Flesh and Blood (6 page)

"What? You didn't try to stop him or find out where Callie was?" Don's attitude was making Frank angry.

"I thought it was strange, but I knew you wanted this file right away, and I forgot about the whole incident until just now."

Frank studied Don for a minute before saying, "We've got to find Chet."

Frank and Joe headed for the door.

"What's wrong?" Don asked.

"We don't believe Chet is Bobby Mock," Joe answered. "But we do believe he is in danger."

"And so is Callie," Frank said, closing and locking the door.

"I'll help look," Don said as he headed for his car.

"Check out the television station," Frank suggested. He was hoping to keep Don as far from the bank building as possible.

"Sure." Don hopped into his car and drove away.

Joe had barely fastened his seat belt when Frank threw the van into reverse and peeled out on the wet pavement. Slamming the shift into first, he made the van lurch forward.

"Slow down, or we'll hydroplane," Joe said. Joe was just as anxious to find Chet and Callie, but he didn't want them to wreck. Traveling fast on a wet road could cause the van's tires to rise up and slide on a pocket of water. Frank would lose control, and the brakes would be useless.

"Why did you send Don to the television station?" Joe asked.

"To get him out of the way."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It'll have to do for now."

They reached the old Farmers and Merchants Bank building in a matter of minutes. The building stood twenty stories high and was one of the oldest in Bayport. The redbrick bank was undergoing a facelift, and scaffolding framed its structure like braces on teeth. A large sign in front of the building announced that by fall the old Farmers and Merchants Bank building would be the new Farmers and Merchants Downtown Mall.

Frank jumped from the van and ran into the building.

Frank didn't know what to believe about Don's story. Perhaps Callie had gotten into trouble, and Chet had gone for help. Some floors of the building had been ripped up to make way for a new elevator system and an atrium, and maybe Callie had fallen.

Why wouldn't Chet have run across the street to city hall or down the block to the police station for help?

Then, too, Don only remembered seeing Chet and Callie after Frank doubted that the adoption file was genuine. Don seemed to have a good memory when it suited him.

"Frank! Wait up!" Joe shouted.

Frank stopped.

"Here. We'll need these upstairs," Joe handed Frank one of two police-issue flashlights - both were eighteen inches long. Not only would the flashlights provide good light, but they would also be heavy enough to use as clubs in case of trouble.

Frank flicked the flashlight on and started across the lobby, which was littered with power tools, buckets of paint and plaster, wood, and mottled tarps. The whole place smelled from the odor of paint and thinner. There was no one working that day because there was no electricity in the building. Only vital buildings had been reconnected.

"Why would Callie come here?" Joe asked as they made their way carefully through the maze of buckets and lumber.

"The assignment editor said she wanted to get a bird's-eye view of the damage. This building is tall, and it's in the right part of town."

They found the stairs, and minutes later they were standing on the roof, blinded by the glare of a bright yellow sun. The clouds had broken, and the sun was shining for the first time since the tornado had hit Bayport twenty-four hours earlier.

Frank walked to the edge of the roof to look down. On the street, twenty stories below, lay city hall, the police station, and many of the buildings that had been hardest hit by the tornado.

"No sign of Callie or Chet," Joe said, joining Frank. Then he pointed. "There's Don!"

Frank and Joe watched from nearly two hundred and twenty-five feet up as Don's small red sports car pulled in behind their black van. Don got out, glanced around, and stood still, apparently unsure of what to do. Finally he went into the bank building.

"I'll tell him we didn't find anything up here, and then we can start searching the other floors." Frank nodded, and Joe left the roof.

Frank stood scanning the area and wondering where Chet and Callie could be. Chet was his best friend, and Callie - well, Callie was his Number One Girl.

Then the thought that had been nagging at the back of his mind hit him full force. Frank ran for the roof door and then down the stairs, calling Joe's name.

Frank burst through the ground floor doors, the circular beam of his flashlight leaping before him. He dashed across the lobby, dodging the saw horses and buckets of paint.

"Frank! Over here!" Don shouted.

"What happened?" Frank asked as he joined Don and Joe.

