Hello I'm back! I'm sorry I've been MIA for a while life's been crazy and needed a break and now, I'm back with a new chapter with the help from my beta reader who has been a big help with my story. I must warn you there is strong language and some physical abuse and some inappropriate toughing happening in this chapter and the next. I'm planning on doing two more chapters and then an epilogue. What is happening to Joe in this story will be explained in the sequel I'm planning on writing. I know the subject matter maybe hard to read for some readers, just wanted to give everyone a head up. the last few chapters are setting up for the sequel. Anyway, thank you to those who left me wonderful reviews on my last chapter, following, favorites, or just reading. here's my new chapter hope you like it. Please let me know your thoughts.
A Brother's Revenge Chapter 30
Callie slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear her blurry vision. When she could finally focus, she began looking around and saw that she was in a room that she didn't recognize. Her heart began pounding out of her chest. She could see that there was white paint peeling off the walls and a boarded-up window. To her right on the floor next to the closet she spotted a broken picture frame, and as she continued to look around, she tried to move her arms but found that she couldn't. She glanced up to see why and saw that her hands had been tied to a bed post above her head and that she was lying on a lumpy bed.
Where am I! What's going on! Callie thought as she struggled franticly against the zip ties trying to loosen them, but to no avail. They were on so tight that they were cutting into her wrists. "Calm down, Callie, you need to calm down." She told herself and she takes slow and steady breaths. She stopped struggling and just lay still for a moment to allow herself a chance to calm down. "Frank always told me if you ever find yourself in a troubling situation, the main thing is to try to stay calm and to think." She muttered softly to herself despite the fact she was scared out of her mind.
As she calmed down, Callie began remembering what had happened. She recalled being on the boardwalk with Vanessa and Joe and then going with Joe to look for Frank. Next, she recalled an explosion that had not sounded like fireworks, but before she had had a chance to react to that, someone had come up behind her and grabbed her. She remembered that she had managed to scream out Joe's name before feeling a prick in her neck and everything went black. She began praying that everyone was all right. Frank? Oh Baby, please be all right. Please. Then her mind flashed back to Joe. Callie's eyes widened as the realization hit her. Joe! He had been with her. Where was Joe?
"Frank..."
The voice calling out her fiancé's name, broke her out of her thoughts and grabbed her attention. "Frank." She heard the familiar voice again, coming from the left side of the room. She turned her head left and felt her heart start pounding out of her chest when her eyes landed on Joe. He was lying in a bed just a few feet away from her, bound to a bedpost just like she was, except he had white bandages around his wrists, and he appeared to be unconscious.
"NO...NO!" He called out tossing his head from side to side, it was as if he was having a nightmare.
"Joe!" She called out to him. She pulled against the plastic ties binding her to the bed causing her wrists to hurt. 'Joe. Joe, It's Callie! I'm here."
To her shock Joe began thrashing about while struggling against the ties. "Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! It hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…"
"Damn it, Carolyn, get in here!" Ryan shouted as he burst into the room before Callie had a chance to call out to Joe again.
"What is it now, Ryan. I just got back from doing your errand at the hospital." Carolyn snapped as she walked into the room, taking off her wire-rimmed glasses and the blonde wig, before throwing them into the bag that she carried and then fluffing her raven hair. "I'm hungry, tired, and I would love to take a shower and get the hell out of these horrible scrubs. Just for the record, I hate pink." She complained as she plucked at the offending pink scrubs, she was wearing. "But I did pick up some goodies from the pharmacy and medical supply room. Good stuff too." She added with a smirk on her face, patting her bag.
Callie stared at the raven-haired woman in horror. Oh my gosh! She must be that crazy nurse Frank told me about who helped kidnapped Joe from the Morton farm and who did a botched-up job removing the bullet from his leg, causing an infection to the point where Joe had almost died! Her heart was pounding faster, and she began breathing heavily as she started to panic. She franticly pulled against the zip ties which hurt like crazy. What do I do?
Meanwhile, Joe continued thrashing about while pulling against the ropes. "Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! it hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…"
"He's at it again! I need you to shut him up!" Ryan demanded, ignoring his girlfriend's complaints and pointing at Joe.
Mr. Hayden. Ryan Hayden. Callie gasped with fear when her eyes landed on their former principle. A dangerous man just like his older brother Jack had been. She knew from what Frank had told her, that Ryan Hayden was a wanted man by the Bayport PD in connection to the murders of two police officers that the police believed that he had shot and killed before blowing up his house with their bodies inside it. She knew that he was also wanted for questioning in connection to the hospital fire. These crazy people had murdered their own parents, and on top of that, he was seeking revenge against Frank and Joe who he believed were responsible for the murder of his older brother Jack Hayden.
"Well, I can't do anything, that is unless you want to kill him sooner than you had intended, which would put a damper on your plans for his brother." Carolyn replied, folding her arms to her chest. "I've already given him two injections of propofol within the last 24 hours. It's a pretty strong sedative that can have severe side effects, which it looks like he might be experiencing. If we aren't careful, it could kill him."
'"Fine." Ryan ran a hand down his face and huffed wearily. "I don't care what you do... just do something!"
"Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! it hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…"
Callie continued to watch as Joe cried and thrashed around while pulling at the ropes so hard, she thought he was going to break the bed. She saw red blotches seeping through the white bandages on his wrists. She couldn't bear to watch this anymore; she had never seen Joe act like this, and his distress sparked her anger.
