Note: I have loved reading your feedback and seeing your guesses about the mystery. Thank you for the thoughtful reviews TinDog (Amazing!) Red Hardy (Uh oh- what did I hint at? LOL), hlahabibty, Hero 76, hbndgirl, Paulina Ann, EastBlue, Caranath, ulstergirl, max2013, and SnowPrincess88 (on chapter 5). I'm happy you're enjoying the story. :)

The Secret Spaces

Chapter 8

The next morning at 9:00, Joe sat forlornly at the kitchen table at his parents' house. He and Frank had decided to stay the night at their old house, ostensibly so they could share information as it came in and get an early start the next day. He knew, though, that it was only part of the reason. He couldn't imagine going back to the home he shared with Vanessa without her being there, and he knew Frank was probably feeling the same way. And that was why it was so surprising that, when he went to wake Frank up, he wasn't in his bedroom. And now Joe sat, crumpling and uncrumpling napkins mindlessly, temporarily at a loss of what to do.

He felt a gentle squeeze on his shoulder as Laura sat next to him. "Hey, mom," he said dejectedly, not looking up.

"Hi, honey," she responded, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "'I'd ask how you're holding up, but I think I know the answer."

Joe managed the smallest of smiles.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" she queried, placing her hand on top of his.

Joe stopped fidgeting with the napkins and sighed. "A few hours," he answered. "I had to take stupid NyQuil, if you can believe that. It's the only thing that knocks me unconscious." He turned to his mother. "And I knew I needed some rest to be able to think clearly today."

Laura rubbed his hand. "That was smart, sweetheart. I think you're going to have a long day ahead of you." Seeing the shadow pass over his face, she continued. "I know you're scared. We all are. But we have to have faith. You and your brother- and dad- have always managed to come through in the most dire of circumstances. And I know the stakes don't get higher than this." She cleared her throat, struggling with her own emotions.

"Why, mom?" he asked, softly. "Facts aside, how can my wife- and Frank's wife- and one of our best friends, get involved in our cases? They… they never asked for any of this. It's not fair. This is my greatest fear, and now it's real. I… I can't lose her… or…" His voice cut out, his eyes unexpectedly starting to spill tears he'd held back for a day.

Laura pulled him into a tight hug. "It's NOT fair," she agreed. "Oh, honey. It's awful. But they're both strong girls; and Johnny is there to look out for them. Please try to believe they'll be okay."

Joe nodded, wiping his eyes. "God, mom. Callie. She's pregnant- very pregnant. Frank must be absolutely terrified. I… I mean, Vanessa has a fighting chance. But…" He took a deep breath.

"Stop!" Laura said, and pulled back from him, touching his face. "You need to stop. You can't think like this. It's going to cloud your judgement at a time when you sorely need to focus. Let love for your friend- your sister- your wife- drive you… not this fear, sweetheart."

"You're right," Joe mouthed, still unable to get his bearings as he wiped his eyes again.

Laura grabbed both of his hands. "I don't think your brother slept at all. He's not here- his car is gone. He probably went home early this morning. Go to him. Help him get his head straight-fast. You both so deserve this time to grieve and fear, but you need the time more than ever to act, and you don't have that luxury. Do you need to take copies of the files and review fact sheets?" she asked, getting him to focus.

Joe weakly grinned. "Nah. I know it all by heart. Thanks, mama," he said, using an old term of endearment from his childhood. He leaned over to hug her tightly. "I love you." He got up to leave.

"You're welcome, Joey," she answered. "I love you, too. Go find our girls."

"I will," Joe answered as he got up to go. And, for the first time, he allowed himself time to breathe deeply.

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Arriving at Frank's house close to 20 minutes later, he saw that his mom had been right: Frank's car was parked in his driveway. Joe sighed. He knew exactly where his brother would be. Determined not to lose his momentum, Joe let himself in Frank's house, bounded up the stairs, and found his way to the nursery, where Frank was standing, looking at the crib, eyes deadened.

"Don't do this," Joe said, standing in front of his brother and cutting to the chase. Frank barely looked startled, and it concerned him.

He put his hands on Frank's shoulders. "Frank. I know what you're feeling, okay? I KNOW." He gently shook him. "But we literally don't have time to ask ourselves how or why right now. Every minute we waste here is another minute that Callie and Vanessa are away from us and in danger. We can't let that happen. We can't."

That seemed to snap Frank out of his daze and he met Joe's eyes. Joe's heart hurt looking at Frank, whose grief was palpable. Frank's face was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes, which, even now, were shining bright with unshed tears.

