A/N: *cough* I have nothing to say except I am SO sorry for the delay, so rude of me. Also, this chapter goes out to Cherylann Rivers who sent me the nicest, most encouraging email ever that really helped me get out of my writing slump. :) Thank you! Also, thanks to ALL of you who have stuck with me even when it takes me WEEKS to update…I really appreciate it. :) Now, on to the chapter!
P.S. Fun Fact: It took me two hours to write the first page of this chapter…talk about writer's block!
Quintessential Bliss
Chapter Eighteen
"The Network is searching this area here, pretty extensively given their great resources," Joe said slightly sarcastically early the next morning as he, his father and Nancy leaned over a map laid out on the hood of the car. "I guess we should start here," Joe pointed to an area close to where he and Nancy had left off the previous night.
Joe was feeling extra anxious this morning to find his brother and while it was great to have his father here to help, he wished that they could split up and search for Frank but he knew his father would never go for it.
"It's too bad we can't split up," Nancy murmured voicing Joe's thoughts.
Fenton glanced down at his cell phone and smiled, "What's funny Dad?" Joe asked.
"Hold on," Fenton continued looking at his phone and then abruptly turned to look behind them at the dirt road. Less than a minute later a car came around the corner stirring up a large cloud of dust.
"Dad?" Joe questioned.
"We'll cover more ground with two groups," Fenton explained and walked to meet the driver of the car. "It's good to see you," he held the door open as the man climbed out.
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Sam Radley replied and walked with Fenton toward Nancy and Joe
"Sam?" Joe said in surprise.
"I'm glad you could make it Sam," Fenton said and clapped him on the back.
"Of course," Sam shook his head, "Frank is missing, where else would I be?"
"Okay," Joe said excitedly and pointed at the map, "Dad, you and Sam take this section," he pointed to an area on the map, "and Nancy and I will take this section. We'll keep in touch once every hour to mark our progress."
"Sounds good," Fenton replied. Fenton looked from Joe to Nancy and back to Joe as he spoke his next words, "We've been in this situation before, someone we love is missing and we're not sure where to look. We've done it before and we are certainly going to do it again. Focus on finding Frank, keep your eyes open and stay safe."
Joe nodded, determined to find his brother by the end of the day.
Frank wiped the sweat off his forehead as inconspicuously as possible as he worked the butter knife into the seam of the window in the bathroom. He felt ridiculous but it was the only tool he had that he thought might work to pry the window loose.
"What did they use to stick this thing shut?" Frank grumbled and blinked his eyes to bring things back into focus.
"You want me to give it a try?" Charlie offered from behind him.
"Sure," Frank gave up with a grunt of frustration; his arm muscles were feeling suddenly weak.
Changing places with Charlie, Frank watched as he made little more progress than he had. "This is stupid," Charlie finally said after ten minutes of trying to pry the window open, his only progress shown in the huge gouges into the paint on the wall. He turned to face Frank who was leaning against the door jamb, his face pale.
"Um," Charlie's brow furrowed in concern but he sensed that if he said anything too obvious Frank would just blow him off. "Why don't we sit down for a minute? I'm bushed." Charlie made a big show of stretching out his arm.
"Okay," Frank shrugged but was secretly glad for the excuse to sit down. When they were both seated Frank shook his head and laughed half-heartedly. "I'm usually much sharper than this. I don't know what it is but my head is cloudy."
"You took a pretty big blow to the head," Charlie suggested but he was eyeing the cut on Frank's wrist with growing concern.
"Yeah," Frank agreed and decided that was it, he was still feeling muddled from his head injury. Now that he was sitting down it did seem as if he was feeling better. "Okay, let's go over everything again." Frank said with determination. "How did you escape the last time?"
For the next twenty minutes Charlie and Frank went over everything, thinking of all the possible ways of escape. "These are double pane windows," Charlie said looking at them, "they're hard to break but not impossible. If we were to try that route we'd have to move fast. The noise would draw attention. We could use one of the chairs, they look heavy enough."
"Yes," Frank nodded and took a deep breath. "You're right." He was quiet for a minute thinking about all of their options. His gaze turned to the windows and he leaned forward, "You know Charlie, these are double pane windows. They're hard to break, but not impossible."
Charlie started to laugh but stopped abruptly at the serious look on Frank's face, "Um, yeah." Charlie agreed slowly.
"We'd have to move pretty fast if we were to do that, the noise would definitely catch someone's attention since we know we're being watched," Frank stood up slowly and walked to one of the windows, inspecting it carefully. "One of the chairs might do the job," he murmured.
Now Charlie was very concerned, he didn't know Frank very well but all he had ever heard about him was how smart and quick he was. What was going on?
"You want to give it a try?" Frank asked, turning to look at Charlie.
"Sure," Charlie shrugged, "Couldn't hurt to try."
"Okay, let's wait until dark. We can use all the cover we can get. We'll pack the rest of the food and water in your…" his voice trailed off and his eyes became unfocused.
"Frank?" Charlie prompted.
"Yeah?" Frank looked at Charlie.
"We'll pack the rest of the food and water in my…?" he asked.
