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Richie, Frank & Libby

When Libby had made her call to Frank Parker, he'd been at the Wade ranch. All hell had been breaking loose and Ben and Liana's baby had been born right there. It'd been impossible to answer his phone. When things had slowed down enough for him to check his messages, Frank was worried.

Libby's message had mentioned that she needed help. Something about a case and being on the way to Coff's Harbor with some guy that Richie knew. And she'd sounded worried. He didn't get the message until a couple of hours after she'd left it.

He'd called one of his men in Coff's. Had him check out the harbor. He'd reported back that there was no sign of Libby and nothing out of the ordinary going on.

With Liana Wade on her way to the hospital, Frank had finally broken away from the Wades'. At Libby's house, he'd checked things out from top to bottom. Her room was messed up. Looked like she'd changed clothes in something of a hurry and he'd found her cell phone on the floor by the bedroom window. Broken. Looked like someone had thrown it.

Now, he was on his way to Richie's house, which wasn't far from Libby's. Had to find out who this fellow was that Libby had called him about. Richie was probably asleep, but Frank didn't care. He pounded on the front door, shouting loudly.

Richie rolled over in bed and blinked himself awake. Something had awakened him. He glanced at the clock. It was after two in the morning. There it was again…someone pounding on his door. He sat up and pulled on a pair of sweats and padded barefoot to the front door and opened it.

“Frank…what the hell are you doing here? Do you know what time it is?” Focusing his eyes, the look on Frank’s face invited him in so Richie stood back while Frank came inside.

Frank had been standing outside the door thinking to himself that, dammit, this would have something to do with Richie Roberts! Libby was so in love with him, she wouldn't even think about seeing anybody else and, naturally, if he gave her a case, she was gonna work on it herself come hell or high water.

When Richie finally answered the door, Frank had himself worked up. Brushing past Richie into the house, Frank asked, "Where the hell's Libby?"

“What? How the devil should I know…she’s not here.” Richie ran his hand through his hair and put his hands on his hips and looked at Frank.

"Dammit, I was hoping maybe she was, that maybe you two..." Frank halted and spun around to face him.

"Who's Barth Madison?"

Richie blinked, “Barth…he’s a guy I asked her to check out, just find out who he was…something about him why?”

Frank ignored Richie's question to ask another one of his own. "Is he dangerous?"

“He might be, I don’t know for sure. He threatened a client of mine. How do you know about him…what’s going on Frank?”

"I got a message from Libby a few hours ago that she was on her way to the marina in Coffs with him. Somethin' about getting on his boat and that she needed me to get there to stop them. Sounded like she was in trouble." Frank was looking steadily at Richie.

"I was workin' myself at the time, so I didn't get the message until just a little while ago. I had one of my men check things out at the marina, but there was no sign of her. She's not at her house and I haven't heard from her since."

Richie was stunned. “She’s with Barth? What the fuck is she doing with him? I told her in no uncertain terms not to approach him. You’ve done a fine job of training her, haven’t ya Frank?” Something cold was gathering in his chest.

"You bet I've done a fine job of training her!" Frank retorted. "I don't know what the hell she's doing with him, but I know we've gotta find her!" Frank bit off what he had been going to say about Libby's feelings for Richie.

Richie was fast trying to gather his thoughts, Libby with Barth of all the…”Okay let me throw some clothes on…I know the name of the bar he hangs around in Coffs. Maybe we can get a lead there.”

He ran back to his bedroom and found a pair of jeans and a shirt. He strapped on his holster and checked his gun and found a lightweight jacket. All the while he was having conflicted emotions. She was so damn hardheaded! Why had she approached the man…he found himself angry with her and at the same time scared something had happened to her. It was for sure this was the last damn time he’d give her a case. The one thing he’d told her not to do…

He came back out into the living room, “Okay, let’s go.” One look at Frank and he was opening the door.

Frank kept the gas pedal down all the way to Coffs. Occasionally, he looked sideways at Richie. His friend looked angry. At Libby? At himself? Or both? He also looked worried.

Now that he had someone to share the worry with, Frank was a little more calm. "She's got a good head on her shoulders, you know?" he said to Richie. "Stubborn as hell, but not stupid."

“I’m not so sure about that,” Richie looked over at Frank, “She’s too damn young and inexperienced to be doing this kind of work. And hard headed…you can’t tell her shit, because she knows it all. I repeatedly told her not to engage this guy, so what the fuck is she doing getting on a boat with him? Huh? Yeah…not stupid.” He was angry with her and it was building. Rosemary had told him Barth had threatened her with bodily harm. He wasn’t sure he had all the facts about that…it was Rosemary and he knew she had already lied to him, but still the possibility that he’d sent Libby, stubborn and stupid Libby to look for the clown…he let out a breath drumming his fingers on the arm rest.

