Chapter Fourteen

"Well, what do we have 'ere?" asked the first man in a comical tone. He walked into the room looking around before setting his sights on Jenny and Charlie. "We were sent 'ere to find one person and instead we find two. Now, I figures that neither one of you is Frank 'Ardy, right?"

Charlie gulped nervously. His gun lay nearby but he didn't dare move for fear of being shot by one of the men. He didn't know what else to do other than listen and pray for an escape.

Jenny took a step back as the two men advanced into the room. She knew she felt that there was someone watching her while she was out in the hall. Jenny only wished it was a ghost instead. She slowly lowered her weapon to the ground when the second man ordered her to and kicked it over to him.

"So, who are you?" The man looked from Charlie to Jenny though neither of them replied. "Look, this is going to be a long day if you don't use your words. Who are you?"

"We're nobody," Charlie finally answered nervously. "We…we thought we saw someone in here and thought we'd investigate."

"And you 'ave no idea where this Frank is?"

"Who's Frank?" Jenny inquired trying to throw the men off. She held a hand slightly behind her left leg, concealing the walkie talkie. Her finger pressed the button in the hopes that Muldoon was listening for once.

"Oh, don't be coy with us, dearie," he replied slyly. "We just 'eard you calling for him."

Jenny cursed herself for letting her guard down. She bumped into Charlie and he instinctively grabbed her hand for comfort. The two exchanged a nervous glance, each wondering what was going to happen next.

"So, what are we going to do with them, Harry?" the second man asked, a hungry look in his eyes.

"I don't know, Checker," Harry smirked. "We seem to be in a predicament 'ere. We was told to come find this kid and rough 'im up. I wasn't expectin' no chick though."

"I can think of a few things to do with that one," Checker licked his lips as he stared at Jenny.

"Stop that!" his partner ordered. "That's not what we're 'ere for! We need to find out what to do next. Then we'll deal with them."

"Aww, come on!" the other man whined. "I don't get to do nothing no more! Besides, what are these two worth anyway? They can't be worth much. Besides we'll have more fun that way, right?"

Harry smacked Checker on the back of the head causing him to cry out in pain. "I told you! We are not touching them until I talk to 'er! Now's I 'ave to make a phone call. You stand guard with them while I do this."

Jenny dared not move, watching Checker to make sure the man kept his distance. She looked at Charlie who also stood frozen though his eyes were on Harry as the man held his cell phone to his ear. There was no telling who he was calling but Jenny was sure she wasn't going to like the outcome.

"Explain to me where are we going?" Joe grumbled watching the countryside go by.

Gidget sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "I told you. We have to get some supplies for tomorrow evening," she stated annoyed. "Plus the fact that we have to make sure you and Carlos can get inside before the party begins. Without these things in place, you'd be caught within minutes."

"Okay, whatever," he mumbled folding his arms in front of him. He was beginning to wonder if he made the right decision in joining forces with Gidget. At least Carlos was quickly becoming an ally and someone Joe would be able to trust during their time together.

The three had stayed the night in a rented cottage the night before which had no phone much to Joe's dismay. Carlos couldn't even let him use his phone since Gidget confiscated it just before disappearing into the only room in the house. That left Joe and Carlos to a couch and a chair in the main room. The former FBI agent kept to himself and grumbled to sleep on the couch. Joe was relegated to the chair which left a kink in his neck and an irritable disposition in the morning.

Gidget didn't say much overnight. Once she retired to the bedroom, she wasn't seen again though Joe could have sworn he heard her voice in the late hours while he was trying to get comfortable. Although he couldn't understand what was being said, Joe didn't exactly like the uneasy feeling he felt as he tried to listen. When Gidget woke before the others she used an airhorn to wake the two men up. The thought of that airhorn alone made Joe want to walk away from the whole agreement.

Suddenly, Gidget's phone rang, breaking the stone-cold silence within the vehicle. She glanced at the phone screen and frowned before speaking., "Carlos, pull over."

"Really? Here?" the former agent glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "We're almost there. It can't wait?"

"I said pull over!" she screeched angrily and the man quickly complied.

Seconds later, Carlos pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road then got out. Gidget answered the phone then glared at Joe the moment the driver opened the door.

"Seriously, again?" he grumbled climbing out of the car. Gidget waited until the car door slammed before speaking.

