CHAPTER 23

"SHIT!" Frank blurted. He realised he hadn't defended himself from an unknown attacker at all, but had, in fact, used a martial-art punch on one of his better friends. He stepped up to the stricken person and dipped down to help.

James stood just behind the assault victim, his hands out, incredulous. "What did you do that for?"

Con clutched his leg and grimaced as Frank helped him sit up. "Aw man! Sorry. I thought I had a stalker!"

"You do, but it's not me! I just got here but didn't want to disturb you. I didn't think you'd take it personally." On a whim, Con gave Frank a shove and he fell back.

Frank rolled all the way over until he came up onto his toes again. "I'm jittery; you shouldn't have crept up on me. For a big guy, you sure do move quietly."

"For someone smaller than me, you sure do slug hard! I've always prided myself on my talent for silent movement, now I wish I hadn't." He vigorously rubbed his thigh muscle and flexed his leg.

Fenton strode out of the trees with Joe. "What's going on?"

"Your son assaulted my leg because he didn't hear my approach."

Joe started to laugh.

"Joe, it's not funny," Fenton said and turned disappointed eyes on his son. "You've let me down, Frank. If I've told you once, I've told you a million times - if you're going to take out an opponent, go for the head. A leg shot won't cut it."

Joe laughed even harder, and James joined in.

"Thanks a lot, Flash," Con grumbled.

-o0o-

"Nancy, I know you're lying to me. Cooperate, or things will get worse."

"I don't want—"

"Nancy. Don't resist me, okay?"

Joe laughed as Frank bounced the guy, who'd taken liberties with Nancy's mouth, off a table in the nightclub. Frank had delivered a lesson with his fists the man would never forget.

"No one treats my girl like that, Pal!" snarled Frank into the man's face, let go of the scruff of his neck, dropped him onto the table and hit him again. Disappointingly, security were on the scene to intercede and stop Frank from doing anymore damage.

Joe leaned toward Nancy, but she couldn't talk as she wiped her mouth with a tissue. "He loves you. Look at Frank fly. He beat a guy to a pulp for you because he took advantage."

"Joe, we broke up."

"Did you?"

"You know we did." …

"You know we did."

"What did you say, Nancy? Nancy, who you talking to? Tell me who's with you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Well? Who you talking to?"

"No one...Frank."

"I'm upping the dose, she's still too resistant - - - Nancy."

"Yes."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know. I'm in the dark, I can't see."

"Nancy, go to the Spirit of Oceanus, to the painting where the code is, okay?"

Nancy looked at the painting, the canvas going in and out of focus. Her eyes moved about the picture as she hunted for the code. It had to be here somewhere, as this picture stood out from the other artwork on the walls. The rest were crude murals painted straight on the walls, unlike this genuine oil painting on canvas. The crab clawed god, Oceanus, the largest character featured.

Her eyes dropped to the plaque attached to the wall to the side of the picture. On the plaque, she found written: A palm slid into view and obscured the code, and another slipped into her hand. The distraction pulled her train of thought. She looked up startled to see Joe there. He turned her around and wiped the tears from her face. "Stop crying Nan and get clever, don't be a victim."

"I can't help it, this is too difficult, I can't stop it."

"Then don't stop it. Give the woman what she wants, but lie. It's important you don't give in Nan, really important. You trust me don't you?"

"You know I do."

"Then toughen up and lie through your teeth!" …

"Nancy, you've gone quiet, I need the code and I'm going to get it one way or the other. Let it be this way and not with my Red-Headed friend who will use much tougher measures. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Joe squeezed her hand encouragingly, smiled his most special smile, and nodded.

Finally, Nancy's eyes dropped to the plaque attached to the wall to the side of the picture. On the plaque, she found written: 'Kindly donated to the club by Professor Hope: ADBA …

"ADBA? That's the first part of the code, Nancy?"

"No."

"No?"

"It's the second part of the code."

"But it doesn't make sense. I'm told the code's made up of numbers."

"Digits."

"Explain what you mean, Nancy."

"Digits not numbers. Everyone assumed when Professor Hope said 'digits' he meant numbers…a classic red herring. He threw practically everyone off the scent. They're letters, not numbers."

"Thank you Nancy, but I want to know who you've been talking to."

"Frank Hardy."

"I don't believe you. It's someone you trust but not Frank Hardy. Tell me who it is."

"No one…I…I don't know what you mean."

"Who is it, tell me."

"No one…Frank Hardy."

"Stop crying, it's annoying. Tell me who you're talking to and I'll leave you alone for the night, okay Nancy?"

"I don't want to, I'm confused. I never forget anything."

"Tell me, I'm fed up of messing about with you. Tell me now, or I get the Red-Headed Man to find out for me and you don't want that."

"It's Joe Hardy. I'm sorry Joe."

-o0o-

The men returned to the hotel, cold, but safe. As soon as Frank shrugged off his outer gear, he unpacked the notebooks and laid them out around the table.

They all followed him into the dining room and took seats where their notebook waited. Mrs Holliday busied herself setting steaming cups and sandwiches in front of them. She returned momentarily to the kitchen.

Vanessa appeared, snugly wrapped in a nightgown. She looked much better than earlier. "Room for one more?" she croaked.

"Only if you're feeling up to it, Number-Two." Frank answered, and heeled the chair next to him, inviting her to sit.

Joe gave her a hug and guided her to the table.

Mrs Holliday returned with a bowl of ice-cream, set it down in front of Vanessa and rubbed her upper arms. "There you are, brave girl. It'll help sooth your throat."

Vanessa smiled gratefully "You always have the best solutions, Mrs Holliday."

Mrs Holliday smiled back. "I try." She then took her rightful place at the table and prepared to join in the planning process.