"How long were you a cop, Richie? You know everything don't always go the way you plan it. And didn't you start out as a beat cop when you were just about her age? I did." For some reason, Frank felt it his duty to defend Libby.

“One thing I always did Frank and you know this. I went by the book, I didn’t go off on my own and do stupid shit. Stupid shit can get you killed…” he looked out the window and shifted in the seat.

“She’s in over her head here Frank and you damn well know it…”

"I know if she's in over her head, it's because of you! Dammit, Richie! She..." Frank stopped cold. He'd been on the verge of telling Richie how Libby felt about him. But he'd promised her he wouldn't do that and he knew she'd never forgive him if he did. He just hoped she was alive TO forgive him.

“I should never have given her the job…you don’t have to tell me that.” It seemed a simple thing at the time. Sniff around and see what she could find out about the dude. He should have known better.

Frank looked apologetic. "I didn't mean that, man. 'Course you should've given her the job. It's what she does now. She's gotta start somewhere."

"Richie- You and Libby are supposed to be friends, but how much time you spent around her lately?"

“Not very much, I’ve been busy. I see her around town once in a while.”

"I don't think you know how much she wants to do this. Be an investigator, I mean. She worked like hell to get that license. I'm proud of how hard she worked. And she's gone through some pretty tough times. She's still never got over losin' that baby, you know." He saw Richie's quick look over at him.

"Yeah, she told me about that," he said quietly. "And she's had...other losses...too." Frank was thinking of how Libby felt about Richie.

“At least she’s quit talking about having another one,” Richie sat up and looked out of the front window, “Turn to the left up here, she even asked me to father one…me…can you imagine?” Richie shook his head.

Taking the turn he indicated, Frank said quietly, "Yeah, I can imagine that. And no, she hasn't quit talking about having another one. She still wants to. Still plans to."

“She needs to get her head straight and find a guy first. This is it right up here on the left, this is the bar.” Frank pulled up in the car park and they both got out of the car and walked into the bar.

Shaking his head, Frank sighed. As far as Libby was concerned, she'd found her guy, and he wasn't too sure she was ever going to move on from Richie.

In spite of the hour, the little bar appeared to be in full swing. Since Richie knew the place, Frank followed his lead. They sat down at the bar and ordered a beer.

Richie had a description of Barth and he looked around. Not seeing anyone that fit, he called the bartender back over. “I’m looking for a girl, blond hair, brown eyes about so tall and a guy named Barth. She may have been with him. She’s young, early twenties.”

The bartender looked around and leaned over a little, “Barth’s not here and as for the girl, he’s got a girl about every day. Long blond hair? She was in here earlier by herself and left before midnight. She’s been in here a couple of times with him.”

“With him?” Anger raised its coil in him again. “When did Barth leave?”

“About 11:30 with a woman, not her. That’s all I can tell ya.” He backed off a little. It was past closing time and he gathered glasses down the bar.

“I guess you heard that,” Richie spat out to Frank.

"Yeah, I heard. What the hell are you so mad about?

“I told her to stay away from him, not to approach him so she’s been in here a couple of times WITH HIM.” He turned back to the bartender again, “I heard he stays over on the marina, that right?”

“Yeah, he’s got a sailboat over there.” The bartender went down to the other end of the bar, clearing it off and not wanting to give any more information to these two blokes.

Richie looked at Frank, “Let’s go to the marina…” He downed his beer in two swallows.

They got back in the car and headed for the marina. Frank drove silently this time. He wasn't understanding Richie's reactions. The guy was supposed to be Libby's friend, but he seemed more angry at her than worried about her.

“Frank, you said you had somebody check out the marina. What exactly did they do? Did they find Barth’s boat or his dock?” Richie was still upset with himself for giving her the job, and with her for not following his instructions…he’d told her Barth was a nasty character. What the hell was she doing with him at the damn bar, not once but twice?

"Guy I called found his dock and checked it out," Frank told him. "Madison's boat was gone and he didn't see any sign of Libby anywhere. Her car's still at her house, so I don't know how she got here. Unless maybe he went to get her at her house."

Richie looked at him a moment, “This ain’t good, Frank. If he’s got her on his boat…” He checked his watch. It was now going on four in the morning. “He’s had her for a few hours…anything could have happened. I don’t know what the chances might be to get someone to take us out tonight. We might have to wait for daylight. Unless we get the police involved…I’m just not sure I want to do that…what do you think?”