"Leave him alone!" She shouted. Joe meant the world to Frank, and she knew how much Frank was worried and stressed out about him. She couldn't stop thinking about the bombshell Biff had dropped on them of Joe's suicide attempt at the Pier. Despite the friction between her and Joe, Callie really did care about him and didn't want to see him hurt. After all Joe was going to be her family soon.
Taken by surprise, Ryan and Carolyn both looked in her direction. "Ah...Ms. Shaw." Ryan replied. "You're awake. I almost forgot you were here..."
"I don't care." Callie interrupted. She prayed that she sounded firm and strong, "Just leave Joe alone. I don't know what you've done to him. But I can assure you, you'll be sorry when his father and brother find out that you've hurt him." She swallowed harshly as the younger Hayden brother approached her bed giving her a hard stare. She stared right back at him refusing to show her fear on the outside, even though she was terrified of what would happen to them. Be brave, she thought, Frank would want you to be brave.
"We're not doing a damn thing to him. He's been like this since we brought you both here. We can't get him to stop. Carolyn has had to sedate him twice." He said bitterly. "He's ruining my plan to get revenge against him and his brother, with this insanity bit. Although it is entertaining..."
"L-let me try." Callie stumbled over her words. She prayed she could do it. She had to do this for Frank and for Joe. "If you untie me and let me, go to him. I can try to calm him down. Please let me try." She pleaded.
Ryan narrowed his angry eyes at her, he was irritated with the whole situation. He opened his mouth to protest, when Carolyn cut in impatiently. "Oh, let her try Ryan, what could it hurt. Besides I'm tired of hearing this kid scream his damn head off!"
"Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! it hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…" Joe continued to struggle, caught in another world.
"Fine, " Ryan reluctantly agreed, as he took a pocketknife out of his back pocket and flicked the blade open. He leaned down at her level giving her a hard stare, causing Callie to gasp and flinch. He continued coldly. "This is what's going to happen. Carolyn and I will be right outside this room watching and listening to everything that is going on in here. So, no tricks or I'll slit both of your throats, starting with yours. Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes." Callie gulped nervously. She felt her bravery faltering at the threat but was determined to muster as much courage as she could. She could do this, she could, she told herself. She nodded her head in agreement. With that Ryan began cutting the zip ties loose from Callie's wrists.
As soon as she was free, Callie slowly sat up and held on to the edge of the mattress for support. She rubbed her sore and numb wrists trying to get the feeling back in them. As she sat there a wave of dizziness swept over her. It must be from the effects of the drug they had used to knock me out, she thought. She took a deep breath and once the dizziness subsided, she stumbled to her feet and headed towards the bed that Joe was lying on.
Ryan started to leave the room when Callie called to him. "Wait!" He turned back around and looked at her, "Could you cut him loose?" she asked pointing to the zip ties around Joe's wrists.
"No." Ryan said flatly.
"Please! He's not going to go anywhere, not with you standing outside the room." Callie pleaded, near tears.
"NO! Get him to snap out of it or I will. Hurry up, because I've got plans for that boy. " Ryan said coldly, as he and Carolyn went and stood outside of the room. His words sent chills down Callie's spine.
Out of the corner of her eye Callie could see Ryan and Carolyn standing in the doorway murmuring to each other while watching them as she reached Joe's bedside.
FJFJFJFJFJFJ
"Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! it hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…"
"Damn it, Carolyn! My plan was going perfectly, until Henry's little hiccup, and now this with the Hardy kid." Ryan said cursing under his breath.
"Will you just relax. Your plan is still going to work. We've got the younger Hardy brat and once he's done with his little episode, we'll continue on with your plan to use him to get revenge against Frank Hardy. And don't forget the girl is an added bonus." Carolyn said, as she watched Callie make her way over to Joe's bed.
"You're right, you're right." Ryan said taking a deep breath. "My plan will work. It's going to work."
"Where is Henry by the way?" Carolyn asked, lowering her voice. "I left him passed out on his bed after I cleaned and dressed the wounds on his back from the beating. That was just before I left for the hospital, he should be awake by now."
"I ordered him to stay in his room. I told him that if he stepped one foot out of that room, I would break his neck." Ryan hissed venomously. He turned away from watching Callie to casting his dark eyes at Carolyn. "I don't care if he is Jack's kid, if he steps out of line again, I will kill him."
Carolyn swallowed nervously at the threat, she knew that Ryan was serious, she cleared her throat before saying, "And Picasso, where is he?" She asked not that she cared about the bastard.
"He's around laying low and out of sight, until we need him." Ryan said. "Why do you ask?"
"I just want to keep track of where everyone is at." Carolyn shrugged her shoulders as she quickly changed topics. "So, what's the next part of your plan?"
"Breakfast."
"What?" She looked at him strangely.
"The next part of my plan involves, breakfast. It's eight in the morning. I'm hungry and I'm sure our guests are famished. "
"Breakfast?" Carolyn repeated, completely confused. "Okay you need to explain. How is breakfast, part of your plan?"
'Well, what's that saying, 'even a condemned man deserves his last meal,'" Ryan said with a smirk. "They're both going to get a shower and a change of clothes, and then breakfast."
"O-kay." Carolyn slowly replied. "Then what?"
"Then we are going to set up the next part of my new plan that you suggested. The revenge game on Frank Hardy. We'll make him choose between his lady and his baby brother. Then when he's finally at his breaking point, I'm going to use the last bomb and blow up all three of them."