Joe shivered as a brisk wind blew, the sweatshirt he wore too light for the English weather even though it was late Spring.

"What the hell?" he cried throwing his hands up in frustration. "Why are we the ones who have to get out of the car? It's freezing out here!"

"Yeah, I know," Carlos growled. "I don't trust her, not one bit. And this is the second phone call today."

"Second?"

"You didn't hear her talking after two in the morning?" Carlos quirked an eyebrow.

"I did but not what she said," Joe sighed. "Did you hear anything?"

"No, nothing," the man shook his head. He moved away from the vehicle toward the tree line nearby. Joe followed him, curious as to what Carlos had to say. "It's not as windy over here. Besides she can't hear us. That woman is definitely up to something but I don't know what."

"You know what?" the young Hardy stated. "Screw her. We can go along with her plan for now but change it when we can. She wants us to play dress-up. Let's just change it up a bit. Throw her and Donatelli off."

Carlos chuckled. "What have you got in mind, kid?"

"Let's go!" yelled Gidget from the car. "We don't have all day!"

Joe looked at her and began walking back. As he walked he kept his voice low, "We'll talk when we get the chance. I have a feeling we need to get to Nancy now rather than tomorrow. You know where to go, right?"

"Yeah. Gigi showed me the layout a few days ago."

"Great," Joe smiled. "I say we ditch her and go take care of business ourselves. She has the technology to help us. We get that and we'll go from there. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Well, it's about time!' Gidget cried irritated as Joe and Carlos got back into the car. "We have too much to do and you two are fooling around!"

"Hey, we're not the ones who had to pull over to take a damn phone call," Carlos retorted. He put the car in gear then drove off. "We were just waiting for you."

"And you took too long to come back," she scoffed. "You should have stayed near the car and now we're behind schedule. Our meeting is in ten minutes!"

"We'll get there, lady," he growled. "Don't try my patience."

"I try your patience?"

"Hey, enough," Joe ordered immediately silencing the two. A headache was already forming and he didn't want anything more to exacerbate it. "Let's just get there."

As Harry continued to speak on the phone, Jenny noticed movement out in the hallway. Her heart soared when she saw Muldoon crouching at the door. The military man placed his finger over his mouth as he monitored the situation.

"You have no right to hold us!" Jenny shouted the moment Harry was off the phone. She was keeping their captors attention in order to keep them from noticing Muldoon.

"And what makes you think you can stop us?" Harry snickered.

"I work for the American Embassy, you dolt!" she continued. "I can make you disappear."

"Is that so, eh?" He looked to his partner. "You 'ear that, Checker? Miss High and Mighty thinks that's going to scare us. I can teach her a thing or two."

Charlie gathered his courage and protectively stepped in front of Jenny. "Over my dead body."

"I can make that happen," Checker stepped forward, his smirk revealing several gold teeth. He put his gun in the back waistband of his pants then cracked his knuckles menacingly. "I'll take care of this one, Harry, while you can have a go with her. But don't do too much to her. I wanna have some too."

"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen," replied Muldoon. He aimed his gun at the back of Harry's head, the man freezing in place. "Drop your weapons! Now!"

Checker sneered at him then quickly grabbed Jenny, pulling his gun from his waistband and pointing it at her head. Harry snickered though he did drop his gun with a loud thunk.

"Ooo, I think we have a predicament here," Checker laughed. "Put your gun down and let my boy go or I'll blow the girl's brains out."

Muldoon thought for a moment looking at Jenny who shook her head. She didn't look frightened though her body was clearly shaking. The military man thought of his options but realized all of them would eventually lead to Jenny's death.

Sighing, Muldoon relinquished his hold on Harry and slowly lowered his gun to the ground. Harry laughed again, kneeing Muldoon in the face before picking up his gun. The thug pointed the weapon at Muldoon.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this," Harry announced gleefully. His finger wrapped around the trigger but he stopped when a shot rang out. The thug screamed in pain, dropping his weapon as blood gushed from his arm.

In the confusion, Jenny stomped her foot on Checker's causing the man to cry out pain and lose his grip on her. She whirled around and kneed him in the groin making the man to double over. Jenny looked over at Charlie realizing that it was him who pulled the trigger on Harry.