"Not yet," Frank told him. "If there's a chance we can handle this ourselves, I'd rather we do it." Frank was thinking that, if they found this Barth themselves and he had hurt Libby, it'd be a helluva lot easier to punish him for it if the police weren't involved.

He looked a question at Richie. "But couldn't it be a little dicey for a solicitor not to call the cops?"

“We’ll call ‘em in…when we need to. Right now I’d like to handle it on our own too. We’ve got nothing yet for the police to go on, you know. The girl’s not home, she’s been out with the fucking guy a couple of times…what are we worried about? Right?” Richie got out of the vehicle and they began to walk toward the docks.

"Out with him?" Frank questioned, not liking the way Richie had put that statement. "She hasn't been 'out' with him! Libby'd never get mixed up with some guy like that. She's doing this for you."

Richie turned his head and looked at Frank, “I didn’t ask her to meet the bastard. Look I know it’s her first case but she…” he sighed, “she’s put herself in danger and I’m responsible. Even though she disregarded what I told her to do and not do…it’s my fucking fault she’s out there somewhere with him. I don’t know him…I don’t know what he’s capable of and neither does she. She took a risk she shouldn’t have taken…we just need to…to find her. The cops won’t move on a missing person because it’s too soon…there’s nothing at her house to say anything violent happened. That phone call might carry some weight…you wanna go to the cops now?”

"No," Frank said immediately. "What if we nose around a little, try to find out what this boat looks like? I've got some connections. If we haven't found her or heard from her by morning, I can get a helicopter to fly over the harbor and a few miles out. See if they can spot the boat."

“Sounds good…let’s find his berth.” Richie began walking toward a little guard house.

Frank left Richie to talk to the guard. He scanned the docks, looking for signs of life anywhere. At this hour, there was no one out here other than he and Richie. When he found Libby, he was going to hug her first, then apologize for not answering his phone when she called. And then, if she didn't have a good excuse for being around this Barth fellow, he was going to chew her out royally. Seeing Richie returning, he looked up at him expectantly.

“He left out of here about1:30 with a girl. No idea where he went, no idea where he usually goes or anything. The berth is down that way, but he hasn’t come back in…waste of time going to look at it now.” Richie ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to do…we could go to her place and have a good look around. One of these vehicles in the parking lot must be his. Maybe we can find some tracks or something…any damn thing…even a cup of coffee would help.” He looked at Frank.

"Let's go," Frank said, a little grimly. He could use a good cup of coffee himself.

The drive back was made in silence, neither man knowing what to say at this point. Back at Libby's house, Frank made coffee while Richie had a look around.

Richie went upstairs in her room and found the cell phone. Frank’s number was the last she called. He found the slinky blue dress in a heap on the floor. The bed didn’t look like it had been used…nothing happened here except maybe an abduction. He checked the bathroom and then went back downstairs. He checked over the rest of the house and then wandered into the kitchen and took the mug of coffee Frank handed him.

“She called you from here, I think he forcibly abducted her. Probably caught her on the phone and took it from her and bashed it against the wall with some force to break it. God, I hope she’s all right.” He took a sip from the mug. “I’d say he followed her home, except he had another woman at the bar and left after she did…you don’t think she’d have given him her address do you?”

"No," Frank told him. "She knows better than that. She didn't even have her phone number published when she moved in here."

He took a sip from his cup and set it down on the bar in Libby's kitchen. "Any idea what this guy does for a living? What kinda connections he might have?"

“I don’t know anything about him. except what my client told me, that he approached her in the bar and they talked about her missing son. He offered to find him for her and in lieu of money. which she didn’t have. she paid him with sex. He found the kid in The Glen. so he’s got some investigative abilities. I was just curious about him ya know. My client said he threatened her. That’s why I hired Libby, just to find out who he was, simple enough you know. Go around and ask a few questions…I should have known better.” Richie took a drink and set his mug down looking at his watch again. He fished for a cigarette and opened the back door.

"Sounds like a top-notch guy," Frank said sarcastically, watching as Richie opened the door and lit his cigarette.

Following him out onto Libby's back deck, Frank looked up at the sky. The faint yellowish light of the sunrise was showing in the sky. "Won't be long until it'll be light enough to get that helicopter," he told Richie.

“It’s been a helluva night. I’m just hoping it hasn’t been for Libby.” Richie took a drag off his cigarette.

They were both sipping coffee at the same time when Frank's phone rang. He knocked over his coffee cup answering it. The number was unfamiliar to him. But the voice he heard wasn't.

