You can't do this alone. ~Frank Hardy x Reader~

Chapter 8.5 - What Happened in Bridgeport

Juliet's POV

"It's me." JB says, looking at us with his hands up.

"JB?" Joe repeats his name in shock. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. 

"Good to see you too, gorgeous." He winked at me and I sighed at him. "I'm sorry for the dramatic reunion. I just... don't really want anybody knowing that I'm here." JB apologized.

I sighed in relief and fixed the bandages that were on my arms that were pulled back when he pulled on my backpack. 

"I heard what happened, you're okay, right?" He asked me, eyeing the bandages. 

"I got really lucky. The tall man was holding me in the air when the car hit us... well hit him. I just went rolling over the top." I told him, still skeptical of my luck. 

"Well, you still look beautiful. And you, Joe, how you doing? You look good too. Is that a new backpack?" JB questioned him curiously. 

"I thought you left town." Joe said, getting straight to the point. 

JB simply exhaled and smiled at us. I knew that smile.

"What do you want?" I asked him. 

"That's a good question. Um... I need the thing that was inside the thing that I hid inside your bedroom, okay?" JB asked us, pointing to Joe at the end, saying it was his room.

"It was you!" Joe exclaimed. "You were in my room yesterday!"

"Yeah, I was in your room yesterday." JB confirmed.

"You trashed his entire room and broke so many valuable things!" I scolded him. 

"Can we just... focus on the thing that I need, because... Joey, I, I know you have it." JB said to him. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Joe told him. 

"Okay, I'm going to level with you. Um, if I don't deliver this thing, my life is in danger, okay? So, I kind of need a little bit of help." JB pleaded with us, looking at both Joe and me.

"We can't..." Joe told him. 

"Yeah. I, uh, I get it. A good deal needs something of value to exchange." JB reasoned. 

"What do you want to exchange?" I asked him, curious as to what he even had to offer.

"You give me whatever piece is inside that idol... And I can get you information on your mother's murder." JB said, looking at Joe. 

"What?" I asked in disbelief. 

-----

"So, JB doesn't have the information, but he says he can get it. It'll help us find out who came after Mom." Joe explained to Frank. 

We were all upstairs and I was sitting on my bed with my head down, knowing this was not going to go well.

"I don't know, Joe. It sounds a lot like he's just going this to get what he wants." Frank said. 

"That's exactly what I told him." I said to Frank. 

"Well, I already told him that I'd bring him the piece tomorrow." Joe said. 

"Joe!" Frank scolded his brother.

"I had to think fast. And I've already gotten a scolding from Juliet." Joe told his brother. 

"Now what?" Frank asked. 

"I was thinking--" "And look where that got you." Frank interrupted his brother.