I had a question from an anonymous reviewer asking how far ahead I planned the story. Firstly - thank you for the great feedback. I actually didn't plan this story in advance. I had an idea of where it was going to go, but I didn't know how I was going to get there. I sat down at the keyboard and the story developed as it went along. I write all my stories completely before I start posted them up, so if I have an idea, I can go back and alter the story to fit it in. I think I've only ever plotted one story before I started, and that one ended up way different in the end. So I don't bother, I just go with a rough idea and build a story around it.
CHAPTER 17
Con and Joe stood outside their car, preparing mentally for the questions they would be asking Arthur Gray. The little man sat in the back of the vehicle waiting for them, but Joe needed to calm down before Con would allow anything to proceed. He didn't want Joe to let fly in the confined space of a car. Suddenly, they were aware of a droning sound coming from the interior of the car and leaned down to look in.
"Oops, your Dad's still on the phone, giving Gray a mouthful."
"Dude, it's therapeutic."
Joe moved to the other side of the car, sliding onto the back seat next to Arthur Gray. Con waited until Joe settled and Arthur had no intention, or way, to escape, before he climbed into the driver's seat and shut the door.
Through the Con's phone speaker on the dashboard, Fenton raved lividly at Gray, each word punctuated and harsh, but articulate. Arthur wasn't offering any views himself, just stared coolly while holding his nose. Joe grinned, enjoying himself, as his Dad gave it to Gray with both barrels.
"Fen…FEN!" Con said loudly, and pulled Fenton's attention away from his own shouts.
"WHAT?"
"Three's a crowd, my friend. Leave it with us. Go and finish up with Frank."
"He's still in with the Doc."
"So within hearing distance?"
It silenced Fenton. "I'll speak to you later. Take no prisoners, Zarkof."
"Haven't so far, Flash."
Con took his phone from the dashboard, checked Fenton had rung off, and slipped the cell into his inside pocket. He turned around to Arthur Gray and watched him in silence.
Arthur looked from Con to Joe and then back, but failed to make solid eye contact. "This is a pretty mess, isn't it?"
"A pretty mess?" Joe raised his eyebrows. "To you, this is 'a pretty mess'? Frank had moved on with his life and in a good place. He and Nancy were in a good place, and then you happened again. Why him? I mean, in the first place, why choose him?"
Arthur sighed. "Frank's the perfect partner for Pandora. Measured, organized, intelligent, refined, and willing to die for his country. He's an adult, not a man-child with limited self-control and—"
"Whatever, Arthur, move on. I wasn't asking for a character assassination or a job interview, I asked why him and not one of your own?"
"He's better than my own. You both are - obvious from the first time we met you're head and shoulders above my agents. Rare commodities, extraordinary personalities. Wasted as pure detectives. I doubt you realize your combined worths. Or at least your worth, Joseph. Frank wouldn't command quite the same heady heights, since he lost his mind."
Joe tensed and his teeth cracked together.
"I'm being honest."
"Jesus Christ," Con muttered. "You're one piece o' work."
Joe calmly opened the door, got out and walked away from the car. He paced a few times, took some deep breaths, and returned to the car. "You promised Frank the Pandora Posse would never be released from prison."
"And?"
Con said, "You had no business making promises you couldn't keep. We've had to go underground because the Posse have been hunting us. I'm speaking from the experience of someone almost gunned down in the street yesterday - they tried to shoot my son and he had nothing to do with this!"
"So I understand, but it's not the Pandora Posse, as you self-titled them. Those original members are deceased."
Joe and Con paused and stared at one another. "Dead?" Con asked. He needed to seek clarification he heard correctly. "Dead?" he repeated. Confusion reigned.
"They met with unfortunate accidents. One died in a prison riot, one murdered by a fellow prisoner he had a disagreement with, another slipped in the shower - tragic. And the leader? He decided life wasn't worth living without his associates and hung himself. Trust me when I say, they're no longer a threat to anyone, let alone Frank."
Con laughed mirthlessly. "You had them assassinated."
"I didn't say that, but it would have been justifiable. As it happens, they met with a series of untimely accidents out of our control."
"For arguments sake, let us say they were assassinated, theoretically speaking of course, why would it have been justifiable when they were under lock and key?"
"Because of Pandora."
Joe leaned back and stared out the windshield. "You did something, didn't you?"
Arthur's head dropped slightly. "As Nancy Drew destroyed Pandora, we downloaded a single copy of the game. Yes, we did something."
Joe put his hands over his eyes. "You're freakin' IDIOTS! Why couldn't you let her DIE?"
"Joseph—"
Con glared at Arthur, he didn't like the tone of chastisement Gray adopted when addressing Joe. As though talking to a stupid child with an inability to grasp onto or obey simplest of instruction.