"Oh," Frank looked confused. "Yeah, we'll pack it in your bag…with whatever else we'll need."
"Okay," Charlie stood up and began taking things out of his duffle bag, "This will lighten it up."
"Hope you're not too attached to those clothes," Frank joked.
"They're my camping clothes," Charlie laughed, "and even if I was attached to them Callie certainly won't mourn the loss. She hates this pair of pants in particular," he grinned and held up a pair of cargo pants with holes all over them. "I'm not sure why, she says they're an embarrassment to be worn in public."
"Embarrassment?" Frank laughed, "They're just worn in!"
"That's exactly what I tell her," Charlie laughed and put the pants on top of his pile of clothes. Frank opened the cupboard and began passing him the cans of food.
When the duffel was all packed and ready to go Frank looked around the small cabin, "ever play I Spy?" he asked.
"No," Charlie replied.
Frank grinned, "Joe and I used to play it all the time when we were kids. I'll teach it to you while we wait for it to get dark."
"Sounds like a game where you'll have an unfair advantage," Charlie laughed.
"Oh yeah," Frank replied and looked around the room for his first object.
Nancy was battling back tears and she was appalled to be doing so. She wasn't a crier and she wasn't a hysterical female but she sure was feeling close to hysterical.
It had gotten dark an hour ago and she and Joe were still searching the seemingly never ending forest. They had come across a dozen little cabins in their search all of them empty or occupied by weekend campers.
Fenton and Sam had had even less luck then they had. "Hey," Joe said suddenly and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he navigated the dark road. "We're going to find him."
All Nancy could do was nod. After all the times they had been through something like this, it never got any easier. Nancy's cell phone beeped and she looked down, expecting it to be Fenton and Sam checking in. She frowned when she saw the message icon lit up indicating she had a new text message. Clicking on it she saw it was sent from an unfamiliar number. Reading the message quickly she sat up straighter in her seat. "Joe! Listen to this!"
"Your fiancé is in a lot of danger. Find him here," she read and the message was followed by longitude and latitude coordinates. She quickly grabbed the map and searched for the right place. "Right here," she pointed to a spot on the map, her excitement growing. "Keep heading North on this road for a couple of miles."
"Nancy, this could be a trick," Joe warned.
"We'll call your father and Sam, have them meet us there. It's worth checking out though right, if it means finding Frank?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah it is." Nancy quickly called Fenton who agreed to meet them at the location as soon as they could get there.
They drove in silence for awhile before Nancy pointed to a turn up ahead, "Turn left there, it should take us in the right direction."
Joe turned and flipped on his bright lights, the night suddenly darker with the trees hanging over the narrow road.
"The place should be up here about another mile on the left," Nancy leaned forward eagerly in her seat searching for some indication of life. "There!" she pointed out a few minutes later. "Do you see the light?"
Joe had seen it and he quickly slowed down to lessen the sound of their coming. Pulling into the driveway he quickly killed the engine. Before Nancy could climb out of the car Joe turned to her and put both hands on her shoulders, "We're both eager to find Frank. We both want to run in there with no other thoughts. It's up to each of us to keep the other in check and watch the other's back. Agreed?"
Nancy nodded, "Agreed."
Getting out of the car they each pulled their guns out and started cautiously checking out the area. Walking slowly around the cabin Nancy gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. Shattered glass littered the ground below one of the windows at the front of the cabin, a metal chair laid on its side next to a bush.
"What happened?" Joe wondered and they walked carefully up to the window. One quick look inside showed that the cabin was empty, a pile of clothes sat on the bed and the cupboard doors were hanging wide open.
Nancy's sharp intake of breath alerted Joe and he followed her eyes, noticing for the first time the spot of blood on the pillow. Trying not to think about it Joe looked at the clothes, "I wonder whose clothes those are," he said out loud even though it really didn't matter.
"Not Frank's," Nancy said trying to sound lighthearted. "I'd never let him wear a pair of pants with that many holes in them."
"What?" Joe looked at them again. "They're just worn in!"
"You're such a man," Nancy rolled her eyes and then reached in her pocket for her pen light. "Let's look around."
"Leave it to Frank to escape just moments before we get here to rescue him," Joe muttered and searched the ground for any clue.
"I'm going to try calling that number," she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number of the person who had sent her the text message. It rang twice before there was a dial tone. "Nothing," Nancy said in disgust and dialed another number. "Michael, its Nancy." She was quiet for a minute, "Yes, I know it's been awhile. Listen, I know it's late but could you do me a huge favor?" Another pause, "Yes, Frank and I will come to dinner if you do me this favor." Another pause, "Okay, can you look up this number?" She recited it back to him and waited for him to input it in his computer. It was several minutes before she sighed, "That's what I thought, thanks Michael. No, not right now. I'll call you when it's over." She hung up and turned to Joe, "Michael couldn't find anything on the phone. It's a pay as you go cell phone."
Just then Sam's car pulled in behind Joe's and the two men climbed out of the car. Walking over to the cabin Fenton shook his head, "Frank escaped." He looked around at all of the glass and then smirked at Joe, "That's my boy."
Anyone else play I Spy? My sisters and I played it ALL THE TIME when we were little. :)