You’re not getting away! Joe repeated the vow.

Rocks littered the sand, and Joe was constantly forced to change directions to avoid them, and the footing was unstable at best; the sand slithered underfoot, and Joe skidded sideways and nearly fell, more than once. He veered toward the water’s edge, hoping for a harder surface to run on. At least this guy’s in the same boat; he can’t run any faster in sand than I can…. Joe wasn’t sure he was making any progress as far as cutting the distance between them, although he wasn’t dropping any further behind…but he was beginning to tire, and his breath was starting to come short. Once, an extremely unwelcome barrier at the end of a section of the beach loomed up in the twilight, but Joe had seen the other man scramble over it and keep running, so he followed suit.

Come on, come on you creep, you’ve got to be getting tired; you can’t run all the way around the end of the lake…. Joe was panting now. His strong point was sprinting, not long-distance running. Wonder if Frank could have caught him…? Come on Hardy, you can manage a little more….

To Joe’s surprise, the fleeing man suddenly turned away from the water, and plowed through the sand, toward an alley leading to the street. Joe followed, sliding in the soft sand but determined to keep pace. You are not going to get away from me; you tried to hurt Frank…. And at last, he was closing the gap. Evidently the would-be thief had reached his limit; Joe was in better shape, physically, and had a little more endurance. People and traffic were interfering with the chase now, and Joe cherished the hope that he could catch his prey soon.

But when they reached cross-streets and alleyways, things took a turn for the worse. The man evidently was a local, and knew the streets, for he turned down one alley and into another – and despite Joe’s best efforts at pursuit, he was suddenly gone, with no hint as to the direction he had last taken.

Angry and disappointed, Joe skidded to a halt at last, and kicked at the pavement in chagrin. He was totally winded, and his knees felt like rubber. Slowly, he turned and began to trudge back towards the beach.

When he reached the main street, however, he caught sight of a familiar figure – not the fleeing man, but his brother. Frank was looking sharply about as he jogged along the street, evidently attempting to spot Joe, and when he did so, he hurried to join him.

"L-lost…him…" Joe was still trying to get his breath back, and he felt his muscles tightening when he stopped moving.

"Walk it down," Frank advised, putting a hand on Joe’s shoulder. "take it easy, Joe; keep walking for a little bit, or you’re going to cramp up."

"I – really – want – this guy!" Joe panted, after they’d gone a few more yards.

"I know. I do too." Frank agreed grimly. I want him as badly as you do, brother mine…after all, it was me he pushed off the dock! "Let’s get back to Vanessa and Megan….I wish I’d been closer; we might have caught him, between us. But it took a couple minutes for Vanessa to get to us, and by then he had too much of a head start."

Before they reached the girls, however, they were waylaid by a local patrolman, who demanded to know what happened. Joe explained that he had been chasing a man who had snatched a tourist’s camera, in hopes of retrieving it.

"Why in Tarnation didn’t you alert me?" the officer demanded. "Why’d you go chasing off after him yourself?"

Joe eyed him grimly, but managed to keep his response civil. "I never even saw you, until right now." he said evenly. "Otherwise, I’m sure I would have." Maybe…if I thought about it. If I thought you could catch him yourself!

"Well, wait here." The officer was already hauling out his two-way radio, and calling in the report. He was assured that a squad car was on its way, and that he should detain the witnesses. The boys sighed deeply, and Joe dropped to a seat on the curb. They were stuck for it, and they knew it…but at least it gave Joe a chance to sit and rest.

Megan and Vanessa reached them about the same time as the police squad car, which announced its arrival with a whirl of sirens and flashing light-bars. All the various witnesses were interviewed, beginning with the woman whose camera had been taken, and the other members of her party. They readily gave an account of the black-clad robber, but other than an impression of dark hair, could provide few details.

Joe described his chase through the sand and into the nearby streets, but was forced to admit that he had never gotten a close look at the thief.

"What I do know," Joe declared in an even voice, "is that he was fast! But a few more minutes, and I would have caught up with him."

Frank and Megan mentioned that they hadn’t even seen him, and Vanessa only at a fair distance. Eventually, the questioning was done, and the police departed with their reports, leaving some very disappointed people behind.

"Well..." Vanessa had settled down on the curb beside Joe, and was gently rubbing his back in an attempt to soothe and relax him. "When you said you wanted to take a walk on the beach alone, I didn’t realize you meant alone!" she teased him. His only response was a muffled growl. "We might have been better off staying in by the pool after all." Vanessa continued. "Why don’t we go there now?"

"I think that’s a very good idea." Megan immediately concurred. "Somehow, the beach doesn’t feel very friendly tonight." She stooped to pat Joe’s shoulder. "Come on, Joe, cheer up; you did your best."

Frank nodded agreement. "The girls are right; you did your best. Let’s go in." He glanced at the sky. "We can watch what’s left of the sunset from the balcony; it won’t have the same ambiance as the beach, but it’ll still be pretty."

"Fine with me." Joe sighed in dejection, and got to his feet. He draped an arm about Vanessa’s shoulders as they trudged towards Caesars Palace.

The view of the sunset, from the balcony of the boys’ room, was nearly as breathtaking as it might have been from the beach, and Joe eventually regained his usual insouciance and good humor. Frank filmed the sunset and the beach, and the boats coming into shore, panning up and down the shoreline to the limits of his telephoto abilities.

Something caught the elder Hardy’s attention then, and he focused on it. The Royal Tahoe was docked in her customary spot, and had evidently been there for some time, for there was a distinct lack of activity going on. Frank frowned. Where were his parents? They hadn’t been in their room when the teens arrived at the hotel; he’d checked. A sense of disquiet made Frank’s nerves twitch. He nervously panned up and down the stretch of beach once more, but saw no one in the least bit familiar.

"Joe? The Royal Tahoe’s back, but I don’t see Mom or Dad anywhere on the beach."

"Maybe they went out to dinner." Joe suggested.

"They’d have checked in, don’t you think?" Frank was feeling more and more uneasy. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way – after all, his parents were grownups, they didn’t have to answer to their children!

Maybe I’m jumping at shadows tonight, Frank sighed. It’s been that kind of day! 

"Maybe they decided to stop off in the casino for awhile?" Vanessa offered.

"The same thing holds; they’d have left us a message or something." Frank fretted. "Joe, you don’t suppose anything’s happened to them…do you?"