Without further ado, chapter four.
XxXxX
7:00am
Laura Hardy sat quiet and still in the plane seat, her eyes staring blankly out of the window. Her knuckles were white from gripping the cup of undrunk soda, and her heart was heavy with the information she knew to be true.
Her baby had been kidnapped, had gotten himself in trouble, yet again.
And yet again, she was powerless to stop it, to do anything about it. She hated sitting and feeling helpless with every ounce of her being. Unfortunately, the logical side of her said that that was all she could do. But truly, when had she ever listened to logic?
Joe took after her in that way. In most ways, actually, but the most prominent being the way that he wore his heart on his sleeve. Never afraid to show emotion, Joe took on every problem with his heart in the lead, which many times led him into trouble. Not only this, but he had been a sensitive child, brave of course, both of her boys were, but sensitive and sweet nonetheless. He had grown understandably less so as he became older, but even still, he took everything anyone ever said to heart. 'Especially Frank,' She thought, a sad smile playing on her lips.
Frank, of course, would never intentionally do or say anything to hurt his brother, but there had been one time, shortly after Iola had died, where both boys just seemed to snap from the stress of everything happening around them…..
Seventeen-year-old Joe Hardy sat at the dinner table, eyes fixed on the plate in front of him, not daring to look at his brother who he could sense was glaring daggers at him. They had just gotten back from finishing working on a case, and it had been more dangerous than either of the boys had bargained for. The tense silence continued at the table, before Fenton finally broke it.
"Boys," Came his cautious voice, seeing that something had obviously happened between them, "How did the case go?"
There was dead silence still, and Fenton thought at first that neither was going to answer his question. It was Frank that ultimately did, his voice angry and hard. Fenton noticed this at once, and cocked an eyebrow as his eldest son spoke.
"Joe decided yet again to almost get us killed."
Fenton pursed his mouth, his eyes shooting over to Joe, who he was sure would have an angry retort. Strangely enough, Joe didn't speak a single word, but instead stared at his plate, pushing uneaten food around with the edge of his fork. Both of his boys were now acting out of character, Fenton thought grimly, his eyes flickering back to Frank as the boy started talking again.
"Not only this, but he also endangered the lives of several civilians, because, and I quote, he was 'just a little spaced out.' Apparently, he forgot ten years of training and seventeen years of common sense, but wait, maybe he never had any to begin with."
Fenton's eyes shot to his wife, who was looking at him, concern etched on her features. Fenton completely understood why. While Frank and Joe had always had disputes, they had never been of this caliber before. And Joe had never once just sat there quietly. He decided at once that he needed to speak up. He turned to his younger son and asked in a quiet voice,
"Joe? Do you have anything to say about the matter?"
Fenton certainly wasn't pleased to hear any of what Frank was saying, and would have a serious talk with Joe if any of it was true, but he wanted to hear Joe's side of the matter as well.
"I'm sorry."
Expecting an angry retort from Joe, he was unable to hide his surprise at his son's withdrawn apology. He barely had time to dwell on it though, before Frank was speaking again, his voice rising as he did.
"You're sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it, Joe! You risked your life, and other's lives. The entire time you were spaced out, even when I needed you to be fully there! You can't act like a moody teenager all the time! God Joe, grow up!"
It did not go unnoticed to Fenton how his youngest son's jaw tense, and he finally turned his sapphire eyes up to Frank's. Fenton had never seen such anger and sadness at one time. Joe's reply was short and jerky, and Fenton could tell he was trying not to lose his temper as Frank had. (Which, Fenton thinks later, should have been the first sign something was wrong.)
"I said I was sorry, Frank. What more do you want me to say?"
"I want you to get your head out of your ass for once!"
Laura's voice came immediately after Frank's did.
"Franklin Hardy, watch your mouth! Apologize to your brother."
She was more than surprised when Frank completely ignored her, continuing on with his rant towards his little brother. Frank had never acted like this in all of his eighteen years of life, and Laura could only think that it was a bad time for it to come out now, with everything else happening around them. (Though, she would see later, that everything happening around them was the cause of it.)
"No, I won't apologize to him! He's the one who should apologize, constantly endangering everyone around him. You don't have a care in the world, do you, Joe? You do anything and everything you want, without even a thought about the consequences. Honestly, it's no wonder why you couldn't save Iola-"
The second the angry words came from Frank's mouth, he realized what he had said. He slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide and haunted from the words he had just spoke to his brother. His voice came back a second later, all traces of anger gone from it, disintegrated.