Arthur continued on his patronising path, "Pandora's the single greatest software program since the conception of the internet. I would have been remiss in my duties if I hadn't taken steps to protect her. She's not a thing you simply allow to 'die'. So we downloaded and planned on holding her in storage, until technology and intelligence moved on enough for us to revisit her potential."
"Joe's right, you are idiots."
Gray ignored Con's comment and carried on, "One day, we realized Pandora had been taken from the secure storage facility, and had disappeared. A few months later, a hitherto trusted member of my team followed suit - the person who took Pandora, and privy to information about Frank, Nancy and the original investigation."
"A short woman?" Con asked.
"How did you know that?"
"Because the same woman tried to drug Frank yesterday and today Frank visited a hypnotist because he realized he couldn't remember the code. She featured in both scenarios."
Arthur finally looked Con fully in the eye at this obviously new piece of information.
"Yep. Your interference has been uncovered, about how you slithered about in his mind and messed with his life. He knows everything."
Arthur, at long last, showed some emotion - he signed heavily. "An unwise move on Frank's part. I hoped I had hidden the code well enough it couldn't be uncovered. I did it for his safety. What he's done is a naive thing. I'm their protector not their enemy."
Joe growled. "How's Frank supposed to know? If you didn't want him to uncover it by accident, then why weren't you up front about it, instead of manipulating him? It's not naivety if you don't have any information to make an informed decision."
"The only reason he and Nancy are alive today is because of what I did. The original gang are dead because of what they knew. They were a threat which had to be eliminated. Frank and Nancy were on the same list for execution, but I negotiated with those in Authority to have their names removed. They agreed, but with the caveat I shut them down."
"Shut them down?" Con asked.
"I had to separate Nancy and Frank, end their association. If I hadn't, it would have been only natural for them to go over old ground with the Pandora case, and they may have reawakened those memories."
"And it didn't occur to you a new Pandora Posse going after Frank would cause him to discuss the case again, and then seek out a way to reopen those memories?"
Arthur went quiet.
"I'm gonna assume your silence means you either didn't think of that threat, or you broke them up for your own self-gratification, because Frank and Nancy didn't do as they were told at the end.".
"No, you're wrong. The new Pandora gang could catch and kill them, but that's not a one hundred percent certainty. The threat from those in Authority? It's an inevitable death sentence, a bullet-in-the-back-of-the-head certainty they wouldn't see coming. No threats, no intimidation, just hard, cold death. I had no choice but to separate them."
Con gulped. He didn't like how white the pallor of Joe's face had become. "What fresh hell you talking about, Gray? 'Those in Authority'? What's that supposed to mean? Who're these people in Authority?"
"They are people who sit on high, dangerous people, the powers behind the throne. To be honest, I don't know who they are, but I know the threat they pose to Frank and Nancy. I had to act in their best interest."
"If what you've told us is true, and I'm not convinced by it…I think you're a fantasist…then how can we stop it…them?"
"Remove the global threat. Kill Pandora but do it properly this time—"
"Nancy did it properly the LAST time. YOU bunch of bumbling idiots messed it up - don't lay it at our door!" Joe shouted, starting to lose it again.
Gray sighed condescendingly and continued. "If you kill Pandora, then those in Authority won't have a reason to pursue Frank or Nancy. And take measures to remove the threat of this new gang, because although the original members of the Pandora Posse who were incarcerated are dead, one did escape justice."
"One?"
"One member wasn't at the school, didn't get on the chopper. I didn't fly him out, and afterwards he eluded all attempts at capture. Only two of the Pandora Posse were party to the code and he wasn't one of them - but he knows Frank and Nancy know it. And the man's an unadulterated psychopath. He will take pleasure in torturing the information out of Frank, and after will take immense gratification in taking him out of this world. It won't be quick, and it won't be painless. He intends to take revenge and that's more important to him than the code. He wants Frank and he wants to break him. This is the cold, honest truth. Suppose me a fantasist if it makes you feel better, Constantine Riley, but I'm warning you…these people are not to be underestimated."
Joe opened the car door and got out. He walked over to the nearest tree and leaned against it. He didn't return to the car; he crouched down with the back of his hand over his mouth.
Arthur switched from watching Joe to watching Con and waited for him to say something, but Con, thinking, offered nothing. "This conversation has reached a natural conclusion I think," Arthur said arrogantly and reached into his pocket for his car keys. "Joseph's indeed a great commodity, but I realize he will never be a suitable fit to an organisation like The Network, so I won't watch or pursue him any longer." He opened the door wide and readied himself to leave. "I don't know what you and your family and friends plan to do, but whatever it is, do it well and do it hard. This time The Network won't try to stop you. We won't interfere - consider it my gift to you."