The young man stood shaking, his finger still poised over the trigger. As Muldoon took care of the two thugs, Jenny gently took the gun out of Charlie's hand as he starred at the man writhing on the floor. She squeezed his hand and smiled when he finally looked at her.

"It's okay," Jenny whispered assuredly. Charlie nodded silently though she could tell that he was uncomfortable. She turned toward Muldoon who had the two thugs sitting on the floor against the wall. "Now, what do we do?"

"Well," the man sighed. He wiped the blood from his nose, irritated that someone got the better of him. Muldoon eyed Harry and Checker, the two men cringing at the look. "We start off by finding out who these two were talking to and who sent them."

"I'm not telling you nothing!" growled Checker though his voice was slightly higher than before. He groaned when he shifted on his bottom. "Man, that was not cool, lady! I wasn't gonna hurt you!"

"That's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you!" Muldoon smirked. He bent down on his haunches and stared at the two men intently. Muldoon laughed. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"I don't care," Checker replied though there was a quiver in his voice.

Jenny could tell the man was terrified of Muldoon and at that moment, so was she. She didn't know what Muldoon did normally without babysitting a bunch of young people from the States. Jenny did know that the man was recently put on restrictive duty for some unknown reason.

"You should," the military man firmly stated. Both Harry and Checker shrank at the words. Muldoon sniffed then spoke again in a relatively calm demeanor. "Who sent you?"

Checker was bold and spat at the man and snickered. Muldoon whacked him across the head, the thug crying out loudly. Jenny and Charlie jumped at the sudden motion.

"Why are you here?" Muldoon cried, his voice echoing in the empty building. Harry groaned while his partner looked away. "How did you know Frank would be here?"

"We…we got a phone call from a lady," Harry blurted out much to the amazement of Jenny and Charlie. Muldoon honed in on the injured man, waiting for more. The thug held his hand to his wound though it didn't work as blood continued to flow down his arm. "Take me to a doctor and I'll tell you more."

"We'll get you to a hospital but not before you tell us the whole story," Jenny replied stepping forward. It was the first time she spoke since she took the gun from Charlie.

"Ah…no, no hospital," he shook his head. "Too many questions."

Checker looked down at the ground. He knew his friend was hurt and he had to get him to where he could get help. Sighing, Checker patted Harry's arm then looked up at Jenny.

"I'll tell you as long as you let us go," he stated, the fight gone from his voice. Jenny and Muldoon exchanged looks then agreed. "Okay, we got a phone call early this morning from her. She said she had a job for us and we'd be paid a lot of money."

"How much?" Muldoon inquired.

"50,000£, half now, half on delivery."

"Delivery?"

"Yeah," Harry grunted, his face pale. "We were supposed to…ugh…rough him up a bit then take 'im on a trip away from 'ere. She said he wouldn't give us any problems especially if we roughed 'im up enough where he couldn't fight back. Told us what room to find 'im in and where the key was to open the door."

"When did you get here?"

"About ten minutes before you guys did," Checker piped in. "When we checked the room, there was no one here. We heard you talking from the stairs so we found another room to wait." He nodded to Muldoon. "We didn't know you were outside or we would have cleared out."

"Why would you trust someone you didn't know to pay you?" Jenny asked folding her arms in front of her.

"We knew her from before," the thug answered. "She used us a few times but mainly as surveillance."

"Does she have a name?"

"Yeah, Gigi," Harry grunted.

At this revelation, Jenny turned to Charlie who was just as surprised. They only knew of one Gigi but why would she take the trouble of holing Frank in an abandoned hotel unharmed only to send two thugs to rough him up?

"She's been around for a while," Harry continued while Jenny and Charlie conversed quietly. "She knows things no one else would. We told 'er that we'd be 'ere around this time and she got mad."

"We couldn't get here any earlier even though she offered more to us," Checker piped in. "We was working another job when she called. Got here as soon as we could."

"And you were talking to her just now?" Muldoon asked.

"Yeah," the injured thug nodded. "We was supposed to bring them to 'er."

"Where?"

"Again!" screeched Madam Bündchen, slamming her stick to the floor. A loud crack echoed in the ballroom, bringing Nancy to attention.

