A few weeks had passed since Frank had shown up. Archie had been spending more time at the construction site to be with him, leaving Abby to run the center. She didn't mind it any, the control freak in her loved it. With Archie not there, moves were not being made without her knowledge.
A tall red-haired man entered the building, he was doing a slow look around. "You need something?" Sweet Pea approached him.
"I'm looking for Frank Andrews." He thought it would be harder to find Frank, but driving in he saw two places with Andrew's name on them.
"And you are? I don't give out people's location to strangers." He raised an eyebrow.
"I can respect that. My name is Ted. We used to serve together." He wanted to tell the teen to fuck off and then check the next place but he couldn't blow his cover yet. "I got some bad news about someone we served with."
"I'm sorry to hear that. He's at the Andrew Construction site." He bowed his head in respect to the dead.
"Thank you. I'll go find him." He walks out of the building.
"Who was that?" Abby walks over to him.
"A friend of your uncle." He watched the man walk away.
"We should have thought of the riff-raff that would come through here when we put the Andrew name on it." She didn't regret honoring her dad but the people who would come in expecting Fred Andrews's help were getting overwhelming.
"Yeah, all those guys coming looking for work, only to find out that we volunteer here." Sweet Pea felt bad having to turn the illegal immigrants away. Archie did too, since he couldn't afford to risk getting in trouble by paying them under the table.
"I hope that guy passes through and he's not in any trouble." She grabbed the box filled with empty tissue boxes she collected for the arts and crafts she had planned.
Archie had invited Ted Bishop for dinner. Dinner had turned into dessert and that turned into drinking and storytelling. Tessie was upstairs sleeping, it was long past her bedtime. Ted was telling a war story. He had everyone except Frank engrossed in his tale. "So there was an ambush near the city center and they sent us in to extract any wounded. I end up walking down a blind alley. I get hit in both legs and I go down. But he got me out of there. It wasn't till we got back to the aid station I saw that Frank had been hit four times himself. But, hey, you got a red badge of courage for saving my ass, right?" He drinks his beer while looking at his old friend.
"I got lucky. That's all." He was uncomfortable talking about his time on the battlefield.
"Well, I appreciate the warm meal and hospitality, but it's about time I ship out." He stood up.
"You could stay here if you want, Mr. Bishop. My mom's out of town. There's plenty of room." Archie got a look of shock from everyone in the room.
"Well, so long as I'm not putting anyone out." He put his hand on the back of the chair.
"No, you're not." He shook his head.
"Uncle Frank, why don't you show your friend to his room while Archie and I clean up here?" Abby stood up to gather the dishes. When she heard the footsteps fade up the stairs, she turned to her brother. "You have to stop inviting strangers to spend the night here, without even asking the other people who live here."
"He's Uncle Frank's friend." He didn't see him as a stranger.
"Yeah, Uncle Frank who you also invited without asking anyone." She scoffs at him for bringing up the other stranger he invited to live with them.
"You didn't ask me if Sweet Pea could live here." He pointed at the other male in the room.
"That is different in so many ways. First, I asked Dad, who was in charge, not you. Second, I knew Sweet Pea for months, not less than a day. Third, there wasn't a small child living in the house." She raised a finger for every point she made.
"So, you are in charge now. I have to run everything by you." He put his hand on his hip.
"I'm not in charge but neither are you, Archie. We have to run things by each other. You have to consider everyone else's feelings. I'm uncomfortable with him spending the night. I don't like having to lock my bedroom door because I might be in danger. Do not invite him to live here. If he needs to spend another night then he can do it at a hotel." She walks out of the room.
"I'm sorry, I use you as an example." Archie apologized to Sweets who stayed in the room.
"It's whatever, man. But, she has a point. You're making rash decisions that could be dangerous." He follows his girlfriend out.
Uncle Frank and Archie had pulled Tessie, Abby, and Sweet Pea out of school to take them to the police station. The child was being watched by the receptionist while the situation was being explained to the teens and FP. "So a highly trained mercenary tried to kill you two in the kitchen and now he's in hiding waiting to strike again?" FP summarized the story to make sure he got it.
"And we are endangered because we're your family?" Abby knew this guy would bring trouble to their doorstep.
"I'm his target, not them. I don't want anyone paying for my mistakes but me. I'll take care of him, I just want them watched until I do." He explained what help he wanted. Sweet Pea nods in respect to that answer.