"Libby!" His voice was relieved, as he nodded to Richie. "Where the hell are you? I've been worried sick! Me and Richie!"

Kyle started up the SUV and pulled back onto the road. He’d given Libby his phone to make a call. He’d recognized her and stopped as she walked along the road toward Sawtell. She hadn’t said where she’d come from, but he was curious. There were no houses except Travis’ this far down the road toward the beach. Kyle had spent the night at Travis’s beach house with a lady friend who, had left at daybreak to get back to Coffs and get ready for work.

Libby had been hiking steadily down the road for close to an hour when Kyle had stopped for her. She knew he was curious as to what she was doing out here, but she hadn't said anything to him. She'd just asked to borrow his phone, knowing Frank was going to be frantic by now.

When Frank answered, she was surprised to hear that he was at her house. With Richie. So she would have to talk to both of them at once. Libby was not looking forward to that.

Since Barth had dropped her off back on that rock, her mind had been whirling from one thing to another. What had happened last night on Barth's boat. How she felt about Richie. How she was going to explain all this.

When Kyle pulled up in front of her house, she was still not ready. But she was here. Time to face things. Frank and Richie met her at the front door.

Richie breathed a sigh of relief. She seemed physically okay, “You’ve got some explaining to do, Libby,” he raised his brows and looked at her. “What are you doing with Kyle?”

Libby was speechless for a moment. "Well- I, uh-" She looked at Kyle, helplessly.

“I picked her up on Bay Road in Sawtell, Mr. Roberts and gave her a ride home. I spent the night at Mr. McGee’s beach house down at the end of the road. She was about halfway to Sawtell when I saw her walking along and stopped.” Kyle offered.

Richie knew Kyle, a good man, “thanks for bringing her home…was she alone?”

“Yes sir, no vehicle or anything.”

Richie looked over at Frank and then thanked Kyle again. Kyle got back in his SUV and backed out of the drive.

In spite of the fact that she'd looked at Kyle to help her answer, Libby bristled at the way they were talking about her as if she weren't even in the room. When Kyle had left, she headed for the kitchen, needing something to drink in the worst way.

Pulling a diet coke out of her fridge, she downed it in about three gulps and got out another one. As she was opening it, she turned to look at Richie and Frank, who were standing there, waiting for her to explain. Taking a deep breath, she started.

"Frank- Richie- I know you've been worried about me, and I'm sorry. When I made that phone call to you, Frank, I thought something really bad was going on, but I was wrong." She stopped for a moment.

That gave Frank room to get started. "Are you all right, Libby? Did that guy hurt you?"

"No, Frank," she answered quietly, but last night went through her mind. Was she hurt? Maybe not physically but--emotionally?

Seeing Richie right there in front of her was absolute anguish. She wanted to throw her arms around him. Have him do the same to her. But he looked angry. And she'd betrayed him, she thought to herself. She'd gone to bed with another man and she'd enjoyed it. Biting her lip, Libby dropped her eyes, feeling tears start in them all over again.

“So where were you all night…on the boat with Barth?” Richie asked quietly. He was trying to keep his anger with her tamped down until he heard an explanation that made sense.

Here it was, Libby said to herself. "Yes. On his boat," Libby told him. "I-I told him I was doing a story for the paper." Not a lie, she thought. She had told Barth that. She didn't have to mention that he hadn't believed her.

Richie blinked, “A story about what Libby?” This needed more…

"About drug smuggling in the harbor," Libby told him.

Thinking he'd drop the matter if she went on to the good stuff, Libby grinned at him. "And I found out plenty about him too, Richie. He's a bounty hunter. Lives on his boat there in the harbor. He owns the bar where your client met him. Well, three-quarters of it anyway. I'll write up a report and get it to you later today."

Richie looked up at nothing and then back at her, “So my warning to you to not approach this guy, not to engage him in anyway just went by the wayside, just discarded because you could be doing a story on drug smuggling. And Frank gets this phone call that about tears us both apart and so we’re up all fucking night worried sick about you, running all over fucking Coffs and the marina looking for you…and you waltz in here this morning…doing an interview for the fucking paper. I don’t even care who this fucker is anymore…” Richie was boiling and walked out the back door to smoke a cigarette.

Libby was stricken. Brushing past Frank, she walked out on the deck where Richie stood. "Richie- Will you hear me out? Please!"

"I didn't approach him. He approached me!" She stood and faced him, hurt because he was so angry at her, even though she knew he had reason to be.