"But first I'm going to separate them. The Shaw girl will remain in the room that she is currently in and I need you to keep an eye on her and Henry for me." Ryan replied with an evil grin. "As for Joe Hardy, he and I are going to be spending some quality time together down in the cellar where I have something very special set up for him. Then tomorrow will be the big day and we're going to invite Frank Hardy over to play."
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Carolyn asked, "Now about breakfast. Who's..."
"There's eggs in the fridge. Don't burn the bacon." Ryan said as he leaned over and kissed her lips. "Thanks, Babe."
"You're kidding me, right?" She said dryly, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm afraid not. I'm taking the first shift to keep an eye on these two. " Ryan said nodding toward Joe and Callie in the room. "And making sure Henry stays in his room. With Picasso laying low for the time being, it has to be you to make breakfast. After that you'll be guarding Ms. Shaw and Henry while I take Joe downstairs."
"Fine," Carolyn huffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "But first, I'm taking a shower and getting out of these damn scrubs."
FJFJFJFJFJFJ
Meanwhile back in the room,
"No! No!"
Joe cried out as he felt a pair of hands grip his shoulders and try to hold him down. Panic shot through his body as the shadow of a large man loomed over him and he felt small compared to the size of the man. Joe desperately tried to wiggle out of the man's grip, but the man wouldn't let go.
"You and I are going to play a special game, Joey." A man's voice said somewhere in the dark. Joe had heard that voice before, he didn't know who it was, but he did know that it brought bad things and that frightened him.
"No! No!"
"Aw, don't worry Joey, it's going to be fun. If you're a good boy, and do what I say, you won't be punished, like the bad boys." Then suddenly out of nowhere a flash of the large man's hand began caressing his thigh all the way up to his leg, before slipping his fingers inside the waistline of his pants only stopping to unfasten the button, pulling down the zipper then his whole hand slipped inside... followed by a little voice screaming, "It hurts! Stop please! It hurts!"
"Frank…Please… Don't leave…it hurts! it hurts! I'm sorry…I'm bad…. I'll be good… I'll be good…" Joe cried out as he struggled against the person holding him. The more he struggled the more his arms hurt. It seemed like his arms were being held above his head and he didn't understand why, every time he pulled on them something cut into his wrists, causing excruciating pain.
Callie gripped Joe's shoulders and shook him with all of her strength, trying to wake him up. "Joe... Joe...it's Callie...please? Wake up!" She saw that Joe's eyes had opened but were glazed over and staring right up at her, but not seeing her. Why was he screaming like this? She wondered. What had they done to him?
"Joe, It's Callie! Please stop, I don't know what's going on with you, but please stop!" She pleaded with him in tears.
Despite her best efforts, Joe continued thrashing about, pulling against the ties that were holding him to the bed. He must be having a panic attack, Callie thought. Okay, okay, what do I do? She released her grip on Joe's shoulders and began racking her brain trying to figure out what to do. Or better yet, she thought, what would Frank do? How would he manage Joe when he's like this? She started thinking about the panic attack Frank had experienced when the fireworks started going off. It had caused Frank to flashback to the hospital fire where Joe had been trapped on the second floor of the building, and Frank had thought that Joe was dead. Callie remembered speaking to him in a calm, soothing tone of voice, 'You are safe here. I am safe here. We are safe. Joe is safe, he's with Vanessa. He's having fun. It's okay." It had worked, Frank had calmed down after that. Joe needed to hear those same assurances as well, she thought. God how she wished Frank was here right now.
She took a deep breath to calm herself and started to stroke the side of his face, "Joe, wake up. It's okay. It's Callie, I'm here. You're safe..." Instead of the large man's hands trying to hold him down, Joe felt a soft and gentle touch of a hand caressing the left side of his face.
"Hurry the hell up, Ms. Shaw! You better have Joe Hardy awake in the next five minutes, or I'm coming in to slit your throat!" Ryan threatened from the doorway.
Hearing Ryan's threat sent Callie's emotions into overdrive, her body was shaking with fear, and with tears streaming down her face she pleaded. "Oh Joe... please be okay! I'm so scared...I don't know what to do...you have to wake up. Please! Just wake up!"
Joe heard a woman's terrified voice call out to him from somewhere in the darkness. She sounded remarkably familiar. Callie? Was that Callie?
"Come on Joe...wake up!"
It was Callie. She sounds scared! Something has to be wrong!
Joe tried to claw his way through the darkness towards the voice that was calling him. Hang on, I'm coming, Callie...
To Callie's relief, Joe's thrashing slowly stopped, and he laid still, breathing heavily for a moment, then he slowly started blinking his eyes. "Yes, That's it, Joe! Calm down and open your eyes. You're OK" She encouraged him while sniffing back tears.
Joe blinked a few more times to clear the fogginess. As he gained awareness, his gaze wandered around the room and once his vision cleared, he realized that he was in a room that he didn't recognize. Was I having a nightmare...where did that little voice come from...and who...what was that... was that large shadowy figure...I know that voice... but where? God I'm so confused! I think I'm going crazy! You've got to hold it together, Hardy, he thought frantically. At last, his blue eyes fell onto Callie sitting at his side, concern written all over her face.
"Callie?" He asked, his voice hoarse and raspy from his cries.
"Yes, Joe it's me." She said quietly. "You have to stay calm."