Frank looked around at each person in turn. "Let's do this."

-o0o-

The next morning, Nancy woke, heavy lidded and gritty-eyed, as though she hadn't been to sleep at all. She couldn't recall having gone to bed and she didn't feel refreshed. For a split second, she saw Joe perched next to her, but then he went and left her with the ghostly, residual feeling of having held his hand.

Nancy sat up and looked blearily about. She found herself in a startlingly white room, which housed only the hospital bed she'd woken up in, and a bedside cabinet. At the end of the bed on her feet, she found a folded change of clothes. On the top of the cabinet sat a plate of food - a sandwich and some fruit, along with a glass of water which had been there for some time, air bubbles clung to the inside.

Windows surrounded the room, glazed with opaque glass, which prevented her from seeing anything outside other than shadows. It also prevented anyone from looking inside at her. In the corner, a door to the outside and another mystery door on the opposite side. Both were shut.

Nancy looked down and, with a grimace, lifted up the bedclothes. She sighed with relief when she saw she wore the same clothes. At least she wasn't undressed.

She drew her knees up tight and chewed on her lip. She remembered being waylaid in her hotel room by the guy who'd terrified her, and his helpers, but she wasn't able to process what happened afterwards. Everything a jumbled mess. She knew it had something to do with the Pandora code and Joe featured heavily in it. Nancy also had an overwhelming feeling she'd somehow harmed or betrayed Joe, although she didn't know how or why she could have done anything when he wasn't even here. 'Or is he? Is he here and a prisoner like me? If Joe's here, what are they doing to him? More importantly what have I done to him?'

Her left elbow felt sore, and both sets of arm muscles were stiff, like she'd done a major workout. She pulled up her sleeve and found the track marks left from the three injections, and then she saw her wrists, raw from her struggles against the straps. Now she remembered what happened - the woman injected her with something. She frowned, unable to remember what had occurred after.

Nancy's eyes returned to the food and she decided to eat it. She felt it would be best to keep up her energy levels, rather than allow herself to fade from hunger. She slid the plate forward and broke into the sandwich. Far hungrier than she thought, she finished it in seconds, then worked through the banana and apples, and swallowed down the water.

Feeling revitalized, she pulled the bedclothes off and slid from the bed. She carefully stood with her hand against the mattress, but felt surprisingly stoic on her bare feet. 'Wait? Where's my boots and socks?' She looked about the room, dipped to check under the bed and finally opened the bedside cabinet. They were nowhere to be found. Deciding not to worry about it, she turned and thoughtfully considered the outside door instead. She strode across and pulled down on the handle. The door opened readily inward and surprised her.

There were two men on the other side standing guard. They turned as one to block the exit and looked down at her. "Go back in," the one said, and pushed her chest so she stepped back into the room. He pulled the door shut.

'Too good to be true.'

Nancy headed for the other door this time and found it to be unlocked too. Behind, a tiny, windowless bathroom with no lock. Nancy sighed. She needed to use the facilities so she did, as quickly as possible with her foot braced against the door.

After flushing, she moved to the basin to wash her hands. As she turned on the faucet, she caught her reflection in the mirror. The features staring back made her grip the edge of the porcelain in shock. Her face, bruised black from her temple to her jaw line, her eye swollen. The white the color of blood, the blue of her pupil contrasted sharply against the scarlet surround, demon-like. The punch had come harder than she realised. Incomprehensible how her how her eye socket wasn't shattered. Her neck, as well as her chin, bore the outline of the Red-Headed Man's palm and fingers where he'd held her down and forced her face around to look at him.

Tears welled up but she blinked them away angrily and picked up the soap provided to wash her hands. 'Damn straight!' She would not allow herself to be a victim. She really didn't want to dwell on things she could do nothing about, and she knew the bruises would fade given time. Her eye would return to normal.

On the small basin, a gift of a fresh toothbrush and some paste rested, so she cleaned her teeth thoroughly.

She next turned her attention to the shower cubicle and gazed at it longingly, wishing she could take a shower and wash all remnants of the Red-Headed Man off her. Just the thought of it made her frightened of the consequences of not being able to lock the door. She decided to do something crazy, but in her mind, necessary. She went through to the bedroom and opened up the outside door. The two men turned and moved to shove her back in again, but she calmly raised her palms. "Look, guys. I want to take a shower but I don't want anyone to walk in on me. Can you make sure no one does?"

They watched her silently.

"I promise I'll behave myself. Don't you have mothers, sisters or daughters? Imagine if they were in my shoes, how would they feel?"

The men glanced at each other and one of them nodded. "Make it quick."

"I don't intend on luxuriating, it's no spa."

The door shut and she headed straight into the little room. She quickly got the water running, stripped herself of her clothes, checked the temperature and stepped in the small stall. After a speedy soap down, she exited and took down the bathrobe she'd seen on the back of the door. She wrapped herself in it and stepped into the bedroom to get the pile of fresh clothes.

She froze in her tracks at finding the tall, Red-Headed Man there, and staring with those black, emotionless eyes. His hands were behind his back, as he stood upright and unmoving. "What do you want?" she asked, and pulled the bathrobe even closer. She knotted the belt tightly - she knew it wouldn't provide much protection but…well…better than nothing.

He startled her by rolling on his toes and suddenly striding forward. She barrelled backward into the bathroom to avoid him, but he carried on his fast approach, no mercy given to her obvious fright. He shoved the door open with a bang and now had some sort of twine in his hand. As he backed her into the wall, the cord instantly found her neck and pulled tight. His face came in close. "Give me Frank Hardy." He stood so near his lips brushed hers slightly.

She closed her eyes struck dumb with terror.

"Look at me."