Rand Williams was a hardened Network agent. The Network was a highly covert crime fighting agency that worked against global crime organizations, their main adversary being a group called the Assassins. He'd been in the business too long for anything to bother him anymore--or so he thought until he'd met a couple of fresh kids several months back. Somehow the Hardy brothers had changed that. Oh, he still saw the worst in the world, but now he could see the other side again, too. His current assignment was tracking down a ring of killers, suspected of being affiliated with the Assassins but not really members. His leads had led him to a prison on the east coast. He had infiltrated as a guard with a somewhat shaky background. He had almost immediately confirmed his suspicions that the killers were a combination of guards and inmates at the prison. Whether the warden was a part the group and what connections they had with the Assassins, he had yet to find out.

Rand couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Frank being shown to his seat in the mess hall. Why was he here? Had he stumbled onto some clue about the connection between the Assassins and the prison and decided to look into it? No, he looked much too miserable to be there on a case--he would be attentive, watching everything around him if he were. Instead, he just sat there, staring down into his plate, refusing to talk to anyone around him. Well, he'd find out what he could from Hanks. He didn't want Frank to see him if it wasn't necessary, the boy would butt in on his investigation if he found out there was something going on.

"What's the new kid in for?" he asked when he got Hanks off to the side.

"Got caught with the loot from a couple of burglaries the other night. He's here until the judge can be found to set bail. Ha. Judge's out of town till Tuesday."

That eased Rand's mind a little. If Frank was going to be out in a few days, they wouldn't dare do anything to him. Rand knew about some of the things new prisoners went through, especially ones who wouldn't be talking to anyone on the outside for a long time. Still, he had heard rumors of an auction, and Frank was the only new prisoner.

"I guess he's going in Block A then, if he's just a short timer."

"Nah. He's going to B. Got plans for that kid," Hanks replied, jabbing Rand gleefully.

"But, if..."

"He won't talk. He won't get a chance to," then Hanks stopped, realizing he'd said to much. He looked at Rand and saw an amused smirk on his face and chuckled. "Guess you've been around and know how to keep your trap shut."

"Yea, I had an arrangement like that back at the last prison I worked at. Guess I'd best be getting back. Looks like they're about done eating."

Rand was on the three to eleven shift. Lights out were at 10:00. Frank would be safe until then, but afterwards...He had no idea what was going on, but from what Hanks had said, Rand guessed that Frank was going to be dead before his bail was posted on Tuesday. Why? Of course, if there was a connection with the Assassins, part of the why wasn't all that hard to figure out--Frank and Joe had been instrumental several times in bringing down members of the Assassins. But when were they going to do it. Did they really believe Fenton Hardy would let his son stay in jail that long--if they did, they didn't know the Hardy family very well. No, if they thought they had three days, they wouldn't kill him on the first night. They'd need time to make it look like an accident.

He had to concentrate on a plan to keep Frank from being raped tonight. He'd been there, and even just the thought of the kid going through that was enough to make him sick. Tomorrow, if Fenton Hardy didn't show up first thing to get his son out, he'd call his boss, the man who headed up the Network, who was known as the Gray Man. One way or another, Frank would not be there past noon. He just hoped he could come up with some plan that wouldn't blow his cover.

He ended up calling the Gray Man anyway. He decided to bribe one of the other guards to move Frank to another cell, then would have the Network keep that guard away from the prison until further notice. He knew just the guard to use, one who would do anything for money, but who Rand was sure was not part of the killer group. The man was on a split shift, only working until lights out tonight, so he could leave right after moving Frank. Cornering the guard just before lights out, he had to haggle a bit over the price, but the guard finally agreed to do it. Rand told him what he wanted, then followed him to Block B to make sure he didn't back out of the deal.

*****

Frank arrived just in time for dinner. Hanks turned him over to a trustee, an inmate who had shown he could be trusted and was given special jobs and privileges. He told Frank he'd be back to take him to his cell after the meal. Frank ate what was put on his tray, but didn't taste anything--probably because it had no taste. No one spoke to him and he made no effort to speak to any of the men around him. He was curious as to the looks he was getting, but put it down to being the new kid on the block--he smiled once to himself when he realized the unintended meaning of the thought.

Hanks returned for him after he finished eating and led him to a cell. He was the only one there. Hanks told him that most of the men had free time from dinner to lights out and usually spent it in the rec room watching tv or in the library. He added that new prisoners were not allowed that privilege until they'd been there a week and were settled in.

"I won't be here that long," Frank said, speaking for the first time since leaving the warden's office.

"That's what they all say," Hanks replied with a snicker. He pushed Frank into the cell and closed and locked the door behind him. Frank looked around at the two bunk beds, the facilities behind a partial wall in the back of the cell, and the few personal items in the cell. There were a few magazines. He sat on one of the bunks and picked up wrestling magazine--it was either that or girlie magazines--to flip through until lights out.

Around 9:00 the other inmates began returning to their cells. Hanks accompanied three men to the cell Frank was in. He was laughing at something one of the men said. As Hanks was relocking his door, Frank asked, "What about something to sleep in?"

Hanks laughed, then nodded to the other men. "Most of them sleep in their scivies, but you won't need anything tonight." He was still chuckling as he walked away, leaving Frank to wonder what he meant.

It didn't take long to figure it out, Frank couldn't believe what was happening. The lurid remarks coming from the three men with him in the cell and the other inmates nearby gave him no doubt about what was going to happen. For the first time in years, he was scared--terrified--because he knew there was nothing he could do to stop them. He could fight them, even hold his own for a while, but in the cramped cell, they would eventually overwhelm him.

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency 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.