She took a deep breath though her patience with the woman had long been extinguished. Nancy was trying her best not to blow up for she knew it was exactly what Donatelli and Michael expected her to do eventually. She wasn't about to give them the benefit of the doubt. Still, Bündchen was pushing it.

"That posture is atrocious!" Bündchen bellowed. "How am I supposed to make you a lady if you can't even walk like one!"

Nancy grumbled under her breath, trying her best to follow the woman's directions. Holding her shoulders back, she tried to glide across the floor as if a string was keeping her up along the way. It was only a matter of minutes before Nancy's shoulders and back started to ache and her posture suffered again. At least she didn't have the collar or corset to deal with on top of Bündchen's constant griping about her. Plus Hilde was gone too so there was no more snickering coming from behind Bündchen.

The only other thing that was different was that Barton was now her guard. Austin still had not appeared which concerned Nancy. He had been with her every day for nearly a week and his absence was very disturbing to her. She knew he was against Donatelli in forcing her to continue her so-called training and that knowledge alone made her wonder if he was being punished for it.

"Pay attention!" Bündchen screamed, whacking Nancy on her back with her stick. "You Americans are hopeless and useless! You will never get this and I am done. No wonder your father did not want you! I would not want you either!"

Nancy looked at the woman in shock and anger. Her father did want her, she knew that. "What did you just say?"

Bündchen sneered at her, knowing that she got under Nancy's skin. "You heard me. No one wants you or they would have come looking for you by now. You are lucky that his lordship is graceful enough to keep you here and give you these lessons! If it were up to me, you would have been drowned like the little rat you are!"

As she listened to the woman complain about her, Nancy's heart raced, her breathing unsteady. She could no longer stand it even if it was giving in to what Donatelli wanted her to do.

"Don't ever talk about my father like that again," Nancy replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it?" Bündchen smirked, waiting.

Tears flowed down Nancy's face, her breathing heavy and rapid. She couldn't let anyone speak about someone she cherished but she also didn't know how Bündchen should react. Suddenly, and with a loud cry, Nancy attacked Bündchen, knocking her to the ground.

She screamed, pummeling the woman. Each punch carried a great amount of pent up emotion from months of being apart from her family and friends. The last few days had been torturing for Nancy but she had remained resilient…until that moment where her father was ridiculed by her torturer.

Bündchen tried to fight back by kicking her legs and defending her face as best she could. But Nancy was running on adrenaline and anger, her fists eventually becoming a bloody from Bündchen's face. The screams from Bündchen began to dissipate until there were no more and the woman's face was nearly unrecognizable.

Nancy stopped, her body shaking from the ordeal. She looked down at Bündchen's face in shock then at the blood on her hands. The dress she wore was covered in blood, the delicate features stained a slight shade of pink. Nancy's lips quivered as she rose slowly from the ground and loud, agonizing scream erupted from her throat.

She heard footfalls around her and sudden gasps as those around her saw what she did. Nancy couldn't believe that she gave in to that anger that Donatelli wanted her to unleash. What had she done?

Author's Note:

Hello! I'm so glad you took the time to read this chapter! I'm hoping that I'm not losing anyone by not updating quickly like I used to. But I have some good news on that front! I should be able to get out another chapter by the end of the week! This chapter was actually supposed to be longer but I cut a part out to put into the next one (flow). Can you believe that Christmas is this weekend? Wow. Did you get your shopping done? I'm almost there. Just a few more to go. Last night I was out and committed blasphemy. I went to Bleacher Bums for a gift for my brother (big Michigan fan like me) and saw a few things with OSU on it. Yeah, I bought them as gag gifts for my FIL and future step-father (both are fans of Ohio). I thought stress balls would help them when Ohio goes down to Georgia and loses (again). Sorry had to do it, margaret! I literally had to use hand sanitize my hands after touching them too. Can you tell I don't like Ohio? Haha! Anyway, on a lighter note, I do hope to do a bit more over the next few weeks while I'm home, maybe getting out two or three more chapters (fingers crossed!). Maybe finish it off by the end of January. Yay! So, thank you to everyone who read the previous chapter and to those who left reviews! I know that some of you were confused about Donatelli changing tunes with Nancy. Well, that will be explained a little later. And I know I didn't include Frank in this either but I haven't forgotten him. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and please, if you will, leave a review to let me know what you think! Have a great day and I will see you soon! God Bless!