried about them. Doc Cox would have laughed in your face. I can imagine the conversation now, 'You know my son who successfully completed his therapy, and has been on an even keel for months? Well, I think he's still off his rocker, because he doesn't want to talk about his ex-girlfriend, and he can't remember some numbers…so could you do me a favor and lock him up? Oh and by the way, he's so crazy he runs a successful business, in his spare time which out-earns the lot of us' They'd have admitted you, not him. Do yourself a favor and never speak of this again."

"Don't Dad, Frank'll never forgive you." Joe crossed his eyes at Con and put his drink into his cup holder. "Leaving aside probably the dumbest moment of your life…can you be more specific? What exactly happened? Why were we seeing the mood swings?"

"Because damn Arthur Gray hypnotized Frank and Nancy and walked around in their heads, obliterating Pandora in their minds, and split them up. Frank's brain has been forced to break down all emotional connections between him and poor Nancy. We were witnessing that, not an erosion of his mental state. Gray programmed him to react aggressively to questions about Nancy, to reduce the chances of them coming into contact with one another. I assume Nancy is in the same state of mind, which's why she's not been in touch. She's probably not aware something strange is happening."

"The Network per responsible all along? How did Gray manage to hypnotize them without their permission?" Con asked.

"Unbelievably, they gave their permission!"

"No way! Even Nancy?" Joe didn't want to believe it.

"Even the usually resolute Nancy fell for it. From what Frank said, Gray sold it as a matter of national security - he needed them to forget specific areas of the Pandora case. And the woman who spiked Frank's drink? She's with The Network and just as involved with the hypnotism session."

"Where's Frank now?" Con asked.

"With Emily."

"Still with the Doc? Why?"

"That's the thing worrying me now. Frank asked Emily to rebury the code in his head. He said Gray must have a good reason for wanting it forgotten! I don't understand why Frank's continuing to tread this loyalty path of his."

"Maybe it's nothing to do with loyalty to Gray. Flash, you're gonna have to trust Frank's judgement; he's the boss on this one."

Joe's head moved in Con's peripheral vision as he focused on someone as they walked across the parking lot outside The Network HQ. Con leaned forward to get a better look, but in one smooth movement, Joe shoved the door open and belted off across the lot toward his quarry.

"JOE, GET BACK HERE!" Con yelled, and leapt out the door to take off around the car. He knew he didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting there in time, and half of him celebrated as Joe took justice into his own hands. Goodness knows the little guy in gray, and wire-rimmed glasses deserved everything coming to him, but Con also knew it would result in Joe getting locked up.

In a matter of seconds, Joe headed off the little man, and delivered a punch which came in so solid and fast it took the man off his feet and onto his back. Joe followed it up with a boot to the side and sent Gray sliding. Although Con couldn't stop that, he tackled Joe around the shoulders before he could do any more damage…though the weight of both men coming to land on Gray must have come as a crushing force.

Joe continued screaming insults at Gray and tried to get at him, even as Con hauled him away. After a prolonged struggle, Con finally got Joe into an arm lock, but knew it wouldn't be for long if Joe continued to fight so hard.

Gray sat up, held his face and stared at the struggling men in amazement - a small miracle his glasses were still in one piece, although they'd been driven up his face and into his eye socket. His eye watered badly.

Con somehow moved Joe into a firmer hold, and turned angry eyes on the little man. "I take it you're Arthur Gray? Nice to meet you at last, you slimy piece of filth!"

"Con Riley," Arthur said.

"Yeah, and I'm a nice guy. If I wasn't, I'd walk away and let Joe finish the job. You're lucky Fenton isn't here instead of me. You couldn't let Frank move on with his life could you? You had to be in charge!"

Arthur Gray's gaze went beyond the two struggling men, and Con turned to see four security guards run toward them. He swivelled back to Gray to find him getting up off the ground. He had to give the little guy credit for toughness, Con doubted he'd be able to get up so quickly if Joe landed one of those bone crunchers on him.

Grey stood, got a handkerchief from his pocket and pushed it to his bloody nose. He held a hand up to the uniformed officers. "Stand down," he said to them. Three of them stopped, but one still approached and unhooked a nightstick from his belt with a determined expression.

Con let Joe go, turned his body full on the man coming for them, and took a step forward. He audibly slapped his chest twice and held his arms out wide. "Oh, yeah? C'mon Buddy, let's dance. Over twenty years a cop, and you think you're gonna take me on? I'd love to show you who's the man. Let's even the score, Network versus Hardy Inc!"

Joe loomed up behind him. "You heard the man, you dancing?"

The guard stopped, realising he'd misread the situation, that Con and Joe were actually together. It gave Arthur time to step around them and stand in front of Con. "I gave you a direct order to step down. Put the weapon away and return to the building."

"But, Sir—"

"I said GO! And whatever happens, do not interfere."

The four security officers glanced at one another and walked away.

Con looked at Joe, "Feel better for having belted him?"

"Yep."

"Good." Con grabbed Arthur by his trench coat, yanked him almost off his feet, and frog marched him to their car. When he got there he opened the rear door and threw Gray into the back. "You stay there Mr Gray, and don't move."

"I have no intention of doing so."

Con slammed the door on him and turned to Joe. "We've got him where we want him, and it seems he's happy to talk…or he wouldn't have let you beat the crap out of him, and then let you walk away."

"Can I carry on then?"

"No, but I think we might be able to get some real answers. And for the record, nice punch. Good technique, great follow through, explosive power delivered right through the shoulder."

"Thanks…I guess."