"I know what it's like when the past comes knocking as a vet and as a Serpent, I've been in a couple of bar fights with these ultramarine types. They're tough bastards but I've held my own against them." FP was sure he could handle the situation.
"Can you lure him out, Uncle Frank?" Archie asked.
"It would have to be somewhere under our complete control," Frank suggested.
"We got that. The gym." He perks up.
"The center… What about the kids?" Abby crosses her arms.
"We'll do it after hours, no one will be there." Archie thought it was an easy problem to solve.
"Alright, I'll get him there." Frank stood up.
"So, what are we going to do?" Sweet Pea sat in the empty seat. Abby pulled out her phone to type quickly.
"The whole police force and the serpents will be in the back rooms of the gym. We're going to get dropped off hours before it happens. The place needs to appear deserted. We need Ted to believe that Frank is ready to fight to the death." FP went over the plan. It was simple but needed to be executed perfectly. "For now don't leave the station, but leave my office. I got to call the FEDs to see how fast they can get here." The teens left the office, closing the door on their way out.
"I'm going to get something from the vending machine." Archie pulls his wallet out as he walks down the hall.
"Who have you been texting?" Sweet watches her thumbs move across the screen with speed.
She looks up with guilt in her eyes. "I just… I…" She didn't know why she hid it from him. "Eddie."
"Eddie… why?" He asked. She hands him the phone. He read through the text. "Eddie and the kids have been sleeping at the center, unsupervised."
"Technically Archie was there most nights." She was surprised that he never caught them.
"Why didn't you tell me? You know I wouldn't have stopped you." He was confused as to why she felt the need to hide things.
"I didn't want you to have to lie for me. When I saw how bad it hurt Nancy to do it, I didn't want to put anyone else through it." Nancy was trying to better herself, so Abby felt bad for putting her on a bad track.
"Nancy knows but not me?" He gasps.
"She was there when I offered Eddie. I know it was wrong. That if something happened to any of them, the whole center would be shut down. But, Eddie and those kids have nowhere safe to sleep." She took a deep breath to stop from crying. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if one of those kids got hurt because they didn't have shelter. Either way, it was a big risk to take and I didn't want to put that on anyone else's shoulders."
"I get that… You need to stop hiding things from me." He sighs. "Tell me, what I need to do for you to realize you don't have to shoulder everything alone."
"You don't have to do anything. It's my issue. I promise I will let you know things even when I think I got them handled." She links her pinkie with his.
"Okay, now what are we going to do about the kids tonight?" He asks.
"Looks like I'm going to hold a slumber party at the house." She texted Eddie the plan.
"Shouldn't you run that by Archie after the speech you gave him?" He didn't need there to be a sibling war between them.
"I will… how should I spin this?" She hums while she thinks.
"Say it for the kids' safety. He's been to the center and he knows that Frank works there." Sweets thought of an excuse.
"Good idea." She kissed him.
"And that's why you should let me know things I can help." He smirks proudly.
"Alright champ. Let's go check on Tessie." She pushes him to the front where Tessie was coloring next to the clerk.
Abby had set up cots and air mattresses in the living room, the garage, and the dining room. Half the kids wanted to come to the slumber party. It was triple the amount of the kids that were sleeping at the center. It was two in the morning when she got them all to go to sleep. She was ready to collapse on her bed when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to see her uncle. He had a gym bag in his hand. "I've come to say goodbye. They are going to send more people after me. I can't risk you guys." He pulls her into a hug.
"There is no other way?" She held onto his sleeves.
"Trust me this is for the best." He gave her forehead a peck. "I know you'll be good. You remind me a lot of my father. He was caring but logical. He could see through bullshit quicker than anyone. Be good to your mother and watch out for your brother. He needs you, just like I needed your father." He ruffled her hair with a soft smile before taking his leave.
Abby was walking down the hallway in the Riverdale Elementary School after dropping off Tessie. For the first time, a Serpent wasn't with her. They were all passed out at her house, she didn't have it in her heart to wake them up when they'd been up all night making sure that Ted stayed locked up before an officer could take watch. She walks past the bathroom to be yanked in. She was shoved against the wall by the throat. "Do you want to die here or in the middle of nowhere?" Ted had anger in his eyes. He was going to wipe out the whole Andrew bloodline.