"Where are we? What...?" Joe asked as he tried to sit up but found that he couldn't. It didn't help that his head was spinning, and he felt nauseous, but he found that he couldn't move his hands to help him steady himself. When he glanced up to see why he unable to move them he saw that his wrists were bandaged, and zip tied to a bedpost. He could see that there was blood slowly seeping through the white bandages around his wrists. He looked around again, actually taking in his surroundings this time and he saw Ryan Hayden leaning against the doorframe shaking his head with his arms folded to his chest and a smirk on his face.
"Good morning, Joseph. I see that you have finally decided to snap back into reality. Although, it was quite entertaining watching you scream your head off and thrash around on the bed like a madman. Now that I see that you're awake, we can get down to business."
"No!" Joe grunted in pain as he struggled to free himself, sweat poured down his face. As he struggled to pull his hands loose from the zipties he felt a sharp pain in his leg. "Ahhhhh! My leg!"
"Joe! Oh my gosh! Your leg is starting to swell up." Callie cried, her eyes looking at his left leg where she could see the edge of the bandage peeking out of the bottom of his khaki shorts. She quickly looked around the room for something to prop his leg on to reduce the swelling but couldn't find anything, so she started to make her way over to the closet.
"Think again, Ms. Shaw." Callie whirled around to see Ryan shake his head at her.
"I was just looking for a pillow for Joe's leg. It needs…"
"I said no."
"So, you're just going to let him lie there in pain."
"Yes." Ryan simply replied.
"You monster! You're just like your brother!" Callie shouted at him, balling her hands into fists. "Cut Joe loose from the bedpost, now!"
"I've got a better idea. How about you shut the hell up! I give the orders around here, not you!" Ryan roared, as he entered the room making his way towards her. It was like someone had flipped a switch; his face went from red to almost purple with rage. Callie shrieked as Ryan grabbed her roughly by her arms and threw her onto the other bed.
Callie landed on her back with a thump. She just lay there stunned for a moment, trying to catch her breath and dreading what was to come. She slowly sat up and started to get to her feet. Ryan took his pocketknife out and pointed it at her, "You get up off that bed girl and I'll kill you." Callie immediately sat back down not wanting to anger the man further. She sat there rubbing her arm shocked by the man's abuse and the way his anger had exploded.
"You touch her again and, I'll fucking kill you!" Joe yelled; red faced trying to draw Hayden's attention back to himself. As shocked, angry, and horrified as he was to find out that he was back in the clutches of the younger Hayden brother again, he was not about to let Callie be abused by this bastard; she would not become another victim in this nightmare if he had anything to say about it.
"Callie, are you okay?" Joe asked. She responded with a slight nod.
"Now, now Joseph, watch your language. Don't you know there's a lady present?" Ryan said as he turned his attention back to Joe.
"You think you're a big man for threatening a woman." Joe spat, pulling against the ropes, trying to free himself, but only succeeding in causing his leg and wrists to hurt even more. "You're just a giant piece of crap like your brother! Whoever killed him did the world a favor!"
"Don't you dare mention my brother!" Ryan hissed, pointing the blade of his knife at Joe's throat.
"The truth hurts doesn't it, Ryan." Joe shot back sarcastically, and he felt the tip of the knife touching his throat. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Callie sitting on the other bed watching, a terrified look in her eyes, her hands clutching at the edge of the mattress. Joe couldn't take his eyes off Callie's terrified face. He had to get her out of here. He cast his angry gaze at Ryan. "You don't need her. Take your revenge out on me, I don't care. Let her go, she's of no use to you!"
"I don't think so, Joseph. I need both of you in order to get my revenge on your brother." Ryan replied, he sat down on the edge of the bed keeping the blade of his knife trained at Joe's neck. "After all he is the one who killed Jack. So, he is going to be in so much pain and trouble when I get my hands on him."
"Frank is innocent! He didn't kill him!" Joe exclaimed, defending his brother.
"Liar! Naturally you'd cover for him, you're his precious baby brother! Frank's going to pay for what he did to Jack!" Ryan hissed.
"Frank, didn't…." Joe's voice trailed off as an uneasy feeling came over him. With his hands tied the way that they were he couldn't rub his chest, however he knew what that familiar ache meant to him. Something was wrong with Frank. He narrowed his eyes at Ryan, "Wait...Where is my brother?"
"He's not here, but hopefully tomorrow we can have a family reunion."
"What, but I thought..." Joe's voice trailed off as he remembered being on the boardwalk at the pier and going to go look for Frank with Callie. Then the explosion happened and there were a lot of people screaming. There had been chaos all around him along with the smell of the smoke and the roar of the flames…He prayed his family and friends hadn't been harmed by the blast. He remembered being confronted by a tall dark figure wearing a ball cap that cast a shadow over his face during the chaos. There had been something about the dark figure that had spooked him. He remembered the harsh acrid scent of cigarette smoke invading his nostrils. the man's exact words before everything when dark. "Who I am isn't important, Joseph. But I know someone who is very anxious to see you and I'm here to take you to him." Could he have been the dark-haired figure from the shooting range? His first thought had been that it was Henry, but their body shapes didn't match. He looked at Ryan. He was a tall man, and he did fit the body shape that had been caught on camera, but there was no way it could have been Ryan. He wouldn't shoot and kill his own brother. It just didn't make sense. If it wasn't Ryan or Henry…. then who could it be? The only other person he could think it could be was Daniel Bartend, Jack Hayden's lawyer who had mysteriously disappeared. However, all of that didn't matter to him, because there was only one question Joe wanted the answer to now. He narrowed his eyes at Ryan, "If Frank isn't here, then where the hell is he?!" Callie wanted to know that herself.
