Conclusion

Frank was leaning against the bathroom doorframe watching Nancy as she applied a final dab of something shiny and luscious to her top lip.

His girlfriend has arrived just that afternoon, and had spent the entire time since preparing for their night out at the Danceland club. He would have preferred to be spending the evening with her alone…along with that figure hugging, off-the-shoulder dress and trademark high heeled boots. His eyes slid down her body and he began conjuring up movie scenes in his head with him and Nancy as the stars. His brain went into a sort of stupor as he drank in the sight of her, to the point where he was so deeply absorbed in his fantasy that he actually started when she spoke to him.

"…so Lawrence Bale was picked up at the airport?"

"Uh…yeah…yes he was. Dad had a mind-leap and suggested the cops seek him on flights to Las Vegas. Bale has a gambling habit, you see. By the time the police got to the airport he was already on a plane, but he was arrested at the other end."

"What about the man who pushed Vanessa into the road, did you ever catch up with him?"

"Not yet, but Con has a good idea as to who it was. He thinks it was one of his cousins. A warrant has been issued. Once the guy shows his face, he'll be arrested. The case would have been wrapped up overnight if Con had known his brother was involved."

Nancy shook her head and stepped back away from the mirror to take in the full view of her face. "I still can't get my head around James and Con, it was confusing enough when he was suddenly Con's nephew." She moved in again to prod at her eye and began wielding an offensive eye-liner pencil with some intent.

"Gonna take some getting used to, that's for sure."

Nancy separated an eyelash. "Is James going to change his surname back?"

"I don't know. Doubt he's thought that far ahead."

Nancy gave her hair a final ruffle and turned around to face her boyfriend. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous, as always, Drew," he answered.

Nancy turned back to the mirror and carried on fluffing until Frank eventually approached to slide his arms about her waist. "We need to talk," he said stoically and rested his chin next to her neck.

She paused for a beat, her unsurprised gaze rising to meet his in the mirror. "Yes," she said succinctly and crisply.

"How are we going to make this work. You and me?"

There was a pause and Nancy's head tipped to the one side. Frank could practically hear her brain ticking over as she gave his question due consideration, deciding on the most appropriate response. "I don't know," she said eventually her expression guarded. "I can't leave my dad and move here permanently, what about you?"

"I don't want to work with anyone other than Joe."

"In that case, I don't suppose he'd consider—?"

Frank laughed dryly. "Doubtful. Ask him and Vanessa to sacrifice everything and follow me to River Heights? That wouldn't be fair."

"He'd follow you anywhere."

"And that's why it's unfair."

Nancy leaned forward and broke her gaze to stare at her lips. "These long distant relationships aren't easy, are they?" There were tears glistening on her eyelashes.

"Like juggling ice cream," he agreed and kissed her neck. "Let's grab all the time we can and worry about it later."

---

As Frank entered the Danceland club with Nancy on his arm, he was hit with the realisation that he was about to revisit a 'crime scene', and a painful one at that. He involuntarily flinched. The club was just as hot, loud, and as raucous as it had been when he'd been before with Vanessa similarly linked to his forearm. With the flashing lights, it was little wonder that someone had taken photographs of them unnoticed.

As he and Nancy paused to cast around for one of their friends or Joe, Frank was certain that one thing was going to be very different from their last visit: there would be no welcoming hugs from or to Vanessa.

Nancy pulled on his arm and pointed before leading him through the room towards Vanessa and James. Reaching them, Frank tapped Vanessa on the shoulder and abruptly ended her loud, raucous conversation with James who was indicating to the Danceland club's dance floor with a beer bottle before swishing it dangerously to and fro in time to the music. Frank's interruption caused a momentary lapse in James's concentration and a passer-by to have to dodge the bottle when it came perilously close to going up his left nostril.

"The Dark One!" James bellowed and then grinned a welcome at Nancy who was now gripping Frank's hand.

"Nancy, you're back," Vanessa shouted excitedly.

"This afternoon. Not for long though. Couple of days." Nancy gazed regretfully up at Frank who leaned closer to enveloping her shoulders with his arm.

"Enough time for a dance though," Vanessa said and directed her thumb in James's direction. "Mr Misery won't dance with me, and he cheats at Kerplunk."

"Kerplunk?" Frank asked, his mouth rising at the corner.

"James and me are making up for lost sibling time. Tomorrow, we build Lego City."

"Ah, I see." Frank slid a sidelong look at Nancy and she returned an amused glance.

James nudged Frank with his elbow, "I do not cheat at Kerplunk. It can't be helped it if my marbles end up in Van's pile. They're round, they roll, it's what they do."

"WhatEVER!" Vanessa transferred her drink into James's free hand, grabbed Nancy by the arm and pulled her towards the dance floor.

"Where's Joe?" Frank asked James.

"He's bagged one of the alcoves with Fenton."

"Dad?" Frank's eyebrow shot up and he spun towards the seating area. Sure enough, he immediately latched onto his brother and father sitting across the table from one another on a black leather crescent shaped sofa. "Aw man! What's he doing here?"

James laughed at his horrified expression and dogged Frank's steps as he weaved hurriedly through the crowd to get to his brother, having noted Joe's uncomfortable body language.

"Hi," Frank said, reaching the table. He turned slightly on his dad and gave Joe a deeply quizzical stare. It was quieter than by the dance floor, no bellowing required now.

