CHOICES
by
RM
Chapter 18
THE CHAPTERS
Returning to the office, Joe reclaimed his seat and picked up a pile of papers. He slowly went through them one by one, reading each word carefully so he didn’t overlook anything.
He was vaguely aware when
his mother cam into the office and set two mugs on the desk. He didn’t
even notice her departure.
Joe read through the files
regarding Anthony Perrelli’s life. The files included where he lived
while growing up, the places he worked and went to school, as well as some
of the alleged trouble he got into while growing up, even though he had
never been officially charged.
Joe flipped to the next
page and saw that the information was about Anthony’s parents, Roman and
Isabelle Perrelli. Joe flipped pas the page and continued on. He read about
Anthony’s business, which was a string of warehouses that a variety of
companies to store their products until they could be move to the cities
where they were needed.
He saw that man of the
company’s were manufacturers of equipment from car parts to computer
equipment. One or two companies handled perishables such as vegetables or
meat.
Continuing on, Joe looked
for anything that could tell them where Frank would be hidden. But there
didn’t seem to be anything there.
Joe grabbed another stack
of papers and saw that they were inventory sheets for the items that were
in each warehouse. There were details to when items arrived as well as
their shipped out date. He quickly scanned the sheets getting an idea of
the items Perrelli helped move.
Opening another file, he
saw a news article about Roman’s Restaurant. The article boasted how good
the food was at Roman’s. It seemed to be a feature about the restaurant.
Included in the article were several photos. There was a short of the
outside of the restaurant with a young looking man and woman, who he
assumed to be Roman and Isabelle. There was also a picture of the dining
room as well as the kitchen.
He flipped to the next
article and saw that is was dated about 30 years after the first. It talked
about the tragic death of Roman and Isabelle in a car accident. A crowd
shout was also there.
A third article seemed to
come about a year later stating the closing of Roman’s Restaurant due to
lack of business. Anthony Perrelli was quoted about the closing of the
family’s establishment.
Continuing through the
information, Joe wondered why nothing was screaming out “clue” to him.
He was disappointed that they were coming up empty. He knew that the longer
this took, the more danger Frank was in.
Joe thumbed through the
following pages finding nothing to help them. He disgusted that there
wasn’t anything that could help. As he dropped the last of the pages onto
his father’s desk, Joe closed his eyes and tried to focus all his
thoughts.
Where is the clue that
we need? What is it we are overlooking? Deep down I know the answer we need
is here, somewhere. But where? Where is it?”
Joe
opened his eyes and looked at his father who was going over all the papers
in front of him. His father was concentrating hard on what he had his eyes
on.
Joe
shifted his legs and his knee knocked the papers he had been reading to the
floor.
“Wonderful,”
he grumbled.
Joe
kneeled on the floor and started gathering the papers. As he shuffled the
pages back into the folder, he came across a page that he hadn’t read.
Lifting the paper up, he saw it was another article about Roman’s
Restaurant. The story talked about the improvements to the restaurant in an
attempt to draw customers back when it reopened. Some of the improvements
included an enlarged freezer to hold items for the expanded menu.
Bells
rang in Joe’s head and his gut told him it was a lead.
“Dad?”
“Yeah,
Joe?”
“There’s
an article here about Roman’s Restaurant.”
“What
about it?”
Joe
looked at his father. “Well, the restaurant was owned by Anthony
Perrelli’s parents, Roman and Isabelle and from what I’ve read so far,
after they died, the restaurant was turned over to Anthony.”
Fenton
leaned back in his chair. “Go on.”
“Well,
after his parents death, Anthony ended up closing the restaurant a year
later due to the lack of business.” Joe took a breath. “Then about a
year later, improvements were made to possibly reopen the restaurant.” He
paused. “But there is no other news about it actually reopening.”
“What
are you thinking?” Fenton asked.
“Well,
you have people watching Anthony’s home and business and there hasn’t
been any sign of Frank.”
“That’s
correct.”
“Well,
what if he owns some other buildings, but doesn’t use them? There’s a
possibility that Frank could be held there.”
Fenton
was quiet for a moment. He finally spoke. “That’s good thinking, Joe.
You may have come up with something.” He moved to the computer and
started typing away. “Maybe we will find a clue.”
Joe
got to his feet and moved around behind his father to watch what he was
doing. He watched in silence as Fenton moved about on the computer,
searching for the information they were looking for.
As
the minutes passed, Joe began to doubt his theory. He wondered if he was
wasting their time. More time passed and his doubt grew.
Closing
his eyes, Joe wished he had a lead as to where his brother was being held.
The
sound of numbers being punched on the phone forced Joe to open his eyes. He
saw his father was staring at the computer screen with the phone to his
ear. He had no idea what his father was doing.
“Hey,
Alex, it’s Fenton.” He paused. “Not bad. Yourself?” Another pause.
“You know me too well. All right. What I need is a complete list of
property that belongs to the Perrelli family. I need this information
yesterday.” Fenton paused again. “I’ll be waiting for the call.
Thanks.”
As
Fenton put the phone down, Joe asked, “Who was that?”
“That
was Alex Roberts in the city assessor’s office. He’s an old friend and
will get us the information we need.”
Joe
let out a breath. “I hope so.”
He
returned to the chair he had been sitting in before and glanced through the
pages again. He wanted to make sure that he hadn’t missed anything.
Twenty
minutes had passed by when the telephone on Fenton’s desk rang. Joe
watched his father expectantly as he picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
Fenton answered. “Yes, Alex, what do you have?”
Joe
watched as his father started writing on one of the legal pads. He was
anxious to see what information Alex had gotten for them.
“Thanks,
Alex,” Fenton said a few minutes later. “I appreciate all you’ve
done.” He paused. “All right. I’ll talk to you later.”
As
Fenton put the phone back in its cradle, he looked at Joe. “Grab your
coat. We need to go.”
Joe
jumped to his feet as his father moved around the desk. They quickly made
their way out of the house and climbed into Fenton’s car.
As
his father pulled out of the driveway, Joe asked, “Where are we going?”
Fenton
looked at Joe. “Roman’s Restaurant.”
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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.