"A little birdy told me that he left the hospital sometime around one this morning. Where he is right now, I don't know." Ryan answered nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.
Joe and Callie's eyes widened. "What! Frank's hurt!" Joe exclaimed, trying to sit up. As he moved, he felt the nick of the blade under his chin. He could feel the sting of the cut and a trickle of blood down his neck. "Frank had a little run in with Henry at the pier during the fireworks show! Henry hurt Frank; I know it! Where is that little jerk! What did he do to my brother!"
"All of the answers to your questions will be revealed in due time." The younger Hayden brother replied changing the topic, "Now let's move on. If there is one thing, I loathe more than anything, it is hurting women. I simply don't want to do it. That being said I will, if I have to. So, here's the deal, Joseph, I'm going to honor your request with one stipulation." Ryan said grabbing his chin, giving Joe an icy stare that reminded him of the older Hayden brother. He removed the blade from Joe's throat and pointed it in Callie's direction. "Ms. Shaw's safety and wellbeing will depend on your cooperation. All you have to do is follow my orders and be a good boy. If you do that, I won't mess up her pretty face. Do we have a deal?"
Callie's eyes widened. "No, Joe!" she gasped in horror.
Joe glared up at Ryan. Every fiber of his being was telling him to beat the hell out of Ryan, but he resisted the urge as he feared for Callie's life. He had already lost to many people like Phil, Seth, and Iola. They had all died horrible deaths because of him. He was terrified at what had happened to Frank. How bad was he hurt? He looked at Callie's frightened face, and he knew that he couldn't let anything happen to her, otherwise it would devastate his brother. He knew that if only one of them could make it out alive that it had to be Callie because she was Frank's world.
It was simple and Joe knew what he had to do. He stopped struggling to break his wrists free from the bedpost. His body was exhausted anyway, and his leg felt as if it was on fire. He felt defeated as if all of the fight had been zapped from his body. He jerked his chin out of Ryan's grip and ignored Callie's pleas, "You can do whatever you want to me, as long as Callie doesn't get hurt. You do that, then it's a deal." He said, resigned to what was happening.
An evil grin spread across Ryan's face, and he began laughing. "Alright Joseph, now that we've come to an understanding. Here's what's going to happen..."
FJFJFJFJFJFJ
"Joe!"
Frank's eyes popped open, and he quickly sat up, gasping for breath. He began rubbing his chest as the familiar ache came over him. "Hold on little brother. I'm coming. I'm coming." He said as he quickly threw off his covers and jumped out of his bed and ran through the connecting bathroom to Joe's bedroom, only to find Joe's bed empty. He started to panic, why was it empty? Where was Joe? His bed looked like it hadn't been slept in at all. He glanced at the time on the nightstand, it was just about 8:00 a.m. Joe would never voluntarily get up this early on a Saturday morning, especially at the start of summer. Then it suddenly dawned on him, and he plopped down on Joe's bed and propped his elbows on his knees before burying his face in his hands, as his thoughts began replaying the events of last night. The suicide attempt on the boardwalk, finding the mask and the employee nametag, the clue to Linsky, the run-in with Henry, getting clobbered on the back of the head, waking up to see the pier explode during the firework show. He remembered that many people had been injured and killed, but that so far everyone but Joe and Callie had been accounted for.
Frank reached to rub the back of his head and felt the small bump that was there. While it was still sore it didn't ache as bad as it had the previous night. He really didn't mind it so much, it just gave him more motivation to catch Henry, and to find Joe and Callie. He had been released from the hospital against the doctor's advice and his mother's wishes just a few short hours ago. They had wanted him to stay for observation because of the mild concussion and to monitor the impact on his heart, but there was no way that would happen, not while Joe and Callie were missing.
He got up from Joe's bed and then headed to their shared bathroom to take a shower. As he stepped under the hot water, he let it flow over his back easing some of the tension from his shoulders. His worried thoughts drifted to Callie. He hoped that she hadn't been injured in the explosion. She must be so scared. He didn't want to imagine what she was going through. The very thought of someone hurting her made his blood boil. Be strong my love, I'm going to find you! Then his thought's drifted back to Joe and he couldn't imagine what his little brother was going through right now. He was still recovering from the bullet wound from his last nightmare involving Hayden and he didn't even have his crutches with him as they were at the police station in the evidence locker along with Callie's purse.
Little Trevor McNeely had witnessed two 'smokey monsters' put Joe and Callie in the back of a dark van and drive off during the chaos of the explosion. Frank had to take some comfort at the thought that at least Joe and Callie were together. If Callie were in danger, he knew without a doubt that Joe would do everything that he could to protect her. The most concerning part to Frank was the mental health crises that Joe was currently experiencing. What kind of state would he be in mentally when they got him back? Would his little brother be so broken that he would be taken from him? No. No, it can't happen! I won't lose my little brother. I will do whatever it takes to help Joe fight this thing. Even if he has to go to some mental hospital like Bellevue, but I won't let him get there! Thankfully, Mom, Dad, and I agreed to talk with Dr Reese about finding a better place to send Joe for treatment, and that Bellevue was out of the question. But the main thing now is to get Joe back!
