By this time, Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff were primarily concerned with finding enough room to maneuver in the small, enclosed space in which they were located. Space was probably the best word for it, since it could hardly be called a room any longer. Through a lot of hard teamwork and patience, Biff and Chet managed to just now loosen Joe Hardy's wrists enough so that he was able to slip it free from the rope. Quickly, he slipped the other hand free, and rubbed his wrist. At this point, it was pretty raw, and Joe could see visible welts forming. "Ow! That hurts!" he complained to the others.

Frank was now able to turn around and stare down his brother. "Joe! Will you quit complaining?! Hurry up! Untie me!" Joe set to work immediately on his brother's wrists, but it took him a good two or three minutes to set him free. By this point, the walls were so narrow that Joe was literally sitting on top of Biff, and Frank and Chet were squeezed together. Frank felt his heart pounding in his chest as he fought back the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. Glancing at the clock, he realized that in seven minutes they'd be dead.

Getting free himself from Joe's efforts, Frank quickly stretched back his own arms as much as they would go. Up until this point, Frank had managed to remain relatively calm, but now panic set was definitely setting in. He was free, and Joe was free. However, Chet and Biff were both still handcuffed, there was no room to move, the air was quickly running out, and the walls were just a few feet from the sides of their very narrow chairs. As a matter of fact, Chet and Biff, the two largest boys, were already feeling the walls pressing into their sides.

Joe looked at the clock. Six minutes. He began shaking, and he could feel his brother and friends' horror. There was simply no where to go. How could they stop it? With a feeling of dread Joe had rarely felt before, he realized that there was nothing that could be done. This was it.

Chet was yanking on his handcuff, still desperately trying to free himself. Biff was unnaturally quiet and still, as if he was accepting his fate. And then there was Frank. Although both boys were faced in the opposite direction, since literally there was no where to move, Joe knew his brother was still trying to think of something. Joe felt his own eyes begin to burn with tears. He turned his head, and looked over Biff's shoulder. Frank had hung his head in defeat. Joe was suddenly overwhelmed. HE had gotten Frank into this, and his friends. HE was the one who hadn't been careful entering the premises, and HE had wasted time complaining instead of trying to escape.

Choking back his words, he could only say to his brother, "Frank, I..."

He suddenly felt Frank reach back and squeeze his hand. "I know, Joe."

All four boys went suddenly still, the reality of the situation now fully upon them. The walls were almost at their chairs. The clock read "Five" in the minutes section.

All of a sudden, Joe heard what seemed to be a scratching noise from outside the door. At first, he thought it was delirium setting in, but then he felt Biff's head look up, too. Then, there it was again.

"What on earth is that?" Chet stammered.

"Shhh!!!" Frank replied. "Let me listen."

The boys suddenly began to shout, all at once. Between cries of "Help" (Frank), "In here!" (Joe), "Hurry!" (Biff) and "Oh God! I don't want to die!" (Chet) the boys hoped against hope and made the greatest wish of all that somehow, they might be able to survive this. Never before had time seemed at once so foreboding and unforgiving.

In the meantime, right outside the door, Vanessa and Iola heard the screaming as they attempted to jimmy the locks in the door. They started yelling back, but, over all the boys' screaming, Vanessa doubted they could hear them. Iola, despite the dire nature of the situation, managed to quip, "Aren't the girls the ones who are supposed to be screaming?" Yet, joking side, Iola felt herself trembling badly. Chet and Joe- HER Joe- were inside there, and she had to help to get them out. Vanessa was thinking the same thing- somehow, she had to get HER Joe out of there.

At first, the girls had simply tried to use their nails, and then any pens or anything with a point they could find. They were racing against the clock, alarms, and video cameras, and their own internal fears as they watched a room close in on itself. Then, Iola had come up with a brilliant idea.

"Hey! Vanessa!" Iola said suddenly. "Wait! This isn't working. Callie gave me a small knife. Well, it's a nail file, really, but she said it would serve the same purpose. Use this. Quick!" And, it had worked. The girls were almost in. At once, Iola looked up as the lock snapped. She desperately wanted to look in, but she knew she couldn't. Turning to Vanessa, Iola quickly came out with, "Listen.Get the guys out. Let me run to the lab, in case anyone comes. I'll start to look for the medicine there, and then, if there's trouble, I can get help. It's better if we split up."