Joe was just getting up, rubbing his chin.

"Mangieri - " Don began.

"That's the second time that nerd got the jump on me!" Joe said.

"Are you so sure it was Mangieri?" Frank asked Joe.

Joe stared at his brother, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Actually I didn't see anyone," Joe said. "I was coming around the corner and got blindsided. The first thing I knew, Don was standing over me. He said he saw Mangieri hit me."

"Why didn't you help Joe?" Frank angrily asked Don.

"I was clear across the lobby," Don replied defensively. "I saw what happened and ran to help, but Mangieri went down the hall. I thought I should help Joe first."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Frank's question was more of an accusation. "You were supposed to go to the TV station."

"I tried my phone. They must have got the system back on line sometime last night. I called the studio, and they told me Callie wasn't there. I thought I could help you two here."

"What's wrong?" Joe asked Frank.

"Nothing," Frank said quickly. "We've got to find Chet."

All three went outside.

"How can I help?" Don asked.

"Uh, you find Liz and see if she's seen Callie," Frank replied.

"Right," Don replied and hopped into his car. Frank headed for the van after Don had left.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Joe asked as Frank pulled the van away from the building.

"How long have we known Don?" Frank asked.

"About three years, when he moved here from New York City."

"He's lived here for three years, and we don't know anything about him. Why is it that he's suddenly such an integral part of our lives?" Frank didn't wait for Joe to answer. "Why is it that Don conveniently shows up all the time? When you chased down Mangieri, when we were shot at, finding the so-called adoption file on Chet, and just now?"

Joe shrugged. He knew that Frank wasn't really seeking answers, only thinking out loud.

"How did he know about that kindergarten photo?"

"He said Officer Riley was yelling about it being missing," Joe replied.

"Pretty convenient, don't you think?"

"Quit playing around, Frank, and get to the point."

"The point is," Frank said slowly, "Don West is Bobby Mock!"

Joe didn't reply but sat silently thinking. He digested the information Frank had just given him and came to the same conclusion.

"That may explain the bruise on his cheek," Joe finally said.

"What?"

"When I fought with Bobby Mock in the ICU ward, I hit him with a good right to his left cheek. It would have left a pretty decent bruise."

"And when we were talking to Liz at the paper yesterday, Don knew that Bobby's mother had died when Bobby was three. How could he have known that?"

"Unless he is Bobby Mock," Joe conceded.

"What bothers me is how your shoulder got hurt," Frank said as they neared the Hardy home.

Joe rubbed his sore shoulder. "I know. I still can't explain it. It was like hitting a brick wall."

"Yesterday you said it felt like steel or something metal."

"Yesterday I wouldn't have believed a tornado could hit Bayport," Joe said. "Why are we going back home?"

"I want to check Dad's files again. I must have missed something this morning. Perhaps a newspaper photo or something on young Bobby Mock. We can't go to the police with what we know now. Chief Collig would laugh us out of his office."

Having arrived home, Frank immediately headed downstairs for his dad's files.

"Hey, I thought you were going to check Dad's files," Joe said at the top of the stairs.

Frank turned around and looked up at his brother. "I've already done a thorough search of his computer files. What I'm looking for can't be found on a disk. I'm checking his paper files one more time. Much easier to overlook a piece of paper."

"Oh," Joe said, heading for the kitchen. "Let me know if you need any help."

Frank smiled and shook his head. They had eaten breakfast approximately an hour earlier, but Joe was like a great white shark on a feeding frenzy that day.

Mr. Hardy's paper files were located in one corner of the basement the Hardys used for storage. He found the Mock file and sat down to read it. Although a fast reader, Frank forced himself to slowly reread the yellowing papers his father had typed years earlier. He searched for any clue as to the identity of Bobby Mock. He found nothing.

Frank sat back in the chair and sighed. Fenton Hardy was as meticulous about keeping accurate accounts of his cases as he was about solving them. There had to be something identifying Bobby Mock. A photo. A newsclipping. Anything.