"I went to the bar to talk to the bartender and the waitresses. To ask if they knew him. Well- It turns out he was there. At that point, I didn't know what he looked like. And I didn't know that he owned the place. The bartender apparently let him know that I was looking for him, and he came up to me. I had to do something. To give him some excuse about why I was looking for him- So I told him I was doing a story!"

Libby was looking pleadingly at him, as she went on. "And then, he came here, tracked me down. I told him I'd go sailing with him, because I wanted to get some more information out of him. That's how we ended up on the boat." She paused to see his reaction.

Richie flashed her a look, “It didn’t sound like you wanted to go sailing when you called Frank. I was a cop for a long time and if I was guessing…I’d say he abducted you right here, otherwise you wouldn’t have sent out the SOS to Frank. I’ve been beating myself up for giving you the damn job in the first place. It was my fault you were missing. Frank was ready to call out a helicopter to find you this morning. And now you’re telling me you agreed to go sailing with him, the guy I told you to stay away from…”

Libby reached out to put her hand on his arm. "Richie, this is not your fault. You gave me a job because I asked you to. This is what I do for a living now."

Taking yet another deep breath, she went on, "Okay, I'm new at it. I'll make some mistakes along the way. Last night was one of them. I called Frank-" Here she faltered for a moment. "I called Frank because I thought Barth had other intentions besides just talking."

Libby dropped her eye there. Never could she tell Richie that she had actually slept with the guy. "Then, I couldn't call him back because we were out there with no phone."

Richie looked at her a moment and knew she wasn’t telling him the whole truth, “So you did what…talk all night? You must know his life story by now. You unnecessarily put yourself in a dangerous situation. He coulda killed you and thrown you overboard out there somewhere and I would have had to live with that.”

She couldn't tell him that, for awhile there, she'd been afraid Barth would do just that. Kill her and throw her overboard. It hurt to have Richie so angry with her and she had a hard time holding back her tears. And she still couldn't figure out why she wasn't telling him the whole story. Why she hadn't just said that Barth had kidnapped her. Forced her onto his boat. Part of it was pride. Part of it was the fact that Barth would be in big trouble if she told Richie that, buy why should she care?

"Yes, we talked all night," she said uneasily. "But mostly it wasn't about him. He's not one to talk a lot about himself." Except for his brother and his family, she thought. "It was mostly about life on a boat. The kind of people who hang out at the harbor and all that."

"And I'm sorry I worried you. You and Frank. But I didn't think it was unnecessary," she went on. "That's what it took to get the job done. Didn't you take risks, back when you were a cop? You and Frank both?"

“That was different, we knew what the fuck we were doing.” He stared at her a moment indicating that she didn’t know, “you’re damn lucky that’s all I can say.” Frank was standing in the kitchen and Richie looked over her head at him, he was tired, relieved that she was okay and sorry she couldn’t tell him the truth about what had happened. “You want to give me a ride home?”

"Yeah, sure." Frank had been holding back. He'd get his turn at talking to Libby later, but right now he knew she needed to smooth things over with Richie. But things looked far from smooth. His eyes were urging Richie to talk to her more.

Libby was still upset. She knew Richie had been worried about her, but he didn't look very relieved to know she was okay. Hadn't even hugged her, or told her he was glad she was all right. She didn't know what else to say.

Richie looked back at Libby. She looked like she was about to burst into tears. He looked down and relented a little. Time enough to tear into her again and he intended to get to the bottom of her little overnight sail with the scumbag.

“I’m tired…it’s been a long night worrying about you, damn it Libby.” He looked her in the eye and an arm came out and around her and he hugged her for a moment, “I’m glad you’re back…I can’t wait to read the report,” his mouth moved in a sideways grin. “Frank get me out of here before I turn her over on my knee and give her the spanking she deserves.” He moved past her into the house and looked for his jacket he’d thrown over a chair and slipped it on.

Libby hugged him back, relieved. She hated herself for not telling him everything. She was confused, exhausted. She wanted time to rest and to sort everything out and then she'd talk to him again.

Frank grinned at the two of them At least they were still friends. He wasn't sure he'd be able to say the same thing about himself and Libby after he'd talked to her.

He picked up his keys and headed for the door. "Come on Richie." Giving Libby a look that spoke volumes, he said, "I'll be back, young lady."

Once in the car Richie looked over at Frank, “Maybe she’ll tell you the whole story. She sure wasn’t telling me anything that made sense. Like this scumbag is going to interview for the fucking newspaper?” He leaned his head back on the seat. He was too tired to sort it out now.

When they had gone out, Libby waved and closed the door. Then, leaning against it, sliding down it to sit on the floor, she cried.