Oh God! Suddenly a disturbing thought made Frank's stomach churn. Given the fact that Joe did try to take his life yesterday, Frank knew that he wouldn't hesitate to give his life to protect Callie because Joe knew how much he loved her and what she meant to him. I've got to find them before it's too late. He knew that if he thought about that he would start to panic so he quickly pushed the thought out of his head and focused his thoughts back on the case.
Who were Trevor's two smokey monsters? He wondered. Trevor had described one of the monsters or the person who took them as 'tall like his Daddy, but really scary'. There wasn't much to go on other than the dark van. Could they be Ryan and one of his minions? Perhaps, Bartend, or Henry? Were they the ones who took Joe and Callie? Was Ryan exacting his threatened revenge against me and Joe? Is he Linsky? What about the mystery dark-haired figure, and 'Jim' or was it Bruce Linsky? Were all these people connected in some way? How are they all connected to Jack and Ryan Hayden? Or were they connected to the Hayden brothers?
Then there was Callie's vandalized car, and that message was left on her windshield. And that flyer with the message on it on Vanessa's Jeep? Who was this dark-haired figure? Frank's thoughts flashed to Henry wearing a Bayport pier employee uniform with a red ball cap. He thought that the red hair that had been poking out from under Henry's cap looked darker. Had he dyed it temporarily and was it washing out? If so, could he be the mystery dark hair kid in the lobby at Callie's apartment? Could he also be Linsky? Or maybe my stalker? Could Henry be the dark- haired figure from the security tape? Although Frank had never seen the footage, he knew what it contained from Joe's description. There was also the fact that Henry was crazy obsessed with Joe and was the same person who was responsible for the deaths of Phil and Seth.
"Something about this doesn't make sense." He muttered to himself as he rubbed the ache on the back of his head. If, if Henry did kill Hayden wouldn't Ryan have known about it? Frank thought about the threatening message, Eye for an eye... A brother for a brother...soon a Hardy boy will die! It would make sense, that Ryan would be behind the threat. To seek revenge against me for his brother's death, by harming Joe. Was that why Joe was taken? If that was the case, why take Callie? Unless she got caught up in the chaos. Everything had happened so fast with the explosion. Was Ryan responsible for that? He felt as if he was missing something important. Of course, Jack Hayden's murder was on the news as well as my arrest as the prime suspect. The truth is I didn't kill Hayden, plain and simple, but the question remains, who did? Frank's thoughts drifted back to Henry. Did Henry kill Hayden? He had too many questions and not enough answers. I need to talk things over with dad, he thought, it's about time I got some answers.
After getting dressed, Frank headed to the kitchen, taking the backstairs to get there. He found his mother sitting at the table drinking coffee. He noticed that she was dressed and presentable, but he could tell that she had been up all-night crying and worrying about Joe. She had a little bit of makeup on, but it wasn't enough to hide her puffy red eyes. He glanced over to his aunt who was standing at the stove scrambling some eggs in a skillet. He noted the sadness in her eyes as well.
"Good morning, Frank, have a seat at the table your breakfast is just about ready." Gertrude said as she looked up from the stove.
"Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Laura smiled. She put down her coffee giving her eldest son her full attention.
"Morning, Mom, Aunty. I'm feeling better, thank you." He replied with a smile hoping to convince them. Even though, truthfully, his head was killing him, and he would've liked a couple more hours of sleep, but he couldn't, he had to find Joe and Callie.
"Uh hm," Laura hummed as she studied her son's haggard face. "Well, you look tired to me. How is your head? Does it hurt?"
"A little, but I can tolerate it." Frank answered vaguely. Laura gave him a hard stare letting him know that she wasn't convinced.
"I knew it was a bad idea for you to leave the hospital. But you decided that you're a grown man now and refused medical treatment. I can tell just by looking at you, that you're not well enough and that you should still be there."
"Mom. Please can we not get into this again." Frank pleaded.
"Your mother's right." Gertrude said walking over to the table, placing a plate of eggs and bacon on the table. "Now, after you have had your breakfast, you're going back upstairs to bed."
"Thank you, Aunty, but I'm not hungry. And I can't rest now, I need to talk to Dad. Is he here?"
"Yes, he's upstairs sleeping or at least pretending to be asleep."
"Okay. Thank you." Frank started to leave the kitchen.
"Hold it right there young man!" Laura exclaimed, stopping him in his tracks.
He turned around to address his mother. "What?"
"You are your father's son. Fenton came home early this morning completely worn out from being up all night investigating the pier explosion while looking for your brother and Callie. He argued with me when I insisted that he eat some breakfast and go straight to bed. After a few more rounds of arguing, he finally gave in, ate something and then went to lay down." Laura said, tapping the table. "Now you are going to do the same. So, sit down here and eat the breakfast that your aunt prepared for you, then you're going to go back upstairs to bed."
"Mom, I..." Frank started to protest.
"Frank, you promised me that you'd take care of yourself. That you wouldn't end up like last time. So be a man and be true to your word, please." Laura pleaded with him her eyes watering with tears. "I can't have you sick, not again. You and your father are both at your sharpest when you're well rested and alert. Joe and Callie need you to be."
Frank sighed in defeat and did as his mother instructed. He sat down across from her and picked up his fork, the aroma of the eggs and bacon starting to kindle his appetite and make his stomach growl. He had to admit that the food tasted good as he ate, especially since he hadn't eaten anything since the picnic before all of the craziness happened.
When he was finished eating Laura reached across the table on placed her hand on top of his giving it a light squeeze. "Thank you, Frank."
Frank nodded with a grin. He squeezed her hand back, "Mom, I'm sorry..." His voice trailed off.