"Huh?!" Vanessa said, hurriedly working on the lock. "Yeah, okay."

As Iola turned away to scurry down the hall, she instantly turned around and said, "Tell Joe, please, I need to see him! I miss him so much." With that, she disappeared down the hall.

The door snapped open. Thankfully, it opened towards the outside, because there was no room to open the door on the inside. Frank was the first to feel the air and to see the light. He felt Chet push him forward, and he landed, hard, right outside. Chet, arms still behind his back, followed close behind. Joe and Biff were in a somewhat more difficult predicament, being wedged in on the other side of the door. Still, Joe climbed over on the opposite side of the chair. It began to splinter. Joe heard the crushing of the wood, and using all of his strength, he managed to lift Biff back under his armpits and literally drag him down on the other side of the chair. Crunch! A leg split off the chair. Within second, both boys managed to get themselves free and jump from the room.

Joe landed right outside the door. The first thing he saw, as he looked up, was the clock. It read "10 seconds." As he shook his head to tried to clear it, the first thing he heard was a loud crash as the walls came together. Then he glanced up and saw Vanessa, looking at all four boys with astonishment and horror. Joe saw she had tears streaming down her face.

As Chat and Biff struggled for air, and Frank shook his head in disbelief at what had just occurred, Joe stood up and hugged Vanessa tightly. "It's about time you got here," he said to her. "I was just beginning to get a little worried."

Vanessa hugged Joe back. "I'm so glad you're okay," was all she could murmur.

"Um, I'm fine, too," Chet interjected.

"That goes for me, too" said Biff.

Frank smiled. "Same here. Vanessa, if you weren't Joe's girlfriend, I'd kiss you right now!"

Vanessa laughed through her tears as she pushed them away. Joe kept an arm firmly around her.

"Yeah!" Chet began. "You came just in the nick of time. That was a close one." Chet's face was still pale with exhaustion and stress.

"Well," Joe began. "I mean, I was just about to come up with a great plan, and you barely beat me to it."

"Oh give me a break!" Frank laughed.

Even Vanessa had to smile. "Joe, it'd have to be the world's quickest plan with 10 seconds left to go!"

Joe hugged her again, and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Vanessa. You're the only girl for me."

Vanessa's heart dropped when she heard those words. With a groan, she realized that the most difficult thing she had to say was right in front of her, and there was no way to avoid it.

"Joe- guys- there's something I need to tell you. We have to get out of here, and quick! We have to go the lab and meet..."

"Callie!" Frank exclaimed, suddenly remembering that time was till running out for his girlfriend. "We have to get there, fast! Vanessa, do you know the way? Let's go!" Frank's heart was racing. All of this meant nothing if he couldn't save Callie.

"That's not what I was going to say. I...."

"I need to be set free," Biff interrupted.

"Me, too" Chet chimed in.

In an instant, Frank was using the file from Callie to pick the locks that held the handcuffs on the wrists of his friends. In a matter of minutes, they were free.

"Guys," Vanessa continued, a bit desperately, "There's something really important that you need to know..."

"Which," interjected Frank, "you can tell us later when we get to the lab."

"But"

"But nothing, Vanessa, "Frank snapped. "We have to save Callie. Now!" With that, he was off.

Joe quickly followed his brother, and Chet and Biff followed behind.

With an audible sigh, Vanessa shook her head and followed.

Running to the lab, Vanessa tried not to think about the racket they were causing, or about the security cameras that were no doubt following their every move. Soon, they were at the lab door, and the brothers were about to burst in when Vanessa gave a last minute attempt to tell Joe what had happened.

"Wait! Frank, Joe," she huffed, catching her breath. "If you go in there you'll see..."

Frank swung the door open anyway.

Rushing in, all four stopped dead in their tracks.

Joe gasped as the breath was taken from him. Chet froze. Biff and Frank could only stare in disbelief.

There, right in front of them, was Iola Morton.

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.