Just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely reviews. I really do love receiving them, it really makes it all worthwhile to know that I'm entertaining people. I also now know that there are people reading on the quiet which is so cool!


CHAPTER 27

"Shut up!" Frank growled at the woman, tired of hearing her threats and attempts at intimidation.

He returned his attention to Nancy, trying to get through to her, to break through her distress. No amount of stroking or cajoling worked, nothing made a difference. He looked frantically about for clues and his eyes settled on the red bag on the table, the vials and syringes abandoned next to it. He checked out Nancy's arm and found the track lines from the injections she'd endured. He inexplicably touched his own arm, shook his head and asked the woman, "What did you give her?

"My friend will have his fun with you, Frank Hardy."

Joe grunted in frustration.

Fenton appeared in the doorway and ran to Nancy to unbuckle the straps. Once free, he slid her from the gurney and down to the floor. He pulled her tightly in, and drew her face into his shoulder to stifle her yells. "For pity's sake! Her screams, I thought…I don't know what I thought...Frank?"

"They've injected her with something and now I remember they did the same to me in my apartment. They tried to put me in a trance, but it wouldn't work, so they injected me instead. They said it would be safe—" He hit his forehead and then pointed at the woman. "SHE said it would be safe. I'm so STUPID!"

Fenton's glare fell on the woman as she regarded Frank vindictively, enjoying the spectacle of his son's struggle, a big smile on her face. Fenton surrendered his hold on Nancy and began to rise out of his crouch, his hands rolled into fists, his body tight with unreleased tension.

The woman's attention switched from Frank to Fenton. She dropped the smugness and moved to get behind Joe, having the good grace to be concerned at his aggressive body language.

Fenton gritted his teeth and growled slowly, "Get her out of here, Joe, or I'll do something I won't regret, but she will."

"My pleasure." Joe dragged the woman to the gurney by the collar, turned and slid her onto the bed. She kicked out and shouted obscenities, trying to roll off. Joe used his muscle weight to hold her and forced each wrist into the straps. "How do you like them apples, Lady?" He kicked the brake off, shoved the gurney out of the room and into the corridor.

Fenton dropped and pulled Nancy to him again, as Joe shut the door to join Frank at the table.

"What you thinking, Dude?"

Frank didn't answer, he picked up one of the empty vials to read the label. It meant nothing to him, but he knew someone who would be able to help. He got his phone out and pressed for a number.

"Can you put me through to Emily Cox? It's an emergency, life and death…Frank Hardy." He looked at Nancy worriedly while he waited to be connected through the hospital switchboard. "Hello?...Thank God. Emily…It's Nancy you can hear... Can you tell me what this is please?—" He recited off the name of the drug.

Joe and Fenton waited as he listened, nodding along. "I don't know how much, but there's three empty bottles…What can I do? Anything?" He listened and turned quickly to the red bag to haul through its contents again. He pulled out several vials and checked their labels until his search bore fruit. "Found it! Thanks Emily...No…NO…I mean it, I'm not putting you in that position, we'll handle it." He rang off and shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Do you either of you know how to administer injections?"

"No, but I'll give it a go." Fenton said.

"You're not filling me with confidence," Joe said.

"I promised Carson I'd look after his daughter, soooo—" Fenton shrugged his shoulders.

Frank continued to rummage. He hunted through the contents of the bag until he found a medically sealed, disposable syringe; a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some swabs. He handed them to Joe, along with a pair of gloves, and knelt down on the other side of Nancy to pull her off his Dad. He borrowed his father's trick by pressing her face into his shoulder so they could hear while he explained. "The drug they used has put her into chemically induced hypnosis. Emily said—" He stopped as Nancy kicked.

Joe battled with her legs, "Man, she's strong!" he complained before tucking them firmly to his side under a stocky arm.

Frank continued, "Emily said they've overdosed her, it's messing with her head, causing delusions. What's going on in her mind's real to her. God knows what's happening in there." He indicated to the vial with his eyes. "It's the antidote. It'll calm her down, stop the delusions."

Fenton squeezed alcohol onto his hands and vigorously rubbed. "I wish I knew how to do this." He pulled on the gloves. "How do I know I'm giving her enough, or too much?"

"Emily said we should give her one dose which's a whole bottle. We've got to try, Dad. She won't come out the other side sane at this rate."

Fenton grimaced, "I have every intention of trying. Doing it for Carson." He separated the syringe from its wrapper, and held up the tiny bottle. He considered it for a moment before grabbing an alcohol wipe to rub it over the rubber seal on the lid. He shoved the needle into the liquid, and drew it down into the barrel. He slid it free, and aimed it at Nancy's arm.

"WAIT!" Joe interceded. "You forgot - air bubbles! Hold the needle up." Fenton did that and Joe quickly flicked his nail against the barrel. "Now push on the plunger so a bit of liquid comes out the top."

"How did you know that?" Fenton asked, doing as advised.

"Too much TV, it's educational. Wipe the inside of her arm with one of those wipey things, where you're going jab her."

"Here?"

"Yep."

Fenton did as instructed, and then cast Joe an enquiring look.