Con snorted and looked him up and down. "Frank and Joe aren't just better than your agents, they're better than you. Setting a timer and then walking away while the explosion goes off behind you isn't a gift, it's a coward's way out, it's not something the Hardy Boys would ever do. They would never throw one of us to the lions." He laughed, "You might have been able to fool them, but you don't fool me. The real truth is you're out of your depth with Pandora."
Arthur looked at his car keys.
"You didn't know what to do with Pandora, so you turned her over to someone better than you. You knew if you involved Frank, he would have no choice but to pull Joe and Fenton into it. You used them because you couldn't take care of business yourself. Frank wasn't babysitting Pandora, he babysat you."
Arthur jiggled the keys.
"The reason you throw guarded and clever insults about Joe being a man-child and Frank being damaged is because you're intimidated by them. You need to keep them in their place, so you can use them as an easy and cheap resource. Frank's more gullible than Joe, and that's the only reason you picked him, nothing to do with Joe's limited self-control, or lack of intelligence. You know as well as I do Joe's style of detecting's as effective as Frank's - more so in a lot of cases, because his street style blends in better. And he's smart, real smart, just not as ridiculously smart as Frank."
Arthur paused for a beat before he exited the car, not able to resist turning and leaning to say something.
Con pre-empted him. "Don't try a clever put-down line with me, little man. I'm way too long in the tooth." Con quickly opened his door and stepped out into the cold.
Arthur stared up at him.
"How's it feel to know two twenty-somethings have more to them than you? You cut a pathetic figure when you're on the back foot. Leave - now! If I ever see your face again, I'll bury you." Con took a solid step and Gray backed off. "Yeah, you better run. Tiny coward. Leave us to clean up your mess."
Arthur Gray took off quickly across the parking lot, and made a beeline path to his vehicle without a backward look. Con's burning eyes tracked him all the way. Eventually Con turned to get into the car but found Joe loitering.
"How come you worked him out and Frank and I never did?"
"Life experience. Plain and simple. He got to you at an impressionable age and made the most of it. Those days are over."
-o0o-
Joe, largely uncommunicative on the way back, sat with his arms crossed tightly to his chest, thinking hard. Finally, he put words to his thoughts. "I feel really crappy about how The Gray Man made me feel about Frank. On some level, I've been angry with him about what happened."
Con's eyebrows dropped quizzically, "'The Gray Man'? What'd you call him that for?"
"Didn't mean to - habit. It's the penname Arthur Gray loves everyone to use. Frank and I made an agreement long ago not to add to his notoriety and ego by using it."
Con snorted. "The man's ridiculous."
"I realise it now - it's obvious that not only did he manipulate Frank, he did it to me too, and for years! And Dad, and Nancy…and even you and James. Arthur's used all of us to do his dirty work for him."
Con laughed with an angry snort, "And look how it blew up in his face. He failed the first time with Pandora and he's failed now. I predict his tenure as the head of The Network will soon be at an end. The government isn't gonna stomach him for much longer."
"Do you think?"
"Yeah, I do," Con said with certainty. "He's lost perspective and control. He involved outsiders and it won't have gone down well. He made the same mistake twice in full view of his superiors. This could mean the end of The Network altogether. Ezra Collig will be shouting from the rafters. He doesn't take kindly to members of his team being run off the road and shot at. The Network's time as a secret organisation's at an end."
The turn the conversation took with Arthur Gray had been something neither of them could have predicted. Con didn't know what he'd expected he would hear, but he didn't think it would have been that. Being forced to reveal a conversation to the rest of the team, with no positive angle? A BIG problem!
They walked up the driveway to the hotel and saw Frank and Fenton's car parked in the lot. Vanessa and James' vehicle wasn't there and it bothered Con. He didn't like their two most inexperienced members of the team were partnered off, but appreciated why it had ended up that way. It also troubled him, because they were now his kids, and his responsibility. He felt what Fenton Hardy must have felt every day for the last twenty odd years.
They walked in and could hear Frank and Fenton in the living room. They hung their outer wear up on the hooks, and Con followed Joe through the doorway, where Joe faltered as Frank looked up from the chair.
Con instantly saw what had stopped Joe. Frank's eyes looked normal. He'd never been able to put his finger on what had been different about Frank, but Con now realized it had been his eyes. The hypnotism had relit the fire previously extinguished four months before when Nancy left. Ah! It's the 'twinkle' - the 'twinkle' Laura accused Con of having when he and Andrea tried to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps.
It seemed Frank knew something wasn't right, because he simultaneously lurched to his feet to meet his brother half way. Once up and steady, Joe strode across the room and yanked Frank into a tight embrace. "What the…Joe?"
"Con?" Fenton asked.
Con moved his head in a series of tight shakes. "We had one hell of a conversation with Gray. I don't even know how I'm gonna explain it, other than to lay the facts on the table. We're in worse shape than we thought. It's damn lucky Frank put us in a position where he could pull us out when he did. I don't like Vanessa and James being out there."