"Joe, oh my god, I didn't mean-"
He never got to finish his sentence as Joe suddenly stood, his chair clattering to the floor. Tears were easily visible on his face as he shoved his plate off the table, sending it to the floor to shatter, the noise loud and sharp in the room. His eyes, now almost glowing with rage, met Frank's once again. The words he spoke next were cold and quiet, so deceivingly calm, yet rage radiated off of him in waves, almost palpable to his family around him.
"Go to hell, Frank."
He said nothing else, and neither did any of the other family as they watched him walk past all of them, and to the front door where he then disappeared into the cold night.
Laura was snapped from her thoughts as someone touched her on the shoulder, and she spun around, momentarily startled. Seeing it was just the flight attendant asking for garbage, she gave a weak smile, and handed her cup to the woman.
Turning back to the window, Laura sighed lightly. It had taken Joe and Frank almost a month to get completely over that fight, and she had been more than a little relieved when they finally did. Her boys were closer than any siblings she had ever seen, and it hurt her to see them fight, just as much as she knew it hurt them. Even though they only begrudgingly admitted it to each other, each boy knew that they needed the other. They were a perfect pair. 'And now,' Laura thought sadly, 'They have been ripped apart from each other yet again.'
XxXxX
Although he tried, Joe could not sleep. Vanessa had convinced him to lay down a few hours ago, and he now lay on the hard cot, Vanessa wrapped in his arms. But try as he might, his eyes were ever open, and his mind ever whirring. He doubted Vanessa was truly sleeping either, and his suspicion was confirmed at the sound of her quiet voice.
"We're going to get out of here." She turned in his arms so she was now inches from his face, her grey-blue eyes staring sadly into his sapphire ones.
Joe badly wanted to agree with her, but something in him disagreed. And here he was supposed to be the optimistic one. An agreement almost slipped off of his tongue, but as he gazed at her, he realized he could do no such thing. Not to her. She deserved the truth, with everything. "We might. But...it's unlikely."
Vanessa stared mournfully at him, bringing her hand up to run it through his blonde locks. Joe could tell that she was thinking of something to say, and the silence that pervaded the air between them only confirmed it. Her fingers twirled his hair around her elegant fingers, and Joe was comforted by it. He decided that she didn't need to say anything, and he leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. She immediately kissed him back, and he could feel a small smile playing on her lips.
"Why Joe," She teased, after they had broken apart, "Making moves on me during captivity?"
Joe smiled, his eyes glancing up at the camera that pointed at them. "I just wanted to give our new friend something to watch. Think of how bored he would get if we just sat here and talked!"
Vanessa laughed, and at the sound of it, Joe smiled. As long as he could make Vanessa laugh, everything would be okay.
Hours later, as Joe finally started to drift off to sleep, soothed by the sound of Vanessa's breathing, he thought phrase again. 'Everything would be alright.' It sounded like a lie, even as it was just in his head. Nothing about this situation was okay, and Joe still doubted that it would become any more so in the future. But still, he held onto hope. 'Maybe literally,' he thought, pulling Vanessa a little closer. 'Maybe literally.'
XxXxX
2:00pm
The papers around Frank seemed to mock him. He had gone through every article that Petya Egorov was mentioned in, and every scrap of evidence that he and his father had collected. And yet, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. No correlation between people, no slip-ups, nothing. He slammed his hands down on his desk, his frustration finally getting the best of him.
His head shot up as his door opened, and he saw his father peering at him from the opening.
"A witness just came forward. Collig asked us to come."
Frank felt a surge of hope at his father's words, but also one of confusion. Someone had seen what had happened? Why in the world did they not come forward from the beginning? He stood from his desk, eagerly walking out the door.
"Let's go."
They arrived at the station ten minutes later. Fenton barely had time to turn off the ignition before his son was out of the car, striding towards the doors of the building. Fenton was right behind the next second, eager to see the witness. Collig said nothing to them when he first saw them, knowing exactly what they had come for. He guided them to a private room in the back, and opened the door, revealing a woman and a small child. Fenton instantly walked over to the woman and held out his hand, which she shook as he spoke.
"Hello, my name is Fenton Hardy. I hear you're a witness to the kidnapping that happened yesterday?" He could sense Frank behind him, waiting eagerly for her reply, but instead of the woman's voice, it was Collig's that spoke.