"I… should have listened to you," he managed, voice shaking. "I was THERE, Joe. If I hadn't left, none of this would have happened. If I only would have told Callie or Johnny your theory. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault! I…"

"That's not true," Joe said, not breaking eye contact with Frank. He felt Frank trembling as he watched him struggle to control his emotions. "I mean, Frank- I could say the same thing. I never called Johnny and I should have. I didn't trust my own instincts fully. I should have done a lot of things differently. And-" He stopped talking as he noticed how stricken his brother looked.

All of a sudden, he realized that words were going right through Frank as he was fighting exhaustion, shock, guilt, and fear, among other things. So he stopped talking. Instead, he pulled Frank into his arms and held him. "Let it out," Joe said gently to him. "You can't even think if you're wound so tight. Breathe."

Frank nodded and wiped at his eyes with one hand as he tightly hugged Joe back. He pulled away after a minute or two. "Thanks," he said gruffly and took a shaky breath. "I'll hold it together."

"You need to," Joe replied. "I understand, Frank. You know I do." He fought back his own tears. "We need to focus now and get on the same team. I love you, Frank, and I understand that you're scared. So am I. But I need you to help me focus now because no one messes with our wives. And when we work together, we're pretty unstoppable. You with me?"

Frank nodded. "Let's do it."

Joe motioned Frank downstairs where they sat in the living room. "The body of Alan Cotnig was never found," Frank began. "I heard from dad this morning. He was presumed dead. He obviously hated dad- and Collig- because they were instrumental in catching him and putting him away. He would taunt them by placing ads in the paper- not at the level of sophistication of what we're dealing with now, of course, but the MO is the same."

"This is crazy," Joe said, "but it sounds like it's the right guy. But why now? And why not contact Dad or Collig? And why the show?"

"The show is too close to what happened," Frank said slowly. "Maybe… I don't know… maybe he was an obsessive fan? But the show is fairly new- it's only been on one season. The thought that this person would have waited 15 years or so to enact revenge and wait for a perfect opportunity is pretty horrifying."

Joe nodded. "I think we have to handle one thing at a time. There's the connection to dad- maybe- and the show. And I think we need to start with the show, since that's where Cal and Van and Johnny were taken. What do you know about the production?"

Frank folded his hands and thought for several minutes before answering. "I'm trying to think of what Callie or Johnny has mentioned. I think that Cal told me that the actors film several alternate scenes for the finale, because Johnny watched it with the girls and didn't even know what take would make it to the screen."

Joe furrowed his brows. Something was bothering him. "Keep talking," he said to Frank. "I'm thinking."

Frank took another deep breath, trying to throw out any piece of information he could think of, no matter how miniscule. "Uh... I don't think Johnny knew what he was filming yesterday. I think Callie mentioned that Vanessa was excited to spend time with him."

Despite himself, Joe smiled."Yeah. No doubt there."

Frank smiled slowly as well. "She told Callie the next day that Johnny was really patient with her and helped her with all of the 'clues'. She had apparently asked Johnny to outline every conceivable scenario for the season 2 opener."

Joe sat up straight as something began to dawn on him. "Frank," he started, as he began tapping his knee furiously, "that's the problem!"

"What is?" Frank asked, confused.

"If it IS Cotnig," Joe began, as he stood up and started pacing, "then this was planned for a long time. I mean, the guy had to murder people- he killed five people, which takes time. And he did it with forewarning and planning- we still haven't even looked at the ads yet. I guess what I'm saying is-how the hell would he have known what the season finale of the show would be like? It was top secret. And in order for it to coordinate-"

"Yes!" Frank agreed, standing as well. "Yes- he had to have known ahead of time not only the possible scenarios, but also what the final scene would have been. Not even the actors knew. So-"

"The editing team- or the writers- would have known. This is partially an inside job," Joe added.

"And that means that Cotnig probably was not working alone. And THAT makes sense because in order to orchestrate these crazy murders, one of which was with a healthy male, the person would have to have been strong enough to overpower them. We could be dealing with multiple people here," Frank went on. "We need to get the list of all people on the set. Maybe even the latest script, if it's completed. Let's call dad, and then maybe we can take a look at those ads again."

Frank looked at his brother and smiled. "We're getting somewhere," he told him. "Thank you."

"Team Hardy," Joe said, and gave Frank the quick secret handshake that they'd done for years. "Let's go!"