"Fuck you." She hissed to get her throat squeezed like a stress ball. She claws at his arms in a desperate attempt to make him let go.
"I was trying to be generous despite your uncle breaking the code." He let his grip loose just enough to allow her to wheeze.
"Please, not here. I don't want a kid to find me." She needs time to think.
"If you try to get away I'll kill that little girl of yours." He grabs her by the arm to drag her out of the school. He shoves her by the lower back over the hood of the car. He tied up her hands and feet before shoving her into the trunk of the car.
"Fuck, fuck." She closed her eyes and hoped that the guys would wake up and find her gone. They saw Ted driving and knew that they needed to stop him. Her hyperventilating didn't help when the car got slammed into the side making the car roll a couple of times. Since her limbs were tied up she was bouncing around the trunk like a cartoon dodgeball. She wondered if he drove out into the middle of nowhere and planned on running into the car until the trunk leaked blood. If so she wished he strangled her in the bathroom.
"Abby! Abby! Abby!" Her uncle's voice filled her with relief.
She raised her arms. They felt like they were filled with lead and slammed her joint hands into the hood of the trunk. She hit it again and again. She hoped it was him when she saw the crowbar being stuck into the car to pop the trunk. She squinted her eyes at the sun when it did. "Uncle." She croaked.
"Don't move. The ambulance is coming. Ted is on the ground knocked out." He looks at his old friend. "I'll stay with you until I can hear the siren then I'm going to have to hide in the woods."
"Okay." She weakly nods her head. "Thank you for coming back."
He smiled down sadly knowing he was going to leave again. He opened his mouth to say something when the siren could be heard in the distance. "I'll see you at the house." He ran off into the woods by the road.
"You don't ever leave the house without a bodyguard again." Sweets look over her bruised face, throat, and limbs.
"Never again." Greg nods.
"You guys were sleeping so peacefully." She didn't think Ted would break out.
Sweets rolled his eyes at her reasoning before turning to Frank. "I can't thank you enough."
"I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm the reason she got hurt in the first place." He didn't feel like anyone should be thanking him.
"You couldn't have known that the shady company would decide they need to kill their ex-employees all of a sudden." Abby hissed when Sweets rubbed Vicks on her neck. "I hate that smell." She wrinkles her nose.
"Stop complaining." He wished they had killed that guy last night.
"Alright, I appreciate this, Mr. Jones. Okay, Bye." Archie hung up the phone. "The Feds picked up Ted. He'll be trailed for everything he did in Riverdale. He said they're looking for you too." He informs his uncle.
"Of course, they are." He leaned his back against the sink.
"My mom's the lawyer, not me, but wouldn't it go better if you turned yourself in? You could cut a deal maybe too." Archie knew from personal experience that running from your problems just made them bigger and meaner.
"It is also the logical option. If you don't, then you'll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life." If he left Abby would be waiting for the message that he had been murdered.
"I normally don't agree with becoming a rat but it's a company, not a family so… do what you have to do." Sweets shrugged.
He took a deep breath before sighing. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll turn myself in tomorrow."
"I genuinely think this is the right thing to do, Uncle Frank." Archie gave a weak smile. They hug each other.
"He's going to bolt," Greg whispers to her.
Sweet Pea shoved him away. "Let them have hope." He wishes he could believe the guy, but from being in the Serpents he knew the eyes of a runner when he looked into them.
Abby picks up the red badge of courage that was left on her dresser. She grips it tightly with tears running down her face. Sweet Pea came up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist. She grabs a tissue to wipe her face. "It stupid to cry when I've wanted him gone since he got here."
"You haven't wanted him gone for a while." He knew she wouldn't admit it but Frank had found his way into her heart.
"I hope he's okay. I don't want to have to attend another funeral." She leaned her head back to rest it on his shoulder. "A part of me knew he was going to run, but another part of me wanted to believe he wouldn't. I wanted to believe he had changed."
"I think he wanted to believe it too." He looks down at the badge. "The one from the story." He took it from her to look at it.
"It almost feels like he's accepting death." She turned around to face him.
"Nah, one thing about runners is they do what they have to, to survive." He put the badge in her jewelry box.
"It's great he got that going for him." She threw herself down on the bed. "Do you think we'll ever see him again?"
Sweet Pea looked down at her and for the first time in a long time, he lied. "Yeah, I believe you will."