"Why the hesitation? Stick her with it - she's giving me a headache."

Fenton attempted to 'stick her with it' but she jerked around so much he didn't have a cat in hell's chance. "Frank, can't you hold her still?"

"I'll try."

"Joe, sit on her legs, put your hand under her elbow and lever her wrist down so her arm's straight and can't move so much."

"'kay."

With her under control, Fenton leaned close and used the previous track-line as a crude map to her vein. He found it surprisingly easy and pumped the liquid in quickly. Once finished he retracted the needle and threw it across the room.

Immediately, Nancy's countenance altered. She relaxed, the screams stopped and she quit fighting. Joe climbed off.

Frank eased his strong hold, but kept her cradled gently against his chest. He expected her to sleep, but her left arm rose to slide around his shoulders and her body and legs curled around his torso. Her fingers contracted against the back of his neck and her other arm followed the waist band of his jacket and Kevlar vest to his back, where she gripped on tightly. Her face turned to look up at him. "Hey," Frank said, uncertain and carefully passive.

"You came for me."

"Did you think we wouldn't?"

She smiled at him. "I remember." Her hand came off his neck to cup his cheek. "Do you?"

"I miss you."

"Me too."

And then they were kissing.

Scarlet faced, Fenton got up off the floor quickly. "Right, hmm."

"I guess mission statement one's sorted." Joe said. He spun on his heels and also rose to walk away.

-o0o-

Vanessa listened to Frank on the phone from the interior of the panic room. "Message understood." She disconnected their call and dropped the cell onto the desk. "Show time," she said to Mrs Holliday. She switched her full attention to her PC and the keyboard to give her Dark-Net Army comrades permission to proceed. Her fingers typed, flying on the keyboard at a rapid rate, while she directed Mark and her new friends on their tasks.

The first port of call - to override and disable the Hope Industries' security measures, to take control and get those front gates open. Only a few seconds later, Mark reported the team were successfully through and into the compound. He told her to hold onto her bowler hat as he live streamed the CCTV security footage in and about the complex.

Vanessa sat back and looked up at the large screen on the wall. As promised, there came a strobe-like flutter, followed by several live views uploading in quick succession.

Mrs Holliday rose in excitement.

"Do you have it?" Mark asked.

"Yes, you're a star!" Vanessa typed.

"We're seeing the footage too. I'm tightening down security to prevent them taking back control. BRB."

"OK." She picked up her phone and thumbed a message to Frank to let him know they were all watching proceedings. She put her cell down and sat with her arms crossed to observe.

She and Mrs Holliday watched their friends march across the compound and James, followed by Joe, quickly taking care of two of the guards, and Fenton booting the first guy just to make sure.

"I wouldn't want to come up on Joe in a dark alley," Mrs Holliday said.

Vanessa giggled. "He doesn't mess around." Her attention returned to her PC as Mark's made a further report.

"The Dark-Net Army have got Frank and the team access to the building; we're trying to take the Posse offline but it's difficult. They've got tech support off-site. They're battling with us."

"Can we distract them somehow? Pull the operators inside the building off-track so they're not firing on all cylinders? Weaken them?"

"We're about to mess with the lights, though I think they'll be distracted by Frank and the lads in a second. Joe's beefed up over the years, he wasn't as big before. He's a man now."

"He sure turns heads."

"Is Frank still with…Cassie? Kiwi can't quite remember her name."

"Callie." Vanessa corrected. "They've not been together for ages. She got married."

"Well, that would put the kibosh on any relationship."

"They didn't break up because of that, ya numbskull."

"LOL - charming!"

Vanessa smiled. "They ran out of steam. He's with Nancy. Or we're hoping he will be at the end of this."

"BRB. Need to do something." Mark said.

Vanessa could see what he and the Dark-Net Army were doing. Inside the building the lights flickered, as well as the large, wall-mounted monitor which she could make out contained the image of Pandora. "Look, Mrs Holliday. The code's almost complete, but it's wrong. I can't remember the cipher, but it should be numbers. I know from the first time Nancy destroyed her."

"Nancy's tougher than they think she is. Good for her."

Vanessa stood and watched Fenton discharge his weapon in the air and move across the office. The workers froze as Con stepped sideways, the only other person to be on the move…but then a figure on the stairwell also shifted. Mrs Holliday grabbed Vanessa's arm - a man brandishing a gun! Or at least until his arm jerked violently outward and the weapon flew. "What happened?"

"Young James shot the gun from his hand."

"Go Jimmy!"

Rebel made a scary noise in the back of his throat - a thundering growl that made the women shiver. His hackles rose and he sloped to position himself in the doorway. Protectively, he stared into the room beyond.

"We should lock the door." Mrs Holliday said quietly.

"What's setting him off?"

"Him!" Mrs Holliday's attention had diverted to the monitors on the other side of the room, the VDUs showing the inside and outside of the hotel.

Vanessa focused. She saw what Mrs Holliday saw, and what Rebel sensed. A man hunkered low outside peering through the front window. "The Red-Headed Man." Her hands strayed to her neck and caressed the bruises. "He's found us."