"They're on their way back…worse shape? How can this be any worse?"
"Fen, you just wait and listen. We must find Drew and find her now. Frank, we need to throw all our resources at it. Did the kids make any headway with finding her?"
Joe let go of his brother, and Frank held him at arm's length, running appraising eyes over his brother. "You injured? Your clothes are a mess."
"I'm not injured. Arthur is, I'm not."
"Gray's injured? What happened? Did the Posse make another attack?"
"I punched and kicked him."
Fenton laughed. "Good boy."
Frank threw a withered look. "Seriously, Dad? Not smart. Joe could have ended up in the clink. I remember you wouldn't let me meet Arthur because you were worried I'd tear him apart. In fact—" Frank frowned at Con. "Why isn't Joe in jail?"
"Trust me Frank, Grey deserved every one of those punches and kicks, and I think he knew it. He wasn't in the mood to lock anyone up and appreciates our situation. Not that he's gonna help, rich considering all roads lead to him." Con spoke to Fenton, "What about the kids…Nancy?"
"What exactly did Arthur say?" Frank asked.
Con raised his hands imploringly, maddened no one seemed to be hearing him. "What is it with you two? Would someone please answer me!"
"Con, you're spinning." Fenton paced forward to take his partner by the shoulder, pat him on the back. He aimed Con into one of the winged chairs. "Sit down. I'll have Mrs Holliday make you a strong cup of coffee. The kids are fine, and we think Nancy's safe, for the time being."
"She isn't," Joe said.
"What do you—" Frank spun and started to pace. "No one's making sense. Take a deep breath, both of you." He angled his head to the door and shouted, "MRS HOLLIDAY?"
"Yes, my Dear?"
"Can you bring two coffees, please?"
"Coming right up."
"Thank you." Frank emulated his father and angled Joe down into the seat he'd exited. "Speak."
Fenton and Frank stayed upright and listened while Joe and Con reported all they learned from Arthur Gray, the whole ugly truth of it - about how he'd used Frank as a conduit in order to manipulate them all. How Arthur had clumsily attempted to protect Frank and Nancy, but had badly failed. How they were mistaken in their assumption the Pandora Posse were after them, but weren't because they were dead. They talked about the overwhelmingly stupid decision The Network made by downloading the game, and how they'd squirreled it away, providing a dangling, metaphorical carrot for a greedy agent to take a bite. Finally, Con and Joe told Frank and Fenton about the revenge ridden psychopath gunning for Frank. Last, they explained about the unnamed 'Authority', who would be putting a gun to Frank and Nancy's heads, once the young people knew the code again.
It didn't take Fenton and Frank long to appreciate why Con and Joe arrived with their heads spinning like tops and with an urgent need to find Vanessa, James, and, especially, Nancy.
"What have Van and James told you? Have they located Nancy?" Con asked.
"No they haven't," Fenton answered, his face now as grim as Con's. "They spoke to the auction house and they confirmed Nancy left to follow someone. They had a record of the man in question and they've supplied us with address details. He lives in Bayport."
"Bayport!" Joe exclaimed.
"James phoned Ezra and asked the police visit the man's address. There's a small possibility Nancy decided to investigate and she's there. Or perhaps Ezra's boys will find something to pin down this man to a place in NYC. I know this sounds perverse, but the preferred scenario is Nancy's a prisoner of this man. From what you've described, it would be better than being in the clutches of this psychopath."
"What about where Nancy's staying? Her base?"
"By elimination they tracked her to the Darcy Hotel, but she hasn't been seen for three days. James used his badge to get access to her room. In Vanessa's considered opinion as a woman, it didn't look like Nancy had been back for quite a while. She hadn't left messages or a forwarding address. The kids paid her bill, and put her belongings in the car. James left a message and his phone number with the hotel, asked Nancy to contact us if she returns. He left clear and strict instructions to give his number ONLY to Nancy."
"Huh," Con said. "They did a stand-up job."
Frank smiled. "Don't sound so surprised. As far as it goes with James, the apple hasn't fallen far, and Vanessa's picked up a trick or two over the years." He continued, "The auction house told us something else. They had a visit after Nancy had left from two police officers. Only they weren't cops. They showed the receptionist an ID badge, but a fake one. From what she described, they were the woman and the psychopath …an obvious psychopath. He barely said two words and she locked herself into an office, scared witless. She used the word 'malignant'. From the physical description, he wasn't one of the gang who took me to the school to get The Key, but it doesn't mean Nancy didn't know him. If Nan saw him, and recognized him, then she will have run."
Joe smiled at him.
"What?"
"You called her 'Nan'."
A slow grin spread over Frank's face. "I did, didn't I?" Then the smile dropped, replaced by worry lines. "We need to find my girl. Con's right, time's running out."