"Frank?" Laura replied softly. For a moment mother and son just looked at each other in silence. Frank could feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes, and he wanted to say more but couldn't bring himself to do so.
Gertrude took that as her cue to leave and set the orange juice that she had gotten Frank on the table prior to leaving the room, giving mother and son their privacy.
Once she was gone, Frank glanced down at his plate and pushed his remaining eggs around with his fork. Finally, he laid it down on the table and looked up at his mother. "I don't know what to say to Callie's parents. They must be beside themselves wondering and worrying about her. How can they trust me to protect, love and care for Callie when this happened because she is with me?" He began rubbing the back of his head. it was really starting to throb now, but he forced the pain away as he had to keep his focus on Joe and Callie.
"Frank, I am sure Callie's parents are not going to blame you for what happened to her. Richard and Susan know how much you love her and that you're going to work with your father and the police to help find her." Laura replied as her eyes narrowed as she watched Frank rub the back of his head, "I know your head is hurting more than you're letting on, and I know you're not too keen when it comes taking medication, especially something that might knock you out. However, Dr. Bryce did prescribe some pain medication for you..."
"I can't." Frank said as he adamantly shook his head.
"It will help get rid of your headache and you'll be able to sleep better."
"Mom, I can't. I won't even let Dr Reese prescribe anything for my depression. That's why I go on my early morning runs, it's part of my therapy to help relieve stress. I'm afraid if I take any type of medication, it will alter my thoughts and feelings, and then, I may not be able to feel Joe. As long as I can feel him, I know he's still with me." he said rubbing his chest as he blinked away the tears that threatened to escape from his eyes.
Laura looked at him blinking back tears of her own, "Okay," She cleared her throat and managed to say, "Just please finish your breakfast, then go try and get some more sleep. I'm going to go up and check on Fenton and I promise to wake you both if we get any news."
Frank nodded as Laura got up from the table and gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving the kitchen. After finishing his breakfast, he went back up to his room, climbed back into bed and said a quick prayer, before closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep.
FJFJFJFJFJFJ
Frank woke up again feeling much better. Thankfully his headache finally subsided and as a result he felt well rested. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand and saw that it read 2:00 p.m. He hadn't meant to sleep that long! He had to get up, he needed to find Joe and Callie. He quickly swung his legs over the bed and held on to the edge of the mattress for support as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He stayed there for a few moments to get his bearings together. He heard a soft knock on his door, and he called the person to come in thinking it was his mother coming to check on him. To his surprise it was Fenton.
"Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing." Fenton said, coming into the room. "How is your head?"
"It doesn't hurt as much as it did this morning. I did manage to get some sleep and that helped." Frank answered rubbing the back of his head. "Of course, it took some persuasion from Mom."
"Yes, your mother has a way of doing that." Fenton said with a wry laugh as he rubbed his tired eyes, "Believe me, I got an earful from her on the subject of my health this morning as well. She's looking out for us as her way of coping with the situation regarding your brother."
"I take it Mom told you about this morning."
"She did." Fenton said, grabbing Frank's computer chair, pulling it over to his bedside before sitting down.
"I suppose you're not happy with me too for leaving the hospital and refusing medical treatment."
"You're right, I'm not. I think that you should've listened to your mother and to Dr Bryce and at least stayed overnight." Fenton replied. "I also understand your reasoning for checking out AMA. You decided what you felt was right for you, which is not an easy thing to do. It's going to take some time for your mother and I to get used to you being a legal adult now and to take a step back and let you make your own decisions."
Frank saw the worry and stress in his father's eyes. He also looked exhausted. Frank tried to reassure him. "Dad, I'm fine. My head and heart are fine. I promised Mom that I'd take care of myself for the sake of Joe and Callie, and I will. I just couldn't stay there not... not after the fire and not after what happened to Joe. Now with him and Callie missing..."
"I understand." Fenton said as he leaned back in his chair. He was relieved to hear his son say that as the last thing that he needed to have to worry about was Frank's health as well. He could see the worry in Frank's eyes that matched the worry in his.
"Where is Mom, by the way?" Frank asked.
"Your mother felt that she wanted to do something to keep busy and to think about something other than worrying about you and Joe. So, she and Gertrude went to pay their respects to Harry Garrett's younger sister and his nieces. They also decided to take some food over Angelo Prito's family, since he's going to be out of work for a while. They wanted to do something to help."
Frank slowly nodded.
"Are you alright?" His father asked, noting the troubled look on Frank's face.
Frank propped his pillow up against his headboard before sitting back resting his back against it. He rubbed his chest, "I can feel Joe's presence. It's like he's far away, and yet he's so close. I swore I heard him call out to me this morning, that's what woke me up the first time. After I remembered what happened I thought that maybe I was just dreaming. But it all sounded so real. Every fiber of my being tells me that he needs me and it's driving me crazy. I just can't... I can't lose him Dad."
"We're going to find him, Frank. We will find both Joe and Callie and bring them home. I promise you that." Fenton said with reassurance. "Your mother said you wanted to talk to me. That's also why I came to check on you."
"I do. I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head." He ran a hand through his hair, 'Hopefully, you can help me sort them out."
"Well of course. I'll help you any way I can." Fenton replied, leaning forward in the chair.
"Do you think Henry could've killed Hayden?"
Fenton raised an eyebrow at his son's blunt question.