"That's it!" Frank shouted as he snapped his fingers. Frank jumped up and ran up the stairs. His dad's old scrapbook. Actually, it was a scrapbook that the boys' aunt Gertrude kept on all the cases Mr. Hardy had solved throughout the years.

Once upstairs Frank hesitated outside his aunt's bedroom door. She would be very upset if she found out Frank had been snooping around in her bedroom. Frank shrugged and opened the door.

Aunt Gertrude's room was neat and tidy and smelled of talcum powder, hair spray, and expensive perfume. Frank flipped on the light switch and walked over to his aunt's desk. He opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a large red scrapbook. He sat at the desk and began flipping through the pages. He found newspaper articles and photos of the Leonard Mock case about a third of the way through the book.

Again Frank read the articles slowly, then he scrutinized the pictures carefully. Only four newspaper pictures existed: one showing Mock as he was being led into the police station shortly after he had killed Con Riley's partner, and three others as he was being led from the courthouse during his trial. Mock was surrounded by a large crowd of people each time.

Frank carefully removed the photos from the scrapbook and headed downstairs. He wanted to examine them in better light and with a magnifying glass. Perhaps he could recognize someone in the crowd. Perhaps he could even find Bobby Mock.

Frank reached the bottom of the staircase as a sudden pounding filled the house. He ran to the door and flung it open.

"Chet!" Frank shouted.

Chet stumbled forward. Frank caught him and led him inside to a chair in the living room.

Chet looked at Frank, his eyes glassy and red. "I - tried - to - find you - earlier." Chet grimaced as he tried to catch a deep breath.

"Where have you been?" Joe asked, joining them.

"Callie - she and I - Mangieri." Chet slumped back and passed out. A black object slid out from under his windbreaker and hit the floor.

"What's that?" Joe asked.

Frank picked up the object. "Callie's camcorder," he replied, holding up the video camera.

"Why would he have Callie's video camera?" Joe asked.

"More important, why doesn't Callie have her camcorder?" A sudden uneasiness came over Frank. He punched the Eject button and pulled the videocassette out. He walked over to the VCR, slid the tape in, and pressed Play. He grabbed the remote control and turned on the big-screen TV.

The first scenes of the videotape were from the day before and were of the damaged downtown area. Then the tape showed Frank, Joe, and Chet as they rescued the man from underneath the collapsed roof. Frank fast forwarded the tape until he recognized the outside of the abandoned Farmers and Merchants Bank building.

Callie and Chet had obviously gone to the top, and Callie had gotten her "bird's-eye view" of downtown Bayport. The scene flickered and then showed the lobby of the building looking out to the street.

"Hey!" the Hardys heard Chet shout on the video, and he suddenly ran across the picture.

Callie followed Chet with the camera.

Chet and a short man were grunting as they struggled and fought.

"Mangieri," Joe said.

Frank nodded.

"Chet!" Callie screamed.

The scene jumped again. This time the picture was turned sideways.

Callie must have dropped the camera, Frank thought, but it remained on.

Chet was overpowering the man, and Callie was helping when another figure entered the scene. Although the figure was silhouetted against the bank's picture window, Frank could tell that the second man was wearing a black raincoat and a ski mask.

Bobby Mock!

"You're dead, Morton!" Mock yelled.

Something about the voice sounded familiar to Frank, but he had to let the thought go for the moment - Mock brought a double fist down on Chet's back. Chet gasped and fell to the floor. Mangieri hit Chet twice, once across the left cheek and then a downward blow to the chin. A deep, sickening groan came from Chet as he tried to reach up and grab Mangieri. Chet missed and fell to the floor.

"Nooo!" Callie screamed.

Mock grabbed Callie in a throat lock.

"Callie!" Frank yelled and made a move for the television.

Joe pulled Frank back.

Frank was watching a recorded nightmare and was unable to do anything to help.

Callie screamed and struggled against Mock. Mock put his hand over Callie's mouth and yanked her head back. Callie reached back and tried hitting Mock in the eyes. Unsuccessful, she grabbed the ski mask and pulled it off.

Frank leaned closer to the big screen, hoping to recognize the unmasked Bobby Mock. But the bright light from the outside created only silhouettes and shadows in the building.