"Fenton, she's not the witness, her son is." Fenton's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. The woman gave him an apologetic smile, and then said in a shaky voice,
"This is my son Benny." She pulled the boy next to her a little closer. Benny looked up at Fenton with blue eyes that looked far too much like Joe's and shrunk back from him, not saying a word. The mother continued to speak. "He's a little shy, and quite traumatized by what he saw. He didn't even tell me about it until this morning, and he couldn't get through it without crying."
Fenton's heart immediately went out to the little boy, who couldn't have been older than six. Bending down on one knee, he addressed the boy. "Hi, Benny is it?" There was a small nod from the boy. It wasn't much, but it was something. "Do you think you could tell me what you saw yesterday?" There was a pause. Fenton's heart sunk as the boy shook his head. Before he could try again, he felt Frank walk up behind him, also kneeling down. He gave his father a look that clearly said, 'I got this.' Fenton gave a small smile, letting Frank take the lead. He held his breath as Frank spoke.
"Hi Benny, my name is Frank." Hearing a different voice, the little boy peeked his head out from where he had been burying it in his mother's side. Frank kept talking, his voice light and calm. "Do you remember that boy and girl you saw yesterday?" A tiny nod from Benny kept him going. "Well, that boy, he's my brother, Joe." This seemingly got the boy's attention.
"Brother?" Benny asked, his voice small and high.
Frank nodded. "Yep, he's my little brother." He paused and gave the boy a wink. "So he's not as cool as me." This prompted a giggle from Benny, who was now looking at Frank with interest, rather than fear. "But even if he is younger than me, and sometimes a little bit crazy, I really want to see him again. You understand, Benny?" Benny nodded attentively, his black hair falling over his face. "And you can help me find him if you tell me what you saw yesterday, okay?"
A flash of fear could be seen in the child's eyes, but he nodded nonetheless. "Okay."
Frank smiled, relieved he got through to the boy. Meeting Benny's eyes, he gave an encouraging look, and prompted, "Any time you want to start, you can. Take all the time you need."
Benny nodded and took a small breath, eyes glancing at the floor. As he talked, his voice was soft, with a faint tremor. "I..I was at the park...playing on the swingset, and I was watching...um..your brother and the girl run around, when then they stopped and started looking scared. Your...your brother grabbed the girls hand and they...they runned to the car. When they got there this scary man came out from behind a tree and grabbed the girl and holded...holded a gun to her head. I couldn't hear what he said. Another man sneaked behind your brother and hit him, and he falled to the ground."
Benny took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Frank nodded encouragingly. "You're doing great, Benny." The little boy began talking again.
"Then after the first guy hit the girl on the head and she falled too. After that one of the guys said 'We'll hide them right under their noses.' and the other guy laughed and said, 'Under is right.' Then they picked them up and took them away. And then I ran away cuz I was scared."
Benny looked close to tears, and Frank noticed this, his hand now resting on Benny's knee.
"Thank you so much, Benny. You really helped us out. Can I ask you one more thing?" Benny gave him a nod. "What did they look like? Do you remember?"
Benny shook his head with verve. "I don't remember...They were scary."
Frank pursed his lips and nodded, thanking Benny and the woman yet again as he and Fenton walked out. Fenton watched his son with a subdued awe, which Frank noticed.
"What's wrong dad?" He asked, his soulful eyes coming to rest on Fenton.
"Nothing, nothing." He replied, shaking his head slightly. "You are just going to be a wonderful father."
Frank smiled bashfully, turning his head to look at the floor. "Thanks, dad." There was a pause before either of them spoke again. It was Fenton who did.
"What Benny said...How one of them said they would hide them right under our noses. They could be close to us, and we don't even know it."
Frank nodded solemnly, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Dad, he said that there were two men. Has anyone else ever mentioned someone other than Egorov?"
Fenton shook his head, recalling everyone he had interviewed. "Not a word about anyone else."
The pair didn't speak again until they reached their car, both of the men's minds spinning. A thought popped into Frank's head as they started to drive.
"Do you think it could have been literal?"
His father glanced at him from the driver's seat, cocking his head to the side. "What could be literal?"
"Under our noses. Could they be underground?"
Fenton thought for a moment, and then slowly started to nod, a feeling of dread dripping over him. "You could be right, we'll have to look into it." He paused. "We have to look into everything."
There was a short silence before Frank spoke, the only noise the sound of the road beneath the car's tires. It was constant, soothing to both the men. Frank's voice was soft as he spoke, his gaze fixed on the road ahead of them.
"We'll find them, Dad. We're going to find them."
XxXxX
That concludes another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!
Please, leave a review, I love reading them!
Till Next Time,
Nix.