After a quick text to their father, they headed out to the police station, hoping to find the answers they were so desperately seeking.

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"Get up!" the monster man shouted at Callie, Johnny, and Vanessa the next day, again holding a gun steadily on them.

Groggily, Johnny stood, helping Callie and Vanessa to their feet and positioning himself in front of them. It was after noon, and they had been there close to 24 hours.

"I'm curious, detective," he said, calmly, as he stared at them. "What will happen next season? It's unlikely you would be killed, but that would be the ultimate twist- an exquisite irony- and hence I cannot rule out the possibility. You could all die, another distinct possibility. Or some of you may be saved and some of you may die. It's really very exciting."

"What do you want?" Johnny asked, warily.

The man gave a sinister smile. "To be honest, this has nothing to do with you, or your friends. You're just necessary collateral."

"What are you talking about?" Vanessa asked.

"I didn't give you permission to talk, honey," he said. With that, he motioned to his left, and a huge man with bulging muscles, who had to stand at least 6'6', walked quickly to Vanessa and slapped her hard across the face before anyone could process the scene.

"Van!" Callie screamed, and went to grab her before she fell. Johnny started to go after the man, but a gunshot in the air stopped all of them, as Vanessa sobbed quietly, holding her cheek with her hand.

"Leave her alone!" Johnny called out at last, seething, feeling unexpectedly bold, furious. "You have to hit a woman?! What kind of man are you? If your problem is with me- take me, please! Let them go. They've done nothing." He felt Callie's hand on his back.

"Man, woman- it makes no difference to me, detective," the scarred man calmly spoke. "And you're actually the least valuable person here. But don't worry. We need to see how next season would play out. You won't all be staying here very much longer."

Johnny tried a different tactic. "Look, we've been here a long time. Please- can we get something to stay warm? Something to eat- or drink? We need water. We'll be more cooperative. Please."

The smile remained as the man looked at the brute who had hurt Vanessa. "They all beg, don't they?" He turned to Johnny. "No, indeed. It's part of the game."

"Please," Vanessa begged, still holding her face. "My friend needs something. She's pregnant!"

Callie started shivering again. While Vanessa was right- she was already starting to feel lightheaded and dizzy- she had a very bad feeling that she didn't want them to be reminded of the fact that she was pregnant.

"Oh- believe us, we know," he answered steadily. "That's part of the experiment. How long can someone who is pregnant survive in this environment? Funny," he went on, as he watched the muscleman move towards Callie, "that we don't yet know the length that the detective friend will go to save his wife. Hmmm. We shall see."

"No!" Callie screamed as she was grabbed from behind. Before Johnny could stop it, another goon grabbed him from the side and stabbed a knife violently into his leg. He screamed as the flesh ripped and muscle burned. It took every ounce of strength he had to fight the panic and darkness threatening him. At the same time, Callie was punched hard repeatedly in her back, crying out and gasping for air, and Vanessa was violently shoved to the ground.

"All in due time," he said calmly as they turned and left the room.

Vanessa struggled with consciousness. Johnny fought tears and the searing pain and excruciatingly slowly, it seemed, pulled the knife from his leg, almost passing out as it ripped through him again. He briefly wondered if he could find a rag to serve as a tourniquet. Callie gasped for breath as she lay on her knees. "Can't breathe," she managed, as black dots appeared in front of her eyes.

Johnny, noting Vanessa was still not awake fully, first crawled to Callie, leg burning with the effort, but he had to get to her. Gently, he touched her back, but she cried out in pain, moaning and gasping for breath. "Breathe, you can do it, honey," he encouraged her, trying to hide the panic in his voice. He wrapped an arm around her and helped her to lay on her side while praying she didn't have internal injuries. Lifting the back of her shirt slightly, he already saw the ugly bruising, but was pretty confident she hadn't been attacked long enough to have caused severe damage. "Oh, Cal," he whispered, more to himself than to her. "Please be okay."

He grabbed his coat from the floor nearby and covered her, at the same time realizing that he wasn't bleeding as badly as he thought- as if his attacker knew just how to inflict pain but not cause severe damage. Of course, he had probably made things worse by pulling the knife out, but what was the alternative? He fought nausea as everything hit him at once. It was all too much. Why was this happening? His eyes burned with tears.

Still, watching Vanessa get hit, and watching his very best friend suffer- both of whom were completely innocent women and one of whom was carrying a child- that had unleashed in him a rage stronger than he had felt in his life. And he vowed right then that he would get them out, safe and sound, no matter what it would cost him.