"I told you last night about my run in with him. How he led me to the crime scene where Hayden was killed right before he hit me on the back of the head, and everything went dark. It got me thinking of the dark-haired figure from the shooting range. Don't worry, I've never seen the surveillance footage, I'm just going by what Joe told me. He said that the guy was wearing the exact same clothes that I was wearing, but his face was turned away from the camera and it showed him taking my gun. Joe said that the problem is that the footage needs to be enhanced to see the dark-haired figures face more clearly."
Fenton nodded, processing his son's words. "It is possible. He would have the motive to do it. And he's already shown he's capable of killing someone. We'd just need to prove he killed Hayden."
"We do have proof; it's sitting in your safe. We could enhance the footage." Frank said slowly, seeing if he could convince Fenton.
His father just looked at him. Frank knew that look well; it was the same look every time he was about to say no. It was probably on the tip of his tongue. He quickly began pleading his case before his father could deny the request. "Dad, I don't care if I violate the court order. If I went to jail because of it, then, so be it. I just want my brother and fiancé back; they are all that matter right now."
Fenton hesitated and began mulling over Frank's words, and coming to a decision he said. "Alright, the situation has changed from when the court order was first issued. Let me run it by Collig first to see what he thinks." He was well aware of the risks involved in the case; even though he made the conscious decision himself to get back into the investigation for the sake of his sons.
"Okay," Frank replied. "You know what I don't understand? If Henry did kill his father, wouldn't Ryan have known about it? Wouldn't it make sense that Ryan would be behind the threat against Joe and I?
"You brought up a good point. Hopefully we will get some answers soon." Fenton replied.
"Did you and Sam find out anything about what happened to Joe and Callie?"
Fenton responded with a heavy sigh. "No, I'm sorry, son. With all the chaos surrounding the pier explosion we haven't been able to find any witnesses other than Trevor McNeely. We only have his vague descriptions to go on. That being said we're not giving up and we're still looking for clues."
"What about the explosion? Do we know what caused it?" Frank asked, feeling disappointed on the lack of leads to Joe and Callie. But he wasn't giving up hope.
"Yes, actually I do have some information on that. Bomb fragments were found at the area where they were setting off the fireworks. Sam informed me they are the same type of fragments found at the hospital fire. Not only that, but they were also the same type found on Ryan Hayden's property the night he shot and killed Officers Miller and Jenko before blowing up his house with them in it."
"Really? That is good news. That ties Hayden to so many things!" Frank said as eyes widened, and he leaned forward. "What about the mask and the employee's nametag, was it a clue to Linsky? Were they able to find anything on that?"
"Yes. Ryan's fingerprints were on both the badge and the mask that you found. His prints were also found on a gold plated lighter with Jack Hayden's name engraved on it and a packet we know now contained cocaine that was retrieved from the car of the three dead college students."
"Dead college students?" Frank asked.
Fenton quickly explained to Frank about the college students who had been found in the parking lot just before the explosion on the pier. "We have reason to believe that the scene may have been staged. It looked like all three died from a drug overdose. Judging from the scene it looked as if they had had quite the party with many empty beer bottles lying broken in pieces on the ground, and drug paraphernalia lying both in and outside of the car."
"So, you believe that Ryan set all of that up," Frank said thinking aloud, "in order to keep you and the police distracted from the bombing of the pier so that they were able to have the opportunity to kidnap Joe and Callie?"
"Yes, we believe so, with a little help from his minions no doubt." Fenton added.
"Do they know for sure what killed the college kids?"
"Chief Collig just faxed me a copy of the autopsy results which came back this morning. A large amount of propofol was injected in their system and is listed as the cause of death."
"Propofol?" Frank repeated, he scrunched up his nose. "That's not your typical street drug..." He was interrupted by the sound of Fenton's cell phone.
Fenton took his phone out of his shirt pocket and immediately answered it. "Hardy."
"Fenton, I need you and Sam to meet me at Bayport General. There's been a robbery and I think it might be connected. It's been reported that a large amount of medication and supplies has been stolen from the pharmacy and medical supply room there. I'll explain more when you get here." Chief Collig said from the other end of the line. Hearing the voice, Fenton's heart started pounding out of his chest.
"I'm on my way."
"Dad, what is it?" Frank asked the minute Fenton hung up the phone and immediately got to his feet. "Is it Joe and Callie?" he asked, doing his best not to panic.
"No, that wasn't about them."
"Then what is it?"
Fenton quickly filled Frank in on the chief's phone call. "The Chief wants to meet with me."
"Can I go with you?" Frank asked, eagerly. "Detective work is something that I need to do right now to help keep my depression at bay and to keep me from going insane from worrying about Joe and Callie."
Fenton pondered his eldest son's request for a moment, and he had to suppress a smile. He could see Frank's detective instincts kicking in, and Frank did need to be a part of this. Fenton needed him to be a part of this. Frank's intelligence and full determination would be a tremendous help in this case. Truthfully, he was worried sick about his youngest son who had been kidnapped yet again. Thinking of the horrors that Joe might be enduring, he wanted desperately to get Joe back safe and sound. Looking at Frank, Fenton took comfort in the fact that he had one of his sons with him. He needed him to be with him and to see him and they both needed each other in this tough time.
"Alright, let's go." Fenton said finally, "As long as you promise that you won't overdo it. If you do your mother will skin us both alive."
"You've got a deal. Thank you, Dad." Frank smiled, while inwardly he was screaming, yes! Hold on Joe and Callie, I'm going to find you!