Joe performed a barely discernable shrug and smiled, "Yo."

"Hello Junior," Fenton answered and stood away from the sofa to allow Frank to slide in next to him. "Beers all round?" he asked.

There was a heavy pause as Frank again cast perplexed eyes toward Joe before tipping his face up to his father again. "Sure. I didn't think beer was your thing though."

"It is today." Fenton slapped James on the shoulder, "Go and find out what the girls would like and then come and give me a hand."

"Okay." James dropped down Vanessa's half finished glass of Diet Coke and his now empty bottle onto the table and headed back the way he'd come.

Frank waited until Fenton had headed for the bar before asking Joe, "What's he doing here?" this time not hypothetically.

"Your guess is as good as mine. When I asked him that he said something about 'coming of age'. It's going to seriously crash my cool. I mean, who wants to be seen out with their old Dad?"

Frank grunted and swivelled to look at his father, finding that Fenton was deep in conversation with a very pretty girl whose hand was caressing the small of his back. James was standing just to the side of him, also watching with his mouth hanging slightly open. Frank turned back to his brother and raised an eyebrow. "Darn Joe, I think you need to rethink that. It's us getting in the way of Dad's chick time!"

Joe started to laugh, but then his face froze and his eyes widened a little. "Dude…do that again!" he stammered excitedly and pointed at the mirrored wall aligning the table.

"Do what?" Frank looked at their reflections. He couldn't see what Joe was getting at.

"Your eyebrow, you lifted one eyebrow." He was almost shouting in his excitement.

Frank looked unconvinced. "Nice try Joe…what's the joke? You know I can't do that anymore, the nerve damage—"

"Who's jokin'?" He half stood and lean across the table to grasp Frank's shoulders tightly and lever him towards the mirror again, their cheeks close enough as to touch. "This time, I really am being serious. Do it again, go on."

Joe sounded so encouraging he almost had Frank convinced, enough as to run the risk of being the butt of Joe's derision for the rest of the night…so he did try. He tried an over-the-top sardonic brow lift, the one he used to use when Joe was pulling one of his lame pranks. And to his amazement, his face decoration DID go up. "Oh my God!"

"Way to GO!" Joe gushed, grabbed the side of Frank's head and planted a hard kiss to his forehead. "Man, I love you!" he finished and shot out of the seat and headed towards the dance floor, presumably to tell Nancy and Vanessa.

A bit taken aback, Frank wiped his forehead, turned back to the mirror and did it again, just to confirm that he hadn't imagined it. "Wow."

His phone vibrated in his shirt pocket where he'd deposited it earlier and he automatically fished it out. He glanced down and saw that he'd received a text message from an unknown number. Even though he knew it would be spam, he thumbed the green button anyway. What he read had his brow peaking again:

"…Stop admiring yourself. If you've changed your mind on that job offer, just nod and it's yours…"

"What?"

Alert now, Frank's eyes shot up from the screen and lasered across the room, his gaze eventually settling on the tall, erect and athletic figure standing just to the fore of Joe, Nancy and Vanessa. It was John, the Assassin, the Hunter.

John half turned and angled his chin towards the threesome and smirked as if subsuming Frank in on a private joke – and to be fair to John, Frank could understand why he was so humored: Joe was yelling, trying to slice through the noise whilst Nancy had him pulled down to her level by the lapel, attempting to make sense of what he was saying. Vanessa was making things even more difficult by gripping Joe around the waist and gyrating in a less than feminine way to try and make him dance.

John held his phone up and pointed to it as a way of re-visiting the texted question. Frank held up his own phone and, to make sure he was communicating himself clearly, shook his head vehemently left and right and made cut-throat movements. Then Frank's view was blocked by Fenton and James as they returned and started unloading drinks onto the table.

Frank raised himself and pulled James down so he could see past him. Worried for his girlfriend, Joe and Vanessa.

"Who you looking for, Son?"

Frank couldn't see John anymore, he wasn't where he'd been standing, replaced by Joe returning to the table. Frank stood straighter and looked towards the main doors, bobbing about and trying to see around people, looking for John's staunchly upright and confident gait.

"Son?" Fenton asked again.

John was gone, replaced by Frank's phone vibrating again. Frank thumbed the new message into life:

"…Pity…"

"Frank?" Fenton asked forcefully, his voice finally cutting through to Frank's consciousness and getting his attention. "Who are you looking for?"

Frank took another look at his phone screen. "Thought I knew someone, but I was mistaken."

James slid a fully beer glass in front of him and Frank settled back down. Joe joined them and Fenton slid along to make room for him to sit. "Did you tell Dad and James about your eyebrow?" Joe asked.

"Thought I'd let you do that," Frank said and stored John's number to his phone's memory before turning the power completely off and pocketing it.

THE END

This story is dedicated to Rebel, the best dog in the world who sadly died recently. He is missed.

Acknowledgements

Thank you primarily to my brilliant BETA reader, Alaina for her wise words and sorting through all my English-isms again. I'm sure a few slipped through, but it would have been far more if not for her. And thanks' for letting me borrow Rebel again.

Also a word of thanks to my second BETA reader Mat (my husband). Who puts up with a lot, and although in real life doesn't read anything other than newspapers, still goes diligently through my chapters to check they read smoothly.